consider it disclaimed.

enjoy.

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expanding the family

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Hand in hand, Wally and Artemis walked along the sidewalk of the strip mall. There weren't many shops for them to choose from, but it was close to the apartment and gave them something to do.

"Oh, hey! they have a green wok." Wally pointed at the brightly colored display in the window of the kitchenware store. Artemis rolled her eyes and tried to lead him away.

"It would just sit in the cabinet, babe," Artemis said as she eyed the compound bow in the window of the outdoor store they were passing.

"It would just sit in the closet, babe," Wally repeated in a teasing tone that made Artemis roll her eyes again. She didn't bother hiding the grin growing on her lips. "Look, babe! Something's going on at the pet store. We should go."

"It's probably the shelter's monthly adoption day," Artemis sighed. "We don't have the time for a dog, Wally."

"Come on, Artemis. No one said anything about adopting anything. I just want to look, besides you're the one that said something about getting a fish a few weeks back," Wally spoke as he nudged his shoulder against hers, giving her an almost pleading look that she promptly ignored.

"I'm pretty sure you said something about a pet rock," Artemis added as she allowed herself to be pulled past the coffee shop, a logistics store, and a shoe store. Before she knew it, Wally had released her hand and was sitting on his heels in front of a row of cages. She watched as he baby talked the dog in the cage as it tried to lick his face through the bars of the cage. He cooed at the dog a few more times before standing back up and turning to face Artemis sheepishly.

"Maybe we should at least donate some money to them or something?" He suggested shrugging his shoulders as he looked back down at the dog. Artemis smiled softly and joined their hands together once more, leading him into the store.

"Definitely. I mean it's the least we can do since we've decided that we don't have time for a dog," she agreed, reminding him of their previous decision. Artemis had noticed that over the past few months she had to remind him more frequently that they didn't need a dog. She had made the comment last week about getting a fish to hopefully quell the want for a dog.

"Oh man. Can you imagine us trying to take care of a puppy?" Wally laughed, as they passed a display of various costumes for different animals. He stopped and fingered the clothe of a red superhero cape before hurrying back into step with her. With a short glance over her shoulder, she noted the cape was marked for dogs. Big surprise.

"It would probably chew up all of your shoes...not like they last very long anyway," she commented dryly. Wally went through shoes faster than she used to go through arrows when they were on the Team.

"Or maybe you're bow...since it does just sit in the closet," he countered teasingly, waggling his eyebrows in her direction. They stopped in front of the birds, most of the larger ones were squawking loudly. Artemis moved to look at the cage full of finches while Wally poked his fingers in to pester the parrots.

"It would make room for a brand new one," she grinned back before she asked, "And how exactly would we housebreak one before semester starts?"

"We couldn't, so we would have to deal with accidents all the time." Wally pulled a face at the thought and went back to trying to coax the nearest parrot into letting him pet it.

"And the fact that it would want to sleep in bed with us at night," Artemis scoffed, stepping away from the finch cages to join Wally. She didn't bother poking her fingers in the cage as she watched one brave parrot edge its way over to Wally's still fingers curiously.

"No way that would happen. Our bed is too small as it is," Wally claimed as he watched the bird carefully nudge him while getting a closer look at what was intruding upon their cage. Wally stayed very still at the close inspection from the parrot.

"Babe, the bed is big enough. You just think that because you sleep sprawled across the entire thing," Artemis pointed out as the bird bit down on Wally's finger suddenly. Wally was quick to pull his fingers back, rubbing his newly bitten one fiercely as he shot a look in her direction.

"I do not!" he protested loudly and the parrots began squawking once more.

"You do too! You nearly punched me in the face in you sleep when we first moved in together," Artemis informed him with a sardonic tone. She crossed her arms and pinned him with a look.

"...Did I really?" He had stopped rubbing his finger and looked at her curiously.

"Yes Wally, you did," she replied as she brushed past him heading in the direction of the aquariums.

"You blocked it though, right?" Wally followed a few steps behind her pausing to look at a shelf of beta fish kept in individual containers.

"Lucky for you, yes I did," Artemis called over her shoulders as she ran her fingers along the sides of the empty aquariums that were for sale.

They wouldn't need a big one if they were getting a fish, but she didn't want something plain. She eyed the prices on the aquariums with lighting and compressors and grimaced at the thought of feeding Wally ramen until their next bill free pay day. She moved down the line and settled on one of the old fashion round fish bowls.

"Lucky for me?" Wally asked as he peaked around the corner of the aisle, holding two containers with brightly colored beta fish in them.

"You would have woken up face down in the floor the next morning and probably every morning after that for a month," Artemis informed him in a flat tone without sparing a glance. She turned and approached the wall of aquariums filled with various reptiles and amphibians.

"Well yeah, lucky for me then." Wally had placed the containers back on the shelf and sauntered down the aisle to place his arm around her shoulders. Artemis ignored him and leaned closer to the glass to inspect the turtles behind it.

"So to the fish then?"

"What you don't want a cute little turtle?" She tapped the glass before glancing at her boyfriend over her shoulder.

"Well they're not exactly cute..." Wally shrugged, uncomfortable look on his face.

"So how about a gecko then?" Artemis stood straight once more and gave him a curious look.

"I'm not really comfortable with living with any type of reptile...but don't mention that to La'Gann, okay?" Wally admitted as he shrugged once more.

"So snakes are out too then?" Artemis suggested, laughing lightly.

"Oh yeah. Definitely out," Wally replied, shaking his head a good natured smile on his face. He began walking in the direction of the fish aquariums.

"You do realize that La'Gann isn't a reptile, right?" she asked as she joined him in front of a tank full of goldfish.

"I know that, but he's got really amphibious qualities and that automatically associates with reptiles in my mind," he explained tapping the glass causing a school of fish to disperse in different directions. Artemis placed her chin of his shoulder as they watched the fish in the large tank.

"Even though there ar-" she started happy to call him out on something to do with science.

"I know all about the differences between amphibians and reptiles, babe. Now will you stop giving me a hard time so we go look at the fish?" he interrupted, turning his head just enough to give her a hard stare followed with a light kiss on the nose.

"But you know how much I love giving you a hard time, babe," Artemis commented, standing on her tiptoes to give kiss Wally on his cheek.

"Yeah, I do. We do live together," he reminded her.

"Good point. So what kind of fish do you think should we get?" She asked eyeing the various tanks they could pick from.

"Let's get one of those ugly, bubble-eyed ones," Wally suggested with an edge of excitement in his voice. He moved a few feet to look at the suggested fish.

"You don't want a gecko or a turtle, but you want a bubble-eyed goldfish?" Artemis asked skeptically, moving in the opposite direction to look at the more colorful, tropical fish.

"Hey, I don't have to touch a fish," he pointed out in a satisfied voice.

"We're not getting an ugly fish, Wally." If she didn't put her foot down then, he would go on about it until she relented and let him have his way.

"Maybe we should get a tropical one then?" Wally moved so he was standing to her right, hunched over to look at the lower aquariums.

"Honestly, I feel like Kaldur and Tula would disapprove," Artemis laughed. Wally grinned up at her at the thought.

"Or set them free back into their natural habitat," he added as he scared the fish again by tapping on the glass

"So we'd have to hid the aquarium if they ever visited." She elbowed his side and gave him a stern look silently telling him to 'stop that' before they got kicked out for harassing the animals.

"Babe, maybe we shouldn't get a fish?" He looked to her with a rather despondent look on his face

"You might be right. I don't think we're really fish people anyway," she agreed feeling a little relieved. Changing a fish tank didn't really appeal much to her.

"Yeah, I think we'd probably be better suited for a dog over a fish," Wally tried bringing up to her again and Artemis groaned inwardly. The two of them began walking towards the next section. The first glass case they passed offered her an answer.

"How about a hamster then?" She suggested quickly, hoping that the small creature would appease him. Artemis gestured at the teddy bear hamsters that were actually really adorable.

"I feel like we would lose it," he admitted nonchalantly, he didn't bat an eye at the tiny critter.

"You know that you're not supposed to let them run loose, right babe?" She couldn't help the cynical tone that crept into her voice. Wally moved on to the next set of cases and Artemis made no suggestion to getting what was in them. She would not willing live with rats.

"Well yeah, I know that. When I was a kid I had a hamster and I came home one day and it escaped from it's cage," he explained, pulling a face when he sighted the large rat scurry across the enclosed area.

"Did you find it?" She wasn't sure she wanted to hear his answer as she had heard stories of lost hamsters in elementary school. They usually never ended well.

"Uh...yeah. About three years later."

"Oh-kay. No hamsters it is," Artemis told herself, turning away from the hamsters and joining Wally a little further down the aisle at a large waist high glass tank.

"How about a ferret? You can let them run loose or we could even put it on a leash," he proposed pointing at one sleeping in the hammock setup in the center of the enclosure. It was cute with mask like markings, but the scent coming from their cage was overwhelming.

"It's a musk animal. Think of all the complaints we would get from the neighbors," she pointed out in earnest. The lady upstairs would have a fit. She complained about everything she could always coming back to the fact that her precious cacti couldn't live in such conditions.

"Ew. Yeah, forgot about that. How about a cute, fluffy bunny?" A scowl appeared on Wally's face, but he was quick to move on to the next option he could see.

"Not a big fan of rabbits." She blames that stupid poster in Gotham and partially her sister.

"Okay. Maybe we could try a puppy since we're getting low on options?" Wally asked slyly, hopeful grin on his face.

"As soon as we got one, we'd find out that we're cat people," Artemis deadpanned. She gave him a flat look and he immediately dropped his expression.

"Babe, you don't even like cats," he pointed out mournfully.

"Exactly," she said smugly. "Maybe we're just not animal people, babe."

"I guess we could always get a pet rock," Wally suggested dolefully. Artemis patted his arm comfortingly.

"We really should probably get out of the pet store before the animals catch on and decide to attack," she offered in attempt to cheer his spirits

"I guess that's a good idea." Wally was already heading towards the exit, dragging his feet pathetically. Artemis rolled her eyes, but followed. She caught sight of the clock over the doors and noted the time. She figured it was worth a try.

"So do you want to get some lunch?" Artemis threw her arm around her boyfriend as she offered. "We can go to that buffet you like so much."

"I guess, babe," Wally accepted hesitantly and wrapped his arm around her waist in response. The two exited the store and were greeted with various barks at their arrival outside.

"We were going to don-" Artemis stopped when she realized Wally wasn't next to her anymore. Glancing around, she found him knelt down in front of a small kennel. A small puppy was licking at his fingers as he tried to scratch his head.

"Aw, babe. Look at this one. He looks so sad," he called over to Artemis. She couldn't help but to roll her eyes before making his way to stand next to him.

"I probably would too if I were stuck in a cage all day," she commented dryly.

"He's really cute, ya know, for a dog," Wally stated, hope sneaking into his voice once more.

"I guess," she lied. In all honest, the dog looked pathetic. His eyes were watery, there was a healing tear on his ear, and he was shaved in places where sores were trying to heal. He couldn't have been more than a few months old, but he already looked worse for the wear.

"And his name is Brucely! Like Bruce Lee, get it?" Wally chirp happily. He seemed convinced that Artemis was warming up to the idea of getting a dog when in reality she was just humoring him.

"Yes, babe, I get it," she deadpanned and began tapping her foot impatiently.

"We could have our own little martial artist in the family."

"I thought that was what Dick was for. He'll get jealous if you try to replace him, you know. Trust me, I went to high school with the little attention whore," Artemis pointed out, Wally scratched behind the puppy's uninjured ear.

"Okay, so when Dick's not around, he can fill in," Wally compromised before turning his attentions back to Brucely.

"Wally, I thought we decided we weren't dog people," Artemis chided, crossing her arms. Wally paid her no mind as he continued petting the puppy.

"We're still not, but a good cause calls for sacrifice. I mean, he's a pitbull. His chances of being adopted are really low to begin with, babe," he countered, pleading tone could be heard in his voice.

"Wally..." Artemis groaned looking at her boyfriend exasperatedly.

"Come on, babe. Just look at him. Can you really say no to a face like that?" Wally gestured to the sad looking puppy. He had an equally sad look on his face and Artemis sighed in resignation.

"...No."

"Really? You mean it? We can get him?" Wally's expression and tone of voice was immediately cheered. He was suddenly at full height once more and had her hands clasped in his. His look was optimistic as he waited for her to confirm her answer.

"Only if you agree that housebreaking him is your responsibility. I do not want to wake up in the middle of the night to take your dog for a walk," she informed him in a stern tone. He nodded eagerly before sweeping her into a hug.

"Fine! Great! Awesome! We got a dog, I can't wait to tell Dick!"

"We actually have to adopt him first," Artemis reminded him once he had released her.

"Details, babe. Details. You go and get some food and a collar and I'll do the adopting thing. I'll come find you when me and Brucely are done here, okay?" He pushed her lightly in the direction of the doors as he turned to hail one of the volunteers from the shelter.

"Fine." Artemis rolled her eyes and retreated back into the pet store they had just vacated, stopping to grab a basket. Consulting the hanging signs, she headed in the direction of the dog food. Wally and Brucely found her twenty minutes later, still studying the different bags of puppy kibble.

Artemis hadn't known it about their newest member of the family at the time, but she would find out soon enough that: no matter how many toys they would buy Brucely he would always prefer Wally's socks right out of the dryer, the bed they had bought him was a useless investment as he preferred to sleep wedged between the two of them, and no matter how many times he would get in trouble for strewing the trash across the living room, he loved them as much as they loved him.

Even Artemis would begrudgingly admit that to be true.

This took me a very long time to write and I'm still not happy with it. But I had put off writing this long enough.
So yeah. Hopefully, it's not as bad as what I think it to be.

I hope you enjoyed it.