((Just gonna repeat that I don't pretend to own these characters and that this is definitely not Spitfire, so if you're expecting Spitfire you should probably stop after this chapter or even just stop now that's good too

Also chapter length is going to vary based on what cutoff points I can find, ex. this chapter is short because the next chapter is almost all one long continuous thing and I can't just cut the story wherever I want

This is mostly what affects how long it takes to write these things so sorry it's gonna be a little while))


Artemis entered the kitchen to find Wally sitting at the table, staring tiredly at a half-empty cup of coffee.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked, jolting Wally back to a more conscious state.

"...Just couldn't sleep," the speedster responded after a moment. His eyes shifted back down to the cup as he spoke, and he tried not to let Artemis see his hands shaking as he reached for the handle. She'd just get mad if she knew.

"So, uh, I'm gonna go find a new job," Artemis continued after a brief awkward pause. "I guess you'll probably just be staying here, so if you could unpack some more of the boxes that'd be great." Wally didn't respond and Artemis sighed before procuring some clothes from another box. "I'm going to go take a shower, alright? And then I'll be gone." She left Wally still sitting motionless at the table.

Half an hour later, when Artemis left the house, Wally had finally gotten himself up out of his chair and into the shower. The hot water woke him up a bit, thankfully, enough to possibly get out of the house. It'd be good to look around considering Wally was supposed to be the city's hero now. Some hero he was turning out to be so far, afraid of some stupid nightmares.

On his way out, Wally nearly tripped on something in the doorway. After recovering his balance, he reached down and picked up a small package that had been left in front of their door. It didn't have any label, but as soon as Wally opened it he realized who it was from. A ring with the Flash insignia glinted up at him from the box, though Wally knew that inside the ring was his Flash uniform, stored the same exact way his mentor's had been. Funny how Batman and the League almost seemed intent upon replacing Barry entirely. Wally put the ring on anyways, on the off chance that any trouble showed up.

A few blocks of walking later, Wally had managed to find his way to Central City's downtown area. He was engrossed in making a mental map of the area as he walked, until he almost stepped into oncoming traffic and realized that he should be paying a bit more attention. Now that the speedster glanced around, he noticed how crowded the city was today. It must've been commute hour too, and Wally wondered vaguely if this was the kind of time villains used to get the maximum number of human shields.

His thought was followed almost immediately by a scream from another street over. It was followed by a few more, plus the sounds of crumbling concrete this time, and Wally realized that he had been rooted to the spot where he stood. He jumped into action, scooting into an alleyway and popping the compartment on his ring open. After a few seconds of struggling with the spandex uniform at super speed Wally finally managed to pull it on, then he sped out of the alley and towards the commotion.

The source of all of the screaming, Wally discovered as he got closer, was the destroyed front of one of the taller buildings in the city. The perpetrator seemed to still be in the building, since all of the civilians inside were fleeing out of the now-enlarged entryway, so Wally zipped past them and into the building's lobby. Some of the people escaping the building gasped as he sped past, recognizing his uniform, but there wasn't time to stop for a press conference; someone who could crush the wall of a building was a serious threat, and Wally wasn't familiar enough with the Flash's rogues to guess who it might be.

The speedster skidded to a halt in front of the building's vault. It seemed to be some kind of high-end hotel, judging by the enormous, gilded vault door that had been ripped off its hinges and tossed to the side like a discarded candy wrapper. And, of course, there was the guy who had done it, standing in the doorway of the vault with his back to Wally. All Wally could see was some dark jeans and a hooded sweatshirt covering some broad shoulders, but the guy's hood was up and the shadows in the vault were dark enough that it was impossible to see who it was.

"Hey, you!" Wally called out, for lack of a better witty comment. He needed to work on those. It did the trick, though, as the person standing in front of him turned around slowly. "Yeah, you," Wally continued, gaining a bit of confidence. "Come on, get out of there before I make y-"

A fist slammed into Wally's stomach and he almost doubled over in pain. How on earth had that guy gotten over to him so fast? He was strong enough to make Wally glad he hadn't eaten anything for breakfast, but Wally couldn't think of anyone who was fast too.

Another blow hit him in the back and Wally realized that he needed to start running. Way to be stupid, Wally. Recovering quickly and zipping around in a quick circle, he ran up to the villain and tried to sweep a leg into his shins and knock him over.

The maneuver worked, with Wally's opponent falling backwards to land on his back, but Wally's leg would probably be developing an enormous bruise later. It felt like he was kicking a stone post. There was no way he was going to beat this guy on his first day out. He'd have to draw on some of the stuff he learned back when he was on the team to even get out of this relatively unscathed.

As his opponent pushed himself to his feet, Wally glanced around for something he could use to incapacitate the guy. Unfortunately, the only thing around that might hold down someone with super strength was the vault door, and there was no way Wally would be able to move that massive thing. Instead he refocused on the problem at hand. Sweatshirt villain was on his feet now, and Wally needed to get back in action. He pulled the first move that came to mind, speeding around to the villain's other side again to slam into him from the back. The maneuver would've worked better if Dick had been there to trip the guy at the same time, but it was enough to knock him off balance.

Well, maybe not entirely off balance, as he was still able reach around and grab Wally so he could fling the speedster into a wall.
Wally could feel more bruises forming as he shakily pulled himself out of the remains of the wall. It was like his opponent saw the whole thing coming somehow; Wally thought he had been fast enough to surprise the guy, but maybe he wasn't quite up to speed yet. It had technically been a year since he last fought anyone, hadn't it?

His thoughts were cut short as he realized that the villain was approaching him again. The speedster quickly stumbled to his feet and tried to run past his opponent, but an arm reached out to grab the Wally and the wind was knocked out of him as he ran right into it.

The villain must've been hiding some serious armor underneath that sweatshirt, 'cause Wally had to fall to his knees and gasp for breath after that blow. He knew he had to stand up, because he was utterly defenseless in this position, but before he could make a move something hit his head from behind and he fell forward into the pavement face-first. Stars popped up behind his eyes and he grunted in pain as he was hit again, and then one more blow made everything go dark.

Wally blinked his way back to consciousness, then wished he hadn't as a throbbing pain in the back of his head materialized. Putting a hand to his head and sitting up as far as he could, he discovered that he was laying on his couch. Weird, since he hadn't realized that Artemis had brought the old couch along.

Suddenly Wally remembered what he had been doing before he blacked out, and he swung his legs around to a sitting position. He was supposed to be laying on the floor in a destroyed hotel, not at home with all of his cuts and scrapes patched up. "Artemis?" he called out tentatively, but there was no response. Maybe she left. She'd have to tell him how she even found him when she got back. Wally sure hoped it was Artemis who had brought him home, at least, because if it wasn't her... Wally pushed the thought away and decided to ignore the impossibilities of Artemis saving him.

After a moment Wally managed to stand up and walk into the kitchen to hunt for food. He was going to be pretty sore from that embarrassing beating, but at least he'd survive. Whoever that villain was had a thing coming if he thought that Wally wasn't going to find him again. And next time he was going to-

Wally froze, a shiver of fear running down his spine, as he suddenly noticed the small note that was sitting on the counter. It wasn't Artemis's handwriting, or from anyone else that he might recognize. All it said was, "Sorry."