Disclaimer- Do not own Young Justice or any of it's characters.

Sorry for the delay in updates, but that's why I provided two chapters at the same time last update. I have been having a lot of fun on Warlords of Draenor so I've been majorly distracted, but don't worry, I didn't forget you guys.

More fun with Zee!

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Chapter Length: 2,309 words

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"I love how you handle those two," Artemis snickered, padding over the threshold into Wally's kitchen.

The space was an absolute mess, covered in dropped noodles, splashes of sauce, and a pot that was already starting to crust over with lingering noodle water residue. One thing the blonde had fast learned about her companion was that he was the world's sloppiest cook; efficient, but messy.

Not that she was any better herself.

"It's a gift," Zatanna chimed, helping herself to the mega expensive refrigerator that dominated the corner. "Hm, no alcohol, that's a bummer. Soda?"

"Pass," Artemis said, highly amused by the woman.

It was plain to Artemis that Zatanna housed the type of personality she could get along famously with, especially considering how she kept the boys in line. Artemis herself prided on keeping Wally on his toes, though where Zatanna appeared to favour an extravagantly realistic approach to comebacks, Artemis preferred the blunt and sarcastic end of the spectrum; no finesse.

"So you, what? Do magic or something?" Artemis asked, leaning against the far wall. Her sharp ears could pick up Wally and Dick speaking in the other room, and her nose burned a little at the unwelcome scent she was fast learning to associate with wolfsbane. She'd never really had contact with the stuff outside of her mother's curative salve, and she wanted to keep it on the non-lethal level if possible; just the knowledge of it right across the span of a few feet was making her arm hairs prickle. "No wonder Wally went ballistic."

"Wally went ballistic because he's blinded by science," Zatanna said, popping the tab on a coke and taking a generous sip. She scowled at the aluminum, turned around and dug furiously in Wally's cabinets until she withdrew with a wine glass that had dust all over it. She blew it off and proceeded to pour the amber liquid into it. "Anyway, I'm more than just the daughter of a man in a long line of highly skilled magicians, Artemis. Or wolf girl. Can I call you wolf girl when Wally's not around? I think the irony is hilarious."

"You can say it in front of him if you want," Artemis snorted, and the two shared a laugh. The blonde was surprising herself with how relaxed she was getting around all these humans… no, these people. They were just people, like her, and besides they hadn't rejected her so far. Would they not have already if they were going to?

But they don't know the real truth.

Zee blew at the fizz topping her glass and took a sip before continuing on.

"I run a shop full of every supernatural odd and end you can think of. Ancient home remedies, books about monsters, and all that kind of stuff. Don't listen to the people that tell you it's all bullshit, they were the first ones in my shop when these werewolf news stories started cropping up bad a few years ago," she laughed. "If there's one thing I've learned though, it's that it's all about the presentation," the brunette carried on knowledgeably. "If people think you seem phony, they won't listen regardless. That's why I don't use any tricks in my store; it's all genuine. No crystal balls, no smoke machines, no rigged table. It's all in the palms, don't let anyone fool you."

As the woman blathered on a little about her methods and how she "saw it as a service to extend her resulting genetic know how of all things grandiose and unexplainable to the general public", Artemis scrutinized her, as she was apt to do with every person she met.

Zatanna seemed to be steeped in all things mystical, and that was perhaps why the blonde was feeling so naturally at ease here, even about the wolf girl nickname, and the fact that she had chalantly referred to her as a werewolf earlier. It had been earnest, and Artemis realized then that the brunette was a true believer of such things.

Everything from Zatanna's seemingly inborn extravagancy to the overpowering scent of ancient spices, lavender, and something earthy that clung to her clothes was enough to ensure the blonde that unexplained things flocked to her.

There was also just something about her, maybe an aura like she had mentioned to Wally earlier; an unexplainable thing that clung around her being, making her seem almost otherworldly herself.

So Artemis wasn't surprised at all when Zatanna finished the brief detail about herself and called the woman out.

"By the way, if you haven't already figured it out, I'm not remotely fooled by the science crap Wally is feeding himself. I know you're a real werewolf. The supernatural kind detailed in books."

A few months ago if someone, especially a human, had called her out for what she was, Artemis probably would have either tried to deny it vehemently or tried a more threatening approach for her own safety. She would have reminded them that nobody would believe them if they told, that they'd get thrown into an asylum before they could get the whole story out. It was a cruel tactic, and maybe not so true in this town teeming with more and more werewolf conspirators, but it was the only options she had short of killing the accuser.

Which she sure as hell would never have done, unlike the rest of her kind.

Artemis threw her head back and laughed at the irony of Zatanna and her words; the first person to seemingly clue into the reality of her condition and it was a magic shop owner that was spot on. No hesitation, no being polite about it, no insisting she had straight up evidence like others tried to insist to authorities when they thought they'd seen a werewolf.

Just the truth with no pleasantries attached.

So Artemis just shrugged.

"Am I that obvious?"

"Like neon," Zatanna confirmed. She grinned. "Don't worry, I'm the best possible person you could've run into by chance; I'm in on all of it. The werewolves downtown, the murders. These amateurs trying to solve the crimes with their limited knowledge are what cause the authorities to dismiss. Well, some cops believe. Like Dick, you know."

Artemis's eyebrows rose. She had known that Dick at least considered werewolves a legit possibility, and he'd proven a wonderful ally thanks to her anonymous tips. But it was one thing to see it as just a possibility, and another entirely to admit full confidence in the reality of it.

"Dick knows? About everything? I mean, I heard from Wally how he felt about the situation but… he knows about me too?"

"Well, he does now that I've confronted and you've pretty much confirmed. He had a strong feeling, especially when you started sending him those anonymous tips. Yeah, he recognized it as you from Wally's texts and put two-and-two together. He's not a detective for nothing," Zatanna said, draining the last of the soda from her fancy glass before pouring the other half of it in. She swirled her finger along the wet rim, creating a faint ringing sound that hurt Artemis's ears but made the magician look satisfied. "So I guess you noticed that leaves the most important piece on the ouija board in the dark?"

Panic surged through Artemis's system.

"You can't tell Wally!" she insisted, pushing herself off the wall and clenching her fists. She could still faintly hear the boys talking and rummaging around in the redhead's bedroom; the faint tones of Wally's voice accompanied with the current direction of the conversation made her feel sick to her stomach. She couldn't count the number of nightmares she'd had just in the past few weeks that had depicted a disgusted Wally turning his back on her and her incriminatingly hairy palms.

Zatanna just looked amused at Artemis's reaction, adjusting her top hat once again.

"Oh, I'm not going to, wolf girl. First of all he wouldn't believe me, and second of all it needs to come from you. Even I can see that," she said slyly. Artemis caught the mildly suggestive tone and narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean? You didn't seem worried about confronting me about it."

"Please, me and Dick are nothing," Zatanna laughed. "Wally's your important one. You know, the major guy in your life? The one that apparently thinks you are, and I quote from Dick's texts from him: "stubborn and hard to get through to, but so amazing and beautiful and smart and cool and fun, and such a spitfire."

Artemis scowled, a faint heat rising inexplicably to her cheeks. Wally had said those things about her? So what. He called her beautiful because of their dorky little ninja movie inside joke, and he could call her stubborn all he wanted but he was the truly stubborn one. As for the other things, well, she didn't have an inkling of what being a spitfire meant, but if he had used it to describe her it could only be a word for unreasonable. That seemed to be his favorite thing to call her when she was feeling less than cooperative with any sort of arrangements he found perfectly agreeable.

Those were all just… words. Cool, smart, amazing, fun. Common everyday words that anyone could use to describe another person.

"Once again, his words, totally not mine," Zee hummed at Artemis's apparent lapse in ability to form words. The blonde crossed her arms.

"I don't catch your point," she growled out, waving one of her hands at the wall opposite her. "Yeah, he's a big part of my life, he's my best friend. And best friends notice things about each other, just like anyone else. I mean, I can describe him the same way. He's smart too, and bull-headed, and he never makes noodles right, and he's got these ridiculously pasty legs but they're stupidly toned because he ran track in high school. And he acts so dumb sometimes that I think his hair is actually made out of fire so his brain is getting fried. Anyone would notice any of the things I just pointed out about him. Big deal."

Zatanna had the biggest smirk on her face. "Mmhm, if you say so, wolf girl."

Okay, so the end of this discussion.

"Look, back to the point. I can't tell Wally right now, it's just not a good time. He's got this fragile ego when it comes to science and if I peel it away I might break him."

She said it lightheartedly out loud to her, yet her eyes cast down to the tiles when she was done, her heart filling with a sick sense of rejection when images from her nightmares resurfaced in her mind's eye.

Zatanna must have noticed because she cleared her throat and spoke a bit softer, her voice suddenly oozing with a compassion that until this point had been overshadowed by her center stage personality.

"Artemis, if there's one good thing I can say about Wally West, it's that he never abandons his friends. Whenever you think the time is right, I can personally guarantee you he may smoke at the ears, but he'll be there for you."

Just… whenever you're ready, I'm here. I'm here for you if you want me to be. You're a good friend Artemis.

The words from Wally's text weeks ago were practically imprinted onto her retinas.

Artemis lifted her head up, intent on replying to the brunette's attempt at soothing her inner turmoil, but just then a loud crash issued from across the apartment. Both of them to started and ran to the threshold of the kitchen, poking their heads out to see what was going on.

"Damnit, Dick, that was my favourite mug!" Wally groused, stomping out of his bedroom with the largest chunk of what had once been a ceramic coffee cup that said "World's Best Scientist". He pointed to the man following him out of the room, glaring at Zatanna. "Remove him from the premises! And yourself, too."

"Come on, Wally, those things are a dime a dozen, I can have you a new one by noon tomorrow," Dick tried to console, though the amusement etched plainly on his face told both women that he was just inwardly laughing at the whole thing. At their questioning gazes, he thumbed in Wally's direction. "I accidentally hit it with my elbow. I think he's about to cry."

"I'm not!" he shouted from the kitchen, which he had disappeared into behind the two ladies.

"It was from his uncle," Dick whispered conspiratorially.

"Ah, that explains it," Artemis nodded, then the three of them laughed. They all shared this odd, silent communicative look between them, and the blonde felt a strange sense of relief to have two more people on her side.

The only downside was that the person she wanted most on her side was not even here to share the look.

As if sensing her pain, Dick placed a hand on her shoulder.

"He'll come around," he whispered, winking at her.

"Of course he will," Zee chirped. She had pulled a pen and a piece of paper seemingly out of thin air, and was scribbling some of her information down. She handed it to Artemis with a flourish, winking and tipping her hat with a smile.

"If you ever need anything from my shop, I'll give it to you at a discount. Flat out free if it's about you, if you know what I mean. Now, my number is there and the address, and I believe Dick and I must flee now."

"Right," Artemis said, nodding, reading the information off of the slip of paper. "Will do. Nice to meet you guys."

"Likewise!" Zee exclaimed, and bowed herself right out the front door.

"Au revoire, wolf girl!"

o.o.o.o

Yay, friends! Spitfire stuff happenin' soon, awwww yes.