#spitfirerantdragon

here’s a snip!

When the phone rings at three in the morning, Wally seriously contemplates letting it go to voicemail. He really does. And had it not been for the fact that the ringtone blasting from his phone in the middle of the night before a big test was an endearing, ear-splitting rendition of What is Love? by Haddaway, he would have let it go.

“Hello,” Wally slurs sleepily, pressing his cell phone to his ear with far more force than necessary (that way he could almost imagine it was his pillow).

“Hey,” a unexpectedly shaky voice responds. “Sorry for calling so late.”

Wally rubs the sleep out of his eyes and asks, “Artemis, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she says, too quickly. “I just– I– I had a, um... you know what? Nevermind. It’s stupid. I– uh– I’ll tell you in the morning. Sorry. I’m really sorry. Go back to bed.”

By this time, Wally is sitting up in his bed, holding his phone to his ear with his shoulder, as his hands are too busy searching for his socks under the bed covers to hold the phone.

“Nuh-uh. It’s not nothing,” he says, snatching a sock from the edge of his bed. “What’s up?”

“I just uh– I needed to–” her voice tightens to a strained whisper, “Oh man... Can you meet me at the Cave?”

“Of course,” he says, now completely awake. “I’m on my way. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I–... I’ll just see you there.”

The line goes dead in the same moment he pulls on a wrinkled pair of pants that had been sitting on the floor for about forty-one hours.  

It’s not often that Artemis reaches out like this and that’s why he’s dressed and out the door in less than half a minute. It usually takes a few hours of coaxing to get a word out of her in the kind of state she called in, so he wonders how long she’s been grappling with herself to make the call.

It’s a lot colder in the Cave than his bed and he’s glad he had the sense of mind to throw on a sweatshirt before he left his house. Wally isn’t surprised no one is there to greet him when he comes through the Zeta Tube. It takes Artemis five minutes to get to her transport spot. It takes him less than one, when he feels like it. The wait eats at him, and he paces a short line in front of the Zeta Tubes, wringing his hands in the cuffs of his sweatshirt.

"So, I have a question. You going to go by Tigress for this or ...?" Wally's quiet murmur trails off as the elevator doors close.

"Um. Probably not." She shrugs into her jacket, adjusting it so it better hides her gear. Carrying Wally and her shopping bag down the street was one thing; a bow is another. "Think I'll just be Artemis."

He grins at her, all warm and fond. "I like that better anyway. Less of a history of dropping me on my ass. Physically, at least." 

"Don't think that means I won't." She snorts and elbows him. Her face heats when her eyes catch his, and she clears her throat and turns away, settling back against the elevator wall. She really shouldn't be doing this, evil mind-controlled League or no.

Her bow is a familiar weight, almost comforting. It's been with her a long time, the first bow she bought for herself, instead of being one her dad had handed her with minimal ceremony. It's been awhile since she used it, as crossbows tended to serve Tigress better. But back when she had bought this one, she had still thought she could prove herself to be more than a shadow. (And then had promptly wound up fighting Batman with it less than twelve hours after she had bought it, but that was besides the point.) It was only fitting that she bring this bow with her tonight.

The main difficulty lay in that she doesn't have any trick arrows, only regular arrows with sharp, barbed tips. She's going to have to be very careful with her shots. Especially if she wants to stay out of jail, let alone see Wally smile at her again in the future.

The sky is clouded over when they get back down to street level. The streets are less crowded than before, but it almost seems busier as people rush to get their business done before it finally rains. Artemis spares an exasperated glance for the cloudy sky - would it hurt Gotham to have nice weather for just one day? But the weather means that if Hawkwoman's still in the area, it'll be harder for her to get around. Small favors, Artemis supposes. Still, if it actually wound up raining then visibility would be poor if it came to a fight in Gotham. But worrying about that wouldn't help anything.

"Hey, what radio frequency are you on?" She taps her ear, in case he didn't understand she means his earpiece. "If we're going to coordinate at all, I'll need to be able to talk with you and your friends."

"Um." Wally hurriedly chews and swallows - he's been stuffing his face with the food her mom left him. He's already managed to eat over half of it. "We don't exactly use comms that much. One sec, this might take a moment." He holds up on finger as he cocks his head to one side, frowning slightly in concentration. A long, silent moment later he nods. "Okay, they agreed to let you in."

"Let me in what?" Her eyes widen and she clutches her forehead as a sharp wave of pain blooms, unfolds, and then fades inside her skull. She realizes she's grinding her teeth and makes herself relax her jaw when she hears Wally's voice.

<- a friend of mine. Everyone, this is Artemis. Superb archer and ass-kicker extraordinaire. Kind of like Red, only better.>

She whirls to Wally, who's mouth is full of food once more. There's no way he could have spoken that clearly. He winks at her. <We call it a mind-link. It lets us talk mind to mind. No chance of being overheard this way, unlike with comms. Pretty neat, huh?>

"Yeah." That explained how his friends always seemed to coordinate so well with so little words. She frowns and concentrates. <Yeah.> She repeats. From the way Wally's face lights up, she succeeded in sending that across this mind-link thing. <One of your powers?> She doubts it, but it never hurt to check.

<Miss Martian's, actually.>

A cold chill runs down her spine. Miss Martian? In her head? How long would her secrets stay secret? Some of her worry must have shown on her face because Wally's hand grabs hers and squeezes briefly before letting go. "Don't worry. Miss Martian doesn't pry. And only the thoughts you mean to send over the link will go through."

"You're sure?" Artemis tries to calm herself, remind herself that Wally's known her identity for months now and could have told his team anytime. Could have already told his team for that matter, except that's nothing like him.

<Yeah. Otherwise everyone would know it was really me that used up the last of the hot water last mission ... oh. Um. Ignore that one guys!>

<That was you? You let everyone blame me!> Artemis resists the urge to recoil as a new voice suddenly booms over the mind-link.

<Uh, sorry, Superboy.>

More people chime in to give Wally grief. Some it even makes her smile despite herself. She's about add to it herself when she realizes Wally's fallen behind, somehow. <Hey, let's keep moving.> She smirks when he looks up to find she's half a block away from him. <Hurry up, slowpoke.>

<Like you know where we're going.>

<Like you even know Gotham.>

<Well...> He catches up to her before she finishes exhaling. <Even if I didn't, I figure that with my speed, it'd only take, oh, three minutes to find the place.>

Artemis frowns at him. Wally couldn't know Gotham that well. She would have noticed ... wouldn't she? But he's a half-step ahead of her, and doesn't hesitate with the turns or with street crossings. He doesn't seem like he's lost, though he could be faking it. Maybe.

She's so caught up in figuring out if he is or isn't actually lost that she almost runs into him when he stops at a decrepit telephone booth. "Here we are."

"You're joking."

"Nope!" He shakes his head as he pats the rusted metal affectionately. "Genuine Justice League teleportation, Gotham style. Not that I, an up and coming future League member, let you, an oh so sinister card-carrying Shadow, ever know about this." His tone is light and playful, one finger twirling an imaginary mustache like an old black-and-white movie villain.

Artemis could argue. Or she could let the joke play out. Or maybe he wasn't joking and Batman really did travel to League headquarters through a telephone booth so old it was a wonder it wasn't in a museum.

Stranger things have happened.

"Okay. So what's the plan, then?"

<Hey Nightwing, we're here, you ready to give us all a rundown of what you've got yet?>

<KF has a point. If we're going to do this we gotta do it soon, whether or not everyone's in position.> A voice she vaguely recognizes as Rocket's chimes in.

<It won't do any good if we can't counteract whatever's been done to the Leaguers.> She doesn't know this voice, though she's pretty sure she's heard it somewhere before. She mouths 'who?' at Wally and he whispers 'Batgirl' back. Then amends with 'Oracle'. Artemis revises her hastily-made plan to strangle him into being more specific. There's no current Batgirl, just as there's no current Robin; they've all moved on to new titles and new stomping grounds. <But Zatanna and I think we've come up with something. It's dirty, and it might not work perfectly, but it'll have to do.>

<And I've got a plan to go with it, so pay attention. Here's what we're going to do.>

The plan takes all of ten seconds to explain through the mindlink. It's a disorienting whirlwind of images and words, and it takes her a few breaths after Nightwing's done 'talking' to sort it all out.

<Dude, slow it down next time.>

<Wait. Did anyone else catch that? Or did I just hallucinate our resident speedster asking to slow down? Cause I need to make note of the month, day, day of the week, hour, minute, and second. And possibly the weather.>

Wally groans aloud and Artemis grins. <Not all of us think as fast as you, Bat-boy.> A fresh voice pipes up, and Wally shrugs eloquently when she looks at him for a name. "Bumblebee, I think?"

<But we've all caught up? Anyone have any questions?>

<No, just a heightened sense of my own mortality. Is this really the best you could come up with, 'Wing?>

<Wonder Girl, until and unless we can take back the Watchtower, that's the best I got. And Rocket's right, we can't wait much longer. We'll start in five minutes, in position or not. Oracle's getting Zeta access online for us, but there's no telling how long the Zeta tubes will stay open once we have them. And, everyone? Good luck. Try not to die.>

Wally's already fiddling with something inside the phone booth before Nightwing finishes. "Surprised he didn't work in aster into that."

"Aster?"

"Ah, usually Nightwing likes to mess with words. Opposite of disaster is 'aster'. People can get overwhelmed and underwhelmed, so in between is 'whelmed'. Stuff like that. Guess this is too serious for wordplay or something."

Artemis snorts and continues working on warming up her bow. It's calming, a little; something to focus on besides the upcoming battle and near-certain injuries. She doesn't realize how focused she got on it until she feels something touch her head. Yelping, she tries to knock it away and encounters Wally's arm. "Um, sorry? You kind of just grunted at me and I thought that was a yes?"

"What're you doing?"

"Letting you use my goggles?"

"Why?" Her heart thuds heavily in her chest at his closeness. He's less than foot away, well within her personal space - how did she not notice him get this close to her? It's unsettling to think that she feels that comfortable around him, that she could forget his presence until he touched her. She thought Kaldur and her mother were the only two she could manage to relax like that around, and even then that was when things were calm.

"You don't have a mask, at least, I don't see one. I'd offer mine but it's kinda attached to rest of my suit, so I thought maybe goggles as I'd rather not make my name literal. And I did ask."

She doesn't quite snatch the offered goggles, muttering a thanks as she fits them over her head. Tightening the strap, she raises her eyebrows at him. "Okay? We ready now?"

"Yeah. I've got the portal set up so it'll let you through too - once Oracle's got it open, that is. In about a minute."

She nods. "Sorry for jumping."

"No worries." He shrugs it off with a smile.

"So if it weren't for the goggles, you'd be going as Kid Streak tonight, huh?"

It turns out he really can blush the exact same shade of red as his suit. "I do have on underthings."

"Underthings."

He covers his face with both hands, groaning into them. "I'm just going to stop talking, I'm making it worse."

She snickers. "We'll see how long that lasts."

---

There's no time to process what the Watchtower looks like. There's no time to process that she - Artemis Crock, Tigress, known Shadow and villain and general all-around not hero material - is in the Watchtower. The second she reforms into existence, she hears Wally shouting and feels something tackle her to the ground. A green light blasts through where she'd been seconds before, and that leaves her inclined to forgive him. Eventually. For now, though, she's too busy taking aim and firing from the floor to bother. It's awkward and tight and she can't get proper form and she hisses as the bowstring bites her arm through the cloth of her jacket, but it does the job. The next blast of green light isn't to maim or kill her and Wally, it's to block the arrow.

"Shit, that was close." His breath puffs warm against her cheek, and then he's gone, a red-gold blur buzzing around and distracting the Green Lantern that just tried to kill her. (Unfortunate, that; she would have liked having a moment to appreciate Wally on all fours above her, breathless and okay Artemis get it together there's a battle to fight.)

Artemis rolls to her feet and pulls her arm back and her fist connects solidly with the Lantern's face between blurs of red. Wally comes to a sudden stop beside her, eyes round in awe as the Lantern falls, out cold.

"Huh." Artemis can't decide if she's proud of herself or disappointed in the Lantern. This wasn't the one that had been so keen on catching her years ago; this guy's white, for one. For another, the Lantern she had had the dubious pleasure of 'meeting' so many years ago had actually been a challenge - he'd taken several blows before even faltering, never mind getting knocked around enough for her and Kaldur'ahm to make their escape.

That had at least had the decency of being a challenge, albeit one she never wants to repeat. Unlike whatever this disappointment qualified as. But Wally's looking at her with something like awed pride and okay. Okay. She can take that as a consolation prize and be more than happy.

They leave the Lantern near the Zeta-tube, unbound, because they don't have any rope. Wally confiscates his ring, tucking it into one of his suit compartments on his wrist, giving the energy bars stored there company. "Okay, so, pretty much like that until those anti-mind control bug things get here."

Artemis doesn't remember much about the Watchtower battle itself after that. It's mostly just punching and dodging and firing arrows and hoping she doesn't hit an artery, and Wally running them from one fight to another.

Except that Wally gets called away, his superspeed needed to deliver the neutralizer Oracle's cooked up to as many of the brainwashed Leaguers as possible. It says something about his trust in her, or about him in general, that he leaves her on her own, unsupervised, in the middle of the Watchtower. Artemis highly doubts even the most easy-going Leaguers would approve. Or even Wally's own team, so she doesn't mention it over the mind-link, though she's getting hopelessly lost.

There's too many twists and turns of hallways. No way to get a real sense of how big the place is beyond big. At one point she sees trees - trees! - at the end of one hallway, and almost goes to investigate them but then two figures pass by, one a shadow within shadows, the other red-blue, and she immediately backtracks and takes a different path. She does not want to tangle with either Superman or Batman, let alone both, if she can help it, mind control or no.

There's still the mind-link, and the echoing chatter going on within it, but it's a distraction, almost more confusing than the twisting corridors, so she ignores it. She probably shouldn't have.

Because she rounds a corner and ends up face to face with Aquaman. From the look on his face, he hasn't been neutralized, which in the normal course of things wouldn't make much difference for her, but she's out of arrows and he's spotted her and she doesn't know if she can run fast enough. <Might need some help here?> She sends through the mind-link. It bites at her pride, but there's being proud and there's ending up in the emergency room or dead.

There's no answer, and she swears as she turns to run. And again as her escape is blocked by a solid, unmoving body, one that catches her as she reels from the impact and -

"Kaldur?"

There's no time to gawk, though; a blond man dressed in greens moves behind Kaldur and there's barely a need to exchange a glance with him to agree on a plan. Half a breath later, they're back to back, facing down the two Leaguers. "Maneuver seven? It has been far too long."

"Fuck seven, space's too tight. Use five. And yeah, it has, you have some explaining to do."

"Agreed on both counts."

And with that, Artemis dodges one way, Kaldur another, and they both whirl to focus on Green Arrow. Kaldur swiftly knocks the man onto his back, and Artemis confiscates a few of his arrows. Hastily notching one, she spins around and fires it at Aquaman. It connects directly with his chest, foam expanding out and instantly hardening around the hero.

She readies another arrow and points it at Green Arrow, who Kaldur is swiftly binding with strips of the man's own costume. She makes herself breath slowly, trying to control her own hammering heart.

Wally hadn't been lying.

Kaldur glances up at her with the faintest hint of a frown on his face. "You all right?"

"Yeah, just processing that my best friend is actually alive." It comes out harsher, angrier than she meant, and she grimaces.

"Did you not get my message?"

"Yes." Artemis relaxes her bow and kneels down to take Green Arrow's entire quiver. He won't be in need of it for the rest of tonight, and there's no telling how long tonight's going to last. "But - Cheshire?"

"Cheshire suggested herself, actually."

"You didn't -"

"No, I would never be so cavalier with your identity." He sighs and stands, Green Arrow firmly bound. "It will take some time to explain right."

"There you are!"

Artemis whirls at the new voices and aims and it's only Kaldur's swift "No!" that keeps her from firing on automatic. "No," He repeats. "Garth and Tula are friends."

"Kal, that's Tempest and Aqualass." Artemis hisses. And then mentally kicks herself - no one here except Kaldur and Wally knows who she actually is. Which means that the two Atlantean heroes before her are not here to fight her. Probably.

Tempest waves hesitantly. "Are you the Artemis that Kid Flash mentioned?"

"... Yes." She glances at Kal, who's hand is pressing down on her shoulder. She rolls it to shake him off of her and lowers her bow. "Surprised me, that's all."

Aqualass brushes her red hair back and grins. "That was really something, you know? The three of us were chasing down Aquaman and got separated. And you two took him and Green Arrow out by yourselves."

Artemis shrugs the praise aside. It's small against her dad's would-be criticisms if he'd seen her performance - sloppy, poorly-timed, getting cocky there baby girl. Anyone could have done what she did.

<Kid Flash, Aquaman and Green Arrow, sparring room C.> Tempest says over the mind-link. And then, out loud: "They should make the last of the Leaguers in this section. Want to do a perimeter check?"

Kaldur nods. "I will see you back in Atlantis, then?" The pair nod in return and take one hallway.

"Atlantis?" Artemis hisses as she and Kaldur go down a different hallway. Green Arrow's quiver bounces against her back; the strap is made for a broader and taller body, and she adjusts it impatiently. "You - okay, wait. Back up. You're in the mind-link? Just when were you thinking of announcing yourself so that I wouldn't have a heart attack?"

Tempest might think these corridors clear but she also has no idea where she's going, so she keeps her voice low. She also doesn't trust that the mind-link conversations are really and truly private, whatever Wally might believe.

"Miss Martian's abilities do have limits." Kaldur murmurs back. "Atlantis is rather far from the Watchtower, and there were complications with the Zeta-portal connection. We only arrived a few moments ago."

"So we've got, what? However long this lasts until they force you back there?" Artemis's fingers clench tight on the strap of her stolen quiver. "Should make a break for it now, while -"

"No."

"No?! Did you hit your head?"

Kaldur lets loose one of those long-suffering sighs of his, the kind that says she's being intentionally difficult. Which is ridiculous, because she is not, it's Kaldur that's not making any sense. "I am not imprisoned. I am ... it is complicated."

Artemis pinches her nose. "Complicated," she repeats. That's a good word for tonight, though it doesn't begin to cover it. Too much is strange tonight, with her being able to play hero and Kaldur back, that she feels almost like she fell down a rabbit hole into Wonderland when she wasn't looking.

"Yes. This probably isn't the best place to explain."

"And when and where exactly do you think you're going to get a chance?"

"Wherever you like, once we are finished here?" Kaldur shrugs in response when she stares at him in confusion. "I do not need to return to Atlantis immediately. As I said, my situation is complicated."

"You keep saying that."

"Because it is."

And that's all they have time for, because around the corner they encounter more mind-controlled Leaguers, and the other heros - actual heros, not ones that got to pretend otherwise for a while like herself - fighting them, and it is no longer safe to be so candid.

And then Wally's back, a rushing blur that tags every Leaguer nearby, and it feels so damn natural to fight like that, with Wally at one side and Kaldur at the other.

It almost hurts, how good it feels.

And somehow, in between firing her stolen arrows and dodging and trading snarky quips, it's over and she's not ready for it to be over. She's sweating and tired and bruised, and she badly wants to lie down and sleep for forever, but once she leaves she won't have this sense of belonging to something grand, of being good enough to stand alongside Wally and not opposite.

Kaldur murmurs something about waiting for her in Gotham, and she watches him leave using the Zeta-portal. She's about to leave too, because she can not stay, not with the emergency over. This is dangerous enough, being here with Leaguers slowly waking up from mind-control as if they have hangovers. She doesn't need to be here when they're fully recovered.

But there's Wally right beside her, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. His mask is barely still covering his face, almost but not quite ripped to shreds from some encounter, hanging on by a few tenacious threads. "So, uh. Sorry about all of this kind of taking over your New Years? I know you probably had plans."

She shrugs and his goggles slip down her nose again. She still can't get them to quite fit right over her head.

"It's not quite midnight yet though. I know it's not the same as being there for the entire night, but just tell me where you want go and I'll get you there, quick as a flash."

Artemis rolls her eyes at the weak grin Wally gives her. "Baywatch -"

"I'm serious. I'll be your taxi for as long as you want tonight, as thanks and a 'sorry for taking up your entirenight'andIwantto -"

His voice gets faster and the words start to blend together like so much nonsense. She tries to get a word in edgewise but it's like trying to slow down a speeding freight train with a stick. He's not going to shut up, not without help. And it's New Years - she's never going to have a better excuse or a better time.

She knows she's going to wind up regretting tonight - there's no way the universe will let her get away with this without punishing her for it somehow - but she can, at least, have one good thing to remember.

She shoves Green Arrow's quiver into his arms so his hands will stay occupied, and then grabs his face and pulls him close.

His lips are softer than she expects.

There's blessed silence after.

"Um."

Okay, well, the silence lasted for two seconds. She can live with that.

"Happy New Years." She whispers into his ear, which is already reddening. Cute.

"Huh."

His blush spreads to all of his face, and if this were a cartoon she thinks there might even be steam rising from his head. He's warm too, his suit keeping none of his body heat in. She steps back, smirking, regaining enough distance that she can't feel his body heat anymore. That she can't pick out the different greens in his eyes, see his eyelashes flutter.

His hand catches her wrist when she steps back even further, slides down and fingers tangle with hers.

"Don't leave." He whispers. "Stay. Please."

Her heart thumps, hard, and she swallows against a sudden lump in her throat. There it was, the reason that she shouldn't have done that, the reason why she should have just gone ahead and left already.

"You know why I can't. Don't make this harder for me, Wally."

"Artemis -"

"I'll see you at school, okay?" She pulls her hand out from his and steps into the teleporter.

She doesn't think she can get used to this teleportation technology the League has. It's disorienting, to have her surroundings change so abruptly.  To know she just traveled such a huge distance in that tiny second between heart beats. It definitely explains how the League gets around so quickly though.

The decrepit telephone booth is much the same as before, except for the figure waiting outside of it. "Kaldur." She steps forward, arms outstretched, and she's not disappointed when he pulls her into a crushing hug. "Don't you ever do that to me again."

"I am sorry."

"As you should be." She growls without any heat. She leans against him, letting him take her body weight, relaxing for the first time in what feels like forever.

"Are these not Kid Flash's?" She feels a hand gingerly poke at the goggles still on her head. "Did something develop there, Artemis?"

She feels her cheeks begin to warm and clears her throat. "Not really." She pulls back and tugs them off. "It was just a quick disguise so no one could get too good a look at my face." She takes a long look at them before reluctantly leaving them in the telephone booth. Doubtless there's some tracker planted in them; she's already taken too many risks tonight with her identity, she doesn't need to lead the League straight to her mom's doorstep too.

She tucks her arm into Kaldur's elbow and leads him away from the alleyway they're in. There's a hint of a fine mist in the air but aside from growling thunder, that's it. At least until they reach her mom's apartment building, and then the sky finally releases its downpour. "Not freezing to death this time," Artemis mutters to the weather as she ducks inside, to Kaldur'ahm's amusement.

For the second time that night, she takes the elevator upward. "Okay, so, I want to hear just why it's complicated. And why you had to use Jade to send a 'hi Artemis, congratulations, you didn't actually kill me' card."

"May I remind you that shooting me was part of the plan?"

"And can I remind you that I wasn't sure it would even work?"

"But it did. You should have more confidence in your abilities."

"I wasn't uncertain of my marksmanship skills, Kal, it was that we couldn't do any test runs. If I messed up, if I hadn't stepped down the power on my crossbow enough..." She sighs. Arguing had been the last thing on her mind, and yet here they were. "You're like family to me, you know that, right? I can't lose you. Not like that."

Kaldur's hand rests gently on her shoulder for a moment, squeezing. "The same goes for you."

Artemis smiles up at him and ushers him into her mom's apartment. "Artemis?" Her mom's voice floats in from the living room. Artemis goes to her immediately, bending down for a hug.

"I'm all right. Just bruised and tired." She murmurs, trying to soothe any worries. "Do you remember Kaldur?"

He's standing in the doorway of the living room, a hint of unease about him, as if he's not sure he should be here. Her mother nods and gestures for Kaldur to come join them. "How could I forget?" Artemis shakes her head at the look her mom gives her, silently asking about Wally. "You're always welcome here, Kaldur'ahm. Sorry for not being more prepared, I wasn't expecting anyone back home tonight."

Artemis hears what goes unsaid - I was not sure if anyone would even come back - and squeezes her mom's hands lightly. "The League's back on its feet. Or thereabouts, anyway."

"Ah?" Her mom looks at her sharply. "You will have to tell me about it."

Artemis lets Kaldur tell it - he's much better at telling stories, and she would just focus far too much on Wally. And that kiss, and his holding her hand, and how he'd looked at her and - and she should get some drinks or something for the three of them.

She doesn't remember nodding off, but she must have, because she's briefly aware of Kaldur half-carrying her to her bed. And then a blissful warm nothing.

It doesn't stay nothing, though, and she wakes with a jolt to a bright light. She rolls out of bed, heart racing with panic, and races for the door. It opens onto a brightly lit hallway, and she sprints down it. She needs to get out, out, out, and her shoes squeak on the tile. She's almost there, almost through those double doors with their promise of safety and freedom, when a green blast knocks her flat on her back. A shout - "Go! You have to go!" - and sounds of a struggle reach her as she regains her feet. Looking for the source, she finds Kaldur tangled in light from a Green Lantern. Trap. Her mind whispers to her as the Lantern straightens and strides confidently to her. It was a trap.

She backs up, frantically grasping for a weapon, anything. Her fingers find her bow; her quiver. She aims and fires and the explosion knocks her backward.

She wakes with a jolt, to darkness and still, heavy air. Sweat drenches her clothes, and her body is stiff and slow to respond as she thumps out of bed and changes into fresh clothes. Slowly, she makes her way out the living room and slides into a tailor's seat at the edge of the couch. "Couldn't sleep?" Kaldur's voice is soft in the air.

"No." It's a little cooler out here, for whatever reason. Always is, winter or summer. "Dreamed about that time we tried to rescue my dad. Only you got caught instead."

In reality, she had been the one caught in the trap. She hadn't been thinking, only focused on getting her dad out of the hospital. She hadn't thought about how the hallways had been oddly empty, or that the clues to where he was supposedly being held in the hospital were glaringly obvious. Hadn’t thought to check if he was actually in that civilian hospital (he hadn’t been) instead of being taken straight to Belle Rev. No, she'd rushed in and gotten caught and it had only been because Kaldur had insisted on backing her up that she had been able to escape.

That had been that Lantern's one mistake, that and not having backup for himself. If she ever has to face him again - and she hopes she doesn't, not without having time to prepare, at least - he won't be making those mistakes again.

She can hear Kaldur shift to sit up on the couch. "You okay?" She reaches, and his hand catches hers and squeezes.

"Mm." She is and she's not and she doesn't really want to talk about that. "You never explained, why it was complicated?"

She waits while Kaldur arranges his thoughts. "After we faked my death, the heroes present at that battle took me into custody. I spent a few days at the Watchtower being interrogated by various Leaguers. I suppose one of them must have believed me, because Aquaman came to talk to me as well."

"And?" Artemis prompts.

"And. He asked if I would be willing to go to Atlantis."

"So he could pick your brain."

"So he could pick my brain, yes." He's quiet for a few long minutes. "He told me, that unless I chose to tell someone, no one would know about me or my history. I would simply be the child of an Atlantean that had moved to the surface and never told me about my heritage til now."

Artemis snorts, and Kaldur's hand squeezes hers lightly. "I thought it was a joke too. Or a way to test if I was that gullible."

"Maybe when you were, like, five." That gets a chuckle.

"I was introduced to Garth and Tula - that is, Tempest and Aqualass. For a long time, I believed them assigned to secretly guard me. That they were a way to watch me for any signs of a double-cross. And yet, when I finally dared mention missing the surface, about missing friends there... they helped me travel from Atlantis. Let me go into the city, alone, to find Roy and try to convince him to send you a message. Which is how Cheshire volunteered herself."

"Why would your Roy know my sister?"

"He has a child. With Chesire."

"That's not funny." Artemis responds automatically, though she knows Kaldur doesn't joke like that. "For real?"

"Yes. Apparently they ... swap being caregivers?"

"Shared custody?"

"I do not know your terms for it. But she said she'd deliver the message herself. I assume she recognized your alias as Tigress."

"Huh." Artemis tries to fit in the idea of being an aunt into her life. She cannot see her sister putting her work as a Shadow on hold to have a child, let alone raise one. And yet, apparently she had. And has yet to make any mention of it. "You okay with that?"

"It is not something I can change?" She can't see Kaldur raise his eyebrows, but she knows he is from the tone of his voice.

"No, I mean, you still have feelings for Roy, right? But if he's still seeing Cheshire, that makes things... more complicated?"

Kaldur is quiet for a long moment. "I... I do not know. At least, it has not changed any of my feelings for him? But I don't know how Roy feels. He did say he's not involved with Cheshire, at least, not beyond making sure Lian gets time with her mom."

"But not with her aunt." The words are more sour than Artemis meant for them to be.

Kaldur snorts. "I don't believe he knows Cheshire has a sister. And I didn't think it my place to tell him. Was I wrong?" Artemis shakes her head.

"No, no. Just, it doesn't feel quite real, you know? So - Cheshire volunteered herself, and then what? You went back? Obviously you weren't running around on the surface cause otherwise I'm going to be super mad you didn't come say 'hello' in person."

"I went back to Atlantis, yes. My father had yet to make his move, and I wanted to help stop it. I would not have been able to do that on the surface. After his attack - it was stopped, completely, and he was imprisoned. After that. Tula and Garth continued to treat me as if they believed my false history. So I told them, about Black Manta and how I was raised. They were... genuinely surprised. And -"

He pauses, and Artemis nudges him when the silence grows too long. "And?"

"They took me to meet my mother."

"I - pardon?"

She twists to look at Kaldur, who's staring at the floor, arms tightly crossed over his chest. "My father lied." The air conditioning kicks on, humming to life as Kaldur inhales shakily. "She's been in Atlantis all these years. Father knew. And he would have -" His voice cracks and he turns his head away from her, as if to hide. Artemis understands that. She doesn't like people seeing her emotional and vulnerable either.

"Hey." Artemis clambers up onto the couch, sitting beside him and pulling him into her arms. He's shaking, and after a second's hesitation curls up against her, burying his head against her shoulder. "Hey," she repeats, rubbing his back slowly. It's several minutes before he calms enough to pull away and just lean against her.

"That's why I'm going back." He says after a moment. "I'll try to be better about staying in touch. I don't know how often that will be, though."

Artemis hums and tucks her legs up under her, yawning. She's comfortably warm rather than sweating, and her family (minus Jade, and her niece, gods above) is here and she's safe. Somehow she dozes off again.

In the morning, Kal leaves, and Artemis makes herself not follow him like some overprotective hen. Now that she's seen him in person and knows he's not captured or dead, she can relax. At least until she returns to Stanford and has to deal with the consequences of New Years.

And okay, if she's being honest, she's a little nervous at the prospect of seeing Wally again. But, well. There's the question of if she wants to.

She's known him long enough to know that he hasn't done ... this. Wally's not the sort to think like this - as smart as he is, he's also very direct about everything. Deceit and sneaking about and spying, those are far more likely to come from far less 'flashy'. Like a Bat.

They did a good job of hiding the bugs. She wouldn't have caught the first one if not for the chance of light hitting it just right, and her being a suspicious, distrusting, paranoid sort of person that couldn't wave off the dark blip as a bit of dust.

Someone's watching her, watching Artemis, when they hadn't before.

It'd scare her, maybe, if not for having accepted this as a possible outcome the second she decided to go with Wally to the Watchtower. But that she's only being bugged is odd - if the League knew for sure she was Tigress, they ought to have knocked down her apartment door and dragged her to Belle Rev by now.

Or maybe they know and they're just waiting for her to damn herself irrevocably.

---

It's two months before she encounters Wally, and even then that's completely by chance. Between classes and homework and studying, as well as actually TA'ing this semester, she's barely had time to eat and sleep, let alone actually seek him out.

But he's there, with his usual mess of red hair, about to eat lunch at one of the outside food courts, and she has time for fucking once. So before he can sit, she grabs his wrist and drags him off to talk in private. He yelps when she first grabs him, but then he recognizes her and it's not so much dragging him as leading him away.

"Artemis, hey! That was kind of my lunch back there can at least I go back and grab -"

"I need to talk to you." She stops them in a tight cramped walkway between two buildings that people don't use often because it doesn't go anywhere. Turning to glare at their shadow, she adds, "Privately."

"Outside isn't really all that private?" The young man - Dick, if she remembers rightly - folds his arms and raises an eyebrow at her. "And maybe I'm not exactly whelmed about you just dragging my best friend away like that."

Wally rubs the back of his neck. "Listen, Dick, if Artemis says it's private, then maybe you should, I don't know, go and guard our food?"

She can see Dick about to argue. Rolling her eyes, she lets her backpack fall off her shoulder and opens the top flap. She pulls off a button - the one that someone replaced when she wasn't looking - and thrusts it into Wally's hand, closing his fingers around it.

"Um?" Wally looks at his hand, at her, and back at his hand.

"I'm being bugged." She mutters. Dick's right, outside isn't private, but it's not like she's had opportunities to talk to Wally before now. This might the only chance she gets for a long while. "You should check your shit too, just in case."

She walks off then, leaving them there, deliberately not reacting to how Dick had tensed considerably though he'd hidden it well. Dick was in on it, she was certain of that now. Could he be the one who had put the bugs in place? Certainly, if he chose to, he would have no trouble charming his way into places he shouldn't be, not with his looks. And that was without considering the money he doubtlessly had.

She doesn't remember anything from the rest of her classes that day, she's too caught up on if Dick is or isn't one of the Bats. (She thinks so, but she can’t place exactly why.) Enough so that Wally actually manages to startle her by waiting for her in plain sight by her apartment door.

"Hey." He's worrying something in his hand - ah, the bug she handed him earlier. "I got in touch with Nightwing. Asked him about this."

"That was quick."

"Well, it's important, right?" He glances at her, then back down. "Anyway, Nightwing's going to look into it. It's not him, if that helps any."

She snorts. "Let me guess - Nightwing told you that."

"I believe him."

"Baywatch -"

"I know, I know, but - you weren't there, for the shitfit - excuse me, lecture - Batman threw, after that whole mind control thing." Artemis blinks at how tired Wally looks for a second. "I mean, we obviously had a mole or someone who infiltrated the League, and here I was bringing in an unknown civilian - well. He and some of the Leaguers were more than a bit put out over that. I thought I had convinced him, with Nightwing's help, that you had nothing to do with that, but I guess he decided to just let us think we had changed his mind. Sorry."

"Oh." Her frustration with him oozes out of her, and then the implications of what he said sinks in. "Wait, you argued with Batman? For me? Wally, no, you can't do that."

"I'm pretty sure I already did."

"That's not - You want to be a League member, right? How are you going to do that by pissing off Batman?"

"Dunno." Wally's eyes meet hers. "But you're worth the risk." Artemis swallows, feeling her face heat as he doesn't look away. "Sorry about missing Valentine's Day, by the way. Had every test in the universe that week. And, uh, wasn't sure if I was assuming more than you meant?"

Artemis bites her lip. "I ... don't know, Baywatch." Because as much as she wants him, wants to not have to hide how much she likes him, she's still a Shadow and when all's said and done she highly doubts there's any way he's not going to end up with the League, arguing with Batman or no.

"Okay. That's fair enough." He exhales heavily. "Not like grad school leaves much time for that sort of stuff."

It's an out, and she should take it. Should take it and run and forget how his lips felt against hers. Forget him, and his freckles, and the way he laughs at her jokes, and how he pays attention to her, and how he argued with Batman for her and -

His mouth is as soft as before. After a few endless seconds, his hands gently wrap around her elbows. His eyes are closed when she eventually pulls away, as if he's busy memorizing every detail of that kiss. As if by not looking, the world will stop and they could stay like that.

"Wally." His eyes flutter open and she could lose herself in how green they are. "I don't know if this - us - is going to work. If it can work."

"I want to try." He's blushing, not as deep a red as she knows he's capable of, but it's there in his ears and his cheeks. "Can't we try?"

"I'm a Shadow." She whispers, as if he's somehow forgotten.

His fingers tighten on her arms and then relax. "You said you wanted to make some changes, right? If - if that's so big that we can't work, why can't that change too?"

"It's not that simple." How to make him understand? (Once, she wouldn't have tried to explain. Once, she would've thought changing sides as simple a thing as he obviously does.) "It's not like changing shoes, Wally. It's like. Shit, I don't know. It's blood and it's people and I've tried before, Wally, I did and it didn't change one damn thing and you -" She's going to cry if she keeps on. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she takes a steadying breath. "You make me want things I know I can't have."

"Artemis -"

"I'm trying, okay? But it's not like that's going to change my past. That should be evidence enough." She points at the bug that he's dropped at their feet. "You really want to argue with your allies over things like that every other week? Because it's not like your opinion mattered to them this time - you're the emotionally compromised one."

"Artemis, liking you is not a conflict! Or a weakness!" He runs his hands through his hair in frustration. "I just don't see why they get to decide for you. Should be just up to you."

"That would be nice, wouldn't it?" She smiles lopsidedly. That he genuinely believes things like that is sweet of him. "You should go." She slips into her apartment and shuts the door behind her before he can argue. Leaning against the door, she waits until she can hear the sound of his footsteps as he leaves. Only then does she let herself slide down to the floor and wrap her arms around her knees.

(under a cut because it’s kind of long?)