Artemis guessed that it would hurt, and it did. Dammit. She thought, her jaw sore from the impact, as she was pushed back by the red and yellow figure. She quickly stepped to the side, dodging one of his incoming punches.
Wally really did improve his fighting skill, after years of practice with her he became more skillful in the art of observing the opponents body movement.
Too bad she was excellent in it. She quickly launched herself in the air, pulling his arm back as much as she could. She heard the small grunt that slipped through his lips. She let go of his arm, landed behind him, and kicked him down.
He fell on his face, and coughed up the dust that went into his mouth. He quickly turned around, speed was always his best friend, and took stance.
One month.
That was how long it had been since she left their home. That was long it had been since she saw his narrow green eyes and his red hair.
She whipped out her staff, not taking the chance to take out her crossbow, it was too risky here.
To the side Artemis saw M'gann, Nightwing, and Batgirl fighting Deathstroke. She knew he was too much for them, he was too at ease at his surroundings. The junkyard was the perfect place for a creep like Deathstroke, hanging around here was basically home for him. She winced when she saw Batgirl get slammed into a car, Nightwing jumping from up top. M'gann had been in a somewhat silent state, Artemis knew she was trying to reach into Deathstroke's well guarded mind.
"Oof." She fell to the floor, she looked up and saw Wally's figure. His face calm and his body ready to kick into action. She hopped back up, holding her staff in front of her. "Well, looks like someone has gotten the better of me." They were too close to the others, especially with M'gann in her state. There was no way for them to talk normally.
He growled. They walked around in a circle, eyes on each other. She took the the first round and leaped forward bringing the staff above her head and slammed it down. Wally held his arms close to his head in defense, the staff rung out as it slammed into the skin. Both took a sharp intake of breath, Artemis from not realizing how hard she hit him and Wally from the pain. He was pushed back, almost tripping but he managed to set his foot with balance.
Artemis stepped back, her staff at her side. She let herself stay open, she didn't want Wally being the only one hurt. She nodded a little to him, his eyes narrowed the ends of his eyebrows dropping below the cowl's edge. He ran, slower than his usual speed, and barreled into her. "Don't you dare." He hissed in her ear.
She understood then, at that moment of impact with her and a car. There was no way in hell was he going home without a good fight. A fight to make up for a month.
This was their only chance to vent out everything.
There was no doubt that she missed him, to leave him in a time where anyone could just kill you without a second thought was unbearable. But she decided that it would be best to join again, to help her friends and innocent civilians. To feel the rush again was amazing, to fight and to shoot and to just hit. Artemis, at first, never understood why Wally wanted a normal life, for the most enthusiastic hero on the team to leave had probably been the most unusual thing to happen.
It fit him though, Artemis realized months after them leaving, to run away and move on. Even if it meant turning his back against something he had known for almost his whole life, she knew about that far too well.
He never told her why he wanted to leave, she knew it was from their last mission though, but he asked her if she wanted to leave the business with him.
And she agreed. She dealt with too much: a close friend dying, constantly fighting family, having to deal with the constant fear of losing her life, and wanting to live her own life. She needed time away and she took the opportunity when it came, and it didn't hurt that her boyfriend would be with her. Someone who knew the disadvantages of being a hero.
When people asked her why she would follow him she would give a snarky reply followed by a "I decide for myself." It was a sentence everyone knew well enough.
Cutting ties with the team was hard, people who she had gotten so close to weren't going to be a constant factor in her life anymore. She was happy that Nightwing and Zatanna visited but it just wasn't the same. She no longer went to the cave, she didn't meet some of the new members of the team, she didn't even talk to M'gann after hearing about her break up with Conner from Zatanna. They had secluded themselves to this part of the country, their friends those days were people who they met in college and not the people who they fought with side-by-side against evil for almost 4 years.
–
Artemis moaned as she got up, she rubbed her arm and with one swift glance to the speedster she ran forward and slammed her elbow into his face.
Wally's head swung back and he took hold of his nose.
She hung back, keeping her eye on him. No blood. She lightly breathed out, relieved. She looked around for her staff and saw that it was far from her, close to a pile of cars. There was no way for her to get it at that point.
Her mistake to even take her eyes of him. He ripped toward her and tried to barrel into her again, she managed to drop to the ground. She brought her legs close to her and sent a kick to his chest.
He grabbed her legs and pulled her back, Artemis brought herself, legs going around his waist. She took the chance and repeatedly punch him. In the face, chest, head. Anywhere where she could get him.
Wally wasn't able to react for the first couple of punches but soon he took hold of her arms, pushing them away from him. She squeezed his hips for a moment, something she was so used to doing, before letting him go and trying to flip back. He held on to her arms and when she tried to flip her arms got pulled. She let out a yell, stopping her flip to kick him. He let go as he was pushed away.
It took her a while to forget the pain in her shoulders, and once she remembered who she was fighting she turned around. Wally was low and coming at her, hitting her in the chest with his shoulder. She grunted, eyes closed, and felt a punch hit her in the stomach.
She finally attended college. She had no money for it so when she heard that she had gotten another scholarship, she was a bit ecstatic. Artemis enjoyed being able to sit in a classroom and be around others who were there for somewhat similar reasons.
The only thing was that she went to Stanford.
Both Wally and her were accepted and went there together. It proved to be stressing though, living in other states, going to school in California, and crime fighting at night. Artemis wasn't sure if she could handle it.
Then came the chance of leaving the team, living with Wally, going to school together.
She weighed the cons and pros in her heads and finally decided it was best. She had too much to deal with and she just needed to live her life. She may have missed the crime fighting business but overall nothing beat the fact that Wally came home without blood on his clothes and bruises all over his body. They made the promise to not go back for obvious reasons, and they were sure they were going to keep it.
–
She held her stomach, rubbing it a little to soothe the pain. She open one eye and saw Wally panting about six feet from her. She breathed deeply and somewhat shakily. Artemis moved then, not minding the ache in certain parts of her body.
He took a defense position when she moved forward. She knew from that that he was losing his juice. They had been fighting for so long at that point. Both of them were exhausted and they both hurt in too many places. Artemis took note of his narrowed eyes when she tackled him down.
She held down his arms with her knees, pressing enough pressure for him to not struggle. She started to punch him, right in his face. She took time between her punches to look at him, she had to hit him hard enough for him to stay dazed and not react.
Same bright green eyes, only angry. Same pink skin, it suited him nowadays. Same red hair, a darker colour once compared to his fifteen year old self. He looked exactly the same, as if leaving him did nothing.
She knew it wasn't true, and that he missed her as much as she missed him, but he looked oh so much better. Her on the other hand felt like crap and probably looked like it, fighting on the villain side just ruined her mood. She had no idea how Kaldur dealt with it, how he went on everyday pretending to be evil.
Artemis bit her lip and stopped punching him. It hurt. So bad. To just hit him like this. She leaned back and felt his brought up legs. She looked down at his face, and watched him try to get up. She could tell that he was getting a black-eye and he was bleeding through his mouth and his nose at the moment.
She needed to stop.
"KF!" Artemis twisted her head, she knew it was Batgirl who yelled towards him. "Do you need help!?"
"I'm fine!" He said, loud enough for the girl to hear him, he had spit out blood to the side. He tried to get up, and was stopped by the weight of Artemis. He narrowed his eyes again, and looked at her. "I got this!" He called back. Artemis heard Batgirl's grunts as she continued to fight Deathstroke.
"I don't -" She started, her face calm behind the mask but her voice hoarse. "I don't wanna fig-."
Wally didn't want to hear it, he took the moment of her lazed legs and pushed her off.
He was definitely different after they left. More somber and mature, he still kept some of the childish antics but she noticed how more serious he was around people he didn't know or when they went out. She was more than fine with hanging out in the house with him rather than getting all dolled up to go out and so most of their alone time was spent within their house.
Artemis liked to think that she was a reason why he was more easy to be with for other people. Whenever she was around, he had a more kind tone to others. She didn't know why but she eased him, made him happier. And he did the same in return, he let her put her guard down for some of the time and kept her safe. It felt so nice to know that someone was there with her to go along for the ride.
Their time together was just sweet and gentle. Compared to their horny seventeen year old selves, it felt like they were as close as they could have been. They knew so much about each other, accepted each others flaws, and let each other do what they needed to do. Artemis was attached to him, emotionally and physically.
She couldn't even sleep for two days after she learned that Wally had gone to help his uncle with some kid from the future.. He had told her, he hardly hid anything from her those days, how if either him or Barry tried to get rid of the man from the town they would have died.
And to think, she had acted so harsh when Wally left for only a couple of hours and in response to it he held onto her as they watched their favourite movies and took the next day off, while she would be gone for maybe months she knew that it was okay for Wally to feel whatever he wanted because she wouldn't be there to soothe him.
–
Artemis rolled away, getting up after making sure that she was far enough from him. She gritted her teeth, she never liked how stubborn he got when angered but she had to deal with it. "Kid Flash." She said, not using his real name. "Listen!" She hissed. She had to compromise with him, talk to him about a strategy for both of them to leave and not get anymore hurt.
He shook his head and got into stance.
Now she was mad. She got into her own easy stance, arms raised and close to her body, she glared at him. She waited for him to run ahead and barrel into her again. "Come at me." She growled.
He didn't.
His eyes softened, and his arms went to his side.
Artemis took the time to see the ripped parts of his suit, scratches and bruises were on his exposed skin. Dirt and grime caked certain parts of his body and his hair looked damp. She knew she looked no better, she felt pain on her back and stomach and she felt how her suits legs were covered with dirt.
Artemis knew that he wasn't going to attack anymore.
She lowered her arms and stared at him, she felt exhausted and sad. She just wanted to run into his arms but she knew that she couldn't do that. So she was stuck on that spot, having a staring contest with her boyfriend. Even though he was so much more than that to her.
At that moment Artemis looked at his eyes and saw how angry and sad he was, never the best combination. He started mouthing words and she paid close attention to his lips.
I miss you.
Her chin started to shake but she didn't lower her eyes, she nodded instead. He continued to mouth his words.
I love you.
She nodded again and opened her mouth to reply. "I m-." And for once she was glad that Deathstroke interrupted her.
"Just kill him." He said from the top of a pile of cars, he was behind Wally and had been staring intently at the two. Artemis wondered how much he had watched, she hoped that he hadn't been there too long.
Wally on the other hand wasn't looking at the guy, instead he had been looking around for his friends. Artemis knew that Deathstroke was too much for them.
"In case you forgot, I don't kill." Artemis said back smoothly.
She saw the roll of his eyes. "Guess that means I have to deal with the punk then." He dropped off the pile and landed on the ground, he started to walk, striding even, to the unsuspecting redhead. Deathstroke grabbed the his head and pulled him back, and stared at him in the eyes.
"Where are they?"
"Taking a nap." He replied coldly.
Artemis stood silent, she couldn't attack or stop Deathstroke. It would mean that she was on the hero's side, or had sympathy for them. And Deathstroke didn't like that. She hoped to whatever God there was that someone would come quickly and stop this mess.
Deathstroke took no time to talk with the speedster and had punched him, pushing his face into the ground.
Artemis flinched and looked away, she couldn't look at Wally's writhing body.
Deathstroke let go and pulled back his arm, smirking at the bloodied face. "Wow, just one punch. How useless." He turned around and made his way to Artemis.
Wally gasped for breath, no way in hell was he going down with one punch. He sat up and tried to stand, slipping at some point. Wally didn't stay up right, his body bent down and his arms almost touching the ground. He looked up, finally really pissed. He ran then. Ran like hell. He ran at Deathstroke. One more attack and he would be done but he wouldn't mind wasting it on that creep.
"Argh!" Wally pushed himself forward into the sky brought his arms up and hit Deathstroke on the head. The man fell, face first on the ground. Wally pushed himself to the side, thinking it was best to fall on the ground then on the guy.
Deathstroke got up only a few moments after getting hit, he groaned and held his head. Once he saw who managed to hurt him he growled. "Alright, now he's dead." He loomed over Wally.
"No." A calm and easy voice called over. Artemis looked around and saw the face of Kaldur, she sighed out relief.
Deathstroke looked at him and snarled. "Who the hell are you to tell me who to kill or not to kill?"
Kaldur looked back, his helmet under his arm. "We had specific orders to get what we needed. Not to kill anyone, even the sidekicks." He walked over, giving a glance at Wally. "Do you have what we need?" He asked, stopping by Artemis.
Deathstroke held up the small object. "Got it."
"Then we leave. Our ship is close." Deathstroke stood silent before pushing past the two and walking on.
"Freaking punks." He said as he jumped on top of the cars and left their view.
Artemis waited till he left to turn to Kaldur. "Kal." She said, worried. She turned to look at Wally, she wanted to run to him to see if he was going to be fine.
"He's going to be fine. No mortal damage as far as I can tell. And with his accelerated healing he should be okay within two days." He replied. "I've woken up Nightwing, he will be here soon with Batgirl and Miss Martian to collect Wally."
Artemis nodded. "I thought I was going to get some time with him."
"You know that can't happen until we finished out mission." Kaldur finally said, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come, we must go." Artemis nodded, hearing Nightwing's and Batgirl's calls.
She was leaving him, again. And she had no idea when they were to see each other again and how friendly their circumstances would be. She swallowed and motioned for Kaldur to lead the way.
Both left the same way as Deathstroke, not looking back.
–
"Wally!" Nightwing called. He walked ahead and saw the red and yellow figure at the bottom. From the damage on his face, Nightwing knew that Wally was not just fighting Artemis but also Deathstroke.
"I found him!" He called back before jumping down from the pile of garbage.
Batgirl and M'gann came after, M'gann only gliding instead of fully flying over, and Batgirl limping her way over. Nightwing was going to get her some help soon afterwords. She was hit hard on her legs.
"How is he?" M'gann asked, she landed clumsily next to Nightwing, who was bent over him checking for vital signs.
"Good. For now." He replied. "We need to get him to the cave's hospital quick though. Metabolism won't be able to keep up anytime soon." He leaned forward and grabbed Wally's arm, and threw it around his shoulder. He slowly carried him up. "M'gann, help Batgirl. She's gonna need help on the way to the bioship." The Martian nodded and went over to Barbara.
"Come on buddy." He said, lightly bumping him with his hip. The speedster lifted his head and nodded.
"Artemis." He moaned.
Dick nodded."Yeah." Wally walked, dragging one leg. Dick cleared his throat. "Don't worry, man. All of this will soon pullover."
Hopefully.
((Requested by Anon.))
((Image Credit: Olinka27 on DeviantArt - "Can't wait"))