"Artemis B06" the computer announced as Artemis stepped out of the zeta tube listening to her music on her phone with her hair down. She felt a 'whoosh' of air, and her phone was gone. Artemis looked to her left, where a certain speedster was laying on the couch facing away from her with her phone in hand.
"WALLY!" Wally tilted his head back and smiled. "Yes?" he asked. Artemis took a breath. "Give me back my phone, Baywatch."
"What phone?" Wally said, turning his attention toward Artemis' phone again. Artemis realized he was scrolling through her music. "And quit going through my music!"
Wally tilted his head back at her again, and pressed play. Artemis recognized the beat, it was one of her favorite songs. Wally just sat there, smiling like an idiot. "'Bombshell Blonde'? The song suits you," he said with his green eyes shining. Wow, his eyes were really green, and bright, and actually really cute...
Artemis snapped out of her trance and walked toward the couch. Wally sat up. "Give me back my phone, Baywatch!" Artemis fumed. Wally stood up and held the phone up. "Why don't you just take it?" he said with a challenge in his voice.
Artemis growled in frustration. Wally could be SO annoying! She reached for the phone, but Wally held it higher, so that she'd have to jump to be able to reach it. Artemis kept trying to grab her phone, but Wally always kept it out of her reach.
"Wally! Give me back my phone!" Artemis yelled in frustration. Wally pretended to consider it. "Hmm, I don't know Arty. Whats in it for me?"
"Don't call me 'Arty'!" Artemis fumed. "And if you give me my phone back now, then I won't hurt you as much as I usually do at the next training session."
Wally shook his head. "No, offer something else." Artemis just kept reaching for her phone.
"Hey, I got an idea! How bout you stay here for the rest of the evening and watch a movie with me!" Wally exclaimed.
Artemis groaned. "Why me? Why not Robin, or Miss Martian, or Aqualad?"
"Robin is in Gotham with the bat, Miss Martian and Superboy are out shopping, and Aqualad is in Atlantis," Wally said with a triumphant look on his face. Artemis gave in.
"Fine. I'll stay and watch the stupid movie with you." Wally smiled. "Now give me back my phone."
"I'll give you your phone back afterwards." Artemis pouted. "Fine."
"Great, I'll be right back with the movies!" Wally called over his shoulder as he made his way to his room. Artemis froze. "Wait, 'movies'? You said 'movie'! As in just one!"
Wally shrugged as he came back with a stack of DVDs and a huge bucket of popcorn. Within seconds he put a DVD in, pulled Artemis on the couch with him, and started eating the popcorn. Artemis tried to scoot away from him, considering how close they were, but he just tightened his grip. Artemis glanced at him, as if to say, 'really?'. She finally gave up trying to get away from him and just dealt with it.
About halfway through the movie, Wally pulled her into his lap. Artemis yelped as he did so, earning a smug grin from the speedster. "Shut up," she murmured. Wally put his hands up in surrender. "I didn't say anything."
Artemis tried to get away, but he replaced his grip quickly before she could escape. Artemis let out a stubborn humph. "Jerk," she pouted.
Wally simply chuckled. "Whatever you say." "Shutup, Baywatch." Wally just laughed again.
For a while, they watched the movie without saying a word. Unconsciously, Artemis began leaning back, until she was fully relaxed against the speedster's chest.
"Hey Arty?" Wally asked, breaking the silence. Artemis answered without looking at him. "What have I told you about calling me 'Arty'?"
Wally leaned forward and put his head on her right shoulder, moving his thumb in a circular motion on her arm.
"Well, you said I could call you whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted," he whispered in her ear. Artemis shivered a little. Wally raised an eyebrow and shot her a smug smirk. Artemis turned and glared at him.
"No. I said to stop calling me 'Arty'." Wally pretended to think. "No, I'm pretty sure you said I could call you whatever I wanted."
Artemis looked up at him. "I did not give you permission to call me 'Arty'," she retorted.
Artemis froze when he saw the mischievous glint in his eyes. He was planning something, and she wasn't gonna like it. "Whatever you say."
"Wally, whatever you're thinking about doing, don't do it-!"
Artemis squealed when he began tickling her ribs. She tried valiantly to get away, but Wally's grip remained firm.
"Are you sure that I'm not allowed to call you 'Arty'?" he asked smugly. Artemis could barely breath, and eventually gave into the torture.
"F-fine! You win! S-stop tickling m-me! PLEASE!" she yelled, laughing. Wally stopped tickling her. Artemis gasped for air, then realized what she had just agreed to. She turned to look at Wally, who had once again placed his head on her right shoulder.
Wally grinned, still staring straight at the tv. "Don't worry, babe. I won't tell anyone you gave me permission to call you 'Arty'."
Artemis was about to remind him that she gave him permission to call her 'Arty', not 'babe', when he interrupted her. "On one condition."
Artemis sighed. "What do you want?"
Wally looked at her with a grin on his face. "You come here every Friday night and watch movies with me."
Artemis looked at him like he was crazy. Wally's smile only got bigger. "You have to, or I'll tell them your secret."
At this, Artemis froze in shock and fear. He couldn't know, could he? She'd done such a great job at hiding it! "NO!" she blurted out.
Wally jerked back in shock. He knew it would be embarrassing if he told the team that she had given him permission to call her 'Arty', but not THAT embarrassing. She actually looked scared…
Wally narrowed his eyes a bit. Artemis was hiding something, something she clearly didn't want anyone to know. And he was gonna find out.
Artemis calmed down when she realized he was talking about the whole 'permission to call her 'Arty'' thing, not her secret.
"Artemis?" Wally's voice was gentle. "Is there something you're not telling me?"
Artemis curled herself into a ball, pulling her knees up into his lap. Wally barely heard her say, "I don't want to talk about it…
Wally decided to put the matter to rest and pulled her closer to him, his arms protecting her. He stroked her long, golden hair while whispering words of comfort as she quietly sobbed. Whatever it was that was bothering her, she was clearly terrified of telling anyone. And Wally was gonna stay by her side the whole time, regardless of what her secret was.
When Miss Martian and Superboy returned to the Cave, they found Robin and Aqualad holding their fingers to their lips at them. Aqualad pointed to the couch, where they found a sleeping speedster holding a sleeping archer, his arms wrapped protectively around her.
There was a camera flash and the three looked at Robin. Robin shrugged and simply said, "Blackmail." He snapped a few more photos before Wally began to stir.
"R-robin? What the heck, man? We're trying to sleep. Go away," he mumbled half-asleep, pulling Artemis closer to him, nuzzling her neck. Robin lightly chuckled. "Ok, Wall-Man."
With that, the rest of the team went to bed. Wally smiled into Artemis' neck. 'I hope this happens again next time' he thought before drifting off into a deep slumber once again.