You guys probably don't want another long author's note from me. Haha. I won't say I am back for good because I am terrible at delivering chapters, as you all already know. I do take my sweet time to update chapters. But I am still conscious about this story; I have not forgotten about it, I promise. This chapter is shorter than my first chapter and longer than the last chapter, but I think this length will be the nice average. I think the first chapter with 10k words was an exception, the 'set-up' of the story. I will shut up now! Without further ado, enjoy!


Manhattan, New York

August 9th, 2020. 10:30am EST

"Do you know why Nightwing send in that last minute message to meet up before debriefing?" M'gann asked Zatanna. The two girls were sitting together on the couch; Kaldur and Conner were discussing something or the other, Barbara and Raquel were chatting about Amistad, who had been under the care of Barbara last night - babysitting duty and all. The Team's new headquarters' (The old justice League of America's headquarters, also known as Dodd's Mansion) living room was filled with small murmur of conversation.

"I … might have an idea." Zatanna confessed, although not wanting to reveal Dick's great surprise. It wasn't her place to tell; and in all honesty, she wasn't even sure if she agreed with Dick's actions.

"Anyone know where Roy and Artemis are? They are the only ones that aren't here yet," Raquel asked to the group. Everyone present were the alpha members of the team. Those two were the only ones missing, but otherwise this would be called an Alpha member meeting.

There was a silence in the room. No one knew what to say, what to answer, besides the obvious: they must be running late. On the other end of the room, the double doors opened and Nightwing strolled in.

"Enough wondering about those two. Let's get this meeting started." He reached the opposite wall and the holographic computer appeared before him. His fingers furiously typed, his gaze glued to the screen.

Everyone else eyed one another, a bit concerned about why they were here. Why did Nightwing call this meeting? He just summoned the original team, including Barbara, and no one else. It was a little bit suspicious. Not to mention Roy and Artemis' tardiness. Those two are barely ever late for a meeting.

"Nightwing," M'gann soft voice sliced the silence, "Why did you ask us to come here?" It was unlike him. Whenever there is a change of plans, he always sends the memo at least 12 hours in advance if it wasn't an emergency. M'gann never expected his email waiting in her inbox this morning, an email that he had sent at 4:13 am.

"Last night, Zatanna, Bart and I had a little experiment."

Zatanna shifted a bit uncomfortable since she knew she was receiving looks. She wasn't sure whether she liked being included in Dick's plan. She felt like she had betrayed Artemis and her trust.

"With Bart's speed and Zatanna's magic, we were able to summon high levels of energy." Diagrams flashed in the large holographic computer, giving visuals to the audience in order to explain what he was saying much simplier. "With Bart's speed, we were able to contain that energy and open the … "

"The speed force." Kaldur ended Dick's sentence. The acrobat stayed silence, eyeing their wise leader, before nodding.

"Yes, that's correct."

"Wait, what does this mean? What are you trying to tell us?" Conner growled, his hands inching and turning into loose fists. Dick was beating around the bush and Conner didn't appreciate it - specially since he was doing it so deliberately.

"Nightwing, please, don't do this…" M'gann urged him, standing up from her seat. She was afraid that Dick was going to do something he regrets - if he hasn't done it already.

"Can you guys just let me finish?!" Nightwing wasn't one to lose his patience very often, but what was done was done and he didn't need them to plant seeds of doubt in his mind right now. His doubts were already there, without their encouragement.

Zatanna stayed silence, staring at the floor beneath her feet. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she felt tears swelling in the corner of her eyes. She wasn't typically emotional but she just can't help it. She had been the main witness to all of this for the past few months: Dick driving himself insane and riddled with guilt, Artemis forcing herself to forget about Wally, the entire team trying to digest the news of Wally's disappearance. It hadn't been easy for any of them. And now again, she was forced to witness her teammates go through the same emotional roller coaster, all because she had agreed to help bring Wally back. She didn't know why she did it. She supposed she hadn't thought it possible until it happened. She blinked, trying to hide the tears, while wiping them away with the back of her hand.

"I forgot what I was saying," Dick said annoyed, looking over the screen and trying to regain his train of thought. "And so, well, the energy…" As he typed, an 'alarm' screen appeared on the holographic computer. "F-fuck," he said, cursing as he tried to fix the screen. "As I was saying," He typed, his pinky finger hitting the backspace button more than once. "The energy was contained and - ah - Kid Flash- I mean, Bart … Kid Flash…He managed,"

it was actually painful to see. The great Nightwing so stressed out that he was making so many mistakes, tripping over his words, his string of thought not cohesive. it caused a few of them to flinch and cringe as they saw their friend. Everyone just wanted to put him out of his misery and say something, but no one dared to do so. That is, until a old voice broke the stillness.

"It's true, guys." The redhead entered the room, a cheeky look on his face while scratching the back of his head. Everyone in the room turned to see the new addiction, "I'm back."

"Oh my god, Wally." M'gann exclaimed, flying forward and embracing her old friend. Wally nearly fell back when the Martian crashed against his chest but he managed to maintain his footing. "Is it really you?" She asked mentally, her arms still wrapped around his neck tightly. There were tears in her eyes as she hugged. "I don't mean to be intrusive, entering your mind, but i just really need to know."

Wally laughed out loud, feeling the waves of love and friendship in his heart. "It's me," He whispered in return, holding his teenage crush in his arms.

M'gann pulled back, cupping his cheek in her hand. "Oh my, it's really you." She gushed. Wally had been family to M'gann. He had been her little brother when he was silly and goofy, but he was also like an older brother to her, as strange as that sounds, when he behaved so caring and overprotective toward her. More than once had she cried on his shoulder before.

M'gann pulled back completely, giving the others an opportunity to greet Wally. She still couldn't believe he was here.

"Welcome back," Conner shortly greeted his old friend, being a guy of few words. But the camaraderie and friendship can be seen in their tight hug. Conner has never thanked him for the all things Wally had done for him, specially for that one fourth of July when Wally was the only one who had noticed Conner's loneliness while everyone else were leaving with their mentors. Wally had invited Conner to stay with him at his parent's home. That was the first time Connor ever witnessed a family and he was glad that it had been the Wests.

"Good to have you back," Kaldur voice entered Wally's ears. Conner let his old friend go, giving Wally space to greet the rest.

"Come here, man." Wally japed, giving Kaldur a short hug but still filled with meaning. Kaldur was one of his closest friends. They had a unique relationship. Maybe they weren't as close as Wally and Dick were, or as close as Wally and Conner were, but Kaldur was still nothing less than a brother to Wally. He loved him so much, and would give his life if it meant that Kaldur would be safe.

"Don't forget about me!" Raquel joked, laughing as she embraced Wally. "It hasn't been the same without you." She whispered in his ear, before pulling back. She cupped his face in her hands, her maternal side showing. "You haven't aged a day," She joked, causing Wally to laugh loudly.

"Oh, I'm glad." He responded, teasingly. "I was worried about that."

"How long have you been back?" M'gann asked. The way she spoke … made it seem like he had been away on vacation, and not lost in the speedforce. It was strange to hear because in his perspective, he never was truly gone - but for everyone else, four years has past.

"Last night. Sometime around-"

"2 am." Zatanna answered, the first time she has spoken since Wally entered the room. Her shoulders were tense, and she felt uncomfortable being partially responsible for Wally's return. But she smiled, putting on a brave face.

"Yeah," Wally answered, thoughtfully, glancing at Zatanna. "Around 2 am." He glanced at the rest of his friends, "I … was home, with my parents. They didn't let me go anywhere before having breakfast, and I honestly couldn't pass up a meal." He joked, when in fact he just was too afraid to face reality. It was four years in the future; four years that he had missed.

"It's good to have you back, my friend." Kaldur spoke, speaking for everything really. The atlantian patted Wally on the shoulder, a smile on his lips. He was happy to have Wally back, but he was also happy to see the rest of his team members - no, his friends - he was happy to see his friends all so happy. However, always so observant, Kaldur couldn't help but to realize who was missing in this tender reunion. His eyes quickly scanned the room, his gaze halting when he saw Barbara and Dick off to the side, Dick with a serious look on his face and Babs simply looked concerned.

"Why didn't you tell me what you were up to?" Barbara asked, arms crossed over her chest. Dick also had his arms crossed, but he wasn't facing her. Instead, he was facing the scene while feeling Barbara's gaze boring into the side of his face.

"I didn't tell anyone in general; until last night, when I needed their help."

"Why?" She asked, sharply.

"I didn't need other people's judgement."

Barbara nearly gasped, an annoyed frown over her forehead. "I'm not 'other people', Dick." She protested. She was almost offended that he had kept something of this magnitude to himself. She wasn't mad he kept Wally a secret; she was mad that he kept what this must have done to him a secret. She can't even imagine the stress and bad feelings this must have brought to him. He has friends; he shouldn't be going through such a hard time alone because he wasn't alone.

"Look, what's done is done. Wally's back, and that's all that matters." He said, his voice breaking near the end.

Barbara was almost glad that Dick wasn't facing her, otherwise he would witness her face go from annoyed to sympathetic. The way Dick spoke hit a nerve inside of her. Did she sense … remorse? Regret? Perhaps melancholy?

"Dick," She whispered, her hand reaching and resting on his arm.

At the sudden contact, Dick flinched. He turned and looked at Barbara, one of his oldest friends. He shook her hand away from him, taking a step away from her.

"I don't need your pity." He said, and then shrugged, forcing a smile on his lips. "Listen, I'm fine I'm okay. I have my best friend back. I'm grateful that you care, Babs. And I love you for that, but I'm fine. Everything is back to how it suppose to be." He took a few steps away, walking away from Batgirl and rejoining his team members in the center of the room.

"Did we miss the party?" The tender coarse voice of Artemis Crock came from the doorway.

Everyone in the room turned to face her when she and Roy with Lian in his arms walked in. There was a hollow unsettling silence travelling around the room, and everyone was hanging on a thread. No one said a word, afraid of disturbing the thin ice that surrounded the two disconnected lovers.

Artemis rose an inquiring eyebrow. Little did she know that head of bright red hair belonged to her beacon. "W-what's g-going on, g-guys?" She asked, her knees trembling while tears started gathering in the corner of her almond shaped eyes. No one she ever met had red hair as bright as that. The only explanation was … That wasn't even possible but she knew she cannot be seeing ghosts. "G-g-guys?" She gasped, angry at herself for not controlling her emotions. "W-who …" is that?

Wally's pale arm pushed Nightwing out of the way, so Artemis can see all of him. His face was half fear and half shit-eating grin. Here was the love of his life; for him, it didn't feel like four years between them, but he knew they were very real for her. But he was back now, and they can be happy again. She can't possibly choose that guy she's dating over him. They have so much history, so much love between them. And four years wasn't enough to erase that.

"I'm here, Artemis. I'm back," He gasped, feeling relief overwhelm him. In front of him was the girl he had fallen in love with when he was sixteen. And she was as beautiful as ever; her hair was as long as it was the day they met, and she simply looked radiant. Even as tears slowly made their way down her cheeks, he still thought she was stunning. Inside, and out.

"I-I," Artemis choked up, pressing the back of her hand against her nose trying to hid her tears. She was looking everywhere but never looked at Wally. His voice was enough prove that he was here, and he was alive, and he was in front of her, calling her name. And as much as she wanted to run into his arms and hug him and kiss him and embrace him, she … she … she couldn't. It was too overwhelming, too painful. Running back into his arms would be like belly flopping from the empire state building; right now, Artemis was just standing on the edge, looking down at the waves of emotions that Wally caused, and taking nervous steps back. "I can't do this," She whispered, turning around and running out of the room.

"Artemis!" He called out to her, taking long strides forward and soon turning into a blur as he ran.


As always, I love you guys! Please favorite, follow and review if you enjoyed this story and/or if there is something you would like to see and/or think I can do better! Have a great day!