A/N: Hey there guys! Thanks so much to everyone who favorited/followed/reviewed ch. 9!
In celebration of the snow day my school had today, I edited ch. 10 wanted to upload early (a.k.a. before I forgot I edited it). Just a not that the italicized part of the story is a flashback. I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.
To say Wally was confused would be an understatement. He wasn't sure he'd actually understood anything that had happened in his life since the day he and Dick had walked into the bank. Right now, surrounded by strange people in an even stranger castle, he wasn't sure if the direction his life has taken was necessarily a good one.
"I still don't see why I should trust you. Who even came up with this idiotic plan?" Artemis said, bringing Wally back to the present.
"Nightwing has planned the entire operation." Kaldur answered.
"Sounds like Dick." Raquel, Artemis and Wally all said at the same time, laughing.
Kaldur gave a slight smile. "Our friend does make a habit of weaving complicated plans."
Raquel snorted. "He also leaves out intel. A lot of intel."
"So you don't even know the whole plan?" Artemis asked, incredulous.
"We know enough to extract both you and Wally from the grounds without exposing our true motives. It does involve risk, however." Kaldur answered, skillfully avoiding the real question.
"Does Wally get a say in this?" Wally asked sarcastically.
All three heroes looked at Wally in surprise. "Yeah, still here." he said, giving a little wave for emphasis.
"I am sorry Wally. We are being quite rude. Feel free to ask any questions you might have." Kaldur said with a calming smile.
Wally floundered for a few seconds, not expecting to be addressed in such a direct manner. "I just want to get this straight. You two," Wally said, pointing at Kaldur and Raquel, "are villains but not really, and you killed this Jason boy but not really, and now you're on our side but for real?" he asked skeptically.
"That about sums it up." Raquel told him, nodding at his points.
"What part of this makes sense to you?" Wally asked Artemis.
"The plan does sound like Dick," she said slowly "and before they switched sides, I would have trusted them with my lives."
"Before being the operative word. How can you just believe them like this?" Wally cried out.
In all honesty, Artemis didn't know why she believed them. She looked at both Raquel and Kaldur, suddenly flooded with all the memories of team missions and team downtime. And she had her answer.
"I trust them because I know them." Artemis said simply, answering Wally's questions as honestly as she could.
She looked up at Wally, expecting an argument. Wally opened his mouth, but quickly shut it again. "If you trust them, I trust them." was his only reply.
"Thank you." she said gratefully. Artemis didn't think she'd be able to come up with a better argument for trusting the two dark skinned heroes. Her reason wasn't logical, but based off of years of friendship, and she was glad Wally hadn't pushed that.
"I just have one more question." Wally's voice said out of the momentary silence. "What exactly is this plan?"
"I must get in touch with Nightwing before I make any final plans." Kaldur said solemnly. "I must make sure no part of the escape plan interferes with the overall scheme. Raquel and I have not yet discovered the Light's final goal."
"You're meeting him soon though, right?" Wally asked, sounding nervous.
"Don't worry Wally. We have a meeting with Dick in a week. After that, it shouldn't take more than a couple days to put into action." Raquel said.
Artemis and Wally paled simultaneously.
"We don't have a week." Artemis said bluntly.
Kaldur look confused."I know that it is not where you both envisioned yourselves, but-"
"I only have three days!" Wally blurted out, interrupting the hero.
Kaldur and Raquel stared at him. "What do you mean you only have three days?" Raquel asked.
Wally took a deep breath. "Ra's Al Ghul expects my decision by then. In three days I'll either be dead or a Shadow."
Artemis snorted. "You don't have to make it sound so ominous, Wally."
"Well excuse me if I care about my life." Wally retorted.
"They won't kill you. They'll just torture you until you're so afraid of speaking about the Shadows you physically can't." Artemis told him matter-of-factly.
"Yes, because that makes me feel so much better." he said sarcastically.
"Well you won't die." she pointed out.
"We should leave you two alone to work out any problems." Kaldur replied. "I will try to contact Nightwing to set up an earlier meeting."
"Our ten minutes are almost up anyways." Raquel said. In Artemis's opinion, she looked a little disappointed at leaving just as a fight was beginning. She had always loved seeing Artemis put someone in their place.
"We will be in touch soon, my friends." Kaldur told them before he and Raquel left the room, leaving behind a slightly awkward silence.
Wally and Artemis turned to face each other.
"Look, I'm-"Artemis started at the exact same time as Wally tried to begin with "Artemi-"
They both laughed. Suddenly the silence that enveloped them wasn't awkward at all, but filled with a new kind of tension.
Wally let out a huge, and obviously fake, yawn. "Well, I'm exhausted. Time to turn it?" he asked her.
She was grateful for the attempt to diffuse some of the… whatever it was that had filled the room. Unfortunately it did just the opposite as the turned to look at the singular bed.
Wally started to turn red as Artemis desperately tried to hold in her giggles. "C'mon, Casanova. I don't bite." she said, walking towards the bed. She stripped off her jacket and T-shirt, leaving her in only a tank top and jeans. As much as she wanted to keep the jeans on, the blonde knew she wouldn't be able to get any sleep in them. Sighing, she quickly stripped out of her jeans too. As she got into bed she looked up to see Wally was also undressed to his boxers.
She tried desperately to either look away or stop the heat flowing to her cheeks but failed miserably at both.
"See something you like blondie?" he asked teasingly as also climbed under the covers.
"You wish Kid Flirt." she retorted, trying to keep a straight face.
Wally laughed before he flipped the switch next to him. The room plunged into darkness. Artemis felt Wally jostle the bed, trying to get comfortable. When the movement stopped, only their combined breathing could be heard throughout the room.
"We're going to make it out of here, right?" came Wally's voice from the other side of the bed.
Artemis didn't know if it was fear or just the darkness, but Wally sounded years younger than she'd ever heard him. She had to remind herself that a week ago, Wally was just a normal college kid living with his best friend. He hadn't grown up in the kind of madness that she and Dick had, nor had he really even chosen this life. Instead, he'd been thrown into a kind of world where death was a very real possibility every day.
Without any conscious thought, Artemis snuck her hand under the blanket and grasped Wally's.
"I'm not going to let anyone hurt you Wally." Artemis told honestly, clutching his hand.
Wally squeezed her hand, showing his gratitude without words. Ten minutes after that Wally was sound asleep. Although she tried to fall asleep, thoughts about Wally kept running through her mind. She hadn't spent much time with him, but she knew that she liked him. How much she liked him was the question.
Her thoughts eventually trailed to the first time she had realized she had really wanted to get to know Wally. She recalled t was actually Dick that made her realize it.
Artemis ran silently along the rooftops of Gotham, nearly invisible despite the orange material of her uniform. Nearly invisible, that is, until her phone rang out loudly in the quiet of the night. She reached into her back pocket, cursing whoever was calling her. Only a few people even had her number and all them would know she was out patrolling tonight. She hated taking calls during her alone time.
Her anger immediately evaporated when she saw the caller I.D. She flipped her phone open. "Zee." she said, worry making her voice slightly higher than it normally was. "How's he doing?" she asked.
"The same. All he does is sit in Wally's hospital room and then patrol the streets afterwards. I haven't seen him eat since the accident. I'm getting worried." Zatanna answered, sounding like she was close to tears.
Artemis sighed. She knew how useless her friend felt when it came to the sudden depression Dick was going through. "I'm sorry, Zee." she said.
Zatanna sniffed. "I was thinking you might come up to the Watchtower and try talking to him. If he listens to anyone, it would be you." she begged.
Artemis sighed again, knowing that this was true. There had always been a special friendship between her and Dick, something they both just got. "Fine. I'll be up in twenty minutes." She said into the phone before hanging up. She couldn't believe she had just given into Zatanna's wishes. She stood up slowly and then started the trip to the nearest zeta tube.
Artemis knew what it felt like to sit anxiously by a hospital bed, not sure if the occupant was ever going to wake up again. She had waited by her mother's bedside for days after her accident, slipping in through the window when the official visiting hours ended. Her fear of reliving those days were the only thing that kept her from racing to Dick's side after she'd found out about Wally's accident. But Dick wasn't the only one waiting on the edge of the seat for his friend's recovery. Everyone in the Justice League was in a tizzy about the accident too, not knowing if Wally was going to acquire the same super human abilities as his Uncle. The Scarlet Speedster himself had gone to look at the accident, but hadn't been able to determine if enough of the chemicals had spilled on Wally to give him super speed. It was simply a waiting game from now on.
Much too quickly, Artemis stood in front of the out of order telephone booth that served as Gotham's zeta tube. Taking a deep breath, Artemis punched in her code and stepped into the light. A few seconds later she stepped out onto the Watchtower's zeta platform, hearing the computer announce her arrival.
Recognized: Tigress: B07
"Dick?" she called out into the seemingly empty Watchtower. "I know you're here!" she yelled. Still not getting a response, Artemis decided to try his room. He rarely used it, preferring to spend time with Wally at their apartment, but figured it was worth a shot.
Navigating through the maze-like hallways of the tower, Artemis planned what she was going to say to her black haired friend. She couldn't pretend like she knew Wally very well, but she did know about the grief of accidents. Maybe something about her mom would cheer him up? Dick loved talking to her mom and her mom, for some reason, loved talking to Dick. Artemis didn't even try to understand what they had in common. All she did was sit back and allow it to happen.
Five minutes and twenty turns later, the archer stopped in front of her friend's room.
She knocked on the door and after getting no response, called softly through the door. "Dick?" Again hearing no response, Artemis snapped. It wasn't like Wally died! He hadn't even had any serious injuries, something that the doctors had considered a miracle. Plus, it had barely been three days since the storm, not like the weeks she had spent at her mother's bedside. It was high time Dick got over his moody little bout of feelings. With new determination, Artemis kicked open the door. She immediately spotted Dick sitting at his computer, studiously watching the monitor.
Artemis walked up behind the ninja, knowing that he knew she was there. He finally turned to look at her and she got the first good look at him. And flinched. He had dark bags under his eyes and with the bruises and cuts on his face, looked like he'd recently gotten into several fight.
"What are you doing here?" he asked her.
"You know why I'm here." she replied simply, walking to the bed in the corner and flopping down on it.
"Zee?" he asked.
"She's worried about you." Artemis told him. "And honestly? I'm worried too."
"There's nothing to be worried about." Dick retorted.
"Oh, there isn't? Zee told me you don't go to her place anymore and I know you don't go to your apartment. All you do is go around Gotham beating up punks!" she exclaimed, sitting up.
"I'm allowed to grieve for my best friend, Artemis!" Dick yelled.
"He's not dead!"
"He might as well be! I've read the reports Artemis." Dick cried out. "He might not wake up." he said in a quieter voice that told Artemis everything she needed to hear.
She got up and walked over to her friend, kneeling down beside him. "Dick, he's not going to die." Artemis declared.
"You can't know that." Dick whispered. "No one can know that."
"I can." Artemis said. "And when he wakes up, he's going to want his best friend beside him, so get your stuff. We're going to the hospital."
"The visiting hours are over." Dick reminded her, confused.
"The visiting hours are over? Are we or are we not the best covert agents in the Justice League? I don't think a few cameras are going to stop us." she informed him.
She tossed him some civilian clothes and ordered him to change. A few minutes later they were both dressed in civies and standing next to the zeta tubes. It only took a few minutes until they were standing outside the hospital.
"I bet I can get into the room before you." she teased. Just as she'd hoped, Dick's eyes sparked up at the challenge.
"You are so on." he said before taking off.
"Cheater!" she yelled at him.
Four minutes later, Artemis slipped into the room the hospital records reported as Wally West's.
"Not bad." a voice said from the corner. "But not good enough."
"You troll." she told her dark haired friend as he emerged from the shadows.
"Don't be a sore loser."
They took a seat in the chairs next to the bed. It only took five minutes before Artemis stated she was bored out of her mind.
"What do you want me to do about it?" Dick asked.
"Tell me about him." Artemis said, gesturing to the red head. "If I'm going to sit here until he wakes up, I want to know something about him."
"Fine." Dick said, sighing. "His name is Wally West." he began.
Artemis remembered that she and Dick had talked about Wally for hours, until she had gone to get coffee and returned to find them in the middle of their fight. To hear Dick tell it, the red head was one of the best people to have lived, full of the kind of childlike hope Artemis wished she'd been able to hold on to.
Dick's description was actually why she'd decided to check up on him during their fight, and it was why she'd wanted to get coffee with him.
After that, she didn't know when she'd started to like Wally, but it was evident that she did. All she hoped for now was that they escaped the Shadows with their lives.
Wally woke up the next morning with a mouthful of hair. Spitting it out, he realized he was pinned to the bed by Artemis's body. Apparently she was not only a blanket hog but also a cuddle-er. Looking down at her face, Wally was struck once again by how beautiful she was.
True, her blonde hair got everywhere and he was pretty sure that was her drool drying on his chest, but all of those things just made her more adorable. Trying not to think about how much he wanted to wake up like this every day, Wally tried to get up.
Using all of his stealth, Wally managed to slip out from under Artemis without waking her up. After congratulating himself, he realized he had no clue what to do now. Right on cue, his stomach growled loudly, taking the decision away from him. Food first, then escape plans.
Putting on his t-shirt and jeans from yesterday he walked out of the room and down the hall, following his nose. The scent of coffee and bacon got stronger and he walked toward a door. Taking a chance, Wally stopped outside of a door he was reasonably sure was the source of the delicious smell.
Opening the door, Wally let out a relieved sigh when he saw there was actually food in the room and not a horde of murderous assassins.
"Hey." Wally said, greeting the only other man in the room. He was dark skinned and wearing the same kind of armor as Kaldur had been wearing the night before.
The man nodded his head in greeting. "Coffee?" he asked.
A/N: So there it was! Sorry there wasn't much Spitfire, but there was some Traught friendship (probably no one cares because we're all Wally/Artemis shipper). I swear to God that there will be lots more of Artemis and Wally flirting in the next chapter. I also hoped you liked the little cameo by our favorite Manta henchman at the end!
As always, any reviews you want to leave will make my day! I would love to hear your predictions for the escape plan. They'll comfort me as I cry my eyes out during the next episode of Young Justice D:
~The Dark Princess