The faint sound of beeping caught his ears, the sound slowly rousing him from his sleep. He wondered who had the alarm set, but he didn't think much about it. His eyes slowly fluttered open, the blinding white of the hospital walls making themselves known. A curtain was open, the window just a bit as moonlight and a light autumn breeze blew through the room. He was vaugely aware of a hand in his, and he looked up slowly.

Wally noticed Artemis sitting in a chair beside the hospital bed, her hand in his. He saw what appeared to be tear streaks on her cheeks, their daughter curled up against his side on the bed, her kitten stuffed toy in a Kid FLash costume in her arms. He realized it was him that was stuck in the hospital bed, and his blood ran cold. He sighed, rubbing his daughter's arm.

"Hey, kiddo...wake up," he whispered. He watched Willow stretch and yawn, her eyes blinking sleep away. She looked up and grinned.

"Daddy!" she said, hugging his neck and holding tight. "I thought you wasn't gonna wake up..."

Wally tightened his arm around Willow, kissing her head. "Its ok, baby girl. I'm ok. I couldn't leave my two favorite girls in the world alone, could I?" he asked, rubbing her back. He rubbed Artemis's hand softly. "Wake up, babe..."

Artemis's eyes slowly opened, and she smiled grimly, her grey eyes holding pain. "Hey, Baywatch," she whispered, standing up and stretching, her back popping in various spots before she leaned down and kissed Wally gently. "About time you woke up."

"Hey, I got the crap kicked out of me by Clark. And that hurt, too," Wally said, feeling Artemis help him sit up. "So...did we win?"

Artemis nodded. "At a cost, but we won."

Wally nodded, sighing as his head fell back against the pillow. He remembered the fight with Clark, taking down the Superman after his declaration that only Metahumans or people with powers should rule. His mind wandered back to the battle, and he closed his eyes.

Zipping around Clark and throwing Kryptonite shards down that slowly weaked him, Wally made sure to keep out of the Superman's reach. "Come on, Clark! I thought you were faster then that!"

"Come back here, West!" Clark snarled, trying to grab Wally before feeling Diana grab his arms and break his left. "AH!"

Wally looked at Artemis sitting on the rafters, her bow trained on Clarks back. "Make the shot," he mumbled into his mouthpeice, knowing Artemis could hear him. He saw the string on the bow pull back, and he knew when to stop running circles around Clark.

WHat he didnt' count on, however, was the fact that Clark finally managed to stop him running. Wally tripped, managing to stop himself becoming a skid mark on the floor before he felt something hot enter his back, severing his spine and searing the wound shut. "FUCK!" the Central City speeder yelled, crumbling to the ground, hitting his head and passing out from the pain.

"WALLY!" Dick yelled, throwing a Batarang at Clark, embedding it in his chest. "Artemis! Now!"

The string on the bow was let go, four Kryptonite arrows embedding themselves in Clark's back, directly into his heart. HItting the ground and letting Diana fall to the ground as well, Artemis jumped from her perch and ran towards Wally's body. "Wally!" she yelled, turning him over and shaking his shoulder. "West, I swear to God you better not die on me!"

"Artemis, we need to get him to the hospital," M'gann said, putting her hand on Artemis shoulder. "We need to go."

"There's something you're not telling me, Artemis," Wally said, his arm around his daughter as she sat curled up in his lap, playing with her Kitty Flash. "What aren't you saying?"

"Willow, go sit with Aunt M'gann in the hall," Artemis said, taking her daughter from Wally and sending her out of the room. After the door closed, Artemis moved onto the edge of the bed, putting her hand on Wally's leg. "Can you feel that?"

"What?" Wally asked, cocking his eyebrow. He tried to flex his ankle, moving the sheet from his legs. His face blanched, hoping he was wrong. "Artemis?"

"Wally...Clark hit you with a burst of heat vision at the base of your spine," the blonde whispered, looking down. "When you crumpled and hit the ground, he-"

"Paralyzed me," Wally finished. He sighed, running his hand in his hair. "Goddamn it...so now what? What happens now?"

"We redo the apartment, enlarge the doorway to get a wheelchair in. We'll get through this, Wally, I promise," Artemis said, taking her husbands hand. "I promise, we'll make the best out of this."

"Make the best out of it!?" Wally asked, his voice getting angry. "How?! I won't be able to help Willow learn how to run, I won't be able to walk down the street, I'm useless to the team now! How can we make the best of it!?"

Artemis flinched back, knowing Wally needed to yell. She stood up and headed for the door. "I don't know how, Wally, but we will. Right now, I'm going to tell M'gann you're awake. She's been here damn near as often as I have." With that, she turned and walked out, the door closing behind her. Artemis rested against the wall across from Wally's room, sinking to her knees and wiping her eyes.

"Mama?" a small voice asked, Willow walking over to her mother and holding out her toy. "Mama, is you ok?"

Reaching out and taking Willow in her arms, she kissed her daughter's cheek. "I will be, Willow...but we need to make sure Daddy's okay," she said, moving some of her daughter's strawberry blonde hair from her face. "So he's gonna need all sorts of hugs and kind words from us, ok?"

Willow nodded. "Ok, Mama," she said, snuggling against her mother and holding her kitten tightly. "I help Daddy."

"Good girl," the blonde archer said, standing up and heading into the waiting room. "M'gann?"

M'gann ran over and hugged Artemis. "He ok?"

"He's awake. Angry as hell, but awake," Artemis said. "Come on."

A few days later, Wally was released. After arriving back at the apartment, he was surprised at what Connor and Dick had done, Artemis having their friends redo several counters, the living room, and the bedroom to make things easier for Wally to get around.

"Damn," Wally said, his head hanging.

"Daddy?" Willow asked.

"Nothing, sweetheart. I'm ok," Wally said, rubbing his daughter's arm. "Go play." She jumped down from his lap and ran towards her room, leaving a blur of pink and blue behind her. Wally bit his tongue to keep from saying something that would hurt his daughter, and he sighed. "Artemis, I-"

"It's alright, Wally. I understand where you were coming from. One of my Mom's letters after she was in jail was yelling about being stuck in the wheelchair. I understand the frustration," Artemis said, wrapping her arms around Wally's neck, kissing him softly. "We'll have to make the best out of this. I promise."

"I know, babe," Wally said, kissing his wife softly in return. "I know..."