Chapter Three

We are surrounded by all of these lies

And people who talk too much

You've got the kind of look in your eyes

As if no one knows anything but us

Should this be the last thing I see

I want you to know it's enough for me

Madison, Wisconsin. September 7th 2015. Midnight.

Artemis sighed as she did yet another round on the rooftop she and Kid Flash were perched on top of, "Nothing. I don't see any criminal activity from up here. Just a couple of drunken idiots stumbling their way home," Drunk as they were, they looked pretty harmless, "Anything from your end?"

Next to her, Kid Flash began fiddling with their police monitor, "Nothing. Nada. Zip. Just some drug deals but nothing too major like Vertigo. Just cannabis. It's nothing that the police can't handle by themselves,"

"Maybe we finally get a night off?" She asked, laying down on her back and letting her feet dangle off the edge of the five story building. It was more than a little dangerous but Artemis liked living life a little dangerous. It was probably why life on the run had suited her so much. Life without danger was too boring, although Artemis would be lying if she said that she didn't long for domesticity sometimes but that urge always left as quick as it came. She was only ever destined for a dangerous life and she had accepted it long ago.

"Maybe…" The speedster mused, following her lead and laying down next to her, "Still… A quiet night is never a good sign…"

"No, it's not…" Artemis agreed, staring up at the illuminated sky, "It could mean that the villains are planning something but-"

"We don't have any serious villains here yet. Unless…" He looked at her, their masked eyes locking, "Do you?"

"No. I don't," Artemis answered, "I haven't made any enemies here," Key word being here, "Maybe we should just look at today as a gift, go home, and get some sleep,"

"Let's just stick around for another hour," Kid Flash replied, "Just to make sure that nothing slips through our fingers,"

"Fine," Artemis huffed, truly meaning what she said about getting some sleep. She doubted she'd gotten more than five hours a night this past month, "But just another hour,"

"Just another hour. Got it," He hummed beside her before piping up, "So… While we're up here… You wanna tell me your name?"

She snickered, "Not a chance,"

There was another enjoyable silence as he pouted, "Fine," He huffed, "Hey. So that we don't die of boredom up here, why don't we play a game-"

"No-"

"Let's play 21 Questions!" Probably sensing her oncoming rejection, he added, "No questions about personal identities. Promise,"

The blonde stopped to consider it. Hmm… No questions about her identity? It didn't sound too bad, it was probably harmless. Why not? They had an hour to kill after all, "Sure. You start,"

"Sweet! Anyways, you got a partner? I mean like, other than me,"

"Currently…" She didn't want to rat Zatanna out. For whatever reason, the girl was also on the run and Artemis doubted that it was anything that the Justice League could help out with but hey, he never asked for her name… "Yes. Where's your partner? Or, er, your partners?" She asked, referencing the widely known Young Justice.

"I'm kind of, er, solo at the moment-"

"What do you mean solo-"

"Ah ah ah!" He wagged his finger at her, "My turn, blondie. Why isn't your partner with you?"

"She's…" Artemis trailed off, "I don't know. She's been kind of homebound lately," That was curious… She'd have to ask Zatanna about it in the morning, "My turn. What do you mean by kind of solo?"

"I…" He treaded carefully, giving Artemis the feeling that he wasn't supposed to say much else, "Nightwing and I are temporarily partners,"

Is Nightwing here? Why?

"If you don't give me your name, what should I call you?" He asked, catching Artemis off guard.

"Don't you already call me Tigress?" She asked, dancing around the question.

"Yeah but like a normal name," The speedster answered, "I'll give you one for me… But I can't promise it will be real," Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him wink, "Come on, blondie, give me a name,"

"Call me… Diana," The Roman version of her name. It was perfect, "Diana, yes,"

"Okay then, Diana. You can call me…" There was silence as he thought of a fake name for himself, "Lord Mega-Awesome-"

"I am not calling you that-"

"Then I won't call you Diana. I'll just keep digging and digging until I get your real name,"

The arched rolled her eyes, "Good luck with that," She yawned and stretched out, looking at the glimmering sky above her, "What's your favorite food?"

"Apple pie. What's your favorite color?"

"Green. Favorite movie?"

"Pulp Fiction. Do you know any language other than English,"

"Vietnamese," She yawned again, looking at the sky through drooping eyelids, "Do you know constellations?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Tell me about them," She requested, "I don't know anything about them and the skies look so beautiful out here,"

There was a hint of a smile in his voice as he complied, "Of course," His arm shot above her and pointed to the sky above them, "See, that's the little dipper. Everyone knows that one but that one, that's very faint up there. That's Aquarius. See, he was actually so good looking, much like myself, that Zeus invited him to Mount Olympus…"

As he spoke, Artemis felt herself lull to sleep to the sound of familiar sound of his voice, the aura of safety coming from his side pulling her into the vast familiarity of dreamland.

Farmer's Grove, Wisconsin. September 7th 2015. Midnight

Zatanna looked around before turning her attention back to the heavy bag of laundry that awaited her. It was midnight and no one was really around… What was the harm, "Straigts eth pu," She said, smiling with satisfaction as the bag lifted itself up the stairs and planted itself in front of 2-C, her and Artemis' apartment. Perfect. There was no way in hell she was carrying that three pound thing up the stairs.

"Using magic isn't really laying low, you know,"

The magician spun around, eyes locking on the former boy wonder's face in curiosity, "D-Nightwing?"

Every inch of her wanted to run to him, to collapse and tell him the events of the past few years. How… How fucked up she had gotten, how fucked up everything had become but just as quickly as those urges came, her memories did and they made her want to turn in the other direction and run.

"Zatanna… There was an accident,"

"Any stupid kids walking by could have seen you and reported you," Nightwing responded, staying in the shadow of the stairs, "And then, bam, you would have been done. Finished,"

"What? Dick, what happened?"

Barely taking in his words, Zatanna backed up into the pale moonlight, "Stay down there. Stay down there or I swear I will-"

"It was your father," He looked up at her, eyes apologetic even behind his mask, "I'm sorry,"

"You'll what?" This time, he stepped into the light. His only camouflage was a hoodie worn low over his face, "Run away again? You can't run this time, Zatanna,"

She felt her breath leave her chest, "What?"

"Oh yes, I can," She raised her hands and began chanting, "Gag mih-" But was cut off as he launched himself at her, planting a hand over her mouth and rendering her power useless.

"Zatanna, please…" Now he was asking, borderline begging, "Just hear me out. I don't want to have to do this," He gestured towards his hand on her mouth, "Please. You never even gave me a chance to explain. You just took off,"

She looked at him. Damn it. He was right. She had never told him why she was leaving or even what was going on. He deserved that much at least.

Slowly removing his hand, he began, "Don't make me do that again. Please,"

Taking a breath, Zatanna began, "Come in. I'll make you some coffee but Dick, please," She turned to face him, "Don't tell anyone," They can't know about me.

Madison, Wisconsin. September 7th 2015. 12:45 a.m.

"... And then Zeus put Aquarius, whose real name was Ganymede fun fact, in the sky for his service. He also gave him eternal…" Wally paused and glanced down at Tigress/Diana, a small smile stretching across his face.

The woman beside him was fast asleep, her breathing coming out in steady, even puffs. It was an endearing sight to see and filled Wally up with a strange sort of protectiveness, along with a strong sort of pride. She trusted him enough to fall asleep around him, was comfortable enough around him to fall asleep and because of that he wouldn't let anything happen to her, wouldn't let anything or anyone touch her in this state. She was comfortable enough around him to fall asleep and that, to him, was an honor. He knew that she was closed up and this small action meant a lot to him.

Kid Flash wouldn't let her stay up here, on this rooftop, in the cold though. No way. She was going to sleep somewhere comfortable tonight. Hey, Dick said he was going to be out tonight. Something about Batman and intel. He didn't even know… Maybe he could take Diana/Tigress over to their place? She could sleep in his bed. Beside, it's not like she was a baddie or anything. And besides, Dick never had to know...

Gently picking her up, Kid Flash leapt off of the building, holding her to close to make sure that she wasn't injured, and sped off towards Farmer's Grove. It was a good 45 minute drive from the city but Wally ran to it in five. The little cabin he and Dick were renting was right on the edge of the town. It was made out of wooden logs and concealed by trees. Their driveway was a good half mile long with a "no trespassing" sign strewn across the entrance. Wally hopped it and continued towards small, two bedroom cabin. He paused to unlocked it and walked towards his bedroom in the back of the cabin.

It was tiny, maybe only ten feet long and five feet wide. It only fit his bed and a clothing rack that had his civvies and suits hung on it. His bed was a twin and covered in yellow and red Flash merchandise (Hey! He had to show support for his mentor somehow), something that Wally was avidly proud of.

He set the blonde down on the bed, gently putting a comforter on her. He propped her bow and arrow against the door and quickly scribbled a note so that he didn't end up with an arrow thru his chest in the morning.

Hey Diana!

Well. You fell asleep and it was really cold on that building, so I took you to my place. Er… My temporary place. Don't tell anyone!

I'm going to probably be asleep when you wake up but don't hesitate to wake me up if you're hungry or something.

Don't worry, I didn't take off your mask or anything. I just thought you would freeze on that rooftop and decided to let you sleep in my comofortable as fuck bed. Nice, huh?

See you in the morning… Well, I guess, good morning because you're going to be reading this in the morning.

Kid Flash

P.S. I can't run you to your place tomorrow because it'll be broad daylight and that's risky but I'll give you a ride. I'll have to hide my face but it's better than walking.

P.S.S. Don't eat the Lucky Charms. Those things are mine.

Satisfied with his note, Wally left it on the bedside table. Taking one last look at her, he shut off the lights and headed into the living room. Plopping down on the couch, Wally turned on the T.V. and began watching the first thing he could find (Fast and the Furious 5).

God, I wish I knew her real name… She seems like she'd be fun to hang out with.

As the speedster drifted off to bed, his thoughts danced with thoughts of Diana, sweetening his dreams and in turn, his slumber.

Farmer's Grove, Wisconsin. September 7th 2015. 3:15 a.m.

Nightwing watched Zatanna as she talked, animatedly throwing her hands up in the air. He was half listening to her story (He basically had already figured it out) but was more so watching her, just so glad that she was with him again.

"... And then I had to come here. To Wisconsin. It wasn't safe there anymore,"

Dick raised his eyebrow, "You did all of that for your father?"

"I would do anything for my father,"

There was tense silence between them, a heavy reminder that what happened to Zatanna's father was partly the former boy wonder's fault.

"Listen, I'm still really sorry about it-"

"Dick, please just…" Zatanna put her hand up to silence him, "I don't want to hear it. Please,"

"Alright," That was understandable. It was a tough thing to talk about, "I'm just glad I can see you,"

He saw a glimmer of a smile flicker across her face, "I am too," She reached across the counter and slid her hand within his, "I… missed you,"

Nightwing smiled at her and placed his hand on top of hers, "I missed you too. But maybe you can come back now?"

"No," The sources slid her hand out of his grip, shaking her head quickly, "No, I can't,"

"But Zatanna-"

"God, I should have known you wouldn't understand," She threw her hands up, "I can't go back, Dick, I can never go back,"

"And why? Why not?" He snapped, patience running thin. They had messed up, sure, but when would she stop punishing him for it?

"Because," She took a breath and leveled her gaze with his, "The only reason my father is alive is because the Justice League thinks that I'm dead. If I want him to live, I have to stay dead,"

End of chapter three! There was some Chalant bc I know you guys like Chalant.

What happened to Zatara? :3 Mystery of that will be revealed later.

lol in the next chapter we get to see Artemis' reaction to waking up in Wally's bed.

Hey, sorry for not updating for a while. I had finals and I started summer school but now that I'm used to it, I should be updating more often. Thanks for your patience. :)

The next chapter will also be fluffy (Like this one is) then the plot will really start settling in. I'll put a lot of plot elements in the next one too but it'll be primarily fluff.

Review? I love feedback.