IMPORTANT: This is a continued story that I wrote after reading Sacrifice by art-is-a-bang-yeah. READ THAT FIRST! I have permission from her to post this.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Justice League, Young Justice or any of its characters.

...

"Flash? Who is this?" John asked confused.

"This is…Artemis…my girlfriend."

Wally could see the other founding members look down at him in confusion, but right now all he could concentrate on was the fact that Artemis was here. Here. In his arms. He's dreamed of nothing else for the past four years.

Artemis leaned over him sobbing and kissing him and whispering his name.

"Wally," she kissed the corner of his mouth. "Wally," the other corner. "Wally," she kissed his lips and Wally could feel the desperation in her.

"Artemis," he whispered as he sat up and held Artemis close, looking into her gorgeous grey eyes. "Artemis." God, he'd missed her. He couldn't remember feeling so happy.

"Okay, I'm confused. Who is she?" Shayera demanded with her hands on her hips. Flash could only bear to glance up at her for a second; he was too busy rememorizing every feature of Artemis' face as she lightly stroked his cheek.

Suddenly she frowned. "I need to see your eyes."

He could only nod and looked up at Batman.

"We'll go to the Watchtower. Then you can explain to everyone else."

"Everyone else?" repeated Diana picking up on those words. "You already know…whatever is going on?"

"Don't you know, Diana? He's Batman," said Wally in a monotone.

He stood and pulled Artemis up with him. She wouldn't look away from him, and he guessed she was afraid he'd disappear again. He scooped her up bridal style and whispered softly to her. "I'm not going anywhere, babe."

Batman had Mr. Terrific beam them, plus Nelson, to the Watchtower and led the way towards their private meeting room.

The Watchtower was a wreck from the battle between the league and the Ultimen. Most members were nursing minor wounds and they stared openly as the group passed.

Finally they were all in the room and had taken seats at the large table. Wally sat down with Artemis cradled in his lap and Nelson laid down at his feet.

"Alright, Wally," began GL, "Explain. Please."

Before he could say anything though, Artemis pulled back his cowl and smiled.

"Finally," she murmured. He remembered her telling him once how much she loved his green eyes. She leaned forward and gave him a short, sweet kiss still full of love and let her forehead rest against his as they looked into each other's eyes.

Someone coughed to bring back their attention. Artemis' smiled dropped, but she didn't look away from his face. Wally sighed heavily and turned to look carefully at each of his friends.

"Batman figured it out a couple of years ago, even though I never told anyone," he began slowly, "I'm not exactly from here. I'm not from this Earth."

"What do you mean?" asked Superman. "You're from…another Earth?"

"Yeah."

"Like the Justice Lords?"

"No," he said firmly. He and his world were not like that one.

He looked back at Artemis and she gave a small smile. He felt warmth spread through him and smiled back, perfectly content.

"Where I'm from is a lot like here. We have another Batman, another Superman; another Justice League."

He paused. Where do I even start? he thought. It was best to keep it as short and simple as possible.

"The Flash in that world was my uncle. I got my powers when I was eleven and debuted as Kid Flash. The Justice League was already formed, and when I was fifteen, the sidekicks formed their own team. That's when I met Artemis." He said looking down at her. "We didn't…exactly…get along at first."

Artemis' eyes twinkled and she burst out laughing, surprising the other heroes.

"That's an understatement, Wallman." He chuckled at the stupid nickname he used to call himself and remembered the first time they met.

He looked up to see the others exchanging curious and slightly amused looks.

"She's right," he chuckled again. "But once I got my head out of my ass I realized she was perfect." His voice got softer. "My Spitfire." He felt her relax in his arms as he said that and she finally closed her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"After high school, we decide to quit the hero biz and live normal lives. We went to college together and got our own place…We were happy." Wally frowned. "And then Nightwing called."

Artemis moved her head so she could look at his face. He could see the guilt she felt shining in her eyes. He couldn't believe it. Had she been carrying that around all these years? No! He wouldn't let her tear herself up anymore.

"It's not your fault," he whispered to her. "I get it now. You did what you had to. We both did."

She opened her mouth to say something, and then just sighed and nodded, placing her head back on his shoulder.

"There's this organization," he explained to the league, "called the Light. It's headed by the most powerful super villains in the world, and they get all the other criminals to be their lackeys for their master plan. They had teamed up with this alien species called the Reach so that they could take over the world."

"The Reach?" interrupted Green Lantern. He squinted up at the ceiling. "I think I've heard of them. Yeah, on Oa. They had made a deal with the guardians a few millennia ago saying that they could only occupy a planet if the inhabitants wanted them there."

Wally nodded in confirmation. "Nightwing was in charge of the Young Justice Team, which worked covert missions. He asked Artemis to come out of retirement and go undercover, and she agreed. It took a few months, but we finally exposed the Light's and the Reach's plan to force them off world." He sighed. "They didn't go in peace though. They planted doomsday devices all over the world; only one was needed to destroy everything. We got all of them in time except one. When it move passed the point of deactivation, Flash and Impulse, another speedster, started running around it to create enough kinetic energy to siphon off the excess energy of the chrysalis bomb. It wasn't enough and I went to help. Unfortunately, I wasn't near as fast then as I am now and I provided an outlet for the extra energy."

Wally grimaced remembering the pain that went through him as the electric bolts hit him. "The energy transformed me somehow. I couldn't stay solid and my molecules suddenly moved too fast, kind of like what you all just saw me do with Luthor. I went into the Speed Force and it…teleported me into this dimension."

He looked down at Artemis. She was clutching the front of his uniform in a fist. He hated what he would have to say next, but knew she deserved to know what's happened the past few years.

"When I woke up, I was alone in the Arctic. I was so happy to not be dead, I didn't even think about the implications. I raced back to our place in Palo Alto, but when I got there…"

"I wasn't." she said.

"No." he said simply. "It didn't even take me a day to realize that this world wasn't the one I was used to. I went to Central City looking for my uncle thinking maybe he could help me, but, all I found was a grave."

"I didn't know how to get back. I didn't think I'd make it if I tried. That's when I decided to become the Flash here; at least I'd be able to help people. A few months later, aliens invaded and this world's Justice League was formed."

Artemis smiled sadly. "Well, at least you made the most of it. I can always count on you to find a silver lining."

Wally smiled and softly rubbed his thumb over her cheek. Again, he couldn't help but think of how much he had missed her.

"Flash…Wally, why didn't you ever tell us this?" asked Diana.

He didn't look away from Artemis as he answered, "At first, I didn't think you'd believe me, and then it was because there wasn't anything you could do. Doesn't matter now."

He bent his head and touched his lips to hers gently, trying to convey how much he still loved her in that kiss.

"I have to say, I've never seen you like this, Wally," said Shayera.

"Let me guess," spoke up Artemis as she turned to the winged warrior with a wry smirk on her face. "He's usually annoyingly happy, talking too fast, stuffing his face, or flirting with anything in a skirt."

Everyone looked back at her, shocked. It wasn't what she'd said so much as how…matter-of-fact she had sounded. Wally laughed.

"Hey! I'm a guy, I can appreciate natural beauty. Besides, none of it ever meant anything; my heart has always belonged to you, Gorgeous."

She smacked his chest with the back of her hand.

"You're an idiot Baywatch…but you're my idiot."

"Am I?" he asked with a questioning gaze.

She looked away and it felt like someone had stabbed his heart.

"After you…died, I…I…" she swallowed thickly, trembling slightly. "I had to take it a day at a time. I focused on school during the day and being Tigress at night."

"You didn't go back to being just Artemis?"

"I needed some distance," she whispered. "Anyway, I got my Bachelors and have been working as a translator since I graduated two years ago." When she looked back up at him with tear filled eyes, the knife in his heart seemed to twist. "I tried dating a few times, but…I couldn't." The knife disappeared. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't love anyone else. You've ruined me."

Wally felt a grin split his face. Maybe he shouldn't be so happy about this, but, wow was he ecstatic. He had tried dating too, to try and forget, but the hope that one day he might be with her again was too strong. For Artemis though, he had been dead, and yet she still clung to him and his memory. He had no clue as to how he had been so lucky to have someone like her love him.

"I am never letting you go," he muttered as he pulled her tighter to his body. It was more of a thought spoken out loud, but she beamed up at him nonetheless.

"So? What now? I'm stuck in this dimension too now aren't I?" she asked.

"Not necessarily," said Batman. "Ever since I learned the truth about Flash's origins a few years ago, I've been working on a machine that can send you back to your own world. It's taken a long time, and I didn't want to say anything until I tested it to make sure it works, but it's only about a month away from completion."

Wally blinked in shock. He looked around the table at his friends, the family that he had made here. They looked back at him, some with encouraging smiles, Shayera with an unmasked frown, but he could see the sadness in all of their eyes. They didn't want him to go, not even Batman.

"I think we should stay."

He looked down at Artemis. She had her chin up and that stubborn look in her eyes.

"What?" he asked her.

"We should stay."

For a millisecond he considered it and then tossed that idea away. She was only saying that for him, but he would never take her away from her friends and family.

"But, Artemis, what about your family and everyone else you love?"

She bit her lip and then let out a quick breathe of air.

"Wally, my mom is dead."

"What?" he exclaimed. Paula had been pretty healthy last time he saw her, and during the months that Artemis was supposedly dead, he had grown close to the woman.

"Yeah," she said sadly. "It happened about a year ago, but she had been sick for two years before that. Cancer. At least I got to say good-bye. The rest of my family," her voice got hard. "Haven't changed much. Though, Roy is a good dad to Lian. Point is: I don't really have my own family in that world anymore. Your family, everyone on the team – they're good friends, and I'll miss them, but…they're all pretty happy. Their lives are full. I'm sure they'd miss me too, but they don't need me like they obviously need you," she said as she gestured around the table.

He narrowed his eyes and stared at her hard.

"Is this what you really want?"

"Honestly," she replied, "I don't care what world we're in, as long as we're together, but I know that you want to stay here and protect this world, so don't even try to act like you don't."

Wally smiled. "I've missed you, Spitfire."

"You better have," she teased.

He looked at Artemis conspiratorially, "That day, when we were fighting the droids and disabling the bomb in Paris, do you remember what I said?"

"You gave a very bad French impression, then said that we would come back one day when the world doesn't need saving." She frowned, "And then I said that the world will always need saving."

"True, but we already saved the world today. And see? It's only a couple hours after midnight," he said smiling. "So we've got about 22 hours until the next disaster happens."

"Hmm, what did you have in mind?" she asked looping her arms over his head.

"Well, first I'd like to give you something. It's something I had in my pocket that day in Paris, something that came to this dimension with me, and something I've carried with me every day since I've been here." He felt nothing but love for the woman sitting on his lap and couldn't feel any butterflies at what he was about to do. It was very different from when he was younger and nearly passed out from the nerves before he could even get the words out. From a small hidden pocket on his costume, Wally pulled out a delicate ring with three small diamonds set into the woven gold. He heard gasps from the present league members, but didn't dare break his gaze from Artemis'.

"Please tell me you'll finally be wearing it. Please tell me you'll marry me."

Artemis' eyes watered. She closed her eyes for a moment and then fixed him with a hard stare.

"On one condition: if you ever leave again, you're taking me with you."

"Deal."

"Good."

With that she grabbed his head and crushed her lips against his. He would gladly do this for the rest of his life. He didn't even care that there were others in the room watching them, but he wanted that ring on her finger, dammit.

He pulled back.

"So, is that a yes?"

She rolled her eyes, but something in his face told her he needed to hear it, so she responded, "Yes."

There were a couple cheers around them, and Wally knew he had the dopiest grin on his face as he slid the ring home. He didn't care though because he had waited four years for this moment; it was about time!

"Now," Artemis said making him raise his eyes back to her face. "How fast can we get to Paris?"

He jumped up with her cradled in his arms. "Um, hello? Fastest man alive."

"Still not sure that's something to brag about," muttered Shayera. Artemis heard and turned to look at her. Then she smiled and got a wicked glint in her eye.

Uh oh.

"Oh, it's definitely something to brag about. Especially because," Artemis stage whispered, "he vibrates!"

Wally felt his eyes go wide and his cheeks flame.

"Ohwouldyoulookatthetime? Weshouldreallygo. Seeyoualltomorrow…maybe."

Artemis just laughed as he took off down the hall and barely paused at the teleport station before they were beamed down to Central so he could grab some stuff before they left for Paris.

...

Back in the conference room, Superman had his eyes covered in a facepalm, GL was muttering that he didn't need to know that, Batman and Martian Manhunter were statues, Wonder Woman was trying to figure out what Artemis had meant, and Shayera had her arms crossed, her feet propped up on the table, and was staring at the ceiling. Nelson walked over and sat on the floor to look up at her. After a minute's contemplation, "I like her."