Dearly Beloved

By,

Aestivate

Rating: K+

Characters: Wally West, Artemis Crock

Summary: After he's done walking the dog one day, Wally thinks he's coming home to an empty house. Or so he believes. Spitfire.

Word Count: 2533

Brucely's barking and whining were exceptionally incessant that morning. It typically wasn't Wally's job to take the dog out in the morning, as he wasn't ever a morning person. Advanced physics only made its mystical revelations known late into the night, and so he often missed out on Brucely's morning walks. Even so, the fat lump was sitting on his back, licking his face persistently.

"Alright already, I'm up," mumbled Wally, nudging the dog aside, dragging his sluggish body from bed. A quick glance at the clock told him he'd been asleep for about three hours, and that it was 6:17 A.M. This was good in the sense that this was more sleep than what he usually got, bad in the sense that it was clearly not enough, and worse in the sense that this was the first couple of hours he'd been able to catch in several days. It wasn't just that he was busy, but lately he'd had trouble staying asleep. Too much pressure will do that to you.

The other side of the bed was cold and empty, meaning Artemis was probably already out. Wally frowned. No wonder why Brucely was so desperate.

Still in a half-asleep daze, Wally found himself wandering into the bathroom. He splashed cold water on his face while Brucely ran circles around him woofing anxiously, tail wagging. "You yelling like that isn't going to let you pee faster," said Wally with a low growl, drying his face on a bathroom towel.

Back in the bedroom, Wally pulled on a pair of Stanford sweats and a Green Arrow T-shirt. Palo Alto never got particularly cold, especially not in early spring, but he knew he'd get an earful from Artemis if he'd gone out merely in his Flash-logo boxer shorts, even just to walk the dog.

Brucely stood at the foot of the staircase while Wally was already halfway down. "You coming, boy?" The dumb dog gave a loud bark, bounded ahead of him and nearly tripped him on the way down. As if to make matters worse, he was running circles around Wally's legs as soon as Wally got the leash on him. "Watch where you're going, boy!" cried Wally, as he almost tripped for the third time after pulling the door open.

His earlier weather prediction had been right; it was a particularly mild day in California. The air tasted slightly sweet and the sun had risen a sliver, bathing the horizon in pink and orange. It was just a normal day. And even if he occasionally got nostalgic for his and Artemis' past life, he didn't ever want to give 'normal' up. He liked being Just Wally West, waking up at some ungodly hour to walk his dog.

Wally took a deep breath through his nose to get fresh air into his exhausted brain and started back towards the house, the relieved pitbull following happily, covered in dew from bounding around in the freshly cut grass.

There was something Wally was forgetting that was nagging at him. Something he had to do... Right, crap. He'd forgotten that he had to TA an extra organic chemistry recitation today because the usual TA had asked for him to cover that section. After freeing the dog from his leash, Wally went into the den to retrieve his lesson plans. When they'd moved to Palo Alto, Artemis insisted that they buy good desktop computers instead of laptops with better specs because she knew that Wally would get distracted by computer games during classes. She turned out to be right, of course; during their first few semesters of Stanford, they were both borderline addicted to Justice League of Legends.

He chuckled to himself, remembering how badly he would get schooled by Artemis, and how on one memorable occasion when they were playing against members of the Team, M'gann had cheated her way to a M'gann-and-Superboy team win via telepathic link. He tried to push the thoughts out of his mind. He didn't really like thinking about the team, because thinking about them made him feel some kind of painful, chest-constricting anxiety.

What was he doing again? Right. Lesson plans. He yawned hugely; he really wanted nothing more to go on upstairs and back to bed, but instead he was sorting through the dusty clutter. He frowned. Usually the den wasn't this messy, and Wally decided he would clean it when he had the time – with the lessons he had to teach and the other various tasks and work set upon him by his upper-level science professors there was really not time for much else. Except, Artemis never liked it when the den was messy and quantum physics was a more worthy adversary than one of her lectures on neatness. There seemed to be a lot of paperwork that needed filling out; he'd get to that later, as well.

Extricating the prized papers at last from underneath a set of outdated graduate-level chemistry books, Wally yawned again, rumpling his hair, and made for the kitchen. He was just about to reach into the fridge and grab a handful of everything when he heard noise coming from upstairs. "Artemis? You there?" he called out cautiously.

Artemis appeared like a shadow in the kitchen moments later, dressed in a sports bra and matching Stanford sweatpants. Even covered with sweat and hair in a messy ponytail, she was still the most beautiful woman Wally had ever seen. He couldn't get enough of her. His expression relaxed and melted into a wide grin. "Morning, Babe. I didn't hear you come in, did you have a good work out?"

"The best," she said with a slight drawl, taking the coffee pot from him and gesturing for him to sit. "You're up early, what gives? Didn't you have to give in your research proposal last night?"

"Brucely here wouldn't let me sleep, said Wally, jabbing a finger towards the dog lounging on the couch. "Plus I completely forgot that I have to TA about carbonyls today." He sighed. "I'd just like to remind you that he's your dog." He ran his fingers through his hair again, in an attempt to smooth it and stared at the lesson plans in front him.

"Our dog," corrected Artemis without bothering to look at him. In front of him she set the remnants of last night's dinner that Wally hadn't gotten the opportunity to enjoy yet: corned beef and hash. Pouring two mugs of coffee, she set one in front of him while settling across the table from him with the other.

Wally blinked hard, hoping that the coffee would at least quench some of the grogginess. "It's not my job to walk him, remember? It's yours. But he was being so annoying and pathetic this morning that I couldn't have the heart to shut him out of the bedroom."

"He just misses you. Watch." She snapped her fingers. "Brucely, come here!" With the gesture, the dog leapt off the couch and padded towards them, going directly for Wally, who gave the dog a reluctant scratch behind the ears. "See?" Artemis laughed; a warm, ringing sound that always managed to turn the corners of Wally's mouth. "You must have walked him all the time while I was away. I bet he just misses your affections."

"It wasn't out of choice, you know," said Wally, voice sounding oddly hard. He didn't look up from petting the dog. "He really doesn't like me that much and you're way better with him than I am. He missed you and cried for you every morning and every night, didn't you, boy?" The dog gave a sad little whine and thumped his tail.

"I'm back, Wally." From the tone of Artemis' voice, she just knew.

"I know. I just..." Wally bit his lip, frowning into his coffee.

"You look beat. Go on up back to bed and I'll wake you when it's time to leave." Artemis' voice sounded slightly detached from her body, as if it wasn't her speaking at all. Wally wanted to kick himself for making her look so concerned.

"Don't worry about it, Babe. I have to remember what I'm teaching, anyway. This stuff is so basic that I don't know how to teach it so that mere mortals can understand it. " He looked up to give her a reassuring smile, but Artemis didn't look convinced. "Now, is there something on your mind? You know you can tell me anything, Babe. Besides, since you've been back it's almost like you've been avoiding me."

"I know I hurt you for leaving," said Artemis, voice very small. "I'm so, so sorry."

"That wasn't your fault, and you know it," said Wally. So they were back to that. There was no avoiding it, it seems. But of all the things he wanted to let her know, she needed to know that. "We – Brucely and I – are just happy you're back."

"Kaldur is dead. My dad is dead. M'gann is... lost. Conner is as angry and brooding as ever. Dick is... Dick. A lot of that is on me, you know."

"It's not your fault," repeated Wally, more insistently. He took a long sip of hi coffee and suddenly had the desire to hurl his mug at the wall. "It was Dick, he used you and he used Kaldur and he used M'gann too. I shouldn't have let you go..." His voice trailed off when he saw Artemis' look of guilt.

"I chose to go. And none of what happened was your fault either. Once Slade wants to kill someone, he'll stop at nothing until it happens..."

"I should have been more insistent. Look, I know you're capable of protecting yourself and all that, but at the very least I should have gone with you," said Wally hoarsely.

"You know you couldn't do that. Your powers are too recognizable. There wouldn't have been any way to hide them and that would have jeopardized cover from the get-go. Besides that, your family is too good. You're too good. Your blood isn't bad like mine," said Artemis with a shake of the head.

"If I could go back I would fight all those jerks with my bare hands." He clenched his fists and stared into them. Why didn't he go after her, anyway?

"Wally," whispered Artemis soothingly. "I'm glad you didn't go after me." Her mind-reading ability was annoyingly accurate.

"Why?! You saw all of those awful things and had to endure all of it on your own while I stayed here and played house with Brucely."

Her voice was barely more audible than a whisper. "In some sick way, I liked being back in the action. I missed it, you know, even if I preferred life here. And I know you did too, at least sometimes, even though it's not the place for you anymore. I don't regret my choice, Wally. And you shouldn't either. Besides... Someone had to say goodbye to Kaldur."

"I guess so," replied Wally, unable to hide the fact that he was still unconvinced.

"Not being there for me isn't what bothers you the most," said Artemis quietly.

Artemis was really amazing, the way she could just tell how he was feeling at any given moment. "No, it isn't," replied Wally truthfully. He met her stare and looked into her dark grey eyes. How many nights he'd spent gazing into those grey eyes, into the soul of the person he'd given himself to entirely. The person that had him; the person that he thought he had as well.

Artemis rose from her chair and came up behind him, wrapping her tanned arms around his neck. He shut his weary eyes at her touch. Her lips were inches from his ear. "So what is?"

He sighed. He didn't want to say it, but he really needed to tell her, he really needed her to know. "I ran away. From it, from Dick, from Kaldur, from you."

"What makes you say that? Didn't we already agree that no one blames you?" Artemis was about to pull away and Wally crossed his arms, wrapping his around hers. He exhaled the breath he'd been holding.

"I blame myself," said Wally softly. "I was too mad at you for leaving... and I guess a part of me wanted to spite Dick for making you fight that I couldn't bring myself to join the fray. I sidelined myself on purpose. I'll never make you do that alone again."

How could he not blame himself? The one he loved the most had gone on to fight for the good of mankind and he couldn't even bring himself to get out of bed most days, maddened with worry. He was so damn hurt at her choosing the mission over him that he couldn't bring himself to choose it as well, even to chase her. Even though he could have done it simply to protect her. Even though he could have done it simply to be nearer to her. Even though he could have done it simply just for her, in all of its entirety and finality. But he hadn't. He didn't, and it wasn't just because he thought he wasn't strong enough.

"I just wanted to be enough for you." He hated himself for admitting it. "Forgive me."

"You are enough for me. You're the only one for me, and you know that. But you know that it's not always just about you and me."

"I know." He gripped her hand tightly.

"I can choose this and everything else, you know," she said. "And of course I forgive you, if you'll forgive me."

Of course he did. There was no greater relief than to know that she didn't blame him. There was still something else, though. Something that would prevent them from ever making the same mistakes twice.

Wally said, "Stay with me." He really wanted her to agree, but also to realize the unspoken promise in that he'd always stay with her in return as well. Always. He promised.

Artemis stayed silent for a long moment. There was still a sort of quietness in the next words she spoke. "I'll stay with you," breathed Artemis, her breath ghosting over the side of his cheek. He felt a chill run down his spine.

He always knew that this was what he wanted. He just never realized he wanted it so badly, until it had been brutally taken from him.

"You mean it?! Till death do us part and everything?" said Wally with a slight yelp and unabashed joy, swinging his head around to meet her lips. She tasted like sweet salvation, and in addition to that, a curious, growing sensation of disquiet.

"Of course, Kid Dork," said Artemis after a moment, with a sort of dwindling laugh. "Now go to back to bed, or else you're going to start seeing things from lack of sleep. Three hours in three days is definitely pushing it."

"Yeah, whatever. Babe, my first class is at 9:30," said Wally to the empty apartment.

He rose from the kitchen table, pushing aside the only mug on the table, leaving the death certificates to sign later.

Fin.