Chapter threeeeee! Here we go!

"Would you like a bag?" The man asked, his eyes locked on the cash register.

"Huh?" Wally questioned back, whipping his head around to remember what he was doing, "Oh, Yeah, please," He mumbled, frowning as he looked around the store.

The feeling of eyes watching him had been ever present for at least a week since the trail incident. It was really messing with his attentiveness.

"Your bags, Sir," The man insisted, thrusting the items towards Wally's chest and grabbing his attention once more.

"T-Thanks," Wally responded half-heartedly, clutching his precious food purchases and heading out of the store. His green eyes scanning around for anyone that looked suspicious.

He was getting paranoid. Everyone looked suspicious.

The stifling air of the summer sweltered in the parking lot and Wally wished he had a free hand to rub at his neck. He hoped his ice cream didn't melt on the way home, he hoped that he made it home. His paranoia was making things very difficult. Everything moved. Everything was dangerous.

Someone was following him.

He could feel it.

The metal of the truck door was burning hot to the touch so Wally used his t-shirt as a barrier to pull it open. He was setting the bags of treats on the passenger side seat when he heard it the first time.

The redhead froze, hoping that it was just a trick of the mind. That maybe it was just the sound of the plastic bags rustling as he'd set them down.

But then he heard it again.

"Fuck!" Wally cursed, hopping into the driver's seat and closing the door quickly behind him. He reached across the seats to lock the far door and then swiftly locked his own before swiveling around to view anyone that might have been nearby.

In a split second decision his phone was out and he was dialing.

Artemis was cleaning her gun and waiting for an internet search to finish when her phone started ringing. She checked the caller ID before answering, but it was an unknown number.

Best to be safe then.

"Hello?" She answered cautiously, moving to the edge of her seat to comfort herself from the unknown.

"Doreen! It's Wally!" The redhead's voice rang through the speaker quite loudly so she held her phone farther away from her ear. He sounded panicked so she assumed the worst.

"Wally, where are you?"

"Are you following me?!" He accused. Artemis could hear the rumble of a car engine in the background, but it was his words that set her on edge.

"No," She frowned, "But if you think someone is then you should get to me,"

"Fine," Wally relented easily, "Sounds fine. Where are you?"

Artemis gave him the motel number and address and he told her that he'd be there in moments.

With the state he was in, she didn't doubt it.

The blonde put her gun back together and waited by the door with it in hand, peeking out the window to wait for his "rusted red truck". She didn't have to wait but maybe five minutes.

Wally parked with a screech and Artemis watched with raised eyebrows as he pulled various plastic bags out of the truck with him. She opened the door of the motel room and the redhead ushered himself in with a huff.

"She's after me," He declared with finality, tossing the bags onto her bed and launching himself into a chair.

"You mean whoever got your parents?" Artemis asked, locking the door after a quick survey of the area and heading to the bed.

"Yeah, that wheezing that I told you about. I hear it whenever I'm around town. Public places, you know?" He ran his hands through his hair, making it stick up wildly.

"What's this junk?" Artemis wrinkled her nose in confusion as she peeked into Wally's stash.

"That's not junk!" He defended, leaping from the chair to shoo her away from his sweets, his adrenalin still running, "You got a freezer in here?"

She threw him a spoon and he sat down with his ice cream in one hand and the spoon in the other, digging into the frozen treat contently and finally settling down. Artemis smirked in amusement.

"So do you believe me then?" She spoke up, leaning against a wall so that she could watch his face carefully.

"No," Wally responded quickly, "But I think you know more than the cops,"

"Do you have anything new to tell me?" Artemis sighed, slinking into the chair across from him and grabbing another spoon. Wally looked terrified by the object in her hand and scooted his chair back, the pint of ice cream in his hand curled protectively toward his chest. The blonde rolled her eyes and dropped the spoon in surrender.

"Nothing new, just the stalking thing," He quipped.

"Anything would do, really," Artemis pressed, "I've never been this lost on a case before,"

Wally snorted, "That's comforting," He dug further into the ice cream before pausing, "How old are you anyway?" He pursed his lips, "How'd you get into this so young?"

"I'm 19," She answered, "And the rest of that isn't your business. But my name isn't Doreen," She shrugged.

The redhead swallowed a rather large scoop, "What's your real name then?"

"Artemis," The blonde spoke, proudly letting the name roll off of her tongue.

"Artemis," Wally nodded, apparently satisfied.

"So are you sure that there isn't anything else strange around here?" She questioned.

The redhead paused thoughtfully, his eyes narrowing before he shook his head, "Nope, I'm totally normal,"

Artemis let out a loud laugh, "Wow, way to let that out of the bag,"

"What?" He paused with the spoon nearly at his lips.

"I was asking about the city," She smirked, "So what's strange about you?"

"Nothing," Wally answered quickly.

"Wally really, your life could be in danger. Just tell me," Artemis grit her teeth and leaned forward, hoping that she wouldn't have to threaten him.

"It's nothing, honest," He persisted. The blonde narrowed her eyes and stole his gaze, pressing onward, "Okay fine. I'm fast," Wally tossed his spoon hand into the air.

"What do you mean fast?" Artemis frowned, "Be more specific,"

"I can run really, really fast," His green eyes gleamed, "Faster than I should be able to,"

Artemis nodded for him to continue, her chin resting in her hand as she processed how his speed fit into the case.

"My Aunt Iris has been helping me keep track of my times and if the trend continues, I should be beating Olympic records by the end of the month," He let out a long breath of disbelief as he told her, his eyes glued to his legs.

"Wait!" Artemis exclaimed, causing Wally to lose the grip on his spoon and struggle with keeping in in his hold, "Did you say Iris?"

"Uh, yeah," Wally frowned, "So?" He asked, tilting his head to watch as the blonde shuffled her books across the table.

"Is that a family name?" Was her only response as she pulled the laptop to the edge of the table and began furiously clicking around.

"I think so," The redhead mumbled, "I think my great grandmother was named Iris,"

Suddenly there was a video up, "Kaldur!" Artemis breathed, her eyes shimmering with excitement, "We have a lead!"

"Who's that?" Wally asked, leaning over to get a better look.

"Hello, I am Kaldur'ahm," The man introduced himself politely, "And you are?"

"I'm-"

"That's Wally, something's trying to kill him," Artemis summarized quickly, "And I think he's related to Iris," She spoke as she rustled through a well-worn book.

"Iris, really? That is fascinating, let me see if I have something," He nodded before slipping away from the camera.

"Iris who? Who do you think I'm related to?" Wally asked, peering over the blonde's shoulder.

Artemis relented and slid the book across the table for the redhead to see, "In Greece, one of the goddesses they worshiped was the goddess Iris,"

"Wasn't she a rainbow goddess?" He frowned, glancing over the old script.

"She was a messenger goddess," Artemis corrected easily, "It was said that she was as fast as the wind," She turned to raise an eyebrow at him, "Sound familiar?"

"No way," Wally blanched, leaning back in his chair, "I'm atheist,"

"And I don't care," Artemis retorted, "I'm guessing that the name Iris goes back in your family much farther than your great grandmother,"

"Artemis," Kaldur spoke up from the computer, catching their attention, "Iris had one significant enemy, her sister, Arke,"

"You're the best Kal," Artemis grinned, "Anything in there that connects the Bismuth?"

"You're all crazy," Wally spoke up. He was promptly ignored.

"Arke was said to have iridescent wings before they were torn off by Zeus for her betrayal of the Gods," Kaldur read from a heavy book that he held in front of him.

"Bismuth is pretty iridescent," Artemis nodded, "This fits the ticket pretty well,"

"I'm leaving," Wally announced, setting the spoon down onto the table with a clink before walking swiftly towards the door.

"Wally! You can't go! There's an angry goddess after you!" Artemis snapped, standing from her chair to face him.

"Yeah!" He snapped right back at her, snatching up his bag of treats from the bed, "Well you also think I'm related to one, so I think I'll be okay!"

"Wally!"

"Goodbye Artemis!"

The door slammed behind him and Artemis was left with clenched fists and a sinking sensation in her chest. She turned around to hunch over the laptop, "Kaldur he's going to get himself killed with his ignorance!"

"Which is why you must kill Arke first," He smirked.

Artemis let out a sigh to release her frustration and sat back down in her chair, "Right," She said calmly, "How do I do that?"

Artemis narrowed her eyes as she watched the side entrance of the Central City Museum. Her fingers drumming against the steering wheel of her car in impatience. Breaking and entering didn't really faze the blonde any longer.

She didn't consider what she was going to do as "stealing". The plan was to return the blade once she'd finished with it.

It was "borrowing,"

"Come on, big boy," Artemis mumbled, slinking back in her seat to keep herself hidden as the curator of the museum exited, "Go home to mama. I've got work to do,"

The robust man in his crisp suit paused on the staircase down from the side down, resituating his perfectly formed fedora. Artemis rolled her eyes and began shuffling her arm around in the back seat without looking.

"C'mere girl," She smiled when her hand felt the grip of a very familiar gun. Artemis didn't plan to use the beauty, but she also didn't feel comfortable going anywhere without it. The curator was long gone so the blonde slipped out of her car and began confidently striding across the street to her destination.

Rule one of doing something you aren't supposed to: Don't look like you're guilty.

It took her all of a minute to jimmy the side door lock, and even less to reach the closest alarm box and disarm it.

By the five minute mark Artemis had picked up a spare museum map and was making her way through the exhibits to the Greek and Roman section.

"This blade better work," She huffed, stopping at every corner to dodge the security cameras. It would have been more efficient to break into the panic room, but Artemis preferred speed.

The entrance to the Greek and Roman exhibits was about as subtle as the circus and once she'd shimmied her way behind the centurion mannequins, the blade was within sight.

The blonde was thankful that the blade wasn't hidden behind glass, that alone made her job quite a bit easier. One quick snatch and she was heading back out the way she came. A dash through ancient Egypt, a sprint through the Native American display, and Artemis was bursting out the side door.

It was always a relief when the exit came and there weren't a throng of cops waiting on her.

There weren't any excuses that got you out of a red-handed robbery.

Her car welcomed her back with a healthy clunk of machinery and the stolen blade was tossed into the passenger seat.

"A blade that has been dipped in the river Styx!" Artemis announced loudly to the empty car, "Check!"

She glanced over at the short blade when she reached a stoplight, the car rumbling beneath her feet and the chill of a cracked window spilling refreshing air into the enclosure. The blade was maybe the length of her arm, made of bronze, and extremely dull. There was still some mother of pearl inlay shining, although most of it had fallen off.

Artemis really hoped that it had been dipped in the river Styx.

Without that, it was just a dull blade, nothing useful in a fight against a goddess.

Yeah, she was really hoping.

Please please please leave a review! I'm starting to wonder if people are as interested as I'd thought they'd be!

Love, Veg