A/N: So this picks up right where we left off in Chapter 6 except in Artemis' POV! I hope you guys like my interpretation of what she's thinking throughout this part of the episode! Please review! XD

DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, none of these characters belong to me. If Wally West belonged to me, I would be the only one allowed to play with him ;-) Any dialogue or plot that looks familiar belongs to DC and Greg Weisman and other people who are not me.

Summary: This is the story of Artemis and Wally and their evolution from teammates, to friends, to boyfriend and girlfriend, to husband and wife, to soul mates and everything and anything in between. Please review! XD

Genre: Friendship, Romance, Action/Adventure, Humor

Rating: T (just to be safe, it might go up later if I'm feeling particularly ambitious)

Characters: Artemis Crock, Wally West

The EVOLUTION of SOUL MATES

Evolution: the gradual development of something, esp. from a simple to a more complex form.

Chapter 7: Target

Sometimes Artemis thought her calling in life was acting or maybe card playing; No one had a better poker face than she did. Outwardly she appeared to be solemn and calm, but inwardly she was freaking out. Thank goodness Kid Flash seemed entirely engrossed in speeding along the sand dunes or he would have noticed how tense she was in his arms.

When she had first woken up in that shack with him, she had thought she was dreaming. After all, it wasn't every day you find yourself in a room with you superhero crush/idol. And then she realized she wasn't dreaming, far from it actually since it was more like her nightmares. She knew her father had to be behind this. But how had he found out about her crush on Kid Flash? She had been so careful to not even think his name around Lawrence. And now here she was, in a desert in Bialya, and Kid Flash was her target. She never thought she could hate her father as much as she did right now.

She wouldn't do it; she couldn't do it. Kid Flash had been so nice to her from the moment she had woken up. Normally if someone tried to protect her she would kick their ass, but it was different with him. She felt a connection. He seemed to, dare she even think it, like her. He kept calling her beautiful. No one, not even that boy in her class she'd briefly date last year, had ever called her that. And the way he pulled her closer as he ran combined with the sincere gleam in his green eyes when he told her that they'd figure this out; she'd never been treated so…delicately before.

It was refreshing.

But she had to remain indifferent. If her father was behind this, he was sure to be nearby watching her every move. They had been on the move for sometime before she felt Kid Flash slow down a hair before skidding to a half and letting go of her. The minute he let her down, he was doubled over, panting with exertion.

"Sorry," he gasped out, swiping at his forehead. "Running on empty. Don't think I've eating in a while." He opened a compartment in the forearm area of his uniform. "Been out here over 24 hours or my cupboards wouldn't be bare."

A noise whistled through the air coming from above them and Artemis instinctually moved out of the way, Kid Flash doing the same. It wasn't a bomb this time however, but a shirtless boy. Before either of them could react, the crazed boy smacked Kid Flash with such strength that he sent the speedster flying into a rock formation near them.

Artemis barely had a second to see if the kid was okay before the seemingly super strong boy turned in her direction. She was ready for him though. She executed a neat back flip before extending her bow again and pelting the boy with arrow after arrow. He kept on charging her however, as though the exploding arrows were merely a nuisance. She finally had the sense to duck and roll away from him. He screamed with rage and that was when the missile hit him.

Artemis was unfortunately caught in the blast zone of the missile. The force of the explosion knocked her face down some ten feet away. Just what in the hell is going on here? Artemis asked herself. Dad's really gone all out this time… She lay there in a daze for a few seconds before grabbing her bow. In front of her, she watched as the feral boy jumped to the tanks and proceeded to dismantle them even while being peppered with machine gun fire.

She couldn't deny that she was seriously freaked out now. She felt Kid Flash come up behind her and felt a surge of relief wash over her that he wasn't hurt.

"Whose side is he on?" she asked as he came to stand next to her.

"You wanna stick around and find out?" he retorted. They exchanged looks before he wordlessly picked her up again and started running in the opposite direction. Her arms wove themselves around his neck and she fought off the rising feeling of safety that she felt as he carried her. He held her carefully like he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

Unfortunately, at that moment Kid Flash tripped over a rock as he ran them downhill. She tumbled out of his arms and struggled to keep hold of her collapsed bow as they both plummeted down the hot sand. Finally, the land leveled out. Her vision was dizzy and clouded when she stood up, Kid Flash doing the same, but she didn't miss the two planes flying over them. As she and Kid Flash watched, the ships changed course and flew back towards them.

Not good! Artemis thought in alarm. The planes sent a volley of bullets their way.

"Get down!" Kid Flash yelled even as she was ducking for cover. He dropped into the sand beside her and placed a protective hand on the small of her back.

Luckily, the planes' missiles didn't hit them and they flew over their heads again. This may be our only chance! Artemis thought, extending her bow. She pulled an arrow out of her quiver and took aim for the ships. If I position it right I might be able to get them both, she thought as the ships started back towards them. She concentrated on her aim and was in the midst of firing when—

Don't worry, I'm almost there! a girl's voice said in her head.

Her arrow completely missed the plans as some invisible force stopped it.

"Did you just hear a girl talking in your head?" she asked Kid Flash frantically.

"Girls are always on my mind," Kid Flash told her, grinning. "But they're not usually talking."

"Seriously?" she said incredulously. Here they were fighting for their lives and he wanted to make jokes.

The two of them watched as the planes crashed into each other. It didn't look like an accident to Artemis. It looked like someone had forced the planes together. But who had that kind of power? Out of the smoke came flying a green-skinned girl with red hair, wearing something similar to the Martian Manhunter's superhero costume. She flew down and landed on the sand in front of them.

"Well, J'onn, the costume looks, familiar," Kid Flash started. "But I'm not sure the new bod screams 'Manhunter.'"

"You know my Uncle J'onn?" the apparently Martian girl asked hopefully. "Hello, Megan! Of course you do! You're Kid Flash, Wally! And you're Artemis!"

Artemis had so many thoughts running through her head that she could hardly keep track of them. First was: Wally? That can't really be his name. Second was: How did this girl, who she'd never, ever seen in her life, know her name? She was starting to think that maybe something else besides her father was at work here.

"Wait, wait, wait," the young speedster said, obviously unnerved, too. "Martian Manhunter's your uncle? Is that how you know my name?" he added in a whisper.

"Your name's really Wally?" Artemis asked him. Seriously, did his parents have a Leave It to Beaver obsession or something?

He hung his head pitifully. "Ohh…"

"It's okay," the girl, Megan(?) assured him. "We're teammates. Friends. I made you cookies!"

Wait, what? "You know her?" she asked Kid Flash, or Wally, one hand on her hip. She couldn't help the jealous tone of her voice.

She almost laughed as Kid—Wally tripped over himself to reassure her. "No, I swear, beautiful. Never seen her before in my life! At least not that I know of," he added.

The Martian girl sighed. "You both lost your memories, too. Come on. I'll fill you in as we go. Robin and Superboy need our help."

She started walking and Artemis followed. Normally, she wouldn't be so trusting of people she'd just met, but with Wally and Megan she just knew that she could trust them.

"Of course, Robin and Super-what now?" she distantly heard Kid Flash say behind her.

As they walked she tried to get her thoughts in order, but her mind was reeling. According to Megan, she was on their team, a team of teenaged superheroes it seemed if they, Robin, and this Superboy kid were any indication. But Artemis couldn't fathom the how or why of it. How had she even been noticed by them to become a member? Did they know about her father being the criminal Sportsmaster or her mother being the ex-con Huntress?

And even worse thought occurred to her, and she literally stopped in her tracks. What if she was on the team as a spy for the Shadows? What if her father was forcing (because there was no way in hell she would do it of her own free will) her to pass information on the team to him?

"Hey, you okay, beautiful?"

Standing directly in front of her stood Kid—Wally, looking at her in concern.

She scrambled to come up with something. "Yeah, it's just, uh, a lot to process," she told him, which was actually the truth.

"Yeah, it is," he agreed, but brightened up after a moment. "But I told you we'd figure this out. And I'm sure we'll have our memories back in no time."

And what's going to happen after that? she thought, but didn't dare say out loud.

"Yeah, you're right," she said instead, giving him a slight smile.

"Of course I am," he teased.

And then there was a moment. He was looking at her. She was looking at him. She realized that there was only a small gap between them. He made a move as if to bring his hand to cup her face. Oh my gosh, is he going to kiss me?

"Artemis!" Came Megan's frantic voice, jolting them out of their moment. "Kid Flash! I can feel Robin nearby! I think he's being attacked!"

Kid Flash pulled his goggles down and scooped her up again, speeding after the flying Martian girl.

"You know, I have two feet," Artemis argued half-heartedly. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest after their almost-kiss. "I can run on my own."

"Not as fast as I can though," was his retort.

Darkness had descended upon the desert at that point. Megan had stopped on top of a large sand dune and that was where Kid Flash put her down. Below them, they watched as Robin fought off what had to be 10 Bialyan guards. Although she lived in Gotham, (at least, she thought she still did) she had never seen either the Batman or his partner Robin in action. Artemis had to admit, the kid was definitely holding his own; at least, until the machine guns came out.

Suddenly, Kid Flash was gone from her side and down in the clearing. She watched as he stole all the guns away from each other guards before proceeding to knock them out with super speed punches. He even took one guy and swung him around a few times before throwing him into a pair of goons, knocking them out. Artemis was impressed, to say the least. There's one getting away! She plucked out one arrow, aimed and fired at him, satisfied when the arrow exploded and wrapped the guard up in rope. Wally gave her a thumbs up before turning to Robin. She started down the sand towards them.

"KF!" the Boy Wonder cried, grasping Wally's hand. "Man, it's good to see a familiar face!"

"Hey, Rob," Wally greeted warmly. The two obviously knew each other well, Artemis noticed. "Memory loss?"

"Six months!" Robin replied. "Let's hog tie these creeps and compare notes."

Wally introduced both Megan and Artemis to Robin, and the four of set about getting all of the guards tied up together before powwowing a few yards away from them.

"I woke up this morning with no memory at all of how I got here," Robin told them. "But according to my computer, it's September."

"September?" Kid Flash repeated as Artemis' own mind reeled. "Aww, man, that means I'm back in school already. So much for summer vacation."

"So, we're a Team?" Robin asked.

"The four of us and Superboy," Megan explained.

"Then this must be his," Robin said, pulling out a black piece of cloth with a red S on it and handing it to Megan.

"Yes!" Megan exclaimed. "Did you see him?"

Then it dawned on Artemis. "I think we did," she said, turning to Wally. She could feel the frustration rising within her. She wanted her memory back. She wanted to know who she was. Most of all, she wanted to know that she wasn't a spy.

"Feral boy?" Wally pondered. "Some teammate. He attacked us."

"He didn't know we are," she reminded him, loosing her cool. "I don't know who we are!"

"I remember Batman ordering radio silence," Robin said suddenly. "Our team must work for him!"

"And how do you know we don't work for my mentor?" Wally asked, touching his chest. As he did, the black material changed to yellow, and he was back in his regular Kid Flash uniform. "Whoa. This is so cool!" He switched back to black and then again to yellow.

Do I have that? Artemis thought, touching her chest a couple times. Nothing happened though. "We look ridiculous!" she exclaimed, noticing Robin doing the same thing with similar results. Wally though, seemed to be having too much fun. She was getting more and more frustrated and when she got frustrated, sometimes (most of the time) she got bitchy. "Quit touching yourself!"

Wally gave her a wounded puppy dog look that she rolled her eyes at before switching his uniform back to black. "We need our memories back," she reasoned.

In front of them, Megan put her fingers to her temples and her eyes started glowing. Suddenly, her, Wally and Robin weren't in Bialya anymore, but a purple plane made of shimmery light and what looked like images of them all flashing everywhere.

Megan appeared before them. "I've brought you into my mind to share what I've remembered so far," she told them'. "But I need your help. Together our broken memories can form a whole if you open your minds to mine."

"You want to pop through our private thoughts?" Artemis snapped defensively. What if she found out about her father and her mother? What if she really was a spy? They would all turn on her. All of them.

"I have no wish to intrude but—," she started.

"You need to hack our minds to get what happened to us," Robin interrupted. "Got it. Go."

"My brain's all yours," Wally said to her left. "Try not to let its brilliance overwhelm you."

"Or underwhelm you," she distantly heard Robin retort. "Hey, why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?"

Artemis didn't know what to do. She was totally against this, even to get their memories back, but she was outnumbered. A movement to her left caught her eye. Wally came next to her and grasped her hand in his. On the outside, she was cool, but on the inside she was bursting with emotion from this one simple gesture. Except it wasn't simple to her. It meant everything. He was looking at her with such tenderness and earnestness that she couldn't help but give in. She knew that he would be by her side every step of the way.

"The last six months only," she told Megan. "And only what you need."

She looked back at Wally one last time before Megan reached out to their minds, and he was looking back at her.

And then they got their memories back. And she remembered how much he hated her. Her heart never hurt so bad as when they tore their hands out of each other's grip.

A/N: Aren't they cute? Did everyone watch Auld Acquaintance? OUR OTP IS AWESOME GUYS AND I CAN'T WAIT TO WRITE THAT PART I AM JUST SO EXCITED I'M A GLASS CASE OF EMOTION!

Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter! Thanks again to everyone who's reviewed! You all make my day with your comments! Please keep reviewing! You all keep me motivated! XD

Next chapter will again pick up where this one left off. I think it might be called (Ninja) Boyfriend and in Artemis's POV. IDK though, are you guys Berefted out? Too much Bereft? Should I move on? Let me know!

Also, I changed my tumblr name to findyourownlittlespitfire. More appropriate, dontcha think? Anyway, follow me! XD