Sunshine. Fire.

Stormy sea. Grassy field.

Silk. Steel.

Clawing. Biting.

Giving. Receiving.

Receiving. Giving.

Wanting. Needing.

Taking. Having.

Loving. Hating.

Hating. Loving.

Night. Day.

Artemis. Wally.

More months passed with the two entangled with each other. The days were growing shorter with more arguments. The nights growing longer with more sleepless rendezvous. Both were content with their agreement. Both desired to have more from the other. But neither would admit it to the other.

"I need this so muckin' fuch." Wally groaned out the words huskily.

Artemis looked up at the speedster with bemusement written over her smooth features, "You need what so whaaaat?"

"You know like, 'fucking much'. But 'mucking fuch.'" He spoke the words as if she were an idiot and he a genius.

A smile slipped its way to her face, "Are you trying to do that thing that Robin does with words?"

"Well, yeah, I guess, in a way I kinda am." He pushed himself up with his hands and rolled away from her.

She barked a laugh, "I think you should leave that to the bird."

"You don't think I'm good enough to do it?" his face portrayed his wounded pride.

She crawled on her knees to him on the edge of the bed, "I didn't say that. But now that you mention it, you do kind of lack the …creativity… it takes to do that." she laid her fingers across his shoulders, gliding her nails over his skin.

Wally jumped up and away from her touch completely at ease with his nudity, "I'm just as creative as he is!"

"Ooh someone's getting testy…" she made a tsk tsk sound and tried to pull him back to her.

But he wouldn't get in her reach, "What's that supposed to mean?"

She gave him a droll stare, "Well, I'm not a dictionary but, by definition testy means irritably impatient or touchy… so, I think that means you're being angry."

He thrust his hands on his hips in a typical superhero pose, "That's not what I meant, Artie!"

"I'm just saying you should leave the word play to Robin." She got up from her seat, tired of playing this game.

"Why? I can do it just fine."

"I don't think so."

"Bu…but, I can." He stuttered the words trying to make her see the truth in what he could do.

She slapped her hand over his mouth, "Oh, there are other things you're much better at. I don't want to argue now. We'll save that for when we have to yell and scream, alright?"

Nodding, he swept her up, bridal style, and carried her back to his bed, "We have some time before morning comes and we have to join the rest of the team."

She pulled his head down to hers, laying her cheek against his, she whispered, "Let's use it wisely, sugar."

YJ YJ YJ

Ugh, what to do today? Batman doesn't have any new missions for us and who knows when he will. Superboy's too moody for me right now. Megan… is Megan… I don't want to think about Kaldur and his 'leadership'. Artemis… don't wanna even go near that. Wally! I know I can go chill with Wally. Haven't seen him in a long time…

To say Robin was walking down the halls was an understatement. He could no more simply walk than Megan could no more bake non-burnt food. He glided, his feet barely touching the ground. Swift and deadly is how he always walked whether he meant to or not. Batman taught him his 'ninja' skills and he had no intention of wasting them. Ever.

The halls were quiet. Too quiet for the junior detective's taste. What wrong could happen in Mount Justice?

A giggle sounded to his right.

Apparently, a lot of wrong could happen.

Nosy being his favorite pastime, well that and anything that involved pranking. Especially, when it came to the Dark Knight. He was too easy.

Chuckling softly to himself, he veered off his path to the door that led to KF's room. He noticed it cracked just a little. It was just enough for a sneaky bird to see look into and listen to secrets.

Crouching low, he peeked his shaded eyes through the crack. Inside the speedster's room was the oddest sight he'd ever thought he'd see. In the center of the room stood Wally, but that wasn't what was strange. Oh, no, what was too strange for Robin was the fact that standing on the tops of his feet was the blonde archer. They swayed back and forth to a beat that played in the background… About frickin' time! The team didn't think they'd ever get together.

He listened harder, trying to make out the beat. "I feel so unsure as I take your hand and lead you to the dance floor. As the music dies, something in your eyes calls to mind a silver screen and all those sad goodbyes.
I'm never gonna dance again cause guilty feet have got no rhythm. So I'm never gonna dance again the way I danced with you." The song was recognizable, but he couldn't place it. Where had he heard it before?

He watched Wally wrap his arm around Artemis's waist and waltz around the room. The sight stirred up something in his chest, but he couldn't identify it. Didn't want to identify it. Instead, he focused his eyes on the couple dancing.

"Tonight the music seems so loud I wish that we could lose the crowd. Maybe it's better this way.
We'd hurt each other with the things we want to say. We could have been so good together. We could have lived this dance forever. But now who's gonna dance with me? Please stay."

He heard Wally singing in Artemis's ear and both their eyes were sad… but why? They seemed to be enjoying themselves. And it's not like the team hadn't seen this coming. Hell, they all wanted it to happen. Needed it to happen for their sanity. But why would they be sad about it? And why didn't they tell the rest of the team?

One thing was for sure. He had some hot, top notch gossip for the rest of the guys. With one last glance, he sprinted down the hall to the common room.

YJ YJ YJ

Artemis closed her eyes and laid her head on his chest as he swung them around slowly. His voice rolled through her chest, sending small shivers over her skin… the song was beautiful, dark and sad. But beautiful. Kind of like their relationship. The song really did match the way they felt for each other. Too well, in her opinion.

Secretly, deep in her heart, she wanted to tell everyone that he was hers and she his. But she seriously doubted that Wally would go for that. And that saddened her painfully. Was she that much of an embarrassment? Yeah, they fought, but every couple did. Then again, they couldn't really be considered a couple.

Couples actually went out and showed each other off. They didn't have secret meetings where they whispered sweet, sweet nothings to each other. They didn't hide their feelings for each other from everyone, even themselves. But that begged the question: did she have feelings for the male holding her?

Doubt clouded her thoughts until he twirled her around and dipped her. It hit her then. Yeah, she did have feelings for him. Stronger than just lust and desire. No, that was ludicrous. She couldn't make this into something it's not. She would only hurt herself in the end and she was done with being hurt. Hurting was for the weak. And she was anything but weak.

Wally peered down at the girl standing on his feet as they moved clumsily across his floor. She was something else. She awoke feelings inside him that he'd never thought he'd feel. But he could never tell her. She'd never accept him in that way. He was lucky she accepted him into her body. He'd never get into her heart, though. She'd make damn sure of that, he knew.

But he often wondered why they couldn't just go out in the common room and yell at the top of their lungs that they liked each other? It had been her idea to keep their 'relationship' hidden and he had greedily gone along with it because he still thought he had a chance with Megan. Not to mention he was just excited he was getting some.

Was he that shallow? What about her? Why did she want to keep them a secret? He wanted to tell everyone about them. He wanted to shout to the heavens that he was the luckiest guy in the world, but that would mean losing Artemis. And he couldn't comprehend that.

All he had was right now. Was this moment and all the other secret moments they would have. But was it enough?

It had to be.

The other option wasn't fallible to him.

YJ YJ YJ

The common room. A place for everyone to gather and communicate. A place for everyone to live harmoniously. A place where Kaldur rested his head against the couch thinking of a beautiful girl. A place where Megan and Superboy sat on opposite ends of the couch stealing glances at each other and harboring a secret. A perfect place to gossip and devise a plan to get the two heroes together.

"Guys! I have news and man, oh, man, is it good news!" Robin's boisterous voice rang through the room, causing Kaldur to jump, Megan to scream and Superboy to… well, be all Superboy-ish.

The Atlantean faced the small child, "Robin, what is it? Is something wrong?"

The smile that was plastered to the boy's face could only be described as infectious, "No, not all. You'll never believe what I just saw!"

Superboy rose from his seat and towered over the smaller kid, "If we're not going to believe it why are you going to tell us?"

Robin just stared at him, "That's beside the point. The point is, our very own Wally West and Artemis Crock having significant others…" he trailed off and waggled his brows.

Kaldur rolled his eyes, "Great, now they'll be insulting each other's loved ones. More things to argue about."

Robin whirled on him, "I don't think you're getting it."

"What am I supposed to be getting?"

"Ugh, you guys are oblivious. Don't you ever realize how KF and Artie are always at each other's throats?"

Megan laughed, "Uh, duh. They really just need to date and get it over with."

"My thoughts exactly, Megan."

"Wait, so what are you trying to tell us?"

"Spit it out,"

"Well, you know how it's always quiet at night? There's no arguing or yelling or throwing things. It's eerily quiet." Robin started pacing in front of them.

The other three nodded eagerly, "Yeah, okay… and?"

"That's because KF and Artemis aren't trying to kill one another." His pacing grew in tempo.

"And…?"

His steps grew smaller, staccato-ing in time to a rhythm in his head. He began to mumble something that not even Superboy's super hearing could pick up. Finally, the clone grew angry for having to wait too long. He stopped the bird with large hands on his shoulders and picked him by his shirt.

"Either say it or go away." He growled angrily.

Robin was torn between being scared of the overly large boy and wanting to show him up, but he decided that telling everyone was a good enough of a reason to not get hurt, "!"

The room went silent. Dead silent. So quiet the soft music from the speedster's room seemed to be blaring out their eardrums. Megan felt as though her heart had stopped beating. Superboy didn't really quite understand what was going on. Kaldur knew this moment would come, but he was still sketchy.

He was the first one to break the silence, "Are you sure about this Robin?"

The Boy Wonder gave him a duh stare, "As sure as I am that if Supey here doesn't let me go, I will hurt him."

Not wanting to start a fight, Superboy dropped Robin, but the little bird landed deftly on his feet. "Thank you, dear friend, I always enjoy flying."

Superboy growled again.

Kaldur, always the referee stopped the boys, "Knock it off. We need to find out if this really happening or not."

"You calling me a liar?"

"I'm not calling anyone anything. I'm saying, we need proof, before we confront them."

"I can get proof. We can all get proof. It'll be easy. We take pictures and video. When they're not around us is when they're with each other, I'm sure of it. We just need to pay more attention to when they aren't yelling. Shouldn't be that hard. Man, oh, man, this is gonna be good!" Robin laughed like a child raised by Hades himself.

"Hold on, Robin. We all need to be in on this." Kaldur the other two, "Are you guys willing to help?"

Megan looked uncomfortable and Superboy looked confused. But they both nodded begrudgingly.

"Alright, it's settled then. Tonight, we search for evidence between Artemis and Wally."

YJ YJ YJ

Megan and Connor walked through the darkened corridor that held the bedrooms. She slipped her hand in his and couldn't help but smile when she felt his warm skin pressed against hers. But her thoughts were clouded by something that wouldn't let her be entirely happy.

She turned to the blue eyed boy she started having strong emotional feelings for, "Connor, we shouldn't be doing this."

He twisted his head to her, revealing confused icicles, "Doing what?"

She bowed her head ashamed of what they were doing to friends, "Spying and Artemis and Wally."

"Why not?" he asked as he lifted her head with his fingertips.

She looked intently into his eyes, "Well, would you like it if someone did this to us?"

"Do what? We're not hiding. They are. And by hiding, they do not trust us. And a team without a trust is a dead one. Call me crazy, but I'd like to stay alive for as long as possible." His voice held so much conviction; she almost forgot why she was talking about this.

But her shame came back to her tenfold as did anger, "What do you mean we're not hiding? Not once have you said anything to anyone about the way we are with each other."

He shook his full head of black hair, "I didn't think I had to. We're not quite as sneaky as the other two are."

"Why didn't you say anything to me about telling everyone?" she patted her chest, adding emphasis.

He splayed his hands out, talking with them, "I thought you knew, M'gann. It only seemed obvious that you would know."

"Yeah, well I didn't." she crossed her arms over her chest.

Laying his hands on her small shoulders, he pulled her into his wide chest, "Whoa, there's no need to get angry."

She stiffened, "I'm not getting angry."

His voice rumbled with laughter, "Believe me, you are. I know that emotion all too well."

She peered her round eyes up at him, "Well, maybe I was just a little, but I really wished you had said something to me. Maybe we should tell the rest of the team. They deserve to know, especially after this thing with Wally and Artemis."

He smiled down at her, "If that's what you want."

Her own smile graced her lips, "It is,"

She began to rise on tiptoes to give him a kiss when he pulled her behind a wall. When she opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing, he smashed one finger against her lips, "Shhh," he pointed toward the end of the hallway where Wally and Artemis were walking, hand in hand.

Without out a seconds notice, she shoved him against the wall and rose on her tiptoes to kiss him. They watched as Wally's hands began to move down the archer's back and down to her supple buttocks. He pressed her hips into his and she only reacted.

Connor turned wide eyes to Megan. There was the proof, but neither was going to take pictures of such an intimate moment. Superboy hooked his thumb in the direction of another corridor so they could escape. She nodded and they started to leave, but the clone let loose a sneeze so loud it rattled the doors.

"What was that?" Wally asked from down the other hall.

"I don't know, but we better get out of here."

Footsteps came towards them and Megan used her abilities to put them under invisibility. They watched the red head and the blonde move quickly towards their own bedrooms. When they passed, Megan dropped the shield and turned to Superboy.

"Really?" was all she could say.

He just shrugged adorably.

YJ YJ YJ

Kaldur knew what was going on between the two heroes, even without proof. He really just wanted to see who would spy on their teammates. Hopefully, none would be as cruel to do so, but he had a feeling that Robin was more than willing to do something like this. It was right up his alley. Not that there was anything wrong with that. He just hoped that the boy would learn before he took over as leader.

The night was sweetly quiet as he lay in his bed, waiting for sleep to overcome him. And due to bright laughter, it never did. He dragged his body out of his warm bed and walked over to where the noise came from. Artemis's room. What she laughing about?

He starting walking toward her room, but he caught himself. He would not spy on his teammates or his friends. He wouldn't.

At least that's what he would have liked to think, but curiosity got the better of him. He tiptoed to her door and listened…

"Wally, I'm bored with video games. We only ever have a few shorts hours to be together. And most of the time it's spent sleeping. Can we please do something that we both enjoy? I just want to be with you." The archer's husky voice swam to his ears.

"Artie, I'm tired with sex. We only ever have a few short hours to be together. And most of the time it's spent sleeping. Can we please do something that doesn't involve being naked? I just want to be with you." The speedster's low voice trailed in behind hers.

"You don't want to have sex anymore?"

"That's not what I meant and you know it. Quite trying to pick fights. You've been doing that more and more lately. I just want to spend time with you. Why can't we just lay here and let me hold you? What are you scared of?"

"I'm not scared of anything. Don't accuse me of anything like that!"

Hah, and Robin thought that because they were sneaking around their arguments had ceased. They never would.

"You're picking fights again…" Wally sung out the accusation.

"I know and I'm sorry, I just… I want… I want to te… never mind. I'm sorry. We can play video games." The Atlantean watched as she uncrossed her arms and move back to the T.V.

Wally's eyes grew suspicious, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a sec, turbo. I don't think so. What were you going to say?"

"Nothing."

"C'mon, you can tell me anything. I'll always support you."

"Will you, Wally? Will you really? What I'm thinking about you wouldn't want to have any part of. So don't worry, our little secret is safe."

"What are you talking about?"

"Never mind, can we please drop it?"

"Yeah, we can drop it. I'm sleeping in my own bed tonight, Artie. I'll see you in the morning when the venom you're feeling right now will be put to good use."

Kaldur ran back to his room as KF hustled from her room to his own. Something was wrong here, and it wasn't their secret. Artemis had something to tell Kid Flash and she was scared of its consequence…