A/N: So I think the first part of this was written, what, two or three years ago? Anyway, I just found this while browsing nostalgically through my computer and thought it would be a waste to just let it pile up dust here. So I made up an ending and voila. (My Young Justice nostalgia is killing me, eternal love for the first fandom and first ship)
…...
Artemis woke up to a familiar mix of sounds. Bottles breaking, car alarms blaring, obnoxiously loud and drunken laughter; Nothing out of the ordinary for Gotham. The room was ridiculously stuffy so she got up from the bed with a sigh and dialed down the heat on the radiator. Unlatching the hook that held the window closed, the forced it open with a very audible creak. Oh, the joys of living in a Gotham penthouse, she thought with bitter sarcasm as the cold night wind fluttered the curtains and her loose hair. Breathing in the far-from-clean-but-still-refreshing Gotham air, she closed her eyes.
"Hey, uh, Blondie?"
Gray eyes snapped open. She considered just snapping the window closed but her curiosity won and Artemis leaned out the window. On the ground four floors below, illuminated by a stray streetlight, was a person resting in the midst of fallen garbage cans. A person dressed in... yellow spandex?
"Hey there," she said warily, one eyebrow quirked. She could see the boy, who looked no older than herself, perk up and heard his audible sigh of relief, even over the sounds of the city life.
"Hey, hi! So, uhm, I seem to have gotten myself into a bit of a pickle here. Think you can maybe... run down here and give me a hand." He grinned up at her out from underneath a yellow looking hood-thingy and Artemis frowned.
Was she really going run outside at four in the morning to help the mysterious and possibly crazy (he was wearing spandex) stranger, or stay inside the safety of her room. She shrugged to herself. It had been a very dull week. She closed the window, hearing his shout of protest and rolled her eyes in response. Putting on slippers, she threw on her large, green hoodie and left her room. Thankfully, her mom was out of town, making sneaking unnecessary.
Flinging herself down the flight of stairs, she reached the bottom floor in record time. She opened the door, patting her pockets in confirmation for her keys before walking outside. The heavy door slammed shut behind her and she could hear someone shouting. That someone sounded very desperate. Walking around the corner, moving to the street that her window faced, she spotted the stranger immediately. It wasn't like he was hard to miss. He slippers scuffing against the ground caught the boy's attention and his head whipped around. A delighted smile stretched across his face at the same time Artemis realized that he looked familiar.
"Hey, I've seen you on the news. You're, uh... Flash Junior right?" she asked and the boy looked thoroughly offended as he scoffed. Touchy, touchy.
"It's Kid. Flash. Not Flash Junior or Flash Boy or Speedy, capishe?" Kid Flash crossed his arms over his chest indignantly and Artemis had a feeling the little name mix up wasn't a rarity.
Artemis crossed her arms over her chest as well, an involuntary shiver crawling up her spine. "Look, it's freezing out here so I don't really feel like playing 'name that superhero-" Her eyes drifted down to his leg and her face twisted into a grimace. How in the holy hell she hadn't noticed it before was beyond her but she could now very clearly see the bone protruding from Kid Flash's leg. "What the hell happened to your leg?"
Kid Flash actually looked sort of... sheepish, like he'd smashed a vase instead of his leg. "It sort of... broke."
"Sort of?"
Kid Flash huffed, the pain in his eyes visible even under the bright yellow (seriously, that color was horrible) cowl. "Look, I just need help replacing the bone so it'll heal right. I'd hate to have to re-break my leg."
With a sigh, Artemis decided that now was probably a good time to return upstairs. Superhero featured on the news or not, this was still a stranger -a superpowered one at that- and she was home alone. Glancing back at him, she realized with shock that he was basically pouting. Is he giving me the puppy dog eyes? She frowned. Is it actually working? Artemis shook her head. I can't believe I'm doing this. "Think you can make it up a couple of stairs if I support you?"
…...
"Ow ow ow, watch it!"
"Oh, don't be such a baby, mister big time sidekick." Kid Flash scowled but thankfully shut up. Of course, they'd just stopped so she figured that had something to do with it.
Artemis unlocked the door to her flat, nudging the door open with her foot. She half supported, half dragged the superhero into her living room before dropping him onto the couch. He laid down with a sigh of relief, propping his injured leg up on the armrest. "Just make yourself at home," she muttered under her breath but the redhead looked completely oblivious.
"So, you've done this before?" he asked, shifting his leg and poorly hiding the way his face twisted with pain.
"Brought a stranger into my home at four in the morning? Can't say I've done much of that, no," Artemis replied without missing a beat, still hovering over him, arms crossed over her chest. She doubted the guy was actually going to attack her but she'd heard of stranger things happening so warily watching him it was.
"I mean with my leg," Kid Flash groaned, making a grand gesture with his hands towards said leg. Artemis risked another glance at it and yup, it still looked just as broken. Why was she doing this, again? "Think you can fix it?"
"If the sound of your complaining won't be distracting me." Artemis smirked at the offended look that flashed across his face.
"I am not complaining," he whined and Artemis rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. Let's just get this over with." After a quick trip into the kitchen to get a first-aid kit and a kitchen towel she sat down on the smaller couch next to Kid Flash. "So, what brings you to Gotham? I thought you and the Flash were a part of Central?" she asked as she started rummaging around in the red box, pushing aside band-aids and the like.
"We are. I was just visiting a... friend."
"Right." Artemis regarded the leg with a cocked head before nodding to herself. "Take it off," she ordered with a small gesture to the spandex.
"The Kid Flash charm just too much for you to handle, huh?"he leered. Artemis let out a disgusted scoff, followed by an eye roll and she resisted the urge to smack the broken leg, just on principle.
"I can't get to your leg because of the spandex, Casanova. So if you don't mind..." she trailed off, gesturing to his suit. It wasn't like it left much to the imagination anyway so it's not like he should have been shy about it.
Kid Flash was grinning but then he sighed theatrically. "You know what?" He sat up and reached forward, both hands on the bottom of one pant (were they even pants?) leg. In one inhumanly quick motion, he ripped the material all the way up to the upper thigh. Artemis blinked.
"Or you can do that," she finally said, promptly ignoring the smug look on the redhead's face. Grabbing the kitchen towel, she wrapped it up and handed it to him as she scooted closer to the edge of the couch. "Put this in your mouth."
"I didn't take you for the kinky type-" he started but was quick to stuff it into his mouth as ordered when he saw Artemis' eyes flash with a warning. Artemis leaned in closer to his leg, placing one hand on his knee and the other on the bottom part of his shin, right below the protruding bone.
"I'll snap it back on the count of three." Kid Flash nodded, failing to hide the slight worry in his eyes. Artemis didn't comment; she doubted this was going to be comfortable. "One, two-" In one quick motion, she pushed down. She could feel the bones settle down under her hands with a somewhat sickening crack. Kid Flash's shout was muffled by the towel and Artemis offered an almost pitiful glance at him as she started wrapping up his leg.
When she had finished, the redhead had removed the towel from his mouth and was watching Artemis carefully. She became all too aware of how ruffled she must have looked. Not that she particularly cared. "Well, that was pleasant," he finally said, his voice shaky, which earned a small smile from Artemis.
After she secured the wrapping, she got up and started to arrange everything back into the first aid kit. As she closed the box, Kid Flash was struggling to sit up on the couch. His hands were shaking slightly but he was grinning nonetheless. "Thank you for your help. For you have not only helped me, but the whole community," he announced melodramatically with a flourish of his hand. Artemis scoffed but the sound was more amused than annoyed.
"If you're still trying to flirt, I should tell you now that you suck at it," Artemis informed him but the superhero didn't look phased. He just chuckled, keeping the smile on her face although she quickly dropped it.
Kid Flash was wiggling his leg slightly, as if testing it. Artemis quirked a skeptical eyebrow at him. "You do know that will take at least a couple of months to heal, right?" She winced when she saw him put a bit of pressure on the leg.
"You do know I'm a meta-human with super fast healing, right?" he shot back as he turned and propped his leg up on the coffee table. "This will be like a sprain in forty five minutes or so."
"So no kicking you out before that time? Great." The redhead put on a mock frown and Artemis just smirked as she took her place in the small sofa once more. Pulling her legs under her, she watched him curiously. He stared right back. "So, Kid Flash... How'd you break your leg?"
Kid Flash grinned. "Would you believe me if I told you I was blinded by your beauty in the window and tripped?"
"No."
"Fine. I ran into a pothole. Landed awkwardly trying to break the fall." He gave a small shrug and Artemis raised an eyebrow. That wasn't exactly what you'd expect of a superhero but then again, no one smart enough to avoid potholes would be dumb enough to wear yellow spandex.
He glared at his now bare leg and sighed, letting his head flop dramatically against the back of the couch. "Barry is going to give me the biggest lecture," he groaned quietly as he brought up his hands to rub at his face. Artemis leaned closer, intrigued. Barry?
"Who's Barry?" she asked and the redhead froze, hands dropping down. He was sporting a flawless deer-caught-in-the-headlights look and Artemis' interest was definitely piqued.
After what looked like a few minutes of brainstorming, Kid Flash came up with an astoundingly smart, "no one," as his reply. Artemis resisted the urge to laugh. Yeah, he definitely wasn't the sharpest tool in the tool box. Or maybe he was just a horrible liar.
"Barry... Barry's the flash, isn't he?" Artemis took a guess and judging by the brief panic that flashed across the redhead's face, her shot in the dark had hit its target. Her triumph must have been visible on her face because the speedster groaned and started smacking his forehead with the palm of his hand.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he mumbled and Artemis almost felt sorry. Almost. Deciding to quench her curiosity even further, she got up and sat down cross legged next to the redhead. He watched her warily which was pretty ironic considering he was the stranger who she'd let in at four in the morning.
"So, since you've already given me the Flash's name, you might as well tell me yours," Artemis said, examining her nails with a poorly hidden smirk on her face.. He seemed to think it over for a while before giving in. "Fine. I'll tell you my secret identity but only because I really feel like we share a special bond-"
"Just get on with it."
Kid Flash stuck out a hand. "Wally West, at your service."
Silence reigned in the room before Artemis let out a very un-ladylike snort. "Your name's really Wally?"
Wally pouted as Artemis started laughing. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," he said sullenly, withdrawing the hand he'd offered up for a handshake and crossing his arms instead.
"I'll make you a deal," Artemis said as she tried to get her breath back but the devious grin was still stuck on her face. Wally looked very skeptical but still nodded. "I won't make fun of your name if you remove your mask."
Wally narrowed his eyes before shaking his head. "Why should I? It's called a secret identity for a reason, y'know."
"Fine. Let me just go google your name then..."
The speedster sighed and Artemis smiled victoriously. Not that she'd ever admit it to the guy, because his ego already seemed big enough, but this was probably the most interesting thing that had happened to her in a while. Grabbing the bottom of the cowl, he lifted it off his face. It fell down his back, resting like the hood of a sweater.
Gray eyes started scanning the newly revealed face. He looked older without his mask- she had a feeling it was the obnoxiously yellow color - and his flaming red hair had been ruffled even worse by the removal of the mask. In accordance his hair were a few freckles strategically splattered over his nose and onto his cheeks. And then realization hit her like a strategic punch. She was staring. Like staring, staring. She wouldn't have been surprised if her mouth had been hanging open. Thankfully it wasn't. Honestly, if that wouldn't have been the biggest blow to her dignity...
"So," Wally started, combing his wild hair down with his hand, seemingly unaware of Artemis' inner turmoil, "we got about forty minutes to spare until I can zeta back."
Artemis nodded, despite not having a clue what a 'zeta' was. "Maybe we can watch the-"
"TV's broken," she intercepted before he could finish his question. Artemis yawned and rubbed her eyes. A glance at the clock. 4:53.
Wally followed her gaze and smiled sheepishly. "I'm making you lose sleep," he stated and the blonde shook her head.
"It's no big deal. I would have woken up in an hour or so anyway." The speedster looked skeptical but he kept quiet. Soon after, Artemis started bombarding him with questions. What exactly are your powers? Have you ever met Green Arrow? Is Batman as scary as he looks?
The redhead, pleased with all the attention, answered every question with a smile. Twenty minutes later, Artemis's eyelids started to flutter closed and a couple of minutes after that she was out cold.
…...
"Artemis, I'm home."
Artemis's eyes snapped open and she quickly registered that she wasn't in her room. Sitting up, she found herself on the couch in the living room. Paula walked into the living room and fixed her daughter with a questioning look. The blonde stared back, as if falling asleep on the couch had been her plan all along. Her mom simply sighed and walked back out, deciding not to ask any questions.
When she heard the door to Paula's bedroom close, she stood up and looked around. The first aid kit along with everything else she'd brought out earlier this morning was gone. It looked as of the speedster had never been here at all. Artemis shrugged. At least her good deed for the year was done. Glancing at the clock, her breath hitched in her throat. She had 10 minutes to get dressed and get to school. Cursing, she ran to her room, pushing her late night escapades to the back of her mind. For now.
…...
"Artemis, hurry up."
"Coming," she shouted back as she ran towards the entrance of Gotham North. Her small group of friends were waiting at the door, nervously glancing at the bell as if willing it not to ring. She sprinted through the door and her stack of books were placed in her arms. Thanking them, she watched as they disappeared down the hall. She headed in the opposite direction, opening the door to the classroom just as the bell rang.
…...
"Let's go. I'm starving."
Artemis practically dragged her companion forward, wanting to get to food – any sustenance really- before her stomach caved in on itself. She'd had to skip breakfast due to her little late night superhero rescue and was just about ready to kill for a sandwich. Pushing back a few students in her hurry, it took the blonde a few moments to realize that something was off. A large crowd had formed and when she finally started to listen to something other than her growling stomach, she realized it was quiet. As in way, way too quiet for a school hallway during lunch break.
"What is it?" she whispered to the student standing closest to her but her question was answered before the guy even opened his mouth. A loud crash and the sound of shattering glass had students running and screaming in every direction and Artemis barely managed to avoid getting trampled over. As the crowd thinned slightly, she could see what was causing the commotion. She wished she hadn't.
A car had smashed through the huge window at the end of the hall and three burly looking men were exiting it, all carrying weapons. Following the wailing sound of sirens was a round of gunshots and Artemis dropped to the ground, covering her ears. Trying to sprint away now would most likely end up with her getting shot and she had no intention of dying with her teeth unbrushed. Slowly, she started to crawl away, wincing at the glass shards digging into her knees and palms. A bullet landing mere feet away from her stopped Artemis right in her tracks and she ducked her head at the sound of approaching footsteps. "Where do you think you're going, Missy?"
Artemis was yanked to her feet and after only a moment of struggling, a cold, steel barrel was pressed to her temple. "Now be a good girl and help us get from the cops, won't 'ya?" the man rumbled, dragging her back over to the crashed car. As soon as she came into view of the policemen, the gunfire seized. "Nobody go do something stupid, now," the man, a robber Artemis assumed from the bags full of cash in the car. "We wouldn't want this pretty lil' lady to get hurt." A sweaty hand stroked the side of her face and Artemis snapped away on instinct before headbutting the guy. Her flight instinct winning over the fight, she made a run for it. Just as she was about to round the corner, a sharp pain in her calf made her crumple down to the ground.
However, before her body came into contact with the glass covered floor, Artemis suddenly felt like she was trapped in a storm. Eyes tearing up, she grabbed tightly onto the closest thing to her, wondering what the hell else could go wrong today. Seconds later, she could finally breathe again. Gasping, her eyes opened to see a very familiar, very obnoxious canary yellow. "You."
"Hey again," Kid Flash said with a grin, staring down at her. That's when she realized that she was being held in the guy's arms and her arms were tightly wrapped around his neck. The sound of gunfire was nowhere to be heard and the only sign that the scene had ever taken place was the searing pain in Artemis's leg. "I think the coast is clear," she said pointedly, still pretty shaken but not enough so that she was going to be carried around like some damsel in distress.
"Yup, looks like it. You're welcome, by the way." Always so cocky.
"I meant you can put me down now, Spandex," Artemis sighed, making the redhead frown.
"Aww, no kiss for the hero?"
Slapping his chest, she clambered out of his grip, tears springing to her eyes when she tried to put weight on her injured leg. Begrudgingly, she grabbed onto Kid Flash for support. "What, you're just going to leave the robbers to the police?" she asked, looking around him to try and spot Gotham Academy. The hero shrugged casually and with a fine, he blasted away.
From the distance, she heard gunfire and with a pained groan, she sat back down on the ground. Her leg was bleeding pretty badly and she wondered if she'd be able to hobble to the street to hitch a ride to the hospital. Before she'd finished the thought, a gust of wind announced that Kid Flash had returned. "Done. Now, how 'bout we fix your leg and make us even?" he said cheerily. Artemis grumbled something unintelligible but complied. After making a failed attempt to get back up on her feet, she was swept back into the redhead's arms with an undignified shout.
…...
Artemis awoke to the sound of mumbling and as her eyes slowly opened, the room went quiet. Her vision came into focus and she saw that her hospital room was full of people – kids from Gotham high, her mom and two police officers. After a brief inquiry by the policemen and some worried babble from her mother, her school mates all seemed anxious to hear about what exactly had gone down. However, just as one opened his mouth to speak, the door to the room opened and one more person was added to the sick bed party.
The room quieted immediately and Artemis only had to wonder why for a second as for the third time, glaring yellow stared back at her. Whispers of "is that Kid Flash?" and "woah, what's he doing here?" passed around the room, making the superhero in question grin proudly. "How's your leg?" he asked as he reached Artemis's bed and she shrugged nonchalantly.
"I've been better," she answered casually, well aware of everyone's eyes on them. "Probably would have been worse if you hadn't showed up, though," Artemis finally added, a glint of something flashing in the green eyes staring down at her.
"Just doing my duty," he announced, not just to her but to everyone in the room, drawing a groan from the blonde.
"Yeah, yeah, you're a real gentleman," she dismissed, noticing how people seemed to be hovering closer.
"I am, aren't I? Which is why it's strange that I didn't get a reward..." he glanced around at the people listening in, their intrigue rising. "All I wanted was a tiny peck on the cheek. I mean, I did save your life..." Even though Artemis couldn't see it, she was just sure that his eyebrows were raised under that stupid cowl.
The people in the room either aw-ed or made some noise of protest, clearly not pleased that Artemis had not, as it seemed, paid up. As the complaints built up, and Kid Flash seemed to be cheering them on, Artemis finally broke. "If it gets rid off you," she said loudly to be heard over the noise, grabbing Kid Flash's wrist and pulling him down with surprising strength. Not accounting for the force she'd used to drag the hero down, her aim was off, causing her lips to generously grace Kid Flash's lips. The room went fairly quiet and Artemis felt her face heat up. When the redhead pulled away, she could have sworn she saw a tint of red on his cheeks as well.
She could still feel his breath on her face, as Kid Flash hadn't moved very far away, and Artemis's heart pounded in her chest. Thinking about how she had, in just the last 24-hours, helped a superhero and managed to get herself shot, Artemis figured: what was one impulsive move to add to the list?
"Ah, to hell with it." Reaching up to grab at the cowl, she tugged Kid Flash's face down to meet hers. The smoldering kiss was very quick to turn into something almost inappropriate, seeing as the room was still stuffed full with people. She could have sworn she heard a camera go off. But she couldn't have been sure. Her mind was somewhere else at the moment. Finally, at the sound of someone clearing their throat, the kiss was broken, leaving Artemis slightly breathless. And then she was looking straight at her mother, who was staring at Kid Flash.
"Hey, mom," she started, feeling blood rising to her cheeks. "Do you think you could get me some food from the cafeteria?"
Paula shot her daughter what was almost a disapproving look but underneath it was a glimmer of a smile. However, the warning look she sent the hero was anything but a smile. Artemis could sort of read it as a "hurt my daughter and break you into tiny pieces." She guessed that Kid Flash read the look in the same way, as his eyes widened slightly in panic. After Paula left, it only took a well aimed glare to get the rest of the people to usher out of the room, the last one to go being that a tiny freshman that seemed to have winked at Kid Flash.
Silence reigned for a few moments. "Damn. I should save your life more often," he finally breathed and Artemis smacked his chest half-heartedly, still in an almost happy daze.
"Shut up, you perv," Artemis scolded, but she couldn't keep her lips from quirking up.
"Oh, she calls me a pervert, after giving that kiss." With a laugh, he dodged another one of her blows, taking a seat on the bed. Silence reigned between them for a good while and Artemis had started to consider throwing him out, just to get rid of the embarrassment she felt. "Soooo," the hero finally spoke up. "How would you like to go on a date with a real life superhero?"
Artemis couldn't help a short laugh of surprise. She thought she saw a glimmer of hope beneath the cowl and after a moment of thought, she realized that at least she couldn't complain that her life was boring anymore. "I think that sounds alright." She smiled and the goofy grin on Kid Flash's face widened even further. "Just as long as his name's not Wally or anything stupid like that."
"Hey!"
…...
A/N: Nothing makes me happier than reviews, especially reviews telling me that I haven't fucked up my ability to write my two favorite idiotheads. So let me know what you thought, thanks for reading!