It took a couple of minutes for the muscles in my body to relax and I could move my fingers and arms again. I was still breathing pretty rapidly, my arms and hands began shaking but thankfully no one in the cave had heard me scream.

I had to get my facts straight. I was in my room at the cave, not in artic gear at the north pole. I didn't watch Artemis get disentagrated right in front of me, I just kissed her good night a few hours ago. Slowly my breathing returned to normal.

I looked at the clock that was on the bedside table, it was three thirty in the morning. I slowly got myself out of bed, forcing my legs to move, I had to get the blood flowing in them again. I decided to take a walk towards the kitchen. For once I wasn't really hungry, I was thirsty and I had a feeling I wasn't going to get back to sleep anytime soon. I slipped on a pair of sweat pants and left the room.

As I walked down the hallway to the kitchen my mind wandered back to the nightmare. I knew exactly where it was from, the mental training exercise the Team and I had last October, the one that went horribly wrong. Even though the entire thing never really happened it sure felt like it had. The sight of her skeleton disappearing, the rage I felt at the aliens who had taken her from me, the surge of hope I had when he came to the realization that she could still be alive, then the grief I felt when he realized she was truly gone.

I began shaking my head, I didn't want to remember that. Thankfully I reached the kitchen before any more emotions or memories came to the surface of my mind. I went to flip on the light switch only to realize that it was already on. Who else was up in the middle of the night?

As if in answer to my question, Artemis spoke up. "Hey Wally."

I lifted my head to see my girlfriend of the last four months, in her nightshirt and pajama bottoms, sitting at the breakfast nook, eating a sandwich and reading a book.

"Oh Hey Artemis." I knew the moment I spoke I that I wasn't sounding like myself.

Artemis got up off the stool she was sitting on and began walking towards me. "Are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm fi..."

She grabbed my hand with one of hers. "Wally, you're not fine, you're shaking."

"I'm …"

Her hand was suddenly at my forehead. "And you're covered in cold sweat. What's the matter?"

I grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes, she looked as scared as I felt and possibly looked.

"It's nothing. I just had a really bad nightmare that's all."

She let go of my hand and hugged me. I could feel her head against my shoulder and her hands gripping the back of my shirt. The warmth of her body against mine felt so good and had somehow slowed down my shaking hands and I was able to hug her back.

We stood there holding each other for a few minutes and I didn't want to let go. This was what I really needed, to hold her in my arms and make sure she was ok. She spoke up.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

My body suddenly froze again. I did want to talk about that nightmare, but I wasn't sure if talking to her was the best idea right now. How would she react? Would she tell me I was crazy? That it wasn't even real and thinking about it was pointless.

She started rubbing my back and all those fears suddenly went away. I knew I could talk to her about it and she wouldn't judge me. She would comfort me just as she was doing now. I knew that she would do her best to alleiviate my fears, which is what I needed right now.

"Sure Artemis. I could talk about it."

She let go of my body. "Do you want something to drink or eat?"

"Sure, some water please."

"Ok, go sit down on the couch, and I'll bring it to you."

I walked over to the couch and sat down. Thankfully by then I had stopped shaking. A minute or so later she walked over and sat down. She handed me the glass and I took a few sips. I finished half of the glass before she spoke.

"So what about this nightmare?"

I put my glass down on the table. "Do you remember last October, when we had that mental training exercise?"

I saw Artemis's face tighten. "I do remember, but I try not to. I also don't like thinking about it."

"Neither do I. Has anyone told you about what happened after you, well…"

"Died?"

"Yeah, that."

"No. I figured it was one of those things that none of us wanted to talk about."

"Well that was what my nightmare was about. I watched you die all over again." I could feel my hand shaking again and she grabbed it.

"Wally, it was never real, it didn't happen."

"I know Artemis, but it felt so real. Then there was how I reacted to your death."

I felt her moving closer to me and her hand gripped mine even tighter. "What do you mean?"

I took a deep breath. I told her about the incredible amount of rage and grief I felt right after she had "died." How I swore revenge against that imaginary alien race. How I promised not to rest until each individual member was dead.

Then I told her about my theory on the cannons. How the zeta radiation from them led me to believe that all those who had been shot were possibly teleported to an unknown place. I told her about the hope I had and how I never let go of it.

The last part was really hard to talk about. I managed to tell her about how we had invaded the mothership, only to discover that we were wrong, there were no prisoners, nobody to rescue.

By now, Artemis was hugging me again. I gripped her hand pretty hard when I spoke again.

"When I came to the realization that you were really dead, I refused to accept it. I was going insane. I almost attacked J'onn. Robin had to snap me out of it. If he hadn't given us an objective, I don't know what I would've done."

"I can see how that would give you nightmares." I could feel her hands grabbing my face and I noticed her face getting close to mine. Then she kissed me.

I kissed her back. Once again that night, I could feel all cold sensations leaving my body as I embraced her, taking in the feeling of her lips against mine. We had kissed a lot since we became a couple on New Years but never like this. After about a minute, she backed away and we were able to breathe again. Then she spoke.

" And to be fair, if ANYONE took you away from me, I would probably react the same way."

I just smiled and made a mental note to thank Green Arrow someday. Having Artemis join the team was the best thing to ever happen to me.