Heh, so 20 minutes till midnight, just finished this fix, hope you like it! I thought about making another one that was lighter, and more adolescent arguing but secretly really caring about each other, but then this happened. Yup. Hopefully I post tomorrows earlier than I did this! Enjoy!
Back again
*beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep*
The steady beat of the heart monitor goes as the red headed speedster regained consciousness.
The team is gathered outside, waiting for their fallen comrade to awake. A particular blonde haired archer stands away from the group. She's not trying to be unsocial, she just needs to be alone at the moment.
The images of the pervious hours flash through her mind. One moment they were arguing about his eating habits, the next he was on the ground. Count Vertigo had amplified his hypnosis and aimed it at her, before she or anyone else knew what had happened, Wally jumped in front of her. Absorbing the attack. The hypnosis was so strong, that he was knocked out, and he fell over the side of the building they were perched on. Luckily M'gann was close enough to use her telekinesis, floating him to the ground. While the fall wasn't fatal, the damage to his brain waves were severe. They couldn't be sure if he was going to be alright. Wally had been unconscious in the med bay for about 9 hours now. His heart rate was steady, and he was slowly waking up. No one was allowed in to see him to prevent his senses from overloading, according to Black Canary.
Artemis couldn't help but think back to their disagreement that took place the day before. Wally wanted to retire. He and Artemis just got accepted into Standford. That paired with the increasingly dangerous mission-they were coming home with more and more injuries, and they were getting less and less minor- made him want to leave it all behind. Artemis disagreed completely. She thought that the world needed protecting, even if it means some extra late nights, and some more cuts and bruises. But now, with Wally so close to death, Artemis wondered if giving up the job, was worth it. A normal life. With Wally. Normal. She pondered these thoughts as Black Canary told them that it was safe to go in, and he was finally waking up. The six young heroes waited for Artemis to go in first, and gave them some privacy.
"Hey." He mumbled weakly from the infirmary cot.
Tears opposed the archers will, and won. She couldn't even say anything. Salty tears streamed down her dirt caked face. The only thing she could do was glare at her idiot boyfriend.
"Hey, hey, stop it. I'm right here. I'm alright." He tried comforting her. Though still weak, he reached up and caressed her face. Wiping away the tears.
The blonde shook her head furiously, and buried it into his neck, crying into his uniform.
They sat there for a few minutes. Her sobbing into his stealth gear, him trying to calm her down.
When she was finally calm enough to process a few words, she was mad. "HOW DARE YOU ALMOST DIE LIKE THAT! YOU IDIOT! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?" This continued for a few minutes, in which the red head smirked at her being well-a spitfire.
When she finally calmed down, she sat in the set next to him, holding his hand to make sure he was really there.
"Wally?"
"Yeah babe?"
"Let's retire."
He paused for a moment, "Okay."
That's how the team found them the next morning. Holding hands, and fast asleep.
*beep beep beep beep*
The slow and unsure beat of the monitor goes off. A man with red hair and green eyes, and freckles almost hidden by the light, sits by a woman. She has black hair and charcoal eyes to anyone else. But he sees her with blonde hair, her eyes are closed, but he knows what lies beneath. She's still dressed in her orange and black suit. He thinks it looks so unnatural on her. A pale yellow pendant is tied around her neck. He wishes he could rip it off. To throw it to the ground and crush it beneath his feet. But he's too afraid he'll break her.
She lies on the cot like a china doll. Delicate like porcelain, excluding the red gash across abdomen.
His mind was too hazy to remember the exact details, but something along the lines of revealing her a traitor to the shadows, not being able to get to her fast enough. Pushing her out of the way, but not fast enough, she's still hit. Blood pooled around her waist as he rushed her to the bioship. M'gann didn't ask any questions, and took off immediately. The ride was agonizingly long. By the time they got to Zeta tubes and up to Watchtower, she'd lost so much blood. They got her to the med bay and the older justice leaguers took over. Two hours later, Nightwing had debriefed the entire league and young justice. No doubt he was in big trouble.
Wally was let into the room once she had stabilized. That was 7 hours ago. Members of the league stopped by to bring him coffee and food. He could barely down it.
It was all his fault. He couldn't get there fast enough, he should've kept her from going back to the life.
Slowly, Artemis wakes.
"Hey babe." She says weaky.
"Hey." Wally looks ashamed, and doesn't meet her eyes.
"Soo," She tries to break the silence, "here we are-back again." She smirks, her boyfriends expression doesn't change.
"Artemis- Don't joke about this." He says firmly. Still not meeting her eyes.
"I'm not joking Wally, I just-" He cuts her off by cupping her face and kissing her, careful not to jar her wounds. It's not in fury, it's not even in passion, or just to shut her up, he just needs to make sure she's there. That she's real.
To them it feels like hours pass, when it's really been minutes, when they come up for air Wally has a sad smile on his face, and Artemis' is flushed.
"…Please don't do this again." Wally presses his face into her hair.
"What? Get hurt? Go undercover? Wally, that's-" he cuts her off.
"No, I don't want you to go back." Unnoticed by her, his eyes are red and his vision is blurry.
"Go back where Wally? What are you-"
"Don't go back to the life Artemis. Please." He begs her. Slowly and carefully, he reaches into his jacket pocket. His fingers rest on a small velvet covered box. He smiles, his face still in her hair.
"Wally, I told you, this was a one time thing. Without me it never would have worked, Kaldur-" He grabs the box with deft hands, removes himself from her, and gets down on one knee(Yesyes, he knows it's cliché but somethings reality just needs some playbook fairytale). He pops open the lid and looks up at his astonished girlfriend.
"Don't lie Artemis. I know you want to go back, and I know there's nothing I can do to stop you. So I'm asking you to become a permanent part of mine-my life-ours." He says it quickly, but with certainty, confidence.
Artemis can see it now. His eyes are red from holding back worried tears, his hair is messier that usual, he looks at her with so much hope-almost desperate to keep her from going back to the league. She sees something else too. His eyes show her how her life could be. She could have it all. The perfect loving husband, straight out of college with a degree in English and Vietnamese Lit., beautiful duplex in Palo Alto, (maybe even kids). A fairytale life. Like Cinderella, she could have the happy ending.
She'd spent so much of her childhood wanting to be like Alice, whisked off into another land, far far away from home. She never needed a guide or companion. Now she wasn't so sure. Maybe she's just Snow White. Waiting for her handsome prince to come and save her from the Evil Queen. She looked back into his eyes. She saw the same glint in them as she did 5 years ago on her first day on the job. She knew what her answer was.
"Yes."
The red head's face broke into a grin, so big and bright you could mistake it for the sun. He slipped the gold band with intricate diamonds set in engravings onto her finger. He let out a sigh of relief, and laid down next to her. They held hands and talked-a bit unusual for two twenty year olds who were almost killed, then got engaged, but they did it none the less. Hours passed, and the sun came over the Earth that you could see from the med bay windows.
The couple fell asleep in each others arms, holding hands like they did 2 years ago.
That's how the team and the league found them the next day, fast asleep, a ring on their fingers.