A/N: I tried to upload this quickly on my way to work, but for some people it didn't work. So I'm uploading it again. Sorry if you get an e-mail update twice!

DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, none of these characters belong to me. If Wally West belonged to me, I would be the only one allowed to play with him ;-) Any dialogue or plot that looks familiar belongs to DC and Greg Weisman and other people who are not me.

Summary: This is the story of Artemis and Wally and their evolution from teammates, to friends, to boyfriend and girlfriend, to husband and wife, to soul mates and everything and anything in between. Please review! XD

Genre: Friendship, Romance, Action/Adventure, Humor

Rating: T (just to be safe, it might go up later if I'm feeling particularly ambitious)

Characters: Artemis Crock, Wally West

The EVOLUTION of SOUL MATES

Evolution: the gradual development of something, esp. from a simple to a more complex form.

Chapter Two: Teammate

When Green Arrow brought her to the Cave to meet the Team for the first time, Artemis couldn't decide whether she was more excited or nervous. Of course, she made sure that she was as cool as a cucumber on the outside, but inside she was just about ready to burst. What was the Team like? Would they like her? Would she like them? Would she measure up to their skills? Afterall, she was still relatively new to this superhero thing. Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad had been doing this for years.

Stop, she told herself. You are awesome. Stop psyching yourself out. She was a great archer, and she knew she would be a great addition to the Team. They would be lucky to have her in fact! Green Arrow himself had even been impressed with her skills. Uncle Ollie, as he had told her to call him to keep with their cover story, had assured her that she would fit perfectly with the Team. If she was truthful with herself, maybe she was only nervous about meeting one person: Kid Flash.

She felt so stupid for having the little crush she had on him, but she can't help it. Realistically, she knows that if they're going to be teammates now, she's going to have to get over it. That didn't stop the girly girl part of her, the part that only makes itself known once every blue moon, from making sure that she looked her absolute best today. All through her first introductions to the team, she was looking for him. His signature bright red hair was nowhere to be found, however, and Artemis struggled to keep the disappointment off her face as she met the leader of the team, Aqualad.

"Recognized: Kid Flash, B03."

Be cool, Artemis. Be cool, she thought desperately, fighting the urge to smooth down her hair with her hand.

"The Wallman is here!" exclaimed the figure emerging from the zeta tubes, and she got her first look at her superhero idol. Instead of his customary yellow spandex, Kid Flash was dressed in civilian swim trunks and carrying a surprising amount of beach going supplies. "Let's get this party star—"

Artemis watching in a mix of horror and amusement as the young speedster tripped over his own two feet, dropping all of his beach things, and falling into a heap on the floor.

"—ted?" he finished weakly.

The kid had smothered his nose with suntan lotion and had a towel slung over his shoulders. This—this clumsy, beach bum—was Kid Flash? No way, there had to be some mistake. She decided to make her presence known.

"Wallman, huh?" she said, her voice just brimming with sarcasm. "Ah, love the uniform. What exactly are your powers?"

She watched as he picked himself up off the ground and eyed her uncertainly. His cheeks were stained red with embarrassment.

"Uh, who is this?" he asked his, their, teammates.

"Artemis, your new teammate," she helpfully supplied.

"Kid Flash," he shot back, taking off his sunglasses. It wasn't an introduction. It seemed like a challenge. "Never heard of you."

So it was him then. One look at his bright green eyes was all the confirmation she needed. Artemis scowled in disappointment. She wasn't quite sure what she had been expecting, but "The Wallman" (what did that even stand for anyway?), was definitely not it.

Green Arrow came to her rescue. "Uhm, she's my new protégé," he told them, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"W-what happened to your old one?" Kid Flash whined, and the expression on his face when he looked at her would have made a weaker person cry, but she was Artemis. Crying wasn't in her DNA.

And then of course, Speedy chose that exact moment to enter the Cave. Him and Green Arrow had their little spat and she only intervened when he brought her into it.

"Can she even use that bow?" he asked derisively.

"Yes, she can," she retorted, stepping right up to him. I'm probably a better shot then you are, she had to bite her tongue to keep from saying. Once she got started, there was no stopping her mouth.

"Who are you?" Kid Flash questioned from behind Speedy or Red Arrow, or whatever his stupid name was now.

"I'm his niece."

"She's my niece."

"Another niece?" came Robin, sounding skeptical.

Artemis turned her attention to him. He was the youngest member of the Team, and yet he seemed like he would be the one she would have to be the most careful with. She trusted the Batman to keep her secrets, but Robin wasn't the protégé of the World's Greatest Detective for nothing.

"But she is not your replacement," Aqualad said to Red Arrow. "We have always wanted you on the Team. And we have no quota on archers."

"And if we did, you know who'd we pick," Kid Flash was quick to add.

She was getting tired of his slights. He needed to deal with the fact that she was his teammate now, not Red Arrow. "Whatever, Baywatch," she said, considering the matter closed. "I'm here to stay."

She listened intently as Red Arrow described the nanobytes and the League of Shadows involvement with them. She was proud of herself for not even batting an eye when he said the name of the Shadows. When she thought about how close she had been to almost…No, focus. Don't think about that.

"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power broking," she listed, jumping into the conversation. "Yeah, sounds like the Shadows."

"Like you know anything about the Shadows," Kid Flash huffed.

She looked at him and said nothing. I know stories about the Shadows that would give you nightmares, she was bursting to say, but instead just smirked at him.

This seemed to infuriate him even more, which made Artemis feel something akin to satisfaction. "Who are you?" he asked again.

She turned back to Red Arrow, but tuned him and Green Arrow out. How could everything have gone so wrong, so quickly? When she had imagined meeting the Team, she hadn't expected them to welcome her with open arms right away, but she never would have envisioned such open hostility, especially from Kid Flash. He always seemed so friendly on the news. Always with a bright grin on his face, shaking hands with civilians, and kissing babies and all that crap that superheroes do. Maybe she was seeing the real Kid Flash now, the immature boy behind the superhero façade.

She couldn't help being disappointed that reality hadn't lived up to her imagination, but she wasn't about to let him or any of them stand in her way. She didn't care if they didn't like her. This wasn't freaking kindergarten. She wasn't there to make friends or play nice with all the other kids. She had come to help people, to help the League, and if they didn't like it, they knew where the door was.

As Red Arrow left the Cave in a huff, Artemis met Kid Flash's eyes. He gave her a harsh glare, which she returned before looking away. Ignoring the pang in her chest, she tried to focus on the task at hand. As far as she knew, they had a mission, and she would do anything within her power to make sure that they succeeded. And if she was able to prove to them that she deserved to be on the Team, so much the better.

When the mission was over, however, Artemis still felt like she had done nothing to prove that she had earned her spot on the Team. Sure, they had protected Dr. Roquette—to an extent; Artemis was sure the scientist wouldn't be hiring their security services again anytime soon—and they had destroyed the nanobyte technology, but Artemis felt like a failure. The shock of seeing her sister again after 6 years, and finding out that her sister was the assassin they were trying to stop nonetheless, had severely impeded her actions and clouded her judgment. Jade was working for the Shadows, just like their father had always planned, and yet Artemis couldn't understand why. Her sister had left their family in an effort to get away from their father and the way of life he had in store for them. So how had she been pulled back in?

"Are you all right, Artemis?" came the deep, calm voice of Aqualad to her right, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Uh, yeah," she said, trying to gather her wits about her. They were all exiting the bioship and slumping into the foyer of the Cave. "I'm just thinking about the mission."

"You did well today," he told her, giving her a soft smile.

"Thanks, Aqualad," she said, returning the gesture.

"The mission is over," he said. "You may call me by my civilian name, Kal'dur'ahm, or Kal'dur."

"Kal'dur," she said, testing it out. "Artemis is my real name, too."

"Wait, you're superhero name is the same as your real name?" Kid Flash interjected from behind her, causing her to stop walking. "'Cause that makes a lot of sense."

"Who asked you, Flash boy?" she retorted.

"Kid. Flash. Seriously, how hard is that?"

Artemis scoffed. "So, what's your name, then, Kid Flash?" she asked, trying to ignore the part of her that was desperate to know the name behind her once superhero idol.

"Hmph, I don't know if I trust you with my secret identity, yet," the speedster said, crossing his arms petulantly.

"His name is Wally," Robin supplied as he walked passed them.

"Dude! Not cool!"

Artemis struggled to contain her laughter. "Wally? You're name is Wally? Oh, the Wallman. I get it now. What, did your parents have a Leave It to Beaver obsession or something?"

Kid Flash, Wally, seemed to be muttering death threats under his breath, and his ears had turned bright red. They were alone now, as everyone else had dispersed, either home or to their rooms in the Cave. Artemis couldn't help her laughter, but saw that it was making Wally more than a little embarrassed. He turned to go.

"Wait, wait," she said, taking a chance and grabbing his forearm. "I'm sorry. Wally is a great name. It suits you."

He narrowed his eyes at her, trying to gauge her sincerity. She must have passed the test because his expression softened. "I guess Artemis suits you too, both real and superhero name. Goddess of the hunt, and all that," he said. His eyes widened almost comically after a moment. "Not that I think you're a goddess or anything. Just, you know, the bow and arrow, and stuff."

"Don't burst a brain cell, there," she teased. "I get it. Anyway, I'd better be getting back home."

"Yeah, me too."

The both walked over to the zeta tubes. Before Artemis walked into the one that would take her back to Gotham, Wally called over to her.

"Hey, Artemis. Welcome to the Team."

Artemis smiled. "Thanks."

"Recognized: Kid Flash, B03."

"Recognized: Artemis, B07."

Maybe today hadn't gone so bad after all, she thought to herself as the zeta tube teleported her home.

A/N: Yay, chapter 2! Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and story alerted this! You're awesome! Please review this time around and hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon! XD

Next chapter: Replacement