A starburst of pain shoots through Wally's head when Artemis' combat boot makes contact. He staggers back and reaches out blindly for her helping hand.
"Babe," he says in a strained voice as he blinks furiously, allowing Artemis to keep him upright. "Do that again."
"What?" she asks, brows knitting together beneath her cowl, before she gives his hand a squeeze. His knuckles are white despite his freckles.
"Maybe you kicked him too hard?" M'gann calls over to the two. She and Black Canary watch from the sidelines of the Cave's luminous sparring ring.
"Your fighting style is unique to… ah, certain criminals," he tries to clarify. Artemis' hold on him is suddenly like a vice. "They don't hold back when they use that move. Its taken me out a few times. I wanna learn how to block it."
"Clever," Black Canary comments. "Do it again, Artemis."
Instead, the archer rests her free hand on Wally's forehead and smooths back bangs that have become matted with sweat. From what his hairline reveals, the skin there is bruised. He didn't expect a mission tonight, but he still should have geared up. Once, he explained the science of his KF suit to her, and she knows it's made to absorb more hits than his regular freckled flesh can handle.
Idiot. He was so stupid to allow her to kick him around —literally—like this.
"You sure?" she asks lowly, not letting up on her grip. "When I asked my dad the same thing, a concussion was the least of my worries."
He flinches, hand going slack in hers, and she finally lets go. Holographic readouts of their vitals and sparring scores appear between them as he backs away. Another round is about to begin.
His jaw sets and his eyes narrow as he stares past the computerized info at her. "You don't mean that."
Her lips sour into a frown. Of course he doesn't want to talk about it. He never does. Not even with their resident shrink and telepath present.
She reflexively falls into a battle stance, wary of Wally's low health meter. "I didn't learn to fight by asking nicely. I fought to survive. The next time Jade kicks you in the face, try not to be too disoriented to remember that."
Before they go at it again, Black Canary warns them that this is the last bout that Wally can take before hitting the showers. Artemis doesn't hold back.
A/N: Hello, world of ff. Its been a while. I was going through some old word docs and cleaned this piece up enough to post it here. If you could let me know what you think, I'd appreciate it! Might be a little rusty.