Title: Hide and Seek

Rating: T (some light swearing)

Characters/Pairing: Wally West/Artemis Crock

Word Count: 7,907

Author's Notes: For Morgan (shadowinthedark13)

So uh, Artemis and Wally are both about 20/21 years old in this. Wally is the Flash, Dick is Nightwing, the events of "The Killing Joke" have already happened, and, I think that's all you guys need to know

I hope you like it Morgan (I hope this makes you love me more than sometimes!)! Also a big thanks to Maddie (midnightroulette), who, in between calling me a kangaroo and pimping me out on tumblr WHEN I TOLD HER NOT TO, read over this for me multiple times and motivated me to finish.

Mood Music: "Cannonball" by Damien Rice (also the quotes), "Paperweight" by Joshua Radin, "Andvari" by Sigur Ros and "La Solitudine" by Laura Pausini (plus my whole Spitfire playlist)

~o~

"There's still a little bit of your taste in my mouth,

Still a little bit of you laced with my doubt,

It's still a little hard to say what's going on."

~o~

This is the point that we've gotten to. Standing in an alley at 1am, her breathing heavily and the two of us locking eyes, the tip of her arrow glinting under the shine of the streetlights as it is pointed at my chest.

This is the point that we're at, and I have to backtrack to figure out how the hell we got to this.

~o~

You'd think that being a speedster, I'd be fast enough to catch anything.

Though, evidently not.

The irony of this hit me as Megan stood in front of me, shaking her head. "Sorry Wally, she's already gone," she told me, "You're too late."

But me, being what Artemis would call, "the living definition of denial", refused to believe it.

Artemis can run as far as she wants, but I'll always catch her.

Dick had called me shortly after I had finished grilling Megan about if she knew anything about where Artemis had gone. My cell was already in my hand, as I had just tried calling Artemis, receiving the disheartening "sorry, this number has been disconnected" message after a lengthy pause, so I was quick to answer his call.

But he was quicker.

"Don't do it." He had spoken before I could even splutter out a greeting.

"Sorry, can't oblige."

"Wally, I'm saying this as a friend to both of you: Don't. Even. Think about it." Dick, over the years, has obviously gained his de-motivational skills from Batman, so I tried to block out most of his continuing speech.

"She clearly doesn't want to be found, otherwise she would have told us how to contact her, so stop trying. And- Wally? You still there?"

"Y'know, her mom always liked me."

"Don't, Wally. Just don't. She won't tell you. Don't even try."

"Sorry, gotta call you back later."

"Wally, she won't tell you anythi-"

She didn't.

~o~

Artemis' eyes widen and she quickly lowers her bow. Her mouth drops open as she stares at me in disbelief.

"Wa-Flash?" Out of habit, I glance around to check that no-one else is close-by to notice her slip-up. "H-how did you find me?"

"Funny story," I send her a grin. "You see, I fell in love with this amazing girl when I was fifteen. She was awesome and beautiful and kicked ass, and while our relationship was far from perfect, for us, it worked."

The shock disappears from her face and her expression becomes wistful as I continue. "But then for some stupid reason, we broke up, and for some even stupider reason, I let her go. So I've been running around the country, literally, trying to find her again."

I'm a little disappointed when she doesn't say anything to my speech, instead shifting her gaze from me to the street behind me. "Shouldn't you be in Central City?" She asks, "Saving the day in the blink of an eye and whatever?"

"I decided to take a personal day."

She narrows her eyes at me with the hint of a smile growing on her face. "And what if there's a bank robbery or something?"

"I reckon the cops could handle it. Hell, they might even enjoy it. When you look at all the excitement that happens here, Central seems pretty boring in comparison."

She's smirking at me now, shaking her head. "Seriously, Flash. How did you find me?" I think for a moment before answering her.

"Lian said you should go visit this weekend." The smirk disappears.

Crap.

"Seriously? You drilled my five year old niece into giving you my whereabouts?"

"No!" I say indignantly, "I asked Roy! Geez, I'm not that much of a prick!" I glance around and drop my voice. "And hey, she's my niece too, you know. Maybe not genetically, but still."

She glares at me with a deadly silence. "Really Wally?" She whispers fiercely. "You really want to bring up my genetics right now?"

"What? No! I just-augh! Just shut up for a second, okay?" This is not going the way I had intended at all. What happened to the great plan where I turn up in Gotham, sweep her off her feet and win her back?

(Okay, so that never was the plan, because this is Artemis I'm talking about, and she never falls into clichés like that, but that doesn't mean that I hadn't imagined that our conversation would go a little better than this so far)

I go to run my hand through my hair, but the cowl that covers seventy-five percent of my head prevents that. Once upon a time, Artemis and I were able to talk about anything, her 'genetics' included, with complete ease. Right now though, it's like we've been flung back to August 2010, with me making snide comments, and her not trusting anyone.

What the hell happened to us?

The echo of Roy's words to me before I had left is already jumping back around inside my head. "Don't screw it up with her again," he had said, holding Lian on his hip, who was grinning at me with an ever-hopeful expression on her face, clutching a crayola picture of "Uncle Wally and Aunty Arty being happy again."

I stare back at Artemis, who's still glaring at me, her arms folded across her chest. "Look," I sigh, "Can we go somewhere else and talk? Preferably not in uniform?"

She sighs and turns away. I vaguely hear her mumble, "Fine," and I begin to follow her down the alley.

The alley leads right through the particular block it's in, and it opens up across the road from a community park. From the few light posts that are scattered around the periphery of the park, there is one shining over a small brick building, which I assume is the toilet block. Artemis leans against the wall of the alley and glances at me, "You've got civvies?" I hold up the small duffel bag that I've brought with me in reply. She nods, while I glance over her own all-black outfit. It's mostly compiled of everyday wear, so I imagine that she's not planning on taking much of it off. "I'll wait here for you," she says, confirming my idea.

There's barely anyone on the street to notice me, but I speed across the road anyway, darting into the empty toilet block and waste no time in slipping out of the conspicuous red uniform into jeans, t-shirt and a jacket. When I return to the place I left Artemis, she has taken off her quiver, mask and gloves, and has pulled down the hood that was previously covering her head, shaking out the heavy blonde mass of her hair. She piles her gear into the duffel when I offer it to her, and we both step out onto the lamp-lit street.

I frown out at the dreary street. I've always hated Gotham, and I've never really understood why Dick and Artemis both love it so much. Even though the introduction of Batman has brought down the crime level, this place still stinks like money and felonies.

And it's always so dull. Unlike Central, which prides itself on its bright and bold architecture and colour schemes, Gotham rarely varies from the concrete gray and brown of boring, simple towers, lit up at night time by simple white lights.

I blame Artemis and Dick's fascination with it on the possibility of being contaminated by breathing in too much Gotham City air over their lives.

"So, uh," I shove my hands into my pockets and shoot a glance over at Artemis, "where do we want to go?"

"Well, seeing as I haven't seen you stuff your face with food yet, I'm guessing you might be hungry?" I allow myself a chuckle as she smirks. "There's a diner at the end of this block," she says, nodding towards the direction we're facing.

As we begin walking, a frigid silence falls over us. Neither of us have ever been good at small talk, unless it revolves around criminals or missions, and while I'd like to ask the question that I've come here in the first place to ask her about, I can see the direction that it'll end up taking us, and I'd rather not have one of our notorious screaming matches out in the middle of some random Gotham street.

Thankfully though, it's not long before I can see the diner that Artemis was talking about; an off white building that stands out in the dark as the bright lights from inside spill onto the street from the wide windows. It's an old diner, with the retro red and green block letters on the white background, with pale yellow and green seating inside. I follow Artemis into the blinding light and we are greeted into the diner by a ringing bell and the attention of a dark haired waitress standing behind the counter. She can't be any older than sixteen, and when she sees us walking into the empty diner she places the phone that is in her hand onto a bench and moves up to meet us in front of the cash register.

At the counter, I order a slice of apple pie and two bottles of water, while the shy smiled waitress switches her glance between Artemis and I, obviously reading into the idea that we're a couple. I hand over enough money for the overall cost, plus a tip, while Artemis gathers up the water bottles and carries them to an empty booth in the corner of the diner.

Before I join her, I pause at the self serve station to pick up a fork and serviettes. The silverware clinks as my hand digs through to reach a decent enough fork. I also pick up a straw, knowing Artemis prefers to drink out of one and manoeuvrer my way through discarded tables and empty chairs to sit down on the other side of the booth, facing Artemis.

She accepts the straw with a thanks as I pass it to her, but pauses and frowns with confusion as her gaze lingers on the other items I've placed in front of me. She slowly draws the straw towards her and drops it into her bottle, murmuring, "You got two forks."

I don't even need to look down to know that she's right, and the point she's getting at. I could pretend that I've just picked up an extra fork by mistake, but we both know that it runs much deeper than that.

My mind sidles back to years ago, with Artemis standing in the kitchen of the cave with a bowl of ice cream in front of her. The instant she had seen me walk in, an extra pile of ice cream went into her bowl and she was holding out a second spoon towards me by the time I had come over.

When I sent her a puzzled look, she shrugged, digging her own spoon into the cream. "You'd just help yourself anyway." At the time, it was probably true.

That habit continued on when we started dating, to the point where whenever we were in a restaurant or café, I would always make a point to ask for an extra set of utensils.

Sharing food, always being sure to pick up an extra fork; the odd idiosyncrasy of our relationship, rearing its hungry head to mock us.

Which it's obviously done well, as my subconscious has influenced me to pick up an extra fork, and the young waitress has slid a plate of steaming apple pie between us, flitting an expectant smile to Artemis and I before walking away.

We both stare silently at the pie for a moment, Artemis chewing on her lower lip in uncertainty. I eventually pick up both the forks, digging one into the pie while holding the other out to Artemis. "I promise I won't eat it all," I say, sending her a grin.

She smirks, taking the fork. "I'll hold you to that one," she picks off a piece herself and places it into her mouth and, for a second, I have to stop my imagination from going wild as I watch the pie pass through her rosy lips.

As much as the pie calls to me, and as tempted as I am to clear the plate of it in three or less mouthfuls, I make an effort to take morsels that are considerably smaller than the ones I normally would. I help this effort by looking out the window as I chew, taking in the slow moving street and occasional flicker of lightning through the gaps in the skyscrapers. It's quiet for Gotham, considering it's only half an hour past midnight on a Thursday night, though I guess to myself that it must be a quiet part of the city; away from the busy strips that are notorious for drug deals and prostitution.

I look back at Artemis, figuring that I probably need to start a conversation, because she's clearly not in the mood for initiating. "So," I start as Artemis' fork slides once again into the pie, "I heard about Jade." The fork slips onto the plate with a clatter and I realize that I probably should have eased into it, rather than being as forward as I was. Artemis pushes against the table to lean back against her seat.

She frowns at the table instead of looking at me. "You did, huh?" she murmurs.

I bite my bottom lip. "Yeah, Dick told me a couple of weeks ago."

She nods slowly, before shrugging, still avoiding my eyes. "Well, it's her own fault for becoming a criminal in the first place." She says it as nonchalantly, but I can see right through that act; she does it all the time when she wants avoid something, either talking about it or thinking about it. "She was bound to get caught sooner or later."

"Is that the reason you-"

"I need to go to the bathroom," she says abruptly, cutting me off. She slides out of the booth quickly and stands up, but my hand whips out and grabs her wrist before she can go anywhere.

"Artemis…"

"Let go, Wally. I have to go." She twists her wrist out of my grip and strides away, past the counter. I slump back into my seat and gaze at the fork in my hand, staring tiredly at my reflected face in it.

"Wallace West, you are an idiot," I tell my reflection, before bringing the fork back down and finishing the remainder of the pie, because I know that Artemis isn't going to. That is of course, if she hasn't already slipped out through the bathroom window and left me god-knows-where in Gotham.

Though I still have her bow, as well as her other stuff. I know at least, she wouldn't go too far without those.

I groan. Bringing up the topic of Jade has always been tricky with Artemis, regardless of when someone brings it up, or in what context. If I'm honest, I blame myself for part of that, because I wasn't very forgiving when I'd first found out about who her sister – or the rest of her family – is.

~o~

"Why didn't you tell us before?"

"What does it matter? I've told you know."

"What does it…? Artemis, your sister is a freakin' assassin that works for the League of Shadows! And not to mention who your dad is!" Around that point I had no idea who I was mad at anymore – Artemis for being someone she couldn't help being, Sportsmaster and the mocking tone he had told us the truth in, Robin for knowing all along and not telling me, or myself, for caring so much about a girl who I apparently knew nothing about.

"Didn't you ever think that maybe that was kind of important for us to know when you first met us?"

"Oh yeah," Artemis stopped walking away and whirled around to face me, "just so you could use it as further evidence to make sure I didn't join the team? Admit it, Wally! You never wanted me on this team and you would have jumped at any chance to make sure I never joined it!" She would have denied it, but I could swear that her eyes were redder than they should have been when she yelled at me. I wanted to tell her that what she was saying wasn't true, but that would have probably been a lie, even though things had changed so much since she had joined.

"Since when do you even care, anyway?" She asked, throwing her hands out to the side. An arrow slipped out of the quiver in her hand and fell to the floor. She didn't even glance at it.

"I thought that maybe…"

"You thought what, Wally?"

I sighed. "Never mind," I muttered, and even though it was probably the worst thing I could do at that point, I turned around and walked away from her.

~o~

I'm starting to think that maybe Artemis has actually left, when she finally reappears from the girl's bathroom. A grin breaks out of my face and she rolls her eyes as she walks over. "You look surprised," she raises an eyebrow at me as she sits back down on her side of the booth, the edge of her mouth twitching up when she notices the empty plate.

"Well, I was close to asking the waitress which way was the easiest out of Gotham, and also which way my dignity had disappeared to, but then I remembered that you are a girl, and therefore programmed to spend three times longer in the bathroom than normal."

"Am I now?" I grin at her scepticism.

"Granted, even if you did leave me here, I probably would have stayed for another hour – because I'm just that pathetic."

She smirks. "I doubt you would have made it an hour."

"Ha-ha. You know I could if I really tried." She rolls her eyes in disbelief. "Why didn't you though?"

Her eyes snap back to me from gazing around the diner. "Why didn't I what?"

"Just sneak out of the bathroom and leave?"

"I figured if I did that," she smirks, "I'd just end up with a call from a particular speedster begging me to come back."

"How can I do that when I don't have your number anymore?" She looks at me incredulously.

"What? You mean that you used your 'brilliant brain and detective skills' to find out where I lived, but you didn't bother trying to get my number?" She frowns. "It would have been a lot easier, compared to running around Gotham and sneaking up on me in an alley."

I shrug. "What's the fun in that? Besides, if I had tried to call you, you wouldn't have picked up." I know I'm right, and from the way she halts, I can tell she knows it too.

"Well, yeah, and then you would have called again."

"But you would have ignored it."

"You'd continue calling; you're annoyingly persistent like that."

"And you would continue to ignore each one of those calls, because you're annoyingly stubborn like that. Then eventually, you'd get to the point where you pick up the phone, shut me down before I get started, and then hang up on me, after which I would finally stop calling you." I raise my eyebrows at her. "Face it, beautiful. I've got you pegged." Well really, it's only because I spent almost an hour trying to play out how it would happen before I started looking for her, but still, Artemis doesn't say anything, so I continue.

"Sneaking up on you in an alleyway however, is something you can't avoid or escape from." I grin as Artemis sighs and combs through her hair with her hand.

"Why did you come, anyway?" She groans, "I'd made it pretty clear that I didn't want to be contacted by anyone when I moved."

"Yeah, by packing your shit and disappearing without so much as a goodbye," I reply, frowning. "Nice job with that, by the way. You managed to upset a lot of people." Her eyes snap up to me with a hurt expression, and I immediately wish I hadn't said it, but as soon as I open my mouth to take it back, she's looking back down at the table and speaking again.

"Wally. Why did you come to meet me? And I swear, if you give me that same cheesy speech that you said in the alley, I'm out of here."

I roll my bottle of water on the table, watching the fluid inside shift and fall with the changing momentum. "You really want to know, huh?"

"Yes."

"Fine. Because you made me promise to never let you go."

~o~

"Mmm…yur really warm."

I chuckled. "And you're doped up on painkillers."

Artemis attempted to bury her head further into my chest, to no avail. "Doesn stop ya from being warm," she slurred. She once again tried to push her head against my chest succeeding only in tangling her hair.

"Artemis," I grunted, "your head can only go so far against my chest before it can't go any further." I tried to shift a little underneath her, because at the rate she was going, I was probably going to end up with a bruise where her head kept shoving against.

"Shush. Warm."

I laughed and rubbed my hand on her arm, making sure to avoid the area that was bandaged. "Who knew you were a secret cuddlebug?"

"F'you tell anyone, I'll stick an arrow up your ass."

"That's if you can find any of them. Megan and Robin went through your room and hid all of them." Artemis pushed off my chest, winding me in the process, and looked up at me with a kiddish pout.

"Why?" She was still pale, and her hair tangled all over her face. I pushed one of the stray strands away from her mouth. Her eyes were glassy, but I couldn't tell whether that was from fatigue or the drugs she was on. "Why'd you take my stuff?"

"I didn't touch your stuff, you can blame Rob and Megan for that," she glared at me, looking more and more like a little girl than a sixteen year old hero. "You heard Bats. You're not allowed to touch a bow or arrow for at least two weeks."

"What about a crossbow? You only need one hand to shoot that."

"Do you really think you could reload a crossbow with one hand? Because your arm is going to be in that sling for a while."

She frowned as she considered it. "Yes." My chest shook with laughter.

"You're not allowed."

She sighed and dropped her head back on my chest, and I winced. "But why?"

"Because Artemis," I dropped my voice and brought my face closer to hers, "you got shot."

"So?"

I sighed. "Just go to sleep, alright? Talk to me when your brain isn't at the capacity of a three year old."

I couldn't see much of Artemis' face, but from the way she shut up and started breathing deeply, I assumed she had fallen asleep. My eyes were also starting to close when I heard her mutter something into my chest. "I hate you, Wally."

I smiled. "Hate you too, beautiful."

"Wally?"

"Yeah?"

"You won't ever let me go, will you?"

"What?"

"Promise me you won't ever let me go."

I frowned down at her for a second, then leant forward and kissed the top of her head. "I promise."

~o~

As I finish recounting the story to Artemis, she raises an eyebrow skeptically. "I don't remember that at all," she mutters to me. I shrug.

"Yeah, I didn't think you would have."

"Well," She begins to chew on her bottom lip, "I was high on painkillers, so, it doesn't count."

I snort. "Actually, it kinda does, seeing as people are more inclined to tell the truth when their brain is inebriated by alcohol or drugs, such as morphine." She rolls her eyes as I continue. "The fact is, whether drugged up or not, you made me promise, and I intend on keeping that promise."

"Yeah, well," she mutters, "You shouldn't bother."

"Will you stop that?"

"Stop what?"

"Making out that you're less worth than what you really are," I frown at her.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do, Artemis. You do it all the time. If anything or anyone comes remotely close to showing that you're worth something or treating you well like the way you deserve it, you won't accept it. You act like you don't deserve it and you push them away." I tell her this in a low voice, not wanting to draw too much attention from the waitress. Artemis glares at me, shaking her head.

"None of that is true," she says. I roll my eyes.

"Artemis, I was your boyfriend for four years, I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about."

"No, you don't."

"Want me to make a list of all the times you've acted like that? Cause I can." She turns and glares out the window, so I take that as an invitation to continue. "Number one; when you quit the team after telling us who your family was."

Her gaze snaps to me for a second. "I came back."

"Yeah, right, only after we begged you to." I stick up my second finger. "Two; every year, on your birthday, when you make sure to avoid everyone."

"I just don't like birthdays," she shrugs.

I snort. "I had to literally drag you to the cave on your eighteenth, and you didn't speak to me for the rest of the day because of that."

"Well, I told you that I didn't want a party, and you didn't listen."

"You're such a party pooper," I chuckle, and Artemis smirks.

"Yeah, but I'm your party pooper."

Old habits. They always manage to trip you up sooner or later.

Artemis freezes when she realizes what she just said. She shakes her head and looks back down at the table. "So what? Those two reasons are all you have?"

I stop grinning and follow Artemis' gaze to the table. "Uh, number three; you never went to college. Even though Gotham University accepted you and you could have done really well, you refused to go."

Artemis shrugs, continuing to focus on the table. "I just didn't want to go," she mumbles, and I frown.

"That's a lie and you know it, Artemis."

~o~

Rightfully, Artemis has never explained to me the real reason she didn't want to go to college, but I figured that was because she didn't really know the reason herself.

We were curled up on the couch one night, Artemis leaning against my chest while we watched a movie, when a soft buzzing brought my attention to the side table. I reached out and picked up the vibrating phone, glancing at the screen. "Yours," I whispered, dropping the phone into her lap.

She took one look at it and groaned. "Fuck" she whispered, throwing the phone to the other side of the couch. "It's Mom." I tore my eyes away from the screen to look at her. Artemis' mom rarely called her when she was at my house, and she definitely didn't call at one in the morning.

"What, she doesn't know you're here?" I hissed at her as my own phone lit up with Paula Crock on the display. "Shit, Artemis!" I leant over and grabbed it moving to answer it.

"Don't!" She snatched the phone from my hands and ended the call while I looked at her incredulously.

"What the hell?" I hissed as she tossed my phone next to hers, out of reach.

"I don't want to talk to her, alright?"

"Why?"

Her eyes darted to the TV. "I got accepted into Gotham U."

"Well, that's great! Yo-"

"I rejected it." They flitted back to meet mine.

"What?"

We both jumped when the shrill ring of my home phone pierced the air. I swore and sped to grab the cordless, throwing it at Artemis and giving her a look that clearly said 'answer the damn phone'.

She was launching off a stream of whispered cusses as she answered the phone, jumping up from the couch and pacing in front of the TV. "Shit, Mom," She hissed into the phone. "It's one o'clock here, what do you want?" She glanced up at me, hopefully seeing the clear annoyance on my face. "Yes, I'm at Wally's house, and his parents are asleep!" She walked towards my bedroom, still hissing into the phone while I turned off the TV and checked to see if my parents hadn't been woken up by the phone.

She was sitting on my bed when I walked into my room. "I just don't, okay?" She sighed. "I can't really explain it! Look, Mom, can we please talk about this tomorrow? Yeah, yeah, I promise. Okay. Ugh-sorry. Yeah, I love you too. Bye." She hung up the phone and met my eyes. "Sorry…"

I shook my head, "And you call me an idiot," and laid down on the bed, letting her head settle on my chest. "So, are you going to tell me why you rejected the offer?" I asked her, absently playing with a strand of her hair.

"Wally, please" She looked up at me, "not now."

"Okay, okay," I chuckled, "I won't ask."

"But you totally owe me for almost waking my parents."

~o~

Artemis shrugs. "Whatever," she mutters, "any more reasons?"

I sigh and look out the window. The relationship between Artemis and I reminds me of a astrological phenomenon, where two white dwarf stars, if co-orbiting each other, may orbit closer and closer together until they merge. Although, during this merging process, the energy between the two orbiting stars is released in the form of gravitational waves, disrupting the surrounding system. Thinking about it, I can help but be reminded of the disruption Artemis and I tended to cause as we were getting closer.

Although – if I'm comparing Artemis and I to white dwarf stars, then that would mean that our eventual merge would result in a Type Ia supernova, which, I'm pretty sure it didn't.

Unless this is our supernova occurring right now.

I figure things can't get any worse than it already is. "Yeah," I say, looking back at her, "Reason four. You left. You found out about Jade getting caught and sent to jail, and instead of talking about it with someone, you freak out, quit the team and disappeared. Even after you told me that you would never disappear on anyone because that's what Jade did to you, you go ahead and do it anyway because of her."

"Why do you even care, anyway?" Artemis glares at me. "We broke up months ago."

"Actually, you broke up with me."

"That doesn't answer the question, Wally. Why do you care?"

I rub a hand over my face. "Do you even hear yourself right now, Artemis? Of course I'm going to fucking care! It doesn't matter whether we're together or not, I'm still going to care!"

"Well, how about you do us both a favour and stop caring." I move my hand and stare at her in disbelief.

"And you're just doing it again, aren't you?" I say softly.

"Doing what?"

"Telling me to stop caring about you. Acting like you don't deserve anything, once again." I lean forward in my seat to get closer to her. "Artemis, why the fuck are you so scared of people caring about you?"

She quickly slides out of her seat and immediately to the door of the diner. I follow her, forgetting to thank the waitress, out the door and onto the street. It's already beginning to rain when I get out there, but Artemis is already walking down the street, ignoring the rain. I call after her, and she turns around and yells at me, "What?"

I catch up to her and grab her arm, pulling us both underneath the small shelter at a bus stop as the rain gets heavier. "I'm sorry, okay?" I say to her, but Artemis rolls her eyes.

"You haven't done anything to be sorry for," she mutters, wrapping her wet jacket around her and folding her arms, "I was the one who dumped you, remember?" I frown out at the street and watch the light cloud of water that appears close to the ground as fat, heavy raindrops hit the street.

~o~

Last time I remember it raining this hard was after Artemis and I had broken up, though I could be wrong; I usually tend to associate any sort of rain with breakup.

But I can remember that it was bucketing down in Gotham the night after we had broken up, as I spent that night in Dick's apartment, glaring at his TV, which was showing some romantic comedy shit, while Dick was munching on cereal (at night!) while looking over some files.

He eventually looked up from his files and glanced at the TV. "You know Wally," he said, "you can change the channel."

I grunted absently, and I heard Dick groan and push himself up from his chair. He leant over the couch and grabbed the remote, using it to switch off the TV.

I continued to stare at the blank screen. "Got any alcohol?" I mumbled, at which Dick shot me an incredulous look.

"Bro, I'm eighteen. What makes you think I would have any alcohol?"

I rolled my eyes. "Your guardian is Bruce Wayne, you're an eighteen year old, and you're a superhero. I know you have some alcohol in here somewhere."

He plopped down on the couch next to me. "Why do you want alcohol, anyway? You can't get drunk, doofus." I huffed. Dick and Artemis were similar like that, bluntly stating the truth and not hesitating to insult me, and at that moment, I hated it.

"It's worth a shot."

"There's no point in trying to get drunk over this, Wally." He said, looking at me. I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah?" I asked. "So, have you gone to see Babs at the hospital yet?"

Dick sighed and glared at me for a moment, before groaning, "Fuck it," and pushing himself off the couch and stalking into the kitchen behind us. I heard him rummaging around for a moment, and then he came back and dumped a bottle of whiskey onto the coffee table.

He sat back down and opened the bottle. "You're an ass, you know that?" He took a mouthful and winced, before handing the bottle to me.

I smirked, "And you're a dick," taking my own mouthful.

"Ha. Ha."

Neither of us ended up getting drunk, thanks to my metabolism and Dick's lingering influence from Batman, but it wasn't for lack of trying (and one moment when we both fell over laughing while we tried to close a window that was letting the rain in, and failed).

~o~

Artemis' shoulders bump against my chest as we back further underneath to bus shelter to avoid the sharp drops. I gaze down at the wet blonde mess of her hair while she's frowning out at the street. Taking advantage of the silent moment and Artemis' inability to get very far without being soaked, I lean forward and ask her the question that's been on my mind all night. "So, why didn't you tell me?"

She freezes and turns around. "What?" Strands of light hair are plastered to her forehead.

The words tumble out of my mouth, "Why did you never tell me that you were going to move? I mean no address, no number, being told by Conner and Megan that you had already up-ed and left? What the hell?"

Her gaze flits to the wet road. "I…couldn't tell you."

"Why the hell not? I mean, yes, we haven't technically been together for month, but we're still friends, right? I though that would have at least-"

"I didn't tell you because I knew you'd just end up doing this!" She pushes away from me and back out into the rain. "You always do this!" Her voice carries over the sound of water slapping on the concrete. "You have the worst timing, Wally. I swear to God."

I also step out from underneath the bus shelter, feeling the assault of raindrops through my clothes and onto my skin as she continues. "Every time I think I'm finally okay with something, you have to come around and mess it all up! If I accept that I'm not good enough to do something, you turn up and tell me that I'm even better than good enough. If I finally learn to give up on something, you and your stupid arrogance makes me keep fighting for it. When I've finally become okay with being alone and not having any contact with my friends or family, you creep up on me in a fucking alleyway and tell me that you're still in love with me, which just ends up confusing me all over again!"

"So, what? You're not still in love with me? Or…"

"Of course I'm still in love with you, dipshit! But that's not the point!" She sighs and pushes the wet hair off her face as I step closer.

"The point is," she says now, in a soft and defeated tone, "The point is that now that you're here, I've just realized that I haven't spoken to M'gann in weeks; and that I'm starting to kick myself for not buying a ticket to see Zatanna's show when I saw that she was in the city. And I'm wondering, how the hell is it, that I haven't seen Dick since last month, when most of the time, we're doing the same night-time hero gig in the same city?"

"I haven't seen my mom since I moved, and I hadn't even thought about it until you decided to show up. I was just about okay with all of this, and then you come here and bring back everything good with you, and it just makes me second guess everything I thought I had all figured out."

She's glaring at me, the both of us soaked down to the bone. I step right up to her, smiling, while she scowls. "I hate you," She pouts, crossing her arms, "I hate you so much."

I grin, placing a hand behind her neck, my fingers tangling in her wet hair. "Hate you too," I whisper, pulling our faces together and planting my lips on hers.

Movies always make out that kissing in the pouring rain is really romantic. The music swells up after a confession of love and there will be a high-angled long shot while the audience is led to believe that making out on a rainy street is the sweetest and most romantic thing that you could ever do.

It's really not though. In fact, it's pretty gross. Your skin feels slimy, your sodden clothes stick to theirs, and you have to refrain from flinching when a drop of cold water runs down the back of you neck. Not to mention, when you've got someone with hair as long as Artemis', your fingers get tangled up in the wet knots.

Plus in movies, the couple usually isn't kissing on a rainy street after telling each other that they hate them.

So I'm not too disappointed when Artemis pulls away with a shiver, and pushes a sticky clump of hair out of her face. "My apartments on the next block," she gasps, and I give her a grin, waggling my eyebrows at her.

"Wow, already?"

She rolls her eyes and hits me on the shoulder. "I meant so we can dry up, you ass." Her voice is harsh, but she's smiling at me. "Come on." She slips her hand into mine and pulls me along as we run across the wet footpaths.

By the time we arrive in front of Artemis' apartment building, we're breathless, freezing and laughing. Artemis pushes open the door to her apartment and we stumble in, pulling off our shoes and jackets, leaving them in a sodden pile just inside the door. While she walks into a room off to the right, murmuring something about retrieving some towels, my eyes scan the apartment.

It's a simple setup, as I would expect from Artemis, with a small couch sitting in the middle of the room, facing a TV. A tiny kitchen lies behind the couch, and two other doors are to my right, one of which Artemis had walked into, which I presume lead to the bathroom and bedroom.

Artemis hasn't done much decoration-wise, and save for a few magazines and a bunch of arrows laid out neatly across the kitchen bench, the place is mostly empty.

Artemis walks back into the living room, dressed in fresh and dry clothes, and passes me a towel, using one herself to dry her hair. She also leaves a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt on the arm of the couch and walks into the kitchen. I immediately recognize the shirt as one of mine, but the pants are unfamiliar, and about five inches too short to be mine.

When I shoot Artemis a look, she nods. "Yeah, those are Dick's" she says, shrugging, "I can't remember how I ended up with them." She points to one of the doors close to me, "Bathroom's through there," and packs up the stash of arrows on her bench while I walk into the bathroom. I change into the new clothes, hanging my previous ones on the towel rack to dry. Even though I push the pants down onto my hips, they're still too short, and my ankles poke out from the hem.

When I walk back into the living room, the smell of hot chocolate reaches my nose and I grin at Artemis, who pushes a mug across the bench towards me. I think back to our conversation in the rain and continue to grin at her while she takes a sip from own mug.

Her eyes dart up to mine suspiciously. "What?" I waggle my eyebrows at her.

"You said you love me" I say in a sing-song voice, sounding more like a triumphant five year old than anything. Her cheeks grow red and she sips again from her mug to hide her blush. I laugh and pick up my own mug, taking my own sip and allowing the sweet taste of chocolate to dance across my tongue.

"So," I say, putting down my mug, "are you going to go back to help the League again?" She shakes her head and I raise an eyebrow. "So after all that, you're still going to hide here?"

"I'm not 'hiding', Wally," I give her a disbelieving look and she holds out her hands, "I not, okay?" When I continue to give her the same look she sighs. "I don't want to go back on the team, if you can even call it that, or work for the League anymore."

"But you are going to keep in contact this time, right?"

She rolls her eyes. "I'll start calling people in the morning, okay?"

I grab the phone that lies on the other side of the bench and place it in front of her. "Call them now." She frowns.

"Wally, it's past one in the morning." I take a quick glance at my watch, realizing that she's correct. Strangely though, it doesn't feel at all like it's very late, though that's probably because my body is used to Central City time, or the fact that I've gotten used to staying up late due to the hero gig.

Regardless, I figure that I've probably bothered Artemis enough for the night, and I pick up the duffel, which I had dropped at the door earlier, and begin to rifle through, pulling out Artemis' things and placing them on the couch, and beginning to pull out my Flash uniform.

"What are you doing?" Artemis is frowning at me in confusion and I give her a smile.

"Well, it is past one, like you said," I shrug, "and I've probably hassled you enough for one night, haven't I?"

"Yeah but," She looks at the floor like she's trying to figure out what she wants to say. "I mean, you're just going to come back in the morning to hassle me again, aren't you?"

I haven't though that far ahead, but chances are I was going to, and after she's now mentioned it, there's no doubt about it. I just shrug in reply. "Probably," I say.

"Well then…" She glances away and bites her lip. "Why don't you just stay here for the night?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Really? You won't freak out when you see me on your couch tomorrow morning?"

A sly smile begins to dance on her lips. "I didn't mean on the couch," she whispers, and the realization splashes over me as she walks up to me.

"So, what are we now?" My voice unintentionally softens as her face gets closer to mine. "Are we back together or what?"

"It's simple," I can feel her breath on my skin as she speaks. "I 'hate' you, and you 'hate' me." Her fingers run across my jawline and she gently pulls me forward so my lips meet hers.

~o~

You'd think that the first time we'd kissed would be imprinted onto my brain. Because apparently, first kisses in a relationship are a big deal or something.

But honestly, I don't remember much about the kiss at all. That's kinda what happens when you're kissed unexpectedly (because yes, she was the one who kissed me first, even though I made sure to tell everyone differently).

We had just come back from a mission, a long and exhausting one, and everyone went straight to their own rooms, scattered around the cave, too tired to do anything else but go straight to bed. I was in the trophy room, adding another mission souvenir to the ever-growing collection on the wooden shelves, when Artemis leant against the doorpost, not unlike she had when we had come back from the mission to try and help Kent Nelson.

I turned away from the shelf and faced her. Her mask was off and she was staring at me intently. "What's up?" I asked her, and she silently walked up to me, closing the gap between us with each step, before sealing the distance completely and kissing me straight on the lips.

I must've blanked out for a moment, because I don't remember anything from that point to when I gently pushed her away and gave her a questioning look. "What was that for?" I asked her, to which she shrugged.

"Just cause."

"Because why?"

Her eyes darted off to the side. "Because I kinda…" she frowned and bit her lip for a moment, before seemingly coming up with an excuse and looking back at me, "…'hate' you."

"Because you 'hate' me?"

Her eyes narrowed in thought. "Yeah."

"Well in that case," I grinned and brought a hand up behind her neck. My voice lowered and I brought my face closer to hers. "I kinda 'hate' you too."

~o~

"Stones taught me to fly,

Love taught me to lie,

Life taught me to die,

So it's not hard to fall,

When you float like a cannonball"