I do not own Young Justice or this characters, but I do kind of lov them.

Also, I have not given up on my story Silhouettes, this is just a special fic for my friend Sadie, who wanted something with all-black dressed, darker looking Wally which I just simply can't imagine. Sorry love, I hope you like this anyway. Please, enjoy!


Fall, Freshman Year.

It's Saturday evening and Artemis is sitting on her bed. She has her Alice in Wonderland pajamas on, her laptop on her lap and the room for herself.

She's been watching Arrow reruns (because for some reason, she likes the whole hero gig) for about an hour when someone knocks at the door. Her first thought is that Megan must have forgotten something, but then she remembers her roommate uses the key of her room as a pendant as she never looses it. So she groans and puts on a hoodie to hide her pj's shirt (that has a gigant, fluffy version of the white rabbit on it) as she goes to open the door.

Wally West is standing there.

"Dick has a sock hanging on my door" he says.

His obnoxious red sneakers squeak against the floor when he lets himself in.

Artemis is not proud to admit it takes her a couple of seconds to process what's happening and react.

"So what?" she finally says.

Wally, who's been studying the room cautiously, turns to face her, a look of horror on his face.

"What do you mean so what? It's a sock hanging from my door knob, Artemis. It's practically an international sing!" he stares incredulously at her "He is getting lucky in there and telling me to leave".

Artemis just stares at him. But then she realizes that yes, hanging a sock is something Dick will do if he was indeed getting lucky and wanted Wally to leave.

"Well" she says "So maybe he is with a girl. It's eight o'clock on a Saturday, let him be"

"Exactly!" Wally exclaims loudly "It's eight o'clock, not even night, which probably means that girl is not doing this drunk".

He lets himself fall on Artemis' bed. Probably because it's already messy and Megan's impeccable.

"Well, what do you expect me to do about it?"

"I don't think there's much you can do, actually, except for maybe finding that girl a psychologist" he turns to look at her, still spread out on her purple sheets.

"You do realize it's probably Zee, right?" Artemis asks.

"Exactly my point" he replies shrugging "But anyway, I've been, as my neighbor next door Mal Duncan likes to call it, sexiled. So I need a place to hang out".

He makes a gesture to embrace the whole room with his hands.

"What, here!?" Artemis exclaims, repeating his gesture "No. Go to Conner and Kal's room or something."

"Conner has Megan over and Kal is with his friends Garth and Tula for the weekend, remember?" honestly, she had forgotten all about that, which makes her feel guilty because Kal was super excited to see Tula. "And I don't really feel like hanging out with Mal and her girlfriend, I always feel like a third wheel"

"Well don't you have more friends?" she asks.

Because they've known each other for a month an a half and he has this way of getting under her skin like nobody else. And okay, they hang out together a lot, because they have the same group of best friends. And maybe he had shared his umbrella with her a couple of days ago and had walked her to her dorm, despite the fact that his building was closer to the labs they had been coming from. And he's helped her with her chemistry a couple of times, but just because he's a genius and she sucks and then she had felt like she needed to thank him so she had bought him a box of his favorite cookies both times.

But let's get real, those things do not exactly mean they are friends.

But then Wally sits up to look her in the eye and shakes his head in disbelief.

"We are friends" he says, sounding absolutely sure.

Artemis thinks that the cookies probably sealed the deal for him.

And of course, Wally's stomach chooses this moment to rumble loudly. Right on cue.

He covers it with his hands, looking slightly embarrassed.

"I don't have any food" Artemis says.

It's not exactly true. Megan probably has a tray of chocolate cupcakes in her dresser, she likes keep a small amount of them there all the time, to offer them as a way of comfort whenever someone needs it, but mostly so they can devour them all during the girl's nights with Raquel and Zatanna.

You never know when chocolate may be necessary, she decides, and she's been seeing Wally eat since September, if she tells him about the cupcakes, she can kiss them all goodbye.

"You don't have food?" Wally repeats, making a face "What kind of people can live without any food in their dorms?"

"The kind of people that have not the eating habits of several wild animal combined" she replies instantly.

Wally sticks his nose in the air.

"The cafeteria downstairs has the biggest burgers ever" she blurts out. Before she has time to regret it, tough, Wally's whole face lights up and he gives her a big, genuine smile.

"I love hamburgers" he reports.

"You are paying" Artemis informs him, opening her closet to look for a pair of jeans.

"What are you doing?" Wally asks, completely ignoring her. He's already out of the bed and apparently heading for the door.

Artemis finally finds her blue jeans and lifts them with one hand. (they were not in the closet, but in the pile of clean clothes she always keeps in her chair, for some reason. Most of the time she swears she has not idea how they get there in the first place).

"I have to change" she says.

Wally blinks blankly at her, like he can't honestly imagine why she would need to change anything. She looks down at herself, self-conscious. The sweatshirt is no so bad, purple, with an arrow-like logo on the center, but the pajama pants are definitely a no-go.

She should probably put a pair of shoes on.

"Fine" Wally blurts out, startling her "I'll wait for you outside" he informs.

Artemis smiles. Despite all the showing off and the bragging, he is always a gentleman. She has a feeling it's no so much the southern education as it is him growing up with his mom and his Aunt Iris and Joan Garrick (who may as well be his grandma, as far as Artemis can tell).

It doesn't take her much time to get dressed, not that it usually does. That's more a Megan thing, Artemis spends at least half an hour waiting for Megan to get ready whenever they are going out. And Zatanna waiting for Artemis, which is ridiculous, because Zee is always the most dressed up and flawless of them and she can do it so fast Artemis swears it's like she's magical.

Zatanna believes all you have to do is dress the part of a romcom heroine, and eventually, the whole world would believe you are one. It should be ridiculous, but it absolutely works for her, like, she has all those guys offering to do things for her, and every animal loves her for some reason and she's pretty much dating the heir of the Wayne empire who is also a genius.

She's also a really funny girl with a whole lot of compassion, so it may have something to do with that too.

"Artemis, come on!" Wally whines from the other side of the door "I'm dying here"

"Relax, Kid Mouth" she replies opening the door and making sure he key is in her pocket before stepping outside "It's not like you haven't eaten in the last two hours".

Wally mumbles something unintelligible, which she knows means she is right.

It takes them less than five minutes to get to the cafeteria. There's an elevator in the building, but for some reason it keeps getting stuck every other day and Artemis is not willing to risk being trapped inside a small box with Wally.

So they take the stairs.

She has to pay for her hamburger after all, because Wally has not enough money on him to pay for everything he wants and her food too.

"It's okay" he tells her, smoothing the few bucks he's just taken from his pocket like that will make them multiply "I can still get my fries extra larges if you want a regular burger. I mean, you don't have to have a regular one, you can ask for the big one or you know, one of those special with the whole bunch of things, I'd like one of those actually. But you know, you choose and I'll adapt, or whatever".

As much as she likes seeing his ears turn redder with every word he blurts out, she can practically feel his brain suffering in the vain attempt of shut his mouth. She should know, she has unsuccessfully tried to get him to shut up many times before.

"Wally" she interrupts, holding up her right hand to get him to stop. It takes him a few seconds but finally his mouth closes "Relax, I'm going to pay for my regular cheesburger"

He frowns.

"But I..."

"Just stop it. It's okay. I know you wanted to invite me, or whatever" which is totally true, because that's just how Wally is "I just want you to get you food. All of it".

Which is also true, mostly because paying herself beats hearing his stomach complain about it in just a couple of hours (seriously, talk about high metabolism).

Wally opens and closes his mouth a couple of times more, like trying to find the right words to refuse. But finally he just smiles and nods at her, hurrying to get in the line.

They choose a table next to the window, and end up talking about pretty much everything from Conner's upcoming football game ("He has a talent for slamming into enormous guys and knock them into the ground") to Dick and Zatanna ("she has him wrapped around her little finger"). And it's not even a little bit awkward or strange.

Wally can jump from one topic to another in less than a second. She knows that because sometimes, when they and Dick and Megs and Conner and Kal are studying all together she sits by Wally's side and watches him flip through science journals and articles full of words Artemis doesn't know how to even read, getting exited about this or that experiment he could totally pull off or improve, probably without blowing himself up in the process, before suddenly remembering his actual classes and abruptly closing his laptop (because, apparently, he was so irritatingly good at science that he could do his homework without needing to look for information or check his facts).

Most of the time, Artemis has the sensation that no matter how fast Wally is (and he is pretty damn fast, as much as it pains her to admit it), he's not able to catch up with his brain speed most of the time.

"What's with the black?" she finally asks, when it's clear they are never going to agree on what How I Met Your Mother season is the best one.

Wally says something through a handful of fries, and it sounds like "what?" but Artemis is not sure.

"Your clothes" she explains, pointing to him with his chin "What's with all the black?"

She's used to see Wally as this splash of color against everything surrounding him. A lot of it has to do with the fiery red hair and the green eyes and all those freckles spread around the bridge of his nose and his ears and down his neck. But his clothes usually help: his favorite pair of sneakers are bright red and he likes to use blue or maroon or white shits and sweatshirts with his light jeans.

Today, though, he is wearing a pair black jeans and a black hoodie, his sneakers being the only reminder of his usual appearance.

"You don't like it?" he says smiling at her before grabbing his last amount of fries "I'm just thinking about dressing more according to my gothic inner self from now on"

Artemis can't imagine anyone being less gothic than Wally. He talks a mile per hour most of the time, and he likes to gesture and point widely when he's excited about what he's saying. And he is a smiler. A real one. His freckles spread around and his nose wrinkles up, and instead of almost disappearing, like they do when he is laughing, his eyes seem to grow larger.

"Or" he says "Conner wanted help with some animals this morning, and I wore black so I wouldn't ruin my clothes".

Conner is a vet student, and he actually loves animals. But he has an habit of volunteering to take care of them during extracurricular hours and then having to find someone to help him do so. The only one who ever offered help anymore was Megan, but as she was more a distraction to Conner from the animals than an aid, it was often the boys who ended up in an animal shelter or a barn.

"Hey" Wally suddenly says "Now that we ate together, can I use some of those chemicals you get from your biology's labs?"

"You already used them before" Artemis replies.

Some days she would come back from class and find one or two of the little tubes missing, and Megan always sang like a bird as soon as Artemis frowned in her direction. They can't take out of the lab the dangerous ones but still, is a good thing he is a science prodigy and knows how to use them properly, because she would whip the floor with any other person who tried to take them.

"I know" Wally says not looking apologetic at all "But I usually felt bad about it".

Artemis just shakes her head, and in the movement something catches her eye.

Something blue.

She instinctively ducks under the table.

After a second, she can hear Wally's laugh and his face appears next to hers.

"Well, hello there" he is bended in a strange position on his chair to fit, but his body is still shaking with laughter.

"Shut up" Artemis mumbles, feeling her face flush.

"Oh, come on. Who are you hiding from?" he stretches into a siting position again, and she can practically feel his head turning in every possible direction, so she tugs on his jeans and he looks down again.

"The girl with the blue hair" she says "Don't look!"

Wally's head snaps up in a second.

"I said don't look!" she hisses hitting his left leg.

"Fine geez" he is back down again "You mean the one so pale she seems to have ice skin?"

"Krystal Frost" Artemis confirms. "And I am not hiding from her"

Wally's mouth turns upwards until it's a full grin.

"She says as she crawls under a table" he says in a singing voice.

She kinda of wants to punch him, to be honest.

"I can't stand her" Artemis explains, because no way is she gonna let him think she's scared or something "But his family owns the company my mum works for".

Wally lets out a low whistle.

"That sucks".

Pointing out the obvious is kinda of one of his specialties too.

"Okay" he says, clapping his hands "How do we get out of here without her noticing?"

"Quietly and quickly" Artemis replies instantly, eying him.

Wally looks innocently at her, pretending he doesn't know why she's giving him a warning look. Like he can't remember all the times he has tripped with his own feet or bumped against people or hit inanimate objects when he is excitedly rushing somewhere.

"Quietly and quickly. It has a ring to it, don't you think?" his face brightens and he sends her a toothy smile "It's a ninja slogan".

"What?"

"Yeah you know. Like, if I had a ninja business, I'll use it as our memo or something. So the client knew we were the best".

Artemis stares incredulously at him. Then she snaps out of it and groans.

"I swear you were dropped a few times on your head as a baby" she says, deadly serious "There's no other way you could have come up being such an idiot".

Wally just shrugs.

"Maybe" he looks worriedly pleased with the possibility.

"Okay, ninja. Let's just get out of here".

"At your orders, commander. Do the ninjas have a commander? Never mind. At your orders, super-spy ninja leader!" he salutes her, which turns out kind of awkward under the table.

"You cover me until we reach the door. Then we run" she answers in a low, serious voice.

Wally stares at her.

"Is that your super-ninja voice?" Artemis nods and he wrinkled his nose "We'll work on that one".

Her plan works out perfectly (hello? of course it does) and Wally spends the whole five minutes it takes them to get back to her room explaining in detail why ninjas are incredibly undervalued (apparently, everyone prefers being a secret agent this days) and then he somehow manages to throw Star Wars into the babbling and really, how much more of a nerd can you get?

Artemis doesn't really want to find out the answer to that question, so she tells him she's never seen Star wars and to stop being a geek, please, it's giving her a headache. Of course, Wally freaks out about her confession and insists of seeing the movies.

And she just turns on her laptop because she wants him to shut up, honestly, it's not like she wants to sit with him on her bed for hours, because there's barely enough room and the whole length of his left legs is pressed against every inch of her right one and they arms keep brushing and she can feel him breathe and every nerve ending in her body is suddenly alive and boozing.

She thinks it's possible she may pass out right now (she does not faint, thakyouverymuch, she's not a freaking princess).

They do not watch Star Wars in the end, but a movie about two rival ninja clans ("Artemis, it's like, fate! Come on, pleaaaaase put that movie"). It's not a really good one, but she has fun teasing Wally, who is convinced he's the guy when he actually is just like the fried, and she should know because if Artemis is someone in that movie, she definitely is the awesome ninja girl from the rival clan. The joke is on her, though, because it turns out the guy is just the friend and the friend is the one who gets the girl, and Wally doesn't stop laughing about her calling him her ninja boyfriend from the moment the two characters kiss to the credits. And even through them she can feel his chest shake with laughter every once in a while, until she falls asleep.

When they wake up it's Sunday morning.

The sun burns through the open window and Dick's badly muffled crackles act as an alarm clock. Her laptop is on the floor (damn it) and they are tangled together, still over her sheets and fully clothed except for their shoes.

Megan is sitting on her bead beaming at them, clearly being restrained from jumping at them by an amused Conner. Kal is on the door, clearly uncomfortable with the invasion of privacy his friends are committing. Zatanna is practically crying from laughing so hard and Dick has a freaking camera.

Wally mumbles something that sounds like morning in her ear before shouting some colorful expression in Dick's direction. The skinny trolls keeps laughing and says something back Artemis can't bother to process, but that makes Wally bolt from the bed and chase after his best friend out the door.

There's a shriek and a crash and everyone hurries outside to watch what Artemis already knows is Wally on the floor trying to take Dick down with him.

But she stays there, just laying on the top of her bed. It's still warm and if she tries hard enough she can still smell pine laundry detergent, which is Wally's favorite.

So she closes her eyes again and stretches out. Trying to sink it all in.