Thank you to everyone that reviewed/favorited/followed. Your support means a lot. As a recap, Wally has been sent back in time to the day Artemis first joins the team. Let's see how that goes.
Second Chances
Wally didn't know how to feel as he got up from the floor. I mean, what is the proper way to act when the girl you saw in her coffin dead was standing in front of you alive and breathing.
"A-Artemis?" Wally breathed out. His heart was pounding very fast. His knees were getting weak, palms were sweaty. Artemis was here. She was in front of him alive with color to her skin. Not pale and dead. He just wanted to run up to her and give her a hug.
A really, really long one.
He noticed that her eyes narrowed at him as everyone else looked at each other. That's when he realized, at this moment they didn't know each other just yet. She had just joined the team. He was mad when he found out she was taking Speedy's spot and that he embarrassed him in the first place. They had a bad first impression of each other, but their mission in Bialya proved that they would have gotten along much quicker if today's meeting didn't go bad. What if he was able to change that?
"Excuse me?" She asked as she placed both hands on her waist.
"Uh…you're beautiful, like a goddess. Uh, the first name I could think of was Artemis." Wally quickly said, trying to save himself from that little mistake.
He didn't know what he was supposed to do. Hell, he didn't even know why he was sent back in time! Wally was a man of science, not magic or religion. However, he was somehow able to go back to the time when he and Artemis first met. Was this a sign that it wasn't her time to go yet and he was given the chance to make sure it didn't happen again?
"Uh-huh…" Artemis said in a tone that showed she didn't really buy his reasoning. "That's funny because my name is Artemis, your new teammate."
Snickering from Robin could be heard as Wally glared at his best friend. He wondered if he could confide in the boy wonder about his situation later.
"Kid Flash…" He said slowly. He was going to say he already knew who she was, but everyone would look at him weirdly. Today was supposedly the first time they met.
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"I'm Artemis, your new teammate."
"Kid Flash, never heard of you."
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"…Guessing from your attire, you're somehow connected to Green Arrow?!" He played off. He couldn't help but mentally give himself a pat on the back.
Green arrow took a few steps forward as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Uh, she's my new protégé." He answered. The sound of the zeta-tube working caused everyone to look back.
"What happened to your old one?" Wally asked. He knew if he didn't act surprise, people were going to be suspicious. He wasn't there during the briefing.
Recognize: Speedy-B06
"Well for starters, he doesn't go by Speedy anymore. Call me Red Arrow." Roy said as he got closer to the circle.
"Roy!?" Oliver said as he slid his hand off Artemis' shoulder before walking up to the boy. "You look-"
"Replaceable." Roy cut him off.
"It's not like that." Oliver explained. "You told me you were going solo."
"So why waste time finding a sub? Can she even use that bow?"
Wally watched as Artemis walked up and glared at the older boy. "Yes, she can."
"Who is she anyways?" Roy glared back.
"She's my niece."
"I'm his niece." The green duo said.
"Another niece?!" Robin commented.
"But she is not your replacement." Kaldur added stepping towards the red archer. "We always wanted you on the team and we have no quota on archers."
"And if we did, you'd know who we'd picked." Wally couldn't help but say to his close friend.
Artemis scoffed as she walked up to him. "Whatever Baywatch, I'm here to stay."
"But you left us…" Wally murmured.
"Huh?" Artemis said.
"Nothing." Wally let out an awkward laugh. He knew Robin would be coming to talk to him about his behavior later.
"Well you came to us for a reason…" Kaldur said as Roy nodded and explained the situation he was in. Wally had tuned them out as he kept staring at Artemis. He was given another chance to make things right. He was going to make sure it happened.
Happy Harbour
August 8 21:53 EDT
'This is weird!' Artemis said through the mental link as she was getting used to hearing M'gann in her head.
'And distracting!' Dr. Roquette added as she began to complain about hearing teenagers in her head. Wally kept looking at Artemis as he took a bite of his beef jerky. Robin couldn't help but notice.
Getting a bit bored, Artemis got up.
"Where are you going?" Wally called out.
"I'm going to help Miss Martian and Superboy patrol the parameter." She answered. 'It's getting boring here.'
"Good idea." Kaldur nodded as Wally also got up.
'Dude, you keep looking at Artemis. You like her or something?' Robin teased.
'What?!' Wally tried to fight the blush that was coming. 'No! She replaced Red Arrow!'
'And it was her arrow that saved your butt against Amazo.'
'I know. But she's the newbie. I'm just trying to toughen her up.'
'You know I can still hear you!' Artemis said.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Wally noticed a shadow on the floor as he was guarding from outside the computer room. He followed it to the school pool as he ended up slipping. Didn't this happen before? He quickly flipped his body as he fell on his hands and quickly moved away from his attacker.
"Cheshire." He slipped as she guarded herself.
"So you heard of me. Too bad I don't have time to talk." She quickly gave him a kick to the face as he fell into the pool.
When he awoke again, M'gann had given him mouth to mouth. He remembered how he felt the first time this happened. He was happy. But now, he felt nothing. Maybe he should continue to act like he still liked M'gann like before to stop people from be suspicious. "Thanks beautiful…" He said. "Where's Cheshire?"
"Who?" She asked as they headed to the computer room.
"Arte-The enemy."
"Aqualad said they were under attack in the computer room." M'gann answered. The duo entered the room as Wally stepped in front of Dr. Roquette. Artemis was firing arrows at her sister as Cheshire looked back.
"Maybe a little too interesting." She said. Artemis fired one last arrow as Cheshire blocked it with her sword before throwing a smoke bomb to the ground and made her escape. Wally had jumped to stop her and ended up rolling towards Artemis. He felt something soft against his body and surprising his lips.
Opening his eyes, Artemis was holding onto him as their lips met accidentally.
'I don't remember this happening last time.'
Artemis had turned red as she pushed him off of her. Wally could feel the heat rising to his face as he took a few steps away. If the others had noticed, they didn't say anything. Turning around, Cheshire was gone.
"Damn it." Wally frowned.
"She's getting away!" Dr. Roquette shouted. "You're letting her get away."
"It's too late." Wally said.
Artemis looked a bit down as M'gann came up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't do half as well during my first battle and I know you haven't been Green Arrow's sidekick for very long."
"Focus everyone." Kaldur spoke. "The shadows will be back."
"Robin to Aqualad!" Robin spoke. "We're over Philadelphia. We located the Shadow's next target, STAR Labs. We're too late. It's destroyed. It's totally destroyed. The fog decimated it. This is bad. STAR Labs is cutting edge science and now their secrets on in the hands of the enemy. What's our next move?"
"Rescan for that fog." Kaldur ordered Dr. Roquette. He soon looked at the team. "We're moving the doctor."
XxXxXxXxXxX
At the new location, Wally and Artemis were responsible for looking after the doctor. Artemis was walking back and forth before looking up at Wally and glared. He narrowed his eyes. It was in their nature to argue like before. That was the way their friendship worked and dare he say flirt.
'Stop it you two! I can hear you glaring.' Aqualad said getting annoyed. The two stayed silent for a couple more minutes.
Wally sighed as he kept looking at Artemis. This was harder than he thought. She was making it harder. He thought back about the kiss the two shared earlier as he blushed.
Artemis looked up again and couldn't help but blush as well before continue on glaring. Seems like she was still mad about the kiss they accidentally shared, Wally couldn't help but grin. Artemis seeing this, glared at him even more. Wally was expecting it and he couldn't help but glare back. She soon caught him by surprise as "Like what you see Kid Pervert?"
Wally's eyes widened as he scoffed. "Psh, yeah right! Hey about earlier-"
Black Spider breaks into the building as Wally got up to fight. Artemis got her arrow ready but Wally turned around.
"Artemis, behind you." Wally warned her as she turned around to face Hook.
"Don't stop working!" Artemis ordered Roquette as she nodded and continued to work on the computer. Cheshire slowly slipped into the building through the window.
As Cheshire shot her cross bow, a desk blocked her target.
"Martian's here!" Cheshire announced. "It's now or never!"
Wally remembered Black Spider knocked him down last time. This time he was prepared. He was able to kick Black Spider to the wall as he tackled grabbed Artemis before she could get hit by Hook. Cheshire jumped on Roquette as she grabbed a sai. Before she could strike, the doctor's skin turned green.
"We've been duped." Cheshire growled. Miss Martian levitated.
"You will never find Dr. Roquette!"
"Never is such a long time." Cheshire replied. "Pursuing target, keep them busy!" Hook nodded as he positioned to attack M'gann.
Artemis watched as the leader ran off. She quickly pushed Kid Flash away from her as she got up. "Pursuing their leader, take the rest down!"
"Artemis wait!" Wally called out but frowned when Black Spider came up for more. Wally elbowed the guy in the gut as he threw him over his shoulder. He punched the guy a couple of times as he backed up away from Kid Flash. M'gann aimed the hook back at her opponent as he flew into Black Spider causing the two to knock each other out.
"Woo hoo!" M'gann cheered. "We did it!"
"Nice one. Now let's go after Artemis." Wally said as he tied the two together to take into custody later.
The two soon headed to where the real Dr. Roquette was to see Artemis staring at the ground as Kaldur was being helped by Roquette. Wally remembered how much of an asshole he was to her. Last time, he didn't know that was her sister and how much difficulty she had trying to stay on the good side when her family were criminals. He blamed everything on her.
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"Artemis, where is the assassin?" Kaldur asked.
"She…she got away…" Artemis replied with a guilty expression.
Kid Flash sped up to her. "Oh from you? Big surprise!" He said sarcastically. "Notice we got ours." M'gann soon came onto the scene with Black Spider and Hook.
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Wally sped up to Artemis as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's alright." He then noticed Cheshire's mask on the ground as he picked it up. "Souvenir!" Artemis shrugged Wally's hand off her shoulder as she walked away.
Kaldur took out the sai from his chest. "Her mask?! Did you see her face?!"
"It was dark." Artemis said as she turned her back to the team.
"It is fine. Robin and Superboy neutralized the fog and Dr. Roquette is safe. Thanks in no small part to you." Kaldur complimented. Artemis turned around as she faced the team. "Welcome to the team." He walked up to her and shook hands.
Miss Martian came up to her and placed a hand on her arm. "I always wanted a sister, here on earth I mean. I have twelve back in Mars but trust me, it's not the same."
"I wouldn't know." Artemis replied as she smiled. "But thanks."
Aqualad and Miss Martian looked at Wally who went up to Artemis and stuck his hand out. "I'm glad you'll be on this team Artemis…"
Artemis looked at him with a curious expression before taking his hand and shaking it with a mini smile on her face. "Thanks."
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
"Artemis!" Wally called out as he saw her walking in front of him. The two were on a cliff that looked over the ocean. She stopped at the edge of the cliff. He noticed a few drops of blood around her feet. "You're bleeding."
"Why?" Artemis asked.
"Hm?" Wally took a few steps forwards as he placed a hand on her forearm.
Artemis turned around as Wally dropped his hand as he fell to the ground. In front of him was Artemis with dead like eyes. Blood was pouring out of her mouth. Her head in a weird position due to her neck broken.
"Why didn't you save me? It's your fault that I'm dead. You can break the sound barrier with your sneakers but you can't even save me. It is all your fault."
Wally screamed.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Central City
August 18 8:35 EDT
Wally sat up from his bed as he breathed heavily. It was just a dream, he kept telling himself. Wally placed a hand over his eyes as he tried to calm down. His mother came into his room.
"Wally, are you alright?" She asked. "I heard you screaming."
"I-I'm fine." Wally said.
"Well, get ready. Your aunt and uncle are here for breakfast." She closed the door.
Wally gulped as he went to his bathroom to wash his face. It was just a dream yet a painful reminder. He couldn't afford to lose Artemis again but he knew he'd need help. The people he knew he could talk to this about were Robin and his Uncle. He headed downstairs to see everyone there for breakfast. He was deciding whether or not to let his uncle in on his situation.
"Uncle Barry…" Wally began to say when he bumped into his uncle in the hallway.
"What's up kiddo?"
"I'd like to talk to you, uh after breakfast if it's cool."
Barry studied his nephew's face before ruffling his hair and nodded. "Sure."
The two found themselves at a park as they sat down on a bench.
"Is there something troubling you?" Barry asked. "I heard from Green Arrow that you and his new protégé aren't getting along."
"No, well it's about her and all of us." Wally said. "Okay, this is going to sound weird but just hear me out. I'm…I'm not from this time." He stopped to look at his uncle who looked at him before laughing. "UNCLE BARRY!"
"I'm sorry, but that does sound weird."
"You have to believe me. In my timeline, we got into a fight with Sportsmaster, Psimon, and Kobra up in Ashville. Kobra was delivering an emerald necklace to Sportsmaster and Artemis interfered. She…She was killed by Kobra who was then killed by Sportsmaster and Cheshire."
"Why would those two kill Kobra?" Barry asked now interested.
"Because…" Wally hesitated. This wasn't his secret to tell, but in his timeline, Artemis had already told the whole team. "…Artemis is the daughter of Sportsmaster and Huntress. Her sister is Cheshire. All of us were grieving. The last thing I remember was crying in my souvenir room about her and I was holding onto the emerald neckla-"Wally touched his neck and then his pockets to see if the necklace was on him. It wasn't. "It sent me here when I entered the zeta-tube to go home. It was May of next year that it all happened. If you don't believe me, you can go and ask Green Arrow and Batman themselves about Artemis."
"Let's say I believe you. What is going to happen next to prove that you were from the future?"
"What's today?"
"August 18."
"Kent Nelson! He was kidnapped last month by Abra Kadabra."
"Abra Kadabra?" Barry said surprised. "I fought him before. He uses science from the future to stimulate magic."
Wally nodded. "He's working with Klarion. Tomorrow, Red Tornado informs us about his disappearance. We were sent to see if he was okay. He died at the tower and I almost became the new host of the Helmet of Fate if he didn't sacrifice himself for me."
"I'll contact the three to meet at Mount Justice. You go ahead and meet me there." Barry said as he stood up.
"So you believe me?" Wally said. Barry nodded.
"I'll be there in a flash."
Mount Justice
August 18 10:15 EDT
Wally was sitting in the room that Black Canary would do her therapy sessions in. It's been ten days since he has arrived to this timeline. All he has done was train with Black Canary and try to act like he normally would with the crew. He'd go to school and stay at home unless he was truly needed at the cave. He didn't like to stay in the cave for too long because it was just so hard with Artemis in the room. Painful memories would come up as well has the nightmares of her death.
Artemis wasn't making it easier for him either. She still had this wall around her that made it hard for everyone to get close. He used to get so annoyed because she never let him get away with anything and let him in. He knew now that she was only scared about what the team would think, what he would think. That was what Black Canary had told him during their session in this room after Artemis' death.
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"Wally, I need you to talk to me. I need you all to talk to me. Keeping your feelings about Artemis' death locked up inside isn't good for you all." Black Canary said as she waited for his reaction.
Wally said nothing as he continued to stare at ground.
"I heard from Roy that Cheshire had blamed Artemis' death on you." Wally flinched. Bingo."Know that it's not your fault. You didn't know that was going to happen. Artemis cared so much for this team, for you." He looked up at this as Black Canary gave him a sad smile. "You know, she was afraid of what you guys thought about her after the failed training exercise, especially you. I don't know if it was obvious to you, but it was obvious to everyone else. You held a special place in her heart. She wouldn't want you to drown yourself in guilt. She would have done anything for this team. She would have sacrificed herself for this team. She would have sacrificed herself for you."
"It's not fair…" Wally finally spoke. Hot tears were rolling down his face. "What right did she have to just go and die like that? It's not fair. I never even got to apologize for being such a jerk to her. I never got to tell her that I-"He choked back a sob.
Black Canary held in her tears as she got up and hugged the young speedster.
"She loved you and she knows you're sorry."
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Wally was pulled out of his memory when his uncle came in with Batman, Green Arrow, Red Tornado, and Martian Manhunter.
Wally was about to get up but his uncle signaled him to sit down. Before he knew it, Batman had thrown a gadget at him as he was soon tied up in ropes. Green Arrow pointed his arrow at him as Red Tornado and Flash stay at the sideline.
"Uncle Barry, what's going on?" Wally asked as he struggled to get out of his bind.
"How did you know about Kent Nelson?" Red Tornado asked.
"I told you. I'm not from this timeline." He looked at his Uncle. "I explained everything to you!"
Martian Manhunter came up to him as Wally could feel his cold fingers on his forehead. He was going to go through his memories.
"He's telling the truth." Martian Manhunter looked up after a couple minutes. He looked at Batman as if to tell him what he saw but the Dark Knight shook his head.
"How is that possible?" Green Arrow asked. Flash soon spoke up.
"He mentioned a green emerald necklace. They retrieved it from Sportsmaster after their mission in Ashville many months from now. The mission when Artemis was killed by Kobra." Everyone looked at Green Arrow who frowned.
"Could he be talking about the emerald of wishes?" Red Tornado questioned.
"What's that?" Wally asked.
"The emerald of wishes is a powerful source of power. If used by the wrong hands, it could mean the end of world. The emerald takes the wish of the person who wields it and makes it come true. But it cannot be just any wish. It has to be the wish of someone's heart." The android answered. "Kent Nelson helped create the necklace himself."
"So when Kid Flash held the necklace he wished he could go back in time and save Artemis from her fateful death?" Green Arrow asked. Wally tried to hide his blush as he remembered his other part of the wish.
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I wish with all my heart that I could turn back time and tell Artemis how much she meant to me
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"When did this mission take place?" Batman asked.
"April 23 of next year." Wally answered. "You sent us there because we failed to retrieve the package that Queen Bee gave to Kobra in Bialya."
"Is it true though?" Flash asked. "Is Artemis really the daughter of Sportsmaster and Huntress?"
Green Arrow sighed as he lowered his bow and put the arrow back in his quiver. "Yes, it's true. Before Artemis joined the team, Batman and I talked to Huntress about Artemis. Her mother has retired and wanted to give Artemis a good life. I promised to take care of her as if she was my own."
Flash removed the ropes from his nephew as he helped him up. "So what are we supposed to do?"
"He shouldn't be messing around with the time stream. John, do not share anything had just found out about the future to anyone but us in this room." Batman said as he turned to Wally. "You should let things just go the way they are now. If you change something in this time, your future will be different."
"That's the point!" Wally exclaimed. "I didn't go back in time just to have her die in front of me again!"
Everyone froze. No one talked back to the Dark Knight and got away with it.
"When that time comes, I will not allow her to go on that mission. But for the mean time, let things run its course. People that are dead in your time should stay dead." Batman said as he walked away. Wally understood he was talking about Kent Nelson.
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How was that? This hiatus is making me so emotional. I'm rewatching episode of YJ on ondemand. My Spitfire feels are everywhere. So to treat my heart, I'm writing this story. We didn't get to see what happened five years after the last episode of the first season, so this is my take on it. Hope you guyed enjoyed it. Oh and don't forget:
Press the button *smiles*
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