AN: Just something that's been stuck in my head since watching "Bereft". Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I do not, nor ever will, own Young Justice. Though props to the writers who thought it up and Cartoon Network for signing it.

Three days after the Bialya incident it was official; Kid Flash (a.k.a. Wally West) was acting…not like himself; weird, even for him. He had gone from flirting with M'Gann constantly to not really ignoring her, but not really going out of his way to talk to her either. When he did talk to her though, it was with the polite, friendly tone used between teammates and friends. Gone were his pathetic attempts at pickup lines and all the flirting. Heck, he didn't even go out of his way to try and impress her anymore! On missions, hanging out at Mount Justice, wherever, he acted almost…normal. Well, at least as normal as one could get as a young superhero-in-training-that-is-part-of-a-covert-operations-team-run-by-Batman. Case-and-point of this newfound "normalcy" of Wally's happened just an hour earlier. He had been wandering down the halls (probably on his way to play video games with Robin) and made a detour into the kitchen to grab something quick to munch on. Both Artemis and M'Gann were there, the latter baking cookies while the former simply kept her company. Artemis, of course, rolled her eyes and fully expected to watch yet another pathetic attempt on Wally's part to get the Martian girl to notice him as more than a friend. As it turned out, she was in for a surprise.

"Oh, hey girls," the speedster on the team said as he wandered into the kitchen. "I'm just going to grab something to eat and I'll get out of your way."

"Hey Wally," the green girl replied, a bright smile on her face. "I'm baking cookies, if you want to wait for a minute or two for them to finish."

Wally thought about it for a minute before he shrugged and leaned back against the counter. "Sure, why not. Thanks," he added, polite smile on his face.

"You're welcome," M'Gann said, bright smile still in place.

By this point, Artemis was understandably confused. Wally had been in the same room with M'Gann for at least three minutes and absolutely nothing that could be viewed as flirting came out of his mouth! At first, they had chalked up his weird behavior to the memory loss they had all suffered, but that had finally all been cleared up just the other day. And yet here he was, leaning against the counter and not at all trying to hit on the Martian girl on the team! He was not acting like himself at all and it confused (and irritated, though she wouldn't admit it) Artemis.

"So," Wally began, turning to Artemis, a grin on his face. "What was the name of that movie? You know, the one that had you thinking I was your ninja boyfriend? It might be helpful to figuring out hot, complicated ninja girls."

It was the grin that threw her off, Artemis later told herself. It was that same, cheesy (cute) grin he would flash M'Gann when he tried to flirt with her and Artemis had never once thought it would ever be directed at her (though sometimes she wished it would). "Huh?" she finally managed to ask.

Wally's grin widened and he leaned just a bit closer to her. "Then again, a little mystery never hurt anyone, did it? And I really don't think a movie would do you justice anyway," he added, though his tone had turned…huskier? Whatever it was, Artemis had to fight with herself to keep from having shivers run down her spine and a dark blush blooming on her face.

All Artemis could do was stare at him, blinking a couple times. Just what the heck was going on? Did he lose his mind? Did he not realize that he was flirting with her, Artemis? The girl he had claimed to hate? What about M'Gann? Didn't he like her? She watched as his grin widened just a bit more (making him look, dare she think it, downright hot) before he turned back to M'Gann and swiped a few cookies off the tray.

"Hey, thanks again for the cookies, M'Gann. I'll let everyone else know you've made some," he said before walking out the door.

"Well, that was odd," M'Gann commented. "I wonder if he's feeling okay, he wasn't acting like himself at all. What do you think, Artemis?" When her friend failed to reply, M'Gann turned to see her looking out after where Wally had gone, her mouth open slightly, and a light blush staining her cheeks. "Artemis?"

Once the female archer on the team had gotten over the shock of Wally actually flirting with her (and not doing such a bad job of it), she got more than a little pissed. Really, if she thought about it, this was probably a new way he had come up with to bug her and she'd be damned if she let him make a fool of her. Two can play at your game, she thought smugly as her plans began to form in her mind. And I'm definitely no pushover buddy.

Over the next few days Wally and Artemis continued to flirt back and forth, causing their teammates to begin to question their sanity. Artemis quickly learned, though, that Wally's flirting with her was much different than how he had flirted with M'Gann. With M'Gann he had been goofy and used corny pick-up lines any chance he got, but with her he was more subtle and more genuine. With M'Gann he had used generic lines in hopes of winning her over, but with Artemis each time he flirted he pulled out lines specifically tailored to her and he never missed a chance to call her "Beautiful". The longer it went on, the more Artemis began to question whether or not Wally really was flirting with her just to throw her off. After three more days of the flirting back and forth, she decided she needed answers and she needed them now.

Artemis wandered through their base trying to find the team's speedster. Geez, for such a loud person he sure can hide well when he wants to, she thought. Finally, after looking everywhere else, she finally found Kid Flash in the gym. She watched as he put down the weights he had been using and peel off his thin white wife-beater. She felt her face heat up as his bare chest was exposed and found that she could not tear her gaze away for a moment. She shook her head to clear her mind. Get your head in the game, she berated herself.

"So," she asked as she sauntered into the room. "Do you take off your shirt when anyone comes in, or am I just special?" she asked, a light smirk on her face.

Wally's head whipped up to look at her and Artemis was pleased to see a light blush on his face, even if only for a moment, before an answering smirk spread across his lips. "Hey there, Beautiful. Of course you're special to me. Like what you see?" he asked, gesturing to himself.

Yes, Artemis thought. But there is no way I'm telling you that. Instead, she snorted. "Yeah, sure," she said as sarcastically as she could, though she was chagrined to notice that it didn't come out as sarcastically as she had hoped. From the grin on Wally's face, he knew it too.

"Well, what brings you here?" Wally asked as he turned away, though he left his shirt off. "Got something on your mind?" he continued; a gentle smile on his face.

Artemis took a deep breath, this was it; this was her chance to ask. "Yes, actually, I do have something on my mind. What's wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?" he asked her, looking genuinely confused.

"You haven't flirted with M'Gann once since that mission in Bialya and, instead of fighting, you've been flirting with me!" Artemis exploded on him. "And it's not the same kind of flirting you did with M'Gann; it almost seems like you actually care about me, pay attention to me, and personalize how you flirt with me." She stalked over to him, hands on her hips. "I want to know why. Are you trying to throw me off? Or are you trying to use me to get to M'Gann?" Her eyes widened as that thought hit her. "That's it, isn't it? You're just using me, aren't you?" she whispered. Despite herself, she felt tears prick at her eyes and that annoyed her more than anything. She was not going to cry, especially in front of him; even if she did admit to herself that she liked him. She had actually enjoyed the special attention he had been giving her over the past few days and it hurt to think it had all been a lie. She turned on her heel, intent on storming out, when she felt strong arms lock around her waist.

"Oh no you don't," he whispered in her ear. "You don't get to ask questions like that and then take off before I can answer them. Now, come on," he said as he whisked her into his arms and sped away.

When he finally slowed to a stop, Artemis found that he had run out to the beach and up a ways from their base. He set her down gently and dropped down to sit in the sand. "Sit," he told her. "You know it's no use running, I can catch up easily."

Hesitantly, Artemis sat down next to Wally, though she still refused to look at him. She wasn't too sure if she was angrier at him for leading her on, or with herself for falling for him in the first place. She had gotten by just fine over the years by not letting anyone too close and she shouldn't have broken her rule with the redheaded boy next to her. She huffed in annoyance and crossed her arms across her chest as she gazed out over the water. She was being pathetic! Why should this boy make any difference in who she was? Who was he to change everything she had thought about herself? Who was he to make her actually want to be close to someone for once? And, most importantly, who was he to start tearing down the walls around her heart and worm his way in, whether he knew he was doing it or not?

"When we were in M'Gann's head, trying to get our memories back, I began to realize a few things," Wally began, breaking in to Artemis's thoughts. "Actually, I'd been thinking about some of it since that whole "Doctor Fate" thing, but the Bialya incident really just made it all fit." He was quiet for a moment and Artemis turned to look at him.

"Made what fit?" she asked after a while.

"That M'Gann has no interest in me; she never will," he said with a shrug. "And that I really don't like her the way I thought I did. In M'Gann's mind, it's all about Superboy. Heck, she left the team and Kaldur, who really needed her help, because Superboy was in trouble. Never mind the fact that he's nearly indestructible and could have probably held out long enough to get Kaldur to safety," he shrugged again. "But that's beside the point, I'd kind of worked out some of this on my own anyway, and seeing what she thought about Superboy and watching her abandon the rest of the team to help him really just solidified it for me." He turned to look at her now, his eyes boring into hers and his entire expression telling her he was being completely serious. "After we lost our memories, I found you first. We got along fairly well and, when we finally ran into M'Gann again, and you accused me of knowing her, I wanted nothing to do with her and I found myself hoping that she and I were only friends, just friends, because I didn't want to lose you."

"What?" Artemis asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Do you want to know what really happened to me when I put on that helmet and became Doctor Fate?" he continued on. "My consciousness was sucked inside of the helmet and pushed to the back so the real Lord of Order, Nabu, could use my body to manifest on the physical plane. Kent's spirit was inside the helmet and while Nabu and that witch kid were fighting it out, he and I talked. He explained what was going on and, after it was all over, he gave me some advice. He told me to find my own spitfire, a girl that won't let me get away with my crap all the time. He started to tell me who, but I was back in my body before he could finish his sentence. That got me thinking and, well, I started noticing that M'Gann would just smile and play along, but you would always call me on my crap. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn't hate you; so much as I didn't know how to act around you. You're different from all the other girls I've known. You don't hesitate to call people out and," he smiled at her and Artemis found herself trying to catch her breath. "You kick more ass then a lot of guys I know, despite the fact that you don't have any powers to back you up. You don't hide behind anyone and expect them to save you; you get out there and keep up with the rest of us." He chuckled slightly. "And you don't pretend to like me and put up with me; you call me on my bull and don't hesitate to give as good as you get." He turned away from her and looked out at the ocean. "It confused me and I don't like being confused so, rather than trying to figure it out I just chalked it up to hating you and didn't look any deeper than that. At least until the whole "Doctor Fate" thing happened, but I wasn't really ready to admit I was confused so I tried to push it all to the back of my mind. But the Bialya incident made it all fit for me and I wasn't confused anymore." He laughed again. "It's kind of ironic that it takes losing my memories to put all the pieces together," he finished.

After a moment or two when neither of them had said anything Artemis had enough. "Wally, what are you saying?" she demanded.

"I'm saying," he said, turning back to her. "That I'm not trying to throw you off and I'm definitely not using you to get to M'Gann. She's not into me and, honestly, I'm not interested in her. I never really was I suppose."

"What does that mean for me?" Artemis asked, not willing to let herself hope.

"Come on, Beautiful, I know you're not that dense," he said with a teasing smile. When she didn't say anything, didn't even move, Wally sighed. "You're going to make me say it, aren't you? All right," he said. "Just, don't judge me if this seems awkward. I've never actually said anything like this to a girl." He smiled awkwardly and Artemis was struck by how cute it really was. "You're the first girl I've ever really liked. I mean, sure, I flirt a lot, but I've never actually gotten close to a girl before; I've never really wanted to. But like I said, you're different." He smiled widely. "You're special to me. What I'm trying to say is that I like you Artemis. Not just as teammates, not just as friends, but as much, much more than that." He looked at her then, his expression a mix of hope and anxiety.

Artemis just stared at him for a moment. Did he just say what I think he said, she thought. Did he just confess to me? "Me?" she found herself asking out loud.

"Yeah," Wally replied. "You," he said, his tone still tense and wary.

Without warning she flung herself at him, almost sending them both back into the sand. Wally barely had time to let out a quick "Whoa!" before Artemis's lips found his and anything else he would have said was cut off. He was stunned for a moment and didn't move and Artemis began to pull back, but suddenly his arms wove around her waist and his lips were pressing back against hers, almost as though his life depended on it. Her arms snaked around his neck and one hand began to toy with the soft hair at the nape of his neck. One of his hands wound its way up into her hair as he pulled her into his lap and the last coherent thought she had as they deepened the kiss was; For someone who's never let a girl close before he sure knows how to kiss.

When the need to breath won over their desire to stay attached at the mouth for just a little longer they pulled apart, though Wally kept his arm locked firmly around her waist and she left her arms around his neck. They were both breathing heavily, but he was smiling up at her and Artemis found herself smiling right back at him. Suddenly she scowled and shoved him back into the sand and trying hard not to think about the fact that she was now straddling him.

Wally looked up at the blonde above him, clearly confused. "What?" he asked, evidently still slightly dazed from the kiss.

"Don't think this means I'm suddenly going to start acting like some stupid damsel in distress," she told him forcefully. "I can fight my own battles and I expect you to let me. And," she added with a slight glare at him. "I am most definitely still going to let you know when you're acting like a complete and total idiot. Just cause I like you too doesn't mean that's ever going to change."

He blinked at her for a moment before a large grin broke out across his face and he laughed loudly. "I wouldn't dream of changing you," he told her as he sat back up and wrapped his arms back around her waist. "And I wouldn't dream of fighting your battles for you," he added, a smirk replacing his grin. "You'd probably beat the crap out of me and then move on to the bad guys if I tried."

"Damn right I would!" she told him, wrapping her arms around his neck again. "Now shut up and kiss me."

"Gladly," he whispered to her before his lips were back on hers and she let herself get lost in kissing him again.