Heartbeat

by ~lolmak

None of the Characters are owned by me but are owned by the DC universe

"I'll make a deal with you"

"Punching Bag…. Use me"

"Beating you with my fists speedster"

"Enjoying it?"

LAUGHING

"CLANG"

WHACK

"CLANG"

WHACK

"CLANG…"

"STOPPP!" Wally bolted upright but immediately fell back to the cold hard floor.
"Where…. Am I?" he whispered in a low tone. To answer him, Silence. Wally tried to move but pain shot up every part of his body. "Well there goes that idea" his subconscious told him. Wally tried to shuffle slightly in order to be able to look around and take in his surroundings. This proved very hard for him for it seemed he didn't have an uninjured portion of his body left. But the craziest part was he couldn't remember all the details.

Wall-man, you really messed it up this time…. Didn't you? Wally didn't know why, but he felt compelled to answer himself. "Well I…." He stopped. His voice sounded like someone rubbed it down with sandpaper and to top it off it hurt to speak. His voice felt raw as if he'd been screaming all day.

Wait…. Have I? Everything felt so damn blurry. Wait, First things first… Where am I? He tried thinking back, back to the mountain, where Batman was…. "Wait… was that today?" Wally's subconscious asked him "Yes. Wait no. maybe? Argh!"

Wally lay there for a few minutes till everything came flooding back to him. Even though he was in pain he stumbled to his feet "Artemis!" Wally looked around and leaned against the table that was used by the sportsmaster. The sportsmaster, her father "Her…. SHE WAS THE SPY!" Wally yelled though is hurt his chest. Hell it hurt everywhere, but he was too angry to notice. "SHE WAS IT, She was the spy…." Wally stopped. It was really starting to hurt everywhere…. Inside and out. "Did I mean what I said to her?" His mind went back to what happened.

"Why? If you already know she's the traitor." The sportsmaster jeered at him. Wally looked at Artemis; he remembered every fight that they had, every time his words made hurt and indignation flash over her face. Of course these moments wouldn't last very long before they would be at each other's throats again. He had tried to convince himself that he cared nothing for her, but seeing her lying there unconscious because of his stupidity, his mistake, his fault, made him think of the times that weren't so bad.

Artemis…. The selfish Artemis His mind shot back, The Artemis that believes that you are a dumb piece of trash. The Artemis that could be beautiful, funny, sweet and commanding…. "Argh!"

He tried to deny it even to himself but it wasn't working. "She's my friend." He stated to the sportsmaster. There was no doubt left in Wally`s mind. She is my friend, this is my fault and I will make this right no matter what it takes.

So here he was, locked in a room that he didn't have the strength to escape. He could never bust out with his body in this condition. Wally looked around him and noticed a huge pool of blood on the floor and was pretty sure he knew where it came from. The room started to spin around him; he reached to grab something, anything to steady himself…. But everything was too far away. Wally didn't have the strength to stay upright, and
collapsed to the cement floor.

The team had arrived at the warehouse 5 minutes after they found Artemis screaming and crying hysterically. There was a TV nearby that lay in shreds, but Artemis was still bond to a chair that was bolted to the floor. Superboy ripped through the chains that bound her to the seat.

"Where is he Artemis?" Kaldur asked tentatively. She opened her mouth to answer but the pain was still inside her, raw and tearing. The horror and the shock still fresh on her mind. Another sob burst out of her throat.

"Megan," Kaldur said slowly, "Find out what is needed." Megan stood there unmoving "But you said…" "I said do it Megan!" with more force than he intended. When he saw the hurt flash on her face, Kaldur softened his tone. "There is something important we must know and Artemis is in no condition to answer our questions." Something had gone terribly wrong, that he knew. But what exactly happened, he was fearful to find out.

Megan nodded and closed her eyes and reached her thoughts towards Artemis's mind.
"Megan, what happened?" Kaldur asked watching intently. A single tear rolled down Megan's cheek… A few moments later she withdrew.

"Megan we have to know what…" Megan snapped into reality "Bio-ship, fast!" The ship shimmered out of its camouflage mode and landed. "Get Artemis in the ship!" Megan told Superboy, and gestured for everyone to get on. Megan started programming their course.

Kaldur grabbed her hand. "Megan, what did you see?" The Martian paused for a moment and bowed her head "Pain" she said, "Terrible pain."

Crash!

The team blasted through the front entrance of the warehouse. Without missing a beat Robin fired two flares into the air illuminating the dark interior. The team still hadn't learned the exact details of what happened, but judging by the expressions on Kaldur's face after he learned what had transpired, chances were that it was nothing good. Superboy was carrying Artemis who had insisted that she come. She wouldn't give up on the idea no matter how Kaldur tried to reason with her.

"There" Megan pointed to a locked room in the far end of the building. The advantage of going through memories was that you knew all the possible details, not ones poorly described by people. Judging by Artemis's memories… it was the place.

They all ran to the far end of the warehouse and stopped outside the door. "Megan, do you sense him?" Kaldur asked. "Megan closed her eyes and scanned the room, "he's there but…" Superboy wasted no time. He ripped the metal door off its hinges and flung it to the side.
Robin stepped into the dark room and heard a slight splash, as if he had stepped into a puddle. Silently, with his arms trembling he struck another flare. The room had a wooden table that contain an open toolbox. Beside it lay a crowbar and on the ground beside it lay a wrench. Both the tools were covered in blood. Then he saw Wally.

Wally's normally yellow costume was stained an orange colour and then Robin saw what he had stepped into, a pool of blood. Megan started to weep immediately and Artemis stood there in shock. Wasting no time Robin bent down and started checking his vital signs, something, anything that would signify that he was alive.

But nothing

Kaldur stood there with disbelief on his features when Robin stood up. "Nothing… no heartbeat, no pulse… nothing."

Robin usually was the contained one, the one that would calm down the team when they lost it. "I don't know what to do…. I have no idea. I HAVE NO IDEA!" Robin kicked the table with the tool chest breaking it in half, spilling the tools everywhere. "When I get my hands on the bastard that did this!"

Kaldur looked at Robin destroying whatever things were in the room that were in reach. "ROBIN ENOUGH!" he shouted with as much force as he could muster. Kaldur glanced at the team who all bore similar expressions to Robin's. "There is one thing I must try to do that could save him."

Kaldur knelt beside the still body. His eel tattoos started to glow a bright blue, and electricity crackled at his fingers. When he couldn't absorb any more, he thrust his hands onto Wally's chest. The body just gave a slight twitch but otherwise lay still. Again and again Kaldur tried to start Wally's heart but the results were the same. Kaldur was finally stopped by Superboy who pulled him off the body. "Couldn't save him." He murmured. He paused when Megan put a hand on his shoulder.

They sat there for a time and then Kaldur reached into his vest and pulled out a golden medallion imprinted with the Atlantian coat of arms. He laid it on the chest of Wally and whispered the verse "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. "The team could tell that the medal meant a lot to him. But to all of them Wally mattered more.

Artemis stepped forward and dropped to her knees. She had long since exhausted her tears, but her grief was still ever present. "You shouldn't have done that" she whispered. "That was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

Kent Nelson stood there with a smile on his face. "You see? And to think you doubted the fact that you were made out for each other." Wally looked on sadly, they were standing right beside his body and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't touch Artemis, or get her to hear him. "Well I guess I'll be going on to meet Inza… I'll say hi though." The look on the youth's face looked heartbroken.

Kent Nelson looked at him and grinned. "Not yet you're not."
Wally turned around his face shining "You mean…?" "Yup" Kent Nelson cupped his hand to the ear and said, "I think I hear your heart beat."