A/N: Hi EVERYBODY! All the credit for this story goes to Greg Weisman and his amazing imagination, DC and all the other important people who aren't me.
The windows flung open with a loud, "THAWP!"
Artemis snapped to attention.
Hand on her heart she sat there frozen, listening for the slightest movement, anything out of the ordinary. "It's just the wind." she murmured, not completely reassuring herself. She jumped off the bar stool, landing gracefully onto the hardwood floor. A loud yawn escaped her lips. She glanced at her watch, 1:45 red numbers glared into her weary eyes. She wondered how long she'd been sitting there, lost in her own head.
Defeated, she trudged her way up the stairs. Their room was cool, a small relief from the staggering heat that continued to plague the city. She tiptoed to the bathroom, turned on the tap and splashed her face. Wiping her hands on her knees, she exited and settled on the window, her mind racing.
A draft wafted through the room. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply down into her lungs, the air weaving through her body. Sighing contently she opened her eyes, fixed on the moon.
It seemed to stare at her, peering, into her soul, unearthing all her darkest secrets.
When had everything become so complicated? If Wally was awake he would have laughed. He always teased her about that, saying that she was the definition of complicated. Then again, everything about her was, her bloodlines, her motivations, her perturbed sense of calm- even their relationship.
Their relationship.
A ghostly smile hid in the corners of her lips. They'd been through some rough times through the past five years, but it was all worthwhile especially when she thought back to their first kiss.
While M'gann teased her mercilessly for weeks on end about how Wally had scooped her up like some scene out of Casablanca, that wasn't what she remembered. In fact, for her it was all a blur, except- except that brief moment when their lips touched. All of the walls they'd built around themselves, every morsel of anger, hate and animosity they had towards each other was instantly stripped away.
The faint spark between them, out in the open, bare for the entire world to see, ignited into a blazing fire. Passion held them in its grip, consumed them. Dick must've said "Someone's getting traught tonight." ten times before they parted simply to glare at him.
It was hard to believe that was five years ago. So much had changed.
Even the chaos of the past seemed trivial in contrast to the battles of today.
How was she going to tell him? What would she even say?
"Hey Wally, I know we gave up the whole hero thing to live like normal people but I'm not normal, we're not"-
That woudn't work.
"Hey Wally, I know we gave up the hero gig to be together but your best friend wants me to die so I can risk my life by going deep undercover with Kaldur, Because he's not the conniving, backstabbing psycho we all thought he was, and I think Dick wants me to tag along?"
Artemis smacked her forward with the palm of her hand. Right, because that conversation would go so smoothly. Crushed, she retreated to bed. Staring at the ceiling she prayed silently that this was all a dream. Tomorrow she'd wake up, workout and then bike to school, and everything would be as it should. Or should it?
It wasn't like she ever forgot the feeling of an arrow quivering in its helm ready to strike, Or how her body ached with adrenaline at the sight of a good fight. "This is what he wanted, we wanted", she thought. Right?
She turned her head and watched as his chest rose and fell, deep in the clutches of slumber. Rolling over onto her stomach she loomed over him, taking in his fiery mop of hair, his outlandishly long lashes, the faint freckles that dotted his cheeks and finally his lips, always chapped but somehow soft.
While she'd never admit out loud to anyone, she thought Wally quite handsome. She cradled into him, feeling his muscles tense underneath her. "What am I going to do?" she whispered. Maybe the moon would give her an answer-but for now, all she could do was wait.
xxx
Artemis blearily opened her eyes and stumbled out of bed into the hall. Leaning against the wall, she clutched her head in her hands. Deciding whether or not to throw herself out of the balcony window in desperation. She didn't want to bring up the whole hero issue, not today.
"So, you're planning on staying there the entire day then?" She opened her eyes, a lazy smirk was plastered on his face. Wally picked his books off the table and put them in his bag. "You are hilarious." she mused.
"Where you off to?"
He cocked an eyebrow, but the smirk remained. "It's Friday. I have work at the lab remember?" She nodded, absentmindedly watching as he slung his bag over his shoulder and closed the door behind him. A wave of relief washed over her, though it felt more like a bad case of nausea. She treaded to the kitchen and poured herself a desperately needed shot of caffeine. The tv blared unintelligibly.
Her phone suddenly blasted its merry tune. She rocketed from where she stood, only to have the number read as long distance. Not once, but twice. "Stupid salesmen." She groaned. At that exact moment, the doorbell rang incessantly. Livid, she stormed down the hall to the door, opened it and screamed.
"GET off my PORCH dammit! I AM NOT interested!"
An amused voice greeted her.
"Now, usually I get girls begging me to come in, this must be an off day."
Artemis's eyes widened as she realized who it was.
"Dick! What the hell do you want?" she cried.
He grinned. "Nothing." "Just making a house call." "Nice shirt by the way."
Artemis looked down at her Batman logoed t-shirt and replied with a slap."Oww!" he barked touching his cheek gingerly."Just returning the goodwill Dic-k." she replied.
"Still vile?" he queried. She raised her brow. "I dunno Wonder Bird, still a dweeb?"He chuckled.
"You haven't changed a bit."
"Not since yesterday." She spat back.
Seemingly pleased with her answer he sauntered through the door and into the apartment.
xxx