-Athena's POV-

I laid down on the ground, my head resting on the black cobblestone. I stared up at the ceiling. I noticed every crack in it. Water dripped through from above, landing beside my face. I didn't mind the water splashing on me.

I laid completely still. If I didn't move, I didn't think. If I didn't think, I wouldn't be forced to relive everything I saw.

The more I laid there, the slower time seemed to past. Not that I had any real way of telling time. My days were spent getting tortured underground and being thrown in a dark cell. There were no windows anywhere around me and there was no natural light. I could've been in there for days, or weeks, or even years and I would never know.

I would "sleep" when my guards expected me to and leave my cell when I was forced to. I didn't know if I was actually sleeping at a normal time. That's the thing with assassins. They're trained to fight in the night or day and sleep whenever it is available.

I thought about Dick. What was he doing? I hoped he had forgotten about me and moved on. Maybe he had found a girl without baggage. To picture him dating a nice, normal girl made me a bitter type of happy.

I chuckled silently to myself, thinking about him trying to womanize another girl. I wished I could see it, him falling over his own feet trying to charm a girl who isn't a vigilante.

I heard the sound of boot against stone. I stayed where I was. The squeaky door opened, screeching in my ears and echoing in the cell.

"Get up or I'm coming in," the new assassin threatened. It wasn't the same person as yesterday -- they had a very deep voice -- and they actually gave me a choice. The other one would've just busted in.

I wobbled to my feet. The assassin grabbed my arm and fastened my restraints. They put them on tighter than the others' did. I guess everyone has their flaws.

We walked through the same old corridor. My chains wrestled together, creating kind of a marching tune. Dread filled me as we came upon the fork. I took deep breaths as my vision started going cloudy. For the first time, I was happy we turned to the right.

Multiple double-sided mirrors lined the wall. I had been in each room in the hallway. Each one was the same basic room but with different types of torture. We walked past and came upon the second to last room.

I was led inside. The room was more sterile than the rest of the dungeon, but it still had splatters of blood and dirt on the white tile. Compared to the squeaky clean room on the left, this one looked like the inside of a trash can.

A masked assassin stood in the corner of the room, a leather whip in their hand. The assassin leading me grabbed my wrists and fastened my handcuffs to hooks on the ceiling. All my body weight was then forced onto my wrists. I stood on the very tips of my big toes, but my wrists still felt like they were being ripped apart.

The back of my shirt had already been ripped away from the first round of tortures, however long ago it was. It hung in rags with most of my back completely exposed. I faced away from the assassin, completely unaware of what they were going to do.

"Traitor," the assassin mumbled, striking me on the back with the leather whip. I recoiled and my feet left the floor, causing agony to shoot up my arm and through my back.

The whip continued to come down. I winced as the skin on my back peeled. I felt blood slowly drizzle down into my pants and out the leg.

There was a pause. I recollected my breath, trying to ignore the pain in my back.

"Traitor," the assassin said louder. A new whip struck me quickly. It was metal, I could tell. The initial strike was cold and soothing, but the actual hit hurt so much more. The metal used was bendy, but still more stiff than leather. It bruised and cut me at the same time. I gripped the chains on my handcuffs, trying to contain my suffering.

I was hit twice as many times with the metal whip. I flinched each time it hit me, sending my chains rocking back and forth. With each rock, the chains tugged on the skin on my hands and tugged it off. Blood ran down my arm from my wrist and down my leg from my back. No wonder the assassin had cuffed me so tightly.

There was a pause. I knew it wasn't over.

"Traitor!" The torturer shouted. They chanted the word over and over like it was sacred. A whip I had never experienced struck me.

It was earth shattering. My vision turned red and blurred. I heard the crackle of electricity when the assassin recoiled to strike again. The whip would strike and the tiny blades on it would cut the exposed skin. Then, the electricity would burn the new wound.

I had never experienced that much pain. I couldn't even focus on how much it hurt. I couldn't think about anything other than what was happening.

Each strike was like lightning. It struck fast, but the lasting pain was scarring. The whip stung, stabbed, and burned all at the same time.

I cried out. I screamed at the top of my lungs. The taste of metal covered every inch of my mouth. I couldn't tell where the blood was coming from. I was screaming myself raw, but I was also bleeding internally and externally. All I really could do was scream. My throat was filling up with blood.

When I thought I couldn't take anymore, it stopped.

My cuffs were unfastened. I refused to look at my hands. I stood stalk straight to avoid my skin ripping anymore on my back. More handcuffs were put on, squeezing deep into the cuts I had received. I would've screamed, but I couldn't.

I walked back to my cell. The assassin tossed me in, making me tumble against the wall and fall flat on my back. The impact made every inch of my body hurt. I was still shocked that everyone could just toss me around like I weighed nothing. Then again, I probably did weigh nothing. I was so malnourished that I could count my ribs individually and see where each of my joints in my arms and legs were. At that point, I was nothing more than scars, bones, and skin.

I was lucky the floor was wet and nasty. The dampness of it soothed my throbbing, aching back. I tightened my core to prevent my weight from resting on my back, but I let the skin still rest against the ground.

I reached around to touch my wounds. The exposed muscle and skin was soft and it stung to touch. My skin hung in shreds. I bit my tongue as I gently felt around. It hurt just to touch.

I laid back on the puddle where the water dropped from. I opened my mouth and let the dirty water dribble in. It subdued my burning throat. I didn't care what diseases I would get from it. Maybe I would die in the dungeon. Wouldn't that be ironic? Ra's so carefully tortured me in ways to cause pain but not to kill. The death of me was going to be some dirty water!

Once again, I stared up into the ceiling. I let my eyes drift close. All I saw were the blue orbs that was Dick's gaze.

My cell was haunted. Not by literal ghosts, but by the ghosts of my past. No matter what I did, my mind would always drift back to Dick Grayson, or Tim, or Bruce, or even Donna. I had endured all this torture, but they still caused me the most pain.

I couldn't sleep. I never did. Everytime I tried, I would just picture Dick and his disappointed eyes would keep me up. Sometimes, my body would force me to sleep. But, I wouldn't dream. I would just have nightmares. And that was worse than staying up.

I had been lying down when my cell door slowly opened. Even though I had no way of keeping track of time, it didn't feel like a day had passed. I hadn't even heard the person approach the cell. It was if they were being careful...

"Get up," the assassin whispered into the quiet darkness. I didn't shift. That was mostly because my back wouldn't allow me to even breathe without punishment. The assassin nudged me with their boot as if to check if I was still alive. I noticed their boots were nicer than any of the other guards.

I looked up and saw the sparkling green eyes of Talia. She looked nervous and anxious. I was confused. She saw it on my face and lifted me up.

"We gotta go. Now," she uncuffed me, "can you walk?"

I tried to answer, but I had screamed my voice away. I couldn't make any sounds, let alone talk. I nodded.

"Good. Follow me and be very careful," Talia ordered. Her voice didn't sound sympathetic, more like she was commanding an army. Her stride was powerful and quick. I tried to match it, but I had lost all my muscle. I fell behind.

I had been broken. This was my lowest point. I stopped walking and fell to the ground. I knew Talia was helping me escape, but I didn't want to go on. Talia stopped and turned on her heal. She stalked up to me. I lowered my head in shame. She groaned in frustration and gripped my hand.

She didn't need to say anything. "Keep up or we will both be dead!" was portrayed in every movement. We jogged through the dungeon until we came upon a staircase. Talia forced us both to climb them three at a time.

We reached the main floor. I had forgotten what a clean environment looked like. Our feet were silent as we strode across the marble floors. I glanced outside of the windows. It was night.

Talia slammed me against the wall as a troop of assassins-in-training walked by. I looked at them, remembering when the only problems I had were trying to move up in rank.

"Where do you think you're going?" Talia scolded, trying to hide me from the assassins. They stood at attention.

"Ma'am, we are running our routine check on the Temple, ma'am," I could tell they were nervous just from their voices, "we are the Night team."

"This section is supposed to be patrolled by the Pit team. This is their sector. Get back to the West hall." At Talia's request, the assassins took off.

She grabbed my arm and we began to walk a bit faster, closer to a slow run. "I bought us some time, but they will be back. Come this way," Talia turned down a hallway and smashed the lock to a wooden door.

She shoved me through and then wedged the door closed with her staff. We were outside. I was mesmerized by the feeling of the cool air. The moonlight seemed to seep into every pore, giving me some power and strength.

I followed behind Talia as she led me through the gardens. As we walked, I felt the grass squish between my toes. I took deep breaths, filling my lungs with clean air.

We came upon a cliff. It was about three hundred feet. I looked over the edge, seeing the cold, black water below. I turned towards Talia, my eyes wide.

She could read my expressions. "I know, I know. I brought you here and now I'm breaking you out," she sighed, "but, what I saw in that room yesterday...I knew that that was just the beginning. I had to get you out of here." She looked off into the distance, trying to gather her thoughts.

"No one deserves to endure that type of torture."

I looked straight into her eyes, trying to convey just how shocked I was. Talia glanced up at the moon as if asking for forgiveness. Her saddened expression quickly changed, though. She was back to being serious.

"But, don't think you are off the hook. I am saving you, but this doesn't mean we are on good terms," she pulled something out from her back pocket and pressed it into my palm, "when my father finds out you escaped, he will do everything to get you back. This belongs to you now anyway."

I removed the cloth covering the gift. It was Talia's dagger. Ra's had taken all my weapons from me when I arrived, including the sacred weapon.

I smiled to her in a silent 'thank you.' She didn't smile back, but I knew she understood. "Just be careful. Don't let my father catch you. There are assassins in Gotham. If you get brought back here, you will never get yourself back," Talia explained, nudging me towards the cliff side.

I looked over my shoulder in one last goodbye. I backed up and took a running jump.

As I plummeted through the air, I felt liberated. It was the same feeling as grappling through the air in Gotham. I felt like I could fly. I felt like I was flying away from all the tortures I had gone through and all the ones that waited for me.

I landed in the water, shooting down. I came up to the surface, a big, dopey smile on my face. Adrenaline and general happiness coursed through me, making me forget about all the pain and injuries I was caring with me.

I was finally getting out of here. I swam all night and well into the morning. I summoned all the strength I could. The only thing on my mind was a plane ticket to Gotham. That thought alone pushed me further than my body.

When I finally made it to a village, I collapsed onto the shores.

~~~~~~Yay!!! This book is already rolling along you guys! I hope you guys are as excited as I am!~~~~~~