"Hey there, babe. I'm graduating in a few months. I'm so nervous; I wish you were here. Then you could suffer with me." Artemis laughed quietly. "Bart's doing a great job being – well, you know. He gets better every day, baby. You'd be proud of him. I really am." She sighed. "I really am."
Artemis picked up the bottle of vodka she had placed on the grass next to her and took a swig. She continued, "Your mom and dad are selling their house. They don't know what they want yet, but they're thinking about getting something smaller. Maybe out of the city."
"Hi," Dick said, sitting down next to Artemis. "Saved some for me?" he pointed at the bottle.
"Hi Dick." Artemis passed it to him and he took a long drink before setting it down.
"Hi Wally." To Artemis, he said, "Did you tell him everything already?"
"Everything about me, sure. You act like I care about you."
"You know I'm your favorite person," Dick said, punching her lightly in the arm.
"Try second favorite," she said, punching him back.
"I accept that."
Dick took another, shorter drink from the bottle. "Sooo, Wally… Bruce and I are fighting again. Babs is siding with him; she currently hates my guts... What else…?" He paused for a few moments, racking his brain for any worthwhile news. "Oh, dude, I'm gonna do a student transfer next semester! Goin' to Germany. It'll be fun. I wish you could come with me."
Dick moved to drink the vodka again, but Artemis quickly snatched it out of his hands. "Hey! Save some for him."
"Oh, sorry," he said to Artemis. "Sorry man," he said to Wally.
They sat in silence then. A cool breeze had picked up, making the grass and trees rustle. It made her happy; she knew Wally liked the feel of the wind rushing through his hair, and all around him. This is fitting, she thought.
Dick kept his eyes on the sky, a perfect robin egg's blue with patches of clouds all over. Even now, all these years later, he still had trouble looking at the tombstone. So instead he looked at the sky, at the tall maple trees dotting the graveyard, and the city that surrounded them, and he thought bitterly about the failures and successes that plagued him. This would be easier with you around. You don't belong here.
"You should've brought two bottles. Or three."
"Or six or seven. Hell, let's go to a bar right now and get wasted. For him, right?" Artemis rolled her eyes.
"Don't get like that. Every fucking year –"
"Dick! Don't do this now." Quietly, she said, "Just don't, okay."
"Why the hell not?! It's not like Wally's never seen this before."
"Go away," Artemis said, turning away from him. "I'm not gonna fight you here."
Dick spread out his arms and laid on the ground. "You're being a bitch."
"And you're being an ass." Artemis laid down on her side, facing Dick.
Dick closed his eyes, and tears rolled down the sides of his cheeks.
Artemis considered her words carefully. "Next time I'll bring a whole picnic. Plus vodka. It'll be all of his favorite foods; we'll eat and drink. For him."
"Tch, have fun trying to drag that much food here." Dick smiled, and when he heard Artemis laugh, his smile grew into a grin.
More minutes passed in silence. People came and went, all the while the two heroes remained, wishing for impossible things and finding solace in each other as the quiet rage overtook them. Each year it was the same: the hunger that gnawed at the back of their minds every other day of the year pushing forward, greedily feeding on their collective sorrow and leaving a path of emptiness in its wake. An emptiness which, both came to realize over time, consumed without end.
A noise pierced the silence, startling both of them. Dick sat up and pulled out his phone. "Sorry," he muttered, "it's my alarm." Looking at Artemis, he said, "I gotta get to class."
"Okay," she said.
They stood up and hugged each other tightly.
"I'll see you later," Dick said as he pulled away from Artemis. Then he knelt by Wally's tombstone and, forcing himself to look at it, said, "See you next year, man."
And with that Dick left the graveyard, leaving Artemis alone. She waited until she saw Dick's car pull out of the parking lot before she turned to Wally's grave. She opened the bottle and poured the remaining vodka onto the grass. Crying freely, she kissed her hand and placed it on the tombstone.
"I love you. I love you."
Artemis wiped her eyes, and took a deep breath. She locked away her hunger then, and left.