Disclaimer- Do not own Young Justice or any of it's characters.
Some crude language and references to sex in this one, just an fyi. That tends to happen when a certain someone is involved though, doesn't it?
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Chapter Length: 2,571 words
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Artemis Crock had just finished taking a long and indulgent shower in her personal bathroom.
She rested on the sheets of her bed, letting her naked body air dry while she went through some of the messages she'd shared with Wally that day on her new cell phone. The object confused her a bit, but he had shown her the most important feature of it, and she already felt like she was on her way to being a texting pro.
For the last three weeks Artemis had found herself going to Wally's place as often as she could, so long as it didn't clash with any of her plans to spend the night scouring the neighborhood for humans in need.
Things had been going quite well for them. Better than she expected, in fact.
Artemis continued to find herself in a position of comfort in his apartment; the banter that passed back and forth so easily between them made her feel indescribable. There was something about teasing him, keeping him on his toes around her that made her feel a deep sense of satisfaction.
She could tell he had a bit of a bullshitter side to his personality, and well, Artemis Crock never did well putting up with anyone's horseshit.
"I ran track in high school, you know," he mused one evening while they sat playing a game of cards at his kitchen table. He had placed a king sized bag of potato chips between them and his hand constantly dug into it, cramming the food into his eager mouth. "I was the star of the team. Fastest kid they'd seen in a few years." He nodded sagely, pausing to place a few of the cards from his hand and wave at her to proceed with her move. Her gray eyes scanned her cards with intense calculation as she listened to him. "I was pretty sure I had secret super powers, too."
Artemis snorted. "Do tell, fire head."
"No, I mean it's totally true, okay! I used to have these weird dreams about it."
"Did you take speed, perchance?" the blonde asked him sweetly, placing her own cards and grinning wickedly at the play. Wally scowled down at it, passing her a handful of crisps like they were poker chips. "Pretty sure that's illegal."
"Absolutely not! The West household was a drug free zone, Artemis. D.A.R.E!" he had proclaimed dramatically. Artemis raised her eyebrows at him. What on earth was he talking about?
He gave her an exasperated look. "You know, D.A.R.E? Drug Abuse Resistance Education? It was all the rage in grade school."
"Uh, no," Artemis had grumbled, avoiding his gaze.
She had never spent a day of her entire life inside of an education facility. Her only source of information had been through tv documentaries and books she was able to procure from the second-hand book store from time to time. Paula would bring her newspapers and magazines, and sometimes she'd go into Gotham proper to buy her educational movies.
She had never learned anything formerly outside of being taught to use her claws and teeth to their fullest extent when it came to survival.
"Well, it was a thing," Wally said, moving the conversation along. "Anyway, so after I would have these dreams about being able to like, run around the world in 10 seconds, I started making these equations in my head," he started to laugh at the idea of it, spraying crumbs across the table surface. "I thought I could give myself superpowers, and then the girls would be all over me."
Artemis leaned back in her seat, grinning. "Oh yeah, nothing says date material like a guy that does everything faster than the speed of light," she hummed. "I'd be all over that, I mean, what girl doesn't want things to end fas—"
"Alright, alright, I get it!" Wally growled, his face flushing. Artemis laughed at him, taking another handful of chips. He dropped his cards on the table and crossed his arms. "Like the Wallman needed powers to get some anyway…" he grumbled very lowly to himself, but Artemis's sharp ears caught every word as plain as if he had whispered it to her.
"The Wallman, huh?" she taunted, dropping her own cards. "Oh, I can just imagine the uniform. What exactly were your powers in your dreams again? Blinding the competition with your undoubtedly pasty white legs?"
"Hey, my pasty legs were sexy," Wally defended loudly, his lip jutting out comically. Then he grinned and sang in the most ridiculous tone, "My pasty legs brought all the science nerds to the yard!"
Luckily enough Artemis had heard that song before, and immediately burst into a chorus of husky laughter that Wally joined in with.
It was sort of alarming how easily Wally could break past the first layer of the walls she'd so carefully crafted over the years.
She couldn't remember ever having such a lighthearted time with someone, and sometimes she had to remind herself that it was okay to joke and laugh with him instead of keeping it locked away. After all, she had made the decision to befriend him and to get that friendship she had to give back as well.
Every moment spent with him was a moment not in her silent-war torn part of town, and perhaps another day closer to getting her mitts on some of his lab materials and convincing him in some way that she had a…. condition he could help with.
Artemis cringed at even entertaining the idea of telling Wally that she was a werewolf. He didn't even believe in werewolves, and while she had at first found that a huge relief, now she realized it was just ten huge steps back from where she eventually needed to be with him if she wanted to get some sort of help out of him.
Nothing short of showing him her inner beast would get him to believe her, and there was no way in the coldest part of hell that she was ever going to do that.
'You know exactly where the line is drawn, Artemis Crock'. Her father's words echoed inside of her skull. 'You cross that line, put one toe over it? You'll be dead before you're thirty. Do I make myself clear?'
Yeah, changing in front of Wally was not happening.
She had agreed with herself to try and make friends with him, not let him into her very private and very dangerous personal life. She was lucky that so far he had been very indulgent in his own life and not asked much about hers, but a small part of her knew that sooner or later he would be dissatisfied with telling her about his own life and he'd ask her about hers.
"Guess I'll have to start crafting myself a fake life then…" Artemis murmured to herself, pausing on a text from Wally that read, "Have you ever had Chicken Whizees? I know that sounds so disgusting but I feel like I've died and gone to… died, whenever I eat some."
She rolled her eyes affectionately at his refusal to say he'd died and gone to heaven. Dork. Damnit; already a familiar fondness for the dorky ass things he said?
Probably not good for her health, but definitely a good outlook on their tentatively growing friendship.
Artemis assumed anyway; she'd never had a friend before, so she wasn't sure what it felt like officially.
"Well, well, someone has certainly filled out," came a purr of a voice.
Artemis was on her feet in record timing, cursing herself inwardly for not having been listening to her surroundings. That was one of the first things Lawrence had taught his daughters: never stop listening. Never be vulnerable.
And, well, lying naked on the bed while being distracted by text messages certainly entered the realm of vulnerable.
"Jade," Artemis breathed in relief, dropping her defensive stance entirely.
Jade Nguyen was perched in the window gracefully, her eyes glowing gold in the dark. Her hair was as usual all over the place, an untamed mane that distinguished her greatly both as a human and as a wolf. The woman chuckled darkly, seating herself slowly on the sil and eyeing her sister with scrutiny.
"The one and only," she said, her eyes dropping to Artemis's bare stomach, zeroing in on the scar from her gunshot graze. "So I guess it's true, you have been getting yourself into trouble while I've been gone. Congratulations for following in big sis's footsteps!"
The blonde subconsciously clapped a hand over the spot, tracing her calloused thumb over the puckered scar tissue. It was still tender, and she nearly hissed at her own touch, dragging her digits away. She scowled at her sister, tossing her wet braided locks back over her shoulder before sitting down on the edge of her mattress.
"You've been talking to dad, haven't you?"
Jade grinned. "Oh, I may have dropped by for a lovely father/daughter chat with him. He's very upset with how his daughters have turned out, oh, what a shame," the ebony haired woman falsely lamented, examining her sharp nails. Then she bared her teeth at Artemis again, canines sharp and glinting. "You have heard about my latest source of amusement?"
Oh Fenrir, Artemis hardly wanted to know about the things Jade got herself into. Most of the pack couldn't be bothered to keep up with where she disappeared to all the time. Even the higher ups in the pack weren't bothered with anything she did so long as they kept getting news of humans being terrorized or assassinated by her.
The thought made bile rise in Artemis's throat, yet despite the very different paths they had taken she'd always have a pocket of love inside of her heart for her sister. She'd always secretly enjoyed Jades impromptu visits, and her crude sense of humour.
And she would never admit that out loud. Ever.
"Can't say that I have," Artemis eked out, scratching beneath her breast. "Leading human boys on?"
"Something like that," Jade crooned, sliding from the sill. She moved over to her old bed opposite Artemis and pushed some of her hair aside. "Please tell me you've had sex by now?" she asked abruptly, raising an eyebrow.
Artemis felt her face heat up mildly, but she sent her an annoyed look. "Of course I have. But what's that got to do with anything?"
"It has everything to do with everything, dear sister! I assume you've had sex with other werewolves…"
Artemis was getting irritated. "Uh, yeah! Who the hell else would I be fucking?"
"Human boys. More specifically, a human boy," Jade said with a sultry voice, dragging the words out syllable-by-syllable. The blonde felt her eyes widen in something akin to shock. Affiliation with humans was at the top of the list of the most scandalous, frowned-upon things a pack member could do. Even though most werewolves indulged in sex with humans at some point, it was very common to fuck and run(or fuck and kill, to the most twisted), not stick around the same one for any length of time. Artemis couldn't imagine what would happen if word got out that the infamous Jade Nguyen had actually been spending her time getting in bed with the same human male over and over. Settling down, practically. "Don't look so offended by it!"
"I can't believe you," Artemis rasped, rubbing her bicep and glancing toward the door. She could almost imagine Lawrence bursting through with claws out and murder in his eyes. "You're actually in a long-term relationship with a human boy?"
"Oh, don't knock it til you've tried it, little sis," she insisted with a laugh. She shifted her attention to the cell phone that had just vibrated on Artemis's blanket. She gestured at the device. "Looks like you may already be ahead of me, though. I watched you for a bit there before I came in, I heard you laugh to yourself. How very unusual, you were never a very happy pup," Jade said sniffily, like she were a psychiatrist diagnosing her with something.
"There's hardly been anything in our lives worth being happy over," Artemis growled out, snatching the device up. "Oh, and way to be creepy, spying on your naked sister."
"We're werewolves, seeing people naked is in our life contract," she said matter-of-factly. It was true, though; changing one's body structure from something human sized to something the size of a small rhinoceros always resulted in clothing loss. By the time a werewolf hit puberty they were largely immune to any sort of embarrassment that might have normally come with having their body exposed to others. Artemis grunted in agreement, crossing her arms under her breasts. Jade went on. "Anyway, I'm willing to bet there's a human boy on the other end of that phone. Am I right or am I not?"
Artemis didn't answer, but that seemed to be enough for her sister. Jade cackled with mad glee, reminding her eerily of the Cheshire cat from the old Alice in Wonderland cartoon they'd both been fond of.
"I knew it! The pack males just weren't satisfying you so you had to go and try something a little more under the table. I'm so proud!"
"I'm not having sex with him!" the blonde growled indignantly. "He saved my damn life a few weeks ago, not that you care. And for your information I'm trying to make friends with him because—" Wait. She couldn't tell Jade that part. Shit. "Because I… uh…"
She really sucked with right on the spot lies.
"Sweet, naive Artemis," Jade said. "You don't have to make friends with human boys to get them to fuck you. They're the same as werewolves, just come on to them a bit and reach into their boxers. It works every time."
"You're infuriating," Artemis groaned, running her hands over her face in annoyance. "I'm just trying to make a friend outside of the pack, okay? I'm not looking for any human… nookie. I'm just using him to get away every now and again."
Was she convincing herself of that or Jade?
Jade scrutinized her. Clearly she saw her sister was telling the truth and shrugged, standing up and stretching her arms up to the ceiling.
"Your loss. But some helpful advice for when you inevitably wind up riding him in bed; use your teeth," she suggested smoothly, opening her mouth to press her tongue against her canines. She grinned after the gesture. "They go wild for that."
Artemis wrinkled her nose uncomfortably. "I'll uh… file that away. For never."
"Mm-hm," Jade hummed in disbelief, heading for the window. "Well, I just dropped in to congratulate you on pissing dad off. Keep it up! Have fun with your human boy toy. Remember to use a condom, don't get pregnant like I did. Have a good night, sister."
Artemis nearly choked on her own spit. She whirled around.
"YOU WHAT!?" she rasped in a high-pitched voice, but there was only warm air blowing in through the window, and her sister was gone from sight. She rushed to the square cut into the wall and stuck her head out, lending her senses to the wolf to spot her amongst the buildings.
But there was no sign of Jade. Artemis scowled into the night.
She was definitely adopted.
o.o.o.o
Werewolves have a... complicated relationship with humans, I guess you could say. Or at least, within Lawrence's pack (and no this is not me confirming there are more packs coming in the story, sorry... and now that I've said that I wish I had made it so).
It's not unheard of for them to have kids by humans, but it's not something they go around flaunting at all. Lawrence is basically a filthy, gross hypocrite considering he knocked up Paula twice and lived with her as a husband for several years before basically ditching her.
Asshole alpha has asshole rules. No pack members get like... maimed for having sexual relations or kids with humans, but they do NOT garner much respect from it either. Thus that makes it kind of taboo, which is part of why Artemis is like woah about Jade; the other part being because it's JADE.
Like I said, it's hella complicated for them.
Thank you all my lovely turtle-ducks for your reviews, they keep me going!