Hey guys. I just wanted to put Artemis' funeral in here to start because…I really wanted to write her funeral. It's short.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to honor the death of Artemis Rose Crock…" Beyond that I didn't hear the man's words. I didn't even know her middle name was Rose. I didn't even know her real heritage until four days before she died. I didn't even know if green was her favorite color, or if she just wore green a lot to fit in with Green Arrow. There was so much I didn't know about her and so much I never would. All I knew was that I loved her and that she'd loved me. We'd never even officially gone out on a date. There was so much I wish I could've done with her. I wish I could've kissed her more. I wish I could've held her hand in mine more. I wish that I could just talk to her. I wish she were here just to call me out for all my crap. I just wished she were here. Even if she hated my guts, I wished she could just breathe. I wished that I'd had more time with her.
I looked around me. M'gann and Connor were standing right near the coffin. Megan was nearly hysterical, pulling tissues out of her pocket every ten seconds. Connor grimaced, not looking much different than usual as he held M'gann. But there was that creeping sadness in his eyes, a sadness that hadn't been there before. A sadness I could tell wouldn't ever leave his eyes. Dick was crying behind his sunglasses, I could tell because he kept bringing his hand up to his eyes, brushing something away. He was squeezing Zatanna's hand. She was crying, not as much as M'gann but more than Dick. It might sound cruel for me to think that, I mean Dick was one of her best friends inside and outside of the cave, but being apprenticed to Batman had toughened him up. Gar wasn't allowed to come since his green-ness would draw attention. I don't think it would've made a difference. Garfield barely knew Artemis after all. He had missed out knowing possibly one of the best people on this planet. Kaldur'ahm was staying completely composed, forever the calm one. He was obviously torn up about her death, but he kept his cool and he was the one that helped make the rounds and took on the grievances of other people. Emma, one of Artemis' friends from school, was there to, with her parents, Bette, and Barbara. Paula Crock was sitting in her wheelchair, sobbing into her hand as she touched the side of the coffin. Even Jade was allowed to come and stand off to the side. Bruce Wayne, Ollie Queen, Dinah Drake, Clark Kent, John Jones, my mentor Barry Allen, and a few other Leaguers were there, honoring Artemis. Some people I didn't recognize at all were there, a few identified to be the victims of the Shadows she'd helped escape. Then there was me, Wally West. I wasn't crying. I wasn't feeling sad or down about myself. I was feeling…numb. Like this was all a dream.
The official story was that some muggers who shot her in the stomach and the shoulder. The real story was that she was shot in the shoulder by a guard that had kidnapped he and then later on her father, of all people, had plunged a sword in her stomach and killed her. For that I vowed that he would feel the pain I had felt when she first died. And more.
The burial was low-key; the way Artemis would've liked it. Eventually itc came time for speeches. I was up first.
I coughed before I started, awkward and nervous. I pulled at my tie. I hadn't planned at all. I had been too busy trying to throw pounds of work on myself, trying to distract myself from her death. I had no idea what to say. So I just spoke from my heart. "Artemis was one of the most amazing people on this earth," I started off. "She was smart, brave, snarky, and amazing. She defied all odds. Even through all the crap she went through in life she managed to ignore it and be the bigger person. There was so much I didn't know about her. So much I will never know. But that doesn't matter. Because I knew all I needed to know. I was once told, by a very wise man, to find my own Spitfire, someone who wouldn't let me get away with anything. She was my Spitfire. She was the love of my life. She truly lived up to her name. She was a goddess. To Artemis!" I held up my glass of fizzy water and toasted to her. As I stepped off the podium tears started running down my face. Every word of it was true.
Robin was up next, but I didn't hear him. I was too busy crying, thinking, and wishing she were here with me. Each member of the team went up and toasted to her. Connor's was short, just a line or two. Kaldur's was good length and heartfelt. M'gann choked up halfway through hers so she stepped off the podium and walked to the bathroom. Zatanna had a brief but loving toast to Artemis. Lastly her mother finished off with a toast. It was long and she bore her whole sole to us. She looked nothing like Artemis. But she reminded me so much of her. Which made me avoid Paula Crock all night. It was just too much.
Later that night I had gotten dead drunk and into a bar fight with Dick. I don't remember it at all, but the next day I was bruised worse than Zoom had ever done to me. But that was long ago.