I don't own Young Justice
Wally was running, nothing new right?
Running through the tower trying to find Artemis, no one would be surprised.
Trying to find Artemis because she'd just failed a mission, that's very rare.
Wally didn't know if he wanted to yell at Artemis, or pull her into a hug and try to find out what was bothering her so much. It would surprise no one, but Wally would sooner admit he was wrong about magic than share his feelings for the Leagues beautiful archer with the rest of the team.
It had all started when she and Roy had gone on a joint mission to stop Cheshire assassinating a UN official and arrest the infamous criminal. At a critical point Artemis had run after Cheshire without giving Roy her location or status, which caused Roy to be ambushed by numerous League of Shadows minions that had left him badly injured. In the end, Cheshire had been able to hospitalise her target (who was now under the protection of the League around the clock), and Artemis had offered no explanation for her actions other than"I couldn't afford to wait".
Rob (who had been wearing casual clothes with sun glasses when not on a mission lately) had simply sighed, told Artemis she was being removed from the active duty roster until further notice and sent her on her way. Wally would have tried to pester Rob for information, but he had tried that tactic before and had been told, in no uncertain terms, that he would not divulge anyone's private information.
Even Zatanna (who Wally suspected had been making magical ninja babies with Rob) gave their leader a questioning look. Wally had accepted that Rob was a Bat (and apparently Zatanna wasn't) even without the outfit.
That turn of events had lead Wally to search the Watchtower room by room. It would have been easier if he could just ask the tower's computer to locate Artemis, but being removed from duty meant that she could only be located in an emergency. As Wally searched he felt his frustration with her rise. They'd grown closer and closer, spending time outside of missions together, consoling each other when things went wrong, and increased physical contact. When she had injured her ankle for example, he'd carried Artemis to the League's meeting (only setting her down before the entrance to the hall at her insistence), her hand lingering on his as they parted. Yet for all that she would never trust him with personal information, and it was starting to drive Wally mad.
Out of the corner of his eye, a glimpse of green and blonde, and the fastest man alive was there in an instant, but no sign of Artemis. Again, a glimpse, but nothing there. And so it went on until Wally snapped.
"Artemis I just to talk" yelled Wally to the empty space.
"Don't you trust me, even after everything we've been through" this time his voice held irritation long held in check.
"What do I have to do Artemis, swear myself to secrecy, punch someone in the face"? Now that he'd opened the flood gates, Wally couldn't get his temper back under control.
"TELL ME DAM IT, AT LEAST SHOW YOURSELF" Wally yells to a still empty section of the Watchtower.
Wally's anger, a moment ago an inferno, changed into a smouldering solid mass in his chest, his next words spat out with all the quiet furry of a slowly expanding firestorm.
"Fine, have your secrets; just don't expect me to keep running after you if you're just going to slam the door in my face"!
Then Wally added something he hadn't planned, in a voice more sad than angry.
"I care about you Artemis, but I can't do this. I can't be there for you if you won't let me."
With that Wally slowly (for him) stalked through the Watchtower towards...well he didn't know. He came across M'gann and Conner, but quickly changed direction to avoid talking to the Justices League's resident golden couple. For some reason M'gann had shape shifted into wear a bowtie and Wally had a brainwave, Zatanna. If anyone knew what it was like dealing with secret keeping love interest, it had to be the former boy wonder's sort-of-girlfriend.
Finding the team's sorceress supreme proved more difficult than Wally anticipated, as Zatanna was also not locatable by the Watchtower's computer. Wally sped from hallway to hallway, looking in every unlocked door, eventually ending up in the league's archives. An idea hit him like a lightning bolt; he could search for information on Artemis. If she won't tell him why she's acting up, he'll find out himself. Just as he's about to start, a voice derails his train of thought with one word "don't".
Wally looks to the archive entrance and finds M'gann watching him, her face a mix of sadness and sympathy. "Don't do what" Wally replies, trying to act like he's doing nothing special while running at full speed around a room he almost never sets foot in. "You're thinking so loudly I can hear it" M'gann replies, with a firmness Wally had only recently started to hear from his normally gentle teammate.
"If you confront her with what you find, assuming you find anything, she'll take it as an attack. The only thing you can do is wait and see if she opens up to you". Wally was torn between desperation and the knowledge that M'gann was right. Artemis, so defensive over her history and personal life, might never forgive Wally for doing this. That still left him angry and confused, feelings he proceeded to vent on his nearest target...
"What am I meant to do then M'gann; she keeps inviting me in then pushing me away. I'm not some yo-yo she can play with. Either she's willing to telling me what's making her act like this or her and I stay entirely separate, this isn't a game where we all wake up at the end and pretend nothing happened. The simulation screwed me up enough; I'm not getting put through that again because of her issues"!
A small part of Wally's mind realised that bringing up the simulation to M'gann was treading on thin ice, and that was on top of yelling at the multi-powered Martian with the son of Superman for a boyfriend. But he didn't care; Wally wanted something or someone he could push against without being completely ignored. He could deal with fighting angry teammates better than a puzzle where he only had half the pieces.
M'gann had frowned at the mention of the simulation she had unwittingly caused to go horribly wrong, but Wally held his nerve and just glared straight back at her. It occurred to Wally that he used to go out of his way to please his normally cheerful teammate, and here he was staring her down over how to deal with another woman. He knew M'gann had been relieved when Wally had stopped pursuing her; perhaps she had also anticipated this. That a transfer of affection would lead to her and Wally in conflict over how to handle Artemis, M'gann being a friend of both of them regardless of how they treated each other.
M'gann's reply wasn't angry (much to Wally's disappointment), only holding a finality of an older sister telling her little brother some hard truths. "I didn't say you had to like it, just that you have to decide whether you can accept it. Do you think I liked you flirting with me constantly when we were younger? Do you think I wanted you not to realise me and Conner where together? No, but I accepted both because we were teammates and friends. You have to decide of you want to wait for Artemis to open up to you, while accepting that she might not. You said you weren't a yo-yo, but you're the one keeping yourself on a string".
With that, she turned around and left, leaving Wally without a target. M'gann's last words echoed in his head. Wally wasn't sure how long he stood rooted to that spot, thinking over M'gann's yo-yo comment with all of his still to be released anger. Not because it was complicated, but because accepting it went against the very nature of being a speedster. Even when Wally was in denial, he was running away, then he was tried to run forwards. Now he was faced with the idea of standing still and waiting for Artemis to decide when, if ever, to reveal her secrets. At some point Wally's anger turned inwards, he'd kept running after Artemis, despite her making her boundaries clear. He still felt his frustration was justified, but Wally accepted he hadn't helped himself either.
Eventually Wally decided that even if he couldn't do anything about Artemis right now, he could fix something. Finding M'gann proved easy as she was locatable via the Watchtower's computer (3rd time's a charm). Finding her (thankfully) alone in the kitchen (he didn't fancy saying this in close proximity to Conner), with the smell of cookies coming from the oven.
"M'gann, I'm sorry, and you were right" Wally hoped that would be enough, but the seconds of silence from M'gann started to worry him. "It's ok Wally, just remember what I said. You and Artemis, your both my friends, I hope one day you'll stop hurting each other".
Just as Wally was about to ask what he had done to hurt Artemis, he remembered the first mission with Roy on the team, and his head suddenly felt light...
Wally woke up on 6th December 2010, and thought of the chess set in the cave's store room (Wally normally lost...) "Your move Artemis".