A/N: ... After this chapter all of you are going to kill me. I just know it. Anyway, I'm a beta now so if anyone needs help editing their stories you know who to PM. XD

Also, there's one more chapter left after this so please resist the urge to kill me until after I finish the story...

Disclaimer: Do I own Young Justice? Nuh-uh.


Day 3: The Dance

They were finishing up their last panel when Black Canary, the announcer for day, turned to Artemis and said: "So, Artemis. How do you feel having won the OTP award?"

The woman's voice had all the gentleness of a therapist and Artemis felt herself stiffen instinctively.

"Honestly, I had no idea what the hell an OTP was until an hour ago and I don't particularly care," the girl bit out.

Black Canary walked closer to Artemis, closing the distance between them by leaning a hand on the table that Artemis' feet were lounging on.

"So, you're too tough to admit that you're honored. Is that it?" she woman said with an amused smile.

"Yeah, right. Can you imagine that I'm too excited being paired up with Wall- Kid Flash over here?"

The woman smiled knowingly and stared right at Artemis. The audience was silent. All the other questions for the day had been asked but the audience remained seated and enthralled by the confrontation between the two girls.

"Interesting. So the person you're most worried about…is Kid Flash."

There was a pause as a tense silence settled upon the stage. Wally was sitting beside Artemis, shifting uncomfortably as the girl beside him deigned her best retort.

"How did you come up with that from what I just said? That makes no sense. None. At all." Artemis said stiffly, looking away from Black Canary.

The older woman sighed and looked back out over the audience.

"Okay folks. That's the last of today's questions. I hope you enjoyed this years Young Justice panel and have fun the remainder of the con."


"Wally, I-" Artemis began, once the last of the fans had finally trickled from the room, but she was cut off by Zatanna and Megan who each grabbed one of her arms and pulled her backwards toward the doorway. "What the hell?"

"Artemis-" Wally started, and he almost followed after her until Dick placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

The last Artemis saw of Wally was the boys eyes following her from the room, filled with words that hadn't been said.


"Where are you guys taking me?" Artemis asked as she finally managed to pull free from them. They were standing just outside of the con and the afternoon breeze was comforting as Artemis stared in confusion at her friends.

Zatanna and Megan glanced at each other in astonishment and Megan said, "You mean Dick never told you?"

"Told me what?" Artemis groaned as she flexed her shoulders. They were sore from being dragged through the entire con by two exuberant teenage girls.

"About the Grand Finale. I mentioned it earlier. We don't have much time as it is, its starting in three hours!" Zatanna said, tapping the digital clock on her cell phone impatiently.

Artemis frowned and took in the expectant looks on her friends faces.

"And this Grand Finale is…?" Artemis supplied after the moment of silence had begun to irritate her.

"The Masked Ball! Everyone's going and we need to hurry and get our dresses on!" Megan cried as she grabbed Artemis' arm once more and proceeded to drag her across the street excitedly.

Artemis followed after her friends warily, only one word bouncing off the walls of her perturbed, or as Dick would say, 'turbed' brain.

Dresses?


Hours later Artemis stood in front of a mirror in their hotel room. She picked at the dress that clung to her hips uncomfortably. It was too tight, too revealing and too green.

Not only was she wearing to dress but the girls had forced her back in to the mask of her costume. They had giggled while explaining that the Masked Ball simply meant that everyone in attendance was dressed as a superhero. Masks, props and all. So there she was in a gorgeous dress, high heels and a ridiculous green mask, waiting for Megan and Zatanna to finish getting dressed so that she wouldn't have to walk back over to the con by herself in this…thing.

When the door to the bathroom opened Artemis looked up and frowned, "Why the hell aren't you two wearing masks?"

Zatanna shrugged, "My character never wears a mask, but if it'll make you happy…" she trailed off, pulling a thin black mask from her coat pocket and placing it over her eyes, "So?"

Artemis smirked, "Better," she said, turning to Megan, "What about you?"

"I'm already green from head to toe. I think a mask would be a little too much," Megan admitted, gesturing to her skin which was still dyed green from Dick's make-up/paint. The girls had tried for all of twenty minutes to scrub the stuff off Megan's skin but to no avail, and after calling Dick's cell a hundred times with no answer they had decided to dress Megan and just pretend that her skin was supposed to be green tonight.

"You ready?" Zatanna asked, looking down at Artemis who was sitting on the couch.

Artemis looked up at her friend. It was weird thinking of Zatanna, Megan and the others as her friends but there was simply no other way to classify them. After what had happened the last few days, after all they'd been through, they had become more than just acquaintances to her.

She had never had such good friends before.

Friends, Artemis thought with a smile as she allowed Zatanna to help her stand, And then there's Wally

As Artemis headed for the door she looked back at the hotel room one last time. Her hand clamped on the door handle as memories from being in the room flashed before her eyes.

She could see Wally walking through the threshold and falling face first on to the hardwood floor.

"Wall-Man, huh? I love the costume. What, exactly are your powers?"

She could see her first few moments in the presence of her 'teammates', convinced that this entire charade was entirely ridiculous.

"Boo."

"You don't even know how to put that on do you?"

"I'm not an expert in Quiver 101."

She shivered as she felt the ghostly traces of Wally's fingers the first time he had helped her with her quiver.

"Artemis? Are you coming?" Zatanna said, looking back at her from the elevator.

Artemis didn't respond for a moment but when she did she smiled wanly.

"Of course, I am," she said, "We have a party to go to."

Artemis joined her friends in the elevator only belatedly noticing the items in Zatanna's hands, the items that the girl was holding out to her mischievously.

"You have got to be kidding me," Artemis groaned.


It was only when she arrived at the con that Artemis noticed the eerie emptiness that had settled upon everything. The dealers had packed up their things and their booths lay empty and forgotten in the dealers room. The Gothic Lolita stands had been wheeled away. The Studios for panels and interviews had been locked and closed. The only light came from the glow-in-the-dark tape that had been stuck to the ground, pointing in the direction of the very back of the convention center.

Zatanna, Megan and Artemis walked casually along the tape, along with a few other cosplayers, but other than the few people that lined the halls Artemis couldn't see anything that indicated that there was an actual party going on at that moment.

"Where is the-"

"Shhhhhhh," Megan quieted her, "listen."

So Artemis listened and for a few more moments she heard nothing but the frustrated silence that permeated the air between her and Megan, until suddenly she felt it. It started out as a vibration under her feet but as the girls walked further down the hall the music was loud and thrilling and pulsing like a heartbeat.

Artemis felt a sudden nervousness clench her insides. The music had gotten louder and now she could hear voices.

She had assumed that, being a cosplaying dance, there would be hardly anybody in attendance. Maybe a few people, her team, Roy and a couple others but not actual people.

Well goddamnit all, Artemis thought, This is an actual dance.

Her suspicions were proven correct when a second later she turned a corner and was confronted with the sight of at least a hundred people vying to get in to the Grand Ballroom. There was a line that ended somewhere Artemis couldn't even see from where she stood and everyone in it was dressed far more ridiculous than she was so she felt at least a little relieved.

"Do we have to wait in that?" Artemis asked, pointing indignantly to the line.

"Hell, no," Zatanna said, grabbing her arm and dragging her to the doors, "You think Dick doesn't have connections after all the shit he's pulled this weekend? We don't even have to ask to be let in."

Artemis found that Zatanna was right. When the girl pulled her over to the bouncer, who, to her great amusement, was dressed as Superman. He looked the girls up and down once and then nodded, allowing them inside.

Once through the doors Artemis realized why there was a line, there were way too many people as it was.

Cosplayers were packed in to the room like sardines, half of them just standing in place talking and glancing up at the band on the stage, half of them dancing, or more like bouncing in place, to the generically loud music that cut through the air.

Zatanna said something to her but she couldn't hear her.

"WHAT?" Artemis asked loudly, over the music.

"ISN'T…THAT…YOU'RE MISTER?" Zatanna yelled.

"WHAT?" Artemis asked indignantly, looking absentmindedly for a head of red hair in the crowd.

"YOU'RE SISTER! ISN'T THAT YOUR SISTER?" Zatanna clarified by pointing to where Roy and Jade were standing against the wall a few yards away.

Artemis felt like she'd been punched. Why'd she think about Wally? Why was she even looking for him? They were just friends. They'd started over, and from Wally's face after they's won the OTP she wasn't sure that he wanted anything more than friendship from her.

Artemis pulled herself through the crowd towards Jade, not looking to see if Zatanna and Megan were following.

When she reached her Artemis tapped her shoulder and her sister spun around instantly.

She looked different with her hair hanging wildly from her head and a mask in the shape of a cat covering her face. The only thing she couldn't mask was the baby bump protruding noticeably from her thin black costume. Jade stared at Artemis for a moment and then pushed the mask back, revealing her face.

"Artemis!" she said, throwing her arms around the girls neck.

Artemis was relieved that the music was quieter in this small corner so that she could hear her sister's voice properly, without bursting an ear drum.

"Jade, you look different," Artemis admitted, holding her sister at arms length in order to survey her.

"I know! So do you! You look so gorgeous, sweetie," Jade said with a smile.

"Thanks… Seriously, what are you supposed to be?" Artemis questioned her, throwing a small confused look at Roy who stood protectively at Jade's shoulder.

"Oh, its just some comic character. I think her name's Cheshire. I chose her because she's Red Arrows love interest," Jade said, placing a hand on Roy's chest, "But we have nothing in common. I mean, Cheshire's an assassin. Can you imagine me as an assassin?"

Artemis laughed because she couldn't. Her sister could hardly walk up the stairs without tripping. She was clumsy, forgetful and quite lucky to have found Roy at all.

The only way she'd become an assassin was if she was trained since childhood by some psychotic Martial Arts master, Artemis mused, Like that would happen. Jade left before dad could teach her to pick a lock.

"I heard about dad," Jade said, placing a hand on Artemis' shoulder, "Is everything okay, sweetheart?"

Artemis shrugged and looked away from Jade for a split second, her eyes catching on a head of red hair twenty feet away, bobbing in the crowd.

"I'll, uh, tell you later," Artemis replied, "I got to go."

Jade watched her sister leave with a knowing smile and whispered, "Good luck, Arty."


Wally was getting pretty frustrated.

Dick hadn't allowed him to talk to Artemis since before the panel, and he needed to talk to Artemis. Instead, the boy had made him change in to his dance clothes in Studio C and then had drilled him for hours on the proper way to balance his savings account.

So needless to say when Wally ran in to Linda Park he was not thinking clearly.

"Wally West," her voice said, startling him in its lucidity even with the band playing behind them.

Wally spun, his eyes widening when he saw her, "Linda."

"No, duh, Sherlock. So, you wanna dance?" she asked, reaching her hand out to him.

"I don't think I should," he said, "What are you even doing here?"

"I'm not stalking you, if that's what you mean," she bit out.

Wally cringed. It was one thing to meet your ex-girlfriend at a comic con when the girl practically berated comics for a living. It was another when she wanted to dance with you after semi-stalking you your entire relationship until you went out of mind with the need for an inch of space. It was any entirely different situation when she traveled four hours to a completely different city just to jump you at a comic-con dance.

"I wasn't saying that its just-"

"You have a girlfriend, don't you?" Linda spat.

"Well, no, but-"

"So dance with me. One dance won't kill you, Wally," Linda said with an intensely innocent look in her doe brown eyes.

Yeah but you might, Wally thought, mentally slapping himself for what he was about to say.

"Sure, why not?"


Artemis had lost Zatanna and Megan during her quest to talk to Jade so now as she made her way to Wally she was alone and she knew exactly what she was going to say to him.

So, Wally, I've been doing a lot of thinking, Artemis recited mentally as she pushed another cosplayer out of her way, And I think that I li-

Then he was standing in front of her, rather dancing in front of her, and there was a small Asian girl, dressed as normally as she could be under the circumstances, clinging to his arms.

Artemis knew, she just knew, that this girl wasn't a fangirl or a cosplayer. This was a girlfriend.

She looked over at Wally's face. He wasn't looking at the girl. Instead he was staring at the spot just above her head and trying to ignore the fact that the girl's eyes were practically glued to his face.

When the song ended Wally went to let go of her but she clung to his arms, insisting that they dance to another one.

Maybe not a girlfriend, Artemis thought wryly, More like a stalker.

"Hey, little girl," Artemis said, standing beside the couple, "let him go."

The girl stared up at her incredulously, "Or what? Who the hell are you anyway?"

"I'm his-" Artemis started, looking over at Wally desperately, hoping that he would fill in the blank, "His-"

"His what? Fangirl?" the girl sneered. "Come on, Wally, let's get closer to the stage."

Wally pulled against the girl's grip to no avail.

"Let go of him you pint-sized bitch," Artemis said, grabbing Wally's other arm and effectively pulling him out of her grasp, "I'm his girlfriend."

"You are?" Wally asked, disbelievingly.

"Yes, I am. Now, be quiet while the ladies talk, sweetie," Artemis said tartly as she rounded on Wally.

"Yes, ma'am."

"What did you call me?" the girl said menacingly as she stepped closer to Artemis.

"You heard me," Artemis said with a sneer, "A. Pint-sized. Bitch."

When the girl stepped forward, probably to punch Artemis in the face, Artemis merely gestured to the bow and quiver of arrows strapped to her back.

"Don't make me use these," she warned.

Reluctantly the girl stepped away, flashing one last dirty look at Artemis before she disappeared in to the crowd.

Artemis stood in relief for a moment as she planned her apology to Zatanna and Megan who had insisted in the elevator that she wear her props to the dance. That was until Kid Idiot interrupted her thoughts.

"Sooo, I'm your boyfriend huh?" Wally said with a cocky smirk.

Artemis tensed, "I was, um, confused by this movie I saw the other night where this ninja girl protects her ninja boyfriend from his ninja ex-girlfriend."

"So, I'm your ninja boyfriend?" Wally asked hopefully and Artemis rounded on him. Mostly so she could smack him upside the head, mostly because she hadn't seen his stupid face all-freaking day, but before she could say anything else Wally's lips were on hers.

He practically sucked the words right out of her mouth as he pulled her closer. She felt the world vibrating but whether it was from the band or their heartbeats she couldn't tell.

When he set her down again she stared up at him morosely.

"We have to talk," she said.


"Wally, I've been doing a lot of thinking and-"

"Stop," Wally said, holding his hand up in front of her mouth.

They were standing on a balcony just outside of the dance. It was much quieter out there but the noise from the band was still ringing in Artemis' ears. She looked up at Wally in irritation.

"What?" she demanded.

"This isn't something bad is it?" Wally asked, "Because if you're going to say, 'Wally, I've been doing a lot of thinking and I've decided that you're an idiot', then I don't even want to hear it."

"Will you just listen already?"

"Or if you want to tell me how awkward it was being labeled OTP of the year, and how everyone thinks we're a couple, please don't even because I already-"

"Wait, whoa," Artemis said, cutting him off, "Awkward? You thought it was awkward? I knew it!"

"No!" Wally practically shouted, "But you did! I mean, jeez, the look on your face. It was almost like someone handed you a: Bitch of the Year Award."

"No, I- Do they even have those?" Artemis mused.

"Yeah, Superman won last year, I think."

"Superman? But-"

"Never mind," Wally said, "The point is that if its anything bad, I don't want to hear it."

"Wally, just shut the hell up and listen okay?" Artemis said, forcing Wally to look back at her.

"Fine."

"Okay, well, I've been doing a lot of thinking and I've decided that I like you."

Wally's face immediately went ten shades of red but the smile that graced it was all Artemis could see.

"Really? Seriously?" Wally asked, "That's great!"

"So?" Artemis said, tapping her foot impatiently against the ground.

"So?" Wally asked, confused.

"So, you like me or what?" she supplied, placing her hands on her hips.

"Oh, yeah. Of course I like you," Wally said with a smile.

"Good," Artemis said glumly, "So, you'll understand that we can't be together."

Wally stared at her in confusion for a moment. She stared back, completely serious as she crossed her arms over her chest. For the first time Wally noticed how beautiful she looked.

She wore a simple strapless green dress that clung to her sides and fell just above her knees. The heels she was wearing made her almost as tall as him and he stared directly in to her sad gray eyes.

"But, why?" he asked, his voice coming out in a whisper.

"Where do you live, Wally?" she asked.

"Why-"

"Where do you live?" she repeated.

"Central City."

"Figured," she said, whipping her long golden hair over a shoulder, "We live hours apart. In two different time zones. How are we supposed to have a relationship if we can never see each other?"

Wally frowned. He hadn't even thought of that. His concern had been about her and the con. He hadn't remembered that the hotel room he was staying in with Dick was the only place he could call home in this city. He had forgotten that tomorrow morning he would be driving himself back to Central in his dad's car. He had almost gotten away with pretending that he and Dick always saw each other, and weren't just internet friends, that his life was always filled with cosplaying and pocky and Q and A panels.

He looked back up at Artemis.

"But…"

Artemis shook her head, her long hair tossing in the breeze that surrounded them on this cool spring night.

"I'm not the kind of girl who is going to wait for you, Wall-Man. As much as I like you, it might be best if this is goodbye."

He almost called out to her. He almost told her to wait, but by the time the word had left his mouth she had already disappeared back in to the dance and he was left alone, again.


"Dick," Artemis said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

He spun around to face her and smiled.

"Artemis! Meet the Batman," the boy said, pointing to an older man standing beside him. The man was tall a buff and wearing a dark cape and cowl that almost made him blend in to the background. Just a glance from him made needles of anxiety race up Artemis' spine.

"Oh," Artemis said warily, "Hello."

"Hmpf," the man said before crossing his arms and turning away from her.

Okay

"That's 'hello' in bat-speak," Dick supplied as Artemis nodded her head vaguely, "Anyway, what's up? Enjoying the dance?"

Artemis looked down at the kid with a smirk, "I sure am. The thing is, Dick, I got to get out of here so could you say goodbye to the others for me?"

"Are you sure?" Dick asked, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just got to run. Its…my mom," Artemis lied.

"Alright, well, if you're gonna go at least take this," Dick said, reaching in to his suit and producing an envelope.

Artemis wondered what it was for all of four seconds before she remembered. Pay Day.

She shook her head, "Nah, you keep it."

Dick's eyes almost fell out of his mask, "But, are you sure? You earned it."

Artemis nodded, looking back in the direction she had left Wally, "Yeah, I don't need it. This was fun. Thanks for inviting me, kid."

"But- But-," Dick stuttered, looking between her and the envelope as if he were conflicted.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, aware that 'Batman' stepped a little closer and narrowed his eyes as she did this.

"Let's just say you owe me one and leave it at that. Okay?" she said.

Dick nodded slowly and watched as she turned to leave.

"Oh, where should I leave this outfit, Dick?" she asked at the last second, turning to look at the kid as she gestured to her dress.

He smirked, "Keep it. You might need it someday."

Artemis smiled at him one last time and left the con. As she stepped outside she pulled the mask from her face, let her hair down and breathed in the night air.

She found that despite everything she wasn't very sad. Sure, she would probably regret this decision for the rest of her life but she'd much rather regret what could have been than sit around pining for Wally like some freaking damsel in distress. She'd miss him. She really would. In fact as she stood on the curb she could already feel the pin pricks of tears forming in the corners of eyes.

Maybe one day I'll see him again, but for now this weekend was exciting, she thought, looking back at the convention center as she stepped in to a cab, Maybe this whole cosplaying thing isn't so ridiculous after all.


In the words of Dr. Fate: Fear not! I have one more chapter and one last trick up my sleeve, so PLEASE REVIEW! XD

A few details: "You like me or what?" is a nod to one of my favorite childhood shows Boy Meets World.

The Jade in my story is one of the few characters, along with Linda Park, whose personality I decided to twist. In my timeline Jade left the Crock family right after Paula was sent to jail and since the Lawrence of my story didn't start 'training' Artemis until then, Jade turned out pretty normal. Don't get me wrong she still ran away from the family at a young age and she's still street smart but she's also NOT evil so she's much more sisterly than her Young Justice counterpart. Linda Park, for those of you who don't know, is Wally West's canonical girlfriend and later wife. From what I've read about her she's a reporter and she sounds pretty...stalker-ish. So I decided to make her a crazy stalker girlfriend.

If anyone has anyone has any questions about these changes/characters please PM me or leave a review. :)