A/N: It's the holidays again! And... I haven't updated in more than a week, I'm so sorry. But, here's the next chapter! I have a chapter that I'm not sure fits anywhere in this but I'll post it next week as a bonus. (Because I haven't written lately. #soznotsoz I do them ironically, don't be a judgey judy XD)

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Chapter 14: Friends

For some strange reason, Artemis was angry at Wally. Furious, even.

The archer knew she had no reason to be, except the fact that he had to invade her thoughts, and he just had to be so different to what she'd thought he had been, and then he had to say something that had made her feel like she was the villain- a lowlife, just like her father.

She almost wanted to beat him up and interrogate him on what he had meant that night, and what his feelings were for her.

Artemis knew it was irrational. She didn't want to be mad at him, except she was, so incredibly frustrated at him for bringing up questions she had never wanted answered before. Questions about whether she was satisfied with her current situation, if she was happy with lying to her friends now, what her feelings were for the idiot, or her future. How could she continue in the team, or how could Wally truly care about her if her past was holding her back?

With a grunt, she aimed a low kick at Zatanna, sweeping the young girl off her feet. The floor lit up where the magician fell with an oomph, and the holographic screen showed another victory for Artemis. The latter offered her teammate a hand, a scowl present on her face.

"Thanks," Zatanna breathed, before grabbing her hand and tugging herself up on her feet.

Artemis shrugged, thoughts of Wally and murder still flashing in her mind, and Zatanna snapped her fingers in front of her face.

"What?" She bit out, her steely eyes finally focusing on the younger girl in front of her.

Zatanna propped her hands on her hips as her lower lip jutted out disapprovingly at the archer. "What's gotten you all pissy, missy?"

The archer shrugged again, before moving off the training area to grab a drink. Zatanna followed her, her blue eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Is it Wallly with M'gann again? Because that boy should seriously-"

Artemis almost choked on her drink. "What? No! Wally's not like that, he's…" She trailed off, her lips pursing as she wondered what she was about to say next. That Wallace West was noble? Honourable? Deserving of someone other than herself?

The corner of her mouth turned down again, and Zatanna understood. "I can lend an ear, if you want someone to talk to. A pair, actually."

Artemis took another swig of her drink, glancing at the younger girl from the corner of her eyes. When she placed the bottle down, she turned around to face Zatanna fully.

"Could I be… Am I… beautiful?" She worded carefully, not wanting Zatanna to know that it was what Wally had called her a couple nights ago and much to her disgust, she had dwelt on it further than she'd liked. It could be something friends told each other all the time, she had mused, but she wanted to hear it for herself. There was a small spark of her in her that she couldn't quench, no matter how much reality tried to stomp it out.

The magician blinked, but beamed as she let out a small, tinkling laugh. "You're beautiful."

The archer tried to smile, but all she managed was a grimace. Reality was right, although the tiny part of her wished it wasn't.

"In fact," Zatanna continued with a chuckle as they moved back towards the training floor, "I'd say you'd make them boys quiver."

Artemis rolled her eyes, but despite her awful mood, she cracked a smile at her friend as she assumed into a defensive stance.

Zatanna wasn't the only person who had noticed she was a ticking time-bomb, seconds away from going off. The Boy Wonder and the speedster himself had bumped into her on her way to the zeta-tubes after training one day, and Artemis had ducked her head a second too late.

"Artemis!" Robin called, as Wally's head snapped towards her and she could see the faint blush that was growing on his cheeks. If the younger boy had noticed it, he said nothing as he approached Artemis with his usual gliding stride. "Wally and I are grabbing some cocoa, you wanna join?"

The archer felt her eye twitch at the word 'cocoa', and Wally's nose scrunched up in mild discomfort. "Thanks, but no thanks," she 'd answered just as Wally said, "Artemis has stuff to do."

The corner of Robin's mouth lifted slightly into a smirk as he realised why they hadn't been talking for a couple days. "You guys sound like an old couple having a lover's spat."

His comment couldn't have struck closer to its mark as Artemis started blinking furiously whilst Wally openly gaped at him.

"She isn't-"

"That's not-"

Robin laughed as he held his hands up. "It was a joke, guys. Take a chill pill."

Then he left, leaving Artemis glaring at his retreating back and Wally awkwardly shifting on his feet.

The speedster cleared his throat and Artemis turned to him, raising an eyebrow as she crossed her arms to her chest.

"We need to talk," Wally blurted out and Artemis sighed.

She really didn't want Wally to think she'd been angry at him, even if she had been. It wasn't his fault that she was an untrustworthy liar, whose presence wasn't really needed in the Team once she'd thought about it.

The archer nodded her head and shifted her weight so that she felt more comfortable in the well-lit hallway.

"About the other night… Sorry," Wally said, rubbing the back of his neck. That wasn't what he'd wanted to say, but the redhead had chickened out at the last minute.

What Wally wanted to be answered was why. Why she built a wall around herself, why she walked away that night, and why she cared about no one. But he had accidentally been staring at her eyes a little too long, and from the look of contempt on her face, Wally was beginning to feel the familiar dread of rejection seeping into his gut. So he continued, "When I was talking about… You know, someone else. It didn't mean anything, as in… not me."

He swallowed and scratched the back of his neck as he averted his gaze. "I think you misunderstood. We're friends, Artie." Friends, that's all they were. The word sat heavily in his mind as he stared at her, imprinting into his mind the image of her depthless grey eyes on him whilst some loose bits of her ponytail stuck to her the sides of her face.

And with those words, Artemis felt the air expel from her lungs forcefully as she continued to stare at Wally, feeling her chest constrict tightly. She didn't know whether the lump in her throat was relief or utter humiliation. She wanted to laugh, but the back of her eyes burned despite how hard she tried to blink it away.

The archer cleared her throat before she spoke. "Okay."

Wally offered her a small smile, but she couldn't bring herself to return it as she nodded her head infinitesimally and continued towards the zeta-tubes.

It was for the best, she told herself. But it didn't mean that her chest didn't ache uncomfortably, or that she couldn't look Wally in the eyes as she felt his warm gaze on her back.

"Bye, Artemis," the speedster yelled across the room just as the supercomputer announced her departure.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, Wally cursed himself as he head-butted the wall lightly. He was Kid Flash for God's sake, why was he scared of a girl?

Wally groaned as he rested his forehead against the wall. Artemis wasn't just any girl. She was difficult, deadly, cryptic, and most of all, what scared him most was that she didn't care at all. The archer had said so herself. He wasn't afraid of Artemis. The Wall-man was afraid of his feelings for her and utter rejection, and from the small taste he had gotten, it hurt far worse than any of his favourite indie bands could sum up in a song.

So this was it, then, the speedster came to a halting realisation. His first crush since fifth grade was coming to another disappointing close, but this time it felt ten times worse. It wasn't just a crush. It wasn't just about her looks. Somehow, in the past few months, Wally had gotten Artemis to open up to him, and from the tiny glances of the person inside, he had become curiouser and curiouser, until he had found himself in the middle of the never-ending fall through the rabbit-hole.

He groaned aloud again, knocking his head against the wall. Way to go, Wall-man, rejected again, he told himself. But, he had time. Artemis was skilled and he admitted that she was a far better fighter than he was- superpowers or no superpowers, and she was sticking around for years to come. Wally would still be able to see her every week, able to make her laugh with something stupid he'd said or done and, he would still be able to see her eyebrows furrow in anger whenever he pissed her off. Everything would still be alright. He would still get to be around her- as a friend.

But the speedster still wondered. He still wondered if it was enough- and if it was for now, when it wouldn't be. He wondered about the possibility that Artemis- the distant, shut off, Artemis- might come to trust him, rely on him, and maybe one day he would casually ask her to coffee and just maybe, she would say yes.

The speedster straightened then, as he heard Robin coming towards him, appreciating that although the younger boy could've ninja appeared beside him, he had chosen to give Wally some time to compose himself.

"Ready to gogo for some cocoa?" The Boy Wonder asked in his usual chirpy tone.

Wally forced a grin on his face and fist pumped the air. "Hells yeah."

He could still smell the faint trace of daisies in the air as the boys made the way to the zeta-tubes, and Wally breathed in deeply, trying to imprint the scent into his mind.