The rain was heavily pouring down as the clouds covered the moon. Thunder rumbled but there was no lightning to be seen. Artemis and Zatanna crept through the overgrown foliage behind a house they had been watching for the last few days. Artemis was sure no one was inside; they wouldn't be there for another two hours minimum. She wanted to get in, see what they were up to, and get out.
Reaching out, Artemis held onto Zatanna's hand and gave it a soft squeeze. The ground beneath them was slippery, moss covering parts of the cracked concrete path. The rain created small puddles along the uneven surface making it harder to judge the size of the holes underneath. Making it to the back porch of the house, Artemis looked in through the window and saw no activity. Trying the door, Artemis wasn't surprised when it easily opened. Criminals weren't really that smart.
"Ekam su yrd," Zatanna said quietly.
Feeling her clothing dry within seconds, Artemis turned to Zatanna and smiled at her. The small things that Zatanna did, like making sure she was dry, made her heart skip a beat. There was a reason she was in love with her, and that was only one of the very small reasons. "Thank you, I was freezing," Artemis said, wanting to pull Zatanna close but she knew she couldn't, they were on a mission after all and if someone was watching she didn't want them to know about their relationship.
Entering the house through the kitchen, Artemis looked around. The rooms were empty, there was no furniture, no rubbish, no nothing. The hallway light was on, the dim bulb producing just enough light to see into what should be the bedrooms. Heading down the hallway, Artemis checked all the rooms, finding the exact same thing. Nothing. There was no sign anyone was ever there and it made her highly cautious.
"There's no one and nothing here. I swear we should have noticed a bunch of goons emptying this place out," Artemis said, joining Zatanna in the kitchen.
"We should have," Zatanna agreed, taking another walk around. "It smells like professional cleaners came in and gave it once over but it doesn't look like it's been cleaned in months."
"It does, it's that chemical smell. Ugh, what are we going to do now?" Artemis said, feeling frustrated. She wanted to bust this case open, but the odds weren't in her favour.
"We'll head back to base and try to trace their movements. I know it's not fieldwork but it may help us to get more drugs off the street if we find out where they have moved to," Zatanna replied, going over to Artemis and placing a hand on her shoulder.
"We put in so much effort and now it's all gone, I feel so…defeated, I think," Artemis responded, trying to name how she was feeling. As she had gotten older, she had learnt to name her feelings and not act out in frustration instead. Something Zatanna was helping her with.
"We did and we will find a new lead. We will find out where they went," Zatanna said, leaning against the kitchen cupboard.
Feeling something moving behind her, Zatanna jumped and faced the cupboard. Watching as it began to slowly move back and to the side, a staircase revealing itself behind it.
"That is not in any of the schematics of this building," Artemis said, walking closer to the staircase and looking down.
"Do you want to go down there?" Zatanna asked curiously as she joined Artemis.
The stairs looked newer than the rest of the house. They were a shiny metal, with a handrail on either side and went down to a white hallway that was brightly lit. Beyond that Artemis couldn't see anything. What she could see reminded her of being inside a hospital and it gave her the creeps.
"I think we should. If we can stop them now, we definitely should. Follow me," Artemis said, leading them down the stairs.
The sound of their footsteps against the metal surface of the staircase softly echoed around them. The hallway wasn't very long, just a little longer than what they could see from the top of the staircase. Entering into a large, white, almost sterile room, Artemis audibly sighed.
"There's no one down here," she said, turning to face Zatanna, letting the frustration on her face show.
"But we got here before whoever built this room did. Look around Artemis, I bet the containers by the far wall are full of stuff that should be kept off the streets."
Listening to Zatanna, Artemis's eyes fell on the wall of containers. There were at least a hundred, piled high. Going over to them, Artemis tried to pull one down but was instead met with a barrier that knocked her on her ass.
"Magic."
"Are you okay?" Zatanna asked, helping Artemis up.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Artemis replied, stopping for a moment to allow Zatanna to quickly check her over.
"I think I can get down the barrier. Give me a moment." Standing in front of the containers, Zatanna closed her eyes and held her hands in front of her, feeling the magic coming from the barrier and began to softly talk under her breath. The magic used wasn't done by a professional, she could sense it as she slowly brought it down. It was amateur's work, and she wondered how they even managed to get it to work.
Opening her eyes, Zatanna gave them a once over before turning to face Artemis. "Try it now."
Walking back over to the containers, Artemis cautiously touched them before she pulled one down and took the lid off and looked inside.
"Drugs," Artemis said. Taking in the room, there were large vents leading outside. The tables were metal and there were marks on them from where objects once sat. "Meth at a guess."
"I think you're correct. Let's head back up before someone finds us down here with no way out. This is a job for the authorities now," Zatanna said, knowing what protocol was.
"We will contact them once outside," Artemis agreed, leading them back up the stairs and into the kitchen. Hearing something, Artemis turned to Zatanna and pressed a finger against her lips.
There was a voice coming from the back porch, the man sounded like he was on the phone with someone.
"I'm at the address. I'll check the on the goods before the buyer arrives in an hour, I'll talk to you then."
Feeling her entire body tense up, Artemis knew that Zatanna wasn't trained in hand-to-hand combat. She was barely trained in weaponry, let alone different forms of self-defence.
Hearing the door creak as it opened, Artemis knew they had no choice but to face him. There was nowhere to hide and he was in front of them before either of them could move.
"Shit, what do you want?" the man asked, looking her up and down. "Are you the buyer? You're early."
"You should know what I want," Artemis said, wondering how thick he was as she subconsciously stepped in front of Zatanna.
"Wait, you're one of those little brats," he replied, getting ready to attack.
Seeing a fist flying at her, Artemis ducked just in time. Squaring him up, she moved fast and landed a kick in his stomach. He looked at her and laughed, swinging once more.
Feeling pain rip through her shoulder, Artemis hissed and rolled her shoulder. Seeing him go for Zatanna, Artemis ran forward and kicked him in the back of the knees. Watching as he crashed to the ground, Artemis huffed as he laughed once more and got up off the floor.
"You've got some fight in you kid, but this one over here doesn't," the man smirked, turning and eyeing up Zatanna.
"Keep your filthy hands off her," Artemis growled, landing another punch on him.
"Oh, you're very protective of her."
Watching as he grabbed Zatanna, Artemis felt the rage build up inside of her. "Let her go," she said, not wanting her partner to get hurt.
"Nah, I'll keep her I think." Seeing Zatanna quickly move and land a kick in his sternum, she was released and fell to the ground.
Rushing to Zatanna's side and helping her up, Artemis turned and tried to block another attack, the crook's fist getting her in the side of the jaw. Stumbling back, he came at her again.
"Llaf peelsa," Zatanna whispered in his direction, watching as he yawned and fell face first into the ground, snoring loudly before he could hurt Artemis again.
"Damn, Zatanna, that's pretty cool," Artemis said, not realising the full extent of how useful magic could be.
"It's not as cool as what you do, but I could show you some more tricks if you want," Zatanna said, winking at Artemis.
"Oh, I would like that, very much," Artemis replied, taking a second to turn to Zatanna. Reaching out she linked their fingers and brought their joined hands to her mouth, placing a soft kiss on each of Zatanna's knuckles.
"God, you're perfect," Artemis whispered, ignoring the sleeping criminal on the floor.
"Are you okay though?" Zatanna asked, cupping Artemis's face and giving it a once over.
"I'm fine, are you okay?"
"I'm okay." Feeling her face flush, Zatanna smiled at Artemis and leaned up. Softly pressing her lips against Artemis's in a quick kiss, she rested her forehead on Artemis's shoulder. "I hate to be a mood killer but we should probably call the authorities."
"I know you're right, maybe once this is all sorted, we can have some us time."
"I would like that."
Pulling out her phone, Artemis got right through to the authorities and let them know of the situation and the time frame. Looking out the open door for a moment, Artemis turned to Zatanna and pressed her lips together. "The rain has almost stopped so I was thinking we keep to the shadows until they get here and leave when they show up. I don't want anyone else to get in the way."
"Sounds like a plan," Zatanna agreed, following Artemis outside and through the hole in the fence leading to the yard behind.
They didn't have to wait long until four police cars pulled up and almost a dozen officers surrounded the house along with two detectives Artemis knew by name. Watching as they went inside, Artemis let out a sigh of relief when she heard them call out that they found the containers of drugs.
"Looks like our job is done here." Heading away from their hiding spot, they got back onto the footpath and began to slowly walk down the road. Linking her fingers through Zatanna's, Artemis brought their joint hands up and pressed a soft kiss to the back of Zatanna's hand. Knowing she had the rest of the night free, Artemis softly began to swing their hands, hearing Zatanna softly giggle at her antics. She loved Zatanna and she would do almost anything to make her laugh.