For all those who fell in love with spitfire (disclaimer: the pairing and show I wish I owned)

"You've been a thorn in my side for far too long," Cheshire snapped. "This game has gotten tiring."

Artemis remained silent, her back pressed against the wall. Cheshire's taunting had little effect on her—nothing she said could be worse than leaving her with a broken family...

"Come on out, or your boyfriend and I get to have a special chat," Cheshire purred.

"Boyfriend?" Artemis mused, cautiously peering around the corner of the wall. She stifled a gasp.

Cheshire had Wally gagged and tied, with a blade at his throat. Artemis bit her lip, her heart sinking at the image before her. How did Cheshire catch Wally, and what did she do to him? Parts of his suit were ripped to reveal bloody cuts, which only made his semi-limp body appear even weaker. There was no way that he could escape on his own. Cheshire spun around towards the source of the gasp, and smirked.

In Artemis' general direction, she called out, "Give me the chip, and I promise you might get the see him breathing again."

Artemis stepped out of the shadows...and quickly drew her bow and arrows, firing at the hand that held the glinting blade. Cheshire cried out in pain, letting Wally crash to the floor. Artemis rushed forward, grabbed the blade, and quickly cut him free of his bonds. She would've done more if she didn't have to dodge the darts (probably poisonous) aimed at her. Getting fed up with the darts, Cheshire lunged at her, pinning her against the floor. Artemis was unable to push the weight off, since their last battle at the warehouse didn't leave her in the best condition.

The masked assassin snatched the chip from the archer's belt, and took her bow as well. She would've taken her arrows too, if Artemis didn't kick her off. Before Cheshire could get up, Artemis took a good swing at her face, knocking the mask off. Depleted of darts and her blade out of reach, Cheshire used Artemis's bow to deflect attacks, as well as deliver some of her own. Suddenly, she felt someone tackle her, knocking her to the ground. The chip was grabbed from a pocket inside her sleeve.

"Here!" Wally yelled throwing the chip to Artemis, before a kick to his gut made him fall on his knees.

Artemis remembered seeing her sister angry-at their father, at their mother, at the world-but the rage that burned in those dark eyes that very moment sent a foreboding chill up her spine. Her sister-no, not at this moment, not with that look-this stranger tightened her grip on the archer's bow and flew forward so quickly that Artemis barely had time to react.

This time, instead of grabbing for the chip, Cheshire ripped the quiver off Artemis's back. The momentum and power of it sent Artemis flying. Behind her, Cheshire notched an arrow, spear head sharp, and aimed it at Artemis' rising form.

"Artemis!" Wally yelled speeding towards her with a burst of energy. He knocked her out of the way just as Cheshire shot the arrow.

Artemis heard a thud sound beside her. In horror she lifted her gaze from the ground to the limp form of Wally—her own arrow sticking out from his torso...

"No!" Artemis yelled, sitting up in her bed. She tried to steady her erratic breathing by focusing on the pitter patter of rain against the window sill, but the sound of her heartbeat drowned it out.

"Artemis?" the figure beside her sighed sleepily.

She didn't answer.

The figure sat up and put his hand to her head. "The nightmare again?"

The lump in her throat seemed to shrink at the sound of his voice.

"You say it like it was just a nightmare," she replied softly. He released a soft chuckle.

"But I lived. I'm still living, Beautiful. That was years ago." She looked at him then, his outline barely visible in the dark, and placed a hand on his chest where she knew was a white scar.

A/N: thank you all so much for the positive response! reason i UD was cuz i 4got to include a thanks to my beta-reader jncera (thank you)