Wally knew the signs. It's not like he hadn't seen them before. The fidgeting when she walked into the room, the goofy grin that spread across his face when she looked his way. The way he talked about her and, sadly, to her. It was all too obvious and honestly, all too unexpected. He was sure there was another girl he had set his eyes on …

Wally was thinking about Robin, of course. Who else? Definitely not himself, nuh-uh, not a chance.

"Recognized: Zatanna, A03."

Wally shook his head to clear his thoughts, unwilling to delve deeper into whatever the hell that was. He grabbed a few bananas from the fruit basket perched on the kitchen counter and sped into the living room, plopping onto the couch as Robin jumped up eagerly. He slid down into the cushions, peeling his first banana with a satisfied smirk. "Ready to get your game on, lover boy?"

"Shut up, Wally," Robin replied through clenched teeth, shooting a quick glare behind him. "She's just a friend."

"And I'm just really fast," Wally snarked back through a mouth full of banana mush. He crammed the rest of it into his mouth and shot the peel towards the garbage can in the kitchen, basketball style. It missed by a good foot, sliding to rest in the middle of the doorway. He shrugged carelessly and grabbed another, oblivious to his friend's eye rolling.

"You're an ass sometimes, y'know that, right?" Robin turned to the glowing teleporter with a shake of his head.

"And you're a dick," was the bright reply.

"Never heard that one before," muttered Robin. He didn't have to look to know that Wally was wearing his famous shit-eating grin. Instead, he chose to keep his gaze on the teleporter as a young magician stepped out of its light.

"Boys," her smile was friendly and her eyes seemed to be glowing in delight. Robin couldn't help but smile back. It must've been part of her powers or something.

"Zatanna," Wally greeted, the grin audible. Robin barely suppressed a groan. He really had no sense of subtlety. "Pleasure to see you again."

"I bet she wishes she could say the same," Robin snapped, spinning around to face his friend. But he was Batman's protegee for a reason, as was clear when he spun around just as quickly with a charming smile. "Hey, Zee. What's up?"

Wally tried not to laugh. He really did. And he sort of succeeded. He pursed his lips together, his eyes dancing in mirth. Robin was falling hard and fast and it was kind of adorably hilarious. Not that he'd ever admit it. He had of course noticed before, the first time they met Zatanna. What kind of best friend would he be if he hadn't? In any case, it was pretty damn obvious. It was part of the reason Wally didn't make a move. That, and she was a bit too young. He also seemed to have a thing for blondes lately. He wasn't one to have a type, but Zatanna definitely wasn't his.

But she was so Robin's.

"I am so happy, you don't even understand!" Zatanna threw her hands into the air, twirling around as she laughed gleefully. "My dad finally let me out of the house. Granted, I had been sneaking out almost every night, but it's nice to have permission, you know?" She shrugged happily, grinning at the two boys. Robin laughed with her, but Wally could hear a nervous twang. Wally paused mid-chew to smirk. Oh, good. He was going to go for it.

Robin glanced over to his friend, brows furrowed. Wally gave him a nod, a grin, and a quick thumbs up. He turned back to Zatanna, took a deep breath, and let it out in a huff. He was going to do it, he had to do it. Wally vowed to harass him until the end of time if he didn't at least try.

"Um, Zee? Can I ask you something?" Robin rubbed the back of his neck nervously before noticing what he was doing and whipping it down to his side. He forced out a short laugh and clenched his fists. Wally had the strongest urge to face palm. He shoved his hands under his thighs and settled for a quiet groan.

"Sure!" Zatanna said brightly, crossing her arms with a shrug. "Could you make it snappy, though? I've still got a curfew and I need to say hi to the others."

"Uh, yeah. No problem." Robin crossed his own arms and slumped down almost unnoticeably. Except to a best friend. "I was wondering if you'd like to, uh …" No! Wally could tell he was chickening out. Why did he even associate with this kid?

"Like to what?" Zatanna leaned forward eagerly. Wally urged his friend on his mind, leaning forward with Zatanna. He could tell she was interested, why couldn't Robin?

"Um … Hang out at practice sometime?" And he chickened out. Wally slumped back with a sigh and reached for another banana, peeling it slowly. And he was so close, too. "We could always use another pair of hands. And feet, I guess."

"Yeah, that'd be nice." Zatanna smiled, obviously disappointed. After a moment, she sighed quietly and headed towards the corridor. "I'm going to go say hi to the others. See you guys around."

The boys murmured their goodbyes as Zatanna gave them a quick wave before sliding out of view. As soon as she did, Robin slumped his shoulders dejectedly and threw himself next to Wally on the couch. Much to Wally's dismay, he grabbed the last banana and began peeling it heart-breakingly slowly.

Silence reigned even after they had both finished their snacks. The two sat side by side, each immersed in their own minds. But Kid Flash wasn't known for his patience. If Robin wasn't going to talk, then he would make him.

"Dude," he laid a comforting hand on a caped shoulder. "There's always a next time. It's not the end of the world. I should know." He grinned, thinking the jab would cheer the boy up.

But it didn't. Robin jerked away and stood up stiffly, glaring down at his friend. "No, Wally. There isn't always a next time." He looked down forlornly. "I should know."

Wally jumped up, reaching a hand towards Robin. "Dick -"

"I have to go," Wally winced. Monotone, aka the Bat Voice. "I've got patrol." Wally watched silently as he marched away and disappeared in a flash of light.

Well, that went just wonderfully. Wally dragged himself back into the kitchen, his stomach still growling. Why couldn't he just have a best friend who was normal? Who wasn't afraid to just talk? He jerked open the door of the fridge and stuck his head inside angrily. Why did Dick have to be such a Bat all the time? It wouldn't hurt to actually explain what he was feeling for once. All Wally wanted to do was help, but no, no one can help the almighty Boy Wonder, the epitome of angst. He grabbed a pudding cup with a frown. Stupid Bats with their stupid issues.

A sudden shriek crashed through Wally's thoughts. He acted instinctively, dropping his snack and dashing over to save the day. The pudding cup hadn't even reached the ground when he found Artemis in his arms, a banana peel flying out from under her feet.

The two were frozen, staring at each other in horror, blushes rising in both of their faces. Wally didn't dare move. He was a deer stuck in head lights or, more accurately, the fierce stare of a grizzly.

"If you don't let go of me right now, I swear to god, I will kill you."

There she was. Wally dropped her just as suddenly as he caught her and held his hands up with a smirk. Artemis crashed to the tiled floor with another shriek. "Hey, hey. Being in my arms is like being in heaven. No wonder an angel fell into them, eh, Beautiful?"

"Eugh. You're disgusting," Artemis said, scrunching her nose in distaste as she pulled herself up. "Now get out of the way, I'm starving. And if you ate all the food again, I will personally make your life a living hell."

"Somebody's PMSing …" Wally muttered to himself, sheepishly turning away from Artemis' seething glare. "And you made me drop my pudding, so you shouldn't be saying anything."

"Is that right, Kid Stomach?" Artemis grabbed a cookie from Miss Martian's last batch, biting into with only a slight wince. "At least I accomplished one good deed today." She turned towards the fridge, barely missing the tongue poking out of Wally's mouth, which was accompanied by a ridiculous looking face. Actually, he was kind of relieved she didn't see that. It would only have been more fodder for the snark.

"So, where're the others? I thought I heard voices," Artemis turned back around with the carton of milk in hand. Wally faced her, a look of pure innocence masking his face. She narrowed her eyes. "I guess you must've scared them away."

"Hey!" protested Wally indignantly, waving his arms around. "I'll have you know Robin and Zatanna left of their own accord." He paused, looking down and placing a finger to his chin as Artemis glanced at him questioningly, the carton at her lips. "Well, I guess I kind of made Rob angry." He looked up to see Artemis shaking her head. "Not my fault he refuses to actually talk about his obvious crush on Zee!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "I, personally, blame Batman. Anyone dressed as a flying rodent cannot possibly be a fit person to raise an emotionally stable kid."

"He didn't seem to have any problems talking to me," Artemis smirked, leaving the carton on the counter before heading into the living room.

"What?" Wally stalked after her, truly confused. He stopped short, stumbling back a few paces when Artemis suddenly whipped around.

"He paid me a little visit last week, didn't he tell you?" she asked, an innocent smile forced across her face. "He knew better than to go to the Wall-man for girl advice. Smart kid, huh?"

"Some best friend," Wally muttered distastefully, scowling as he noticed the horror spreading across Artemis' features. "Oh, what now? Seriously, it never ends with you."

"He knows where I live," she whispered, horrified. "How the hell does he know where I live?"

"Oh, calm down," Wally rolled his eyes, ignoring yet another glare sent his way. "Like I said, Rob is Batman's kid. Angst and stalking come with the territory."

Artemis sighed, flopping onto the couch. "Whatever. Too late now." Wally shrugged and, realizing the conversation was clearly over, made his way back into the kitchen. Artemis was glad for the silence. She closed her eyes and leaned back into the soft cushions, smiling slightly. I nap definitely wouldn't hurt.

But what seemed like a whole minute later, a gust of wind lurched her out of her tranquility. She opened one eye regretfully, only to find Wally grinning down at her. She groaned and closed her eye again, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Do I want to know?"

"I've got the greatest idea!" Wally said enthusiastically, pulling Artemis up by the forearms. Much protesting was involved, including a good shove. But of course that didn't phase the speedster. "C'mon, Arty, listen for a sec, would ya?"

Artemis crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Don't call me Arty, Wallace."

"I'll take that as a 'yes Wally, of course Wally'," he grinned playfully, doing an excited jig on the spot.

"Okay, I'll give," Artemus said reluctantly. "What's got you so excited?"

"Well, the way I see it, Robin and Zatanna are basically already together. I mean, they both obviously like each other, right?" Artemis nodded carefully, her curiosity slightly peaked, if only to see what hair brained plan Kid Idiot had come up with this time. "So all they really need is a nudge in the right direction. AmIrightoramIright?"

Wally, still grinning, was vibrating on the spot excitedly. Artemis shook her head, trying to suppress a fond smile. "Slow down there, Flash Boy," she grabbed his arms with a tight grip and looked him dead in the eye. He seemed to calm down, but in a strange way. His eyes widened slightly and his stupid little grin slid into a round "o". Artemis shot him one last questioning look and pulled away, placing her hand on her hips. Strangely enough, she couldn't seem to look him straight in the eye. That definitely wasn't like her, and she definitely didn't like it.

Silence for a few strained moments as they glanced around the room, not daring to look at each other. Finally, Wally gathered up the nerve to restart the conversation. "So?" he finally asked, his grin returning as his thoughts veered back to his brilliant plan. "What do you think?"

"About what?" Artemis sighed internally, plopping back onto the couch. Good. He was back to normal. None of that weird gazey stuff. "You never actually told me what you going for, here."

"Matchmaking!" Wally burst out, unable to hold it in any longer. "All they need is a little bit of a push from us and, voila! We've got ourselves a happy couple."

"Are you serious?" asked Artemis, genuinely worried that he was. "Because that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard, and that's coming from someone who knows you."

"Of course I'm serious!" he cried happily. "This will totally solve all of their problems. Plus, we won't have to see Rob mope about it all the time."

"I don't know about this, Wally," she said warily, pulling herself up from the couch to face him. "I'm not so sure Robin would actually like this …"

"C'mon, Artemis!" he whined, bobbing down to emphasize his point. "Just think about it for a sec. How great would it be if it actually worked?"

Artemis turned away, rubbing the back of her neck tiredly, the hum of Wally's vibrations giving her a bit of a headache. She couldn't believe she was actually considering doing this. But … it could work. Could. All she really wanted was for her friends - her family - to be happy. And if that meant actually forcing Robin to be with Zatanna, then so be it. It was his own fault, really. If Robin was going to be such a wimp about it, she would just have to do it herself. It was the only way to get things done, after all.

And anyway, if Robin was distracted by Zatanna, maybe he would finally stop snooping around in her own life.

"Fine, I'll do it," she muttered, turning to face Wally as he was mid-jump. Dork. "But we have to be careful, got it? I'm all for them, but we could really screw this up."

"Trust me, Artemis, I know," Wally said earnestly, placing a light hand on her shoulder. "But what's life without a little risk? I only want my friend to be happy. And he really wants to go for it, too. I can see it whenever he talks to her. But he's so scared. And god, I don't blame him." He paused, pulling his hand away and looking to the ground. Artemis gazed at him intently, barely noticing her own hand glide over the spot where his had just been. "If I were him … I just - I don't think I'd be able to go out and do what he does. Every day."

Wally looked back up at Artemis, his eyes glinting with what looked like tears. If it were any other day, Artemis would've called him over dramatic and been done with it. But he just looked so sincere, so upset for his friend, and that wasn't something she associated with Wally West. "He's not even scared of it, Artemis. The jumps, the flips, all of that ridiculous acrobat stuff. Not one bit. Not even after …" He paused and shook his head quickly, letting the thought fly away into the depths of his mind. "But then when he starts to get close to someone, and I mean really close, he just shuts down. I know, I've seen it. That's why he needs this push. He won't do it without us. I don't think he can."

Artemis stood, rigid, in shock. Who was this boy? And what the hell had he done with the Kid Idiot she knew and … well, knew. "Kid, I didn't know that -"

"Plus, he really needs to get some action, y'know what I mean?"

Oh. There he was. "Again, you're disgusting," Artemis deadpanned, crossing her arms and trying to ignore the luridly bright grin of one Wally West. "Let's hurry this up, shall we? I'm exhausted and you still haven't actually explained the plan of yours."

"Wait, what time is it?" asked a suddenly panicked Wally. He dashed into the kitchen and the next thing Artemis knew, a slew of curses began bombarding her ears. She rolled her eyes and made to follow him and see what all the fuss was about, but just as she made the first step towards the door, another gust of wind forced her back a few steps.

"Dammit, Wally, stop doing that!" she forced out of clenched teeth as he grabbed her arms to steady her.

"Whatever you want, Blondie," he grinned calmly, but she could see he was itching to move. "Listen, it's like, ten minutes past my curfew, so I gotta run back home. Digits?"

"No way," she pulled away forcefully, hands up in front of her, palms facing out indignantly. "There is no way in hell I would ever give you my number. No. Way."

"Aw, come on!" he whined, stomping his foot impatiently. Artemis raised an eyebrow and as soon as he realized what he had just done, Wally took a long, deep breath, and held still.

For about two seconds.

He zipped forward, too fast for Artemis to react, and pulled her into a huge bear hug. "Wally, what the fu-"

"Aha!" he cried triumphantly, holding Artemis' phone above his head like a trophy. Artemis' hand immediately reached behind her, feeling her back pocket. It was empty.

"Wally, give me my phone back, you moron!" she screeched, lunging forward as Wally typed away above her reach. She jumped up, but to no avail. He sped behind her, stashing her phone back in her pocket almost unnoticeably. She barely saw his quick salute and insufferable grin before he was gone in a flash of light, the robotic voice announcing his departure.

Artemis shook her head tiredly and rubbed her hand down her face as she leaned against the back of the couch. She slid down slowly, eventually hitting the floor and pulling her knees to her chest. Her phone fell out of her pocket in the process, so she snatched it up from the floor and snapped it open, making sure Wally hadn't screwed with it too much.

But to her never ending surprise, there was nothing. Just the one text he sent to himself. She scrolled through her contacts quickly, but nothing had changed there either. Huh.

She crossed her arms and placed them on her knees before leaning her forehead down, her phone clutched in her hand. She closed her eyes with a small smile. It was quiet there, in her little cocoon. Dark. Cool. Peaceful. She was drifting off into her own colorful dreamland when she felt her phone buzz. She sighed and grudgingly pulled the phone into her cave, the screen illuminating even the darkest shadows in the folds of her jeans.

Assuming it was just her mom checking in (because who else would actually want to talk to her?), Artemis opened the text without bothering to check the number.

"Here's my number, please don't delete it - Wally"

Artemis rolled her eye and looked up to the ceiling, praying to whatever was out there for just a bit more patience, because her supply was most definitely running out. She looked back down at her phone, though, and reluctantly saved him as a contact, reminding herself that she did have a blocking feature.

Just before she shoved it back into her pocket, the phone buzzed again. Artemis huffed impatiently, but opened the text. Another from Wally. She had to remind herself that two texts definitely did not render blocking an option. Maybe three, four, if he was lucky.

"And it's not just for business, Blondie. You ever want to talk, I'm all ears."

She just couldn't help but smile.

And neither could Robin. Well, his smile was a bit more of a smirk. He pulled his head out of the doorway and turned to Zatanna, who was crouched behind him with a manic grin. "The operation," he whispered as they both leaped up. "is a go."

"Alright," Zatanna laughed quietly, raising her hand for a high five. Of course Robin complied, but as their hands connected, he curled his fingers around hers and brought their arms down. They grinned happily at each other before they strolled down the hallway, swinging their arms back and forth as they discussed phase two.

Who said Bats had emotional issues anyway?