I was meant to post this last week but stuff happened and I had absolutely zero idea of what I was writing so this took a while. And yeah, it's a pretty short chapter but I want to keep things moving and get the boring hoo-ha out the way. It'll get more exciting, but I thought I would give you all a little bit of watery fluff first.

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Wally watched as Artemis' shoulders rose and fell in time with her breathing. He had been sitting in the same position for over an hour and bitten his lower lip until it bled. Last night, or rather, earlier that morning, he had carried Artemis into the room at the far end of the team's quarters and placed her on the bed. Kaldur had insisted she be brought to a cell, and his orders had promptly been ignored.

Now it was mid afternoon and Artemis was still unconscious.

Wally had confronted M'gann, who assured him that her mind-strikes lasted little more than twenty minutes or so.

"But she looked tired." She had said, an interesting blend of guilt and concern on her face. "Maybe she's just sleeping?"

The Martian's words had done little to ease Wally's worry.

Almost absent mindedly, he reached out and brushed a loose strand of hair from her face. There was a hollowness to her cheeks, and there were whispers of bruises just peeking out from beneath her clothing. Wally realised that he had never seen Artemis asleep before- it was a kind of vulnerability she would have hated him to see.

Just then, she began to stir.

Wally held his breath as Artemis' breathing shifted, her eyelids fluttering, then snapping open. In a flash she was sitting up, one arm already reaching behind her back for a quiver that was not there. A startled cry flitted from her mouth and she looked around, freezing when her hand brushed against the inhibitor collar around her neck.

"No," she muttered, cold shock settling on her face. "No no no no..."

Artemis trailed off when she caught sight of Wally, his mouth open but no words coming out. Her expression shifted to that of barely controlled rage.

"You have exactly five seconds to tell me what the hell is going on."

Wally couldn't get the words out fast enough.

"Wefoundyoulastnightbuttheybetrayedmeandknockedyouout, you'reattheteamheadquartersbutIwon'tletthemhurtyou, okay?"

Artemis frowned.

"Your friends did this?" It was clear she was having trouble believing him. Wally did not blame her.

"The league said if we brought you back to base it had to be like this, but I swear, I had nothing to do with it. The others didn't tell me what they were going to do, or how the league were involved, I thought they were trying to help." He moved towards her, trying his hardest to look sincere. "I'm sorry it happened like this, I just wanted you to be safe."

Narrowing her eyes, Artemis appeared to weigh up his words in her head.

"And you knew nothing about this?" She asked, tapping at the collar.

"No, I promise, if I had known I would have done something to stop them." Wally glanced at her, then lowered his gaze to the bedsheets. "I'm really sorry, Artemis. They didn't believe me when I told them about you, they thought you were some kind of assassin-"

"And I am."

"-You were, but you're not anymore, right? You didn't kill me, that has to mean something."

Artemis was silent, thoughtful.

"So what now?" She asked, after a few seconds.

Wally looked flustered.

"Well," he started, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're hurt, aren't you, so I brought a first aid kit and I thought that..." He trailed off when he saw the look on Artemis' face.

"What I mean is, what's happening with me? They aren't just going to let me go."

Wally knew where the conversation was headed, and quickly snatched up the first aid kit, opening it up on the side of the bed.

"I don't know what you mean..." He muttered, not meeting her eye.

"West, I've killed people. There's only one place I'll be going."

"No, I can talk to them, you're not what they say you are, Artemis, you saved my life!" He was fumbling with the wrapper on a bandage that had not yet been assigned a purpose.

"You know what will happen when I go to Belle Reve, don't you?"

They'd tear her apart, Wally thought. She wouldn't last one minute.

"I won't let them send you there." He said, but even as the words came out his mouth, he knew it was a long shot. "I promise, I'll keep you safe."

Artemis took her gaze away from the sheets and locked it on Wally.

"Don't make promises you can't keep." She muttered, somewhat sadly.

The pair were quiet for about a minute; Artemis a resigned sort of silent, while Wally considered every possible option that could somehow save her.

"Um." Wally broke the silence. "Your leg, you said it was hurt when I found you."

Artemis seemed to be taken aback.

"Oh. Yeah, hang on." She leaned forwards and rolled the material covering her right leg up to her knee.

A thick band of duct tape covered a large portion of her calf, and Wally watched her begin to peel it away, slow and careful.

"It was all I could find." She explained, her focus on removing the tape.

It was the smell that hit Wally first. The pungent, throat-gripping stench of something rotten and evil. He saw swollen, red skin revealed when the first row of tape was peeled away, and fought a gag reflex when Artemis started pulling off the second. She was fighting tears when blood oozed from beneath his fingers, but finally the tape fell away and Wally was left staring, open-mouthed, at Artemis' leg.

It was a mess. At some point, something had hit her at an avenging speed, leaving a mass of raw flesh that was now quite obviously infected.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Got shot." Artemis muttered. "I took the bullet out, tried to patch myself up, but without anything sterile I was bound to get an infection."

Wally saw past her matter-of-fact attitude and realised how much pain she must have been in. "How long has it been like this?"

Artemis shrugged. "Several days... a week, maybe?"

Wally was already sifting though the contents of the first aid kit. He lifted out a bottle of disinfectant and some cotton pads.

"This is going to hurt." He said, soaking the a pad in the honey coloured liquid. "But it'll help."

Artemis nodded, watching as Wally started to dab at her bullet wound, her jaw set. Wally felt her tense up when he applied the slightest amount of pressure, her fists grabbing handfuls of blankets and scrunching them. The disinfectant soaked into the wound and a strangled cry escaped Artemis' throat, her hand suddenly digging into his shoulder.

He continued to clean the hole in her leg with one hand as the other took hers, pulling it off his shoulder and clasping it. Artemis responded by gripping his fingers in a death grip, taking short breaths through her nose. Her hands were cold and clammy.

"I'm done." Said Wally, straightening up and shifting his position on the bed next to Artemis. Their hands remained linked for a couple of seconds, before their eyes met and Artemis snatched hers away a little too quickly. "You okay?"

"...Fine." Artemis muttered. She licked her lips. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," said Wally, taking out a square of gauze and laying it over the wound. "Y'know, I'm getting the weirdest déjà vu feeling right now."

A smile briefly graced Artemis' lips. "Yeah, only this time it's you stitching me back together and not the other way round."

Wally began to bandage the wound on Artemis' leg, and was just tying off when he felt something brush against his neck, tugging at the material of his uniform. He glanced down to see Artemis, running a finger along the jagged scar on his shoulder where Sportsmaster had slashed him with a knife. It seemed so long ago.

"It's healed." Artemis murmured.

"Yeah." Said Wally, who frantically searched for something meaningful to say. "Yeah, it's, uh, fine now... Yup." He winced internally and felt the back of his neck grow hot. "So, is there anything else you want me to look at?"

Artemis raised an eyebrow just as Wally realised what he had said.

Shit.

"Medically speaking, I mean- not... not in a weird way, I just-" Wally stumbled over his words as he rubbed his neck furiously. "What I meant is, is there anywhere- can I... Do you need-"

"I think I'll manage." Said Artemis. Wally wasn't looking at her but he could sense the humour in her voice.

"Okay." Wally mumbled, turning away and hoping his ears weren't as red as they felt. "Um, I should get going, the others said I needed to talk to them when you woke up, and you've woken up, so..."

"Wait."

Wally turned back to Artemis, expecting her to smirk and then swiftly take him down with a backhanded comment.

She didn't.

"What?" He asked.

"Can you just move a little closer... Okay."

Artemis seemed to hesitate, her body in reaching distance of his. And then she leaned over and wrapped her arms around him, her head hooked over his shoulder. It took Wally an extra couple of seconds before he thought to reciprocate.

"Thank you." Artemis' mouth was right by his ear. "I mean it. Thank you."

She pulled away, leaving Wally at loss for words.

"You should probably go."

Awkwardly, Wally got up and backed towards the door.

"Uh, yeah, sure... I'll bring you food, okay? You should probably have a shower, the bathroom's through that door- not that you smell, you're just... kinda..." He saw Artemis' expression and gulped. "I'm gonna go now."

He pulled open the door and stepped into the hallway. Something twisted inside Wally when he heard the door click shut, then lock.

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I've got half the next chapter typed up already, but don't expect it for a while because I'm going back to school this week and I didn't think this fic would be so long, but here we are. Again, to all the lovely reviewers: you are a shining light in my life and I would not be here without you. Thank you for your words of support, my kind cinnamon rolls.