A/N: In the soon-ish future my work-load will lighten which means I can spend more time on this fic. Like finishing the dozen half-written chapters in my drafts and maybe having some cushion so I can do faster updates. It boggles me that I published this in July last year with the first few chapters already written and the expectation that I would be done after 15ish chapters in a month or two, before my fall internship. Now it's almost a year later and I'm eyeing 50 chapters and definitely breaking the year mark if I don't get back on top of my writing schedule. You guys are awesome for still reading this. Anyway that's my Ted Talk, thanks for coming.

Ages: Cameron is 22, Artemis is 20.

Night Terrors

Late Fall, Team Year 5

"I'm dying Artemis," Wally said, clutching his chest as he lay against the Bioship. Dark red pooled in stark contrast with the bright yellow of his Kid Flash uniform.

They were flying abnormally fast, whipping through the atmosphere at breakneck speeds, and while she felt the presence of her teammates in the periphery, only Wally was in focus.

Wally who was dying right next to her.

"No, no, no you're not!" she said, fumbling through the stupid med-kit, determined to find something, anything, to stop the bleeding. He couldn't die. He couldn't.

Suddenly they were in the Arctic, and instead of reaching for a med-kit she was collapsed on her knees, tears streaking down her face as the cold whipped across her skin. Unlike in her memories, the light from The Reach's machine was still there while she cried, blinding and horrifying now that she knew what was transpiring in it's depths. She was begging, pleading for him to come out. To come back to her.

And then she was in that warehouse in Bludhaven on the night she faked her death. When she first put the glamour charm on.

When she was starting out with the plan because she was stupid, so stupid.

"Artemis, I'm dying," Wally croaked again, except now he was in his civilian clothes, splayed out on the warehouse floor under her.

This time a green arrow protruded from his chest, bearing markings that had been burned into her brain from the repeated use. Wally was dying, and it was her fault.

"Why?" he asked, his voice soft in that way it had been when he pleaded with her to tell Dick to kick rocks. The same voice that she'd rejected.

"All you had to do was stay home? Wasn't I enough?" Wally asked again, his voice harder this time. Accusatory. She was on her knees now, trying to force herself to say something. Do something, anything to stop the bleeding. Except she was frozen to the spot, watching the blood trickle down and pool along the floor.

"Why?" he repeated again.

Artemis woke up with a violent jerk and screams trapped in her throat, kept at bay by some small act of mercy from the powers that be. Her eyes darted around the room rapidly, breaths coming jagged and uneven as she forced herself to take in her surroundings.

A dream. Just a dream she told herself, clenching her comforter tightly enough to turn her knuckles white.

It had been a while, a long while, since she'd had one this bad. Especially after she'd moved in with Will and Jade. Back in Palo Alto, in the house where Wally's ghost permeated everything, the nightmares were inescapable. They started differently, but they always ended the same. In that warehouse, a dying Wally asking the same torturous question.

She would always wake up before she could answer.

Artemis looked at the window and wanted to cry in frustration. Moonlight was still filtering through the blinds and quick glance at the clock on her nightstand told her it was only 4:02 A.M. She willed herself not to look at the picture of Wally that lay beside it. A symbol of better times.

After a few minutes she felt the adrenaline rush slipping and let herself lean back into her bed. The plushness of her pillow brought little comfort. Adrenaline or no adrenaline, she knew that sleep wouldn't be coming for the remainder of the night.

She also knew that if she didn't distract her mind, didn't do something other than just lay there, she'd spend now until sunrise replaying her nightmare.

Maybe a jog? she pondered, before deciding against it. Lian had been fussy the last couple of days, and the last thing she wanted to do was wake her, which her creaky bedroom door was certain to do. The girl was starting to be as light of a sleeper as her mother, much to her parent's distaste.

Jade. During one of her first...rough nights in the house, she'd woken up from her nightmare to see Jade sitting cross-legged in the floor, drinking tea and gazing out the window. She didn't explain why she was there, didn't try to make her sister talk through her emotions. Instead she tossed her a pair of sweatpants and took her for a grueling pre-dawn run.

Those were the moments where she really appreciated having a big sister back in her life.

Still, not waking her up she vowed internally, but she realized that she did want to talk to someone. She flipped open her phone and scrolled through her contacts. Any number of her teammates, her friends, would be up at this time regardless of their time zone. Such was the cost of the life they chose and yet, she found herself hovering over the contact information of the one person who, barring a job, was sure to be be dead asleep on a Saturday morning.

She hesitated, before pressing down on call and waiting for the sound of the ring tone. It got to the fourth ring before a very groggy voice answered. "Arghhh, someone better be dying."

"Good Morning Frostbite," she said, willing her voice not to tremble.

Cameron groaned in annoyance. "This isn't morning Artemis, this is precious nighttime."

"You're in Gotham, a good three hours ahead of me," she pointed out astutely. "The sun is definitely out for you, so you should be up."

"We don't all wake up at the ass-crack of dawn when we don't have to, blondie. This is an absurd time of day. The hell was so important that it couldn't wait until a reasonable hour?"

She opened her mouth to answer and froze. Crap. She hadn't actually thought of a reason to call and she sure as hell wasn't going to say the truth. Yeah I woke up from a debilitating nightmare and needed to talk to someone and I called you because I don't want to cry to my big sister and I'm still low-key ghosting all my other friends.

Luckily, Cameron didn't let the silence last long. "If this is about the morning yoga session today, you don't have to worry. I won't be late. 9 A.M your time is like noon for me, which is early but doable."

"I know that. Just making sure," she said, grasping on the to lifeline he'd unknowingly tossed her. She hoped he was too sleepy to notice she was clearly lying. "Are you ok?" he asked, voice suddenly

She heard a gigantic sigh from the other end. "Please tell me you called for something than interrupting my sleep schedule."

She opened her mouth again before realizing, yet again, that she didn't have an answer other than the truth. Yeah. No.

"Nope. No other reason."

Cameron let out what sounded like a bunch of muffled curses, likely being spoken into his pillow. "The devil is a blonde."

"Don't let Jade hear you say that, she'll feel insulted," she answered.

He chuckled. "Yeah well, maybe she'll get back at you for me."

"Maybe."

A pause, before Cameron asked in a more serious tone, "Seriously, Artemis, you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, and the words sounded blatantly dishonest to her own ears. "Just wanted to check in with you real quick."

There was a pause on the other end, and she could feel the gears in Cameron's brain turning. Deciding if he wanted to push on this now, or let it slide.

"I can't believe you're this pressed about a yoga session," he finally said, and she was thankful he was deciding to let whatever he suspected go.

"Hey, I finally cashed in that IOU birthday card," she said, referencing the birthday gift Cameron had given her on the sub. It felt like a lifetime ago. "I wanted to make sure you didn't chicken out."

"Of all the things you could have asked for, three months of weekly yoga sessions seem like a waste. You had me at your complete mercy and you picked yoga," he retorted. She was certain he was trying to be suggestive, but it just wasn't working with his sleepy tone.

"Maybe I just want to watch your uncoordinated self get embarrassed in bunch of a front of yoga girls."

"I think you just want to stare at my ass," he fired back, and she couldn't help the smile that crossed her face. Even over the phone, this was comforting. Not enough to cleanse her palate from her previous nightmare, but enough to keep the taste somewhat at bay.

"Kind of hard not to when yours is on your face," she answered.

"Okaaaay," he drawled sleepily. "It's really too early for this."

And just like that, the comfort was going to be ripped out from right under her.

"You should go outside. Jog a little bit to develop this stick-legs," she said, speaking in a teasing tone. Hoping to goad him into staying on the line.

"Not even if my life depended on it," he grumbled. "Is that all?"

"What, my company isn't entertaining enough for you?" she chided.

"It's a lot more entertaining when I have sleep. Unless of course, you have something you want to talk about," he said, leaving the door open for her to talk. But not forcing it open, not yet anyway. It was almost enough for her to open up.

Almost.

"Nope," she answered.

"Ok," he answered, and she swore she could hear a tint of disappointment in his voice. "Goodnight then."

"Good-morning actually," she corrected.

"Ohmygod-Bye Artemis."

"Bye," she answered, hearing the click of the line disconnecting. The silence of the room was suddenly deafening.

She looked back at the clock.

4:23 A.M.

Great. Just great.

...

In his safehouse – because the apartment search was moving annoyingly slow – Cameron stared at his ceiling in mild confusion. Even in his sleep-addled state, he could tell something was off about Artemis during that call. He just couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Gonna figure this shit out later," he muttered to himself, turning over to his side as he remembered the dreaded upcoming yoga session.

"Give her an IOU card for her birthday I thought," he muttered some more, his attention shifting to the later vents of the day. "It'll be cute, I thought. When we get off this damn submarine she'll use it for something sane, I thought. Stupid-ass past self."

Whatever was eating at Artemis, he'd figure it out. Right after this nap.

A/N: Artemis subconsciously drifting to Cam for comfort because these two are bonded by trauma thank you yes my entry level psyc course made me qualified to speak on these things thank you.