It was always doomed to happen. Anyone who knew them, or even knew of them, saw it coming. It's fairly certain that they saw it coming. Still, no one assumed it would happen so soon.

Artemis stood on one side of the battlefield; Wally stood on the other. While glaring daggers at each other, they prepared to fight. It was fairly clear that Artemis was at a disadvantage, since her arrows were out of hand, and no one could really take Wally's weapon away.

Black Canary nodded, and the countdown began. "Three . . . two . . ."

"I'm typically against to fighting women. . ." Wally began, "so if you would just surrender, life would be so much easier for me."

Artemis' eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "And we wouldn't want anything to be tough for you, would we?" Smiling at the irritation painting his face, she clenched her fists, waiting for the signal.

". . . One . . . begin."

Despite Wally's speed, Artemis was the first to charge. She swung twice at his stomach, and then once at his head. Both attacks missed as Wally teasingly dodged her. He sprinted around behind her, but she appeared to see this coming and attempted to swiftly kick him in the head. He caught this attack, using her leg as leverage to push her away and make her stumble.

Artemis rapidly regained her balance, totally unwilling to accept the "fail" label that the floor loved to dish out. She sighed, trying to slow her breathing. Wally was still totally unfazed, grinning; toying with her. It was pissing her off.

"Still unwilling to surrender?" He teased, puffing out his chest in pride.

"I've barely even started." She lied, and instantly lamented the fact that she was a poor liar. Obviously, normal combat wouldn't work against this speedster. She could cheat, use some dirty tricks. Was that fair? Well, it was a fight. All's fair in a fight. Artemis smiled.

"You know, that's a really scary thing." Wally said, putting his hands on his hips.

"What is?" His question caught her off guard. Maybe he had decided to cheat before she did. So not cool.

"That expression on your face. It's absolutely terrifying." He grinned, and Artemis raised an eyebrow in response.

She waved her hand, challenging him to attack. Intrigued by this change in strategy, Wally took the bait. He sped toward her, and she stepped to the side, allowing him to pass by. He screeched to a halt, using his hand to help pivot to face her, not allowing her to get a chance to attack from behind. Artemis charged anyway, punching and kicking in a fluid motion, even though she knew no attacks would hit.

Because of this, they were in really close proximity to each other. Whispering distance, even. Now her plan could be enacted.

"Would you like to hear something interesting?" Artemis said calmly, hiding her exhaustion so that Wally could understand her while she kept her voice low.

"Enlighten me." Wally said, slowing back down to normal speed while he was still able to dodge her attacks. She was slowing down, and he began to assume that she was on the edge of exhaustion. But wasn't her endurance higher than that?

"I think M'gann said that . . ." Artemis lowered her voice so that the last part of her sentence was completely inaudible. She wasn't surprised that she now had his attention. If she had whispered that key word from the other end of the room, she would still have his attention. As dumb as his puppy- love act was, it was perfect for controlling him.

"What was that?" Wally moved in closer, ducking a kick to the head and leapfrogging over her to try to make a move from behind. It didn't work.

Artemis smiled, spinning to face him and using her momentum for a roundhouse kick. "She said that she likes you . . ."

"Really?" Wally's face lit up, and Artemis narrowed her eyes in slight irritation. Did he know how dumb he looked when he acted like that?

". . . less than she likes Superboy."

The sudden change in Wally's expression gave Artemis just the chance that she had been waiting for. She made an attempt to sweep his legs out from under him, and easy way to win the battle. Btu he had seen it coming, and hopped backward.

Anger filled his expression, and Artemis began to doubt the wisdom behind her plan. Maybe his flirtatious relationship with M'gann was more than that. Then she had really screwed up. There was no way she was going to win, now. But that was the least of her concerns.

He began to charge at her, his speed rapidly increasing. Only one way out of it, now. He was less than fifteen feet away.

Apparently she didn't have to do anything. He must have had some sort of momentary hesitation that made him trip, for, in a matter of moments, he was flying toward her.

He crashed into her, and the two tumbled, rolling across the floor. The tumbling stopped, but the two kept sliding a short distance. When it finally stopped, the two just lay there in shock from impact.

"Artemis. Fail." The floor echoed. "Kid Flash. Fail."

Artemis groaned, her eyes scrunched tight as she felt a slight twinge of pain. She didn't want to hear that computer say that she failed, again. Her back throbbed, and she only assumed that it was because she slid a fairly good distance, but the cold floor kind of felt good on it. She already felt bruises forming in other places as well, and only assumed that they were the Flash Kid's fault.

"Oh my god!" M'gann's voice was less than comforting at the moment. "Are you guys o-oh."

Artemis froze, wondering what the reason was behind M'gann's hesitation was. She also wondered why she was having such a difficult time breathing. She couldn't have been hurt that bad, could she?

As she pushed herself up with her elbows and opened her eyes, all she got was a mouthful of fabric and a somewhat intoxicating scent. She was pinned in her position, and the fabric muffled her cussing.

The tumble had put them in a strange position. Artemis was on the floor, and Wally was on top of her. He was on his knees, and his head was still on the floor; he was still in shock from the tumble. While his head was being held between his hands, shaking it to regain focus, he hadn't quite realized that his chest was right in Artemis' face. Because one of his legs were resting on the floor between hers, he had her pinned.

Flustered and impatient, Artemis put her hands against his chest and pushed as hard as her tired body would allow. Wally was flung backward, landing hard on his rear. It was surprising how much strength she had when she was embarrassed.

"Ow!" Wally groaned. "What the hell?"

Artemis stood up quickly, the blush still on her face. She looked at the others, and their expressions made the blush become more crimson. They all wore a shocked expression, well, except Robin, who's expression was that of someone who couldn't possibly be any more entertained.

Like any other teenage girl, she couldn't take the embarrassment any longer. She turned rapidly, rushing down the halls.

"W-wait!" She heard footsteps behind her, closing rapidly. She didn't slow her pace. "Oh, come on! Slow down!"

She felt a slight brush of fingertips on one of her hands, so she quickened her pace. Didn't guys know to quit while they were ahead?

"SLOW DOWN!"

"What?" No longer able to take it, Artemis spun around quickly, winding up locking lips with the person tailing her. Now she really lamented the fact that Wally was the same height as her.

She backed up quickly, but not too fast (the kiss was, regrettably, enjoyable), and couldn't raise her eyes from the floor. If her entire face wasn't red before, it was now.

"W-what do you want?" She asked, unable to avoid stuttering.

"Well . . . um . . . I was gonna say sorry . . . for the . . . um . . . fight." Wally scratched the back of his head. "And I guess I'm gonna say sorry for what just happened now, too."

Artemis could only assume, by the sound of his voice, that he was as red as her. "Apology . . . accepted? Anything else?"

Wally hesitated. "Yeah. . One more thing." He stepped closer. "Sorry for this." He lifted her chin, pulling her into another kiss. This time she didn't pull away, not even to say that he didn't have to be sorry for this one.