A/N: Sooo, who else is still whining about losing Wally in the finale YJ ep? I mean it's devastating anyway, but thanks to the series cancellation we'll never know if they were going to find a way to bring him back to Artemis :( And the lack of new stuff is leaving me thoroughly uninspired for my own story =/ I miss this show so much!

As for my fic, well, we are back to ideas I originally had for this story before S1 was even completed, so I apologize for the parallelism to S2 (and some of the later eps of S1). I swear I came up with these things 2 years ago (can't believe TW is over 2 yrs!), well before they happened in canon. Imagine my utter shock when some of the ideas I had for my fanfic started taking place in the actual show. I about died lol I've done what I can to make it as different as possible, but I can't change it completely or it would no longer be the story it is, and thus wouldn't make sense in the long run. So I'm sorry if anything feels a little redundant :(

That being said, we've reached a turning point, so be ready for some angst . . .

Disclaimer: "I don't own Young Justice. DC Comics, Warner Brothers, and Cartoon Network have the rights to it. I'm just having some fun :)"

Rated T for some language, suggestive themes, and descriptive violence.

Italics mean thoughts

"Italics within quotes" mean telepathy

Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened . . .

Tangled Web

Chapter 18: Like a Bullet to the Brain

Mount Justice

October 29, 20:59 EDT

Wally briskly walked through the halls of Mount Justice. After practice, Batman had sent a message to the members of the team instructing them to meet in the briefing room promptly at 9pm for a mission, and as usual, the fastest kid alive was cutting it awfully close. By the time he walked through the door, everyone else was already present, including Artemis, much to his surprise. She hadn't been back at the cave since the Forever People attacked four days ago. He tried to catch her eyes, but she kept them firmly glued to the Dark Knight, awaiting his instructions. Batman wordlessly gazed at Wally for a moment before he turned his back on the group and began typing on the halo-computer. A map of the United States appeared on the giant screen, then the picture zoomed in on the East Coast. A red dot began to blink on the coast of Maine.

"On October 15th, it was confirmed that the Shadows are still in possession of the Kobra Venom you discovered and destroyed during your mission to Santa Presca back in August," he said.

Wally glanced at Artemis and his gaze softened. Her dark grey eyes were locked on the floor, her posture stiff, and he knew she was thinking about the terrible fate that had befallen her friend Evan that day. He found himself wondering, as he had several times before, if, in Artemis's mind, that tragic event always over shadowed the kiss they had shared that same evening.

"We are still unsure of what they intend to do with it, but we believe they have a large supply stored here." Batman hit a key and a picture of a lone lighthouse on the edge of a jagged cliff appeared. "You are to take the bioship to this location, confiscate a small sample, and destroy the rest of it. Suit up and meet in the bioship hanger in half an hour. Dismissed."

The group shuffled out of the briefing room. As everyone split up to prepare for the mission, Wally grabbed Artemis's wrist to stop her. She looked at him, here thin eyebrows pulled down in question.

"Kind of surprised to see you, I was starting to think you weren't on the Team anymore given how you've almost missed a week's worth of practice sessions again. You weren't even here for the one earlier today."

He was right. She hadn't been back at the cave since Tuesday. Today was Saturday. She'd missed their Thursday evening practice and the one they have every Saturday, but this time, for the life of her, she didn't know why. She remembered being summoned to Infinity Island for a training exercise there – Ras al Ghul wanted her up to the Shadows' par after all – but she couldn't remember any of the actual training. She woke up this morning in an empty room, four days after coming to Infinity Island, with Cheshire, who told her the other members hadn't gone easy on her due to her special ability. When she expressed concern over her lack of memories for the last four days, her sister gave an unconcerned shrug and blamed it on the blunt force trauma she'd sustained to the head during one of the sparring sessions. None of it sat right with the blonde however. Despite how disorienting dying and resurrecting always was, she'd never once dealt was complete and utter memory loss.

Wally was still staring at her, waiting for an answer. His eyes narrowed with scrutiny as though he could see the gears in her head turning, trying to whip up an answer for him. "You gonna try and blame your absence on Green Arrow again?"

Artemis yanked her wrist from his grip with a scoff. "Tch, like you're one to talk," she bit back.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You always want answers from me, but you don't want to give any up yourself. How many times did I ask you what happened when you put on the Helmet of Fate, huh?" Wally had the decency to look down, but she continued to stare at him heatedly. "How could you deliberately not tell us about Nabu trying to keep your body? Withholding that from the Team almost cost Kaldur his freedom!" Artemis cried. She didn't know what she was more upset about: the fact that Kaldur was almost trapped as Dr. Fate, or that Wally hadn't talked to her about the ordeal in the first place. "Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell me!?"

"Because I was scared, okay?!" Artemis stared at him silently. He looked away and pushed a hand roughly through his red locks. "He almost kept my body, my subconscious locked in an empty void where I could do nothing but watch, and it scared the hell out of me to be so powerless. So the last thing I wanted to do was talk about it, because talking about it was admitting that it almost happened." He glanced at the blonde from the corner of his eye. "We can't all be fearless like you."

Artemis snorted. "You think I'm fearless? Based on what?"

"Oh jee, I don't know, how about the fact that youcharge headlong into danger all the time with seemingly no thought to the fact that your actions could get you killed, like you don't even care!"

"Just because I don't fear death doesn't mean I'm fearless," she argued.

"Oh yeah? Is that why you refuse to talk about what happened between us after the Homecoming dance?" Wally asked, unable to let it go. "Because you're afraid of what it means?"

Artemis shifted uncomfortably, caught off guard by the sudden reminder of the intimate moment they shared two weeks ago, but it only took her a few seconds to regain her composure. "No, I don't want to talk about it because there's nothing to talk about. So we kissed, so what? People kiss every day. It doesn't always mean something. Why do you have to make a big deal about it?"

Though Wally's face was a mask of calm, his green eyes were a spiral of hurt and anger, and Artemis flinched at the sight. She hated that she put that look there, that she made him feel that way with her words. It always left a dull ache in her own heart.

"You know what, fine. Pretend it didn't mean anything, pretend it didn't even happen, I don't care." Wally took a few steps down the hall before he paused. Without looking back he said, "Never letting anybody in, always pushing everyone away . . . It must be pretty lonely being you," then he left.

Artemis let out a disheartened sigh as she watched him disappear around the corner. "You have no idea," she whispered.

x x x

A half hour later the team was suited up and assembling in the bioship hanger when Megan floated in solo, a forlorn look on her usually happy face.

"M'gann, where is Conner?" Kaldur asked.

"He's not coming. We got into an argument and he took off on the Supercycle."

Artemis frowned in concern. It hadn't escaped her notice that the two had been arguing off and on ever since the night she'd encountered Harm, when Megan and Conner had returned to the cave from a Halloween party so absorbed in an argument of some kind, they blew right by the others without a word of acknowledgement. She wasn't sure why, but for some reason, Conner seemed to be distancing himself from Megan with arguments and indifference. Artemis glanced at Wally out of the corner of her eye. It was a tactic she herself was all too familiar with.

"Do we go after him?" Wally asked.

Kaldur shook his head. "We will do the mission as planned without him. He will have to answer to Batman for his insubordination when he returns," he stated, and moved to board the bioship with the others.

"But what if he doesn't return?" Megan whispered. It was a personal fear that had been steadfastly growing each time one of their arguments led to Conner disappearing for hours on end. He was so short tempered and hot headed that she couldn't help seeing his permanent disappearance as a real possibility.

A small hand landed on her left shoulder and her eyes met Artemis's soft grey ones. "He'll be back," the blonde said, voice soft but firm with conviction, because if he actually didn't come back on his own, Artemis knew she'd personally drag him back herself.

Megan gave a small smile and a nod, and the pair walked up the bioship ramp together.

x x x

Rockport

October 29, 22:52 EDT

Artemis had her compound bow already loaded, the arrow pointing at the ground ready to go at a moment's notice, as she surveyed the lighthouse perimeter. Robin and Kaldur had already gone inside to take care of the stash of Kobra Venom, leaving Artemis, Megan, and Wally to patrol the outside for trouble. The lighthouse was situated on a narrow outcrop of cliff, and the unrelenting surf repeatedly crashing into the rocks below made it difficult to hear. With the cold October chill blowing in off the Atlantic Ocean and the steady drizzle that wouldn't let up, it was a miserable night for a mission, something Wally persisted on complaining about over the mental link Megan had established.

"Ugh, Batman couldn't have picked a worse night to send us here."

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we're aware of that fact, thanks."

"I mean, why can't the bad guys ever hide their crap somewhere nice? Like California? It's warm and it hardly ever rains."

"The next time we run into some villains, why don't you suggest it to them?" Artemis asked sarcastically.

Wally mentally scoffed. "Don't think I won't . . ."

"Will you quit your bellyaching? It's miserable enough out here."

"Uh, guys, this link is sort of established to keep in touch regarding the mission . . ." Megan interjected. "Robin, Aqualad, how are you doing in there?"

"We already took a couple vials of the substance and have almost finished setting the explosives around the rest," Kaldur replied.

"Well hurry up so we can get out of this rain," Wally grumbled with a sneeze.

"Crap, we've got company!" Robin's voice suddenly rang out in their minds. "We're on our way out with a Kobra Venom lackey trailing us!"

"Team, be ready to engage!" Kaldur ordered.

Artemis began to move back several feet from the door in order to get a clear shot while Kid Flash and Miss Martian came around from the other side. With her back to the dark ocean, a foot from the edge, Artemis drew back an arrow. A second later the ground started to rumble and Robin and Aqualad burst through the lone door, a large, disfigured man stomping after them. He was close, too close, to her teammates, and she wasn't willing to take any chances. She let loose an exploding arrow. It hit the towering giant square in the chest and exploded on contact. The blast rocked him back and sent Robin and Aqualad stumbling forward several steps before sending them to the ground. They were on their feet again immediately, Aqualad readying his water maces. A gust of wind blew away the smoke and Artemis cursed. The trick arrow had done little more than singe the greenish flesh of the monster's chest. He roared indignantly and swung his arms wildly as he stomped towards Kaldur and Robin. Kaldur crossed his maces above his head and blocked a vicious downward thrust. While Aqualad kept their opponent busy, Robin handed several tranquilizers to Miss Martian and Kid Flash.

"I hope you brought enough," Kid Flash said as he eyed the bluish liquid inside the clear syringe. "This guy's at least three times the size Evan was when Cheshire transformed him."

Robin turned towards Artemis, intending to bring her a few syringes as well, but she held up an arrow, the tip fashioned like a poisonous dart. She'd come prepared with tranquilizers of her own and Robin had to smirk in admiration. She was nothing if not adaptable.

"I think we're covered," he said.

The team got to work, plugging the giant with tranquilizers every time they found an opening, while Kaldur openly fought against him. Artemis loosed a second arrow full of tranquilizer and watched with satisfaction as it whiz past Kaldur's head and buried itself in the monster's bicep. The monster reared back his punctured arm with a snarl, and her satisfied smile morphed into one of startled shock when Megan popped into existence falling towards the ground. She'd been invisible behind the behemoth and must have been hit when he raised his fist. Before anyone could process it, he'd snatched Megan off the grass, slammed her against the brick wall of the lighthouse and threw her at the archer with a roar. Artemis scarcely had time to blink before Megan's limp body collided with her own. The bow in her right hand was knocked loose and she immediately wrapped both arms around the Martian as she staggered back from the sudden force. It was only two steps but that was all it took for both girls to go over the edge of the cliff. Artemis let out a startled cry and then her feet were no longer on solid ground.

If it had been anyone else, they never would have made it, but Artemis's startled shout caught Wally's attention and in a second he was running for them. Despite his breakneck speed, he felt like he'd never moved so slow as he watched Artemis take the two steps back that put her and Megan over the edge. He made a mad grab for his teammates as they began to fall. One hand managed to snag a fistful of Megan's fluttering cape, the other wrapped around Artemis's outstretched wrist. The combine weight of the two girls instantly slammed him to the ground on his stomach and he gasped at the loss of breath. Artemis felt herself jerk to a halt and winced at the pain that shot through her left arm. She looked up, her vision slightly blurred from the light raindrops falling in her eyes, and saw Wally's upper body hanging partway over the edge with Megan dangling listlessly from his opposite hand by her dark blue cape.

"I've got you!" he said through gritted teeth. She suddenly dropped another half inch as his body slide a little further over the edge. "Maybe," he grunted as he dug the tips of his shoes into the soggy mud in an attempt to keep himself from moving even farther over the edge.

With his eyes screwed shut he clenched his teeth and tried as hard as he could to lift either of the girls, but in the end it was pointless. There was no way he could lift either one of them with just one hand, even without the added weight of their rain-soaked clothes. "Can you climb up?" he asked Artemis.

She tried to grab onto him with her right hand, but it was no good, she couldn't reach high enough to grab his arm, and the angle of the concave cliff made it impossible to use her feet to help. Worse yet, the movement pulled Wally a quarter of an inch farther over the edge and she felt her own hand slide a little out of his grip.

"It's no good," she replied, voice somber. With Megan unconscious and therefore unable to fly, and her inability to climb back up, the three of them were sitting ducks. And Wally couldn't keep his hold on both of them forever. It was only a matter of time before he lost his grip on one or both of them.

"Megan! Come on, Megan, wake up and fly!" Wally suddenly shouted. "Kaldur! Robin!" he called, but between the rain and the roars of their opponent neither boy could hear him. "Argh, of all the missions for Superboy to skip out on!" he complained in frustration knowing that the Kryptonian would not only be able to hear him over all the noise, but could easily have lifted both girls with only one arm.

Artemis glanced at Megan's unconscious form, then at the raging sea far below. She hated drowning. Not only did it take longer to come back to life than other deaths, but the inability to breath and the feel of water flooding empty lungs was terrifying and painful. She imagined being set on fire was the only death that could trump it. If she fell, if she died, that was it. She wouldn't be able to bullshit her way out of this one like she had after the fun house incident. The whole team would know she had died. She would not be able to come back to the only group of people she'd really come to think of as family.

But at least she wouldn't stay dead.

If Wally dropped Megan, or worse, if all three of them went over, he and Megan would leave this world for good, and that was something she could not permit. Not only was protecting the others part of the deal she made with Batman in order to gain a spot on the team, but losing them was something she could never live with. With a sigh she glanced up at Wally's face and felt the unfamiliar sting of tears in her eyes. His bright green eyes were screwed shut in concentration and his teeth were clenched as he tried his best to hang on to both of them. It was a losing battle though and she knew it.

"Wally."

The heaviness of Artemis's voice immediately grabbed his attention and when he looked at her the look in her dark grey eyes was one that turned the blood in his veins to ice. It was one of resignation, of acceptance, and he knew what she was going to say a fraction of a second before the words left her mouth.

"Let me go."

"No way! Did you see the size of the rocks down there? This isn't like cliff diving off Mt. Justice, Artemis!"

"I know."

"Then how could you even ask me to do that?!" he exclaimed. He was shocked by her demand, and angered that she even bothered to ask, as if he'd even spend half a second contemplating granting her request.

"Because if you don't drop one of us soon you're going to end up dropping us both!"

"And you honestly think I could choose to let one of you fall?!"

"No! That's why I'm making the choice for you."

"Don't you dare!" he ordered, his voice an octave higher with panic.

"You were right. About the kiss. It did mean something. It meant everything," she admitted. Her voice had never sounded so sincere and it tore at his very core. She was laying all her cards on the table and Wally saw it for what it was. This was a good-bye.

"Artemis, please . . ." Wally begged, voice cracking, even as he felt his grip on her wrist begin to tire, and the fistful of Megan's cape start to slip.

Artemis took a shaky breath. What she was about to do would probably tear him apart, but it was the only option. Even so, she would never forgive herself. In the end, Dr. Fate had been right: her fate was tied to Wally's and he was about to experience unrivaled pain and heartache. And just as she had feared, it would be because of her.

She inhaled deeply, steeled her nerves, locked her eyes with his, and said, in the most earnest voice she could muster, "Everything will be okay, I promise. Just make sure Kaldur retrieves my body."

"Artemis, don't!"

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she yanked her arm down hard. He moved a millimeter farther over the edge a moment before her hand slid through his fingers and she plummeted downward.

"ARTEMIS!" Wally cried at the top of his lungs as he watched her fall away from him and hit the icy water below where she disappeared beneath the turbulent waves.

His newly freed hand immediately shifted to grab another fistful of Megan's cape, and with the strength he had left, he managed to pull the Martian back up onto stable ground. A soon as Megan was safe, he hurried back to the edge, dropped to his hands and knees, and watched the rolling waves, but he saw no sign of the missing blonde. He staggered to his feet and turned to his teammates just as Kaldur knocked the mutated man to the ground with a hard swipe of his aqua maces. The ground gave a small quake when his heavy body hit the mud, and when he didn't rise, Robin swiped a hand across his forehead.

"Man, I thought he'd never go down."

"Kaldur!" Wally cried as he rushed towards the pair, Megan's body bouncing around, barely suspended in his exhausted arms. The Atlantean turned to the speedster and was taken aback by the wild and frantic look his eyes bore.

"Wally, what-"

"It's Artemis! I tried, damnit I tried to hang onto her, but she fell! I can't see her in the water!"

Kaldur was already moving for the steep slope that led down to the beach, the other two boys in tow. As soon as they hit the sand he sprinted into the dark water and disappeared below the surface.

"Kid, what happened?" Robin asked as Wally set Megan down on the wet sand.

"When that creep threw Megan she hit Artemis and the two of them went over the edge of the cliff. I got there in time to stop them from falling, but I couldn't pull them back up. Artemis couldn't make the climb and Megan was unconscious, so she couldn't even fly. I couldn't save them both, Rob, and Artemis . . . she just let go. She let go so I wouldn't have to choose," he finished in a whisper, his eyes haunted as he stared at the sea.

Robin didn't respond, and the pair stood there in silence at the edge of the beach where the sand met the water, Megan's still form a few feet away, anxiously watching the waves for Kaldur to reappear. Each second that ticked by was agonizing but finally, Kaldur broke the surface of the water with a small bundle in his embrace. Wally immediately caught sight of the long golden locks spilling over Kaldur's arm and floating on the water around him, free of its usual ponytail, and he breathed a sigh of relief. As the dark skinned boy moved closer though, his relief quickly morphed into despair. Wally could see the thick line of red oozing from her right temple, the paleness of her usually tan skin, and the bluish tint to her rosy lips before Kaldur even made it to shore. The solemn look in his pale eyes and the slow shake of his head confirmed the fear that had been rising up in the speedster like bile the minute he'd laid eyes on the blonde:

Artemis was gone.

Time suddenly felt sluggish and the sound around him became muted, like he was wearing earplugs, as the tall Atlantean came closer with his precious bundle. Wally couldn't be sure if the nasty gash she harbored had been the cause, or if it'd simply been enough to knock her unconscious, leaving her to drown as her body sunk into the icy depths of the Atlantic Ocean. In the end, it didn't really matter what the cause of death was, all that really mattered was that he'd never spend another moment with the sassy blonde archer who'd entered his life in a whirlwind of sarcastic remarks and intense grey eyes just a couple of months ago and had stolen his heart without even trying. Just the thought of all that would never be was enough to bring him to his knees. His legs gave out and he dropped to the cold, wet sand on all fours, but his eyes didn't stray from the lifeless body of the blonde archer.

Kaldur held Artemis's still form gently, as if she were the most fragile piece of glass, and came to a stop in front of Wally and Robin. Choked with sadness, his voice was almost inaudible over the seas as he spoke. "Her heart no longer beats."

The screaming that suddenly assaulted Wally's ears was ragged and heart wrenching in its despair, and it took him a moment to realize it was coming from his own lips. He wasn't forming any coherent words, he just cried out at the top of his lungs as he fisted the wet sand in his fingers, watching it blur through a mix of rain and tears. He vaguely heard Robin's voice as the younger boy dropped to the ground next to him, but he couldn't make out anything he was saying over the hoarse cries that were brutally ripping at his throat. He screamed for what felt like an eternity, and eventually he thought he heard Megan's frantic voice as well, but he couldn't be sure, and he honestly didn't care. The only thing he could do was beat his fists against the hard sand and scream. The pain was unbearable, like nothing he'd ever felt before, and when his mind was hit with a forceful shockwave that threatened to take him away from the anguish plaguing him, he didn't question it, didn't resist. In an instant it engulfed him, and everything went black.

Like a bullet to the brain.

To be continued . . .

A/N: I know Artemis dying is nothing new (in fanfiction or in canon at this point) but I hope my version was a least worth reading all the same. The second half of this chapter was 1 of 4 scenes I originally came up with that then prompted me to fabricate an entire storyline just so I could write them lol Anyway, your thoughts and feelings are always appreciated :) I've already started on the next chapter, so the wait for an update shouldn't even be close to this one, promise!

Oh, points to whoever caught the throwback to another amazing CN show that was cancelled before it should have been in this chapter!

SakuraJade