Chapter Five

Your touch

Your skin

Oh, where do I begin?

Nothing can explain the way that I'm missing you

Madison, Wisconsin. September 18th 2015. 2:15 a.m.

Wally waited within the dark confines of their meeting space as he had been doing for over a week now. The speedster was tempted to just turn around and head home. By now, he was certain that he would probably never see Tigress again. Persistent as he was, Wally could take a hint. She never wanted to see him again. And he had no idea why.

"I shouldn't have listened to Dick…" He muttered under his breath, his best friend's encouragement being the only reason that Wally continued to wait for Tigress these past few days. Although Wally had the sneaking suspicion that his friend just wanted the cabin empty for his "dates".

He wouldn't go to the cabin, in fear of disturbing Dick and whomever he was spending his nights with, Wally would just check into some hotel and spend the night there. Or maybe find a bar and drink away his disappointment, something to pass the time because he was clearly wasting it waiting around for someone that would never show up.

However, as he turned to leave, he stopped. For standing right behind him was a tall girl with long blonde hair and a tiger mask: Tigress.

"Di-Tigress!" He exclaimed, almost saying her real name out of excitement, "You're here?"

Then, out of concern, he added, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm-" She was unusually reserved. The Tigress that he knew was open in sarcastic, sassy sort of way but the one he observed in front of him now was quiet, unspoken, and nervous, "I'm fine. I just have something I need to talk to you about,"

Damn it. He really had weirded her out by bringing her to her house, "Listen, Tigress, if my

taking you to my place made you uncomfortable-"

"No. It's not that…" She sighed and was quiet for one terrifying moment before continuing, "I was trying to wake you up. It was the morning and I took a huge bite of the Lucky Charms, specifically because you told me not to. I wanted to irritate you. But when I rolled you over, your mask had dragged up and… I saw it was you. You as in," Her voice lowered, "Wally West,"

"That was why you were avoiding me?" He asked, startled, "Did you tell anyone?"

"No, of course not," Tigress answered, shaking her head, "I just kind of freaked and well… Here we are,"

"Huh," If she hadn't told anyone, and it didn't look like she was planning to, then Wally supposed that it was okay. She seemed pretty trustworthy… Hey, if she could put a name to his face, then she probably lived in Farmer's Grove. Maybe he even knew her, "Hey. Since you know my identity, what's yours?" It only seemed fair that if she knew who he really was that he knew who she really was.

"Sorry, Kid," She answered, shaking her head, "Not telling,"

Now he was irritated. Did she really not trust him that much? He had never done anything to harm her or to sell her out. Why was she so skeptical of him? He trusted her. Of course, now that she knew his identity, he kind of had to but, nevertheless, he trusted her. Why wouldn't she trust him?

"Seriously? You know my identity. I should be allowed to know your identity," The speedster crossed his arms, "Or do you not trust me?"

"I don't trust anybody," Ouch.

"We've been fighting side by side for a while now," Wally said, tensing up, "What more do I have to do to get you to put your faith in me?"

Suddenly, a voice came from the shadows. It had a slender, seductive sound to it and seemed to have a paralyzing effect on whomever was listening to it, "Oh, it's nothing personal, Kid Flash," The voice said, placing extra emphasis on 'Kid',"Just family business,"

From the shadows emerged a woman with wildly curly black hair. She was donning a Cheshire cat mask and had two swords strapped to her back. Although Wally couldn't see her, he swore she was smirking at him behind that mask of hers.

Madison, Wisconsin. September 18th 2015. 3:00 a.m

"Cheshire," Artemis hissed, going into a defensive stance beside Wally, "What do you want?"

"To chat with my little-" Before she could finish the words, Artemis went sailing into her, knocking her into the wall of the building behind her. However, before Artemis could get a good hit in, Cheshire was gone. The blonde looked around for her and realized exactly where she was when someone clobbered her over her head.

The archer sank to the ground, holding her head and groaning, "Goddamnit…"

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Artemis heard Wally yell before catching up to the sisters and pulling Cheshire off of Artemis before she could get a second hit in. Overcome with adrenaline, Artemis stood up and tackled Jade to the ground, punching her square in the nose.

"Sorry," The assassin replied sarcastically, "This won't do," With a small movement, Cheshire had her little sister rolling off of her and into a wall. Groaning when Wally caught Artemis before any damage could be done, she added, "Do you mind? Tigress and I are trying to have a private conversation,"

"Actually, yeah, I do mind," Wally replied, setting Artemis down and running at the assassin. He grabbed her by the waist and flung her into the one of the ground level shop's windows. Glass went flying everywhere and amongst the wreckage, a small groan of pain could be heard coming from Cheshire's direction.

"Sorry, sweetie," Jade said, putting extra emphasis on 'sweetie', "But this won't do," With that, she pulled a knife from her belt and cut Wally's shoulder with it. Artemis saw him stand up and wobble for a second before toppling down to the ground.

Horrified, the archer rose, "What did you do?" She charged at her older sister, pinning her to a wall and throwing punch after punch, "I swear, if you fucking killed him-"

"Calm down, sis," She hissed, grabbing Artemis's punching fists and pinning them to her sides, "I only sedated him. Given his metabolism, he'll be awake in an hour. That's just enough for us to have a little chat," She twisted Artemis's wrists behind her back and pinned her to the wall, switching places in a flash, "Listen to me, you've pissed off dad. Big time. You're wearing mom's mask and you took her name. He's livid,"

"Yeah? So?" She twisted in her sister's grip, trying to keep the pain out of her voice, "Why should I care?"

"You should care, sister, because this isn't like any other time," Her tone was so gravely serious that Artemis felt the trickles of fear she felt for her father start growing into streams, "You took the biochips from him and ruined his plan. Now you're wearing mom's mask and using her name. You're only reminding him of his greatest failure. He's ready to kill you. Just leave the biochips, Artemis, and go. I'll pay for you to get away, just go,"

"If you think that's going to trick me into just handing over the biochips, then you're wrong," She hissed, "The biochips are staying…" She glanced at Wally, "I'm staying and dad can do whatever he wants about it,"

Flabbergasted, Jade let go of her sister's wrist and backed away, "Fine. But I can't keep covering your tracks anymore," That surprised Artemis. Why would her sister protect her? Jade had always been the one to help their father try to capture Artemis. The key word being try, "In case you change your mind… You probably have about a month before he finds you again. I suggest you run. Fast. He won't spare you this time,"

"I can handle him," Artemis replied confidently, "You'll see,"

"Whatever you say," Jade said, doubtfully, "Before I go… You might want to cut ties with this one," She motioned towards Wally, "He's baggage, emotional baggage,"

"What do you know about baggage? Or emotions? You've never loved anyone but yourself,"

"Not true," She responded, the teasing lilt back in her tone, "I love you, sis. And I loved mom. And I love…" The assassin trailed off, "Well. Check your front pocket,"

"Huh?" Artemis looked down and slipped her hand into her pocket, pulling out absolutely nothing, "What do you-"

But when she looked up again, her and Wally were alone and once again, her sister had left her in the cold, blackened night.

Farmer's Grove, Wisconsin. September 18th 2015. 4:00 a.m.

"No, no, no. Don't get up," A gentle voice said, pushing Wally back down onto the soft mattress, "Stay down. You need your rest,"

Wally groaned and put a hand to his head. He felt like shit, absolute shit, "What happened?"

He was surprised when the voice ended up coming from Tigress. She must have switched off her distorter.

Maybe she actually trusts me enough to use her real voice, he thought bitterly.

"Cheshire snuck up on her. She cut you with a blade laced with sedatives. You're completely fine. You just kind of passed out a little,"

That sounded right. Wally's memory began coming back to him; of the argument between him and Tigress, Cheshire, and the cut that made him go to sleep. He was still a little angry with Tigress but decided not to bring it up. There were more important things to deal with now, "Hey," He said, sitting up despite her protests, "Are you hurt?"

"A little but I'm fine-"

"Where?"

"I said I was fine-"

"And I said where are you hurt?"

Giving in with a huff, Diana stuck her wrists out, "My wrists. The right one is swollen but I think I'll be fine,"

Gingerly, Wally held her wrists, his thumb moving slowly on them. Her left one looked fine but her right wrist was definitely sprained. She'd need a splint at best, "Your right one is sprained. First thing in the morning, I want you get a brace," He looked at her intently as he said this, hoping to convey the importance of the message to her, "Seriously, Diana. Can you do that?"

"Yeah, I can," She answered.

Where have I heard that voice before?

There was an awkward silence between them as Wally settled back down onto the bed, the argument between them coming to mind. Hoping to avoid talking about it just yet, Wally looked around the room. It looked like a basement and was immersed in darkness, various supplies thrown about. In front of him was what looked like the back of a bookshelf or some sort of large cabinet, "Where are we?"

"This is my apartment basement. My… partner and I use this as our base," She explained, pausing for a moment before continuing, "Hey, listen Wally… I thought about what you said earlier, about my identity and all-"

"Yeah?" He asked, hoping to be hearing an apology, "I better be hearing an 'I'm sorry Wally',"

Even though it was too dark to correctly do so, Wally could have sworn that he saw her eyes roll, "Just shut up and listen. Anyways, I was thinking about what you said and… You're right. I know who you are, so it's only fair that you know who I am. And…" He watched with intent eyes as she reached up and slid down her mask, revealing a familiar face beneath it, "I believe we've met. I'm Artemis. Artemis Hunt,"

Wally was taken aback. Tigress was Artemis? The bitchy waitress that had yelled at him on his first day here?, "No. Way,"

"Yes. Way," She bit her lip before starting to talk again, "Listen, you have to promise not to tell anyone. And I mean anyone. If anyone finds out, I'm done for,"

Wally was too busy being shocked by her identity to pay full attention to what she was saying. Never in a million years had he imagined Artemis to be someone as badass as Tigress. It changed nothing between them but was still quite the shock to Wally, "Hey. Do I get discounts at Rocket's now because I saved your ass a million and one times?"

"Please," She rolled her eyes and flopped down onto the mattress beside him, "I've saved yours a million and twice. You should tip me extra now,"

"You wish," He responded sarcastically, glad that he knew her identity. At least they could hang out more often now and hey, he had a friend in town now. Letting out a yawn, he murmured, "You know, that sedative is still kicking my ass, do you mind if I sleep here?"

"Sedatives will do that. And only if you tip me $10 tomorrow,"

"$8 is as high as I can go,"

"I'll take it,"

Wally smirked, yawning a little before rolling onto his side and closing his eyes, "Goodnight Arty,"

"Hey Wally?"

"Hmm?"

"Call me Arty again and I'll tell the whole town who Kid Flash really is,"

"Whatever you say, Arty,"

Farmer's Grove, Wisconsin. September 18th 2015. 10:00 a.m.

Zatanna groaned as looked through her fridge, unhappy with the lack of coffee in the fridge, "Hey Dick?"

From the bathroom, Dick called out, "Yeah Z?"

"Can you run down to the basement and get some coffee beans? I hide it with all of my superhero things because if someone gets into my stash, it will be as bad as someone finding my Zatanna Zatara things,"

Done with brushing his teeth, Dick emerged from the bathroom, "Sure. Where exactly in the basement is it?"

"Just keep digging through there. It's in the way back, behind like a bookshelf,"

"Gotcha. I'll be back soon," He tossed her a smile and headed out the door and down the outdoor stairs of the apartment complex. He knew where the basement was from the amount of times Zatanna had sent him down there to grab various supplies (Like the fire extinguisher… Let's just say that he never let Zatanna near the stove ever again) but he had never seen her hero things.

He opened the basement and headed down into it. The deeper in that he got, the more messier things became. The former boy wonder pushed toys, cooking utensils, blow up things, beach accessories, and some all out strange things out of his way until he finally came face to face with a huge bookshelf. It held no books but had a small note taped to it that read "Property of Zatanna Zamara and Artemis Hunt,". He knew that the second one was a fake name and could only guess that Zatanna had changed her last name for sake of privacy.

Easily pushing it to the side, Dick was greeted with the sight of two people lying on what he presumed was a blow up mattress. One was dressed in a Kid Flash suit, Wally of course, and the other was a woman. Dick couldn't see her face but knew from the mess of blonde hair that it was Artemis. Beside the mattress was a Tiger mask and various medical supplies. Both of them were breathing and looked fine, just asleep.

Wally's arm was thrown over Artemis's waist and her head was buried in the crook of his neck. Dick could only assume that both of them had been so tired after whatever had happened on their patrol last night that they just completely passed out the second their heads touched the mattress. The sight brought a smirk to Nightwing's face. He gave it a week before they became an item.

"I'll just give you two some privacy then…" Dick smirked, moving the bookshelf back into place and heading up the stairs. He closed the door to the basement and fished a $20 from his wallet, "Hey, Z!" He called, "I can't find the coffee. I'll be back in a few minutes with a new pack of it. Just stay put!"

Meh. I feel like my writing for the past few chapters hasn't been good but hey I rewrote this like a bunch of times so I feel like this should be good? Idk?

Zatanna and Dick are going to DTR in the next chapter, so just prepare yourselves.

Now that Artemis and Wally know who each other are, things are about to get very cute, very fast.

Sportsmaster will make an appearance soon :O (Oh no!)

Also, in the AU, Sportsmaster was entrusted with the Cadmus biotech chips that took over the JLA in the season one finale but Artemis took them when she found out the Light's plan. She's been on the run since. Because of this, they never found out that Roy was mole but he and Cheshire still got together because they flirted and stuff regardless of his mole-ness or not. This will come up later, trust me ;)

New chapter will be out Sunday-Monday?
Please review? Your reviews seriously mean a lot to me.