A/N: I'M BACK! I'm so sad to be posting on such a horrible day, but I thought everyone might need some cheering up! This chapter is actually a happy one with virtually no plot continuing points. *HOORAY*
But seriously, my thoughts and heart goes out to everyone in Boston and those readers who have friends or family down there. Words can't express how sorry I am for anyone of your guy's (is that even a word?) loss. Feel free to PM me if any of you want to talk or rant or share about your loss. I'm all ears 3
Disclaimer: I don't own YJ. If I did I would be making a new season, not writing fanfiction.
Artemis woke up to a polite prod.
"Go away Wally." Artemis commanded sleepily, not even bothering to open her eyes.
"I am sorry to disturb your slumber, and I regret to inform you that I am not Wally, but I need you to awaken." a voice that was most definitely not Wally's informed her.
"Kaldur?" Artemis asked, cracking one eye open to look at her dark skinned friend.
"It is I." he answered, gracing one of his few genuine smiles on one of his oldest friends.
"Give me five minutes and some coffee, then we'll talk." Artemis said, ripping the comforters off and dragging herself into a sitting position.
"I am afraid we do not have five minutes. Raquel is only able to block the signal to any electronic listening devices for a few minutes."
More awake now, Artemis actually saw the quiet desperation on Kaldur's face. It wasn't something a stranger would notice, just a tightening around her friend's eyes and mouth, but she knew that it meant terrible news.
"Oh God. Wally?" she asked, unsure of what she was even asking, but worried something terrible had happened to the annoying ginger boy she had grown remarkably fond of.
"Wally is in perfect health. I believe that he is in the mess hall eating breakfast."
Artemis let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "So what's the problem?"
"It is Dick. I have been unable to reach him." Kaldur told her somberly.
"What do you mean unable?" Artemis spat, forgetting about the manners her mother had raised her with.
"Someone inside of the castle is making it extremely hard to send word out. I fear we may have been made." the atlantean reported, confirming Artemis's second worst fear.
"So the escape?" Artemis asked, suddenly afraid once again.
"There will be no escape."
Wally shook his head. "Nah, I'm good."
The coffee guy shrugged, continuing to pour himself a cup of the hot beverage.
Wally walked down the buffet style breakfast line, piling his plate high with food. He ignored the queer looked directed at him by the coffee man and sat down at one of the long tables, reminded of his infinite years in school eating at similarly styled tables.
The door opened when Wally was halfway through his plate. A familiar blonde entered the room, decked in a simple tee and jeans. God only knew where she had gotten them, but Wally had accepted long ago that there were things about Artemis he would never understand.
"Gooph Mmmnin', Booteful." Wally said with his mouth full of eggs.
Artemis looked at him, surprised by his greeting. For a second Wally thought he saw a shadow in her eyes, something deep and scared that he'd never seen before in her. The next second it was gone and she was simply staring at him in the way that told him she expected better of him.
Taking the hint, Wally swallowed and tried again. "Good Morning, beautiful."
Artemis rolled her eyes, but smiled. "That was significantly more charming that second time Wally. Take note."
"Noted, gorgeous." Wally said, shoveling more food in his mouth.
Artemis joined him a second later. Attempting to be the gentleman, Wally stood up and walked over to Artemis's chair, intent on pulling it out for her. Unfortunately, his plan did not go as expected. Wally's foot snagged on the leg of the table, tripping him and sending his body careening towards Artemis. Miraculously, he managed to stabilize both of them, wrapping an arm around her waist and catching the plate she'd thrown up in surprise in his other hand.
"Please tell me someone saw that." Wally said, only half joking.
"Where did that come from, Wall-man?" Artemis asked him, shocked.
"Babe, you wound me. I've always had mad skills." he teased.
Artemis laughed, bringing Wally's attention to her lips. The lips that were right in front of him. Within easy reach. Deciding for once to simply go for it, Wally started leaning down, inwardly cheering when Artemis's eyes began to flutter shut. Their lips were barely touching when a loud voice jolted them out of their private moment.
"Coffee?" the Manta soldier asked.
Wally stared in disbelief. "Does it look like we need coffee?" he asked.
The man shrugged. "You guys looked thirsty."
"We aren't." Wally told him. He stubbornly refused to let go of either the plate or Artemis, still wanting to believe the moment would somehow return.
It didn't.
"C'mon stud." Artemis said, elbowing him in the side. "Let's eat breakfast."
Quickly thinking through his options and deciding it was a lost cause to rekindle the moment, Wally let go of Artemis, walking over to the table and setting down her plate. He did, however, remember to pull out the chair for her. It was the little victories that mattered.
"Thanks Wally." Artemis said, smiling briefly at him before tucking into her breakfast.
Wally smiled, glad that he managed to do one thing right. He glanced at the coffee guy, intent on giving the man his best glare. To his surprise, the coffee man was laughing at him. Silently laughing, so Artemis wouldn't hear, but laughing all the same. Wally flashed him his best 'I will end you' glare but it seemed to have little effect. Things in the Shadow's headquarters were getting weirder by the minute.
Giving up, Wally turned his attention back to the blonde at his side. The more he saw her and the more time he spent with her, the more Wally was convinced Artemis was the girl for him. If they ever made it out of the castle, the first they were going to do was go on a date.
Twenty minutes later, both teens were finished with breakfast and growing restless.
"So, what do we do now?" Wally asked, pulling open the door to the mess hall for Artemis and following her back towards their room.
"I don't really know. I've never been an important prisoner before. Usually there's torture and interrogations, not breakfast and free time." she answered honestly.
"Well, what do you want to do?" he questioned.
Artemis turned around and flashed him a smirk. "I'm so glad you asked."
Wally hit the mat hard.
"If you can't dodge an uppercut West, there's no way you'll be able to dodge a bullet." Artemis told him, offering her hand to pull him up.
"Why are there now bullets involved in this scenario?" he questioned.
"Something tells me you were terrible at dodgeball in school." the blonde teased, completely ignoring his bullet question.
Wally thought back to his days in Central City High School and repressed a shudder. He actually was terrible at dodgeball, but Artemis didn't have to know everything about him.
Instead of replying, Wally made a noncommittal sound in the back of his throat and got back into a defensive position.
"Remind me again why we're here?" Wally asked, blocking the first soft hit Artemis sent his way.
"I just thought you could use the help." Artemis told him innocently before sending a slow kick towards his head. "I was right, of course."
Wally caught the leg and held on to it, forcing the blonde fighter to look at him. He remembered the dark look she'd held in her eyes that morning, the thing that warned him something horrible was coming their way, but also warned they stood no chance. "Seriously. Why am I learning to fight?"
Artemis sighed and motioned for Wally to release his grip on her ankle. He did, but didn't break eye contact. She lowered her voice to a whisper and led him to a darker part of the training room. "I talked to Kaldur before I came to breakfast this morning. There are a few complications with the escape."
Wally froze. "What kind of complications?" he asked nervously.
"Kaldur can't get a hold of Dick." Artemis admitted.
"How much of a problem is this?" Wally pried.
Her silence was all the information he needed.
"So, no escape?" he asked, knowing the answer but wishing for a different one.
"No escape." Artemis confirmed.
"We'll just have to come up with a new one!" Wally said, trying to remain optimistic.
"There's not enough time to piece together another plan. Ra's is expecting an answer tomorrow! A plan needs accomplices, back up plans, escape routes, and most importantly, time." she explained quickly, her fear becoming more palpable to Wally the longer she spoke.
Wally smirked. "That's where you're wrong. Al Ghul gave me three days, remember? We're only on the second tomorrow!" he told her, smiling victoriously.
Artemis shook her head at him. "I know al Ghul, Wally. When he said three days, he was including the day he told us of his offer. Make no mistake, he'll come for your answer tomorrow at dawn."
"How do you know all of this?" Wally asked incredulously. "How are you so sure?"
"You know I grew up in this life." Artemis whispered.
"I don't know anything of the sort!" Wally exclaimed.
And just like that, he snapped.
Wally was tired of being kept out of the loop. He'd been forced to accept that his best friend and uncle had held their secrets from him, and for the most part he did. He still wasn't sure if he was ready to hold the burden those secrets had placed on his shoulders now, let alone when he was just a regular kid.
Two weeks ago he had been studying at Gotham, going to parties and hanging out with his best friend.
Now, he was a prisoner inside of a castle being forced to choose between a fate worse than death or becoming a criminal.
And the girl he was starting to care for more and more was even now a stranger to him.
"Do you not trust me? Is that it? Because I trust you. I trust you more than I've ever trusted anyone before!" Wally burst out, knowing he was going to be mortified at the things his mouth was spewing out later, but not finding it in him to care about it right then.
"Wal-" Aretmis began.
"Do you realize how scary this is for me?" Wally demanded, talking over her words like they weren't even there. "I'm falling for a girl I don't even know!"
The silence that fell between them after Wally's outburst was deafening, the shocked look on Wally's face mirrored by the look on Artemis's.
"I'm not proud of who I was Wally." Artemis said quietly, breaking the tense moment. "I'm not sure if I want you to know."
"I don't need to know everything. I just need to know that you trust me." Wally admitted earnestly, taking a step closer to Artemis and taking her hands in his.
"Do you?" he asked, trying desperately not to think about the weight of the words in his question, instead just letting himself live in the moment.
Artemis looked into his eyes; the bright green that looked so innocent and trusting at first glance, but held the hidden depths of the little boy who'd been lied to his entire life. Her answer was surprisingly easy to pick out of her mind, as if it was lying in wait for just this moment.
"I do." Artemis said simply, ignoring the weight of her words and merely allowing herself to fall into the moment.
Artemis saw Wally lean closer to her, attempting to finish what they'd started that morning at breakfast. Her eyes fluttered shut and she felt her arms travel up his body to encircle around his neck, almost as if they were going to dance a slow song together.
He was so close she could feel his breath ghosting over her lips when the door to the training room burst open.
"Tigress? Newbie? You in here?" a remarkably familiar voice called.
"This. Can't. Be. Happening." Artemis heard Wally say, mostly to himself. She opened her eyes to see Wally pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation while still holding onto her waist tightly.
"There you two are! The King has been looking for you." said the young soldier in the manta armor. "He has extended you an invitation to his own table tonight."
"Do we look hungry?" Wally asked, undisguised venom in his voice.
"You actually look a little stressed. I could get you two some coffee if you'd like. I heard it does wonders for the stressed and overworked mind."
The mention of coffee sparked a burst of recognition in Artemis, finally allowing her to place the intruder as the man who had offered her coffee this morning, interrupting her other almost intimate moment with Wally.
The red head's frustration suddenly made much more sense to Artemis.
"We're actually in the middle of something, so if you don't mind?" Artemis told the man, hoping he'd pick up the obvious dismissal.
"I apologize, but my commands were quite explicit. I've been ordered to escort you two to your rooms to change into appropriate clothes and then to the King's own quarters." the coffee man explained, looking only slightly apologetic."
Artemis turned her upper body back around to face Wally and tell him that they should follow the man when a strong look of determination spread across his face.
"To hell with this." Wally said abruptly, and with no warning, he swooped Artemis up in his arms like a bride and kissed her.
The kiss was all Artemis had wanted, and yet so much more. Though it started slightly angry, the kiss morphed into something softer and more loving. The cliché fireworks that Artemis had secretly dreamed of seeing shifted from an elusive hope and became a reality, sweeping a happy bliss from the top of her head to her curling toes.
The two broke apart only after coffee man let out an embarrassed cough, both teens awed and hungry for more.
"I should have done that a long time ago." Wally proclaimed.
"No kidding."
A/N: YOU GET FLUFF AND YOU GET FLUFF! EVERYBODY GETS FLUFF.
I know I left most questions unanswered, and I am sorry about that, but I hope you still liked it!
For those of you who don't like coffee man, he's almost entirely out of the story, don't worry. I just love him to bits and couldn't resist making him part of a semi-ridiculous plot point based off of a tumblr post. I'll post a link to it on my profile next chapter.
As to why I haven't updated in forever? I just couldn't. My heart hurt to much to think about Wally, let alone write about him. I'm truly sorry to keep you all waiting for this (remarkably bad) chapter, but my heart just hurt too much.
So, a few questions for next time!
How are they going to escape with no Dick?
Why does coffee man keep (pardon my french) cockblocking Wally?
Seriously, why does Ra's Al Ghul want Wally so much? (He's kind of useless)
Any predictions or suggestions or comments? I love to hear them!
~The Dark Princess