Authors Note: sorry for the delay, this is chapter was the cause of many frustrating nights rewatching young justice trying to find a spark. in this chapter we see the weak flame be stoked by the feelings of our two young heroes. We also (for real this time haha) what dark plans are being birthed in Gotham.

(August 2, 2015: The Cave Kitchen)

Artemis was staring at a shirtless Dick Grayson as he lay on the floor as a bowl of what she assumed was pancake batter on his head dripped all over his very muscular body as two plates lay broken beside him and there she was. Wait, was Wally on to something and not just overreacting? She mentally shook her head free. The girl in question was her other best friend none other than, Zatanna Zatara. She's always been annoyed at how quickly Zatanna and dick clicked when she first appeared on the team. She covered her face in an attempt to hide her laughter from seeing dick in a situation like this. She stopped immediately when she saw Zatanna basically eye-fucking dick, inwardly pushing away the memory of what Wally had said earlier. Artemis walked faster as she got to dick first to help him up. As she grasped his very muscular arm to help him up she found herself wandering over his very muscular upper body, she always checked Dick out his Nightwing costume, not her fault it was so tight it never left much to the imagination. Artemis' tried to stop these thoughts but her mind said otherwise. She was shaken from her daydreaming by dick's voice. " Arty I'm talking to you, you ok?" he chuckled. "Oh, and my eyes are up here". She could feel the smirk in his voice as he went to grab a towel to clean himself off, "hey Dick can I talk to you please, it's kinda important" she said blushing furiously at being caught. Dick finished drying off and replied, "yeah sure, is everything ok?" I weakly smiled and nodded as he followed me out of the kitchen, not noticing the extremely irked look on Zatanna's face.

(The Narrows, Gotham City)

"CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT!!" The Joker's angry voice echoed through the halls of the empty warehouse. The goon in front of him was beaten pretty badly and terrified as the Joker pulled out a knife and smiled evilly, "now my dear Jamesy-poo, how did you manage to lose all of my drugs hmm?" The joker cackled as James gulped and the joker's smile turned to frown, he hissed in a low voice, "it was vital for my master plan that those drugs arrive on time." "Now, who. Stole. My. Drugs." "I-I-It was that bat, the old robin I swear he came outta nowhere boss you gotta believe me" He stammered. "Oh I believe you," the joker said quietly as he drove the knife into the base of the neck, severing the brain stem killing him instantly. The joker walked out to his purple Lamborghini wiping his blade off, "pity one can't get quality help anywhere" he began to cackle then full-on laugh as he tore down the empty Gotham streets.

(The Cave)

"So Artemis what did you need to talk to me about so badly," Dick asked me with a smile on his face. Goddamn, his smile was hot...wait what the fuck am I thinking. This is Dick, her best friend, the first one to know everything about her and not care. He was the first person to show her how to get traught. Traught. She kicked herself for still using his words too. She was about to tell Dick that she might for real have a crush on him when her comm started ringing. "Artemis here", she looked down to see Oliver Queen's face on her wrist. "Hey Arty I need you to come home there's something we need to talk about. Just like that, his face was gone. She sighed and looked to Dick for the first time in what felt like forever. He was still smiling just waiting for me to be done, " I heard your conversation arty go I'll be here don't worry I'll always have time for you. He smiled warmly as he squeezed her arm as he walked down the hall to his room. She felt warm and fuzzy where his arm had touched. She ran to her motorcycle to go get yelled at by Ollie, she dreaded this might have something to do about Wally.

(Queen Manor, star city)

As she got to Ollie's more than lavish manor, she dreaded the conversation she about to have there were two other cars in the driveway, one she knew as Bruce Wayne's, Dicks father more importantly Batman, and another car she didn't recognize. As she closed the door she felt three presences watching her, she turned around and saw Ollie, Bruce, and fuck; there beside them was Wally's mentor the flash. Barry wasted little time, "Artemis, we know about you and Wally's fight today, and more importantly we can't find him anywhere." He spoke with pain and looked very disheveled and stressed. "Artemis," Bruce spoke up with his usual Batman voice. "Do you have any idea where he'd go to, any safe house or secret apartment since we already checked yours"? She facepalmed thinking of her messy apartment, "of course you did Bruce". She sighed and said, "I'm sorry but I have no idea where he went." "He accused me of being in love with Dick since the original team and absolutely lost it then just left me sitting there". Bruce looked like he wanted to say something but held his tongue. Ollie finally spoke up, "you and dick always look like you guys have a crush on each other" he chuckled. "Remember the phase where'd you only patrol with for a month, oh boy was he happy about that" he continued trying not it laugh at Artemis blushing face and failing miserably. Artemis found herself wanting to talk to Dick before he left the cave or locked himself in his room for the night, so she excused herself and sped back to the cave to hopefully get some answers from Dick. As she drove away, Bruce asked his fellow leaguers, " who's gonna tell her, I mean those two have had feelings since that stupid photo he took with her years ago". "It's creepy how much you keep tabs on him," says flash. "Maybe if you did too Wally would be here." Bruce scoffed and got into his Pagani and tore down the street, leaving the two heroes in a cloud of dust.

Authors note: I finally finished this monster, if anyone has any suggestions for how to bring the jokers plan to lofe don't be scared to leave a comment. The next chapter will focus 90% on Dick and Artemis' feelings for each other and the rest is split between what became of Wally and the Gotham plot. Till next time my fellow nerds. Love y'all.