Title: Home Sweet Home
Prompt/Theme: You claim by night, I claim by day
Characters/Pairing: Artemis Crock, Wally West, Spitfire
A/N: Post-season, also, not quite what I was aiming for. I'm slowly getting back into the writing groove, so maybe after a while I can make another stab at this
Summary: This isn't their—her—apartment anymore.
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This isn't their—her—apartment anymore. Artemis steps in hesitantly, the light from the hallway spilling after her.
She shouldn't be here. She doesn't need another step to know that. Even with the lights off, she can picture everything perfectly and this is the one place she can't be.
She still has to. Flicking on the switch, she blinks in the sudden brightness. Already she can see the signs of his restlessness the past few weeks, the pizza boxes stacked on one side, the movies and games piled on the table. His hoodie is draped on the couch and she reaches out to pick it up.
Artemis stops just before contact. No, this is not what she's here for. Instinctively, she knows if she cries now, she won't be able to come back.
Turning, she passes the kitchen, the stains that mark the walls and counters from meals gone wrong. Wally and his pancakes on Sunday mornings, a cheerful whistle ringing through the halls as he picked a new recipe to try for dinner. Her military grade cooking and the soft frown he gave after.
This isn't what she's here for either, and she moves on. Their bedroom is just down the hall, and her hand freezes at the knob.
Maybe she should have asked Zee to come along. Artemis breathes in, holding the air in for as long as she can.
Just last week he was breathing this air too. Just last week he was walking through it, his strong cologne filling up every nook and cranny. The smell is already gone by now, but maybe one of those particles that touched him is still here. Wafting into her.
And maybe not. She releases the air.
"Come on, you're almost there. Just a little further."
Even at a mutter, her voice sounds too loud in her ears and she pushes upon the door. His clothes lie on the floor, waiting to be washed, and she turns away quickly from the bed. From the dent in the wall, badly patched and painted over. From the dresser and her lipstick and the small notes that start with Babe and end with Love.
She heads to her side table and opens the drawer. Pulling out a carefully wrapped box, she cradles it for a second. They spent all day hunting down a gift for Liam. It took them another day to agree on one.
Beneath the gift, there's another note in the drawer, another Beautiful and Love and Miss you.
"I miss you too." Her voice doesn't quite make it, breaking after the first word.
She's halfway across the city before she can remember how to breathe.