I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters.

Even

"But, this is the last building in the city."

Richard stumbled off of the stoop and regained his balance in front of the window. He looked in and saw that the man had a wife and a young boy, and all of them were gorging on meals of one entire pizza and a stack of cheeseburgers each. Richard sighed then continued walking along the road away from the city. He walked steadily through the night and at some point it stopped raining but he barely noticed. He stopped at a few houses along the way but was turned away at each. Finally, as the moon began to set, he collapsed. He didn't try to push himself up. He knew he wouldn't have the energy.

It began to rain again as he lay there and he couldn't help but let tears leak from his eyes. Then someone walked up next to him and stopped. The person knelt and held out a loaf of fresh bread. Richard looked up at who it was and saw that it was a young girl no more than a year older than he was. She smiled at him but he just lay there.

"Go ahead," the girl said. "Take it."

"No," Richard asked.

"Why not?" the girl asked. "Are you allergic?"

"No," Richard said. "But you need to eat too."

"Yes but I'm almost home and you're starving to death," the girl said. "Take it. Please."

Richard somehow managed to push himself up then took the bread. He tore off about a quarter of it and thanked her then tore his piece in half and gave half to his dog. He ate the rest fairly slowly thanks to not having the strength to chew.

At first the girl stared at the loaf Richard had given her back then stared at him. She had never met anyone who had cared more about her than themselves, or at least wanted to be courteous even when starving to death. When Richard finished she smiled and helped him to his feet.

"Come on," the girl said. "You're coming with me."

Richard didn't argue. They made their way along the road to a canyon then off the road into a place where the cliff had been separated from the ground and formed a sort of lean-to. It was big though. It was at least three football fields wide and long and about twenty feet tall at the opening. There were stone pillars everywhere.

"Welcome to my home," the girl said.

"You live here?" Richard asked.

"Yes," the girl said. "Me and my friend."

"Who the hell is he?" a boy about their age asked stepping out from behind a pillar.

"He was dying so I decided that we should help him," the girl said.

"Oh you did?" the boy asked. "Alright then. What's your name?"

"Richard," Richard said. "And this is Wolf."

"He's cute," the girl said. "I've never seen an all white husky before."

"I'm Wally," the boy said. "This is Artemis."

"Nice to meet you," Richard said.

"Nice to meet you?" Wally asked in surprise. "Where'd you say you found this guy?"

"The middle of the road," Artemis said. "Come on Richard. Let's go get you something to eat since you don't seem to fond of bread."

Richard grimaced and Wally looked questioningly at Artemis. Artemis just smiled and led Richard to the back to the gap where they had piles upon piles of food in boxes and sacks.

"Wow," Richard said.

"Would you like ham or chicken?" Artemis asked.

Richard didn't answer and just stared at the food so Artemis tossed him a chicken leg. Richard ate it, using his manners and Artemis went to talk to Wally.

"How do you know he won't steal our food?" Wally asked.

"If he was a thief," Artemis said, "He wouldn't have been starving or be using his manners now."

Wally shrugged then said, "I don't trust him. Neither should you. We should send him on his way once he's done eating."

"It's a good thing it's not your decision then isn't it?" Artemis said. "He's staying and that's final."

"No," Richard said surprising both of them. "It's okay. I don't mean to intrude. I'll leave."

He began to leave and Wolf followed.

"Good," Wally said quietly enough that Richard wouldn't hear.

"Wait!" Artemis said running out into the rain after him. "You don't have to go. You're welcome to stay. Wally's just being a jerk."

"No, it's okay," Richard said. "I don't want to be a burden."

"You're not a burden," Artemis said. "Please stay."

Richard didn't answer for a moment and looked at Wolf. Wolf whined and looked toward the gap then back at Richard.

"Okay," Richard said.

Artemis smiled and they walked back inside. Wally snorted in a mixture of frustration and resentment but otherwise kept silent and walked away. Artemis sat near the entrance and traded stories. Artemis had lost her family when she was five and had run away from her orphanage when the war broke out. She had met up with Wally who had run away from an abusive family about a year earlier. They had gotten their food by stealing it and had found the gap when Wally had fallen off the cliff while climbing down and broke an arm.

"My family was killed by a soldier about a week ago," Richard said.

"Oh my God," Artemis said. "I'm so sorry. I can barely remember mine."

"I wish that were the case for me," Wally said.

Artemis was about eight months older than Richard and Wally was about five years older than her.

"My parents favorite pass time was putting my head through anything they could," Wally said. "When I ran away, everyone I asked for help slammed a door in my face. So you'll forgive me for not trusting outsiders."

Richard stared at the floor and Artemis glared at Wally.

"Get some rest Richard," Artemis said. "Tomorrow we're going out for food."

"I can't steal," Richard said. "It's wrong."

"That's okay," Artemis said. "You can distract them while me and Wally do the illegal stuff."

"Wuss," Wally said.

"Not everyone holds the law in such low regard as you," Artemis said. "Not everyone has your super speed either."

"His what?" Richard asked.

Wally ran to the mouth of the gap so fast that he left a blurred trail behind him and Richard had barely seen him move.

"Whoa," Richard said. "That's awesome."

"Do you have any special abilities?" Wally asked.

"No," Richard said. "I'm just really good at being quiet and doing gymnastics."

"Great," Wally said. "We got a silent ballerina that can't do anything special at all."

"Stop being a dick!" Artemis said standing. "I don't have any powers either, remember?"

Wally just snorted and stormed away.

"Dick," Artemis muttered.

"Yeah?" Richard asked.

Artemis raised an eyebrow then remembered that Dick was the nickname for Richard.

"I meant him," Artemis said.

"Oh," Richard said.

"So," Artemis said. "Now that he's done, you really should rest."

Richard nodded and curled into a ball on the ground. Artemis covered him with a thin wool blanket and smiled.

"Goodnight," Artemis whispered.

"Goodnight," Richard said.

Artemis smiled again then walked over to Wally.

"Why are you such a dick?" Artemis asked.

"We don't need the extra burden," Wally said. "We're having enough trouble finding enough food for ourselves."

"So?" Artemis said. "He needs our help. He can't survive alone. Are you even human at all?"

"Yes," Wally said.

"Yes," Artemis said. "But if you drive him away, you'll be no better than the people who slammed their doors in your face when you needed them."

Wally grunted and lay down facing away from her and quickly fell asleep. Artemis lay against a pillar and fell asleep just as quickly. The next morning, she and Wally were woken up by Wolf barking.

"Friggin' mutt!" Wally said picking up a rock.

"Stop!" Artemis said. "Richard can you..."

Richard's blanket was neatly folded where he had slept but Richard was gone. Wolf was barking because the constant rain had washed away any hope of tracking him.

"He snuck out without waking up Wolf," Artemis said impressed. "He'd make a good thief."

"Yeah," Wally said sarcastically. "Great. Especially since he'd sooner cut his hands off then steal."

"You could try to be nice," Artemis said. "It's your fault he left."

"How?" Wally asked.

"He heard what you said last night," Artemis said. "He left so that he wouldn't be a burden."

"Probably took some food too," Wally said.

"No," Artemis said looking at the food. "He didn't touch it. He didn't even walk toward it. His shoes were still wet and the tracks lead straight away from the food."

"Good," Wally said. "Useless brat."

Artemis glared at him then left.

"Where are you going?" Wally asked.

"To steal some food," Artemis said.

Wally sighed and followed her. When they got to the nearest house, Artemis hid by the back door and Wally knocked on the front then darted around to the back. When the owner of the house answered the door, Wally and Artemis ran inside and quietly made off with a large amount of food. As they were leaving, Wally sped off and Artemis struggled to keep up but stopped in her tracks when she heard the man at the house shout something. She turned to look back and saw him aiming a rifle at her.

Just as he puled the trigger, Richard appeared and shoved her out of the way at the same time as he threw a rock at the man. The rock had been smashed so that the edge all the way around was sharp and it was nearly as thin as paper. The rock stuck into the man's neck, killing him, but Artemis didn't notice. Richard had been hit in the shoulder by the shot that would have killed her.

"You saved me," Artemis said.

"Had to repay the debt before I left," Richard said smiling. "Besides, I didn't want you to get hurt."

"You were watching us all this time," Artemis said.

"Yes," Richard said. "I figured Wally might not be quite as loyal to you as you thought."

Artemis hugged him then pulled away and picked up the food she had dropped. Then they both went home.

THE END

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