WOW. I just posted this... what... a couple nights ago? And I already have this out. I don't think I've ever turned out a story this fast. Of course a quarter of it was already written and another quarter was quotes from the show...

So this is the story from Wally's point of view. Hope you like it.

(5/2/2014) I fixed the set up of Wally's thoughts, because the site won't let you do double line breaks...

I don't own Young Justice.


Wally's heart pounded. His body stung from the energy he was being assaulted with. He watched Flash's hand go through him. "It's no good Barry." His mind turned to Artemis. "Oh man! Artemis is so going to kill me for this…And don't even get me started on Mom and Dad."

"Kid!" Barry protested.

"Just tell them. Okay?" Another jolt of energy hit him and the world faded to black.


He didn't know where he was going.

He didn't know where he'd been.

He didn't know how long he'd been running.

He didn't know when it would end.

.

He did know that he's fallen more times that anyone could count.

He knows that his lungs burn and chest aches.

His fingers are painfully numb.

He broke his ankle the last time he fell – or maybe the time before that.

.

He wasn't sure where the blood was coming from.

.

His peripheral vision was shot.

White spots were invading the rest of it.

.

His nose started bleeding awhile back.

But he couldn't remember if it was before or after his arm was ripped from its socket.

.

Why was he running again?

.

Oh yeah. Because he couldn't stop.

.

Gnawing hunger ate at his stomach.

He couldn't remember what it felt like to NOT be starving.

His mouth felt stuffed with cotton.

.

He thought he heard something crack.

.

His running form was off.

It was costing him energy at this speed.

.

However fast he was going.

His internal speedometer had long since broken.

.

The ground dropped out from under him.

It didn't look like Star Wars Hyperspace anymore.

.

y…?

He wasn't alone anymore.

ear…me…?

.

Something was touching him.

A blond girl with grey eyes.

Familiar.

Who was she?

.

Green mask.

The point of an arrow.

Spitfire.

Scooping her into his arms.

Kissing her.

Over and over.

Fighting back to back.

Tiger mask.

.

"Artemis?"

His voice didn't want to work.

I…ere…me…

.

He had something to tell her.

Just tell them. Okay?

"I love you… you know that, right?"

you…too…

.

Pressure on his lips.

She was kissing him.

.

The ground dropped out from under him.

Hyperspace was back.

.

Spitfire.

.

Time didn't exist.

His head pounded.

His wrist was twisted the wrong way.

.

Pain lanced up his back.

His oxygen intake dropped.

.

Artemis.

Spitfire.

Something to focus on instead of this endless sprint.

.

He blinked blood from his eyes.

His head spiked in pain.

He gave up on seeing.

.

The ground dropped out from under him.

.

Something soft wiped blood from his eyes.

A dark haired boy with sunglasses.

Who?

.

Red suit.

Domino mask.

Chalant.

A knowing smirk.

Blue and black suit.

Eerie laughter.

High five.

.

"Dick?"

man…

.

The world spun.

.

you…out…little…ln'gr…ear..ee? ...jus…ld…on!

Insistent voice.

A promise.

"See you soon."

.

Why did he say that?

.

The ground dropped out from under him.

.

Breathing was wet.

He tasted blood.

He couldn't feel his hand.

.

Or his arm.

.

Artemis.

Dick.

Spitfire.

Chalant.

.

His heart pounded in his ears.

Was it supposed to be that fast?

.

Or that irregular?

.

Artemis.

Spitfire.

Dick.

Chalant.

.

Artemis.

Chalant.

Dick.

Spitfire.

.

lly!

Someone was there with him.

Matching him step for step.

.

Curly brown hair.

Red and yellow suit.

Tinted goggles.

Worried blue eyes.

.

Funnel cake.

Crash.

Irrepressible energy.

Impulse.

Bart.

.

Come on man. It's time to go home.

.

Home?

.

A hand wraps around his arm.

Just a little faster, Wally.

.

Faster?

He didn't even know how fast he was going.

.

Artemis is waiting for you.

.

Artemis.

.

An arm goes around his waist.

.

You can stop running now.

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His eyes close.

He nods.

.

The ground drops out from under him.

.

PAIN.

.

He was being torn in half.

.

nna…!

.

Then it stopped.

Blackness.

He could rest.


Everything hurt. That was the first thing he was aware of. The second was a soft beeping sound. He forced his eyes open and scanned the soft white room. Where the heck was he? Then his eyes fell on the blond sleeping with her head on the bed. He closed his eyes against the flood of memories.

Just tell them. Okay?

Kid!

.

He's double crossing them, how do we know he's not double crossing us?

.

What kind of jerk would I be if I forgot Valentine's Day? For the fifth year in a row.

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I should have done this a long time ago.

.

It's because they're being controlled; they're only as good as the one who's pulling their strings. The very thing that's putting us in danger is the only thing giving us a chance.

.

I'm pretty sure I never use the word "peachy" but, yeah.

.

Hey Rob. Memory loss?

Six months! Let's hog-tie these creeps and compare notes.

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Find your own Spitfire. Someone who won't let you get away with nothin'.

.

Totally doable! You know, if we had more time.

.

Dude this is so cool!

.

Is it wrong that I think I look hot?

.

Souvenir!

.

We don't have TIME for this!

.

Today's the day.

Wally opened his eyes again and squeezed Artemis' hand; her grey eyes met his and filled with tears. "You're awake!"

He looked around him again and swallowed. Why was his mouth so dry? "Where…?" Ouch.

"The Medical Bay at the Watchtower." Why the Tower? Why wasn't he at the Cave? Oh, yeah. Kaldur blew up Mount. Justice. "Do you know who I am?"

Had he woken up before and not recognized her? He nodded. "Ar-Artemis." Of course he knew his Spitfire. But, OW, it sounded like he had been gargling glass.

Her face lit up and she nodded. "M'gann and J'onn said you might be confused for a while…" Oh. That was why she had asked. She took a cup from the bedside table. "Here, you sound awful." So she agreed.

Wally took a cautious sip. Man that tasted good! Then studied her face for a moment, noticing something. "You're older."

Artemis set aside the cup, biting her lip. "You were gone for a year." Wally felt his eyes widen. A YEAR! Where had he been for a year?! "Do you remember any of it?" He shook his head. A year. "What's the last thing you remember?"

The last thing he remembered…."Running… chrysalis something… and then nothing but running…"

"The Reach's magnetic-field disrupter had gone Chrysalis – was going into its final stage – and Bart and Barry were trying to divert the energy. You went to help –"

"But I'm slower than them." His eyes widened as the memories started coming back and he suddenly understood what had happened. But not how it made him miss an entire year.

"Right. And all the energy run off was attracted to you because of it. They stopped the disrupter, but you were gone. Barry said you had faded and then sorta… evaporated." Tears were sliding down her cheeks now and Wally tried to move his right hand to brush them away only to wince in pain and look down to realize that his arm was splinted from elbow to fingertips.

"How'd you find me?" he finally asked, giving up on trying to move, and turning to his questions.

"New Years. You appeared in our apartment for a few minutes." New Years. That day had always been special to them; he still remembered the feeling of kissing her for the first time. "Bart gave us some information and we set up a plan to get you back. We hated to wait another six months, but the day we lost you was the one day we'd have the best chance of getting you back."

Wally squeezed her hand – since it and his head seemed to be the only thing he could actually move. "You got me back and that's what matters." Artemis nodded and wiped her eyes. "So what's the damage report? What all am I laid up with?" that was something he had been wondering since he woke up.

Pain flashed in her eyes and he nearly backpedaled. "Are you sure you want to know?" He nodded, he needed to know. She took a fortifying breath. "First of all, your body was barely able to hold itself together anymore – Zatanna put you in suspended animation so we could get you to the Tower; your left arm was dislocated while your right wrist, left ankle, and right leg were broken; you had roadrash everywhere; a gash in your abdomen and in your hair plus a concussion; three broken ribs and a collapsed lung; you were dehydrated, starving, and had lost nearly half the blood in your body."

Wally's head spun. How was he even alive? Artemis stumbled over her next words. "And then you flatlined – and I swear my heart stopped with yours." Oh man, he had DIED. "They've kept you sedated for about two weeks and have been running IVs nonstop. But you're through the worst of it now and everything is going to be okay." She was telling that last part to herself as much as she was to him.

He was hit by a surge of guilt for putting her through that. "Come here…" she moved closer. "I'm sorry." Wally kissed her and reveled at the feeling, he had missed this. "For all the pain…" he kissed her again. "…and heartache I put you through."

"It better not have been payback from when I went undercover with Kaldur."

The speedster laughed then winced at the pain it caused. "No way." Perish the thought of doing anything to purposely hurt his Spitfire like this.

"Wally!" Dick entered the room and Artemis pulled back. "Artemis, why didn't you tell us he was awake?"

"He's only been awake for a couple of minutes and I was distracted by the fact that he was awake." He'd been awake for longer than that… but who was counting?

Dick laughed at the archer's scowl. "I'm teasing." He then turned to the speedster. "I'm just turbed you're awake, man." Dick spent the next few minutes talking with Artemis and Wally, then stood up. "I'll tell the others you're awake." Wally leaned sighed, preparing himself for the new visitors. Moments later, M'gann and Connor appeared in the doorway.

Wally talked with the Originals for nearly half an hour before Black Canary came in. "Glad to see you awake, Wally. I'm just here to give you another round of pain meds." She injected something into his IV. "You're burning through them faster now that you're beginning to heal."

Shortly after Canary left, Wally felt his eyes drifting shut and vaguely heard Artemis shooing the others out of the room. "I'll be right here when you wake up." Her whisper was the last thing he heard before he succumbed to sleep.


Wally stared out at the Bialian desert, rubbing his wrist. It was New Years Eve and he was still mad at Nightwing. Dick knew what today was and he still sent them on a mission; not that he regretted his decision to re-join the Team after he had recovered. He had forgotten how much fun it was to kick badguy butt with Artemis – not that his Spitfire fought under that alias anymore – and he had become really good friends with Bart.

Everyone had gotten a kick out of the fact that Wally had turned down the Kid Flash uniform when Bart had offered it to him and instead chose to revive Impulse. He heard Artemis talking to Nightwing and sped over to her. "Hey, Babe." He felt her smile under his lips and heard Dick laughing through her comm. "It's almost midnight…"

"I know… she whispered softly, leaning into him slightly as she shut off her comm. "So what do you want to do?"

Wally considered for a moment and then smiled. "I was thinking a night out in Paris…" he whispered into her ear as he wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"Sounds good…" Artemis leaned against Wally's warmth. "As long as I get to spend it with you."

Wally chuckled. "Just like every year." He still didn't remember most of his year in the Speedforce but Artemis, Dick, and Bart told him about their experiences to help fill in the blanks.

"Shut up and kiss me."

That was all he wanted to do. "With pleasure." He scooped her up into his arms faster than you could blink and pressed his lips to hers. He never wanted to let her go – not after a year of being separated from her and then another month of waiting until his arms healed enough to do more than hold her hand.

Suddenly aware of the fact that they were still kissing Wally pulled back, breathing heavily. He grinned at her and mentally reached for his core, drawing out the energy that was becoming increasingly familiar. White-blue light reflected off Artemis' Tiger mask and hair as the energy coursed through his body.

Holding his Spitfire closer, he took off for Paris – laughing slightly as he thought on the fact that he was once the slowest of the three speedsters, and now he was the fastest.


I hope I had gotten my idea across in the first chapter without flat out telling you that Tigress was Artemis and Impulse was Wally. But now you know for sure that it was them.

And another image I had was that Wally's time in the Speedforce changed him; he is now faster than Flash, and he can call on the energy that got him in and out of the Speedforce for extra power... or speed... technically he could probably keep himself from dying for long periods of time. He's still the same Wall-man we know and love, but with more tricks up his sleeves.

As before: Read and Review!

++ ImagineShine