"Wally, stop it. Just stop," Artemis said, pushing the yellow-clad speedster away from herself. "A relationship between us is never going to work. I need a man who is willing to look away from the fridge for half a second, and can actually do stuff with me. Who cares enough to learn the littlest, stupidest details about me."
Her footfalls echoed across the Mission Room as she strode away, bouncing off the walls that magnified the sound. She tried to not let the tears fall as she crossed to the door. She had really thought, for all of his skirt-chasing and his arrogance, that he was different from all the guys she'd dated before. That she wasn't just some fling because he was bored. Wally watched her back, and for some reason his heart broke at the thought of losing her. Especially when he knew that he should lose her, after the idiot and jerk he'd been to her.
"Purple," the ginger called after her.
She froze mid-stride, and slowly lowered her foot. "What?"
"Your favorite color is purple."
She was about to say something, but he wasn't going to let her. He had to prove to her that she really did mean something to him. Not just something, that she meant the world to him.
"Your middle name is Lian. When you get angry, you have a habit of cussing under your breath in Vietnamese. Mostly about the person that made you mad's personal hygiene and the activities they participate in with their family members; particularly their mothers. Your eyes aren't black, they're very dark grey with steel-grey flecks around your irises. You will eat the vegetables before the meat in any dish. Your favorite food is the Honey Chicken from the little Vietnamese place on Kingston street. You punch harder when you're on your lovely little time of month, but you won't kick at all. When you get upset, you'll rock out and dance around to One Direction in your PJ's in your room." Ah, One Direction. Her one guilty, girly pleasure.
With every little fact about her that he named, Wally took a step closer, until he was right behind her. He wasn't stupid enough to try something as dumb as actually touching her, but he bent his head so his breath was right by her ear. He couldn't make her forgive him, and couldn't take back all the stupid stuff he'd done. But he couldn't let her go without telling her what she really meant to him.
"You hate not knowing if you're coming home, but you'll go on missions anyway. You say it's your way of giving back to the world that made you who you are. You hate not knowing anything, about everything. During those all-night thunderstorms, you'll go down to the beach and just sit on the sand between midnight and two in the morning, not even trying to stay dry. You love to watch lightning, but you're still kinda afraid of the thunder. When you wake up in the morning, you lie there for half an hour because you just want to continue your dreams. You talk in your sleep, and cry during your nightmares. Your favorite song in the world is I Dreamed a Dream from Les Mis."
He slipped his hands slightly forward so he was touching her waist. When she didn't turn around and slap him, he slid his arms the rest of the way around her, his forearms wrapping around her abdomen. Without thinking about it, she leaned back against his chest and let him help support her. This was a huge encouragement to him.
"You know exactly how to flip your hair so that I can't get the sight out of my head for hours. Just one touch can drive me crazy. When you kiss me, I feel like the luckiest man in the world. When you even look at another guy, much less talk to him, I get so insanely jealous, because I want your beautiful voice and your attention all for myself." Artemis couldn't help snorting, even with the romantic turn the, rather one-sided, conversation had taken. "When I get lucky enough to touch you, I get so insanely nervous, even if it's just holding your hand. You deserve perfection, but the only person you ever demand it from is yourself. When you-"
"Wally," she said, calmly cutting him off as she turned around in his arms. "Just shut up and kiss me."
The speedster complied, his mouth gently caressing Artemis's. She tangled her fingers into his coppery locks, feeling the smooth, soft strands sliding through her fingers. He reached behind her head and pulled her ponytail out, letting her long blond hair fall around her like a curtain of sunlight.
"You forgot the most important detail about me," she whispered seductively as she pulled away to catch her breath. "I know certain arrogant, hot-headed, self-centered, strong-willed, hard-headed-"
"Is there a point to this?" Wally asked impatiently, not letting her see how much her words hurt.
"Hush, let me finish. Oh yeah, impatient, rude, and impertinent ginger, who also happens to be handsome, thoughtful, sweet, cute, funny, smart, hot, strong, sculpted like freaking Adonis, and a thief."
"A thief?" he demanded.
"And a very good one at that." She smiled and pressed a chaste kiss onto his lips before continuing. "Because not just anyone can steal my heart, in such a way that doesn't make me want to take it back."
Wally looked down at the girl in his arms. "Why do we keep doing this? What's the point of all the fighting we do? We fight all day out there, then we come back here, fight, kiss, and make up. Why?"
She thought this over for a few minutes, still wrapped in his arms.
"Well, I guess it's for the same reason that they finally let us onto the Watchtower," she said after a bit.
"To see the earth?" Wally wasn't following her train of thought.
"To show us that we have something that's still worth fighting for. In our case, making up and moving on shows us that we really do care for each other."
"I don't care for you, Artemis. I stopped caring for you a long time ago."
His words stopped her heart, and she started to stiffen in his arms.
"I love you, Artemis Lian Crock, more than anyone has ever loved anything or anyone before," he whispered, kissing her.
"I love you too, Wally West," she whispered back when she finally pulled away, lips tingling.
Maybe she was wrong, and they didn't fight just to make sure they still cared. She didn't know, and neither did he. But they knew that they did love each other, and that would never change, no matter what pointless arguments they would have. Because, in their line of work, there was never a promise that you would be returning to the Cave after a mission. But that was what held them to it; they had a better chance of returning than anyone else. And this would be the conversation that Artemis, now Tigress, would remember for years, lying alone in their bed, tears falling down and getting absorbed into the pillow. Wally had lost her, temporarily, but now she'd lost him, and he wasn't waiting with a magical appearance-changing necklace at the end of the day, to hold her and kiss her and call her his spitfire.
But, once upon a time, there had been a very special boy who had taken the time to learn all the stupid little details about a girl who danced to One Direction in her PJ's when she was upset.
So. Yes, I'm not dead! Hahaha...ha...ha... This is a thing that's been sitting on my computer forever, but I never got around to publishing. It's meant to distract you that it's been, like, a month...and a half...ish...since I updated either of my other stories. But I'm sorry! I'm suffering from so much writers block I'm surprised I can still write my name on my papers for school. It's awful! I'm really really sorry, you guys. You deserve better, especially after what I left you with on Balancing Act. SOWWIE!
-IceQueen2196