Hey my geeky readers! Sorry no update for a while, I've been on vacation. But I wrote this, so enjoy!
"Hey Wally!" M'gann said cheerfully when the speedster walked into the kitchen. She was baking cookies. The heavenly smell wafted around the mountain.
"Something bothering you?" The boy had been acting depressed all day, which was highly unusual.
He looked up. "Oh, hey M'gann. Nothings wrong." He pasted a fake smile on his face, though sadness ghosted in his eyes, which the smile didn't quite reach. "I just can't find my phone anywhere. Have you seen it?"
M'gann shook her head. "Nope, haven't seen it, sorry."
"Oh, found it, it was in the couch cushion." He called a minute later.
"Hey, Baywatch, wanna come play some board games with us?" asked Artemis. "Sorry is set up, and we need one more player."
He shook his head. "Nah, I gotta go do something. Thanks though." He left for the zeta tubes.
Artemis looked confused. "Ummm, okay, that was weird. That was the first time he ever, A, talked to me without an insult, B, refused to play a board game, C, went into the kitchen without getting food, and D, not complimented M'gann on sight."
"Yeah, and what's he gotta do at this hour anyway?" Conner thought aloud. "I mean, nothings open except for some gas stations and supermarkets."
"Whatever." Artemis shook her head. "He is Wally, after all." But secretly, she was going to follow him.
Meanwhile, Wally was zeta tubing to Central City. He emerged from the zeta tube disguised as a telephone booth slowly. His steps bounced off of the dank alley walls, echoing in the long space between two old downtown buildings. He didn't carry himself with his usual bouncing steps and smiling face. In their place were slow,light steps, matching a pale, tear-stained, freckled face, eyes downcast, and lips turned into a small frown.
When Artemis arrived, she scaled an old fire escape on the side of a building and hopped onto the roof. She stayed to the rooftops in fear that he would spot her. She watched as he continued down the sidewalk, hopping from rooftop to rooftop occasionally to keep up with him.
He stopped at a flower shop that was still open, and purchased three beautiful red roses. The droplets of water dotting their blood red petals glistened in the lights illuminating the street. The streets were empty, not a car in sight. Only the flower shop and gas station were still open to public.
The 16 year old turned at the street corner, and continued down the sidewalk until he reached the Centeral City graveyard. The iron gates groaned as he pushed them open, echoing through the place, intertwining with the soft splashes of raindrops pelting the concrete gravestones.
Artemis jumped down and hid behind a large crypt to get a closer look.
He walked over to a small gravestone. 'Mary West, Beloved mother, aunt, and daughter, 1969-2012' was Inscripted into the stone.
Wally knelt down and gently layed the roses on the long, moist grass covering his mother's grave. A solitary tear ran down his face.
"Hi mom. Happy birthday."
"I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit for a while. Oh, did I tell you? Dad's in jail. The police finally arrested him. Dick saw the bruises, and told Barry, who called the police." He wiped a few tears away. "I'm not living with him anymore. Only Dick and the league know. I want to tell the team, but I don't know how. But guess what? I'm living with Iris and Barry now. They are the best parents I could ever have, other than you. I'm really happy."
He looked down to his hands and became silent. After a moment he spoke.
"He really did love you and me, you know. He just was too depressed when you died. "
The digital watch on his wrist beeped as 10:59 turned to eleven.. He looked up to the grave. " I told you about the team a little while ago, right? Yeah, they're amazing. There's this one girl named Artemis. She's really pretty, but doesn't know I like her. The whole teams doing pretty good. Superman is slowly starting to accept Conner, so I'm really happy for him- that he has a mentor and a father figure, and Black Canary is kind of like a mom to him-"
His voice broke off. Another batch of tears spilled, and cascaded down his pale face. Artemis was in tears as well.
"I really miss you." He choked out. "It's so hard. Whenever I see other kid's moms, I die a little inside, cause I think about you. I sometimes think about if you didn't get cancer, and what you would be like if you were still here. And if dad would still be okay, and if he wouldn't have beaten me. I just wish you were alive. I would give anything to just talk to you in person, to hear your voice again. Anything to see you one last time."
He hung his head and was silent for a moment.
" I hope you're in a better place, and that you met grandma and grandpa again. I hope God's treating you good, and that you like heaven, and there are lots of roses, because I know those are your favorite."
He pushed himself up and stood.
"Happy Birthday, I love you. I'll be back soon."
He slowly made his way to the rusty iron gate, shivering at the steady droplets of rain falling from the clouds that soaked through his army-green pullover.
As he stepped onto the wet concrete of the vacant sidewalk, something moved in the corner of his eye. Quickly, he whirled around, but relaxed when he saw it was Artemis.
Her tan face was streaked with tears, and wisps of her wet blonde hair were plastered to her face from the downpour that was in action. She slowly moved toward and wrapped her arms around his thin but muscular frame. The speedster accepted the embrace. Artemis softly put her hand on his head and gently pushed it on her shoulder. He didn't protest.
They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, wrapped in eachother' s embrace.
When they finally broke apart, most of the tears had stopped. Slowly, Artemis looked in his red rimmed emerald eyes.
"You okay?"
He nodded. "Lets get back to the mountain. They're probably wondering where we are."
They started to walk in the direction of the zeta tubes, hand in hand. And, despite the depressing day, Wally had a small smile on his face. Because of Artemis.
So, did u like it? Reviews? Pleeeease? This is gonna become a place 4 oneshots, so suggestions are cool. :) the 1 shots are gonna be about team bonding between everyone btw.