Disclaimer: Young Justice is not mine. It's probably for the best.


Their third New Year's Eve was the craziest one.

The team had expanded, so much so that the mountain felt crowded. For once, no one was on a mission so all the teens were able to get together to celebrate.

M'Gann had begged and pleaded with them until Wally and Artemis agreed to stay and spend New Year's with the other teenaged superheroes instead of going on a date.

"I know it's your anniversary," she said, "but we really want to have a party with everyone here. It will help the new members feel like a part of the team and we'll all get to know each other better."

The two exchanged a look.

"We can always celebrate on our own tomorrow," Wally said. He winked at the Martian girl. "You know I can never say no to you, beautiful."

Artemis glared at him. "What was that?"

"Nothing!" Wally called as he sped away, laughing.

"You know he doesn't mean it," M'Gann said. "He just does it out of habit."

"Oh I'm aware." Artemis smirked. "But he doesn't need to know that. It's good for him to be reminded every now and then that I won't let him get away with anything. Even if it's good-natured flirting with you."

Artemis made her way to the living room, where everyone else was gathered to celebrate the end of another year. She smiled at the sight of her friends, old and new. She hadn't been around as much the past few months. She was a senior and because there were more heroes, she was able to spend more time focusing on school and less time going out on missions.

"Hi, I'm Wonder Girl!" a chipper voice piped up next to Artemis. She turned and saw a girl who looked to be a year or two younger than her. She had blonde hair and bright blue eyes. "But you can call me Cassie when we're off duty. I joined up a few months ago, but I don't think I've met you yet."

"I'm Artemis. I haven't been around much recently."

"Is that your hero name or your real one?"

"Both."

"I like it! Were you named after the Greek goddess? I love Greek mythology. I'm an Amazon, just like Wonder Woman. She's the one who brought me here and I just love it! This team is just the best."

"Yeah, it really is," Artemis said, a little dizzy from the girl's energetic outburst. "How are you settling in?"

"Oh, everyone has been so great! They really make me feel like I fit in, you know?"

Not really, Artemis thought, recalling the team's reaction when she first joined them.

Suddenly, Cassie gasped. "Who's that?"

Artemis followed her pointing finger and nearly burst out laughing when she saw the new girl was looking at her boyfriend. Her boyfriend who was stuffing his face and choking on the too-big-mouthful.

"That's Kid Flash."

"I thought it was! I wasn't sure without the mask and uniform, but he's the only one with red hair. Well, except for Red Arrow, but he isn't really a member of this team, right? Oh, I'm such a big fan of Kid Flash! Should I go introduce myself?" Wonder Girl asked nervously.

"Go ahead, Wally's a nice guy. And he loves meeting fans." Artemis smiled as the girl squealed in excitement. She ran towards Wally, slowing to a walk before she reached him. The two spoke for a moment and Cassie extended her hand, which Wally shook. Then Artemis' eyes narrowed as the younger blonde pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, laughing at whatever corny joke Wally had made.

"Is Cassie flirting with Wally?" M'Gann asked as she walked up.

"I think so."

M'Gann eyed Artemis warily. "Are you going to shoot her? Because I really don't think that would be conducive to the whole team bonding thing we're going for."

Artemis laughed. "No, it's fine. She probably doesn't know we're dating. I'm just curious how Wally will react once it finally gets through his thick skull that she's interested in him."

"Yeah, that might take a while."

Artemis watched, laughing every now and then, as Cassie attempted to catch Wally's interest. He kept talking to her with polite, if a little confused, interest in the newest team member. Every minute or so Cassie would step closer to him and Wally would unconsciously back away. Still, it didn't seem to occur to the boy, who once titled himself a ladies' man, that Wonder Girl was into him.

After about an hour, Artemis started to get annoyed. "Look, it doesn't surprise me that Wally hasn't figured out what's happening," she said, crushing her plastic cup, "but you'd think she'd take a hint."

"He's just a nice guy," M'Gann said. "She's taking his manners as interest in her."

"Well, I'll just have to let her know he's off limits." Artemis cracked her neck before starting across the room.

"Artemis! Long time no see, my friend," Robin said as he intercepted her. He too had been observing the awkwardness growing between his best friend and Wonder Girl, but he was rather enjoying it. So he took it upon himself to distract the girlfriend who was slowly becoming angrier.

He always did take on dangerous jobs.

"Robin, now really isn't a good time."

"Have you heard the news? I'm not going to be Robin for much longer. I'm moving up in the world."

That caught Artemis' attention. "I hadn't heard that. Are you going to get a new name like Roy did? Are you still going to be part of the team?"

"You can't get rid of me that easily. I'll be sticking around for sure. I'm getting a new name and a new costume, too." He leaned in close. "Don't tell anyone, but I think I'm going to go by Nightwing. Pretty traught, right?"

"Well, it's no Dark Knight, but it'll do." Artemis tried to walk past him, but he blocked her path. She glared at him. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to stop me from knocking some sense into that boyfriend stealing newbie."

"She doesn't know he has a girlfriend," Robin reasoned. "Please don't scare off our new recruit. Besides, you don't really want to get on Wonder Woman's bad side. You know how Wally feels about you. Trust him."

"Yeah, well at this rate she's going, she's going to end up kissing him before he realizes she likes him." She glanced at the clock. "Crap. It's almost midnight. She might actually kiss him."

"It's almost midnight," M'Gann yelled from the front of the room, "so if you want a New Year's kiss, grab someone special!"

Artemis brightened up as she saw Wally heading her way. Unfortunately, his fangirl was close behind.

"Do you have anyone to kiss at midnight, Wally?" Cassie asked as they reached Artemis and Robin, batting her eyes. Artemis nearly gagged. The girl had actually batted her eyes.

"Course I do," Wally said, a little confused.

"Who's the lucky girl?"

"Artemis, who else?" He wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's waist, kissing the side of her head. "Babe, have you met Cassie?"

"Yeah, we talked a little earlier. She said she was a big fan of yours." Artemis leaned into Wally's side and tried to suppress the triumphant smirk that threatened to take over her face.

Cassie's smile faltered. "I didn't realize you had a girlfriend. Oh look, there's Kaldur! I've been meaning to ask him about something." She hurried off.

"That was weird," Wally said. "She seemed a lot happier before."

"Yeah, when she thought she had a chance with you. You really are slow sometimes, Kid Snail," Artemis told her confused boyfriend.

"What do you mean?"

Robin rolled his eyes. "Cassie has a crush on you, dude. It's kind of obvious."

Wally's eyes grew wide. "You're kidding me, right?" Robin and Artemis just looked at him, eyebrows raised. "Seriously? I used to be able to tell when girls were into me."

Artemis chuckled. "No, you just assumed every girl was into you."

"Well I was right about you," Wally said.

"Yeah, you got lucky."

"No," Wally said, pulling her close, "I got lucky that you liked me in the first place."

"Corny line, West," she whispered, lacing her hands behind his neck, "but it's one of those things I love about you."

"I love you too, Crock," he said, kissing her nose. "I'm glad we came tonight. Best New Year's ever."


Halfway done, and in my opinion, the best chapters are yet to come!

Love and thanks to my star-eye, who didn't beta this chapter but still managed to help me work out ideas from half a country away.

Catch ya later, lovelies!

-FD