Let me just start of by saying that I am NOT dead! I was at camp for a while and couldn't update. Anyway, for those of you who have stuck with me, thank you SO much. And for any new readers, I hope you stick with me! PLEASE review! Critiques are welcome. (Oh, and a special thanks to YJ-Lover for giving me a GREAT idea for the end)

Disclaimer: I am not a multi-millionaire like Bruce Wayne, so no, I do NOT own Young Justice. If I did, Artemis and Wally would have gotten together much sooner with frequent make out sessions, M'gann would be dead, Superboy would be Russian (yj abridged reference) Klarion the Witch Boy would be gay (he probably already is) Wonder Girl and Blue Beatle would be together (IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN!) and Red Arrow would have A LOT of shirtless moments.

Chapter 6

Beach Day Gone Wrong

I smile to myself as the heat of the sun hits my skin. Closing my eyes, I just relax and listen to the sound of the ocean waves crashing on the shore. I'm so glad that it's finally summer! No school, less missions, mostly relaxation. I open my eyes and peer at the little bag that I had brought down to the beach near Mount Justice, and reach into it to apply another coat of sunscreen. Next to me, there's laughter. "I think you've used enough of that to last you a lifetime, babe." I turn around and laying next to me on the other side of the large beach towel is Wally, his skin starting to turn slightly pink. I smile, thrusting the bottle of sunscreen into his hands.

"Then maybe you should use some. You're going to get a sunburn." He chuckles a little.

"No, I'm not." I get closer to him, absentmindedly tracing little designs on his bare chest.

"Yeah, you are. You're already turning pink." He looks at his skin for the first time and sighs.

"Awe, man." I allow myself to laugh a little.

"It's not that bad. You kinda look like a giant strawberry." I wrap my arms around his neck and after a silence filled minute, he sits up, taking me with him. I'm not exactly sure how this—us—happened. I just know that we're together now, and I couldn't be happier.

"Alright, fine," He says, grabbing the bottle of sunscreen. "I'll use it. Under one condition." I raise my eyebrows as my way of telling him to keep talking, and a wicked smile crosses his face. "You have to put it on me." I roll my eyes, untangling myself from him and walking away from our spot on the beach. He quickly catches up to me.

"Oh, come on," He says with a devious grin, wrapping his arms around my waist and putting his forehead against mine. "Don't act like you don't want to."

"I never said that," I respond, resting the back of my palm on his cheek. "Maybe I just want to make you beg for it." He shakes his head and laughs, his emerald eyes lighting up in a way that just makes me want to smile for no apparent reason.

"You're going to kill me one day. You know that, right?" He whispers. And then he slowly closes the distance between us. I smile and lean in too, and just when our lips are about to meet, I push him away from me and start running toward the water. Okay, so that was a little…cruel. But I can't help it! I just love messing with him. Old habits die hard, I guess.

Once I'm in at about elbow's length, I feel strong arms wrap around my waist from behind me. "It's cute how you think you can run away from me." He whispers into my neck. Damn his super speed. I try to say something back to him. Anything. But my breath hitches in my throat and I can't think.

Yeah. He has that effect on me.

"So," He says in that annoyingly arrogant yet completely sexy voice that he uses whenever he's about to say something that he knows is going to have an effect on me. "What were you saying earlier about me making you beg?" I roll my eyes.

"Yeah, and I'm the one who's going to end up killing you." He laughs that perfect laugh of his and then spins me around so I'm facing him. Without another word, he leans in to kiss me, and all of the sudden I feel like the happiest girl in the world.

And I probably am.

I quickly melt into the kiss, enjoying the taste of his lips. Six months ago, if you had told me that I would end up dating Wally West, I would have laughed in your face. And if you had happened to be my Uncle Oliver, I would break a wooden chair over your head for good measure. Now…I would still laugh. But it would be a laugh of delight instead of a laugh of disbelief.

He grabs the back of my thighs and picks me up, wrapping my legs around his waist to support me. He playfully bites my bottom lip, teasing me, successfully making me moan. He does it so effortlessly and skillfully that I have to wonder about just how many girls he's practiced with. And this is a moment where I should play the jealous girlfriend card. But I'm so in love with him, and somehow he's so in love with me…that I don't even bother questioning his loyalty to me. At least, not right now.

"Artemis…" He murmurs between kisses. I pull away from him and look into his eyes.

"Yeah, babe?"

"I love you."

I open my eyes and look around only to see that I'm in my room—alone—and not at the beach. And it's also December. Another dream. That's the third one this week! And the ninth one this month…

The sudden ringing of my phone makes me groan in frustration. It's Saturday! Who calls this early in the morning on a weekend? "What?" I yell into the phone with as much venom as I can muster in my tired state.

"How's it going, Maid of Honor?" A sly voice says on the other end. My eyes widen.

"Robin? How'd you know about the wedding? And how the hell did you get my number?" Nobody knows about the wedding yet. Not even Batman. The only other person that knows besides me and Roy is Dick Grayson. They were going to make the announcement today.

"To answer your second question, Zatanna told me. Anyway, Team's having a beach day. Just calling to see if you wanted to join us." I snort in laughter.

"Robin, it's winter! What the hell are we going to do at the beach? Ice skate on the ocean?"

"We're just going to hang out on the sand for a while, maybe have a volleyball tournament. Nobody said we were going to go in the water." I have had enough of the beach for a lifetime.

"I can't. I have to—"

"No, don't tell me! Let me guess. You have another date." A new voice says on the other line and it takes all of my strength not to throw my phone at the wall.

"Wally, give the phone back to the bird boy or I swear I'll—"

"You'll what? How are you supposed to do anything to me when you're nowhere near me?" I hate how he has a point. "Look, just come hang out with us on the beach. And if not for me, do it for Zatanna and Megan. I mean, when was the last time we hung out as a Team?" There's no trace of arrogance or hatred in his voice. He's actually being sweet to me. It's kind of adorable. I can picture his face while he talks to me. Looking at me lovingly with those green eyes that I adore so much, snaking his hands around my neck and pulling me close to him while he plays with my hair… "Artemis? You still there?" Holy shit! No! No, I did not just think all of those vomit inducing thoughts!

"Yeah, I'm here. And I guess I'll go." I can practically feel him smiling on the other line.

"See you there, Beautiful."

"Unbelievable! You wake me up at eight in the morning and drag me to Rhode Island for a beach day in the middle of winter—who's bright idea was that, by the way?—and you didn't even bother to check the weather channel?"

"Hey, it was sunny this morning, that's all I needed!" Robin says defensively.

"Obviously not. Look outside! It's practically a hurricane!" I yell at the top of my lungs.

"We can still enjoy ourselves," Kaldur says in a calming tone, and I immediately relax. "I suggest we watch a movie." M'gann perks up.

"You know, Artemis was telling me about this really great movie about a ninja girl whose ninja dad ordered her to kill her ninja boyfriend because he was from a rival ninja clan. I think we should watch that one. Artemis, do you remember what it was called?" Wally's irritating voice speaks up.

"Sorry. Forgot." I say through clenched teeth.

"Guys, we should so watch The Notebook!" M'gann squeals, and Zatanna nods her head in approval.

"No." I respond automatically.

"What's wrong? Afraid you'll cry?" Wally asks in a teasing manner while laughing. I snap my head around to face him and narrow my eyes at him.

"No! For your information, my friends have forced me to watch The Notebook at least twenty times and I have not cried once," I take a deep breath and calm down a little, turning around so now I'm addressing the entire Team instead of just Kid Irritating. "You know what? I think I'll pass on the movie. I'm going to be in the training room if anybody needs me."

Focus. Aim…fire! I tell myself as I'm practicing my archery, and hit the target right in the bullseye. I allow myself to smile a little. Screw the movie. Nothing like a nice, quiet training session. But as soon as my thought is over, my quiet time is interrupted by somebody walking toward me. I refuse to let whoever it is ruin the moment. I load my bow with another arrow, not even acknowledging the unknown intruder. "Don't you think it's a little rude to be doing this while the rest of your team is watching a movie?" The unmistakable voice asks.

"Here to interrogate me, Speedy?" I ask, still not turning around as I release another arrow.

"Actually, Green Arrow and Black Canary sent me here. They said that since I'm the best man and you're the maid of honor, that it would be better if we're not trying to rip each other's throats out whenever we're near each other." I put my bow down and raise my eyebrows at him. "Their words, not mine. Anyway, I'm pretty sure the real reason they sent me here is because Ollie wants me to ask you to be my date for the wedding." He says with a little laugh. I turn to look at him for the first time. He's in full uniform, bow in hand, so he was probably just out on patrol with Green Arrow. I pick my bow up again and shoot another arrow at the target.

"Sounds practical."

"So, you're not opposed? He says with a smirk. I narrow my eyes at him.

"Look, it's my uncle's wedding. Not mine. I'll do whatever he wants me to. Even if it means wearing a stupid bridesmaid's dress and being a decent person for a few hours…and even if it means having to slow dance with you."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Are you seriously wondering why I think that?"

"Well, a little known fact about me is that I'm an amazing dancer." My eyes widen in surprise.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. But I thought you already knew that. Weren't you the one who was saying that I was so, so predictable?" Okay…I kind of had that one coming.

"I'm pretty sure that even Batman couldn't have figured that out." It's just so hard to get my mind wrapped around that fact. Roy Harper…a dancer? It makes me want to burst out laughing.

"Well, I know a few moves." I look down and my eyes land on my bow. I feel a smirk playing on my lips.

"But do you know this move?" I ask, quickly loading one of my arrows and jumping into a back flip. In the split second that my eyes lock with the target, I release the arrow and it lands just a few inches from the bullseye.

"Sweetheart," He says, laughing as he loads his own bow. He mimics my exact movements, except he looks a little more graceful than I felt and his arrow lands right on the bullseye. "I invented that move." We stare at each other for a moment. He has a triumphant smirk on his face and I'm sure that an excited fire is burning in his eyes behind that mask.

Challenge accepted.

"Backwards." I say, facing away from the target and shooting backwards, nailing the target in the bullseye. We spend a long time after that showing off our archery skills. We do moves that Green Arrow taught us, make stuff up on the spot, and just try to outdo each other. And we do it all while yelling taunts such as 'I could do that while sleeping' and 'I could do better than you with one arm tied behind my back'.

"Alright," He says after a while. "You've proven to be an okay archer," I'm about to yell at him about how I'm way better than 'okay', but he cuts me off by saying, "But let's see how good you are at sparring."

"No bows?"

"Unless you don't think you can handle it."

Once again. Challenge accepted.

We get into fighting stances and stand there for a minute, both of us waiting for the other to make the first move. I'm about to rush at him, but Black Canary's voice pops up into my head. 'Never let your opponent dictate the terms of the fight!'. It's a phrase that she uses constantly during training. So, instead of giving into my impatience, I wait for him to give into his.

Strike one.

The battle becomes heated as soon as we make physical contact. We throw a series of punches and kicks at each other, easily blocking most of the attacks, though getting some good hits in that will probably result in bruises tomorrow. After a while, we somehow end up in a position where one of my legs is hooked around his waist and my arms are around his neck. He smirks, his fingers playing with a loose strand of my hair. "Well, if you liked me like that, you should have just said something."

Strike two.

I lean in closer to him, and once our noses are almost touching, I suddenly draw my head back and bang my forehead against his with not enough force to severely injure him, but enough to disorient him. I untangle myself from him and kick the back of his knees while he's clutching his head in pain, causing him to lose his balance. But he's a quick thinker, breaking the fall with his hands and flipping back up into a fighting stance. The battle continues, and we're so lost in movement that we don't realize how far we've traveled until I have him backed up into a corner, trapping him by putting my hands on the wall on either side of his face. He contorts his facial features into mock anger. "Alright. Now you're just taking advantage of me."

Strike thr—

Before I can say anything, he has me pinned on the ground, and no matter how much I struggle, I can't get out of his grip. "But, unfortunately, if you were just in a battle with the Shadows instead of me, you'd be long dead." I feel like a wounded deer in a cage with a hungry lion. Trapped with no way out of his grip, being forced to stare at his face…and the look that he's giving me isn't exactly helping my situation. Don't be weak.

"That may be true for you, Mr. Solo-Act," I say, using all of my strength to come up with the cold tone that usually comes to me so effortlessly. "but if I was in a battle with the Shadows, one of my teammates would have come to my rescue." Wally…

"Point proven." He says, and I think that he's about to get off of me and walk away, but he just continues to straddle me.

"Um…Roy? Do you think you should, you know, get off of me?"

"Why? Do you find this intimidating?" I swallow a building lump in my throat.

"N-no." He leans closer to me.

"Good." He whispers in a low voice. I free my arms from his grip and have enough force to sit up, but his knees are still trapping me in a sitting position. And I can easily push him off of me, but for some reason I'm frozen in place and all I can do is stare into his…mask.

Curiosity gets the best of me as I cautiously lift my fingers up to his face, grabbing hold of his mask and slowly removing it. And once it's off, I suppress a gasp. I've only seen Roy's eyes one time before—the night of Ollie and Dinah's engagement. And even then, it was too dark to get a good look. But now I can see them perfectly. They're a dark blue, almost turquoise color and a fire of emotions that I can't even begin to decipher burn within them. Right now, all I can do is come to the conclusion that Roy Harper is the most attractive man alive.

I'm so lost in my gaze that I don't notice he's taking the elastic out of my hair until it falls around my shoulders in messy, tangled tresses. At this point, neither of us can take it anymore. I wrap my arms around his neck, falling back down into a laying position and taking him with me. All I can hear is our heavy breathing, and all I can think about is the fact that his touch sends shivers up my spine.

Good shivers.

I push my hands underneath his shirt, feeling his toned muscles as he runs his hands up and down the length of my arms. That's all we're doing—touching. But for right now, that's all we need. All we can handle.

But what about Wally? That annoying little voice in my head asks. Well, what about him? I don't care about him! And he doesn't care about me. So why does this feel so…wrong? Why do I feel like I should be with Wally right now instead of Roy?

"Well, it seems like you two have become…cozy." My eyes widen at the new voice and Roy and I pull apart from each other. I look up to see who the new person is, though I already know because I could recognize his voice in a crowd of one thousand people.

"Oh, uh…hey, Wally. How was the movie?"

"Entertaining. But it seems like you've found your own source of entertainment." I look down at myself and realize that I'm a mess. My clothes are wrinkled and my hair looks like something died in it. I stand up, smoothing down my shirt and pulling my hair back into its ponytail.

"I should really go." Roy says, already half way across the room. "It was nice, uh…seeing you, Artemis." He adds halfheartedly before he leaves. And now it's just me and Wally in the room, an awkward silence hanging between us.

"So…what movie did you end up watching?" I offer, trying to lift the awkwardness from the air.

"What are you doing?" He asks, crossing his arms.

"What?"

"You hate Roy. Hate him! And now all of the sudden you can't keep your claws off of him? Explain that!"

"Wally, we were training!" I yell.

"Training for what? Teen pregnancy?"

"Look, we were sparring. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. You just happened to walk in at a really weird time and…" Something clicks in my mind. "and I shouldn't have to be explaining this to you!" I all but yell, having to physically restrain myself from slapping him.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me! You actually have the audacity to be angry at me? So what if it was more than a training session? Which it wasn't. But even if it was, it's none of your God damn business. You flirt with M'gann constantly while she has a freaking boyfriend and I don't get mad at you for that, so you have no right to intrude on my romantic life! You have no right to walk in and act like some sort of…some sort of jealous boyfriend!"

"And who said this was about you? I'm looking out for Red Arrow here. I don't want to see one of my oldest friends get hurt when his girlfriend betrays him to—"

"Oh, God! Not you, too! Believe what you want, but I'm not the mole…and Red Arrow is not my boyfriend!" And to think today was supposed to be a simple beach day!

"Look, I came in here because the weather finally cleared up and we're all going to go out to watch the sun set and then have a bonfire. Come if you want. Or don't. I honestly do not give a shit."

"Your opinion is much appreciated," I spit back with venom. "And lucky you, I'm heading home. My mom's going to be worried sick. But you better alert Batman, because the mole is on the loose!" It takes all of my strength to keep my cool and not stomp out of there like Godzilla.

"Tropic Thunder." He says before I leave. I turn around and look at him, confused.

"The hell are you talking about?"

"I'm answering your question. We watched Tropic Thunder."

What did you think? Review? Please?

And also, I have to ask...Team Wally or Team Roy?