Disclaimer: All I own is the carpal tunnel I got from writing/typing this so many times and the torch and pitch fork I shall be using to protest the lack of new episodes. Oh, and Jade and Iris too, I guess.
They were getting closer, growing ever larger on the horizon until they filled her vision entirely. Those ships…horrible and black, with two thick prongs on the sides, and a large cannon-like projection leaning over the entrance. The same shape, the same color, the same god-awful yellow ray. Oh god, that horrid sense of déjà vu… She'd been here before.
Her mother and father-adopted, not biological- had already fallen. They and the Hawks had been shot down in Taipei, just off the border of Relasia. Batman and Nightwing had been killed in the initial encounter, along with the three Supers, X-Force, and Martian Manhunter. Aquaman and Tempest hadn't been heard from since Atlantis was attacked.
As for the others, she could only guess where they had gone, or if they were even still alive. So it came to the: The Flash and Green Arrow, who had gone into the thick of the fighting far to the north with the intent of finding the mothership and destroying it for good.
But it had gone so wrong, so fast. Three ships, each bearing those hellish rays armed and ready for use, bore down on the two teammates. Flash had no problem distracting them while she fired bolt after bolt from her crossbow. Two ships had fallen before everything went to hell.
A fourth vessel that had until then gone unnoticed shot its fatal beam within an in of the Flash, close enough that he could feel the air beside him evaporate into nothingness. Before the ship had a chance to recharge he was already racing for it, intent on phasing through the base of the cannon and shorting out the alien machine.
He didn't see the other remaining ship fire until the beam hit him.
For one agonizingly long moment that seemed to her like hours, Flash was simply frozen, suspended mid-air like a jumper in freefall. His emerald eyes met hers for the barest fraction of a second, and in that second he managed to say a million things. Every argument, every fight; all the heartache and tension, and every instant of passion and love flashed through her mind, Then time leapt forward, and before she even had a chance to scream-to shriek her heartbreak and agony to the heavens, or order him to not leave her behind, alone- he was gone.
No…nononono! Oh god, this was all wrong! She shouldn't be here. It was backwards, twisted, that nagging twinge of recognition and déjà vu disappearing just as fast as he had. She should have died first, should have been the first to go.
They were all dead. Her entire family, gone in the wake of a cataclysmic and ruthless attack.
Her parents… Both of her mothers-one by blood, the other by heart- and her father, with his green tunic and flashing smile, eyes still gleaming with the light of his last joke even as he faded into oblivion.
Her brothers… Calm and cool like the ocean, raging and angry, or mischievous and quick-witted.
Her sister… Eternally cheerful, no matter what form she took… Flowing, curled crimson locks just as fiery as her temper… And a wild mane of inky hair, with a wide grin when she told everyone she was on the Leagues side from the very beginning.
And now Him. The Flash, her heart, her other half, her soul mate and perfect match.
Oh god, it just hurt so much!
She choked back a fierce sob as her entire body shook with grief. She was the last hope. She had to take down the mothership, had to destroy it before those damn aliens could get any further; before they reached Star City.
Yes, if she could just do that-make sure that they were safe- then she could leave this world happily, and join her family on the other side.
Mind made up, she stood. She had a purpose now, a single reason for living. He had always said that determination and stubbornness were both her best and worst traits. She would finish this.
And she did too, in the same way her brother had finished it the first time. As the flames burned higher, and the massive explosion she had caused moved towards her, she allowed herself one small, melancholic smile. Because she had done it; they would be safe, and grow up to have the normal lives neither she nor him had ever had.
Just before the flames engulfed her, she caught sight of a massive shape through the hangar door. A shape so familiar, because she had studied it endlessly before attacking.
Oh god, there was another mothership.
Then the inferno was upon her and everything hurt; the world was agony, pure and undiluted, and even as every nerve in her body burned she didn't scream, because she had failed. Oh god she had failed and she deserved to burn. Her skin was blackened to charcoal, her body and mind were slowly crumbling to ash in the inferno but she could still feel every little wave of agony, until she was begging for it to just END-
Artemis was awake in an instant, just barely able to press her fist to her lips in time to stifle a scream. Once her initial panic had faded to slight tremors that shook her petite frame to the bone, she threw the covers off and padded silently out of the room on bare feet. Her Penthouse-bought by Ollie, and given to her after he moved to the Queen family estates- was much bigger than was really necessary. It took her several minutes to reach the hallway she was looking for-the one with a door on each side, and one set in the end of the hall. Padding over to the door on the right and opening it silently, she made her way over to the bed where she stood with her arms crossed, allowing a small, tender smile to settle on her lips.
Twin mops of shaggy chin-length hair could be seen above the Flash patterned blanket, one bright orange like a flame, the other a glossy jet black that had skipped the generation before. Peaceful, slightly tanned and freckled faces could just be seen beneath ragged bangs, and Artemis couldn't help but think that Iris and Jade were never that calm when awake. At three years old, the sisters were compact balls of energy; it didn't help that Iris was already showing signs of super-speed, and that Jade had inherited her namesakes' affinity for all things stealthy.
Normally Jade would be in the room across the hall, happily surrounded by the walls her parents had decorated to look like the Lotus Forest, her grinning Cheshire Cat doll tucked securely under one arm. The black haired girl much preferred her darker-colored room over her twins bright red-and-yellow shrine to the Fastest Man Alive, but they had just received both Alice in Wonderland movies for Christmas yesterday and had all but begged to stay up late to watch both of them. The classic was still playing on Iris's TV set.
Artemis was just about to go over and turn it off when a pair of lithe, strong arms encircled her waist underneath where her own were crossed. She tensed, about to go on the offensive, when she caught the distinctive scent of lightning-charged ozone and cinnamon. Instantly she relaxed, almost seeming to melt into the well-muscled chest behind her. Nothing was said between the two as they stood watching their children sleep; nothing needed to be said.
Wally knew there was only one thing that would bring his wife to their daughters' room this late at night. It was that dream, the twisted memory of the failed exercise from the first year. He himself had had almost the same dream in the beginning, though it had never mutated and haunted him as it did Artemis. At first the dream had been the same as the memory for her; it would end the instant the beam engulfed her in the barren tundra. But after three years of being a team, the mental link had become all but permanent between the six members of Young Justice. Eventually, the others memories of the time twisted with her own. And every time she began to get used to the horror of the memory, it would mutate again, growing even worse as though enhanced by Scarecrows fear toxin.
What killed him was that nothing he said could alleviate and of the terror she felt. The only thing he could do for her was to hold her, silently assuring her with his presence that they were all still alive, that it had been nothing but a horrible nightmare.
It had been seven years since that day, but the pain was still as fresh as the night it happened.
A single silver tear rolled down her tanned cheek and she wiped it away angrily, drawing comfort from the sound of his racing heartbeat behind her, and the sight of her daughters sleeping peacefully.
It was just a dream, after all.
A/N: Was it just me, or was the ending a bit rushed? I wrote it at like, 3 in the morning, and then changed it in between babysitting my nieces and decorating my Christmas tree. Anyway, just to clarify: Artemis is 23, Wally is 22, and the twins, Iris and Jade, are three.
I might actually turn this into a series of drabbles about Future!Wally and Artemis. Let me know what you think, or if you have any ideas about future one-shots.
You see the cookie? You want the cookie? Then review, please! Don't make me give you the puppy-dog eyes.