It had been three years to the day that Artemis Crock had walked out of his life when suddenly, out of the blue, she walked back in.
Well, technically speaking, first she'd knocked on his door. It was an average Tuesday morning, and Wally was late (as usual) to his World Economics class. His uncle Barry had always teased him about his remarkable ability to arrive late despite being the fastest kid alive. It had taken a year and a half of college life for Wally to realize that was true.
He'd slept through his alarm for the second time that week and was zooming around his small, two-bedroom apartment he'd rented for sophomore year, using his super speed to make up for lost time.
He had to admit, as lonely as it could get having a whole apartment to himself, the added perk was being able to use his powers without giving away his secret identity. His roommate had transferred out at the end of the first semester, something about the pressures of going to Stanford being too much for him. It would've been hard to cover two halves of the rent on his own, but luckily Wally didn't have to. It paid to have friends in high places. Or in his case, shadowy ones.
And he wasn't really alone, he thought as he hastily dumped some doggy kibble into a bowl by the back door. He had Nelson, the twenty-pound American bulldog who was currently fast asleep in his bed. He'd inherited the dog from Connor, who'd had his hands too full with his current menagerie to take in another rescue. Wally hadn't thought of himself as much of a dog person until he'd met Nelson. Now Dick had a little competition in the best friend category.
He'd finished packing up his bag and was two steps from the door when he heard the knock. He skidded to a halt, wondering if it was one of his friends reminding him he was going to be late and hoping they hadn't caught side of a red-headed blur from outside the window. Hastily, he yanked the door open, and explanation already on his lips.
It fell flat as soon as he saw her. Suddenly he was speechless.
The first time he'd used his powers, he'd almost killed himself. He had never experienced speed at that caliber before; hadn't known the high speed friction would wear right through the soles of his sneakers or that the wind speed would all but tear through his clothes. And he especially hadn't accounted for the fact that at those speeds of over 200mph, the air felt as though it was being sucked right out of his lungs.
It was the same kind of experience he was having now, looking into those dark, steely eyes again.
She seemed to get that he would be incapable of speech for the foreseeable future, because she broke the silence first. "Hi Wally," she said, and hearing that husky voice almost put him into shock. "Long time no see."
His voice came back to him, miraculously, and somehow he managed to get something out. "Art-Artemis!" He choked. Not the most articulate response, but he was just happy his brain was still functioning.
"I see you've still got an unique way with words," the girl said, one corner of her mouth rising upwards in a smirk. The sight of it brought back a rush of old memories, dozens of images he had saved in his mind—all snapshots of that face. It was a sight he'd come to believe he would never see again.
Three years ago (damn...three years) he'd teleported into their headquarters at Mount Justice to be told by Green Arrow that Artemis had quit the team. He could still remember the shock, the confusion, the hurt—all feelings that were starting to return to him now—that had flowed through him as GA had informed the dumbfounded teens that Artemis had wanted to do it that way. No explanation. Not even a single goodbye. Her mother, they'd later discovered thanks to Dick's sleuthing skills, had passed away a few days prior. Her sister had disappeared shortly after that. They thought that might have had something to do with why Artemis had left. The news had come as a huge shock. She hadn't told a single one of them. She hadn't told him.
Dick had tried to get more details on it, but even with Batman's files he couldn't find anything. And despite the team's resources and their numerous appeals to the
Justice League, they couldn't find her. Partly because (as Wally had later started to suspect) she didn't want to be found...and the Justice League must have respected her wishes.
The first few months had been hard. But eventually the team had accepted that the hole Artemis had left would never be filled. And they had moved on. At least, they told themselves they had.
Coming to terms with losing her had been the hardest thing Wally had ever done.
More painful than what he had experienced during that one training exercise from hell...because this time, losing her had been real. He hadn't opened his eyes to be told it was just a dream, that he'd imagined the whole thing, even though for a few weeks after she'd left he'd still wake up hoping he would. Instead he had to accept that he was gone for good. That kiss they'd shared on New Years had meant nothing.
So he had forced himself to let it go. He made himself get used to the fact that he would never see her again.
And yet, here she was.
She looked the same, except for a few minor differences. Her hair was shorter, for one. It hung only halfway down her back now. She was still lean and muscular; he could see the lines of definition in her shoulders from where her tank top left them exposed, could see the jeans she wore stretched tightly over the muscles in her thighs. But her body was different somehow; its lines were sharper, more pronounced. Her face had changed, too. There were shadows under her eyes and cheekbones. She looked tired; weary. The bright flash of steel in her eyes had faded and dulled.
Her smirk had long since died away in the time he'd been staring at her. Instead, she looked a little sad. Her eyes dropped to the ground and she shuffled her foot a little. The shy, meekness of the motion was so unlike Artemis he couldn't believe his eyes.
"Look," he heard her say, when it dawned on him that she was speaking again. "I know you probably have a lot of questions for me. And I know I'm really, really out of line here, to just show up like this-out of the blue. But I...I need to ask you a favor."
She took a deep, shaky breath, and then forced herself to look back up at him, to meet his gaze. "I need a place to stay."