Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. Or Disney's "The Lion King" :)

A Lingering Feeling
VI. Firefly
When you feel all alone / And the world has turned its back on you / Give me a moment please to tame your wild wild heart
– Savage Garden, "Crash and Burn"

Mount Justice
October 14, 21:00 EDT

Artemis brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. She sighed and rested her chin on top of her knee, gazing without seeing at the cold sand glowing silver-blue in the moonlight by her feet—a million grains of sand to match the million thoughts in her mind.

She had only been nine years old when her mother was sent to prison for the first time. She had remembered her father threatening her and her older sister not to cry because tears were a sign of weakness and regret, and there was to be no regret in this case, and absolutely no weakness on their part. He had tersely explained that their mother going to prison was better than both of them going to prison, for who would look after and train their two daughters?

"Everything happens for a reason," was the one and only bitter trickle of reassurance he had offered, before retreating forever behind his stoic demeanor.

Her mother had missed most of Artemis's childhood, and now she was going to be absent from even more of her life. She wasn't sure when she would see her mother again—in one year, in ten years? It didn't matter, she sullenly thought as she glared at the sand. Life wasn't supposed to be fair, was it? Not her life, in any case.

She raised her eyes at the dark ocean, and watched its ghostly pale crests hurdling towards the beach, and then fading away like phantoms. The reflection of the moon created a silver blanket across the middle of the sea, disappearing hauntingly into blackness at the horizon. Its light, far from appearing beautiful, only emphasized Artemis's feeling of loneliness. The chilling wind rushed past her, bringing in the salty smell of the sea mingled with a hint of autumn leaves, and she wrapped her arms tighter around her legs.

Observing this tranquil scene, one wouldn't be able to fathom any of the turmoil happening elsewhere in the world. Here in this halcyon moment, there were no thoughts about tragedy, fire, or floods. No buildings crashed here, and no sirens screamed in desperation. No one bled, and no one died.

And innocent mothers weren't sent to prison while guilty fathers ran free.

Artemis dragged a half-buried shell from the sand and threw it into the black water with a loud yell of frustration. She glowered at the sea and then buried her head back into her knees, her shoulders shaking. She hadn't cried when she was nine years old, and she would not cry this time either.

She would not cry, she would not cry…

Mount Justice
October 14, 21:14 EDT

Wally whistled airily as he meandered down the hallway, following his nose to the land of delicious smells and delightful foods. When he passed Artemis's room, he paused and retraced his steps. Her door was open, and two black suitcases and a duffel bag stared blandly back.

"Artemis?" he whispered.

The suitcases continued to look at him mutely. He shrugged and let his nose continue their journey to the kitchen, where he found Robin reading the paper and M'gann removing a batch of fresh cookies from the oven.

"Hey, have either of you seen Artemis?" Wally casually asked. He leaned his elbow on the counter and peered eagerly at the cookies.

Robin shook his head without looking away from the paper, and M'gann did the same as she put the pan on the counter.

"Nope, but I can look for her," she offered, and after a brief pause of deep concentration, she continued, "I think she's by the beach."

"Alone?" inquired Wally while grabbing a cookie. The searing heat seemed to have no effect on his fingers, or taste buds. "Ooo," he murmured as his teeth sank into sugary warmth. "Peanut-butter chocolate-chip…"

"I believe so," M'gann began. "I mean, that she's alone," she quickly added with a chuckle. "I definitely know that these are peanut-butter chocolate-chip cookies."

"Oh, and what's with all the luggage in her room?" Wally continued to inquire as he snatched another cookie.

"I think I know," Robin answered somberly as he handed Wally the newspaper. "Look."

"'Paula Crock arrested on newly found charges, awaiting re-trial'," Wally read out loud, and then a frown slowly etched on his face. "Who…?"

Robin paused for a brief moment, and silently debated whether he should divulge such sensitive information—and behind Artemis's back, no less.

But apparently either Wally was a clandestine detective in his spare time, or he was already privy to such information from Artemis herself, because as he gazed into the sober black-and-white portrait of Paula, a gradual expression of recognition dawned upon his features.

"That's Artemis's mother, isn't it," he murmured. He slowly lowered the paper down, not desiring to read more.

M'gann made a soft sound of surprise as she covered her mouth with her hand. Robin gravely nodded and folded the paper so the story and accompanying picture were covered.

Without another word, Wally started making his exit out of the kitchen, but before he had gotten three steps he spun around on his heel and walked back. He grabbed a few more cookies and wrapped a napkin around them.

"Taking some for the road!" he said with a final smile at M'gann and nod at Robin.

After Wally left, Robin turned to M'gann and his grin returned. "Five bucks that he's actually bringing them for Artemis."

"Sure," replied M'gann lightly, "if you enjoy one-sided bets, that is."

Wally noiselessly made his way across the beach, and spotted Artemis sitting by herself, hugging her knees tight against her chest and her head and shoulders crumpled towards them. Her long hair was loose, and it draped over her folded figure like a silk cape, glowing in a seductively pale yet also mournful way under the full moon.

The image shocked him almost to a standstill, and he briefly questioned if he had been mistaken, and whether this fragile girl was really the fierce and fiery Artemis.

But given what Robin had just shown and told him, his astonishment faded away into sympathy.

Artemis suddenly felt something warm and downy drape over her shoulder, and looked up with a start to see Wally lying down on a blanket next to her. She quickly glanced away to discreetly wipe away her tears and in the process, fingered the mysterious object around her. It was another blanket. She looked back at Wally curiously, and when he didn't say anything, she finally spoke.

"What are you doing?" she asked, and then silently berated herself for how her voice cracked mid-sentence.

Wally, however, either didn't notice or wasn't bothered by her raspy voice. He pointed to the sky and smiled brightly at her.

"Stargazing," he replied, and then looked back up. "See up there, that faintish star, that's actually Jupiter."

Artemis's eyes followed his finger upwards, and with an inward gasp finally took in the scene above her. In her fury and angst, she had only concentrated at staring at the ground, never once tilting her chin up. Her mouth opened slightly as she let her eyes roam in awe at the diamonds sprinkled across a dark blue velvet canvas—it was like someone tossed a handful of glitter into the air, and they had remained trapped in infinite space forever. Never in her life had she seen so many stars. She wrapped the blanket fully around her and leaned back onto the sand, not caring if they invaded her hair.

Wally pulled out something from his pocket and passed it to her. Artemis wiggled a hand free and gingerly accepted it. She brought it closer to her face and saw—and smelled—that it was a fresh cookie, and still warm—presumably (and hopefully) from the oven, and not Wally's pants.

"Peanut-butter chocolate-chip fresh from the oven," he said, almost reading her mind. "M'gann just made them." He took another one from his pocket for himself.

Artemis raised her eyebrows in surprised approval, and took a bite and let out a little moan of delight. "Ohhh, these are good."

Wally felt his heart momentarily do what felt like a maladroit stumble down the stairs at the sound of her purring. He practically inhaled the remainder of his cookie before shooting his finger to the sky again.

"And you can also see Uranus!" he quickly said. "And you can barely see Neptune over there!"

Artemis ignored his sudden change in voice. She wasn't in the mood for her usual spark and snark. She finished her cookie and pulled her arm back into her warm blanket-cocoon.

"Can we see Pluto?" she wondered out loud as her eyes returned upwards. Her voice had returned to its thin and melancholy tone.

"Actually no," Wally answered. "You can only see Pluto with a telescope since it's about eight-hundred and seventy-million miles away from Neptune, and also twenty-one point-five times smaller."

He shifted his head slightly to observe Artemis's reaction, half expecting her to tease him about his obviously extensive and nerdy knowledge of astronomy. Instead, she just nodded.

He pointed skywards again and continued. "And then right below Jupiter is the constellation of Cetus, a sea monster from Greek mythology, although some people just call it a whale today."

Artemis frowned. She definitely could not see anything resembling a sea creature in any shape or form in that tangle of shimmering dots.

"Where?"

"There," Wally leaned in closer, and traced the constellation with his finger in what he hoped was her eye-level. "Those five stars that create a sort-of pentagon-shape is the tail—or head, depending on which version of Cetus you want to imagine—and those two stars lead down to the body, which consists of six stars."

Artemis tilted her head and could almost see Cetus the—

"It looks like a giant shovel," she concluded, and then cocked her head the opposite way, "or maybe a duck with a really long neck and no bill."

Wally actually laughed. "Well, if you think a bill-less long-neck duck is your version of a sea-monster…"

She turned to face him. "Do you know how freaky that would look?"

"Um…" He looked into her dark eyes. "Wouldn't that just be a swan…?"

"Without a bill? Tell me that wouldn't make you at least raise your eyebrow."

"I'm raising my eyebrow at you right now."

Artemis scoffed and retreated deeper into her blanket. She wasn't particularly in the mood to argue, and Wally sensed it. Even though he knew her placid state of mind was due to something external, he still couldn't resist relishing how he had currently owned the last word.

"Anyway," he continued, looking back at the stars and playing connect-the-dots again with his finger, "there's Orion, the hunter, by the horizon. You can see those three bright stars—that's Orion's Belt. And you can see one of his arms lifting a sword, while the other one is holding a shield."

He then pointed towards four stars by the moon and Jupiter."And there's Aries—my zodiac!"

Artemis let out a curt laugh. "Impulsive and impatient—makes sense."

"We're also quick-witted and courageous!"Wally added smugly.

"Quick? Yes. Witted? Ehh…" Artemis freed a hand from beneath the blanket and see-sawed it in the air.

Wally propped himself on one elbow and poked Artemis in her side underneath her rib-cage. She jerked away with a sporadic loud giggle, and then punched his arm away.

"What was that for?!" she said with irritation, but not without the slightest hint of a grin.

"Ah, now I know that you're ticklish." His demeanor was triumphant. "That should make our future wrestling match quite easy."

Artemis raised an eyebrow at him and sulked back into her swaddling. Wally grinned. He was kind of enjoying her lack of sharp ripostes.

"Can we see Scorpio?" she wondered, her eyes scanning the winking stars.

"You mean Scorpius," he corrected her. "And no; in October it's only visible between eleven in the morning and three in the afternoon, so you wouldn't be able to see it." He turned to her. "So, your birthday's coming up then."

She gave a small shrug of acknowledgment but remained silent. She didn't want to bring up birthdays, or any other occasion that—in the default normal world—were filled with pleasant memories, instead of empty regret.

Conscious of Artemis not being her usual chatter-box, Wally returned to mapping out the constellations. He began to unconsciously shift loser to Artemis, edging nearer every time she couldn't see a particular star. Soon he was almost just a breath away from her face, and Artemis's Wally-proximity-alarm suddenly buzzed.

She peered at him from the corner of her eye as not to face him directly and asked, "Why are you showing me all this?"

He lowered his arm and—to her relief—edged back to his original position.

"Well, it was between this and dragging you into the freezing ocean." He turned to her and smiled. "But the latter is something I would not do since I'm a nice and sensible person."

"Hey!" she retaliated, momentarily forgetting the shadowy thoughts about her mother. "The water was not that cold back in August!"

"But it was still cold!" he argued.

"Some lifeguard you'd be, Bay-Watch." She then deepened her voice in an attempt to mimic his. "Oh em gee, the water's too cold for me! Just keep treading water; you'll be fine. Oh, that's not a shark; it's just Aqualad, rocking out his Halloween costume."

Wally snorted. "I do not sound like that!"

Artemis ignored him. She really did hope she couldn't sound like that annoying voice of his anyway. "I thought your super-fast metabolism allowed you to be toasty all year round?"

"I told you," he answered: "even toast gets soggy."

She stared at him with a deadpan expression.

"That makes no sense," she argued. "So you'll be fine if you were naked on Mount Everest, but you turn into a cry-baby when a drop of Rhode Island sea water washes past your toes?"

Wally wiggled his eyebrows. "Did you, or did you not, just picture me naked?"

Artemis narrowed her eyes. "Definitely did not because M'gann's cookies are still in my stomach and not hurled all over the beach."

Wally snorted. "You were always a lousy liar, Arty."

She ignored him and returned to gaze at the starry sky. "Somebody once told me," she finally said, ever so nonchalantly, "that the great kings of the past are up there, watching over us."

Wally peeked over in amusement, but her expression remained stoic. He turned back to the sky and played along.

"You mean a bunch of royal dead guys are watching us?"

Artemis grinned at the moon.

"Timon?"

Artemis turned to Wally and continued to smile. "Yeah?" she replied.

Wally's attention remained on the sky, and he continued, "Ever wonder what those sparkly dots are up there?"

"Pumba, I don't wonder; I know."

"Oh. What are they?"

"They're fireflies," Artemis gestured to the sky. "Fireflies that uh… got stuck up in that big…bluish-black…thing."

Wally feigned a tone of surprise and awe. "Oh. Gee. I always thought that they were balls of gas burning billions of miles away."

Artemis tried to stifle the laugh tickling behind her lips. "Pumba," she said as she turned to glance at him, "with you, everything's gas."

Wally returned her mirthful gaze in silence for a few seconds before they both erupted with laughter.

"So," said Wally after silence fell upon them again, "why aren't you staying with your uncle, Green Arrow?" He hadn't forgotten the image of her suitcases in her room.

Artemis, caught off guard, stumbled through her answer. "He um, I uh, don't want to burden him, and um…"

"You really suck at lying, Arty."

"What?"

Wally turned to her. "I said you really suck at lying. You couldn't lie your way out of soggy toilet paper."

She bristled and turned away, suddenly feeling her face heat up. "I wasn't—I mean, I'm not—"

He propped himself up on his elbow and leaned towards her. "Artemis."

She inched her face back around until her eyes met his.

"You don't need to lie to me," he spoke softly.

She remained silent, mesmerized by the dark green of his eyes and the sudden sincerity they were gazing at her with. This wasn't the Wally West she knew; this couldn't possibly be the Wally West she knew and bickered with over every possible topic with every possible breath of air. The Wally etched into her mind would not have possessed the careful consideration to bring her a blanket and cookies, and certainly would not have taken the time to patiently point out every visible constellation in the October sky.

And he definitely would not have been staring at her like that, practically pleading for her to accept his newfound trustworthiness.

"Okay," Artemis finally sighed. "But you can't tell any of the others."

"Pinky swear," he said, holding out his finger. Artemis hesitated, her eyes sliding between his gaze and his hands, but she eventually slid her own hand from beneath the blanket and interlocked fingers with him for a brief second.

"Green Arrow," she began as she retreated back into the warmth of her blanket, "is actually not my uncle, and I live in Gotham with my mother. GA and Batman asked me to join the team after realizing I had um," she glanced nervously at Wally, "saved you from Amazo with my arrow, and—"

"Wait," interrupted Wally, "so it was your arrow?"

Artemis sighed exasperatedly. "Who else's could it have been? Superman's?"

Wally pursed his lips and shrugged. "I thought it was Roy's, actually."

Artemis rolled her eyes in his direction. "Because Red Arrow totally has green arrows. Yes, that makes perfect sense. You should just change your name to Kid Genius!"

"Hey!" he countered. "It was my knowledge on how to make an impromptu EMP emitter that saved our butts from the Reds!"

Artemis's mouth dropped open and she turned to face him completely. "I object! It was my arrow that saved our butts from the Reds!"

They glared testily at each other before Wally stuck out his tongue and waved for her to continue her story.

"Anyway," she proceeded, "before I was so rudely interrupted—"

Wally glowered at her, but remained mute.

"—I was saying how I also destroyed a herd of those…robotic monkeys or whatever the hell they were-"

"You did?" exclaimed Wally. "By yourself?"

Artemis almost forgot about being wrapped in a blanket and made a move to throw up her hands in irritation.

"Is that so hard to believe?!" she cried out.

"Possibly," he teased and grinned at her shaking exasperation.

She ignored him, and the urge to slap that haughty smirk off his face.

"Shortly after that incident," she continued steadily, "I was approached by Batman and GA with an invitation to join the team. GA said I could be introduced as his niece and protégé. And well, here I am."

"But why would they lie?" he questioned.

Artemis remained silent. Maybe because if anyone knew the truth, I would have been cast out and shunned without a second thought.

"Apparently you can't get into this club without being referred by a League member," she said instead, lightening her tone to push away her other thoughts.

"Yeah, we are pretty exclusive," Wally replied with a complacent grin. "We only accept the best of the best."

Artemis mentally exhaled in relief. Crisis averted. Topic changed. Her past was still impervious behind locked lips and grey eyes that glance away.

The two fell into a comfortable silence and she again contemplated the dark blue and sparkling sky above her. Gazing at the vastness of the infinite space, she suddenly felt the insignificance of herself, and all life around her. What were the deeds of one person on Earth compared to the timeless stars and endless space? The stars would still be there, no matter if the world was filled with purity or sin, love or despair, culpable fathers or blameless mothers…

"I saw the newspaper," Wally spoke cautiously, and Artemis's floating thoughts shattered back to the ground.

She slowly inhaled. She was expecting this. She hadn't prepared any answers, but she knew the questions would be inevitable.

Locked lips can't stay shut forever, and grey eyes have to cry sometime.

Eventually—but not now.

"You could never see any stars in Gotham," whispered Artemis in response, half tackling Wally's statement and half avoiding it. "When I was nine, and my mom was sent to prison for the first time, I used to gaze up at the twinkling airplanes instead, and thought that if I wished hard enough for her to come home, my message would somehow be projected onto the TV screens on the airplane. Then all the passengers would wish along with me, and make it come true." She stopped and softly laughed to herself. "It was pretty silly, now that I think about it…" She turned to Wally and found his green eyes staring intently back at her.

"No," he replied quietly, "I don't think that was silly. It's never silly to want a wish to come true."

Artemis lowered her gaze and absentmindedly bit her lip. She was suddenly finding it more difficult to look into those emerald orbs, darkened by the night but glowing with something deep within at the same time.

"Did you miss your mom a lot?" Wally asked.

Artemis looked back up. She had never heard him use that tone of voice. It reminded her of fragile and feathery things—of glass angels building a castle from snow. It took her a few seconds of shocked meditation before she answered.

"I guess… I missed the life we could have had. My parents were hardly ever home to begin with, so mostly my sister took care of me—a burden that got heavier when my mom left for prison the first time. I think my sister resented having such a responsibility. She left home soon after. So then I basically learned how to take care of myself…"

She paused, and suddenly had the urge to see the ocean. She wiggled out of the blanket and raised herself on her elbows and sat up. She heard and felt Wally do the same next to her.

"But yeah, I missed her," she continued, arranging the blanket so it covered her shoulders again. "Mothers are supposed to symbolize home, you know? They're supposed to be a symbol of comfort and warmth and love, and I felt…" She sighed and brought her knees to her chest again. "I felt cheated of all that."

Artemis squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath. She tightened her jaw and wished with all the willpower in her body not to let the burning sensation dissolve into tears.

"Artemis?" Wally whispered. "You okay?"

She suddenly stood up and turned away. The blanket fell to the ground with a mingling of cotton and sand, and she stooped down quickly to snatch it up before flinging it around her shoulders once more. Maybe if she ran away now, he wouldn't see her cry…

Without warning she felt him grab her hand, and then she found herself bumping ungracefully into his chest. She stiffened in shock as his arms quickly enclosed her, and his blanket folded around them both like giant wings. Slowly she relaxed, and edged her own arms and blanket around his torso, burrowing her face into his shoulder. There was something so comforting and protective about being in his arms that, with a shuddering sigh, the rainclouds in her eyes finally released their hot tears.

Wally felt her shoulders shake and could hear her ragged breathing, and all his jokes, teasing, and other biting comments completely vaporized. Crybaby—dissipated. So the Ice Queen has finally melted—abandoned. This is totally blackmail-worthy material—vanished.

As each layer of surface thought evaporated into the stars, it revealed finally the last anchored phrase in his mind—I'm sorry.

But instead of whispering it and letting it drift away with the tide, he tightened his hold on her, and brought his cheek to lie on top of her head. And in those few simple motions carried out in sequence from the firing of neurons to the workings of actin and myosin filaments, he was able to tell her that he understood, and—even if he was reluctant to show it in public—he was there for her. In these past two months, he had started to finally see past the caustic archer exterior; he was beginning to understand who Artemis really was.

And for once in his life, time became irrelevant to the supersonic speedster. The hands in his internal clock shifted and paused, and he began to notice things that would generally float away due to his need for speed. He saw—and could almost feel—the silver moonlight pouring around them, spilling into the dimly blue sand. He could hear each ripple of water as it cascaded onto the beach, and could feel the soothing heat radiating between his body and Artemis's. With his blanket enclosing them both, he amusingly compared them to two birds—two birds of a snarky feather, flocking strangely silent together.

Time was standing still, and Wally actually—and shockingly—felt content to stay like this forever. But forever was not a concept of mortals—even those underneath an immortal sky.

"So," Artemis finally whispered into his neck, her voice quivering but strong, "does the blanket make you feel like Batman?"

Wally exhaled a small laugh, and she felt his breath flicker through her hair.

"You know what you moving into Mount Justice means now, right?" he asked instead of giving her a direct answer.

"Hmm, what?"

"It'll be easier for me to send demons to haunt you every night."

Artemis smirked. This boy was filled with unlimited and smug bull-crap; he was like the port-a-potty of bull-crap.

"Hey Wally?"

"Yeah?"

"We had salmon filets today for lunch at school."

Wally's smile disappeared and he tightened his lips.

"Fine," he grumbled. "I guess we're even."

Artemis sighed and lifted her head to look at him, and Wally suddenly had the strangest urge to tuck a drifting strand of her golden hair behind her ear. The thought completely unnerved him and in response he mentally slapped himself and awkwardly dropped his arms around her. Artemis's eyes flashed in surprise, but she did the same and both simultaneously took a step away.

"I, um, I'm sorry for—" she gestured at the tear-stain on his shirt and looked away self-consciously.

"And that's how toast gets soggy," he added with a grin and a shrug. Then, on a sudden playful whim, he began running in circles around Artemis at normal speed. He unfurled his blanket behind his shoulder like a cape and cried out, "Na na na na na na na na, Batman!"

Artemis was absolutely determined to keep an expressionless demeanor. He was being more outlandish than hilarious, she argued, but her tenacity soon melted away into laughter.

"So," said Wally as he walked beside her back to the Cave, "one more point to the Wall-Man for cheering you up?"

She looked at him and he saw the brief reflection of the sky's fireflies in her eyes. "You know I'm not keeping track of those."

"Oh," Wally replied with a grin, "but I am."

UPDATE: Annica, or known on FFnet as annicaspitsfire, just turned up the awesome-knob and created a beautiful watercolor painting of Wally and Artemis stargazing. You can find the link on my profile!

(Another long) A/N: SO WHO CAUGHT THE LION KING REFERENCES? :D

(Also, anyone else keeping track of Wally's points?)

By the way, Artemis's back-story (regarding how she saved The Team from some of Ivo's robotic monkeys and how Batman and GA approached her shortly afterwards) is canon, and is explained in detail in the companion comics (Issue #8 and #9).

So, I've been getting a lot of feedback from readers wanting things to "move a bit faster", but I did say in Chapter 1 that this wasn't going to be a normal fic with a plot—it's a series of moments that builds upon Wally and Artemis's relationship, and I did emphasize that love doesn't happen overnight; it's a gradual process. Therefore, I apologize, but—to quote Captain Barbossa from Pirates of the Caribbean—"I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request."

However, if you really are antsy and want to see some beautiful Spitfire lovin', I suggest you check out Satellites on Parade, Black Licorice Addict, and Cloaks and Daggers. They're amazing writers with the best Spitfire stories.

By the way, I'm currently working on a few collaboration-fics with Satellites and BLA. Our joint account is YJ Spitfire Collabs, so keep an eye out!

Satellites is also my 2nd beta now, so please go give her lots of lovin-LOTS AND LOTS OF LOVIN.

Anyway, as always, thanks for reading! And thanks for reviewing!