PALO ALTO

February 14, 00:00 PST

TEAM YEAR 7

To Artemis, with love, Wally

Happy Valentine's Day

Artemis sat alone at the table. Her fingers wrapped around the envelope several times, but she couldn't bring herself to open it; the last thing her beloved left to her. The only person to ever break through her stone heart and show her what it meant to truly love, and he was gone-swooped away before she even had a chance to say goodbye; a chance to say how much she loved him. Her finger slipped under the envelope flap without even thinking, sliding it across the glue-glazed surface. The flap popped open, revealing a folded card. Nothing fancy, just a simple piece of paper with a note on it. She slowly undid the folds of the slip, pausing before she could read what it said. Her emotions were running and she didn't know if she could bring herself to read his final message.

Hey Babe,

It's June now, but I knew I'd forget about today, so I figured I'd do this now. I know we've had our ups and downs lately. Every night I just sit here waiting for you to burst through the door, home from Chem, but that never happens. I miss you. I just want you to come home, but I know that you're away. You're helping our friends, and you're helping others, but you're leaving me in the dust. How ironic.

I love you, and no matter what happens, that'll never change. We'll take down the Reach, we'll be the heroes, and then once we finish, we'll be happy together again. We can grow old and raise a family of our own. Just remember, I'm always there for you, and I'll never leave.

Love ya, Babe,

Wally.

The note slipped out of her trembling hands, tears strolling down her puffy, red eyes. She could barely get breaths in between sobs. The teardrop-stained paper floated to the floor and her tears gathered in a puddle. She fell to her knees, sucking in air as she continued to cry. It seemed as if the room was spinning and all of her emotions were colliding inside of her.

Artemis stumbled over to the bookshelf, stuffed with all the Harry Potter books, Wally's favorite. Despite his opposition to the concept of magic, he had always loved to read those books. She continued on through the house, reminiscing about all the details of their life together before his disappearance. She slowly opened up the door to the room they would sleep in together. Ever since the incident she'd been sleeping on the couch, trying to keep her memories of him lasting for as long as possible by keeping the bed exactly how it was before.

Of all the reminders of his death however, one stood out the most. Peering through her closet in her room, Artemis could see two hangers dangling from the bar at the top. One had nothing on it; it formerly held Wally's old costume, but that was handed down to Bart, while the new one had of course gone with Wally. On the hanger beside it was a familiar, forest green suit with a light green arrow tip design emblazoned on the front. In the drawer below were various accessories: a pair of combat boots, fingerless gloves, and the matching, emerald quiver surrounded by discarded arrows that were sprawled throughout the base.

Artemis reached in, pulling out one specific arrow. Wally had kept it as a souvenir after the battle with Amazo where she had saved the rest of the team. He kept it all these years as a reminder of their relationship and their first encounter, even though they had not actually seen each other in person. She could distinguish it from her other arrows because it was a prototype arrow from before she was brought into the team by Batman and Green Arrow. She'd never forget that first day on the job.

"Wall-Man, huh? Ah, love the uniform. What exactly are your powers?" Suddenly, it was as if Artemis had been transported back in time. The scenes flashed before her eyes like they were all happening all over again.

"Uh, who is this?" Years later she could see how embarrassed Wally really was at that moment by looking at his blushing face. She was distracted for a moment, however, by his freckles, and for the first time in a long time, she smiled.

"Artemis, your new teammate."

"Kid Flash, never heard of you."

"I won't hurt you, I-I'm one of the good guys. You know, Kid Flash." Artemis now appeared in Bialya, during the mission where they had lost their memories. They'd gotten along so well when they had lost their memories, despite being rivals from the very first day they met. Wally had probably held a grudge over what happened when he embarrassed himself at their first meeting.

Suddenly, the scenery changed. Artemis was sitting across from Black Canary of the league, during the counseling session after the disastrous virtual reality mission.

"You could start by admitting you're not really Green Arrow's niece," Black Canary suggested. Artemis remembered this perfectly. It had taken a long time before she felt comfortable revealing her true heritage to the team-to Wally.

"Right, could you imagine what Wally would do with that?" Artemis threw back.

"Interesting. So the person you're most worried about… is Wally." Artemis couldn't believe how long it took her to open up to him. All along she had a team. She had friends. But she was so insecure and lost, feeling like there was no one she could trust. So she hid her true feelings. She put on a face, and sucked it all up, just like she'd been doing with everyone else for the past eight months.

"I should've done this a long time ago." Again, she was in a different time and place. This time it was New Year's Eve, the clock counting down to midnight.

"No kidding." Wally's arms wrapped around Artemis and picked her up like the heroic lead in an old-fashioned romance movie, sweeping the damsel in distress off her feet. She saw now that she really was the damsel and he had saved her from a life of secrets and bad decisions. Wally leaned in to kiss her just as the clock struck midnight.

"Babe, you're freaking out over nothing." Once again Artemis was in a different location, standing face-to-face with Wally. The sight made her stomach churn as she falsely reassured him that she would be fine on her mission. If only she'd known. She should've never gone on that mission and left Wally behind. She endangered herself, and ultimately it cost his life.

"Ah, ze Eiffel Tower and the ever romantic city of lights. We're definitely coming back here, babe, y'know, when we don't have a world to save." Artemis was moving farther and farther down the timeline, and she knew what would be coming next. Her heart sank, knowing that Wally would never be going back to France, and never saving the day again.

"There will always be a world to save. Now drop me and go."

Finally, she was brought to Wally's final mission—the one where he gave his life to save the entire planet. Artemis leapt off the jet, running to the sight of the event, only to find that of the three speedsters who went in, only two had returned.

"Where's Wally?" she asked Flash, emotion building up inside of her. Even though she asked, she knew just as well as they did what had happened to him.

"Artemis… He wanted me to tell you…"

"No… No…"

"He loved you," Barry said, putting his hand on Artemis' shoulders as she fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face. Finally she turned away from the vision, unable to bear the news of Wally's death a second time. She closed her eyes to hold in the tears, and when she opened them, she had returned to the silent and still room.

Slowly, she walked to the closet, counting each step. She wrapped her hand around the closet door, taking one last moment to look back into her memories. She stared at her old outfit-dirt stains, holes, and all.

Artemis died when Wally did, she thought to herself. She closed the door, reaching over to the dresser to grab the old, rusted key. She twisted the lock, sealing away the memories, and then walked to the bathroom, throwing the key into the toilet and flipping the handle down. The key was whisked away by the vortex and taken down to the sewers where she would never see it again.

"Artemis, you're needed at HQ. Report ASAP," Manta's voice rang through the communicator attached to her belt. She stared into the mirror, looking at her burnt-orange suit that she had already put on. Her hand reached down and grabbed her matching mask off the side of the sink and placed it directly onto her face after wiping away the tears.

"Artemis is no more. There is only… Tigress."