Enigma

From day one, Artemis had pegged Wally West, Kid Flash and airhead extraordinaire, as, well, an airhead. For all intents and purposes, she figured he was NOT the right man for the job of stalling for the team's lives via banter with the Riddler.

Artemis quickly evaluated the compromising situation the team had been thrust in. They had been captured; ambushed by no less than thirty of Riddler's thugs. Evidently, Nygma had been consorting with the Kobra cult and had ordered mass shipments of the Venom neurotoxin that had been salvaged from the factory raid that Young Justice had performed in its fresher days. This had been the impetus of the mission; they were to investigate the suspected establishment of a Venom factory on a small island off the coast of the Cabo San Lucas bay in Chile. Little did they know that Riddler was the buyer, and he had taken the liberty of requesting a small portion of the toxicant in advance. Young Justice was strong, but they simply lacked the man power to resist a crowd of merciless, steroid-jacked gunmen.

Again, the green clad archer surveyed their predicament. Robin and Miss Martian had escaped during the scuffle, but the rest of the team had been shackled to the ceiling of a dim, damp room that presumably resided at the heart of Kobra's manufacturing facility, as there were no visible windows. A single overhead lamp creaked ominously, swaying back and forth and cutting through the darkness. The flickering yellow light was a pain for her eyes, but at least it bathed them with enough luminescence for her to observe her friends.

Artemis herself had sustained little in terms of injury. Several minor contusions and shallow lacerations marred her arms and legs, but she reasoned this as nothing too serious. Aqualad was the worst off. Having been knocked out during the fight while shielding Miss Martian from a particularly brutal hit, he hung limp and bloody from his chains on the far side of the room. Next to him was Superboy. He, of course, seemed to be physically perfect, due to his bullet-proof skin. However, she could not say the same for his mind. He simply stood, arms suspended, gazing straight at the hardwood door, the only blemish on near seamless walls. She did not know what kept him from ripping apart the chains that bound them, busting down the wall, and leap-frogging on home to Mount Justice to warn Red Tornado, for Batman would certainly not have assigned them this mission had he know the buyer was the Riddler. Though, she dared not ask Superboy why, for fear of any kind of surveillance of which she was not aware. Kid Flash, hanging from the shackles closest to her, seemed to be taking captivity the best.

"Well, this sucks. Ya know, this is one of those times where I really wish I could pull of the vibrating through solid material thing," Kid stated with an exasperated sigh.

Artemis couldn't help but roll her eyes at his nonchalance, despite herself.

"That would certainly help us out. Though, that's against your policy, isn't it? To be helpful?"

Wally's eyes narrowed as he turned to face her for the first time since their capture, and she gasped. The whole right side of his face was drenched in more blood than she thought she'd lost in her whole lifetime. Even still, red flowed freely from a deep cut running from his cheekbone to the corner of his mouth, having even cut part of the black fabric of his mask.

"Hey, can you vibrate so fast that you can destabilize your own molecules, reconfigure them fast enough that you don't burst into dust, and concentrate on your powers while you feel like you're the world's most powerful jackhammer? I didn't think so."

But Artemis wasn't listening.

"Wally, you've lost so much blood!"

Hurriedly, Wally shushed her and whispered, "I'm Kid Flash on missions, remember? You're gonna blow my I.D.!" Returning to normal tone, he said, "Besides, I'm fine. My powers accelerate cell reproduction when needed. My body's replacing the blood just as fast as I'm losing it, and the cut will heal soon anyway. I'm just worried it'll leave a scar..."

He attempted looking down at the wound, and his comical expression tuned her worry into indignation.

"We've been captured by one of the most deranged madmen to ever plague Batman himself, and you're complaining about that?"

Wally was about to retort when Superboy's head jerked toward the pair.

"Someone's coming in."

Sure enough, the handle to the hardwood door turned, and in stepped a thin man carrying a question mark shaped cane, adorned with a green tuxedo suit and bowler hat, both emblazoned with tiny purple question marks. Riddler was accompanied by two, presumably, Venom enhanced thugs. One was carrying a chair. Behind them was Kobra who stood at least a foot over Nygma, yet looked no more menacing.

The Riddler looked directly at Artemis thought his purple mask, and she involuntarily shuddered.

"No, not deranged, my dear. Simply enigmatic."

She could almost roll her eyes at his disclaim of insanity, but Riddler let out a laugh so bone chilling it made her skin crawl. Moving out of the doorframe, Riddler allowed the henchman carrying the chair to set it down facing the four captive teens. Then, they were dismissed by a wave of Kobra's hand, who finally decided to speak up, his words laced with sinister apathy.

"I trust you will take it upon yourself to help our guests feel a bit more, ah… cozy."

With a final glare at the team, Kobra left the room.

Still grinning maniacally, Riddler took a seat in the chair. Crossing his legs, he placed his cane before him, and Artemis almost gasped when it did not fall. Placing his hat on the cane, Riddler said, "How about we play a game. Do you kids like games?"

The room was silent, so Riddler posed another question.

"Well do you enjoy riddles? I certainly do."

Again, no one answered, but if possible, Riddler's enthusiasm grew with every passing second.

"Let's play a game," he said, his grin widening. "I like riddles, you like riddles, we all like riddles, so let's play with riddles. I ask, you answer. It's as simple as that." Suddenly, he leapt from his chair and rushed over to Superboy, who, surprisingly, did not react. Nygma put his mouth close to Superboy's ear and his hand to shield his own lips, as if they were sharing a secret, but he whispered loud enough for both Kid Flash and Artemis to hear.

"I'll even consider letting you go if you impress me."

Riddler cackled and happily pranced back to his seat. Leaning on the right arm rest, he put on a mockingly serious face.

"But you ought to know that I don't like ignorant people. If you get one wrong…" Nygma paused, picking up his cane and performing a pretend baseball warm up, "I may have to take disciplinary measures," he finished, following through on his swing, his hat hitting Wally in the face. Nigma sat again, smiling once more at the group.

"So, whadda ya say?"

For a minute, the room was silent. Then, when Artemis was about to announce her defiance, Wally spoke up.

"Fine, we'll play your game."

Artemis looked incredulously at Wally, and was about to berate his compliance, when he shot her a look that she had never seen on his face before, but she understood immediately as, "Do not argue with me."

Riddler positively beamed at the four teens and squealed, "Excellent, let's get started! I'll start off simple for the sake of your feeble minds. Tell me this: How does one keep a rooster from cawing on a Sunday morn?"

Artemis had heard this one before. The answer was to simply kill the rooster Saturday evening. However, before she could answer, Wally spoke up.

"You let it be; roosters don't caw, they crow."

Riddler let out a laugh and caught his cane up. Artemis was sure he was about to hit Wally with it, but he spread his arms wide and announced, "Very true, boy. Now, riddle me this: My singing is renowned, and yet I have no mouth to speak of. Who am I?"

Artemis wracked her thoughts. Obviously he was not referring to a conventional singer. But Wally spoke up once again, wearing one of the shit-eating grins he usually reserved for her.

"You really shouldn't use those two in succession, Nygma. You're losing your touch. The answer's a bird."

The Riddler, who she assumed should have been insulted, looked overjoyed.

"Finally someone with an apt mind! Very well, Kid Flash. Riddle me this: Two bodies have I, though both joined in one. The more I stand still, the quicker I run. What am I?"

For a moment, there was silence. Artemis figured Kid was stumped, and she couldn't blame him; this one stumped her as well. However, after another few silent seconds, Wally said, "An hourglass."

Riddler smiled almost gently at Wally, and for a moment, Artemis thought he had answered incorrectly, but he said, "I would have offered sandglass, but no matter. On to the next riddle, my challenging one man foe. What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?"

This struck a nerve in Artemis. She was plenty intelligent, and calling Wally his "one man foe" implied her insignificance. However, she knew the answer to this riddle.

"Mankind," she blurted, and Wally's head snapped to look at her. "We crawl on four legs in the morning, as babies, walk on two legs in the afternoon, as we mature, and two legs and a cane in the evening, when we grow old."

Nygma stared at her for a long while before saying, "I'm sorry, my dear, but you are incorrect."

Artemis's eyes widened as Nygma wound up his cane, but Wally suddenly yelled, "Wait, wait! I know the answer!"

Riddler looked at his cane with slight disappointment before lowering it and saying, "Very well, son. What's your answer?"

Wally grimaced slightly, a hard look in his eyes, but he muttered, "It's a baby, you sick bastard."

Riddler's eyes gleamed with approval, despite Wally's slight.

"Oh wonderful, someone who thinks like me! Would you care to explain to the class why that is?"

Wally's jaw tensed at the comparison, but he said, "Riddler meant the times of day literally. The baby would crawl on four legs in the morning, then, in the afternoon, he would…"

Kid seemed to choke on his words a bit, but Nygma said happily, "Oh, go on boy!"

Wally took a deep breath and said, "In the afternoon he would cut off its arms, so it'd walk on two. Then, in the evening, he'd sew one back on so it'd have three."

Artemis could feel the bile rising up in her throat, and Wally sent her an apologetic look while Riddler cackled vilely in his chair. Even Superboy, who had remained silent and stoic during the whole game, seemed to turn a respectable shade of green. Artemis glared at Nygma with loathing.

"That's disgusting."

Riddler wiped his eyes of tears and said, "Yes, I suppose it would get rather messy. But that's trivial; let us return to the game. Tell me, Young Justice…"

The riddles continued like this for so long that Artemis experienced what she was convinced was pseudo-desynchronosis, though she had never heard of jet lag brought on by a lack of sunlight. Swallowing her pride, Artemis allowed Wally to take the lead; he seemed rather adept at figuring out the riddles, and the Riddler seemed to revel in his company anyway. The green clad manic even seemed reproachful to cane Kid when he missed the few that he did; thought, he did not heed Artemis's screams of mercy, and she was forced to watch helplessly as Wally was beaten senseless. However, afterward, Nygma would sit right back in his seat and Wally would look at him with half lidded eyes and a bloodied grin and the game would continue.

This passed for what Artemis reasoned to be three more hours without much incident, but after Kid Flash's third beating, Superboy finally spoke up.

"Quiz me, Mr. Riddler," he said with mock elation and an even more mocking grin. Nygma seemed to consider him for a moment; a moment in which Kid Flash shook his head lightly, before the villain broke out into laughter.

"Oho, muscles over here wants his shot? Very well. Riddle me this, pretty boy: I am the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space, the beginning and the end of every human race. What am I?"

Artemis sighed in relief. This riddle was easy; she had heard it a thousand times. The riddle was not referring to the meaning of each word, but rather the spelling. Each line of the riddle referred to the 'e' of their respective concepts, so the answer was the letter 'E' itself.

However, Superboy grinned wider, leaned closer to Nygma, and said, "Bite me."

Riddler's face immediately purpled, and he raised his cane, bringing it down hard on the kryptonian's shoulder .

Only to have it snap in half.

"My cane!"

Suddenly, the door was blasted open, and in flew Robin, knocking a very surprised Nygma out with a taser plucked from his utility belt.

"It's about time Rob," Wally exclaimed with a wide smile. "Where's M.M.?"

"Here," said the disembodied voice of Miss Martian, who materialized floating next to Superboy seconds later. Robin rushed over to Kid and started picking the lock on the shackles.

"Man, you really took a beating. What's up with Kaldur?"

Kid Flash staggered a little after being released from his bonds and Robin supported him with his shoulder. The pair then limped over to Artemis.

"K.O.'d by a Venom during the fight. He's breathing though." The pair glanced back to see Conner, who had broken free of his own shackles easily, freeing Aqualad and slumping him over his shoulder. They turned back to Artemis and Robin started picking her shackles as well. "How you holdin' up, Blondie?" Kid asked, flashing her a grin, though the effect was ruined by the blood.

Artemis rubbed her arms, sore from keeping them suspended for such a time, and asked, "How'd you guys know where we were?"

Miss Martian winced and looked at Artemis apologetically.

"Well, I kinda kept us in telepathic contact the whole time. Except, you know, Kaldur and, well, you…"

Robin nodded as he studied what appeared to be schematics to the factory on his holographic wrist computer.

"K.F. helped me come up with these from memory, and he and Superboy helped us come up with a plan."

Artemis processed this, and suddenly, she felt a wave of anger rise up in her.

"And why was I not informed of this," she asked indignantly.

Again, M'gann sent her a rueful glance, and Wally chuckled, saying, "'Cause you suck at acting, and we needed you to play the part. Ya know, damsel kinda suits you, Princess."

Artemis was about to hit him with a scathing rebuttal when she caught sight of his still bruised and bloody body. She hesitated, her indignation lost in the moment.

"Got it," Robin declared, breaking the silence that had filled the room. "Follow me; I've mapped out the best escape route. We can get out through the service tunnel two hallways northwest. Miss M., prep the bioship to meet as at the rendezvous."

Twelve hours had passed since the team's return Mount Justice. Wally had been treated for a concussion and several broken ribs; though, Black Canary informed them that, due to his mending abilities, he would be running around like usual in no time. Kaldur had been revived and rehydrated, and Artemis was treated for whatever minor injuries she had received.

After treatment, the team was sent to the commons room, where Batman had told them that they should have called the Justice League once they realized that Riddler was the buyer, and that they were reckless and stubborn, but good job anyway. As a reward, Batman had provided the team with a weekend off from their heroic duties; though, Artemis suspected this was solely because Wally was injured.

After the meeting, the team dispersed; Kaldur to inform Aquaman of the mission, Megan to bake what she had termed "comfort cookies", and Superboy to the television room.

Eventually, Robin got up from his seat and asked with a smirk, "Wanna go play my new Batman game, K.F.?"

Wally smiled at him, fiddling with the green blower he had collected as a souvenir, and said, "I'll be there in a minute, Rob."

The Boy Wonder stared at Wally for a brief moment, pondering the boy, then shrugged and left for the game room.

Which left Artemis and Wally alone.

For a minute, Artemis sat, watching intently as Wally tested his motor functions. He stood, stretching experimentally, and, deciding he was healed enough, he unwrapped the gauze bandages surrounding his torso and shoulder. In mid stretch, Wally caught her eye and raised a red brow.

"You alright, Blondie?"

Artemis straightened in her seat, shocked to find herself staring, and Wally smirked.

"Were you… checking me out," he asked, intentionally posing and flexing with mock discretion.

Artemis flushed, glad she had neglected to remove her mask in the pandemonium of the post-mission requisites, and bit back, "Yeah, I'm checking out how scrawny and obnoxious you are."

She expected some smartass retort, but Wally's smile just grew.

"You so were checking me out," he exclaimed, and her blush grew.

"Shut up, Wally. Jeez, you're so annoying!"

Artemis threw her hands up in frustration and made to leave the room, determined to hide her embarrassment, but he caught her hand. She spun to yell at him, but when she saw his grave expression, she stopped.

"You're okay, right?"

If not for the sincerity and concern radiating from his eyes, she would have been angry at such a question. She didn't need a baby sitter.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, Wally."

"Good."

They stood in awkward silence from a moment, him still absently holding her hand, a fact she was acutely aware of. Finally, she asked, "Hey, Wally?"

"Hm?" At last, he seemed to notice their hands, and he quickly dropped hers.

"How did you do that? Ya know, with the Riddler. How did you figure all of 'em out so quickly?"

"Well, not all of em," Wally said, gesturing to his wounds with an abashed grin. "But, uh, my powers kinda accelerate my brain activity. Riddles are challenging to the human mind because our thinking is limited. With my powers, I can span a greater range of thoughts, or in this case, possible answers, faster."

Artemis couldn't believe that Wally could just stand there and state he had super-enhanced intelligence like it was the color of the sky. She had never really taken him for a smart one; she knew he knew physics and chemistry to some elevated degree, but his ridiculous antics more than drowned out his intelligent side, and she would not have thought that his left brained capacity spanned more than complex science.

Just as Artemis opened her mouth to reply, the intercom rang out in Robin's voice.

"K.F., get up here! I need you to play Robin so we can take down Freeze's terminals at the same time."

Wally smiled apologetically at Artemis and said, "Sorry, duty calls."

However, just as Wally was about to hobble down the hall, Artemis experienced an odd sensation; one that had only occurred once before in the presence of Wally, yet she hadn't known what to call it at the time. It was the urge to thank him.

"Wally!"

She called after him, racing down the hallway. He turned just as she caught up to him, and his eyes widened when she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Thanks," Artemis whispered, and when she pulled away she felt thoroughly enthused by his dumbstruck expression.

While he scrambled for something to say, Artemis reveled in the pride that she had left Kid Mouth speechless with a kiss, and she turned to head for the kitchens where she was sure Megan would require help. Mentally, she she made a note that if she were ever to find she wanted him to shut up (a feeling which she was sure she would encounter sooner than later), she'd need simply to employ intimacy.

As she strode toward her room in Mount Justice and away from the redheaded speedster, Artemis felt an unfamiliar swoop in her gut when she heard him murmur, "Any time, Blondie."

No, Wally West did not meet her expectations. He had transcended them. She had constructed a stereotype for him since day one, and in one night he had thoroughly torn it down. Maybe he wasn't the obnoxious, self-centered, flirtatious speedster she had made him out to be. Maybe he was more than all that bravado; more than the grandeur he carried himself with, or the aura of incompetency that seemed to follow his childish behavior.

Or maybe, he was simply enigmatic.