Artemis, or she now preferred to go by Tigress, glanced around the empty room as she sat reading a magazine. The others were currently out on a special mission, leaving her to tend for herself. These were times she hated the most. Not only did she have nothing to do, but her mind occasionally wandered where she didn't want it to go: Wally.
She shook her head, ignoring the image that forced its way into her mind every so often. She knew if she left herself think about him too deeply, she would just lose it. He had been her everything.
Artemis would never admit it to anyone, but it bothered her seeing Impulse wearing Wally's uniform. Of course she cared about the boy, but seeing that almost broke her heart every time.
The coffee table in front of her was stocked with magazines and newspapers, not very well organized. As she reached for another one in the unorganized pile, it caused a fluttering sound, making her curious enough to look down as a few pieces of paper fell to the floor, spreading out all over the place.
"Great." She mumbled, annoyed, as she bent down slightly to pick up each one. Her hand stopped abruptly as it hovered near one. Instead of picking it up, she skipped over it, not daring to look at it, knowing exactly what it was. It was an old newspaper article the paper had done on Kid Flash. They did that often, highlighting each hero when they did something worth noting.
Her eyes glanced back at it. Slowly she picked it up and looked at picture and article caption: KID FLASH: WILL SAVE YOU IN LIGHTING SPEED.
The pictured showcased him with a big grin on his face, waving at everyone enthusiastically. She chuckled as she looked at it. That boy had always been full of such life.
"N-no, stop" She told herself as a single tear slid down her cheek, as if telling herself no would stop them from coming. Her eyes glanced around the room, making sure there was no one there to see her cry. It wasn't enjoyable to appear weak in front of the others. She had practically convinced the others by now that she had moved on. But in reality, she hadn't even properly grieved over his death.
Gazing at the picture sadly, a small sigh escaped her lips. "Oh Wally, I miss you so much..Why did you have to go?"
The hand holding tightly to the picture started to tremble as a burst of tears hit her, slowly turning into a quiet sob. She didn't even attempt to hold them at bay this time, letting them flow freely. Her vision blurred as the tears came endlessly, some of them dripping onto the newspaper, merging some of the words together into an unreadable blob.
She clutched the paper tightly to her chest, curling into a loose ball on the large sofa she was in. "Y-you can't be dead! Please…"
It was until a few hours later that the team returned, only to find her asleep on the couch. It was quite obvious she'd been crying, and they immediately knew why as they saw the newspaper article still held tightly in her grasp.
Their hearts went out to her, knowing the pain she must have been holding inside. "She needs time off," Nightwing suggested to the others. "just so she can properly grieve, although I'm sure that's the last thing she wants to do."
They all readily agreed. M'gan gently placed a blanket over her as she slept. "It'll be alright.." she mumbled to Artemis. "..everything will be alright.
The team quietly left the room to give her space, glancing back at her as they walked out then shut the door, leaving Artemis' sleeping self on the couch, alone.