A/N: You guys are the best. I love reading your reviews. You guys are awesome! *Virtual Hug*. So I've reached chapter twenty. I'm not sure how many more chapters will be, but it seems our voyage is drawing to an end. I think I'll do probably like eight-ten more chapters. I'm not certain though. I have two other ideas for stories to do too. One is a Victorian England Steampunk version of the original team and the other is an OC story that you guys could submit OC's too for me to use. Which one would you guys prefer? This story will still be my number one priority though if I do start another one or two. Okay, Read and Review!

Disclaimer: Young Justice belongs to Warner Brothers.

The Storm

"So, that kiss the other night." Zatanna comments. It had been two days since the kiss. Artemis had spent the evening looking at wedding dress magazines with Dinah so she had missed the usual deck meeting. She knows she would have had to talk about it if she had been there last night though.

"Jason dared us too. It was nothing." Artemis responds, shrugging, trying to sound nonchalant. She focused on the water out in front of her, making sure nobody was in any danger of drowning.

"Artemis, that was not nothing. You can't deny it, that was something special, we both know it." Zatanna tells her friend. Artemis rolls her eyes.

"Come on Zee. This is Wally we are talking about."

"Yes, Wally who is obviously crazy for you."

"You don't honestly think that?"

"'Mis, I've known him longer then you, thereby I know when he is crazy about a girl and he is clearly crazy about you."

"That does not make a lot of sense." Artemis replies. Zatanna rolls her eyes.

"You are trying to sound nonchalant, but I promise you, you are coming off a lot more on the chalant side."

"You've been hanging out way to much with Dick."

"He is my boyfriend." Zatanna responds.

"You guys decided to make it official?"

"Yep. After he kissed me in front of the whole kitchen staff. My father heard and of course, he was not happy." Zatanna says with a huge dopey grin on her face. Artemis smiles, happy for two of her best friends.

"How did the all powerful Zatara take it?"

"Not well. But he's getting better. I think it helps that he likes Dick, he just doesn't like that I'm growing up. He's sappy and protective like that, but I love my dad and I get it. I mean I'm all he really has left." Zatanna says sadly. Artemis reassuring places her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"I get it Zee." Artemis smiles at her friend. Zatanna returns the smile before turning to face the pool, blowing her whistle.

"Hey! No roughhousing!" She shouts at some rowdy kids. Artemis laughs as she watches her friend get up off of her chair and walk over to the boys, not happy at all. Artemis thought about her father for just a second, wondering how he would react if she had a boyfriend. He would hate Wally she knew that for sure. It was sad though; she could not imagine her father's reaction at all. He probably wouldn't care at all. Thieves have bigger things on their minds then something as trivial as their daughter's boyfriend, not that she even had one. Though there is a certain red head she wouldn't mind dating, and it was not Roy.

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"Hey Roy!" Roy looked up from the bow he had been cleaning to see Wally and Dick walking into the range. He hadn't really talked to his old friends since he had tried to get them to spy on Artemis. Thinking about it now made him realize what a jerk he had been.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Roy asks them.

"Nothing much. We were wondering if you wanted to come jet skiing with us later today?" Wally asks.

"Jet skiing? We aren't even in port yet." Roy replies.

"Bruce said we should be landing in an hour. He wants us to go with Arthur and help lead a Jet Ski tour around the island. Conner can't go because he is taking Megan on a date and neither can Zatanna because she promised to help her father set up for his show tonight, but everyone else is going." Wally says.

"You have any archery stuff this afternoon?" Dick asks.

"Nope. I just finished up a lesson and I have nothing planned for the rest of the afternoon." Roy tells them.

"Good! You can come then!" Wally responds excitedly.

"You guys sure you want me there?" Roy asks.

"Course we do. You're our friend, no matter what happens. No matter how much of an asshole you can be at times. " Dick tells him with a smile. Roy returns the smile.

"Sure sounds like it'll be fun. I haven't had a chance to go on land in a while. I heard you guys went sailing at the last island, that sounds like fun."

"Oh yeah, it was fun, not just because of the sailing though for Wally." Dick responds with a cackle. Wally turns almost as red as his hair as he punches Dick in the shoulder. Roy looks at his two friends confused, resting the now clean bow on the stand.

"What are you talking about Dick?" Roy asks him.

"Nothing." Wally says at the same time Dick replies, "Wally and Artemis' make out session on the beach."

Roy pauses for a second, processing what he just learned. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He knew he shouldn't have an opinion, but honestly, something in him felt unsettled. Artemis was practically his sister and he wasn't sure how he felt about her kissing someone.

"You know Artemis is like my sister now." Roy starts.

"You're in it now Wally, protective brother is almost as bad as protective father." Dick says with a cackle. Wally turns bright red again and punches Dick in the shoulder again.

"Jason dared us too!" Wally says in protest.

"He dared you two to kiss, not suck out each other's tonsils." Dick responds.

"Okay, I don't want to know any sort of details. Just know, that if she gets hurt, I'm obligated to punch you in the face West." Roy simply says, grabbing another bow to clean. Wally gulps.

"You guys are making a big deal over nothing, it was one kiss." Wally says in protest.

"Stop lying buddy." Dick says patting his friend on the back. "We all know that you two want more then just one kiss."

"Alright, I'm ending this conversation." Roy states officially disturbed.

"What? Are you no longer turbed?" Dick asks, cackling. Wally and Roy just groan in response, used to Dick's butchering of the English language by now.

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"Have you ever ridden one of these before?" Wally asked a confused looking Artemis staring at the Jet Ski.

"No, but I can figure it out." She insists.

"You can just ride with me if you want." Wally says with a smile. Artemis rolls her eyes.

"I'll figure it out Baywatch, don't need to worry about me. Besides, it looks simple enough." Artemis responds. The two of them walk away from the jet skis, over to where Arthur was giving a lecture on proper safety measures to a group of twenty passengers. Barbara stood besides her father, but she smiled at all of her new friends and gave a little wave. Wally was going to miss the red head. They were heading back to Miami tomorrow and she was leaving once they arrived. Dick was already planning for her to come and spend the summer with them even though that was still several months away.

Roy stood off to the side, talking with Kaldur quietly. He kept giving him odd looks and Wally wasn't sure of how to make of them yet. On one hand, he was happy that Roy and Artemis seemed to have become really close, on the other, he now had a protective brother type person to deal with if he finally worked up his nerves to just ask Artemis out already.

"Any questions?" Arthur asks, finishing his speech. Nobody says anything. "Alright good. You can grab a life jacket from Dick, Jason, or Raquel and then go pick a Jet Ski. All children under ten must ride with an adult."

"Here." Wally said handing over the spare life jacket he had been holding.

"Thanks." Artemis said accepting it with a smile. Okay, now or never.

"So...the other night." Wally starts lamely.

"Yeah. Zatanna has been giving me so much crap about it and don't even let me start on Megan. She's already planning our wedding. It was only one kiss though, I keep trying to tell them." Artemis says. Wally deflated.

"Yeah. One kiss. Dick talks nonstop about it. It was dare though as I keep telling him." Wally responds blandly.

"Exactly. It's not like we kissed out of free will." Ouch, what a blow to self-esteem. Wally just nods, miserably.

"Well, it's not like somebody was holding a gun to your head forcing you too." Wally mumbles. Artemis gives him a confused look. "I'm going to go see if they need any help." Without another word, Wally walks away to go join Dick, Jason, and Raquel.

Artemis watches him walk away in confusion. Did she say something? Was it something about the kiss? She thought that he felt that way. She wanted it to be something more, but he had never made any sort of move before that. She sighed, confused.

"He totally wants you." Barbara says, standing besides Artemis.

"Really? I don't know." Artemis replies.

"Your clueless." Barbara responds, shaking her head.

"If I am clueless, then you are too. Jason totally likes you and I've barely known him for a week and I can tell." Artemis responds.

"Jason and I are just friends."

"Same with Wally and I."

"Oh really? Friends don't make out with each other."

"It was a dare!"

"The dare was a kiss Artemis, that was way more."

Artemis deflates. They were all right. She wanted it to be more, but she had no clue what to say. She had had one boyfriend in her life and it was Cameron freaking Mahkent, the guy who threatened to hand her over to her dad. She had a bad track record for sure and she didn't want to mess up what she had with Wally because she really liked what they had.

"Artemis, you can't let fear rule your life." Barbara tells her, almost as if she was reading the other girl's thoughts. "Sometimes you just need to go for it and forget the risks."

"But..." Barbara interrupts her.

"No buts. You analyze every situation trying to decide what is worth it and what is not. You need to stop that and just go for something."

"You're right."

"I'm always right." Barbara replies. They both smile. "Come on, let's figure out how these Jet Ski things work."

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It wasn't that hard to run a jet ski Artemis soon realized. She motored around, making sure that no one from the group had wondered off. Raquel was besides her.

"All clear?" Raquel asks.

"Yep. I don't see any stray passengers. Let's go join the rest of the group." With that, Artemis and Raquel pick up speed and join the rest of the group up ahead. They both nod at Arthur, who smiles, relieved.

"Alright everyone, this is one of the best beaches on the island." Arthur's voice drones on. He had done a lot of research before hand lead the tour and you could tell that he had learned a lot. Artemis just kind of zoned out, relaxing on the small watercraft.

Artemis looked out to her left, noticing a bunch of dark clouds forming. Arthur had finished his lecture and people were exploring the little cove. Artemis drove over to Arthur.

"Arthur, look." She points to the dark clouds.

"How? The weather report said that we should be clear until eight o'clock tonight." He checked his watch. "It's only five!"

"Sometimes the weather report is wrong. We should head back to be safe." Artemis suggests. Arthur nods.

"You're right. Go tell the others, I'll gather the passengers." Arthur instructs, motoring away to go gather the passengers. Artemis spots Jason and Barbara first, the two of them talking.

"Hey guys." Artemis says when she reaches them. "There is a storm heading in. Jason, collect some passengers from Arthur and begin leading them back."

Jason nods and he heads over to join Arthur who had already collected a few passengers. Barbara follows after him. Artemis turns towards Dick, spotting him and Roy laughing together a small distance away.

"Hey guys, storms coming in." The two boys look out to the left and noticed the quickly approaching storm. They turned to the gathered passengers. Jason had already taken off with a group, heading back towards the docks as quickly as possible. Artemis spotted a familiar red head in the back of the group as well. Raquel and Wally appeared suddenly as well.

"We heading back because of that?" Raquel asks, pointing to the storms. Artemis nods.

"Let's go." Dick says, the five of them moving towards the large group. Kaldur took off with another group.
"Okay, is this everyone?" Arthur asks, doing a head count. Satisfied, he speaks again. "Alright, the rest of us will head back together. Artemis and Wally take caboose."

The two teens nod, waiting for everyone to take off before going as well. They were moving quickly, but the storm was too. A strong wind whips through Artemis' hair.

"Do you think we'll make it?" Wally shouts over the sound of the wind and their motors.

"Yeah, we only have like another mile to go. We should be there in a few minutes." Artemis shouts back in return. Wally nods.

Artemis looks away from Wally, training her eyes back on the pack of people. Suddenly, a girl went astray from the rest of the group. Nobody noticed but Wally and Artemis.

"I'll go get her. You continue on and tell Arthur." Artemis shouts to Wally. He looks reluctant, but he nods. Taking off as Artemis veered to the right towards the girl.

When she reached her, Artemis realized that the girl was crying, furiously trying to get her jet ski to start.

"It's not working!" She cries when she spots Artemis. A tall wave slams into the two of them and the girl just barely manages to hold on. Artemis makes a quick decision.

"Grab on." She shouts to the girl.

"But what about..."

"It doesn't matter." Artemis interrupts, knowing that Oliver could just pay back the Jet Ski Company. "Where is your family?"

"My dad is up with the rest of the group. We had been in the back and nobody noticed when my jet ski stopped working and I drifted over here." The girl cries, another wave hitting them. The girl quickly scrambles onto the back of Artemis' jet ski.

"Hold on tight..." Artemis trails off, not knowing the girl's name.

"Cissie." She replies. Artemis nods, revving up and taking off towards the docks.

"I'm Artemis by the way." She shouts above the wind, trying to stay calm for the girl's sake. It had begun to rain at that point and the winds were relentless. The waves continued to get bigger and it was getting harder to steer.

"Damn it." Artemis hisses through her teeth as another wave pushes her off course. Through the torrential downpour, she was having trouble navigating.

"Look out!" Cissie cries. Artemis looks to her right just in time to see a monster wave come crashing down on them and wrap an arm around Cissie.

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Wally stared out at the ocean, looking desperately for any sign of Artemis or Cissie. The young girl's father was doing the same, as were the rest of his friends. They had reached the docks just as the storm increased and it began to rain. The passengers had all run onto the cruise ship along with Arthur who went to alert the coast guard and tell Oliver.

"Where the hell are they?" Wally asks to nobody in particular, panicked.

"They're...they're probably fine." Raquel says nervously.

"Raquel, do you see that storm out there!" Wally shouts. Raquel backs away and Kaldur gives Wally one of his rare glares as he wraps an arm comfortingly around his girlfriend.

"Wally, this is very stressing, but we can't lash out." Kaldur says calmly. Wally just goes back to staring anxiously out at sea. Roy ran back towards them. He had tried running to the other end of the dock to see if he could spot them at all.

"Did you see them?" Barbara asks anxiously. Roy shakes his head angrily. Wally punches a pole coming out of the dock, not even caring about his now throbbing hand.

"I should have stayed with them." Wally yells angrily to nobody in particular.

"Wally, calm down my friend. You were able to speed ahead and alert us and we have a general knowledge of where they are because of you. This is good for Arthur to tell the coast guard." Kaldur assures him stepping away from Raquel towards him. Wally shakes off Kaldur's hand.

"That doesn't change the fact that she is in danger!" Wally yells. Kaldur sighs, walking back over to his girlfriend. Wally went back to watching for familiar blonde hair. He didn't care about the torrential rain falling on him. He wasn't moving until he could see her and know that she was safe. The rest of his friends stood besides him too, anxiously searching for the girl.

"Where is she?" Oliver's voice shouts above the winds joining the teens on the dock.

"Oliver, calm down." Bruce says, he and Clark coming up behind the man. Dinah, Zatanna, Conner, and Megan had all materialized as well. Megan was crying while Conner held her close.

"Don't tell me to calm down. My daughter is out there!" Oliver shouts. Wally had never seen him yell before. Bruce wasn't fazed though, he rarely ever was.

"The coast guard are going to send out boats and a helicopter as soon as the rain lightens up." Clark assures him.

"She might not have that long! My daughter and a little ten year old girl are stuck out in this!" Oliver shouts waving his arms around in the strong wind and rain. A wave crashes up onto the dock, soaking all of their already wet feet.

"Artemis," Zatanna chokes out, Dick putting an arm around her. "Artemis is a fighter. If anyone could survive this, it's her." Wally wasn't sure if she was trying to reassure the rest of them, or herself.

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Artemis came up for air, holding Cissie. Both girls coughed up a fair amount of seawater. Artemis looked around for the Jet Ski, not seeing it anywhere. Thank god for life jackets though. They were floating on the surface of the water with little effort.

"Cissie, I need you to go on my back." Artemis shouts to the younger girl.

"You sure?" She asked tentatively.

"Yes. Just do it now." Artemis yells to be heard above the howling wind. The girl nods and does as Artemis asks, wrapping her thin arms around Artemis' neck. She slowly begins swimming in the direction that she thinks the docks are. Waves crash into her, pushing her astray and sometimes under the water.

If all that training her dad put her through ever had a need, now would be it. She thought of all those times he woke her up early in the morning and had her training until she could literally stand no more. She could do this.

She pushed through the water with slow and powerful strokes, staying calm. If she panicked, Cissie would panic and it would be harder to swim with her on her back that way. She felt the girl shivering against her back.

"Come on Cissie, stay with me." Artemis shouts another wave crashed over their heads, plunging them into the water. They came up for air once again.

"I'm cold."

"It's okay Cissie, before you know it you'll be wrapped in a big blanket and this will all be a distant memory." Artemis tells her in between breaths. Her arms had begun to ache, but land was beginning to appear closer and she was pretty sure she was getting close to the docks. She let a wave push her towards the direction she was heading in, giving her tired arms a break.

"Okay Artemis." Cissie shivers.

Artemis couldn't afford to waste any more effort talking so she just hoped that she had reassured the girl long enough to keep her with her to reach the docks. She knew she was almost there.

Artemis didn't know for how long she swam. It continued to rain and the wind continued to whip around her wet hair. It was still wavy, but Artemis was past the point of exhaustion. She no longer felt anything; she just continued to swim. Just when Artemis was sure she couldn't go on anymore, she spotted figures in the distance standing on a familiar looking dock. A familiar looking ship was docked a little ways behind that. Using the last of her strength she shouted.

"HELP!" No longer swimming, her and Cissie bobbed on the surface for a little bit before the water crashed over their heads again, pulling them under again.

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"HELP!" Everyone stopped talking as they searched the horizon for the source of the voice. Wally spotted a familiar head of blonde hair in the water a little ways out.

"There!" He pointed. Kaldur, the best swimmer of the group, immediately dove into the water to go get them. Oliver moved to jump also, but Dinah stopped him.

"You're not a strong enough swimmer. You'll be no help to her." Dinah tells him. Dick and Zatanna run to the ship to grab blankets and Arthur, knowing that another strong swimmer could come in handy.

Wally watched Artemis dip back below the surface with the girl holding onto her back. He had never been more afraid in his life as he watched her go under.

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Artemis fought to reach back up to the surface; she wasn't giving up with out a fight. Artemis felt the arms around her neck go slack. She reached behind her, pulling the little girl to her side as she kicked to reach the surface.

Luckily, a strong hand reached down and helped pull them up. Artemis and Cissie gasped for breath. Artemis found herself face to face with Kaldur.

"Take...Cissie." Artemis stammered out, passing him the younger girl. Kaldur nods and takes off to the dock of people including the girl's concerned father. It was so close, yet so far. Still Artemis pushed through, if she was anything, she was a fighter. She spotted Kaldur pass Cissie into the waiting arms of her father before coming back to where Artemis was slowly making her way to the dock.

Kaldur reaches her and places an arm around her stomach, dragging her back to the dock. She felt Oliver's strong arms pull her up out of the water and then the faces of her worried friends crowded her vision as she blacked out.

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The first time Artemis woke up, she was barely conscious. She opened her eyes to see Dinah, Oliver, and Roy all in the med bay room, looking at her in concern.

"She's awake." Dinah proclaimed, tears in her eyes. She instantly felt Oliver reach for her hand.

"Artemis, kid, how do you feel?" Oliver asks. She was still groggy and obviously had some sort of pain killers in her system. She felt tired, like she had just been swimming for a week. And she felt cold, even under all the blankets on her.

"I've been better." She said. "I'm really tired. How's Cissie?"

"Go back to sleep then sweetie, Cissie is okay." Dinah tells her encouragingly. She does exactly as Dinah suggested.

The second time she woke up, Wally was the only one there, asleep in the chair besides her bed. She looked over towards him.

"Wally." She croaked out, her voice cracking. He stirred almost immediately, his eyes filling with relief at seeing her awake.

"Thank god." He said. "You're awake. We were so worried...I was so worried."

"I'm sorry." Wally laughs at that, it sounding bit strained.

"Just like you to apologize." Wally tells her. She gives a small smile.

"How long have I been asleep?" Artemis asks.

"Three days. You woke up two days ago, but then you fell asleep again." Wally tells her.

"Three days! I missed Babs leaving!" Wally laughs again.

"Don't you think you should be concerned with other things? Babs made us promise to have you call her as soon as you woke up again and felt up to it." Wally tells her.

"I'll do that...later. God, why the hell am I so tired right now?" Artemis asks. Wally smiles.

"Um, maybe because you swam in the middle of a storm with a ten year old girl on your back?"

"How is Cissie?" Artemis asks again.

"She's fine. She and her father left when we came into port. She drew you that picture." Wally says, pointing to a crayon drawing on the small table besides the bed. It was a picture of her and Cissie hand in hand with "Thank you for saving me" written along the top. Artemis smiled at the picture.

"Hey," Wally says. "Don't you ever do that to me again." Wally leans down and kisses her. Artemis kisses him back.

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"Where is she?" Lawrence Crock demands.

"I will never tell you." Paula Crock replies, her wheelchair as far away from the man she once called her husband as she could be in the small room. "The guards will be here soon. Leave!"

"Not so fast." Lawrence steps towards Paula, knocking her out of her wheelchair. She laid out sprawled on the ground. Lawrence pulled out a javelin.

"Now, where is Artemis?"

A/N: Wow, this has been my longest chapter yet. It had a bit of everything, Spitfire moments, angst, protective brother Roy. I hope you guys liked it. Remember to tell me which story you guys want to hear next after this story. Happy Easter to anyone who celebrates it. Chapter 21 will be up as soon as I finish it, hopefully within a few days. Review and tell me your thoughts and which story you want to read. Thank you!