Title: Tales lost in the Dust

Word Count: 3,000+

Rating: T

Character(s)/Pairings: Implied Wally/Artemis, Wally, Artemis, Facets of Artemis's subconscious and her inner Cheshire.

Summary: When one quests through another's dream-state it's usually a journey of discovery. Be it for yourself or others, something new is uncovered. Of course for the King of Denial, some things are better left in a state of plausible deniability.

Author's Notes: Oh [deity of choice], it's been a while since I finished something. I'd like to thank/dedicate this to my lovely, awesome and amazingly understanding beta Mizmahlia! I'd also like to thank the various people who cheered me on while I was writing this. Particularly the one who was there when I wrote the part about Libby! (You know who you are, I don't because: I didn't ask.)

So this was inspired by some of my spurious knowledge of psychology and archetypes of Freud and Jung. It was also inspired by a folktale that I don't remember the title of that includes Baba Yaga. Also it was inspired by other journey through a teammate's mind fics...but, I added my own twist.

Disclaimer: I am very happy not to own: Young Justice, the scientific name for some of the bacteria that cause leprosy, or either of the mentioned songs; as responsibility and I, do not mix. So if the owners and the government could please allow fanfics to be written, I will continue being happy with this state of being. Songs mentioned in fic are: Extraordinary by Liz Phair and Lollipop by Mika, respectively.

Onto the fic! May your day be asterous! – Hooloovoo-shift Speedster

Landing at the trailhead:

He was falling, racing, crashing, and his chute wouldn't release. He landed on the pathway, slamming into it hard with a pained groan.

"Curiouser and Curiouser, another impossible thing, and I haven't had my coffee yet," a figure commented lazily, lounging in a tree.

"Cheshire," Wally hissed.

"That's my name, don't wear it out. But, if you want to catch up to your little Alice, you have no time to waste. Start running amongst us madmen Flashboy," she teased. She flipped up into the tree and out of sight.

Innocence found Elsewhere:

As the path raced by, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look at it fully and skidded past a dilapidated structure of silvered wood.

"Alice, hello Alice? Are you in there?"

"No, if she were she'd be long gone. There's no one here but me," a small voice rasped.

"Artemis?" Wally asked nonplussed at the figure on the doorway.

"As I said, Wanderer no one here but me," she replied curtly. Volatile grey eyes glared up at him, brimming with steel and annoyance.

"No one else? No one at all?" He asked, worried for this strange, lonely girl.

"Sometimes, well... there's this Beast. He brings me food and such but..." her voice faded as she tried to adjust the long tattered sleeves of her shirt to hide her bandaged arms.

"He did that to you? He shouldn't hurt you! Come with me! You'll be safe! There are sure to be more people on the way!" he pleaded, giving her his widest, most sincere grin.

"You can't. If you do that he'll come after us both. He'll come when the sun falls past the horizon," she stated resigned.

"Well then, I'll fight this beast!" Wally exclaimed.

"You can't, it's not your place... But, if you could take this letter to the warrior... you'll meet by the tower, it will help so much," she replied wistfully. As he bent down to retrieve the letter, she kissed his cheek and handed him a raggedy, emerald, stuffed, plush cat.

"A favor for the Wanderer," she smiled. He placed both the letter and the toy in a satchel he hadn't noticed before, and as he returned his gaze to the spot the building inhabited, it met empty air. Wally shuddered and raced down the path, outrunning the encroaching night.

She who guards her heart:

He found his path blocked by a stoic figure in grey. Strains of music floated through the trees: I am extraordinary, if you ever get to know me. I am just your ordinary...

It ended suddenly when the figure exclaimed: "Halt, state your business!"

He reeled, considering his options. "Are you the Warrior?"

"I have no need to identify myself to vagabonds. Now state your business," a feminine voice snapped.

"I carry a letter from this girl who is guarded by this monster back that way," he pointed behind in the general direction he came from. "She said it was for the Warrior next to the tower. And I am searching for a missing friend." he replied defensively.

"Good, hand me the letter and step back," she ordered briskly. He reluctantly followed her instructions.

"It appears, Wanderer, you may proceed, as you have the Victim's blessing. But, to proceed you have to deliver this package to the Sage," she paused. "Night is falling and it is cold. Take this cloak," she continued gruffly. She turned and walked briskly in the direction that he came from.

"A Sage? Maybe they know where Artemis is." he pondered. Wally draped the charcoal-colored cloak around his shoulders before once again starting off down the path.

We're all mad somehow:

Just before the sunset fell, he heard a voice singing: Mama told me what I should know. Too much candy gonna rot your soul. If she loves you, let her go. 'Cause love only gets you down.~

Wally stared at the eerie doppelganger of Artemis. She looked just like her, only with dramatic differences: Artemis never smiled. Smirked, yes, but never smiled. She was also singing and dancing as she slathered paint on a canvas. The doppelganger was splattered with paint and her hair was down, rolling and bouncing in golden waves.

"Excuse me-"

She snapped around, and pulled what appeared to be a cherry blow-pop out of her mouth and shoved it in his.

"Shhhh, listen," she hissed finger to her lips.

"Good, you have my pigments. I was running out of indigo. If you continue down the path you will conclude your journey at the castle, but take care, because as you've seen here not all is as it appears to be, Wanderer. She who holds your name holds the truth," she paused her rushed speech, and gasped for breath.

"Remember the three gifts; they will help you further your journey. Now, use the last of the light to reach your destination, even though you will enter under the cover of darkness. Know this: sometimes you gain the greatest wisdom by letting go and being a kid again," she beamed with wicked mirth.

"Run swift and safe," she finished. The Sage then turned back to the canvas with an unfinished painting of a battle marring its surface.

Sleight of hand:

Wally ran, but he didn't sprint, he pondered the strange things that he just heard. Once again he arrived at his destination with no forewarning. A solitary castle loomed on the next hill over. Its grey granite towers sulked, appearing to be in the act of rudely gesturing to the sky, daring lightning to strike. He cautiously approached it and crept towards what appeared to be an unguarded entrance.

The door creaked open, revealing what appeared to be a mudroom leading to an abandoned kitchen. He paused for a moment at the sight. He then crept towards the sounds of life, particularly the cheerful whistling coming from down the hall. He pondered how to creep past the maid that also resembled Artemis when she giggled.

"Silly silly Wall-man, trying to creep past a ninja. Hello, I'm Libby! And I am supposed to look after all the guests of the castle. How may I help you?" she cheerfully greeted him.

"Well, Libby," he said, pressing his back against the wall as he tried to stay out of her personal space as she approached him. "I-I am looking for this girl named Alice."

"Uh-huh," she replied while blatantly checking him out.

"An-nd I figured since y-you know where all the guests are," he squeaked as she groped his thigh.

"You figured that I could tell you where she's being kept?" she slowly slid her hands up to his ass.

"Of course I can," she growled. "But everything has its price, Baywatch," she taunted and emphasized her point with a squeeze, she whispered provocatively in his ear, "Kiss, and I'll tell."

Her breath tasted strongly of peppermint and he cautiously slid his hands around her waist as she pressed him further against the wall. Wally's face reddened vibrantly. He stared down into her stormy grey eyes and almost swore he could smell ozone. He then cautiously proceeded to kiss her. She pulled back.

"Kid Hormones, I know you can do better than that, so do it," Libby teased. She playfully bit his lower lip and then started to tousle his hair. Wally let go of his last vestige of control, he leaned in, teasing her with his tongue. When he realized that she was no longer paying much attention to what was going on, he swiftly reversed their positions and pinned her to the wall.

Wally broke-off "So tell."

"Weeell," Libby pondered. "The Mistress of the castle encountered her in the gardens. She is holding your friend captive in the main hall," she giggled. "If you take this hallway the rest of the way, you'll be on the catwalk right above it," Libby whispered breathlessly. "But don't let her see you she's quite temperamental."

"Feel free to visit any time you like, Kid Ass," she flirted, tucking a loose lock of hair behind her ear. As he stalked off down the hall, Libby smirked, flushed, and returned to her cleaning duties.

Storming the Castle:

Wally observed the decadent room before him, the ornate curtains bleached by sunlight, cobwebs sulked in the shadows, and dust coated the gilding on the walls. In the center of the room just below an unoccupied throne was a cage with a familiar figure.

"Artemis..." he breathed. He cautiously planned the route that stealth training, video games, and years of being Robin's best bro, conditioned into his instincts. As he approached the cage his breath hitched. It slowly released as a slow sigh of relief, when he realized her injuries were mostly superficial.

"Artemis, hey Artemis," he rasped, the dust coating his throat.

"Wally?" She inquired, sounding half-out of it. "What are you doing? Get out of here!"

"Saving you, what else would I be doing?" Wally retorted.

"Following her advice and getting out of here while you still can," said a predatory voice that belonged to another figure resembling Artemis. There were just enough tiny differences that clearly defined her as never being Artemis. For one, she was wearing make-up and grinned in a childish demeanor. Another, she was wearing a frilly, impractical, Alice-in-Wonderland costume. Finally, her body language and movements were those belonging to an assassin.

Throwing caution to the wind, he yanked a ring of keys from her belt and tried each one quickly in succession, freeing Artemis. He tossed the keys at the imposter's head and raced to what he believed to be the nearest exit. As they fled, the mocking words of the impostor chased after them.

"So Kid Fail, you choose to save the useless, damaged, weakling. And somepeople say you're a genius," it mocked.

So once again Wally did what was in his nature; he ran.

As Fast as you can:
He raced through the nearby forest and his thoughts kept time with his feet.

Don't look back. Don't turn your head from the path ahead. Flee, faster, faster, flee faster.

"So..." the unpleasantly familiar voice drawled, "You really think that you can escape? You haven't eaten anything all day. I doubt you can keep that pace."

Maybe there's something in my pockets? Don't listen to her, don't slow down. Nope only the stick from the blowpop the Sage gave me well that can be tossed.

He felt a rumbling vibration through his feet and heard strange groans of wood and an odd bursting rustle. He also heard a familiar irritated scream that definitely belonged to the impostor, whatever happened to irritate her gained him distance. He risked looking back and saw what seemed to be an impenetrable grove of cherry trees.

He then heard the sound of crunching wood and reoriented himself. Racing faster, his long legs gained ground. He heard muffled cursing as his legs started to burn. He adjusted Artemis as he tried to reach for the clasp of the cloak, hoping that the loss of drag would be worth the loss of a blanket.

It was ripped away by the wind in a couple steps. Yet again the earth shook. He snuck another look behind him and saw tall grey mountains clawing the sky with a storm gracing the top. And yet, he knew they still weren't safe, that they still had farther to go so he still couldn't stop.

The rhythm of movement became part of him, so did the pain and hunger that tore at him, the biting chill of the wind whipping past, the sound his feet made against the path. So when he had to slow to stop for the nearly sheer cliffs in his way, it was like a bullet tearing into his chest.

Climb, climb safety is there! Go go! Go fast!

His instincts screamed. Danger was still nipping on his heels he had to climb this cliff and fast. But, any misstep here would get him, or worse, it would get Artemis killed.

"Hey Arty, wake up. I need my arms free to climb."

"Oh she won't wake up anytime soon. The drugs in her system will make sure of that," the doppelganger gloated with a cruel smile.

"Stay back!" Wally snapped defensively.

"And you'll do what, exactly? Faint on me? Face it- you're exactly where I want you: trapped, desperate, and weak."

"I'm not weak," Wally mumbled. He slowly backed up and was soon pressed against the cliff.

"Then show me," the manic Alice-esque copy of Artemis growled.

There was a soft whump, the stuffed cat toy had fallen out of the satchel. Wally coughed and shifted to protect Artemis; as a sudden breeze had whipped up, carrying dust and smoke in its wake.

A lean figure was the center of the impromptu maelstrom. It languidly reached down to pick up the toy and tossed it carelessly at Wally.

"Hello Flashboy, I see you've found your little Alice," Cheshire grinned madly over her shoulder.

"And her little shadow over there. I see you're smart enough to realize that this isn't either of your fights," she paused to growl ferally at the imposter. "That it takes this shadow to fight that one. Now, don't think that this means that I'm at your beck and call." She slashed viciously at her enemy.

There was a rapid exchange of blows and parries before the next pause when both opponents disengaged to study each other. "Next time I may not be as niiiice," Cheshire laughed sarcastically. "So as one last nicety, your free pass out of this looking glass is at the top of the cliff. Start climbing Flashboy," she taunted cheerily before trying to decapitate the Alice-look-alike.

He surveyed the height before him. Wally carefully shifted Artemis from his arms to his back, while she remained unconscious. She did make a soft groan of protest and nestled her face in his neck. He paused at the distraction, blushing furiously. He muttered something along the lines of: sure you feel like doing this now when we're in the middle of a battlefield. But when we're at the cave uninjured? You treat me like I have Mycobacterium lepromatosis.

Wally strained for the first hand hold and judiciously placed his foot in the opposing toehold. He cautiously proceeded to scale the cliff; pointedly ignoring the battle below. His thoughts wandered, as they were apt to do. But he never lost track of his underlying goal of the top of the cliff. The sounds of battle and its accompanying volley of insults faded out as he neared his goal.

Tired, Wally placed both his and Artemis's weight on an eroded handhold. As it crumbled, and he slid further and further from the top, he wearily wished that he was close enough to the top to toss Artemis, to save at least one of them.

A sai hit the cliff face next to his head. Wally grabbed the handle desperately. He saw Cheshire shoot him a look of: Don't you dare fail now idiot. Her life is in your hands and I'm sure as hell not fighting for you.

He carefully set his feet in the nearest available toeholds. Wally edged his bloody left hand into a nearby hand hold, he carefully pried the sai from the rock and shoved it in his belt. He then placed his raw right hand in another handhold and paused to stare at the remaining distance with sufferance.

Wally focused entirely on the next spot to place his hand, his foot, ignoring the pain ignoring the pulse of omnipresent hunger, and slowly as he too ignored time's passage, he reached the top.

It was a shock as his battered hand searched for the next handhold and met empty air. Wally couldn't immediately grasp that this dangerous exercise in scaling eroded rock faces without any climbing gear had abated. He paused for a few seconds and then carefully ensured that, at least Artemis, would reach safety. Relieved, he ordered his strained muscles to pull his weight over the top. He collapsed, exhausted and utterly drained. Wally knew that they weren't safe yet. He dropped the loaned sai over the edge of the cliff as a last goodbye to the treacherous, blood-thirsty, cat.

Wally wearily thought: No rest for the wicked. I know that we're close to safety but not quite there so no stopping now. Cheshire said something about...a way out?

He dragged his torso into the upright position and dizzily surveyed the surrounding area. It took a minute or two to focus and then a few seconds after that to orient on the familiar object.

Wally's thoughts slowly stumbled into a cohesive unit: Bioship... safety... goal... escape... Artemis... she isn't waking up...must carry... uggh heavy... so tired... must reach ship...

He reached the ramp of the ship before he stumbled and blacked out.

"Wally, wake up. Wally?"

"Hey, Kid Narcolepsy, Wake up," Artemis whispered while pushing on his shoulder.

"Wha-"

"Welcome back to the land of the living Wally," she smirked, "But as much as you looked like an enchanted princess on a spring morning, we do have a mission, and sadly," she sighed melodramatically, "it does require your unique skill set to be completed."

Artemis grinned wickedly. "Here's a candy bar. We don't want you passing out mid-mission now, do we?" She paused to hand it to him, worry fleetingly passing over her features. "You are mission-ready now, right? Whatever you were dreaming about it wasn't pleasant." Artemis made a face as she handed him a Gatorade.

Wally responded in kind before chugging the proffered drink. He plastered his widest 'Problems? Me?' grin on his face. "Of course it would be, Miss Congeniality. It was, after all, about you screwing up and me having to run in to save you," he said gleefully.

"Wally, like I said... Sadly, your continued existence is a necessary for the sake of this mission. As it is you have three seconds to get out of the bioship and coordinate with Kaldur before I find some way to hurt you that doesn't jeopardize the mission."

Artemis felt a breeze as Wally swiftly prepped himself. He gave her a cheeky grin and surprisingly a hug. "You know, you don't have to fight all your battles alone. That's what teammates are for."

He ran gleefully to meet the others, leaving a nonplussed archer in his wake.

This was 10 pages long. So, I may go back and edit it later for nitpicking. Please put in a review for motivation even if it's just: I liked this concept.