A/N: Another story! I couldn't resist writing this one. I just re-watched Moulin Rouge (one of my all time favorite movies) and thought about how cute Artemis and Wally would be in it. I know, I know. I'm obsessed. *shrugs* It happens. The chapters will be on the shorter side because I like the idea of more chapters rather than longer chapters. Sorry if you're not a fan of the short chapters. I think that's all... so, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Young Justice.
Paris, 1900
It had all started one year ago, when he had been young and naïve, wanting only to write about the beauty in the world. He'd wanted to write about love and all the wonderful things that came with it.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Wally thought about how stupid he'd been a year ago. He'd been so obsessed with learning about the lightness of the world, he'd forgotten about the darkness. But he knew everything now. He knew all about how cruel the world could be, how dark someone's life could become. And it had all started with a simple brothel and a beautiful courtesan named Artemis.
Paris, 1899
Wally West stepped off the train full of hope. He gazed around, trying to fill all of his senses with his first gaze of Paris. He was a little disappointed that his first sight was a very rundown train station that permeated the smell of urine and sweat. Shaking his head to remove his negative thoughts, Wally stepped through the train station's door and onto the streets of Paris. He asked directions to his apartment using the rudimentary French he had learned from his Uncle, Barry. He had been shocked when he'd learned Barry had spent three years living in France. Smiling, he thought of all the stories his Uncle had told him of his times in France. The most colorful and ,most likely, lie-filled story had been of his ability to pick of women in no time at all, earning him the nickname 'The Flash.'
Snorting in amusement, Wally focused his attention back on finding his way to his new apartment. The rent was dirt cheap, meaning his apartment would probably have next to nothing in it. Wally mentally smothered a groan at the thought of having to sleep on the floor for a couple nights until he found a cheap sofa. That reminded him that he also needed to find a desk soon. It would be very tricky trying to use his type writer on the floor. Before he could get any farther in his mental checklist, a loud crash had him looking around wildly.
His eyes were immediately drawn to the giant sign right across the street from where he was standing, screaming at him to come inside and enjoy a night of debauchery. Looking at the name of the brothel, Wally could just understand what it meant.
Le Flèche Verte. The Green Arrow.
Looking around for the address so he could come back later that night, Wally realized the building behind him was his apartment. Not believing his luck, Wally entered the house. After stopping at the landlord's apartment to collect his keys, he made his way up to his apartment on the third floor. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, bracing himself for the worst. Looking around, Wally was pleasantly surprised to find that not only did his apartment have a bed, it also had a wide desk that would be perfect for his type writer.
Wally put down his luggage and made his way over to the window, taking in the sight of Paris. He could barely make out the tall pointed tower that was the landmark of Paris in the distance, but he had no trouble seeing every detail of the brothel across the street. Apparently tonight would be the first act of the season by someone named Artemis. Surprised, Wally tried to make out more of the words on the poster but was too far away to see it properly. He had never thought that brothels provided anything more than prostitutes, let alone a show. The red haired man shook his head and chalked it up to another one of the French's quirks.
For the second time that day, a loud crash interrupted Wally's thoughts. He whirled around to find that half of his ceiling had caved in and a man was lying in the middle of the floor, surrounded by plaster. The man had red hair like Wally's, but looked taller and more muscular. He was wearing a red vest and had both a quiver of arrows and a bow strapped to his back. He was also currently fast asleep.
Walking over to the man, Wally looked up through the recently made hole and was amazed to see at least five people looking back at him. Two of the mysterious group members were girls, looking like they were barely older than twenty. One of the girls had auburn hair and huge amber eyes. She had freckles on both cheeks and had a large smile on her face. The other girl had long, black hair and bright blue eyes. Both girls were extraordinarily pretty. The rest of the members were all men who looked little older than their female counterparts. Two had black hair and blue eyes, one very tall and muscular, the other slight and lean. The last man had dark skin and blonde hair, something Wally had never seen combined before.
"Hey there!" the auburn haired said when Wally was done looking at all of them, still with a confused expression on his face. "I didn't know we had a new neighbor." she continued, looking very excited at the prospect and not at all concerned with the fact that they had a large hole in their floor.
"Well, we sure made one hell of an entrance." added the black haired girl.
"Isn't that what we do best?" responded the slim dark haired boy, smirking at the girl who had just spoken.
Wally coughed. "I don't mean to sound rude, but who exactly are you?"
"Hello Megan! We forgot to introduce ourselves. I'm Megan," the auburn haired girl said, pointing at herself, "and that's Zatanna." she pointed at the black haired beauty. "The boys are Connor," she pointed at the muscular black haired boy,"Dick," pointing at the slim black haired boy, "and that's Kaldur!" she said, pointing at the dark skinned boy.
Wally looked down at the sleeping man.
"That's Roy." Dick said. "He's epileptic." he explained when he caught the questioning look Wally shot him.
"I'm Wally" he said, still unsure whether he really wanted to these people to know his name.
"Nice to meet you!" Megan said. Wally was beginning to realize she was by far the friendliest of the group. "Why don't you come up for some lunch? It's the least we could do." she added.
Wally was tempted to refuse on the sole basis of not really trusting the mental stability of the people above him, but his stomach won out. He hadn't eaten in nearly an hour, a lifetime for the red head.
"If you insist." he responded, not knowing his life was about to change forever.
A/N: The first chapter! There are two things I want to ask the readers though. 1) Does anyone speak french? I just used google translate for the translation of Green Arrow, and I know how inaccurate that can be. and 2) Do you guys want less chapters, but longer ones? I'm fine with writing either, so if you have a preference let me know!
Please Review!
~The Dark Princess