A/N: I know what some of you are probably thinking! FINALLY. I know, because that's exactly how I feel! Sorry about the wait, but I had a real hard time with this chapter and only really got some inspiration for it last night. Anyway, I had a lot of people asking for Artemis' POV, for Wally's POV, and for both, so I decided to do both. First half of the chapter will be Artemis, and the second half will be Wally. :) Hope you enjoy!

Set during Coldhearted.

DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, none of these characters belong to me. If Wally West belonged to me, I would be the only one allowed to play with him ;-) Any dialogue or plot that looks familiar belongs to DC and Greg Weisman and other people who are not me.

Summary: This is the story of Artemis and Wally and their evolution from teammates, to friends, to boyfriend and girlfriend, to husband and wife, to soul mates and everything and anything in between. Please review! XD

Genre: Friendship, Romance, Action/Adventure, Humor

Rating: T (just to be safe, it might go up later if I'm feeling particularly ambitious)

Characters: Artemis Crock, Wally West

The EVOLUTION of SOUL MATES

Evolution: the gradual development of something, esp. from a simple to a more complex form.

Chapter 14: Friend II

She wakes up in such a good mood the morning of the 11th. Her mother even makes a comment about it as she hands her a cup of tea at breakfast.

"I've always liked snow," she tells her, eyeing the steadily falling flakes visible from the kitchen window. She idly thinks that it's way too early in the season for snow and, hadn't the weatherman said it was supposed to be 50 degrees and sunny today? But she does like snow and school ends up getting cancelled, so she ignores the logical part of her brain that says something isn't quite right here.

Maybe the reason she's in such a good mood is because she had made a decision when she'd woken up this morning, a decision that had to do with one Wally West. Today was the young speedster's 16th birthday and, in her mind at least, the perfect day to tell him how she really felt. She'd been going back and forth about it for the past few days, but she was tired of trying to hide it. She couldn't get their encounter on Halloween out of her head. Wally's anger and self-loathing coupled with his concern. Their almost kiss...

The last week or so since their encounter that night had only been marred by their disappearing parents, and she had been pleasantly surprised to see a text from Wally after she'd gotten home that night. Your mom safe and sound? was all it had said, and she had happily replied that yes, she was fine and what about his parents?thus beginning a text conversation that lasted for the next hour before they both succumbed to sleep.

There's something there; it's undeniable. Whether they are bantering back and forth or fighting alongside each other, it's plain to her that they have a connection. The thing with Wally is that she has fun with him. She enjoys every interaction, never misses an opportunity to call him on his crap, savors every touch, every look, every smile. She can't describe it. There's just this sparkbetween them.

In the afternoon, she bundles up to leave the apartment and enjoys her snowy trek to the zeta tube. Gotham doesn't seem so dark and dreary when layered with the fluffy white stuff, and she's in high spirits as she steps into the Out of Order telephone booth that serves as Gotham's zeta.

At the Cave, she joins M'gann, Zatanna, and the boys in setting up for Wally's "surprise" party. The doofus had been throwing them hints left and right that'd he'd wanted a party, so they had all decided to humor him. Everything goes perfectly up until the point where Wally actually arrives. She doesn't know why she had expected everything to be different after their little "heart to heart" on Halloween, but he's right back to flirting with M'gann, and it's like a punch to the gut the way he's almost falling over himself trying to get a birthday kiss from her. She should really be focusing on the forlorn expression on Zatanna's face rather than the hopeful one on Wally's, but it's like a train wreck; she can't look away.

A horrible idea creeps up slowly on her, and she tries to ignore it; god, she really does, but it's impossible. Her friend the green-eyed monster rears its ugly head and takes over her body. Today was supposed to be a drama free day. It's his birthday (oh my gosh, it's his birthday), sweet sixteen, and he's been so happy with the little party they'd put together, even though he hadn't been surprised in the slightest.

It's like a light's gone on in her head now, and it's getting brighter and brighter no matter how she tries to squelch it. "Think we should tell him?" she asks Zatanna and Robin, nodding to Kid Casanova.

"You're getting warmer, babe, but I can make you warmer still," Wally says to M'gann in a would-be seductive tone, oblivious to their audience.

Robin smirks. "He's the only one that doesn't know," he concedes.

Artemis puts aside the rational part of her that says that this is actually a despicable idea. "Then please, allow me," she says, pushing past them both.

She tells herself that she's doing it for his own good: that it's what a friend would do; that he'll thank her in the end, but really, who is she kidding? She's doing this for herself. Maybe if he knows it's a hopeless cause with M'gann, he'll stop mooning over her and realize that she's been here all along.

Oh god, it's his birthday, is all she thinks as she sits down behind him. His festive party hat mocks her as it sits precariously atop his bright red hair. He stiffens as she places her hand on his shoulder and glances back at her in confusion. Too late to turn back now, she thinks, placing her mouth next to his ear. She doesn't want to embarrass him in front of everyone after all. It has nothing to do with wanting to be closer to him. Not at all.

"I hate to break it to you, Baywatch," she starts, trying to keep her mouth from curving into a vindictive smile, "But M'gann and Conner are together, if you know what I mean."

She watches him look up at M'gann feeding Conner a piece of cake and can almost hear the pieces fall into place in his head.

"Aw man!" he moans, slumping over in dismay, a hurt expression on his face.

It's his birthday, a voice whispers incessantly in the back of her mind. Bitch move. And it kind of is. What kind of person tells someone that their crush is in a relationship with someone else on their birthday of all days? Before she can offer any words of comfort, heartfelt or not, the Batman's voice erupts over the loudspeaker.

"Attention Team, suit up: polar stealth," his voice directs them. "Mission briefing in five."

They all exchange glances before springing into action. She and Wally stand, Wally quickly going for the last piece of cake.

"Hey, Wally, I-" she starts, not exactly knowing what she is going to say, but it doesn't matter because he's already zipped away towards the locker room. With a resigned sigh, she follows.

It's a strange feeling, pulling on her polar stealth gear, knowing that she'd technically died in this same uniform, even though it hadn't been real. The failsafe experiment had been almost a whole month ago, and yet it was still fresh in all of their minds. The Team reconvenes in the briefing room, and she swears Wally does a double take when he sees her step into place next to him. His right hand clenches into a fist and his expression is distant, and she thinks that maybe his mind's eye is replaying her disintegrating into thin air amidst the frozen tundra.

She clears her throat. "Alright there, Kid?" she asks, pulling up the furry hood of her snowsuit.

His hand unclenches and he shakes his head slightly, eyes pulling back into focus. "Absolutely!" he says in only a slightly less exuberant tone than usual. "Looking forward to a little bday action!"

She loves how excited he gets about missions because it's the same feeling that she gets when she suits up to go out there. He lives and breathes being Kid Flash, and it's always been one of the things she's admired about him since they first met. This makes his crushed expression when Batman gives him the news that he won't be joining their League/Team collaboration all the more heartbreaking for her to watch. He puts on a brave face and accepts the retrieval and delivery mission Batman assigns him, but she can tell he's miserable. Artemis knows how much the team up would have meant to him since she's thrilled herself at the prospect, and she wishes she could say something, anything to cheer him up.

She can't though, and as he forlornly watches them board their respective transports, she feels guiltier than ever, thinking about her contribution to what must be his worstbirthday ever.

***********
Best. Birthday. Ever, Wally thinks to himself, exiting the locker room, intent on helping himself to some of his leftover cake. It isn't his birthday anymore, but with the way he's feeling, he might ride this birthday high all the way into next week.
He'd arrived back at the Cave in the wee early hours of the 12th after consuming as much hospital food, no matter how disgusting, as possible and saying a fond farewell to Queen Perdita. He'd felt as good as new, all fueled up, and would have gladly zipped across the country again if the zeta tubes hadn't been fully operational. Mount Justice seemed completely still when he'd arrived, it's occupants still slumbering away, and as soon as Wally gets his cake for a dessert-for-breakfast kind of thing, he'll be more than happy to join them.

As he passes into the kitchen, he can hear the soft sounds of the TV in the living room. Instead of the normal "No Signal" screen, however, the national news is on. Wally walks over, wondering who forgot to turn the TV off last night, and stops dead in his tracks when he spies who's lying fast asleep on the couch. Artemis lays curled up into a ball, back facing the TV, hands clutching the remote. She's in the same clothes she'd been wearing at his party yesterday, so he can only gather that she'd never gone home after their mission the previous night.

He stares down at her, taking in the different features of her face, which doesn't even seem at peace while she sleeps. Her brow is furrowed and her lips drawn into a hard line as if something in her dreams displease her. Wally revels in this chance to study her unabashedly, to admire her striking features without worrying that she'll catch him. He's finally come to terms with the fact that no matter how hard he tries to push her to the back of his mind, she always creeps up on him in ways that make her impossible to ignore. And now that she's told him about M'gann and Conner, which he has to admit didn't hurt him as much as he would have thought, he has no real excuse to keep denying his feelings for her. And yet, it all seems rather pointless to him since he still has no reason to believe that she's interested in him in the slightest, so really it's all moot.

He doesn't want to just leave her there, not when she could move to a more comfortable place to sleep, and he's too nervous about trying to carry her to her room, so he has no choice but to wake her up. Wally tiptoes to the other side of the sofa and kneels down in front of her. The words come to him immediately, leaving his mouth unchecked.

"Hey, beautiful," he says, gently nudging her on the shoulder. "Wake up."

She stirs against his hand and an amusing, mewling sound leaves her. "Wally?" she asks, in that raspy voice of hers, and she hasn't even opened her eyes yet.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty," he tells her, eyes lingering on her enticing dark pink lips. If only he had the guts to seek a birthday kiss from the girl he'd really wanted it from.

She's becoming more alert by the second, her grey eyes drifting opening and looking up at him confusedly. Something seems to click in her eyes because she suddenly sits straight up.

"You're okay!" she exclaims, and he's entirely unprepared for her to throw her arms around him, squeezing them tight together.

Now he's the one confused, but as long as she keeps on hugging him so close he can practically feel her heartbeat against his chest, among other things, he's sure as hell not going to protest. He breathes in the flowery scent of her shampoo, and really, he's been an idiot all along if this is what he's been missing.

She starts talking a mile a minute into his shoulder, and he can barely understand her, but so long as she doesn't pull back, he couldn't care less. "I'm so sorry about Queen Perdita," she stammers. "I read about it, and she was very sick, so really there was nothing you could have done. And I'm so sorry about telling you about M'gann and Conner, on your birthday, too, of all days. I'm an awful person and-"

"Artemis, Artemis," Wally interrupts her hastily, pushing her away to arms length no matter how much the action pains him. His hands rest on her shoulders, and he notes her distressed expression. "First of all, Queen Perdita is fine. She and I set a trap for that clown Vertigo and he fell straight into it. Right now, he's on a one way ticket to Belle Reve."

"What?" she asks. "But, the news last night said she hadn't survived the surgery."

Wally shook his head. "We had the hospital feed the news stations a fake story as bait for Vertigo," he explains, and realization dawns on Artemis' face. So Wally moves on to address the other half of her little monologue. "And don't worry about the whole M'gann/Conner thing. It was a shock, but I'm over it," he says, and it's true. M'gann is just about the farthest thing from his mind what with Artemis so close to him.

She doesn't seem completely convinced though. "Are you sure?" she asks uneasily.

"Definitely," he reassures her. He shrugs self-deprecatingly. "The Wallman can't always get the girl, and you were just being a good friend, which is more than I can say for Robin. Right?"

"Right," she echoes, eyes fidgeting away from his.

He can sense that she's out of her comfort zone, and removes his hands from her shoulders. He casually slides next to her on the couch and they both stare at the screen for a few moments.

"I never gave you your birthday present," Artemis says suddenly, hopping up from the couch.

"You didn't have to get me anything," he says, although his excited tone may relay the curiosity that burns through him at what she might have gotten him.

"It's more of a gag gift than anything else," she tells him, disappearing into the kitchen. She reappears a minute later with a square shaped present covered in loud red and yellow lightning bolt symbols.

"Nice wrapping paper," he comments, taking the proffered present.

"I thought you'd like it," she replies, sitting back down next to him, tucking her legs underneath her. "Happy birthday, Wally."

He wastes no time in tearing into the paper and bursts out laughing at what he uncovers. "Baywatch, the Complete First Season."

Her voice echoes in his head from what seems like years ago. Whatever Baywatch, I'm here to stay. "I thought you could pick up some tips from these," Artemis quipped, a full out smile on her face.

"Uh, 'scuse me, Miss Thing," Wally retorts, giving her a sidelong glance. "Out of the two people on this couch, which of us has the worse track record when it comes to almost drowning?"

"Ha ha, very funny," she says, wrinkling her nose, a gesture that Wally finds entirely too cute for his fragile sanity.

"This is great, really, thank you," he tells her, opening the DVD case. "You up for watching a few episodes?"

"What, now?" she asks, looking at him like he's lost his mind, and maybe he has since it's 9:00 AM, and he should really be going to bed after the exhausting day and night he's had.

"Yeah," he simply answers because he can't think of anything he'd rather be doing than sitting here with her for a few hours, nothing to worry about besides trying not to blurt out that he likes her way more than a friend, but he thinks he can keep it in.

She rolls her eyes, but in a fond sort of way. "Fine, but only because it's your birthday," she says, settling in.

He's not going to remind her that it hasn't been his birthday for the last 9 hours. Instead he scurries over to the DVD player and pops in the first disc. He hops back onto the couch and situates himself next to her. Their hands lay side by side on the couch, and Wally wishes he could work up the nerve to grab her hand in his, but he thinks maybe it's too soon for that. As the iconic music starts up, he can't help but crack up, and beside him, Artemis begins laughing too, and really it has been the best birthday ever.

A/N: Hope it was worth the wait! Please let me know!

As usual, thank you all for reviewing and favoriting and following! You guys are the greatest and I hope to have the next chapter out soon! If anyone has anything they'd like to see in future chapters, just let me know! :)

Major thanks to Intrajanelle who lent me her idea that Wally and Artemis watch reruns of Baywatch together. Muchas gracias, chica! :)

Plug: I've started a companion series of one-shots to this story called Actions Speak Louder. All those stories are set in this universe of my Wally and Artemis headcanons, so I'd love all your thoughts on it! Thanks!

~Melissa