Artemis hated to say it, but Zatanna Zatara was a bewitching little bitch. Artemis's own personal shadow. Her BFF. Whenever the brunette spotted the archer, she made a beeline right for her. It really shouldn't surprise Artemis. Girls like Zatanna would see something that didn't quite make sense. Scratch off the scab to get to the wound as blood trickled down.

Artemis didn't have problems. Okay, she did, but none that Zatanna could just wish and hug away. It made her wonder sometimes why she put up with her, but that wasn't a real question. She knew.

Sometimes (all the time) she wanted to reach out and touch that shiny black hair, see if her skin was as soft as it looked. Make her laugh and smile all the time. Listen to that voice forever. How she'd looked if Artemis could make her fall apart in ecstasy. How complete and soothing and warm and alive the other girl was.

And then her life lessons would catch up with her fantasies and snap her back to reality. She wasn't the type the other girl would want or need. How did she even know if she swung that way? It was stupid.

She couldn't stop herself from being around her. She didn't have that kind of willpower. But as buddy-buddy as she could act, she couldn't ever let her in.

Zatanna wouldn't seem nearly so appealing broken and bleeding and dead in Artemis's cold hands.