CHAPTER 1: INFERNO
"You really miss him don't you?"
The soft sounds of the indoor park made the two young adults' heart beats calm into a steady pace and give the location a sense of peace when it was most needed. A girl sat on the grass, hugging her legs close to her chest, staring at the holographic memorial making her eyes water and tears fall from her cheeks. She didn't bother to wipe them off, they were fresh drops of water, they carried away the deep feelings that bore inside her for years.
Behind her, only a few feet away, her good friend looked at her with somber eyes, not even glancing at the memorial in front of him because he knew that if he did, he would fall to the ground with her. There were brightly colored flowers grown at the feet of the hologram, making the boy's smile lift only a centimeter; he knew that she grew them herself to make the park seem not as grim as it originally was.
"He was my brother, Bart. How could I just not miss him?" The girl whispered and held her legs closer to her as if she was holding on to life itself. Bart clutched his hands into fists and sat down on the floor next to her, his breathing went rugged as he stared at his feet.
He was wearing the exact same suit as the boy was in the hologram, the only difference was their hair. Bart always felt wrong for wearing it, it wasn't his suit yet he only wore it to let the legacy of Kid Flash live on.
Four years later and it still doesn't feel right.
"He's not your brother." He told her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort and ease the longing pain in her heart. She closed her eyes, thinking and remembering the memories that felt like they happened do long ago.
"I stopped saying that he was like a brother to me. We may have not been related by blood or marriage or whatever, but he's still my brother no matter what, nothing can change that. Wally will always be my brother by heart, even if he's gone now." She said as she looked at Bart, he noticed her bright auburn eyes were dead inside, they were full and showed no emotion. They were always like that when she remembered Wally, his death affected her so much, it changed her.
"Kai, it's been four years, you need to move on. You come in here everyday expecting Wally to be here or something. Artemis doesn't even come here that often and Wally and her were dating for so long. I know you hate change but it's time to let go."
Kailer sighed, brushed her black hair out of her face and got up. Her eyes gazed upon the memorial once again and stared into the eyes of the dead man that she called brother. Wally's laugh echoed her mind and tugged the strings in her heart as she looked over every edge and crease of his body. She wanted to scream at Bart, she wanted to tell him that Wally was going to come back and was going to retire to his place as Kid Flash.
Bart may have stopped believing but she never did.
Wally was the funny guy, the class clown of the team, anyone who was down or sad, could always depend on him for a smile no matter how bad the situation got. He was such a shameless flirt, hitting on every girl like M'gann or even Black Canary but he never did that to Kai, he would always laugh, mess with her hair, and call her 'Squirt'. She would call him brother and he sister. Kai sharply inhaled the fresh air and aura of the sanctuary and looked to Bart.
"I should go; it's best if we leave this conversation as it was." Bart nodded but kept sitting, signaling that he wanted to be left alone with the memorial, after all Bart was Wally's real relative.
Kai left without saying another word, making sure to check that there weren't any tears in her face before she went out. The frown that was scarred on her mouth was soon replaced with the mask of a smile and dull eyes became lively and ecstatic. It was her usual routine that she did every time she visited Wally's memorial. The location wasn't called a grave since his body was never found and that make Kailan grateful, it gave her hope that her brother was actually alive; somewhere, other there.
The sounds of the cave filled her ears: the loud noise of M'gann's cooking, the grunts of Connor and La'gaan's sparring, and the mixture of Barbara and Cassie's conversation. The sounds soon turned into visuals as she saw all of her teammates doing their typical things, not making much of an effort to notice or greet her.
Kai didn't mind, she liked being left alone; after Wally's death, she haven't been the same. She wasn't that happy and go-lucky girl that she was when she first joined the team; Kai became more mature over time and learned that the gravity of every mission could be deadly. But that didn't mean that she couldn't have fun. After being apart of the Young Justice team for nine years, she found the person of her dreams, the person she looked for and wanted to be with forever.
"Hola hermosa." A deep and raspy voice filled her ear as long and hard arms wrapped and snaked around her small waist. Upon her shoulder, rested the chin of her lover, Kai could feel the muscles of his mouth being forced into a smile. The way he showed his affection always made her giggle and laugh with excitement and love.
"Hey Blue." She said as she turned around to face his eyes, the fake smile that she had on before went away with a sincere grin. Kailer looked into his chocolate brown pupils that made her feel so warm and protected as she pressed a gentle kiss onto his mouth. His lips always tasted like sweet honey that she had become so addicted to over the years.
"How's my little red?" He asked as he ran his fingers through her hair. It was black but gave off the color of red, it made her so beautiful in his eyes.
She was strong even though her body gave off weak standards, no matter how small she was, it never meant that she couldn't defend herself. Especially being the meta-human that she was; he powers had manifested over the years to allow her control over the element of fire. Hence, her superhuman allis name being Blaze.
"Tired as always but probably nothing compared to you, how was your mission? You weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow."
"Well Gar and I were able to find who bombed all those apartments earlier than we thought and besides its been a long week without seeing my baby girl, I missed you." Kai sighed as she hugged Jaime's neck and breathed in his scent, it was like peppermint, always so intoxicating to her. Whenever Jaime and her would sleep together, she could spend hours looking at his face and taking in every detail of him and by morning the sheets and pillows of her bed smelled like him. Jaime was her everything he saved her life on a mission and for that she was forever grateful.
"I missed you too, Jaime."
"Get a room!" Shouted a loud voice behind them, both of the young adults knew who it belonged to without having a second thought of denial. Only a few feet away from them, stood Garfield, grinning from ear to ear like he always did. He was a child at heart and in mind but when push came to shove, he was one of the misted skilled members on the team.
Kai's cheeks turned to a dark shade of scarlet and tried to hide behind Jaime, who was laughing and chuckling at the words of the teasing teenager. Gar laughed along with him softly as his green eyes shined.
"You are such a dweeb, no wonder you don't have a girlfriend yet!" Blue Beetle said to the shape shifting and green skinned super. Kailer giggled and placed a soft kiss on her boyfriend's cheek before she started to walk away to the kitchen.
The voices of the two bickering boys was soon replaced by the sweet smell of M'gann's baking; her chocolate chip cookies were a tradition of the team. To Kai's surprise, she found the kitchen empty and on top of the counter laid a fresh batch of sweets to be eaten.
She picked a cookie up and bit of a small chuck before nibbling and enjoying the flavor. The soft steps of her sneakers filled her ears as she walked over to the large fridge and glanced at the calendar that hanged on it. There was writing in the sloth for tomorrow's date.
April 19th: Nightwing's Birthday
Her heart softly jumped in her chest as she saw the name of her friend. Dick was Nightwing, the leader of the Young Justice but left after Wally's death to go solo. She hadn't seen him since the day he left. Not only was he her best friend growing up on the team but he was also her first love.
Kai crushed on that boy more than anyone could know, and no one knew about her love for him. But sadly, Dick never saw her that way; he went out with plenty of other girls on the team like Barbra. It was Zatanna and his relationship that crushed her the most; they were an on and off couple that were like magnets. Negative to Positive, a counting cycle.
Dick was this smiling, sarcastic little asshole who always had a good comeback and had the most complicated relationship with the English language that she had ever witnessed, it never failed to make her laugh. He was like a pattern to her; he uses his experiences, learns from them, and tries to help others in similar circumstances. He laughs at his enemies, cries with his friends, and cares with his whole heart.
She missed Dick. He was her first love, and you never forget your first love.
