I stayed up late last night to finish this hunt and I'm so happy to bring you the next chapter!

Thank you so much for all of your continued support! I love you all! 3

This hunt ended up being longer than the other two, which is why it took so long, but I'm very please with it and I think you all will be too!

Artemis was vaguely aware of something on her bed. Her groggy mind recognizing the weight of someone else's body dipping the mattress.

"Arty," Wally's voice materialized. The blonde groaned and pressed her face into the pillow, willing herself to not hear him and stay in her semi-lucid state, "Arty," He tried again, his large hand on her shoulder and nudging her.

"M'sleepin," She mumbled, tucking the comforter under her chin and scowling when she heard the redhead chuckle.

"Arty we're heading out today," He whined, poking her in the cheek. Artemis growled, turning her head to bare her teeth and snap them together a few times. Wally pulled on her earlobe.

"Wally," She groaned, kicking her legs around under the covers to try and shove him off the bed, "We just took out that Rugaru yesterday,"

"Last night," He corrected.

"Even worse!" Artemis lamented, "Why are we not sleeping in?"

Wally gave an apologetic smile when the half-asleep blonde pouted and huffed in unfairness, secretly enjoying her childish attitude, "You said that I could choose the next hunt,"

"So choose it," She grumbled, rolling onto her back and peeking at her companion over the blankets, her blonde hair spread half-hazardly over the pillows.

"I already did," He explained, pulling an article he printed out off of the bed next to her own and waving it in front of her face.

Artemis pulled the covers back a tad, revealing a frown, "I had choices picked out for you to choose from,"

"That's no fun," Wally retorted.

Artemis let out a deep sigh and found herself frustrated when she took in his state of disarray. His normally rather unruly hair was sticking up in strange directions and he had a flush of sleep still spread across his freckled cheeks.

She covered her head with the blankets in order to block the view and keep her opinions unbiased, "Why is yourhunt so much better than whatever I had picked out for you," She huffed, sinking back into the pillows and kicking her legs when Wally placed a hand on her knee to shake her slightly and keep her attention.

"Because my choice is really weird," He told her proudly, making an exaggerated "Hup" as he hopped to the other side of the blonde and scooted up close to her side on his back, "Come out from under there and I can show you," He cooed, as though coaxing a child.

"I wanna sleep," She grumbled back, "What time is it anyway,"

"Its noon," Wally answered quickly.

Artemis pulled the blankets down, "Noon in what time zone?" She hissed.

"Probably Italy," He shrugged, pulling the article up to her face, "So there have been gorilla attacks in Metropolis,"

"Check the zoo," Artemis snorted.

"It's not from the zoo, all gorillas are accounted for," Wally pointed to a sentence in the article. Artemis pressed her face into the pillow again.

"What time is it in this time zone Wally?" She tried again, her tone much less forgiving.

"So no one knows where the hell this gorilla is coming from, and other than a sighting that lasted like, ten seconds, and the DNA evidence on the bodies, it would just be called a regular animal attack,"

"Wally," Artemis groaned.

"It might be seven thirty in the morning," He breathed through his teeth.

"I hate you," She rolled over, "This doesn't even sound like our kind of case,"

"But Artemis!" He defended, pressing his finger into her back to keep her awake, "It makes absolutely no sense. That's exactly our kind of case,"

"Not when I'm sleepy," Artemis responded hotly, bundling herself up in the blankets.

"Artemis," He continued pestering the blonde.

Wally tried to get her to stir but more often than not she would just groan and grumble. Her mind drifting off quickly. He sighed heavily and got off the bed to get on the computer.

It only took him a few minutes to print off directions for Metropolis.

Artemis awoke much differently the second time that day.

The sounds of the highway were the first clue.

"Wake up Beautiful," Wally sang, ruffling the blonde's unkempt hair as she blinked her way awake in the passenger seat.

"You little shit!" She cried, sitting up abruptly, her wide grey eyes scanning the surrounding road.

"We're in Illinois already," He informed her, reaching over to guide her hand to a bagel sitting on the center console, "Eat something,"

Artemis glared at the redhead and swiped the bagel away from him, biting into his viciously, "I never agreed to this,"

"That's why I put you in the car while you were sleeping," Wally laughed, pointing to his temple to signify his intelligence.

Artemis snorted, "So since you've kidnapped me and had all this time to think; have you figured out what we're up against in Metropolis?" She asked; her voice still a bit tetchy.

"I thought of a starting list of culprits, but it's pretty broad," He shrugged, "Rakshasa's can shapeshift but they kill inside homes. I've never heard of a shapeshifter turning into an animal before. It might be a misdiagnosed werewolf. Or someone's summon. Or a spirit, I guess,"

"That's a long list," Artemis rubbed her temples, glaring at the sign that told her they were entering the edge of Metropolis, "Our best bet is going to be a werewolf seen by a nearsighted witness. If this is a case for us at all,"

"Wow, you are just full of sunshine," Wally quipped.

"Yeah I'm a fucking rainbow," She grunted, slouching in her seat, "Find a motel before anyone sees me in my pajamas,"

Wally hummed politely as he meandered through the city edges where they could find the cheapest rooms.

"Just pick one," Artemis said, sitting up a little to glance out the window at their selection of the crop.

"Arty if we're gonna stay in the unclassiest motels in every town, we are going to stay in the swankiest of our choices," He declared, pursuing the area with a keen eye.

"Wally,"

"Alright, alright," He chuckled, pulling into the parking lot of a motel with an obnoxiously bright red roof. Neither really cared what the name was but Wally had deemed it the motel with the best upkeep.

Wally turned off the car and got their shared credit card from the glove box, freezing when he noticed that Artemis was preparing to get out of the car as well.

"Uh, Arty. Why don't you wait in the car while I get the room?" He asked hesitantly, glancing down at her over-sized band t-shirt and boxers (Which he's pretty sure she stole from him at some point but he couldn't prove it). "You're still in your pajamas,"

Artemis smirked in response as she got out, "Better bring the card along, West. If I beat you to the clerk who knows how I'll pay for the room,"

Wally let out a very unmanly shriek and scrambled to get to the blonde's side, only just remembering to lock the car behind them, "You're making a joke, right?"

The woman hummed and plastered on a charming smile as she entered the office, showing no reaction as the man behind the counter squinted at her dress, and then at the flustered redhead next to her, "We'd like a room," She announced, propping her elbows up on the counter and pressing her chest together.

Wally felt his fists clench when the man (who the redhead guessed was no more than thirty) seemed to have no problem drawing his eyes below Artemis's chin.

Wally frowned in confusion when he realized that his companion seemed rather short, but a quick glance at the floor informed him that she wasn't wearing her usual combat boots.

Actually, she wasn't wearing any shoes.

He drug a hand across his face and cursed underneath his breath, wondering if her actions were payback for dragging her to Metropolis and feeling a bit overprotective of the way the clerk was staring at her.

"Anything you need," He replied, flipping through a clipboard with a pleasant, though Wally thought it was lecherous, smile.

Artemis let out a flighty laugh and Wally had to physically restrain himself from dragging her back to the car. And maybe taking her temperature when she was there...

"Alright," The man's said his pleasant demeanor faltering slightly, "A one bedroom room with-"

"Two," The blonde corrected, her girly demeanor slowly slipping.

"Two," He repeated back, a gleam slowly growing in his eyes and he penciled something in on his papers.

"So what are you doing in Metropolis," The clerk asked, his kind demeanor returning just as fast as it had fled before.

Wally just wanted to deck him.

"We we're..." Artemis dropped off slowly, her face twisting into a scowl and her eyes narrowing, "Alright," She slapped her hands on the counter, making the man flinch.

"Arty?" Wally whispered, watching her closely because she was not being very predictable.

"I can't do this," She declared, "Don't engage me in conversation ever again," She glared at the clerk before turning on her bare heel towards the door, "Wally, I'll be by the car,"

Wally's eyebrows rose at her attitude, a smirk forming and a laugh bubbling to his lips.

The blonde stopped at the door, looking back briefly, "You're lucky I don't have any weapons on me," She said before leaving the office with a flourish of wild hair.

Wally's eyes darted back to the clerk, trying to withhold his laughter.

"One bed?" The clerk asked, a deep frown imprinted on his features.

The redhead's laughter was immediately broken and he looked to the floor.

"Uh, no. Two,"

He was never waking her up early again.

Wally closed the motel door behind him carefully, wary of the blonde that was perched at their table with her toes tucked under her legs, typing away at the computer.

"I'm back from the station," He spoke up, wondering what kind of mood his partner was in as he shoved his shoes off and padded across the carpet.

When the redhead had left, Artemis had still been in a sour- and rather unpredictable- mood. Which is why he suggested that she stay behind while he went to get an update on the case from the police. She turned briefly to glance at him and Wally was relieved to see that she looked normal again. And not mischievous and combustible, as he'd believed before. Her hair was wet and piled carelessly in a loose bun atop her head, and she had changed out of her pajamas and into her usual attire of a large t-shirt and dark wash jeans.

And she was wearing her glasses. Wally mentally cursed; he could never think properly when she was wearing those damn things.

"What did you find?" She asked, reaching for a poptart and breaking a piece off to nibble on.

Wally's eyes drifted to the snack and she growled warningly, enticing a smile from the redhead as he sat down in the chair next to her, "The witness was really damn sure that they saw a gorilla. "Looked just like King Kong, but smaller" They'd said. The lab results could only conclude that it was some sort of primate, but even that is strange to find in a city. And the hearts were still with the victims,"

"Hmm," Artemis mused, clicking out of a few unneeded websites before turning to face her companion. Her glasses had slid to the end of her nose and Wally reached out and pushed them back, smirking when the blonde scowled at him but allowed it nonetheless, "Sadly, I think we can rule out a werewolf. They always stake the hearts, and definitely don't leave primate DNA," She sighed, "I'm really at a loss, Wally,"

"Should we call Kaldur?" The redhead shrugged, pulling a candy bar innocently out of his pocket, "Maybe it's some sort of creature that isn't native to North America. Kal would have info on something like that,"

"No," Artemis frowned, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair, "I don't want to call him until we get some good solid evidence. He has too many books to make any headway without a decent direction to take,"

Wally didn't say anything in response and the blonde rose an eyebrow when she noticed that he was sitting very still with a serious frown spread across his features.

"Uhh, Wally?" She asked, moving her head to try and catch his frozen gaze.

"Bigfoot," He spoke gravely, his bright green eyes wide in the dim room lighting.

"No," Artemis snapped, "No way,"

"Why not!?" Wally asked, his hands settling firmly on his knees defensively.

"It's just a legend, it's not actually a creature," She frowned.

"Maybe it's an alpha, first of its kind," He suggested, "And there aren't many others yet,"

"I think it's more likely that a gorilla escaped from the zoo,"

"You can't deny that this whole situation is weird," Wally tried again, growing exasperated.

Artemis narrowed her eyes and sent him a look, "Weird is normal for us, Wally. Keep up with the program,"

"I'm just saying that we need to keep our options open because there aren't a lot of leads on this thing so far,"

The blonde opened her mouth to respond when suddenly Wally's cell phone began ringing in his jacket pocket. The two shared a look and the redhead quickly pulled it out to answer.

"Arthur Newton," He quipped professionally. Artemis leaned forward to listen but couldn't catch the other half of the conversation.

"Special Agent Newton, we've got another body. Same M.O. Thought you might need to check it out," A man spoke.

"I would, thank you for informing me. Where is the scene located? My partner, Special Agent Melanie Skillman, and I will meet you there," Wally answered, gesturing for the blonde to grab a scrap of paper.

"It's on Helmen, just north of Teele square," The cop said slowly, ensuring that Wally could hear.

"Helmen, north of Teele square," He whispered over to his partner, Artemis nodded as she scribbled the address down, "We'll see you in fifteen minutes sir,"

"Ten four," Was the quick response, followed by the dial tone.

Wally put the phone away with a frown, "What does 'Ten four' mean?"

"It means 'message received', but you don't use it in a phone conversation," Artemis rolled her eyes, sharing a smile as the two snickered, "What happened?" She continued, holding up the address Wally had prattled off.

The redhead stood and collected his gear, checking to ensure they he had bullets before holstering his gun, "They found another body that they think is a gorilla casualty,"

Artemis sighed and followed suit, grabbing the keys and heading out the door while Wally scrambled to keep up. He was still slow at preparing himself for public appearances. Then again, he tried much harder to look the part than Artemis did.

"Can we try to not get lost this time?" Wally groaned as he settled into the passenger seat.

"Oh what's the fun in that?" Artemis smirked, peeling out of the motel parking lot with little care to how many cars she cut off in the middle lane.

"I'm getting out the map," He grumbled.

Please review and let me know what you think!

The next chapter will be up Wed-Thurs!

Love, Veg