Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any characters pertaining to the DC enterprise. I also do not own this plot line, this is just my rewrite of it. An AU setting, if you will. Enjoy!

The table is cool under her shoulders. She recoils at the suddenness of it on her bare skin and exhales a tight breath through her teeth. Her grey eyes shift with unease to her left. A familiar gaze meets hers in a tangled instant. Kaldur'ahm gives her a reassuring nod. It's comforting, but it's not enough. Artemis is still getting used to this whole telepathy thing. It's been hard enough letting M'gann link them all and have everyone's voices in her head on missions, but actually submitting to an unconscious training exercise? It rubs her the wrong way. Makes her skin crawl.

"Try to relax," the Martian Manhunter commands from the center of the circle. His deep register eases her shoulders back a little farther onto the cold surface, "We will begin."

Artemis flicks her eyes open one last time. She shifts her head, a tied mane of thick blonde hair spilling down the edge of the table. Kaldur is dutifully relaxed, obedient to a fault. With his eyes closed and hands folded atop his broad chest, he almost looks peaceful. She has always found solace in his aura. The evenness of his dark skin, the ice blue of his eyes, everything about him is steady. They are opposites in this way. Her energy is raw and jagged. His is smooth and unshakeable. They compliment each other and often it relaxes her enough to get her head straight. But today she can't shake her unease. With a huff of breath she closes her eyes and tries to think of something other than how she's about to be violated in the most intimate of ways.

She feels a foreign presence in her head and stiffens.

Then, there is nothing.

The news footage is graphic. The cameras don't spare any pleasantries. Artermis stands towards the back of the group, her eyes flickering back the reflections from the above screens. The Flash and Zatara are lost in hot, orange beams of light. Their skeletons are outlined for a brief moment and then lost forever.

It's strange, but she feels nothing. There's a hollow place in her chest where the grief should be. She watches on with her lips parted ever so slightly as Black Canary and Green Arrow are lost too. Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman –the greatest heroes of her time vanish before her eyes. Kaldur visibly tightens up in front of her. She thinks about putting a hand on his shoulder and then thinks better of it.

In one startling instant, Red Tornado's clipped voice echoes through the cave.

"I fear I am all that remains of the League –"

"RT!" vaguely, she hears Robin's voice in the discord.

Then, Red Tornado is gone too. Orange light is all that remains. The destruction of the world plays out on multiple screens and the team stands in pitched silence. Shadows claw their way through the spaces between them in standing. Artemis hangs her head, feeling a sudden heaviness in her bones.

"We are Earth's heroes now," Kaldur says in a measured tone.

He raises his head when she lowers hers and stares at the screen with purpose. He is a soldier. He's been trained for hardship like this. She can think of no one better fit to lead them. To lead Earth.

There is conversation of a game plan. Superboy is ready to hit anything that moves. Kid Flash and Robin stand side by side, arms crossed. Kaldur presents a strategic system of attack with a diplomatic tone. Artermis is barely listening. Hot, orange flashes of light keep sprouting up in her vision. Her ambivalence frightens her. Everything around her feels grey. Something is wrong.

So as soon as they are given a moment alone while the team regroups toward the bioship, she pulls him into a corner. Steady and sure, his presence unravels her.

"Artemis," he murmurs. It's as much of a warning as it is an invitation. His gills flex at his throat and he watches her with predatory blue eyes.

She says nothing and only stares down at their feet. They communicate wordlessly, never missing a beat. He reaches a heavy arm around her waist and brings her close to him. Her face presses against his chest and he lowers own to the cavern of her shoulder. They don't need to speak. The moment is enough. A quiet embrace that doesn't last longer than a few seconds. To give one another something sure to hold on to while the rest of the world crumbles around them. They share a kiss. Brief and fleeting, it might even look chaste to an outside observer. But it's far from it. Her body comes alive when they part. His mimics hers. The tattoos wrapped around his arms glow just faintly blue until he leans away from her and they return to darkness.

That is all the time they're given. They sit across the floor from each other on the ship and barely glance in one another's direction. The ship is quiet. Even in the aftermath, everyone is either numb or just as uncharacteristically unfeeling as she is. It's unsettling. It makes her skin itch. She's too hot under the camouflaged arctic costume M'gann has fashioned for her. Her skin needs to breathe. Taut muscle flexes against the material, begging to touch cool air. Her fingers drum on her knees. They itch for a bow. For her quiver. For Kaldur's smooth skin. Things that make sense.

Things move in a blur once the air changes to ice and the foreground turns to white. The alien aircraft attacks are calculated, almost like they think for themselves. She hides behind a makeshift overhang of ice and plucks a bow as delicately as one would finger a violin. She turns, pivots her heel and lets one fly. The white tundra explodes with orange. Something tickles in the back of her head and she pushes it away.

Conner rips the canon from the incapacitated ship. Artemis sees the two approaching ships even before Kaldur's strong voice booms inside her head.

"Miss Martian, open fire!"
"Can't! Weapons systems are offline to incorporate new cannon!"

Artemis doubles back, fully prepared to create a distraction. A blur of white passes her instead and Wally's voice echoes inside the walls of her skull. She can almost hear the smirk touched to his words.

"Got it covered guys!"

She watches him go for half a second before turning, sprinting back toward the ship. Her boots pound in the knee-deep snow. A sweat breaks along her brow. Her heart smashes in her chest. She can hear Kid Flash's self-induced tornado rip one of the ships down to the Earth. The explosion fans heat at her back. Running, running, one foot in front of the other. She's almost at the threshold of the bioship when M'gann screeches inside her head.

"Look out!"

Artemis turns, expecting her imminent doom. She pulls an arrow. Like Hell she's going down without a fight. But upon turning, she finds the warning was not meant for her. Her mouth opens in an 'O' of unmasked horror as the cannon from the first ship points and fires.

"WALLY!" Robin cries.

There is a glimpse of his skeleton, the lightning insignia, and then nothing.

Artemis drops to her knees. The levee holding her emotion back disintegrates and all Hell breaks loose.

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