Artemis raced up the stairs of the church. She pushed open the doors and slowed to a more appropriate indoor pace. Tucking the hair that had flown out of place behind her ears, she prepared to enter the sanctuary.

"Can I help you sweetie?" An older African American woman called to her from a side office.

"I'm running late," Artemis replied as she opened the sanctuary doors to an empty room, save for Mary and Rudolph West, who sat near Wally's coffin. The air immediately fled from her lungs. She froze.

"Honey, the funeral doesn't start for another hour," the woman said, walking up to stand beside her.

Artemis blinked. Oh god. She was early. She hadn't been early since she and Wally stopped dancing around each other. Wally was always late, always making her late. Oh god. She brought a hand up to her face as her throat tightened. She could feel the tears burning in her eyes. She was early. She was never going to be late again.

The tears pricked at her eyes.

"Oh, sweetie," soothed the voice beside her, before two strong arms wrapped her in a hug.

Artemis fell into them. The sobs came from deep inside. Her breaths were short and desperate, and the tears would not stop. Her throat was too tight; she was not sure she was breathing.

A lifetime passed. Maybe two.

Artemis found her breath and pulled away from this stranger who she fell to pieces on.

"I'm sorry," she started, but the grieving woman stopped when she noticed the black robes and the stole with the two crosses. "Oh god. I'm so sorry."

Artemis had never been to a church, but she was certain the proper etiquette for greeting a pastor was not to use them as a snot rag.

The pastor wrapped an arm around her and gave her a comforting glance. "Sweetheart, you don't need to apologize. This is my job."

"He was my – he was," Artemis choked. "I wanted to marry him."

"Wally was a good kid," the woman said.

Artemis blinked. "Did you know him?"

Wally had never mentioned religion, not really. She assumed he placed religion and spirituality in the same box he put magic in: impossible, not real, often true anyway, but not science.

"Mary and Rudolph have been coming to my church for a long time. I baptized Wallace as an infant." The woman smiled. "He always asked the best questions."

Artemis snorted and felt horrified.

"I'm sorry. It's just – I can't imagine Wally asking nice questions."

"Oh, they were rarely nice," she laughed. "But they were honest. A good faith needs honest questions."

Artemis found it easy to picture a young messy haired Wally asking this woman about science and God, arguing about concrete data versus hocus pocus. She laughed and then she felt the pain in her chest again. Wally.

The pastor pulled her in for another hug. "People will be arriving soon. There's a restroom down the hall for you to freshen up in."

Artemis withdrew to the bathroom. She looked awful. Her eyes were red and splotchy. Dark smudges of mascara smeared under her eyes. She scrubbed her face until all the make-up was off. Her eyes were still puffy but she didn't care.

She had been ice of repressed emotions, and Wally had been a fire of feeling. He had taught her that life could feel so vibrantly. He made her realize that emotions could be so pure. He had melted away something inside of her. Today, for him, she would embrace it.

Returning to the sanctuary, Artemis noticed that people had started to gather. She took a seat up in the second row, directly behind Wally's parents and Barry and Iris Allen. Rudolph had one arm wrapped around his wife, but his gaze was distant. Mary cried into a handkerchief. Barry looked absolutely wrecked, and Iris whispered words to him. She doubted any of them noticed her approach. Artemis was glad. It freed her from trying to find empty words.

A rustle to her left informed her that Jade, holding Lian, and Roy were here. Artemis nodded in acknowledgment. She was not in the mood for conversation, especially Jade's form of conversation.

Jade didn't take the hint.

Her older sister leaned over to her and asked, "What's in the coffin anyway?"

Artemis turned to face her sister with an incredulous expression on her face. She would be angry.

Except it's Jade.

And she's here. For Artemis.

"Jade, shut up," Roy growled.

Her sister turned her attention to the man beside her. "What? It's an honest question. I thought he vanished."

"Jade," Roy growled deeper.

The brunette raised the hand not holding Lian in surrender. "Fine, fine. I was just curious." An arm wrapped around Artemis. "How you holding up baby sis?"

Artemis slipped out of the uncomfortable embrace. "Can we just not talk?" She pleaded.

There's a look on Jade's face that Artemis did not want to decipher.

"Sure."

The pastor, who Artemis used as a human tissue and didn't even ask her name, approached the front of the room to begin her message.

Artemis tried to listen. She did, but there was a dull buzzing in her ears. There are motions and movement, but the archer was frozen in place. She knew time was passing, but not how it connected to her. There was something moist on her face. She lifted her fingers up to touch her cheek.

Reality slammed into her. They were tears. She has been crying, the silent tears that are more familiar than the ugly sobbing of earlier. Lian was making noises in Jade's lap. A stab of pain shot through her. She turned from the baby. She couldn't stand to see the new life, Jade's family, while everything of hers had been ripped away.

The service ended; Artemis shook hands with Wally's parents. Barry pulled her into a tight, uncomfortable hug. She didn't know what escaped her lips, but Mary cried and Rudolph nodded, so she hoped it was acceptable. She turned to follow the other attendees to the reception room when she saw him.

He was in the back corner of the church by himself. He's wearing a dark black suit and tie, his hair was combed in that stupid way he often wore as Dick Grayson, but she couldn't see his baby blues.

Anger rose inside of her. She stormed over to his secluded corner.

"Take them off," she hissed.

He hid his eyes behind those stupid sunglasses he wore as Rob.

"Hey Artemis," he greeted.

"Take them off or I will knock them off," she snarled, hands clenching at her sides.

How dare he? How dare he?

Dick raised his arms slowly. "Hey, chill. I just didn't want this to turn into a headline about Dick Grayson."

"Bull," she spat.

Artemis pulled her fist back. The light of a stain glass window caught her eye. She was in a church. She was in a church. At Wally's funeral. About to punch his best friend.

"Everything okay here?" A voice asked, and she caught a flash of red hair that stopped her brain.

Roy.

Because Wally was dead.

"It's fine," she said and stomped off.

On top of a hill next to the church, Artemis sat alone. Her back pressed against a tree, and her head rested on her bent knees.

She had no idea how long she sat there, when she heard Dick's soft footsteps approach. He sat down beside her with plenty of space between them. His legs kicked out in front of him with his weight resting on his arms behind him.

He took the sunglasses off his face, hooking them onto his shirt.

Artemis glanced at his eyes. They were hollow. A deep fear ran through her body.

"I'm sorry," she choked.

"Don't be," he replied. "You were right."

They fell into silence.

Artemis felt drained. She knew Dick was not okay. It was written in his silence, in his dull eyes, in his stupid hair.

But she also knew that she could not be there for Dick. Not now. Not with this.

Artemis was strong, always had been. But she could not handle Dick's grief on top of her own. She would fall from the weight of it, but still –

"Don't do it again," she ordered.

Dick turned a questioning glance toward her. "What?"

"Don't almost die again," she clarified.

Dick didn't flinch, but she could hear the shift in his voice. "I'm not that selfish."

No. He's not. Dick Grayson was one of the least selfish people she knew.

"Good." She nodded and then pushed herself off the ground. "We should head back."

The younger man stood up next to her and shook his head. "No, I need to go home."

She understood.

They walked off in different directions. Artemis turned back once.

Dick had Bruce and Alfred and an entire team to stand with him.

He'd be okay.