Thank you all so much for your continued reviews and love! Your attention is what keeps me writing!
So let's not waste time shall we? Let's get back to our favorite hunters!
"So I'm Tom Hayes right?" Wally asked, checking his badge as they walked from the car to the back entrance of the theatre.
"Yes, and I'm..." Artemis trailed off, testing him.
"Allison Williamson!" He grinned, snapping his fingers.
"Good boy," She cooed, making Wally chuckle, "Got your iron?"
The redhead patted his coat where an iron wood file rested safely in an inner pocket.
"Nice, alright. What are we looking for?" Artemis continued quizzing.
"An object that either has some of his DNA on it, or something he would have been attached to," He recited.
"Awesome," She bumped elbows proudly with her pupil, "We'll split up to search the theatre. Don't let me catch you jumping into a play," Artemis chided playfully.
"Not interested," Wally scoffed.
The doors to the theatre opened with an ominous creaking noise and the two walked into a very dark backstage area.
"What's going on?" The redhead leaned over to whisper. Artemis tucked her bangs back behind her ears when his mouth accidentally moved them and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him silently to the manager's office.
"ROMEO, Romeo, Where for art thou Romeo?" A dramatic female voice rang out.
The two hunters paused and shared a look as best they could in the darkness and Artemis slapped a hand over Wally's mouth before he could respond to the line. His grin faded beneath her hand.
"You're no fun," He mumbled. The blonde stuck out her tongue and they ignored the rest of the lines as they headed towards where they could hear a bustle of noise.
They found the stagehands working with various props and scenery, preparing for the next scene change. Wally attempted to speak with them but the only thing they could get out of the crew was shushing gestures and a hoarse whisper of "Dress rehearsal,"
Artemis led them farther backstage where their voices wouldn't carry, "We shouldn't split up while everything is dark and we're playing hush puppies. It's too dangerous,"
"I agree, where should we check first?" Wally questioned as he squinted into their inky black surroundings, "Maybe we should find a flashlight,"
"Oh," Artemis's eyes opened in surprise and she began to rummage around in her jacket pockets.
"You are ridiculous," He chuckled, closing one of his eyes when the blonde turned the small light on while it was facing him.
"I'm prepared," She amended, leading the way past a fake set of armor.
"Congrats, you're a boy scout," Wally spoke up,
"Boy scouts is a breeding ground for changelings," Artemis retorted.
"That's something I could have been better off not knowing," He grimaced, placing his hand on Artemis's waist to guide her away from a wooden backdrop that looked extremely unstable, "Remember, he's causing accidents. Don't make it easy,"
Artemis only nodded, her light flashing around in front of them, "I'm not sure how to find anything in this mess,"
"Maybe we should leave and come back when they're not rehearsing, then we could ask about Cody. There are probably stories about him. These people love dramatic stories," Wally said, stopping their walk. Artemis stayed silent for a moment as she considered his logic.
"You're right, that would be easier," She spoke, her tone regrettable.
"Of course I am-"
"Don't push it," Artemis eyed him as they began their trek back towards the main area.
"We should stop and have an early dinner at that Italian place near the motel" Wally said, a grin forming.
The blonde hated giving into his plans too often, but she had seen an advertisement for the place next to the land phone in their room.
And it did have a picture of cheesecake.
"Alright," She responded, ignoring the fact that her companion had just fist pumped the air.
"You were totally eyeing that flyer in our room," He gushed, opening the backstage door and holding it open for her.
"And you're not getting a bite of my cheesecake," Artemis fought back, laughing at Wally's crestfallen face, "Get in the car,"
"Only because you asked so nicely," He wrinkled his nose at her.
They buckled up and were on the way over, Wally commandeering the radio with fickle choices, when a phone started ringing in the glove box.
"Will you answer that? It's a friend," Artemis glanced over, "He's the only one with the number for that phone," She explained.
"So why don't you answer it?" The redhead questioned as he pulled out the device.
"He hasn't called in a while, he deserves to be confused," She smirked.
Wally seemed to find this as an acceptable answer and pressed the answer button, "Artemis Pizza Delivery Service, can I take your order?" He spoke cheerily. Artemis snickered.
"Who is this? How do you have this phone? Where is Artemis?" A male voice rattled off quickly.
"I'm sorry sir, you said you wanted anchovies? But no one likes anchovies!" Wally lamented, giving Artemis an exaggerated look of disgust. She burst out in a full blown laugh.
"Wait, is that her in the background?" The voice asked, "Is she laughing?" His voice sounded as though he was in complete shock, "What did you do to her?"
"I have done nothing but feed her delicious pizza," The redhead defended, his tone of utter seriousness.
"Oh my god Wally!" Artemis shrieked, attempting to control her throaty laughs.
"Did she say Wally? You're Wally West?" He asked; his tone of panic lessening.
"Am I famous or something? Would you like an autograph?" The redhead suggested helpfully.
"I can't believe that Artemis is genuinely laughing. I've only ever gotten a few smirks out of her,"
"Well Arty here has a neutral face with a frown, so a smirk is basically the equivalent of a smile," Wally grinned.
"What are you guys talking about?" Artemis scowled, pulling none too gently into the parking lot of the Italian restaurant.
"And in that case, with the cackling you're getting out of her you should win the Nobel peace prize," The man laughed.
"I'll settle for a Jacuzzi," Wally spoke smugly, swatting away Artemis's grabby hands, "Go away Arty I'm making friends,"
"Oh, does she want to talk to me now?"
"If you don't give me the phone I'm not giving you extra money for snacks," She threatened.
Wally tossed her the phone as though the device had suddenly caught fire. Artemis chuckled and stuck it to her ear, "Hey Dick, long time no hear," She said, her voice suddenly taking on a colder edge.
"Uh, yeah. I'm sorry about that," Dick answered sheepishly, "Bruce and I got really deep into this vamp nest and we-"
"Didn't even think to call for help, did you?" She cut him off, "And I'm guessing that you aren't just calling to check up on me, are you?"
"His name is Dick?" Wally whispered.
"Look, I'm sorry you're upset, but things happened and-"
"Do you even know why I'm upset?" Artemis sighed, leaning back into the seat. Wally fiddled his thumbs impatiently next to her.
"Um, no, no not really," Dick admitted, and Artemis could hear the grimace in his voice.
"Because you only call me when you're in trouble. Never just to let me know that you're still alive, or to see if I am,"
"Yeah I..." His voice trailed off, "I kind of do that, don't I?"
Artemis opened her mouth to speak again but Dick's voice came through the speaker once more.
"I do care though, you know that," He defended, "And I do know that you're alive. Alfred and Kal chat it up all the time. I get updates on you,"
"That's just creepy, Dick," Artemis deadpanned.
"I guess it kind of is. Look, I'll try to call more often, alright?" Dick suggested.
"That would be much better," She smirked, "Now what were you actually calling about?"
"I need the current number for Zatanna," He spoke, his tone all business, "Mine's out of commission and I know that you keep up with her,"
"I might have it," Artemis hummed, "What's in it for me?"
"I thought you guys were friends," Wally said quietly, still itching to do something.
"How about you give me her number, and I don't tell Ollie that you've picked up a malepartner,"
Wally raised his eyebrows in confusion when Artemis sat up straight and her lips drew into a thin line, having only heard half of the conversation.
"Deal," She snapped, quickly rattling off a phone number from heart, "God you're so manipulative,"
"Need me to beat him up for you?" Wally offered, awkwardly trying to find a way to lounge in the passenger seat. His long legs wouldn't allow it.
"Love you too Artemis," Dick sang.
"Goodbye Dick," She rolled her eyes before snapping the old phone shut.
"Ex-boyfriend?" Wally questioned, hopping out of the car and heading toward the restaurant entrance, his voice taking on a strange lilt that Artemis couldn't recognize.
"Hell no," She emphasized, her eyes growing wide, "More like annoying little brother,"
The redhead laughed and held open the door for her, receiving a glare for his actions.
The restaurant wasn't very busy so it didn't take long for the two to get a table; Artemis gave the waiter a nice glare when he tried to offer them a candlelit ambiance.
"So," Wally drawled, "Who is this Dick guy? Besides your annoying little brother," He waved his hand around in gesture.
"He's another hunter, though he and his adoptive father generally stay in one spot. Unlike me," Artemis explained simply.
"How come? Are there that many cases where they are that they can do that?" His features grew unnerved at the thought.
"Oh yeah, a bunch of them. They live in Gotham and the creatures swarm there like ants to a picnic," Artemis smirked when Wally's gaze continued to be caught by passing plates of pasta.
"Are there a lot of hunters?" He questioned as he began dumping a packet of sugar in his soda, "Because I thought that this wasn't a real competitive career, so how would you guys even find each other?"
Artemis pillowed her cheek in her hand as she thought, momentarily distracted when their feet bumped under the table. She withdrew hers before Wally noticed, "I don't think that there's a lot of us, but we find each other because we respond to the same events. Dick and Bruce, Bruce is his adoptive father," She explained, "They ran into me once on a case. I'd come across a siren but I couldn't find it, it was damn good at hiding,"
"So they helped you out and now you call on each other in times of need?" Wally worked it out. Artemis nodded, "Alright I've just got one more question then,"
The blonde let a small smile pass her lips from his curiosity, "Okay, shoot,"
"I know you don't like to talk about how you got into hunting," He held his hands up in surrender, "But how did you learn about it? I wouldn't have known anything without you, so who taught you?"
Their conversation paused when their food came and Wally quickly dug in while Artemis pushed her food around, pensive, "There was a man who taught me everything. He took me on, kind of like an apprentice, when he found me trying to hunt before I even know what hunters where," Her voice took on a fond tone, "Oliver taught me everything he knew about hunting, gave me all the tips he had, we were a great team,"
Wally felt a lump catch in his throat, "What happened?"
"He's not dead," She quickly added, sensing the redhead's nervousness, "But there was a problem. His son, Roy, had been caught by a shapeshifter. But no one found out about it for months,"
"I don't understand," He mumbled, his eyebrows furrowing.
"The shapeshifter kept him locked up as his source, to make sure he kept the same look. And he started going after hunters. Hunters that Roy knew, so they trusted him," Artemis told the story sadly, and Wally understood that she must have known some of the hunters lost.
"Did they find him?" Wally asked, "The real Roy?"
"Yeah," Artemis smiled a little, "Ollie found him and he and his girlfriend Dinah took care of the shapeshifter. Roy's still out and about now, hunting again. But Ollie and I grew apart when he left to find Roy. By the time it was over I'd become independent and I didn't really need Ollie looking out for me anymore," She shrugged.
Wally was silent for a moment, contemplating, "You might not have needed him, but it's still good to have company," He spoke decisively, "I could tell you were lonely,"
"I wasn't lonely!" Artemis bristled, jabbing her fork toward him.
"Hey!" Wally laughed, "I was lonely too!"
The blonde withdrew and her face grew unreadable, "You were lonely?"
"Yeah," The redhead nodded, shoveling another forkful of pasta into his mouth, "I was a bit of a weirdo. Loved science too much, so I wasn't popular on the track team. But I was too good at track to be totally accepted into academia,"
"If you love science, why come with me?" Artemis narrowed her eyes, "I mean, this gig isn't exactly logical,"
"Everything has logic, I just haven't figured out how everything works yet," He grinned, a gleam in his eye, "It's like, this whole new world of creatures and hunting is like how Newton discovered gravity. The laws and logic were there, we just hadn't figured out what they were yet. It's the same thing now," Wally spread his arms out, gesturing in excitement, and nearly knocked over a passing waitress.
Artemis laughed as the woman gave the redhead a questioning glance and his face grew red with embarrassment, "Well you should have said something," She smirked, Wally frowned in confusion, "Next time we catch something we can take DNA and skin samples for you to test, we're bound to stop back in Central eventually and I'm sure Barry would love to look at them with you,"
Wally's eyes grew wide and he froze in his seat, "You really mean that?"
"Sure," Artemis answered as she twirled her pasta onto her fork, "You guys might find some useful stuff we could use on the road. Chemical compounds that a creature might be reactive to, natural immune responses that we could use in testing possible subjects, all kinds of stuff," She numbered off on her fingers.
"That sounds amazing," Wally beamed, his grin stretching across his face, "Like, really, Artemis," His voice cut off and he just pointed to his smile, finding himself at a loss for words.
Artemis laughed and reached her fork across the table to sample some of his pasta while he was in a good mood, "Let's celebrate with cheesecake, West," She smiled.
"That sounds perfect,"
Please leave a review to let me know what you think!
This chapter is actually longer than I like. I try to keep each chapter around 2000 words, but this one and the last one were around 2400. This screws up my posting schedule but I'll see what I can do.
Keep a look out this weekend for the next chapter!
Love, Veg