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

Some more shit goin' down. Some science stuff too. Me and my Veggy (IronicVeghead) tried to research as much of this as we could and this is what I settled on. I hope it's clear enough, and I realize it might not be the most scientifically correct thing in the world but I'm applying science to werewolves so I think we can allow some leniency here when it comes to the science applied. XD

Onward!

o.o.o.o

Chapter Length: 3,988 words

o.o.o.o

"You could have just gone to the pet store," Wally muttered for the fifth time that evening, eyeing the dirty furred white rat that moved around agitatedly inside of it's cage. "It's probably diseased. If this thing gets loose I could get fined."

"It's fine," Artemis insisted moodily, standing a few paces behind him. Even though the redhead couldn't know it, the rat was indeed in fine shape, if a little emaciated. Her nose was excellent at tracking down victims in less than prime condition, and as far as she could tell there were no questionably foul odors emanating from the rodent that indicated illness.

Other than typical back alley trash aroma.

"You keep saying that yet I don't believe you," he said. "Seriously why not just a pet store?"

"There's a rat problem near my block, I snatched one of the traps," Artemis stated with finality.

The truth was she had caught it herself, with her own two hands. Assuming her wolf form and waiting patiently for around thirty minutes in an alleyway had yielded her with much faster results than if she'd set out a cage to bait the damn thing. It hadn't even detected her presence until she was snatching it up in clutching claws.

"Now will you just focus over there?" she sighed, amused by his repetitive worry.

The redhead turned to look at her over his shoulder, green eyes concealed by safety goggles. She raised an eyebrow at him, fingers digging into her bicep.

For their first true trials Wally had taken another sample of Artemis's blood about a week ago. He had spent that time looking closely at it, his main goal apparently to "isolate the IgE antibodies" in her blood that were responsible for her severe allergic reaction to wolfsbane. Then, he decided they needed to inject a rat with those IgE antibodies, thus exposing it to her condition, after which they could test a typical dose of antihistamines to see if they would help the rat when exposed to powdered wolfsbane.

"It won't work," Artemis had supplied, scowling at the needle disappearing into her flesh. Dark crimson blood filtered into it slowly, Wally's tongue caught cutely between his teeth as he focused on it.

"Trial and error," he'd chimed, flicking the syringe full of her blood with satisfaction. "We start with the basics and work our way up, even if you've tried antihistamines before."

"Just trying to save you some time there, doctor fire head," Artemis had chirped, pinching his arm roughly between her fingers so he would suffer the stinging she had. He'd yelped and rubbed the spot, and she'd smirked with approval.

Not that Wally could know it, but the endeavour of having her blood drawn had been incredibly draining on her system this time around, because she'd made herself focus very hard on the desire to be a werewolf without changing her outward physical aspect. Artemis had never infected another human being with her affliction, but she was very aware of the capacity. Her bite was completely harmless unless she willed it otherwise, much like a snake had the capacity to inject it's prey with venom, but only if it so desired.

Human or werewolf form, Artemis had to want it, had to want whatever it was that invaded into her blood and saliva and took over victims from the inside out.

Since the blonde was hardly an expert on how her own mysterious body worked, she'd decided to take the risk and give him infected blood for this particular part of the experiments. For all she knew, there was a fundamental difference in her human blood versed her beast blood, but the only way she could ever be sure was to let Wally test it and see what he could find.

She was more than just a little excited at the prospects of finding out exactly what made her tick inside, and if giving Wally blood that could very well alarm him on a microscopic level was what it would take, she was more than willing to give it to him.

Though it had been scary how close she'd come to just loosing it and bursting right out of her skin in front Wally. Her muscles had rippled and her blood had felt hot, infectious in her veins, saliva filling her mouth; if she had so chosen to bite him in that moment, he would have succumbed and became like here. Luckily Artemis had reeled herself in, and Wally had taken her intense grip on the seat to be that of incredible dislike for needles instead of her trying to change the very makeup of her blood.

So now she was standing behind Wally West a week later, nervous because of the crushed up wolfsbane sitting in a mortar on the lab table, and the irrational worry the rat would suddenly explode into a vicious man-eating wererat… thing.

But it had been an hour since injection of the antibodies and so far the only significant change had been in the animal's temp, which suggested to Artemis that her "venom" was more lethal than she realized.

Artemis knew for a fact that the rat would most likely die from infection within twenty-four hours; animals just didn't have the physiology to change the way humans did, for whatever reason. Instead the saliva or blood of a werewolf was an ensured death sentence for all the furry little creatures of the forest.

So basically she was no Snow White.

"You can come back over to the work table, by the way, I scooted the wolfsbane closer to myself," Wally told her, messing with a few things on the white surface. Artemis just hummed a little in acknowledgement, tilting her head to watch him hunch over the table in concentration.

Observe, the Wally West in his natural habitat… she thought amusedly to herself, eyes dropping down to appreciate his ass before she caught herself and shook her head. She cleared her throat, coming up with pursed lips, resting her palms on the table.

"Are we ready to expose this thing to that crap or what?" she prodded, smelling the fear emanating right off the rat's mangy fur. It had been assailing her nostrils ever since she caught it, and it was starting to get on her nerves; she hated that smell, both for what it meant and because it stank to high heaven.

"I think so, got the antihistamines ready," Wally told her, picking up a syringe of clear liquid and flicking his finger against the glass a few times. He looked at her through the liquid, which offered her a distorted view of his face. He frowned a little, tilting it aside. "Are you okay? You look kind of tired. We can stop for tonight and just pick up tomorrow if—"

Artemis held out two of her fingers, pressing them against his lips because she could feel one of his famous babbling spiels coming on. His chapped lips twitched beneath the warmth of her digits, a small upset noise emanating from his throat.

"Wally, I'm fine. We are definitely not quitting before we've tried anything at all. So quit worrying about me and rub some wolfsbane all over that rat's face already."

Wally didn't look too convinced or happy about it, but he set the antihistamines down and grabbed the mortar full of crushed wolfsbane. Artemis tried her best not to flinch away as he did, but the instinct overpowered her and she took a half-step back, watching as he carefully gathered some up on the end of a q-tip. She watched in anticipation as he transferred the object over to the wire cage, threading it between one of the tiny squares and waiting for the animal to come over and smell of it's own accord.

The redhead had shifted over to her side of the table where the rat rested, so she quickly moved to his, peeking over his shoulders to see what happened. It took the rat a frustrating amount of time to pad over to the q-tip, but finally it made it's way over, squeaking and snuffling frantically at the soft cotton.

Both of them tensed. Artemis grabbed at one of Wally's shoulders to keep herself steady.

"Come on…" Wally muttered. "Give us something to work with."

A minute later, the rat sneezed.

It brought it's front paws up to rub at it's nose and mouth. It sneezed again, washing more agitatedly at the area. Then it started to squeal and sneezed more, contorting the front of it's body in ways that suggested some sort of pain.

"It worked!" Wally shouted louder than necessary, whooping. The action jarred his shoulders backward, causing Artemis to be knocked away from him.

"Damnit!" she yelled, her arms flailing, one of them catching the table hard, palm hitting the edge of something unyielding that turned out to be the Fenrir forsaken mortar.

It toppled and spun before Artemis could register what the hell was going on, then next thing she knew a fine dusting of powder slapped her right across the nose, mouth, and eyes. She felt blinded, stifled by the stuff, and rasped out in a panic, inhaling it right down into her lungs.

Artemis couldn't breathe. She coughed, trying in vain to expel the plant from her system, but it was far too late. Molten fire flared up inside of her, licking away at her internally until her eyes began to water.

"Artemis! Oh god—!" she distantly heard Wally scream, but he was the last thing on her mind.

The blonde sank to her knees, kneeling on the carpet, coughing and sneezing until her head hurt, sucking in great gulps of air to try and soothe her throat. Her nose ran, all sense of smell eradicated by the intense burning sensation that followed in the wake of every tiny particle of the powder. She forced her flooding eyes open, choking and hacking, noticing the powder all over the carpet right in front of her. The shit was everywhere and she couldn't get away.

Artemis was being suffocated in the deepest, fiery pit of hell.

Her throat felt tight, her oxygen intake snatched away from her until the edges of her vision started the blurr. But then there was a sharp prick in one of her thighs, stabbing through the thick material of her jeans and penetrating into the skin beneath.

In a fit of instinctual defense, Artemis managed a strangled snarl that bubbled up ferally from somewhere deep inside her, the beast that writhed in agony within her. She pushed out at Wally who had apparently been crouching beside her and he yelped, stumbling back against the wall. The blonde wrapped her fist around the syringe sticking out of her thigh, flinging it against the far wall before falling to her side on the floor.

She blacked out.

o.o.o.o

Wally scooped Artemis up into his arms without any hesitation, draping her legs over his forearm. She was still breathing, thank Einstein, but that didn't stop his limbs from shaking as he carried her out of the lab.

It had all happened so fast he was still trying to process it; all he knew was that Artemis Crock had been hurt once again. Hear head lolled against his arm, her lips and cheeks swollen with a ruby sheen. He could still see the dampness of tears causing her long blonde lashes to stick together, faint tracks tracing down, only noticeable because of the fine lavender dust still camouflaging her.

He absently brushed it off of her, knowing he needed to remove every bit of it or else she'd just have another reaction. So he veered straight for the kitchen sink, first depositing Artemis in a chair, sure to lean her slightly against the table for support. He grabbed a washcloth from the drawer, soaking it through with warm water and returning to her.

Wally crouched down on his knees, tucking a loose strand of her blonde hair out of the way before setting about cleaning her face. He was careful with her skin, knowing it would be sensitive, yet despite that she still came to enough to moan pitifully, making his heart clench.

"It's okay, Artemis, I've got you, I'll get you cleaned up, everything's fine," he murmured, concentrating on getting in the crescent shapes of her closed lids, then slowing as he came to her full lips. They were parted lightly, pulling little pockets of air in for her lungs, at least enough that she wasn't asphyxiating right in front of him. He swallowed as he patted the dust away from the sensitive pink flesh, mesmerized by the barely audible pop the lower lip made each time he swiped the rag down on it and it sprang back up to it's counterpart.

Artemis… he thought, swallowing again.

He could have strangled himself for letting this happen in his own lab. He had always prided himself on being very strict with the safety rules when they worked together; safety in the workplace was a West priority that even Artemis's stubborn insistence couldn't thwart. Yet here she was, struggling to breathe and only a fraction conscious, her brows furrowed in deep discomfort. If he had at least enforced his safety glasses rule that would have been one less area she was suffering in.

He was an idiot for letting her within five feet of wolfsbane to start with.

Beating himself up wasn't going to make her better though, so he'd save the rest of that for later.

Wally finished removing the threat from her face. Then embarrassingly, he was forced to unbutton her shirt to make absolutely certain none of it had gotten on her skin there. It was a good thing he had thought to, however, because the powder had found home on the top of her chest and the delicate swell of her breasts poking out from a veridian bra.

With cheeks a bit warm, he removed her shirt, folding it up and laying it on the table after shaking out all the powder he could; putting it back on her just wasn't worth the risk.

He took care of her chest, trying not to let his mind wander too much as he followed the curve of each breast loosely with the washcloth. He noted with a sense of enjoyment of knowledge that she had two cute little moles on the rise of her left one. He cleared his throat at himself, peeking down into the little gap between them to check for powder there, but there was none.

Finally.

He picked Artemis back up.

She was waking up a bit more now, her eyes trying to pop open for a moment before they shut again, her cheek pressing against his chest and one hand coming up to clutch feebly at his shirt.

"Damnit, Artemis," he fussed at her, scowling as he got her deposited on his couch. "You can't keep doing this to me. I told you I'm going to have a heart attack if this is a thing and I meant it."

She didn't respond, chest rising and falling deeply.

Wally bit at his lip, a thought occurring to him. It seemed the antihistamine was trying to do it's job, but he wondered...

Could there be something helpful in one of Zatara's werewolf books? He hated to even consider it a possibility, but so far it seemed like every myth about werewolves translated in some way, shape, or form to Artemis's lycanthropy condition.

So then, feasibly, could some kind of supposed remedy for ailing werewolves hold a hint of further relief for Artemis?

"Oh man…," he whispered, hearing the wheezing breaths from the blonde; that spurred him to actually do it. "I can't believe I'm seriously going to do this…"

But with Artemis's life in question, there was no length he could see himself not going to, to make sure she came out for the better. Even if the only way was to get vaporized right out of existence, the thought of her being gone made his heart shudder in his chest.

It just wasn't even worth thinking about at all.

So he texted Dick.

What's Zatanna's shop number?

o.o.o.o

The phone rang seven times before Zatanna Zatara bothered to pick up. She had been so busy cleaning up for the night that she hadn't deigned the ringing important until after she'd placed the last spell book on it's rightful shelf.

And on top of that, it was after hours so she wasn't obligated to answer for customers that couldn't find the time during the acceptable hours posted on the front of the door.

Still, she picked it up, answering with a slight clip in her voice.

"Hello, you've reached S'arataz Nodluac's shop for the supernatural, this is Zatanna Zatara speaking. I'm afraid you've contacted me after hours, I—"

"Zatanna stop acting professional, this is an emergency!" came Wally's irritated voice from the other end. Her eyebrows rose in shock.

"Well, well, this is a surprise," she hummed, "How did you even get my number?"

"Dick. I need to ask you a huge favour."

"Woah there, non-believer. I can't just hand out favours, especially when you make it very clear you think I belong in an asylum for the insane," she responded, twiddling the phone cord between two of her fingers. What could she say, she liked being a little old fashioned. "That's not how things work."

"The favour isn't for me, it's for Artemis!"

"Well, why didn't you say so sooner? I'll help wolf girl, what's the situation? Need more wolfsbane? Claw clippers? Is she howling at the moon?"

"Zatanna this is serious, Artemis got exposed to wolfsbane in the lab!" His voice was so desperate, it cracked with the weight of it, and Zatanna found her sense of compassion rearing it's head. She knew the situation couldn't have been a good experience for either of them, and it made her all the more sad to know Wally still thought this werewolf thing was all a joke. Or, a science; interchangeable, really.

At any rate, Artemis needed him, and needed him to know more than anything right then and there.

Zatanna put the phone down without saying a thing to Wally. She walked briskly over to the 'W' section of the shelves, thumbing through a couple before she found the title she was looking for. As she made her way back to the front desk, she could hear Wally shouting viciously into the phone; she couldn't tell if he was freaking out because she wasn't answering, or angry because he knew she'd walked away in the middle of their conversation.

"Calm your tits, West," she said into the phone, cradling it between her ear and shoulder. She opened the thick tome, perusing the table of contents until her blue eyes landed on the section titled 'Weaknesses', then the subsection 'Wolfsbane', then the subsubsection, 'Uses and Counters'. Clicking her tongue, she moved through the pages.

"What are you doing? I hear paper."

"Shush."

Wally grumbled something murderous to himself, which she ignored, scanning through the book until she found exactly what she was looking for. There was a tiny section on things that werewolves had been known to be able to do for themselves to relieve the pain imposed upon them from their natural weaknesses.

Ironically enough, small amounts of wolfsbane were useful for leeching poison out of the body.

For wolfsbane poisoning itself though, well…

"Hmm. That's interesting."

"What's interesting?"

"This is going to sound absurd to you, but try putting some salt on her tongue," Zatanna said as reaching as she could, knowing it would be a hard thing for him to swallow. Sure enough he gave a scathing laugh into the mouthpiece, one that made her smirk, because she knew that he'd wind up doing it anyway. He was only wasting his own time trying to exert his non-believer crap.

"Salt? What the hell is salt going to do? Don't you have a real remedy?" he snapped. There was a weak cough from his end of the conversation, and the both of them fell silent for a second. A growl issued from Wally, one of relent. "Hang on a second," he hissed.

"None of that sea salt stuff," she said loudly, hoping he could still hear her. "It has to be the real deal. Table salt. NaCl as you might know it."

"Did I just hear science come out of your mouth?" came his faint reply; a loud clatter sounded out, followed by a curse.

"It occasionally happens, yes."

"Okay, so… what do I do? Just… force her mouth open and sprinkle some on her tongue? Einstein that sounded so stupid," he bemoaned, back at the phone once more. Zatanna laughed even in spite of the situation.

"Basically, but you might have to pull her tongue out a little if it's not already. Don't tell me you're afraid of a little spit? You two have swapped it, I'm sure," Zee said, nodding sagely to herself. An earsplitting crash made her swear, yanking her ear away from the phone before the sound could permanently impair her hearing. Lot's of garbled sound followed, eventually ending in Wally's vehement denial.

"No, we haven't!" he growled. She could practically hear the color rising in his cheeks. If there was one thing Zatanna Zatara loved to do, it was embarrass the crap out of two people that should so obviously be together that it hurt.

Wally and Artemis were no exception.

"No? That's a bummer for you I guess."

"No, because I don't want to kiss her!"

"I find that hard to believe."

"Ugh, just standby in case this doesn't work," Wally said. He shifted around on the other end, then a few minutes later he breathed lighter into the mouthpiece, sighing. "I don't know how or why but she's already starting to breathe better."

"I can tell you why," Zatanna offered.

"That won't be necessary," he said hastily. Then, more serious. "Thanks, Zatanna. Seriously."

The brunette smiled. "Anything to help our wo— Artemis. I'm going to send Dick to you with this book sometime soon. Don't pitch it out your window, it can be useful, as you've just bared glorious witness."

Wally scoffed. "Fine. Whatever. Good night, Zatanna."

"Goodnight, Wally. Don't let the werewolves bite."

"Don't let the cimex lectularius bite."

o.o.o.o

Wally exhaled, relief finally fully settling over him as the moon dumped it's shining light through his cracked living room blinds. Artemis was sleeping soundly, her breathing much more regular, the swelling around her face gone for the most part.

His body ached with tiredness as he watched her chest rise and fall evenly under the blanket he'd draped over her; incidentally the same one he'd used when he'd housed her that very first night. There was still dried blood patches in the material that even vigorous laundry sessions with copious amounts of bleach hadn't been able to remove.

He had a forboding feeling that was going to become her blanket.

Moonglow framed the blonde's relaxed face, making him think sleepily that she was gorgeous, like an angel framed with that golden halo of hair. He leaned over to brush loose strands away from her, tucking them behind her ears. She stirred marginally, said something that sounded faintly like his name, but he couldn't be positive. He was too wiped out from the event to care about anything but how peaceful she looked.

"Don't ever scare me like that again," he murmured lethargically into the room at large, collapsing where he leaned across her from the far end of the couch. He nestled his head against her chest, his arm draping over her abdomen.

Wally fell asleep shortly thereafter, lulled into a sense of security by the sound of her eased breathing.

o.o.o.o

Poor Arty, even when she's practically dying she still fights whatever it is; my bamf lady ain't no damsel!

Anyway, thanks to all of you for keeping up with this... *wrinkles nose*. I won't say what I think about my own fic... but anyway. THANKS for the continued reviews and such, keeps me going.