A/N: I am appalled at this story. It is all in all way too romantic for my tastes. Bear with me, I'm pretty new at this sappy stuff. And I am really trying, for the most part, to keep with the canon-ness of the first chapter. So the romance aspect of the story will probably not get higher than a K+. The T is just because of injuries (and yes, there will be more)

I have been going through serious update withdrawals. Which is why I am up at one o'clock in the morning posting this. I apologize for any crappy-ness in this chapter; once again, not my genre of expertise!

Anyways, here it is. As for a disclaimer, do I really need to bother?

"I can't believe Roy would willingly join the Shadows."

Kaldur, Robin, Megan and Artemis were waiting sullenly outside the medical bay, were Flash and J'onn were attending to Wally and Conner.

Megan and Artemis sat next to each other on the floor, leaning against the wall by the door, shoulders touching. Kaldur was standing on the other side of the door, one arm leaning heavily on the wall with his head bowed and every muscle tense with worry. Robin was pacing; he had been the one to break the silence.

"I can't believe what he did to Wally and Conner. Even if he's changed sides, I never would have thought he'd actually try to use lethal force on us," Artemis replied—then she remembered that the arrow that had almost killed Wally had been meant for her, and a twinge of guilt stung her. Quickly she pushed the thought from her mind. "Do you think they brainwashed him?"

Robin shook his head. "I hate to say it, but he was definitely himself when he was talking to us. I think it's just like he said: he's tired of being pushed aside and manipulated by the Justice League. I bet the Shadows gave him a pretty warm welcome."

"We have to talk some sense into him." Kaldur said suddenly. The other three turned to stare at him.

"Is that seriously what you're thinking about right now?" Robin said incredulously. "After what he did, I say let the Shadows have him. He was aiming to kill, Kaldur. He almost did it, too."

"He's not in his right mind!" Artemis jumped in. "I'm with Kaldur. Roy needs our help; we can't just give up on him!"

Robin saw a strange expression flicker across Kaldur's face, but it was gone before he could decide what it was.

"We can't do anything about it until Wally and Conner recover anyways," said Megan, coming out of her reverie. "But… I'm sorry, guys, but I agree with Robin. Red Arrow isn't going to want to listen to us. To him we're as bad as the Justice League, and if we try to talk him into coming back he's just going to push us further away. Besides, I can't see the Shadows just letting him quit. He could be in serious danger if he tried to leave."

The others looked at her, surprised at how much thought she had given the matter. Artemis was scowling; she knew the Martian girl's arguments made sense, but she just couldn't bring herself to admit that there was nothing they could do. "Roy trusts us more than he trusts the League," she said stubbornly. "We could convince him. We have to try."

"Give it a rest, Artemis," said Robin. "Like Megan said, we can't do anything right now in any case. Let's just wait and discuss this as a team. Maybe Roy will come to his senses on his own and we won't have to do anything."

Artemis folded her arms and refused to say another word. An awkward silence fell, and soon turned into a complete lapse as the four teens became wrapped up in their individual thoughts.

It was nearly four hours before they got any word of how their injured teammates were doing. Artemis was dozing, head resting on Megan's shoulder. Megan herself was in a meditative trance, eyes glowing a little eerily. Robin was sitting cross-legged on the floor, absentmindedly destroying opponents in an online chess tournament on his wrist computer just to pass the time. Kaldur had taken up pacing.

The door cracked open, and suddenly they were all alert. Megan, Artemis and Robin scrambled to their feet, and all four of them stood at attention as the Flash—or Barry, since he had removed his mask—came out. He looked weary and disheveled, but he smiled a little when he saw the four sets of anxious eyes that were fixed on him. "They'll recover," he said tiredly, and four sighs of relief were heard. "We managed to remove all traces of Kryptonite from Conner's arm. It'll be bandaged up for quite awhile and he might have a little trouble using it for some time after that, but unless infection sets in he should be all right. Wally's going to take a bit longer to heal completely. The arrow hit a rib, and there was a tiny piece of the arrowhead that broke off inside the crack—that's why the wound wasn't healing up quickly like it should have. Luckily he didn't lose too much blood, so that was one less thing to worry about. He's going to have a hard time running—or moving at all for that matter—for a week or so, but that's all."

"Thank goodness," murmured Artemis. The others nodded in agreement.

"Can we see them?" Megan asked, perking up.

"They're both still anesthetized. Why don't you all stay here overnight, and you can see them first thing in the morning?"

Robin reached for his communicator to call Batman for permission, but Barry stopped him. "I already talked to Batman. He's okay with it. Same for you, Artemis, I explained everything to your mother."

They all wandered to their rooms; there wasn't really anything left to say. Sleep was just a way to make the morning come faster.

Artemis closed her door and leaned against it, closing her eyes tiredly and just letting herself rest against the hard, cold wood. She was still in her costume, which was drenched in her sweat and stained with Wally's blood. Disgusted, she stripped off her top, yanked her hair from its ponytail and wriggled out of her boots, flopping down on the bed in just her leggings and sports bra. She was exhausted beyond belief, so tired and numb that she could barely feel the mattress underneath her.

She was also seething. Robin's accusations against Roy made her angrier than she could explain, as did his and Megan's assertions that they shouldn't help him. What's their problem? she thought furiously. Disloyal, that's what it is. Roy doesn't know what he's getting into. Part of her was also hurt—hurt that he had betrayed them, betrayed her after everything he'd said to her. It hurt even more now that she had finally quit working for the Shadows, because she had thought that now, finally, she would be able to tell him how she felt about him. But no; all the same barriers are still there. She punched the mattress in frustration. "That idiot!" she screamed, but the sound was muffled in the feathery depths of her pillow.

I'm sorry.

Artemis bolted upright, caught off guard by the mental contact. Megan, she thought, barely keeping her emotions controlled, you scared me. You know you really shouldn't—

I know, and I'm sorry. But you're so angry… and I thought, because of what I said, you were mad at me… but you're not really, are you? It's something else, isn't it?

Get out of my head! she screamed into her pillow again, pummeling it with her fists, but Megan didn't withdraw.

You can't keep hiding everything from us, Artemis. You need to talk to someone. Are you… are you in love with Red Arr—with Roy?

The question took her by surprise; but what surprised her more was that, suddenly, she didn't mind that Megan had asked. Maybe what she'd wanted all along was someone to talk to about it. That's what normal girls did, right? Talk about their silly crushes when no boys were around. I… yeah, Megan, I guess I am. Dumb, huh? Me getting all moonstruck about some ginger.

Something like a mental laugh emanated from Megan's mind. Not really, she said. We kind of expected it to happen… just never thought it would be that redhead. Especially after you and Wally stopped fighting so much.

Wally? Artemis said in horror. Are you kidding? I would never stoop so low.

I—I'm sorry about Roy, Artemis. And about what I said. We'll figure out a way to get him back, okay?

I don't know. It's probably no use, just like you said.

Well, if he means that much to you, I'm willing to try.

Artemis didn't know what to say; she felt tears prick her eyes unexpectedly. Um, thanks. That… that really…

Are you going to be okay? The concern in Megan's thoughts made her feel something she hadn't felt in a long while. It was a good feeling.

Yeah, I'll be all right. Just gotta get some sleep…

Megan took the hint. Goodnight, Artemis, she said, withdrawing and closing the link.

Artemis sighed and rolled over onto her back. She needed to get up, change into some clean clothes, brush her teeth, stretch so that she didn't wake up stiffer than a board. The mattress was getting softer by the second. I'll just lay here for one more minute.

Ten seconds later she was sound asleep. She didn't even stir when her door squeaked open, framing a pair of silver eyes and spilling a crack of yellow light across the floor.

Kaldur didn't know why he opened her door; maybe he expected her to be awake. For weeks now he had been trying to get up the nerve to talk to her alone—without the formalities that went with being her teammate and leader. Something about her was different than any of the other girls he had known, including Tula. He didn't know what to make of it, his sudden fascination with her, his need to be around her, the way the power of speech would desert him whenever he caught her looking his way. He wanted to understand it. And to do that he needed to talk to her, without any more pretenses. But every time he tried, something stopped him.

He gazed for a moment at her sleeping form, a strange, warm feeling in his chest as he watched her breathe slowly, in and out, in and out, in a hypnotic rhythm until he found himself breathing with her. Quietly he eased the door shut and wandered, barely conscious of what he was doing, to his own room, already drifting between wakefulness and the blissful world of dreams.

Subtlety? Maybe not so much. But oh well, right? REVIEWS! Reviews are like hot chocolate on a rainy day- right up there at the top of my favorite things list.