A Young Justice fanfiction! Yaaay! My first one. I loooooooove Wally and Artemis so I had so much fun writing this. :) I couldn't fit this into one section so I'm making it in two parts. If it's popular, I might expand but I'm planning on doing a full fledged Wally and Artemis fanfiction later so I'll probably start that one soon and keep this a two-part short. Hope you all enjoy, as usual~

Part 1

Not Kid Flash

Artemis couldn't believe her ears when he was told she'd be stuck all day looking after Kid Flash.

She listened with a deepening frown as Batman listed off the names of the people going on the League's newest mission. It sounded like so much fun—investigating strange creature sightings in Scotland. Robin was convinced it was the Loch Ness monster and thanks to him, the whole team was pumped and ready to go. But at the end of Batman's debriefing, Artemis was the only one whose name hadn't been called.

"What about me? What am I supposed to be doing?" She asked, trying not to sound too disappointed, or impatient.

"Artemis, you'll be staying here." Batman replied.

"What? Why?!" Was he serious? Artemis was going to miss an exciting mission full of adventure for no reason? "Are you benching me?" She asked, eyes narrowed.

"No. We need you to stay so you can keep an eye on Kid Flash."

She stared. "I'm not following."

Robin laughed and patted her on the back. "Ole Flash was struck down by a nasty sickness the other day and his parents are out of town so there's no one at home who can look after the poor guy."

"What did he do, eat energy bars that were past their expiration date?!" Asked Artemis, not liking where this was going at all. No way was she going to get stuck looking after the goof ball of the Young Justice League.

Robin shrugged. "All I know is he's in his room upstairs and he's really depressed about not being able to go, too…you have your work cut out for you."

Artemis was about to turn to the screen where Batman's image was projected, but when she looked, the screen was black. That was the end of the debriefing. He wasn't going to wait for her to give him her objections. "You have got to be kidding me!" She cried, stamping her foot against the ground.

"Good luck." Superboy smirked.

"Yes, you shall need it." Said Aqualad.

M'gaan patted her on the shoulder, a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry, Artemis. I'd stay with you but…duty calls."

With that, they were all gone. Off to their big exciting mission…Artemis scoffed. She didn't need them, she told herself. If they wanted to leave her alone with stupid, sick Flash then that was their problem. She didn't want to be somewhere where she wasn't wanted, she thought, flopping down onto a chair in the lounge and folding her arms.

Why did you have to pick now to get sick? She thought, talking to an imaginary Kid Flash that lived in her head. I bet you did it just because you knew it was going to bug me.

She knew it was a childish thing to think, but hey, it was her mind, she could vent if she wanted to. It wasn't like Kid wanted to miss this mission either, but it still pissed her off that she had to be the only one out of the group who could have gone but was left behind.

Why her? Sometimes Artemis feared that the rest of the team didn't trust her.

It was true, she'd lied to them. She wasn't the Green Arrow's niece. She had no right to be here under false pretenses. She was an imposter, in all bluntness.

But…she thought, and curled her legs into her on the chair. Is it so wrong to want someone who trusts me?

Even if I am just a liar? Even if I can't necessarily offer that same trust in return? At least not right away…

She realized with a small frown on her face something strange. Despite the fact that Kid Flash had been the last to warm up to her—and he had been pretty suspicious when she first arrived—he was the only one out of the whole team that she didn't feel acted differently when she was around.

That was strange. Artemis wondered why that was.

A few minutes later, Artemis decided it was time to go check on the man of the hour. She made her way up to his bedroom and knocked, leaning against the wall. She'd been thinking. It was stupid to believe that Kid Flash could actually trust her. She'd lied to him, too, after all.

When she didn't hear an answer, she got impatient and threw the door open. "Kid Flash?" She asked, walking straight into the middle of the room.

He was in his bed, covers pulled over his shoulders. His face was pressed into the pillow and his arms were wrapped around it, strangling the poor thing out of its stuffing. He was wearing pajamas, which normally you wouldn't think weird of someone who was sick in bed. But for her, it was a sight, since she'd only ever seen him out of his uniform a couple of times. Strange…the goggles and yellow spandex didn't do him justice. Able to actually see his face, she thought he didn't look all that bad. But she shook her head of those thoughts quickly.

His sweaty red hair hung slightly in his eyes. His face was red with fever, and his arms were wrapped around the pillow, strangling it out of its stuffing. "Yes…I want a dozen happy meals…is that such a strange order…?"

She stared at the sleeping superhero.

"Flash. Hey. Wake up." Artemis ordered, walking over to his side and shaking his shoulder.

He shook his head, digging farther into the pillow. "Haven't you ever heard of 'the customer is always right'?"

She glared, eyes flaring. If she was going to be stuck at HQ with a sick boy, the least she could expect from him was to stay awake and keep her company. How could she wake him up without simply throwing him out of bed? A smirk suddenly crossed her lips.

The blonde bent down, putting her mouth to Flash's ear. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir. It looks like we're out of burgers. Come back next time."

Flash's eyes snapped open. "Whaaa!" He pushed away from the pillow like a dog who'd just been told he was having a bath.

"Well, there, welcome back to the land of the living, Kid." Artemis was rather proud of herself.

He stared at her, eyes wide, panting. Slowly, though, his breathing steadied and she realized how sick he really was. He held himself up weakly, but he was sweating, and looked like he belonged back under the covers.

"Oh, it's you. Hey, Artemis." He said, pulling his hair out of his face. He smiled tiredly. What startled her most, though, was the fact that his green eyes, which were usually bright and curious, were dull, as though there were no life behind them. It surprised her to the point that he squinted and said quietly, "Is something wrong?"
She flinched. "No. Nothing's wrong." Artemis shook her head.

"What are you doing here? Isn't the team on a mission right now?" He said, pinching the bridge of his nose and squinting.

"Yeah…" Artemis felt her hand twitch involuntarily with annoyance. Who do we have to thank for that, burger boy? She thought. "I stayed behind." She lifted her hand to knock him over the head. "To look after you, for the rec—"

When she lifted her hand to his head, he pulled back instinctively. Normally she just smirked to see fear in his eyes, but the way he sat there shakily, looking cold and exhausted, despite the fact that he'd been sleeping under a mountain of blankets and there was perspiration on his face…it bothered her.

She pulled her hand back, causing him to look at her in slight surprise. "How are you feeling, Flash?"

He blinked. "You…you're worried about me?"
Artemis's blue eyes flared, as though on fire. "It's my assignment. Didn't you hear me? I got booted from the mission because someone decided to get stricken down with illness on the day of the best mission of our lives."

He gave a half-smile, laughing a laugh that soon became a nasty cough. "Sorry. I was…saving…a bunch of orphans…" He said, continuing to hack up the contents of his lungs. "…in Alaska…must have caught a cold while I was there…"

Her eyes widened. She handed him a tissue, which he gladly took. "Are you telling the truth or did you make that up on the spot in a sad attempt at being cheesy and cute?"

She expected him to make some kind of snotty comment, but he didn't. She looked up, blinking. Flash was holding the tissue to his mouth, doubled over in his spot surrounded by messy covers. The fingers of his free hand were buried in his red bed-head. His teeth were gritted. He looked like he was in a lot of pain all of a sudden.

"F-Flash? Are you okay?"

He squinted, eyebrows lowered. "I'm…f-fine…"
"Flash! What's wrong! Where are you hurting?"

Flash bit his lower lip. His hand gripped the tissue until his knuckles were white. He dropped it to his side and gripped his head with both hand. "Ah…"

"Hey! Flash!" Artemis felt fear radiate through her. She grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him to her so that they were facing each other. "Tell me what's wrong." Her face was pale, her eyes wide. She put her hand on his forehead, surprised to see that he was burning up. "Whoa…didn't know it was this bad." She said, looking him over worriedly. "Is it your head?"

Stupid, that would be why he's holding it like that, wouldn't it?

He gasped.

"My gosh, Flash! Lay down! I'm going to go get some painkillers." She said, helping him back under the covers. He didn't make any objections, in fact, he didn't even look like he was hearing her, until she mentioned painkillers, that is.

His eyes snapped open. "No!"

"What?" Artemis turned around, glaring. "What are you talking about? Look at you. You can hardly think straight. I'm getting you painkillers, Flash."

"No…I'm…not supposed to…" He said, panting.

"Not supposed to?! Who the hell told you not to take painkillers?" She didn't wait for him to answer, half because he wasn't answering, and half because she couldn't stand to see him in that kind of pain. Kid Flash was annoying enough, with his sarcastic comments, habit of stuffing his face with everything edible, and the flirtatious boy complex he had with every girl but her. But this was worse. She'd deal with his stupid food cravings any day if it meant she didn't have to see him curled in the fetal position on his bed, gasping in pain.

When she came back, he was gnawing on his knuckles. "Stop that." She said, pulling his hand out of his mouth in disgust. "You'll make yourself bleed. Here." She grabbed his shoulder and helped him up, putting a glass of water in his hand.

"W-What's…this…" He squinted and tried to open his eyes, but it was clear the light in the room was starting to bother him.

She closed the curtains and turned off the lights, so that the room was now shrouded in a half-cast shadow. She took Flash's other hand, the one that wasn't holding the glass, and put a large, red pill in it. "Take this." She said, looking at him with worried eyes.

"B-But…"
"Look, I don't know who told you you're not supposed to take painkiller, Flash. But they're painkillers and you're in pain. You're taking them if I have to shove them down your throat."
He looked at her weakly. He looked like he was about to say something but then gasped and doubled over again.

"That's it! I wasn't kidding, Flash!" Artemis pulled his chin up, taking the pill and sticking it into his mouth, causing the sick superhero to yelp. She put the water to his lips and made him drink. He didn't struggle much. And if he did, she couldn't tell because he wasn't trying.

Once he'd swallowed it, she just sat there on the edge of his bed, hands on his shoulders. He still looked miserable. Of course, the pill wasn't going to take effect right away. He was still in pain. He still sat, holding his head, shaking slightly. She pulled his chin up again, wanting to see his face, not liking the way he was hiding it from her. "Hey…don't wor—" She stopped. There were small tears in his eyes.

He was in that much pain?

"W-Wally…"

He was just shaking. His silence bothered her. It wasn't like him. He wasn't talking, just sitting, quietly, trying desperately to get through the pain.

She hated it.

She wanted to make it better.

Anything to make him himself again.

Before she knew what she was doing, Artemis wrapped her arms around the red haired boy's shoulders and pulled him into her. He did nothing to resist. He just slumped into the blonde, breathing heavy, unsteady breaths.

"Shhh…it's okay. The pain meds will kick in maybe half an hour from now." She said, rocking back and forth with his head on her chest. He closed his eyes, still squinting.

For a while it went on like this, him panting, her quietly rocking him. Eventually, though, his breathing steadied and the uncomfortable frown on his face faded. She stopped, finally, and looked down at the boy.

He was asleep.

"Finally…" She laid him back down in his bed and sighed a long, drawn out sigh. She was relieved that he'd finally calmed down. He'd really scared her. She'd never seen him like that before. It was weird. One thing was for sure, it wasn't the Kid Flash she knew.

She just wondered, for the briefest moment as she got up and slipped out his bedroom door, why Flash had been so adamant about not taking pain medication. What was so horrible about the stuff? Wasn't it supposed to make you feel better? So why would he be banned from it?