Author's Notes: This is my first multichapter fic for Young Justice. It takes place after episode 20 ("Coldhearted") and while there aren't overt spoilers, I'm putting a spoiler warning for all aired episodes up to 20. The main characters are Wally and Artemis and there will be eventual Wally/Artemis; as for other pairings, there will be M'gann/Conner, slight one-sided Wally/M'gann, and slight Robin/Zatanna.
This chapter is also kind of short, mostly because it's serving as the prologue. The other chapters should be longer than this one.
Artemis was not having the best of days.
First, she had been late to school and then when she got there she realized that she had forgotten about the chemistry test her class was supposed to have. Then, after school she had gotten into an argument with her mother and now she was late for the team meeting.
Well it was less a team meeting than it was a support group for Zatanna; she had been going through some of her father's old spell books and wanted to practice some of them. They had all agreed to watch her practice and then get pizza and watch some movies, and she was late.
But not that late; she can hear Zatanna attempting to cast something so she hurries up towards the living room. She's just skidding to a halt when suddenly she's blinded by a bright light and there's a loud ringing in her ears and then-
everything changed.
Wally was having a pretty good time; he was sitting next to Robin and Kaldur on the couch, drinking soda, and trying to be supportive of his new teammate. Zatanna hadn't been having much luck tonight; so far, she hadn't been able to work any of the spells in her father's book and her frustration was really starting to show.
After another failed attempt at turning an apple into a cat, she groaned and collapsed back onto a couch, next to M'gann and Conner. Wally winced imperceptivity when he looked over at the couple; M'gann and Conner were holding hands and he had to fight the urge to disappear into the kitchen. Tonight, wasn't about him or his lack of a love life, it was about helping Zatanna.
So, he forced a grin and exclaimed, "Don't worry about it, Zatanna. You just need a little more practice is all."
Zatanna smiled faintly but it didn't reach her eyes. "Dad always made magic looks so easy…but I'm just not getting it."
He shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what to say; he had never lost any family members so he never really knew what to say whenever Zatarra was brought up. The others looked just as uncomfortable as he felt but Robin jumped in:
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Z, it's not aster."Zatanna's smile widened a bit at that and Robin kept going, "Try one more spell and whenever Artemis gets here we'll whip out the pizza.'
She nodded and went to look through the book for something else to try; in the meantime, Wally leaned back in his seat and imagined the pay back he was going to give Artemis for the time she gave him a hard time for being late.
A few minutes later, Zatanna, book balanced on her lap, began to recite: "Nrut kcab eht kcolc".
She narrowed her eyes in concentration, staring hard at the apple, and kept repeating that sentence. He really hoped this would work; Zatanna needed something to go right in her life right now.
Frustration began to creep back into her voice, but she kept going. He was just about to get up and for a soda when suddenly three things happened:
Artemis skidded to a halt in the living room.
Zatanna, surprised, jumped up and her spell, which now finally decided to work, hit Artemis right in the chest.
"Artemis!" He shouted and, for someone who claimed to be the fastest boy alive, he found he was moving all to slow. Before he could reach out to Artemis, a bright light blinded him and he was forced to cover his eyes.
A few minutes later the light receded and he opened his eyes to see not Artemis but a little blonde girl standing in her place. She was small and her clothes, which fit Artemis just fine, were much too big on her. She was staring intently at them, fear evident in her, no Artemis', eyes.
Everyone was silent for a long moment and Wally felt completely frozen to his spot in front of the girl. Finally, M'gann, half standing from the couch, asked, "Artemis?"
The girl stared at her and responded, "How do you know my name?"
Zatanna cursed softly, "Shit."
Yeah, thought Wally, that pretty much sums it up.
Author's Notes: Constructive criticism is accepted.