Disclaimer- Do not own Young Justice or any of it's characters.
I think this is maybe the chapter a lot of you guys have been waiting for. Just a hunch though.
Also cameos!
o.o.o.o
Chapter Length: 3,950 words
o.o.o.o
The wonderful thing was that nothing really changed between Wally and Artemis after she revealed herself to him. It became just another part of his always growing knowledge about her, and he didn't seem to mind it, which made Artemis far more happy than she ever should have been with one man's opinion of her.
Wally was just as eager as she'd always been to start trying to research into how she was what she was.
She shared her favorite websites on the subjects of gene chimerisms and other such conditions, as well as theories she'd worked out in her head over the years. Some of them were worth a good laugh, since she'd made up a lot of them when she was ten or twelve, but still others were sound; Wally wrote those down on a pad of paper that grew more and more everyday with their own predictions and thoughts on the matter.
Meanwhile their work in the lab continued. They bought two more rats (from the pet store, at Wally's vehement insistence) and progress continued at the same pace.
The only difference was that Artemis felt she could finally be involved to her full potential, letting him know when something would probably not work for her, and sometimes even flat out taking stuff out of his hands to do it herself.
He'd sputter indignantly like it bothered him, but then he'd hover right next to her, shoulder brushing and breath close.
Since they didn't know exactly how her condition came to be, they had to treat her symptoms in the same fashion as before, but Artemis added to both their knowledge by letting Wally run a few diagnostics on her in wolf form. She didn't mind one bit; he listened to her heart, which beat quite faster than when she was a human; he took more blood, as well as some saliva ("Isn't that the same result as blood, you dork?").
Everything was still going very smoothly and Wally was getting confident they could whip up something eventually to at least suppress her natural werewolf aversions to certain compounds.
It would take them months, maybe years, but neither of them seemed to mind.
They weren't going anywhere.
Now that the secret was truly out, Artemis stopped calling the police station's anonymous hotline and started texting Dick directly, letting him know exactly where and when she had knowledge of any goings on in the slums. He was able to get to places more efficiently, which was good news for any innocent slum dwellers in the area. Dick really had his hands full with both the wolves and the rise in gang activity, but at least she was able to bring things into a more understandable focus by revealing there was a direct correlation between the two.
Werewolves were very territorial, after all.
Zatanna became an even more valuable friend. Artemis started spending time down at the shop with the woman, sharing frappuccinos from the nearest coffee shop and combing through all of the books on werewolves together. Zatanna would turn the shop sign to Closed, and the two of them would spend an hour or two sitting on the floor between the shelves, leafing through pages until their eyes hurt.
The two of them looked at her problem from the supernatural standpoint, while she and Wally continued battling forward on the science standpoint. Somewhere, the two points would always crossroads, and they'd be another step forward on a suppressor.
But out of all of the big changes happening in Artemis's life since her revelation, perhaps the best that happened was that Wally asked her out.
The tension had been growing positively unbearable between them, both of them constantly casting each other sidelong smiles that caught and made them blush a little to themselves. It was a wonder they were able to get any sort of progress made in the lab the evening he asked.
"Move over, wolf girl, you're taking up all my elbow room."
"Me? I think you're the one flinging your arms around like a noodle."
"Right," he laughed, bumping her hip with his own with enough force to make her stumble over to the opposite end of the table. "It's not your big butt or anything," he added, pursing his lips and bending away from the table as if to eye her backside. Mentally feeling excited about where their banter was going, the blonde scoffed, checking out his own ass very unabashedly.
Which, by the way, she had scoped out quite a few times before.
She'd determined it was very fine indeed.
"And yours isn't, bottomless pit? Try cutting back on the fries," she hummed, moving back to the table. She let her own hip swing out to catch his, at the same time he did as well. The resulting crash sent them both staggering, reaching out to grasp each others forearms for balance. Their eyes caught and they burst into laughter, agreeing that maybe both of them should try laying off the fried foods.
"I can't believe you've been staring at my ass though, you perv," Artemis murmured, once they'd made room for themselves and gotten back to work.
"Artemis, I've seen you naked. Twice. It would be a feat for me, not to have seen it," he rasped, blushing at the remembrance. She just smirked, channeling that inner lack of care for being naked around others that came with the territory of being a werewolf. In fact his embarrassment fueled her confidence for this flirting session.
Fenrir, she just wanted Wally to make a damn move already. For the last two days it seemed he'd been trying to ask her something, but it always devolved into stupid excuses and pink flushes.
It was time to start pushing things along a little.
"I guess you're right. But… wasn't there an episode of Friends that we watched last month, where Chandler saw Rachel's boobs, so she told him it was only fair she got to see his junk?" Artemis asked slyly, eyeing him while biting her bottom lip. Though she herself could sometimes be embarrassed by nudity under the right circumstances, it seemed largely hilarious that humans found the naked body so scandalizing.
As Artemis had hoped, Wally sputtered out, his skin as red as his hair. Artemis laughed at his reaction.
"Of all the episode bits you could remember, it was that one?" he choked. "You know that's not an actual rule of friends right?"
"I think it is somewhere in the book," Artemis insisted, still laughing, elbowing him in the bicep. "But since I've already seen your infamous pasty legs I guess we can call it even," she hummed. And for good damn measure, she gave him a kiss on the cheek, then turned on her heel before he could do anything about it. "I think we've been in here long enough, firehead. How about some more of those 80s movies of yours?"
She turned the light out on his prone form, feeling proud of herself
Not long after that, they got situated on his couch, ready to indulge in their movie viewing past time. It had become something of a winding down ritual for them.
Only this time it constituted a whole lot more laughing and gentle shoving across the couch than usual.
"Get your own spot, West!"
"This whole couch is my spot!"
"My blood is on this cushion!"
"...touche."
Several movies in, Artemis got tired, especially when Wally decided he wanted to watch Teen Wolf again. She groaned, letting her body tip sideways so her head rested despairingly on his shoulder.
"Wally, Teen Wolf again? Are you doing this for the irony or?"
"No, Beautiful, I just like me some Teen Wolf. And yeah, a little bit the irony," he admitted at her glare. She nodded. Just as she'd suspected.
The blonde had gotten through maybe fifteen minutes when she felt her eyes drooping. She adjusted herself on the couch, pressing closer to Wally to use him as a pillow. He shifted for her, lifting one arm up to drape it around, the fingers there beginning to fiddle with her blonde strands.
"Hey, Artemis?" he'd asked quietly as she breathed steadily against him, gray eyes flickering dully with the changing scenes on the television.
"Hm?"
"Would you maybe go out with me? To eat. On a date."
Artemis felt herself smile. It was about time he got it out. She shifted against his bicep a little, a rasping hum releasing from her throat.
"Took you long enough."
"I know, I know. I should have done this a long time ago," he muttered, stroking her hair behind her ear. "I was afraid I might mess with our friendship or that you'd punch me."
"I might have," Artemis said, agreeing with the sentiment. Really, if he'd tried this even a month ago she wouldn't have had a clue what her reaction would've been. Maybe not a punch, but… she probably would have struggled for days over whether she wanted to accept, whether she had any feelings or even wanted to let herself have any.
But now?
If Artemis were being honest with herself, she'd been attracted to Wally from the start, at least physically speaking, and it had grown into so much more than that. He ate up her thoughts while she was at home with her mother in the slums; Paula liked to point out that he cropped up in Artemis's everyday conversation with her more than a 'just friend' probably should.
Artemis had scoffed and denied it, all the while realizing her mother had been smirking knowingly behind her back for months.
Wally was honestly a light in her life by this point. His dorky, lopsided grins, his jokes, his constantly in a state of disarray hair, his childlike enthusiasm for anything science related, his love for 80s movies. Everything about him made her happy. She would have been a fool not to try dating him.
"I'd love to, Wally," she whispered after a rather lengthy yawn. She fell asleep shortly thereafter, smiling at the way he pulled her tighter to him, letting out a sigh of content.
o.o.o.o
So now here they were, walking down the sidewalks of Gotham after a nice dinner together at a restaurant called The Amazon. It was a semi-casual place that offered so many familiar and strange dishes that Wally had nearly had an aneurism trying to decide which three dishes sounded the best; he'd ordered three plates, and ate every morsel off them.
Somehow Artemis had been less perturbed by that than she should have been, but she had been too busy humming in delight over the quality of her rare steak.
Currently the two of them were meandering down the streets, chatting it away, pointing out particularly disgruntled looking people in the throngs heading home for the evening and discussing where they might get desert.
They had been walking so close that their hands brushed with each swing back and forward, until at last Wally got the courage to take hold of her hand. Her hand felt small and warm in his, a strangely delightful feel; she gripped his back and that's how they finally made their way to the bakery known as Hello! Megan's, which Wally had pointed out.
"You ever had anything from here?" Wally asked Artemis as they approached the shop. It was incredibly quaint, with vibrant red, curling letters announcing it's name. The smell of home made pastries curled tantalizing up the blonde's nose, making her mouth water.
"No, I never came into Gotham proper much before meeting you," she admitted. Wally nodded, swinging their hands back and forth between them.
"Then we shall remedy this!" Wally declared, stopping at the glass door to the bakery and ushering Artemis in first. "You'll never need another bakery once you taste their donuts. Oh man, I'm hungry."
"We just ate!" Artemis chided as they stepped into the cool atmosphere.
There were only two other people sitting down at the little round tables scattered about the place. The floor with tiled with black and white squares, and frankly the bakery resembled something out of the 1950s. There was neon behind the counter, as well as a chipper looking auburn haired woman and her surly looking companion.
"Hello Megan!" Wally greeted, snickering. The dark haired boy behind the counter rolled his eyes."And, uh, Conner."
"Hi, Wally, you haven't been by in a while. I thought maybe you'd found a better bakery," Megan tittered, her strange amber colored eyes darting over to Artemis. They lit up with the happiness of making a new acquaintance; or at least that's what the blonde chalked it up to. "And hi to you too, Miss—?"
"I'm Artemis, your newest regular customer according to Wally here," she mused, gray eyes scanning over the pastries on display in the glass between them. She had to admit it all looked as good as it smelled. "Does he bother you a lot?"
"Only almost every morning before work," Conner groused.
"Let me guess, he buys like two dozen boxes of whatever his favorite is?" Artemis asked, crossing her arms and grinning at Wally. He scowled at her, while Megan nodded her head in affirmation at the assumption. The blonde, triumphant, returned to her pastry perusing.
"You know what, she can laugh now but she won't know what hit her when she bites into one of your donuts," Wally said conversationally. "Speaking of which, can you box us up a dozen of those?"
"Absolutely!" she chirped, while Conner moved about collecting a box to put them in and Artemis scoffed.
"You're insatiable," she pointed out.
"I'm a growing boy."
"You're twenty-five. The only direction you'll be growing in is outward," Artemis supplied, poking his stomach to emphasize the point. This caused Megan to laugh.
"You two are funny," she said. "Are you two friends? You've never brought her here before, Wally."
Wally appeared sheepish, but he grinned, taking Artemis's hand up in his again. "We're, uh, on our first date, actually."
The squeal that came out of Megan was startling, not to mention murder on Artemis's ear drums. It made her feel a little embarrassed about the whole situation of being out with Wally on a date; she felt her cheeks redden and tried to drop his hand, but he wouldn't let go of it easy, so she was forced to huff and endure the heat on her face.
"That's so cute! You guys are cute. You know what? Wait right here, I'm going to get you something fresh right out of the oven, on the house!" Megan said ecstatically. Before either of them could protest she raced away into the back, closely followed by Conner.
"She lives in Gotham?" Artemis rasped out, her eyes wide. "I take her to live in a magical kingdom made out of donut frosting."
Wally snorted.
"Come on, Beautiful, she's just a little upbeat. You should see her on Mondays," he mused.
"I'd rather not," Artemis whispered. The two of them chuckled, then bent low, surveying all the mouth watering treats behind the glass. They conversed in low tones, Wally pointing out what was the most delicious and what was slightly less delicious but still enough to make your taste buds sing.
It felt nice to be here with him like this, in a new place on the first leg of a hopefully new direction in their relationship with one another. She enjoyed having her hand encased with his, despite how sweaty their palms got after a while. It was worth it really.
If someone had told Artemis Crock she'd be in this position with a human months ago, she would have thought they were insane. Now, she didn't even see it as being with a human, she just saw it as being with someone she genuinely liked, who liked her back and seemed to just want her to be comfortable and happy.
It was entirely new, and really, really interesting. She couldn't wait to explore this feeling more with him.
While the two of them were eyeing the baked goods, one of the patrons got up from his table, walking over to the glass as well. He was tall and dark, with close-shaved white-blond hair hugging his scalp, and the most down-tp-earth demeanor Artemis had ever witnessed. She didn't even need to hear him talk to notice it, there was just something in the way he carried himself that told her he was a very well-mannered individual.
"Hello, Wally," the man said with a smile, turning his sea-green eyes to them.
"Oh, hey Kal! Long time no see," Wally beamed; then smiled mischievously. "Coming back for seconds I see."
"I cannot help myself," Kal admitted in mock shame, sighing. He tilted his head around Wally to properly view Artemis, smiling politely and holding out his hand. "I do not believe we have met, but I couldn't help overhear your name earlier. I am Kal Dur'ham, Artemis. It is a pleasure to meet you."
Artemis took his hand and shook it; she liked him already.
"Nice to meet you, Kal. You come here as often as the bottomless pit here?"
"Hey!"
Kal laughed. "I'm afraid not. I would if I could, but I live on the opposite side of Gotham and do not make it this way very much. But when I do, I'm always sure to stop here."
"Don't let him fool you, he's always in here with a coffee and a chocolate eclair," Wally said. "I think he's secretly sugar addicted."
Before anyone could respond to Wally's comment, there was a thud at the window of the shop. All three of them, as well as the other lone patron seated in the corner, turned to look and saw someone taping a white piece of paper to the pane. A second piece of white paper, most likely the same as the first, was pasted right next to it, though it faced inward so that those inside the shop could see it. The guy outside tipped his hat to them, then went on his way.
"What the…" Wally murmured, squinting at the white paper. His face turned ashen. "Oh."
"Ah, " Kal said quietly. "The werewolves again."
Artemis could see the paper clearly. It had a photo of the werewolf that had been shot and killed by Dick about two weeks ago. There had been a write up about it all on the front page of the Gotham newspaper, including a picture of the carcass stretched out by the police vehicle. The whole scenario had caused quite a ruckus for a week, until it died down due to the amount of skeptics who analyzed the picture and insisted it was done with effects and photoshop.
Not to mention several national news sources had gotten ahold of the now infamous picture, and confirmed it to be another one of those 'strange creature washed up on shore' type hoaxes that cropped up from time to time.
It was all just as well. Wally had been edgy when it had all started up, both for Dick, who was right in the thick of it all, and Artemis herself. Artemis had appreciated the concern, but she had honestly been happy at the prospect of it all finally getting out so they could do something about it without having to keep things narrowed down to Dick and his few police officers that agreed with him, or had seen the werewolf themselves.
She should have known it would've all been too good to be true; the national news had shut it all down, now it was back to pockets of people shouting over whether it was real or wasn't.
All of it swept under the rug with a snap of the media's fingers.
"Megan will tear them off," Wally insisted. "She won't want a dead wolf right in her customer's faces while they eat."
"Indeed, she will not. Wally, what do you make of all this, out of curiosity?" Kal inquired.
"Me? I, uh. Think it's ludicrous of course. Werewolves, seriously?" Artemis could feel Wally stiffen near her as he said it, and squeezed his hand to let him know it was okay; she didn't want him apologizing to her later for having to pretend he thought her kind was a joke again.
"You believe it is a hoax?" Kal asked, brow furrowed.
"Yeah, I mean, people can make any photo believable these days."
"He's got a point," Artemis said, backing him up.
"I suppose he does," Kal mused, looking thoughtful. "Sometimes I do wonder though. Do you?"
"All the time," Wally said hoarsely.
Megan and Conner finally returned. They had another box of a dozen cream filled donuts, fresh right out of the oven. The chipper woman had wrapped a fine pink ribbon around the box, practically cooing at them as they payed for the first box and then bade everyone a farewell.
Wally ripped the two flyers off the outside of the window as they walked passed, crumbling them up in his hands and lobbing them into the first waste bin they came across.
"Wally…" Artemis started, shaking her head.
"I need a donut," he huffed, popping the box open and taking one. Artemis followed suit, nearly crying over how melt-in-her-mouth delicious the round treat was. Wally looked triumphant that she was sufficiently addicted, and the two of them walked back to his apartment shoving donuts into their gullets every step of the way.
The box was empty by the time they reached his door.
"Wally, I had a really good time," she told him earnestly, surprised that it didn't feel awkward to tell him so. She licked the frosting from her fingers while Wally crammed the last bite of donut into his mouth, chewing like a cow. She laughed at the frosting all over his lips. "I want to do this some more."
"Really?" he asked, his eyes lighting up.
"Definitely," she said, smirking slyly at him. A dopey grin spread over his frosting covered mouth, and Artemis couldn't take it.
She moved to him, closing the gap and kissing his chapped, donut flavoured lips. A thrill shot through her system the moment their lips mashed tenderly together, like someone had run an electric current through her. Wally was quick to respond, humming lightly and resting his hands on her hips while their mouths moved in a slow, tentative tandem, sliding against each other.
Artemis pulled back a bit, just enough to let her tongue dart out and lap up the icing spot clinging to the corner of his mouth, then she was back to that soft, measured kissing. Her eyes shut as she focused on the feel of his lips and his hands and his body heat and his chemicals and laundry detergent smell that she'd hated at first but that now filled her nostrils like a comforting drug.
She'd never even known how much she'd been wanting to kiss him until she was doing it. It lasted for a long time, their noses brushing and tongues poking out just enough to press sensually together right before they pulled away, breaths erratic from the adventure.
Their cheeks were flushed, both of them looking quite pleased with themselves as they stared at each other reverently.
"That was pleasant," Wally mused, seemingly dazed. Artemis chuckled, putting a hand on the back of his neck to pull him down for another quick, chaste kiss that ended far too quickly.
"That's an understatement, Wallman," she whispered.
He pulled her into a hug, and Artemis felt more content than she'd ever been.