Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice.

Thanks to all the support I got, I decided to expand on this. This is your tasty treat, reviewers! A little dedication to Sexy Ascot, for our obsessive Spitfire discussions. It won't be done after this, though. I have a few more things in mind.

~KF + A~

The oddest thing about silence was that it had a sound of its own. The ringing in her ears proved it.

Artemis dipped her head to let the parka's hood slip further down her head. She didn't want anyone to see her face, not Miss Martian or Robin or Superboy, and especially not Kid Flash. She didn't even know why she was bothering, but she had her suspicions, and they scared her. Was she afraid of his scornful teasing or something even worse: his concern?

Whatever the case, she was glad he couldn't see her blushing. Artemis' eyes shut tight and her eyebrows cinched together as she looked away.

They trudged through the snow as quickly as they could. Artemis shivered as a handful of the stuff was dumped into her boot as she struggled through a particularly heavy snow bank.

She could still feel it melting, soaking her socks, when they were attaching the new weapon to Miss Martian's ship. It looked wrong, protruding from the bioship like that. Artemis scanned the horizon.

She had been on a strict lookout when the invaders attacked, her eyes narrowed like a hawk on the hunt. Artemis was despairingly amazed when she blinked and found that the ships were gliding towards them soundlessly. How-?

But there was no time for guessing. She was on the move, her body several steps ahead of her mind. Within ten seconds, she was running away, the two arrows once in her quiver now on a one-way journey to destroy the key weak points of the ships. The arrows whistled as they started to disappear into the distance, but Artemis wasn't even looking. The darkening indigo sky above seemed to be trying to swallow her, and her thoughts were senseless self-preservation.

She was running, running, running. Artemis stretched her legs as far as she could to reach the ship before the invaders reached her. Breathing hard, she heard a high keening noise behind her, and panic closed her throat. She didn't dare look back, least she trip.

But it wasn't enough. She could feel it.

Then a yellow and red blur crashed into her side, throwing her out of the range of the noise. Yelping, she landed hard in a soft pile of snow. In Artemis' hysteria, she clawed her way to the surface laboriously. Gasping for much-needed breath, she stared at her savior.

Kid Flash.

Wally.

Nononononononono…

Not you…anyone but you…

His bones shook, his body was racked with electricity. And Wally still smiled sadly at Artemis.

Artemis felt her heart collapse.

The tears froze on her cheeks.

~KF + A~