Wally walked up to Artemis's room with a bouquet of flowers in hand and a stomach full of butterflies. He wanted to do this impression right this time. No tripping, no bickering. He was going to do this right. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before he turned the doorknob and opened the door. Artemis was sitting upright in bed, with a few "Get Better!" balloons tied to the railing of her hospital bed. Wally smiled, and walked forward into the room, only to trip over something big, white, and fluffy.
"Wolf!" Wally groaned, as he sat up and rubbed his head, realizing what he just tripped over. Wait…Wolf?
Wally's eyes flew open, only to see Conner towering over him. He offered his hand and Wally obliged. "Thanks," Wally said hesitantly as he stood. Wally took a moment to scan the room. Wolf was still sleeping soundly as if nothing happened. Conner was standing in front of him and M'gann was here, too. She was seated near the window, by Artemis. As his eyes rested on Artemis, he noticed she was looking at him, obviously amused with his entrance. Even if it was still Artemis, embarrassment was written all over his face. Well, there goes to "no tripping," Wally thought. He turned his attention back to the Kryptonian and Martian again. The only reason Conner and M'gann would be here right now, visiting an Artemis they thought was dead, would be that Nightwing finally told them the truth.
"We need to talk." Conner whispered sternly to Wally as he passed by him and walked out of the room. Wally furrowed his brows and a frown tugged at the corners of his mouth, but he quickly turned it upside down. He picked up the bouquet of flowers off the ground and walked toward Artemis.
"Hi there. You may remember me from yesterday," Artemis glared at him. "Okay... so you do remember..." Wally rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm here again to apologize for startling you, and so I bought these…for you." He grinned, and handed the bouquet to her. Her glare softened, but she didn't take them, she only shifted her gaze between the flowers and Wally skeptically.
"Um, I'll take them for her, Wally. You should go talk with Conner now." M'gann said, and took the flowers from him. Wally looked at M'gann. It's been awhile since he'd last seen her. The last time was before the undercover mission, when he dropped off Artemis at the mall so she and M'gann could go shopping for Raquel's wedding shower gift. She didn't look anything like how she did back then. Her face was now outlined with sorrow and regret, her eyebrows were stitched together with anxiety, and her eyes looked so tired he assumed she hadn't been sleeping well. She looked so worn out, both emotionally and physically. She didn't hurt Artemis, but he figured after everything that had happened, she was blaming herself for what happened to Artemis, too.
"What happened wasn't your fault." Wally said, trying to convince her and alleviate her thoughts, as if he knew what she was thinking. "Don't beat yourself up about it, M'gann." M'gann looked up at him surprised. Her brow relaxed, but her eyes revealed she was still remorseful. She then offered a small smile. "Oh. Thanks, Wally."
Wally returned a slight nod and a small reassuring smile to both her and Artemis, and then turned to go talk to Conner in the hall. Once he closed the door behind him, Conner started hounding him.
"Why didn't you and Nightwing tell M'gann and me at the start of it all?"
"I'm guessing he finally told you," Wally said, as he walked past Conner. "What did he tell you?"
"Everything." Conner responded, and pivoted on his heel. "But the thing I don't understand at all is why you didn't tell us anything. I think we deserved the right to know from the moment you guys thought of it. It would have been a lot better if you had told us."
Wally heaved out a sigh and hung his head. "Look, Supes," he said, as he turned to face him. "We thought it best not to tell you two. The choices, the consequences, the burden... and the responsibility of carrying all that. We didn't want you guys to bear any of that. We thought it would be bett–"
"You thought what would be better? The situation now would be better?" Conner said quickly.
Wally winced. "No..."
Conner realized the words he just said, and then looked away. "Sorry... I didn't mean that." He looked to the ground and frowned. "What I meant to say... What I was trying to say..." He then heaved out an exasperated sigh and finally said, "Look... The six of us... we're a team. We stick together. We share the burden. We share the choices, no matter the consequences because that's what teammates do. That's what friends do. It's as simple as that."
Wally stood wide eyed in the hallway, quietly surprised at what Conner had just said to him. After a beat, Conner sighed. "Things... are definitely not how they used to be... but, no matter what, we'll still be a team. We'll still be friends." And with that, he walked back into Artemis's room again.
Wally followed after a moment and stood by the door, Conner's words still lingering in his ear. He was right. The six of them did start off as a team. Inexperienced as a group, they each had one thing on their mind: only focusing on the mission, flaunting each of their skills, showing how they can handle themselves on their own, and standing independently just to prove their place on the team. They didn't know how to be on a team; they didn't know what it meant to be on a team. As time progressed, though, they grew closer and got to know one another, on duty and off of duty. They slowly became friends. Together, as old and new friends, they became one. There may have been disagreements and a lack of faith in one another, but after everything though, they came out more than just as teammates – they came out as friends, they came out as a family.
Wally thought for a moment, that maybe they were wrong to keep the mission a secret from them. But, what's done is done. There is nothing they can do to change the past, but what they can do is to focus on what's ahead of them now and move forward together in step. With no more secrecy between them, as a reunited team they'll need to overcome the conflict at hand, alongside their own internal conflict, and with one another to be able to bring back their trapped friend safely.
As Wally looked up, he saw Conner had just reached M'gann and touched her shoulder hesitantly as he told her something, and M'gann sighed in response. She then stood and smiled at Artemis and bent down to give her a hug. Artemis returned the hug, a bit shocked by the sudden embrace, but returned it nonetheless. M'gann walked around Artemis's bed and toward the door. When she reached Wally, she thanked him again. "Make sure you take good care of Artemis, okay?"
When Conner came to the door, he grabbed Wally's shoulder and gave him a few kind, reassuring words. "She'll remember you soon. You did trip after all."
Wally rolled his eyes and laughed slightly, "Thanks, Conner."
Conner grinned, then called Wolf to his side and instantly the upgraded wolf awakened from his slumber and went to his master. He pet the animal's head, and then looked at Wally again and pointed at his chest. "Your mission is here, staying by Artemis's side. We're depending on you." With a grin, Conner left the room and ran after M'gann.
Wally put his hands on his hips and sighed. He scratched his head and then prepared to enter his second biggest – no tripping being the first – challenge of the day. When he turned to look back inside the hospital room, Artemis's steely gray eyes were already on him; cautious, but curious to see what he was like.
Wally took in a deep breath and exhaled. He then walked into the room and closed the door behind him. He cleared his throat and looked at her. "Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Wally West." he grinned, and offered his hand to shake.
Artemis looked at his hand, and then lifted her eyes to look at him. "Your name is Wally?"
Wally drew back his hand and scratched the side of his cheek, embarrassed. "Well, uh–"
"These flowers..." she suddenly said, as she looked at them. "How... how did you know I liked tiger lilies?"
"You told me—I mean, I saw them... and thought they looked beautiful. Just like you, beautiful." He said, a smile curling on his lips as he said his favorite nickname for her. She may think it sounds really cheesy, and may not know what the meaning of that nickname is to him, but right now, being able to say it and call her that was what made Wally content.
Artemis raised a brow at him, then with surprise she looked down, eyebrows furrowed, and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Thanks..." she said.
Wally felt the need to say something more – to say anything, just to make her look at him again; but, the next thing he says always ends up sounding better in his head.
"Would it be okay... if I stayed here with you? You know, to keep you company?" As soon as he said it he closed his eyes, expecting her to say no. To his surprise, though, it was the opposite.
"...Sure. Company... would be nice."
Wally slowly opened his eyes again to see Artemis combing her fingers through her hair. Wally knew it was a habit of hers whenever she felt uncomfortable or flustered. However, there was actually one more reason why she would do that: she was in love.
A/N: For those of you who were wondering about Wally's and Artemis's dog's name, here's the link to the story of Brucely's name :)
www . angel city pits . o.r.g. / blog / my-cartoon-dog (without the spaces and without the dots for o.r.g.)
Soooo... I don't know what to say about this chapter. Wasn't quite satisfied with it, so I might edit it later on. And I am soooo sorry for the wait guys D: It's just the last few weeks before winter break is so busy -.- especially with exams rolling around. Which meaannns updates might take a little while longer :( School isn't all to blame though, I also had a huge writer's block while writing this chapter OTL
I also didn't know what sort of flowers Artemis would like, so I chose tiger lilies. I thought it was fitting lol.
Welp, I hope you guys liked this chapter? Hopefully?
EDIT: Just realized after writing a few chapters that animals aren't allowed in the hospital. Whoopsie xD Haha, we'll just say Conner sneaked Wolf in... somehow.
