AN: A huge thanks to everyone who reviewed and/or favorite this story and extra thanks to Lasach and tokidoki-chan for pointing out grammar and detail; definitely stuff I need to work on. To answer your question Blackpantherwolf, I'm not sure if I'm going to ship them yet or not. Personally, I love them as a couple (as my other stories for YJ show), but we'll see where this one goes. Sometimes the best relationships grow out of the best friendships so we'll just have to see I suppose. Hope you enjoy chapter three and don't forget to leave a review ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or anything affiliated with it.

They had received their acceptance letters to Gotham Academy on Thursday followed by their new class schedules came on Friday. Wally and Artemis were glad to see that they were still in all the same classes; it saved Artemis having to hack into the school's website to fix that. On Saturday their dorm assignments came, along with their school uniforms. For five days of the week both of them would be wearing pristine white button-up shirts, dark gray sweater vests, light blue ties, and Wally would be wearing dark grey pants while Artemis would be stuck in a dark grey pleated skirt. To say that Artemis was less than pleased would be the understatement of the century.

"A skirt?" she practically yelled, a disgusted look on her face after she and Wally had opened the packages with their uniforms. "Do they not understand that I don't do skirts?" She looked over as Wally pulled his dark gray slacks from the bag. "Switch with me," she said.

Wally looked up at his best friend, puzzled, before a mischievous grin spread across his lips. "Well, it would shock all the rich brats, wouldn't it? We might even get expelled the first day. All right, fork over the skirt."

"Oh no you don't," Wally's mother said as she stepped between the two of them before they could exchange articles of clothing. "You'll both be on your best behavior," she said sternly. "We expect the good grade you're both more than capable of and we don't want one single bad report coming home! Understand?"

Wally and Artemis exchanged disgruntled looks, but they agreed to be on their best behavior; for as long as they could be anyway.

Sunday morning their mothers woke them up bright and early and piled them into the car. They had stayed awake long enough to help carry their boxes to the car and clamber into the back seat of the small green Pontiac Sunfire before Wally leaned against the window and promptly went back to sleep. Artemis had shot him a look, rolled her eyes, and decided to hell with it. She leaned against him and joined him in dreamland.

It wasn't long before Artemis and Wally were being shaken awake once more to get a look at their new school.

"Welcome to the world of the rich and snobby," Wally said as he and Artemis eyed the large brown stone building with distaste. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was a church," he added as they walked under the wrought iron archway that proclaimed they were at Gotham Academy.

"Good morning," a boy maybe two years younger than them said as he walked towards them. He had dark hair and dark blue eyes and something about him seemed almost familiar, but neither of them could place it. "You must be the new students, Wallace West and Artemis Crock. Welcome to Gotham Academy. I'm Richard Grayson, the student body president here at Gotham Academy. If you'll follow me, I'll take you on a tour of the campus before showing you to your dorm rooms."

"Shoot me," Artemis begged Wally under her breath. "Just shoot me and let me leave this hell."

"And get stuck here by myself?" Wally asked. "Not a chance. At least we'll still have each other through this."

"But you'd be doing me a favor!" Artemis protested. "It would be a mercy killing. I'd even see if I could arrange a premature heart attack once I'm on the other side. Or death by runaway bus or something."

Wally just chuckled. "I don't think the bus thing would work. Primal fear and survival responses would kick in if I saw a bus coming towards me and I'd easily outrun it."

"I thought you were my best friend," Artemis grumbled good naturedly, a small smile on her face. "But here you stand and you won't even have the decency to off my before I get shipped off to hell."

"I am your best friend," Wally said, a hurt expression on his face before it turned to an evil smirk. "But you're nuts if you think I'm going to let you out of this and leave me behind that easily."

"Well! Doesn't this place look nice?" Artemis' mother asked as she wheeled up to them. "I'm sure the two of you will have a great time here. Oh, Wally, why don't you go help your mother with the boxes."

Wally and Artemis exchanged skeptical looks before he started off for the car.

"Oh, there's no need to carry those boxes," Richard interrupted. "Someone will be down shortly to bring your things to your rooms."

"Oh, isn't that just nice!" Wally's mother exclaimed as she put the box she had been struggling with back in the trunk. She smiled broadly at her son. "Oh, Wally I'm so proud of you!" She drew him into a tight hug. "Don't forget to come home on weekends."

"Okay, all right mom!" Wally exclaimed as he struggled to get out of her grasp. "I'll see you Friday night." He finally managed to untangle himself from his mother's arms and looked over to see Artemis in a similar position with her own mother.

After the two of them had managed to finally say good-bye to their mothers they walked back over to where Richard stood. He had an amused smile on his face and Wally narrowed his eyes at him. Smug little prick, he thought. "Well, lead on Mr. President," he said aloud. He thought he had seen Grayson roll his eyes, but he couldn't be sure.

The tour took longer than either of them had expected as Grayson seemed determined to show them every little nook and cranny that existed in the school. They had started with a basic overview of the school itself, followed by the library, then the dining hall. Then they had been shown the state-of-the-art gym and swimming pool, complete with a movable floor depending on whether or not there were diving or lap competitions, before they were lead back outside to the track and football field. Finally, Grayson lead them back to the dorms, which really just looked like converted white-stone mansions. They had learned that two people would share a suit complete with two rooms, a living room, and a bathroom. Wally and Artemis had been hoping to share a suit, as they had transferred in this late in the year, but they had learned that boys and girls were separated into two different dorm buildings. They parted ways at Artemis' dorm, promising to meet up at lunch in a few hours.

"So, who am I bunking with?" Wally asked as he and Grayson made their way over to the boys' dorms. "Football jock? Science nerd? Techno geek? Social outcast?"

"Actually," Grayson answered. "You'll be sharing a dorm with me."

Wally laughed out loud. "No seriously," he said once he calmed down. "Who am I sharing a dorm suit with?"

"I just told you," Grayson replied, sounding a little ticked. "You're sharing with me. The second room in my suit was open so they stuck you in it."

"All right then," Wally said with a shrug. "So, you keep to your own business and I'll keep to mine?"

Grayson eyed him for a moment. "That sounds fair enough I suppose," he answered at last. "As long as you keep the living room and bathroom clean. I could care less if your bedroom looks like a disaster area, but I expect the rest of the dorm to stay clean."

Wally just made a small noise of agreement, but otherwise stayed silent as he followed the younger boy through a locked door into their dorm. The door opened right into the living room with two hallways branching off on either side to the bedrooms. The living room was furnished with a large, dark leather sofa and two matching armchairs. A large flat screen television was positioned against the wall opposite the couch and Wally saw a laptop sitting on the coffee table between the television and the couch.

"Your room is down that hall," Grayson said, pointing towards the left as he sat down on the couch and pulled the laptop to him. "Students get free Wi-Fi in the doors and all around campus, the password and login is the same you use to access your student e-mail account. You'll find all the information on a pamphlet on your desk."

"Okay," Wally said as he made his way over to check out his room. "Uh, where's the bathroom?"

"My side of the dorm, first door on your right," Grayson answered, gesturing vaguely down the opposite hallway.

"Right, thanks," Wall said. He opened the door to his room to see that his boxes had already been brought up and placed at the foot of his full sized bed. A wardrobe complete with a set of drawers sat against the same wall the door was in. A night stand with a digital clock was stationed next to his bed and a desk and bookshelf had been placed against the wall opposite. A set of dark curtains hid two glass double doors that lead out to a balcony. Perfect for sneaking out, Wally thought with a grin. He turned back into his room and quickly unpacked all of his belonging before dropped onto his bed and waited for lunch.

About an hour later saw Wally sitting across the table from Artemis trying really hard not to laugh. "Come on," he said. "She can't be that bad, can she?"

"She's Little Miss Sunshine personified," Artemis groaned. "First they make me wear a skirt as part of the uniform and then they stick me with her as a roommate! I swear, I'll be dead by the end of the semester if I have to put up with her 24/7."

Wally couldn't help it this time, he laughed out loud. "I promise to give a very moving eulogy at your funeral then," he teased. "There won't be a single dry eye in the audience by the time I'm done."

"Yeah, cause they'll all be laughing so hard," Artemis retorted, though a smile tugged at her lips.

"So who is your roommate anyway?" Wally asked.

"Megan Morse," Artemis replied. "She's a year older than us. Apparently she's a cheerleader and she's dating one of the two stars of the football team."

"Which one?" Wally asked. "Conner Kent or Kaldur Ahm?"

"Conner," Artemis replied as she looked up sharply. "How do you know those two already?"

Wally shrugged. "I'm rooming with the student body president himself and, against all odds, apparently he's friends with those two. Plus they live in the dorm across from ours and came by to introduce themselves."

"That's it, Wally," Artemis sighed as she dropped her head back to the table. "The Universe must hate us. It's just dragging out this sick, perverse torture until it's had its fun and then, and only then, will it kill us off in the most painful way it can think of."

"I don't ever remember you being this pessimistic or overdramatic before," Wally laughed. "It's funny, yet creepy at the same time."

"I'm just compensating," Artemis replied. "If I'm going to be living with the human embodiment of happiness and sunshine I'm going to need a dose of overdramatic and pessimistic just to stay sane."

Wally just shook his head. "Some people's friends," he teased.

"Oh please, you'd be lost without me," Artemis grinned. "Oh, by the way, what are we going to do about our, uh, job?"

"I say we keep it up," Wally replied. "Just cause we're here doesn't mean we can't still protect the slums. Besides, I think I'm going to need to be out there every night if I have any hope of keeping my sanity intact."

"Now who's being overdramatic?" Artemis teased. "But I know what you mean. What are we going to do about the ten o'clock curfew though?"

"We can sneak out of here easily." Wally said with a shrug. "We'll just wait until our roommates are asleep and take off."

"All right," Artemis agreed. "And getting back into Central Gotham? It's a forty minute drive."

Wally grinned mischievously. "Yeah, but only a two minute run, and that's if I go slow."

Artemis grinned back. "Okay then. Meet you outside your dorm at eleven tonight? I need to swing by the substation and restock some arrows while we're out too."

"Sounds good," Wally agreed. "We can check up on our bikes while we're there and maybe bring them back with us. We can hide them somewhere off of school grounds."

At promptly eleven o'clock that night, Wally hopped over the ledge on his balcony and dropped quietly to the ground. Artemis was already waiting for him in the shadows beneath his balcony, a bag slung over her shoulder. Without missing a beat, Wally dropped low so Artemis could climb onto his back before he raced off towards the exit. Leaving Gotham Academy grounds proved to be more difficult than either of them had planned as security guards roomed to grounds. After a few close calls, the pair finally managed to slip off the school property and dashed towards Central Gotham. By the time they reached the substation Artemis was more than ready to hit solid ground again.

"Geez," she said as she wobbled slightly after scrambling off of Wally's back. "How are you not dizzy and disoriented every time you go that fast?"

"Fast?" Wally asked with a laugh. "You thought that was fast? Are you kidding me? I was slowing it down for you so you wouldn't be overwhelmed. I can go much faster than that," he said with a grin that spoke of immense pride.

Artemis just shook her head. "I'm just as much a speed junkie as the next teen, but I don't think normal humans were built to be going that fast. I'll just stick to topping out on my bike, if it's all the same to you."

Wally just laughed again as he snagged his costume from the lockbox he kept underneath one of his work tables. "You forget, I'm not a normal human anymore." He pointed vaguely towards the small bathroom. "I'm gonna go change while you grab whatever you need."

Artemis nodded absently; already absorbed in trying to figure out the ratio of which types of arrows she should have in her quiver for the night. "Yeah, sure. I'll change when you're done then." She frowned when she noticed she only had ten arrows filled with knockout gas left and decided to go easy on them until she could find the time to make more arrows and to get Wally to mix her some more chemicals to fill them.

Wally came zipping back out of the bathroom not even two minutes later to find Artemis still staring intently down at the array of arrows she had splayed over one of the tables. "Still choosing arrows? Most girls have issues with outfits or shoes. You, on the other hand, take up time trying to figure out what kind of weapons to bring to hunt down criminals," he teased.

Artemis shot him a look before returning her concentration to the table. "For your information, I'm almost out of knockout arrows so I'm trying to go easy on them till I can make more. Trying to find a good substitute for them is taking time."

Wally shrugged. "I'll mix some more knockout compounds for you this weekend then," he replied. "I've got everything I need here so it shouldn't take me long."

Artemis nodded as she grabbed a handful of arrows, stashed them in her quiver, and snagged her own costume as she made her way to the bathroom. "Thanks," she said. "I'll be right back."

For the first hour or so nothing really seemed to be happening out on the streets. They had stopped one mugging and retrieved a stolen purse, but for the most part it was shaping up to be a fairly quiet night.

"Well, this is boring," Wally said with a sigh. He was fidgeting his leg so fast it was practically a blur as he and Artemis sat atop a tall apartment building keeping watch. "Where is everyone? Don't they know that the middle of the night is prime bad guy time?"

Artemis chuckled, but kept her eyes on the streets. "You know, you've been a lot less patient since we got our abilities."

"I blame it on the speed," Wally said with a shrug. "Being able to zip right through things now makes it harder to slow down and wait sometimes. So, anything?"

"Just like when you asked not even five minutes ago, the answer is still no," Artemis said. "Wait…"

"What?" Wally exclaimed as he moved closer to his best friend. "What do you see?"

"Shh," Artemis hissed. "I'm trying to concentrate. Now just sit tight and be patient for a minute or two before I get pissed."

Wally rolled his eyes, but remained quiet. If there was one thing he knew from growing up with Artemis it was that you never, under any circumstance, ever pissed her off. Well, unless you had some crazy death wish of course; in which case getting her angry would be the best way to effectively sign your own death warrant.

"Right," Artemis began as she looked over to her best friend and partner. "It looks like the mob is up to something down there."

"Again?" Wally questioned as he shot a glance in the direction Artemis had been looking just a few moments before. "Didn't we mess with their plans a few nights ago? These guys are like damn cockroaches!"

"Yeah," Artemis agreed. "But you were bored and this will give us something to do. Besides, I never get tired of beating on this kind of scum."

"You've got a point," Wally agreed, practically vibrating as the pre-fight excitement hit. "I don't know about you, but I think I'm ready to relieve my boredom," he added as he stood up and offered Artemis a hand. The same wild grin had already plastered itself to his face, and his green eyes shown with an almost poisonous light at the thought of what they were about to do.

"Would I be out here with you if I wasn't ready?" Artemis asked rhetorically as she accepted his hand and let him pull her to her feet. A wicked smirk curved along her lips in response to his grin and her usually calm gray eyes took on an almost violent storm-like hue.

As always, the fight started out simply enough. The pair slipped quietly and unseen into the abandoned warehouse and watched for a moment while some mob flunkies unloaded and processed shipments of weapons and drugs. Artemis had to hold Wally back from blowing their cover when one of the flunkies made some sort of comment about selling the stuff to the "dumb kids on the streets" and just sit back and watch them kill each other while the money kept rolling in. Wally had let out a low growling snarl and had shot Artemis a particularly nasty glare when she had grabbed his arm to keep him from running out there. She had glared right back until he managed to calm himself to wait and watch for a few moments longer. When they were outnumbered, especially by people with weapons of their own, they had a system of waiting for the most opportune moment to strike; usually when most of the people in the group where relaxed and had lowered their guards.

After a few more minutes, Artemis decided that it was time. She quickly drew an arrow from her quiver and shot it at one of the men bent over inspecting a weapon's crate. At the same moment she had released her arrow, Impulse had sped out and quickly dispatched three other men before anyone was even aware what was happening.

"Well, well, well," the leader of the group said as he stood from his place on the hood of a car. His eyes were dark and small and spaced widely apart over a large nose that sat above a pointed chin. His dark hair was oiled and slicked back. Overall, Wally and Artemis thought, he looked a lot like a rat and the duo promptly decided to call him Rat-Face, in lieu of actually knowing his name.. "If it ain't the heroes of the slums themselves. Look here boys, we got ourselves a visit from Impulse and Artemis." He looked over the pair as Impulse zoomed back over to Artemis' side, matching scowls on their faces. "Personally, I just see two teenaged brats that don't know how to respect their elders and I say it's about time someone taught them that respect," he sneered. "Get 'em."

As if awaiting that command, everyone shot forward, intent on getting the two teenagers. A few remembered to grab pipes or other items to use as weapons and started swinging them wildly as the charged forward. Impulse and Artemis exchanged a quick look, the feral grins back on their faces as wild light danced in their eyes.

"Bet I can take down more than you," Impulse challenged.

"You're on!" Artemis accepted. "Same terms," she added as she abandoned her bow and arrows and dropped low to the ground.

"This is going to be too easy," Impulse chuckled as he mimicked her stance.

The first wave of mob flunkies were easily dealt with and quickly dispatched, but then things started to get complicated for the two teens. The mob flunkies seemed to wise up that charging the pair head-on would do them no good and began to try to separate them from each other and back them into a corner. Impulse and Artemis had caught on to their ploy fairly quickly, but that didn't stop them from getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of people that managed to work their way between them. As the fight wore on, more and more of the flunkies littered the floor of the warehouse, unconscious, and all Impulse and Artemis had to show for it were a few scrapes and bruises. Obviously, the fact that his men were dropping to the floor and not at all managing to do serious harm to either of the teens pushed Rat-Face over the edge and he decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Stupid, useless thugs," he grumbled as he pulled out his gun. Most of his men had already been knocked unconscious, leaving only two still standing to fight the two teenagers. "You can't get them to do anything right." A quick glance told him that both teens weren't even looking at him, though he had a clear shot at the girl. Smiling maliciously, he took aim and hooked his finger around the trigger. "Bye-bye little girl," he chuckled to himself as he squeezed.

Impulse heard the shot go off and looked up to see the bullet racing right for Artemis. Without a second thought he slammed his fist into the face of the guy in front of him, not even pausing to watch him drop, before he zipped off to tackle Artemis to the ground. He winced slightly when he felt something sting his shoulder, but brushed it aside. "You all right?" he asked Artemis quickly.

"I'm fine," she grumbled in reply. "You wanna tell me why you threw yourself on top of me?"

Impulse rolled his eyes. "Cause Rat-Face decided he had a clear shot and if I hadn't tackled you out of the way your brains would probably be decorating the warehouse floor."

Artemis made a face at the image but quickly rolled out from under Impulse and onto her feet. "Well, he's just going to have to learn what happens to cowards who take cheap shots then, won't he?" she asked, her tone deceptively pleasant.

Impulse chuckled and moved to get up when his right arm refused to bare his weight and collapsed under him. He let out a sharp hiss as pain lanced through his arm, burning hottest at his shoulder. A quick glance down confirmed his suspicions; the bullet meant for Artemis had torn through his shoulder instead and already a dark patch of red was beginning to decorate the fabric around the wound.

"Impulse?" Artemis asked, hearing his hiss.

"I'm fine," he reassured her quickly. "Just shoot that guy already and let's get out of here, yeah?"

Artemis didn't like the strain she heard in her friend's voice, but decided that turning her back on a man with a gun would not be the brightest of ideas at the moment. Instead, she quickly scooped up her bow and nocked an arrow, its metal point gleaming under the florescent lighting, and aimed right for the now nervous looking leader. "You know," she began idly. "Most people say that anyone who would shoot someone in the back is nothing more than a pathetic coward that can't do anything for himself. I happen to agree with those people and I believe wholeheartedly that people like that shouldn't be allowed to pass on their genes to the next generation. No need to spread the genes of a pathetic coward, right?"

Rat-Face didn't reply, though he gulped nervously as his eyes stayed glued to the shining deadly point of the arrow trained tight on him.

"Stop toying with him Artemis," Impulse said with a dark chuckle. "I think if you keep it up he'll just pass out and where's the fun in that?"

"You're right I guess," Artemis agreed with a dark smirk on her lips. "It won't do any good to let him off easy." With that, she let her arrow fly and watched as it slammed home into the man's shoulder before a spark of electricity arched down the shaft, through the arrowhead, and quickly spreading through the man's body, dropping him unconscious and foaming at the mouth to the ground. "Serves you right prick," Artemis hissed at him.

"Nice shot," Impulse said. "Now, do you mind giving me a hand?"

Artemis turned around to see Impulse leaning against a crate, his left hand pressed over his right shoulder, and blood squeezing its way between his fingers. "Wally!" she exclaimed, not at all worried about using his real name now that they were the only ones still conscious. "What happened?" she asked as she dashed back over to him.

Wally shrugged his uninjured left shoulder. "The bullet meant for you hit me instead," he answered. "As far as I can tell it went cleanly through and I don't think it hit any bone. It's not fatal and it'll probably be healed by the time I wake up tomorrow, but for now it hurts like hell and I'm thinking cleaning it and bandaging it wouldn't be such a bad idea."

Artemis nodded and quickly slung her bow across her back before she slung Wally's left arm across her shoulders. "The substation's not too far from here; we've got some antiseptic and bandages there. Think you can make it that far?"

Wally grit his teeth as a fresh wave of pain traveled through his arm while Artemis hauled him to his feet. "I'll manage," he replied. He tried to smile softly and reassuringly when he saw the look on Artemis' face. "Hey, come on, it's not that bad. It didn't hit anything important and we're both still alive. Realistically speaking, something like this had to happen sometime from doing what we do."

"I know," Artemis said with a sigh. "But that doesn't mean I have to like seeing you hurt."

"I'd be worried if you did," Wally retorted teasingly. "Now let's get out of here, get me bandaged up, and then back to Gotham Academy before anyone's the wiser."

Had either of them actually been paying attention, they might have noticed that they weren't alone in the building. As it was, however, they were more focused on getting back than on paying attention to their surroundings.

"Well?" a boy's voice asked once Artemis and Wally had left the building. "What do you guys think?"

"They do fight well together and separately when forced to do so," another boy's voice answered, though this one sounded a few years older than the first. "Though I do not know, Robin, they seemed a bit…feral, for lack of a better word, when they fought."

"Bats thinks that some formal training will work that out of them," Robin replied. "Besides Aqualad, we can all get a little wild in a fight sometimes."

"Not like that," a third boy's voice said. "At the end there the girl was toying with the guy and the boy was encouraging it and both of them looked like they were enjoying it."

"Superboy's right," a girl's voice added. "Besides, you said earlier that neither of them are particularly endeared to the Justice League or even just superheroes in general. What makes you think they'll even want to join our team?"

"We'll just have to wait and see Miss M," Robin said with a shrug. "I still think that they'd be an asset to our team, given what they can do and what their powers are. But if you guys don't want them we don't have to ask."

"No," Miss Martian said. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm just worried they might resent us if we extend the offer and they turn us down, especially after they find out who we are. I do share a dorm with Artemis you know."

"And I share a dorm with Wally," Robin replied. "While Superboy and Aqualad bunk right across the hall. We're all kind of in the danger zone if this blows up in our faces, but we can't give up without trying."

"Robin is right," Aqualad chimed in. "All we can do is proceed as planned, see what happens and hope for the best. Hopefully we will soon gain two new team members in Young Justice."

AN: Well, there's chapter three! Don't forget to leave me a review and let me know your thoughts on the chapter or the story as a whole. Constructive criticism is always welcomed.