Notes: This one is based off the musical Wicked, specifically the song "As Long As You're Mine." Knowledge about the musical is helpful, though not necessary. I would also like to add, for those who are big fans of this musical, I have not seen it in years. So if any of my details are off, I apologize!
Alternate universe in which Artemis is an outcast from Oz as a result of her powerful magic and political disagreements with the land's most powerful wizard. Labeled as "wicked," she finds herself ostracized from everyone who has loved her: her best friend M'gann, the Good Witch, her sister Jade, the Wicked Witch, and Wally, the love of her life engaged to her best friend.
The meager light filtering through the barred window is suddenly disturbed by the flutter of wings just outside. The limestone walls do not allow much noise to penetrate, but through the window pane, the cry of flying monkeys can be heard thin and screeching. Artemis stares warily at Wally, wondering if the sounds will scare him. He holds her gaze steadily, and though she smiles at his unspoken promise of understanding, she can't help but stay on guard for the inevitable moment of when he will no longer accept the person she feels she has become.
The prison walls offer no sanctity of warmth, but she feels lit from within at these shared moments between them, the first time they are alone together since Shiz University, a shared period in their past that feels lifetimes ago.
She wants to ask him if he means what he just said, if he does truly love her, but she fears that he may take back that single sentence and crush the rising hope within her. Instead she remains staring hungrily at him, taking in every freckle and laugh line just barely emerging on his handsome face. Silently, she pleads with him to kiss her too fiercely and hold her too tight. Despite the desperation of her desires, she knows she needs some sort of contact between them to help her believe that he's truly with her.
Instead, she smiles at him, mind casting around for the right words to say. She knows, perhaps better than anyone, how silence can set him on edge. She wonders if that's why he loved M'gann in the first place, with her constant chatter and conversation.
"I don't think, even in my wildest dreams, I could have guessed that you'd be here," she gestures around at the dank prison they've both been thrown into. "With me. Wanting me," she adds shyly, twisting her hands into the dirty and tattered edges of her dress.
Wally grins and it's as though the entire room has lit up from within. He takes her hands in his, pulling her grip away from the deep green fabric, and pressing kisses to her knuckles.
And in that single moment, in that single act of love and kindness, Artemis knows she's lost all resistance, has crossed some invisible borderline. She knows at instance that, even if the night ends too quickly or if she never sees him again after this night, that she will make every last moment last.
"Call me brainless, I know you used to," he teases gently, evoking memories of their days at the academy, "but maybe I'm starting to get a little smarter. I think you've got me seeing through different eyes."
His expression grows dim for a moment, and she knows he's thinking of Dr. Wolf, lost among the flying monkeys and no longer able to talk. She knows he's thinking of the Great and Powerful Lex and how that ideal of power fell as Lex threw him in prison. She knows he's thinking of Jade, once sweet and nice and vapid, now alone and loveless and wicked in the Land of the East.
"You were right," he tells her, his grip tightening on her hands intensely. "Oz is not right. Animals are losing their rights and there needs to be a regime change. I wish I could have seen this sooner, I could have gone with you and helped your cause. Instead, I stayed with M'gann."
"M'gann?" Artemis questions, not fully understanding.
"Megan goes by M'gann now, in honor of Dr. Wolf," he tells her, a ghost of a smile flashing over his face. "He never did learn how to say her name correctly."
Artemis almost wants to laugh at M'gann's cheerful and frantic attempt to make things right. But even as she opens her mouth to comment, Wally squeezes her hands once before releasing them, his hands coming up to cup her face.
"I feel like I've fallen under your spell, Artemis," he breathes, his thumb coming up to brush over the swell of her lower lip. He grins at her through the intimacy of their moment and she wants to roll her eyes at his joke.
"Zatanna taught me all the right magic, then," she teases, in awe of how he can joke even in such dire moments. She almost wants to remind him of the severity of their situation, but before she can gesture to the bars in the entranceway or the sparseness of their cell, Wally pulls her to him in a tight embrace.
"For every moment as long as you're mine," he promises, "I want to hold you and make up for all the time we've lost."
Seconds pass by and Artemis holds her body stiff and unmoving under Wally's hold. Then suddenly, she gives in to the moment, held as fiercely as she had desired. She hugs him tightly, arms wrapped around his wiry frame and feeling his heartbeat next to her breast.
"People might say there's no future for us," Wally whispers, words muffled against her skin as he presses into the small space in the nook of her neck.
"I don't care," she whispers back fiercely, gripping at the fabric of his shirt, one hand desperately caught up in his hair.
"I think as long as we have each other, we can be exactly who we want to be. We'll shine brighter this way. We can make a difference," Wally promises.
It's a pipe dream, Artemis knows this. Even if he loves her, even if she is stronger with his support, she knows there is no promised future for them.
But he pulls away to look at her and the green in his eyes is as perfect as she has ever known. The moonlight is weak through the barred window, but its silver light shines nonetheless on Wally, highlighting the red in his hair until it appears copper and bright and perfect.
"As long as you're mine," she promises echoing back his words in an affirmation of her love, in a silent promise to protect him as much as her magic allows.
And then he kisses her. He pulls her to him and she feels the moment build like the start of a storm, the swell of a crescendo, the end of a spell. He kisses her with all the love she has ever known in this manner and she kisses back with equal fervor.
Even if there is no promised future for them, she knows she loves this man. She loves him no matter what lies spread through Oz about her power or how her need to bring justice may tear them apart. She loves him if he stays with her to the bitter end and she loves him if he returns to M'gann, his betrothed and her best friend. She loves him as he is hers, as he has always, on some level, been hers.
The knowledge that she loves him and that she belongs to him in a way M'gann could never leaves a shudder through her body.
"What is it?" Wally asks, his voice cracked and deep with concern. His hands clutch at her hair, eyes peering into her as though to divine her thoughts.
"It's just," Artemis starts, her own voice growing stronger and more resilient, "for the first time, I feel wicked."
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