"Hey Art... Um, it's Wally. Again." Wally said as he leaned against the grimy pay phone just outside the Keystone Diner. He knew it was pointless to call her cell again, she never really used it all that much, but for some reason he felt like she kept it on her just for his sake sometimes. Or maybe he just really liked hearing her answering machine, because he didn't want to forget the sound of her voice, even if it was a disingenuous "You've reached Artemis, I can't take your call but I'll get back to you ASAP".
"I, uh, got your voicemail, and I'm on my way right now, so don't think I ditched you or anything if I'm not there yet..." He kicked an empty soda can aside, shuffling his feet awkwardly because he was nervous. They hadn't seen each other in two weeks and he was antsy, because he hadn't expected them to keep their arrangement going this long without getting caught. There was a small part of him, a really paranoid part, that was sure Robin was aware of their little meetings by now, but didn't say anything about it to Wally. That made Wally twice as nervous, because why would Rob be okay with him staying in contact with the mole that ended up betraying their team?
The redhead suddenly felt a panicky flourish in his chest, murmured a quick "See you in a bit" into the bacteria-ridden receiver, and high tailed it to Gotham, his feet on auto pilot as they carried him closer to the girl that he just couldn't seem to get out of his system.
As nervous as he was, Wally was also really excited to see Artemis again. After all, the notion of remaining in contact after the incident was his idea. It'd taken hours upon hours of thinking and self loathing, but Wally had come to grips with what had been hanging in front of his nose for so long; He liked Artemis Crock, and he couldn't deny that not seeing her anymore would make him feel really shitty inside.
And by the way Artemis had agreed to meeting with him in a way that didn't require much blood to be shed or sharp insults to be launched, he felt like the sentiment was mutual.
She never wanted to be the mole, but through the course of these past three months, Wally knew that it was never really her choice in the first place. The Team had taken it pretty hard, and they were all angry, as they should be, but Wally was the only one who knew the truth. And once he'd listened to her reasons, sat on the roof of the apartment building where she lived and spent an unreasonable amount of hours just talking with her, he realized that there was no part of him that could ever conjure a feeling akin to hate when it came to Artemis. She was so brave to be able to endure the things she'd faced, to make the sacrifices and decisions no girl her age should ever have to make, and Wally admired her for it.
Sportsmaster had caused so much harm to her world, he quite literally ruined her life, and as much as Wally wanted to help her, he knew he couldn't. She wouldn't let him anyway, she'd made that pretty damn clear on multiple occasions.
Stubborn little Spitfire... Wally thought as he approached the lights of Gotham City. He was sure that there was no place that felt sketchier than Gotham. It was a shit hole, and that was putting it mildly.
A soft breeze greeted him as he arrived at the rooftop of the apartment building. It was sunset, Artemis' favorite time of the day, and the sky was illuminated with shades of orange as the sun descended slowly out of the sight of the world. It was probably the only thing that even came close to nice looking on this side of Gotham.
The sunset looks nicer in Blue Valley... A small thought in the back of Wally's mind projected. I'll have to show her sometime, she'd love it...
The corner of his mouth lifted when he immediately spotted her; sitting on the ledge of the building with her long legs swinging like a child. Her hair was down, which was a rare sight, and probably meant she hadn't had to report to her father today, so she had gotten some down time. The long strands of spun gold rustled gently in accordance with the wind, the ends gently grazing her waist, something Wally suddenly felt jealous of and ached to have his fingers do.
Sensing his presence, she turned around and presented him a beautiful smile that he'd been dying to see for the past two weeks. He sheepishly waved and approached the edge of the building.
"You're late, Flash Boy." Artemis grinned at him with taxing eyes. He didn't respond to the nickname like he would have all those months ago, just smirked and plopped himself down next to her and leaned in to give her a quick but lingering peck on her full lips.
"Tried to get here as fast as I could." He said, knocking his leg with hers. "I missed you, Blondie."
Her grey eyes seemed to brighten a bit, feeling warmed up to him enough to rest her head on his shoulder, her body following and leaning against his, heavy from exhaustion. She sighed and continued to watch the sun delicately set over Gotham.
It was strange, because they weren't officially together. They didn't want to be, not with their current situation. She wasn't his girlfriend and he wasn't her boyfriend. But if someone were to ask either of them if they were taken, they'd probably respond with a small smile and a yes. They knew they couldn't possibly risk being together at this time, it was too dangerous, but they were comfortable with this. Just being together for the moment, in each other's presence, that was enough.
He allowed his head to lull, gently placing it over hers. Wally didn't know why this stuff sent such strong jolts of indescribable and pure feeling to his entire being, but he knew he wasn't anxious to stop it any time soon. So what if he let himself enjoy the feeling of Artemis' soft skinned hand in his once in a while, it wasn't hurting anyone, and it definitely wasn't hurting him.
"How is everyone?" She asked, pulling the redhead from his thoughts, never taking her eyes off the glowing sky.
"The Team is good." He said lightly. Okay, so that was a half lie. "Not as good without you there." Not a lie.
He didn't need to be looking at her to know that she was smirking. He hesitantly drew himself closer to her, so close that suddenly her swinging feet were brushing with his and his fingers began toying with the ends of her long locks at the small of her back. These things never meant to happen, they just occurred so naturally with them, and they weren't sorry for it.
"I really wish it didn't have to be like this..." She whispered.
"Me too, Art." He nodded. He pulled his head up and looked down at her. "Please tell me things have gotten better on your end?"
She lifted her head off his shoulder and glanced at him with sorrowful eyes. Oh well, it was pointless to ask anyway...
"He's still using Mom and Jade as leverage." The spite and contrition in her words whisked into the harsher way the wind suddenly started to blow. "He's also gotten into the habit of mentioning tactics to annihilate everyone on the Team as a motivator to work harder in my training."
Wally swallowed thickly. "I'm sorry."
"What's funny is that I still have to pretend to hate you guys." She averted her eyes to the sky as she spoke softer, and Wally instantly recognized that guilty tone she used whenever she would talk about her betrayal toward the Team. "I hate it, but if I don't then he'll realize that I'm attached to you all and that'll just give him more fuel to manipulate me into doing his dirty work."
She lifted her eyes to his again and all the feelings were welling up in her orbs, he could see it and a dull ache rose in his chest.
"This sucks so much Wally..."
He stared at her, and without even realizing it, his hand had gravitated closer to hers until they finally seemed find each other. He clasped her hand so tightly they might as well have melded together.
"I... I tried to stick up for you the other day..." His voice trailed off. "We failed another mission, and Conner was going off on this Artemis hate speech, and... I couldn't help it, it just slipped out."
Artemis was silent. She nodded, urging him to go on.
"I swear I've been trying to convince them that you're not like him. You're not on that side. But I don't know, I guess they're still hurt and..."
"I don't expect them to come around." Artemis interjected. "I fucked up. Big time. I wouldn't forgive me either."
"I do." Wally mumbled. "And it's not your fault. Artemis, if you just let me help you, if we go explain to them, about your mom and everything, then maybe-"
Artemis let out a harsh laugh. "It's not that simple Wallman. It's cute that you can think so optimistically like that, but the reality of the situation is that I can't just leave the Shadows." Her voice grew sharper. "At least not until my father is dead."
Wally thought of how unfortunate her situation was. Artemis didn't deserve this. She deserved a nice family, one that loved her unconditionally and didn't force her to live in constant fear of losing the things she cared about. Wally felt that it was unfair that he was able to live in his cushy house with his supportive and loving parents, surrounded by supportive and loving family and friends, saving the world at the tender age of sixteen, and she couldn't.
Wally pulled Artemis into a hug, a tight, overwhelmingly emotional one that he hoped would convey everything he felt about her and her extremely shitty circumstances. Wally West was a person who enjoyed helping people, and it personally hit him hard when this one person who he cared about a fucking lot was the one person he couldn't help.
Artemis let her arms envelope the redhead clinging to her. He shut his eyes and sighed, wondering how it was possible to be as warm as Artemis felt at the moment. Lifting his lips to her ear, he tried his best to make his voice not crack with all the overwhelming emotion he was experiencing right now.
"We can do this babe, you just need to stop being so god damned stubborn and actually accept the possibility that you can leave him. Just put your pride aside and let me help you. Please."
He knew that he probably sounded really pathetic, but he didn't care. He wanted Artemis to be free again. He didn't want to accept defeat as if there was no hope of getting her back, safe and sound, where she belongs. He didn't want the Team and the League to bury the memory of her as the girl who gained their trust and turned on them without a second thought. He didn't want to hear them talk about her anymore in the terribly false way they did. And he certainly didn't want to hide her like some sort of secret he was ashamed of.
He squeezed her closer, if it was even possible, and she didn't respond for a while. Eventually, she pulled away and took his trembling hands in hers. She looked at him with this look; it was completely indescribable, but he was sure it something similar to what he felt when he was this close to her.
"Okay West. I'll let you help me."
He wasn't sure exactly how dopey his smile probably looked right now, but he hoped it wasn't too dorky. A piece of hair blew into her face, obstructing Wally's perfect view of her lovely face, so he brushed it away, behind her ear. His hand hesitated though, and ended up not leaving her face. Instead he traced her cheek gently with the pad of his thumb, and a mirroring smile touched Artemis' lips.
"Have you ever been to Nebraska?" He suddenly blurted, mentally berating himself immediately.
Artemis arched a perfect brow and appraised him cautiously. "No..." She started slowly. "Why?"
He shrugged, hoping his rising blush didn't make her burst into giggles, because that had happened before. "Well there's this one particular wheat field where the sunset looks way nicer. All this pollution is kind of taking the romance out of the evening."
She smirked and took his hand that rested on her cheek, kissing his palm before standing up and holding her hand out to help him up.
"Then let's go, farmer. But make it quick."
"Quick is kinda my thing, doll face." He glared at her playfully, winding his arms around her waist loosely. "And I thought I was your ninja boyfriend."
"Mmm, I think farmer boyfriend suits you better." She hummed, eyes hooded and hands crawling up his chest.
"How about just boyfriend?" Wally murmured with a certain hopeful sincerity lying beneath his words.
Artemis' eyes slightly widened, but she recovered from the initial shock and settled a soft smile onto her face.
"Out of all your aliases, I like that one the most."
When they reached that wheat field in Nebraska not five minutes later, Wally took her face in his hands and kissed her underneath the glowing sun. When he pulled back, the smile she gave him rivaled the radiance of the sunset that reflected on Artemis, encompassing her, making her look almost angelic, and Wally knew that he would stop at nothing to make sure she smiled like that every damn day, because even if he couldn't necessarily save her from her situation, he could sure as hell try to make it a whole lot less shitty.