Artemis POV
Click. Click. Click, click. Click, click. Clickclickclickclick. I listened to the sound of my shoes as a broke out into as much of a run that I could in them. I needed to get there. I didn't know why, all I knew was that I needed to get there. House after house but none of them the right house.
I could hear the excited gasp of young girl as she saw me, who she believed was her idol, run by. I was no idol. I was broken and needed to find the pieces to fix myself. That's it. That's why I needed to get there. I needed to find and fix those missing, broken pieces.
I ran faster leaving the disappointed girl behind me. I could hear the lecture from Eric about ruining such expensive shows, but I didn't care as I felt the power of my legs push me forward. I grew closer and closer to distant memories. I could hear the ghostly laughs of two young girls. I could hear the hushed secrets exchanged. I could see the forgotten happiness. The next thing I knew I was standing in front of the white house that had most definitely seen better days.
I stopped taking in the view. The house wasn't as bright as I had imagined it and the grass was even more dull. There was a fresh oil stain on the driveway. Who ever lived here now wouldn't be back for awhile. I had time.
I walked up the walkway to the door while pulling out a bobby-pin and paperclip. I turned to see if anyone was watching me. I could feel a pair of eyes on me but found no body to connect them to. I narrowed by eyes as if it would help the watcher appear. Nothing happened. I turned back to the lock and set to work. Only moments later the door gave way and unlocked. I started to put the pin and paperclip back into my pocket when I heard a slight rustling in the bushes on the side of the house. I snapped my attention to the left where the bushes resided. I searched the thick bushes and came up with nothing. Deciding that it was just the wind I opened the door and walked into my memories.
Wally POV
I watched as Artemis walked away from the car. I a flurry I reached down to undo my seatbelt when I felt a hand come over mine.
"Let her go Wally," Kaldur softly commanded. "She just needs time." I stopped and thinking that he was right as much as I didn't want him to be. I relaxed back into the leather seat.
"Why don't we go get lunch?" M'gann suggested in an attempt to cheer everyone up. Lunch? I thought. Lunch at a time like this? My stomach chose that moment to let out a pained growl deciding that we were to go to lunch.
"Yeah, let's go to lunch," I dejectedly responded. As they decided where to eat I looked out where she left. The ghost of her walking away imprinted in my mind and replaying even as we drove away from the curb.
Artemis POV
The house had the same white walls that were starting to turn gray and the same gray carpet. I walked into the kitchen and adjoining living room. Same fridge, dame television set, same couch, same kitchen table. It was if nothing had changed; nothing had changed. Something wasn't right. I turned and ran up the stairs. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I feverishly checked each bedroom and bathroom. Same furniture, same bed sheets, same shower curtains; everything was the same.
In a desperate attempt to show myself that I wasn't staring at my past in the present, I ran out of the bathroom that was at the end of the hallway and into May's old room. I slid open the closet doors to reveal teenage girl's clothing. This didn't prove anything, I thought. Then it dawned on me, the drawer in the nightstand had a secret compartment. She always kept her most prized possession there, but always took it with her when she moved to a new location. I made it over to the nightstand in three large and desperate steps. I pulled the draw out and felt around for the button to open the compartment in the inside of the nightstand that the draw left when pulled out. Bingo, I thought as I touched the button before pressing it. There was a popping sound as the compartment opened on the bottom of the inside of the drawer. I pulled the top of the hidden space to reveal May's leather journal. I hadn't seen it in years and the sight of it brought tears to my eyes. I picked it up and opened it to where the ribbon bookmark was. I looked at the date of the latest journal entry:
August 15th, 2010
Two days ago. I was right, she's still alive. Where is she? Is she alright? What happened? Who actually died that night? Who else was she staying with? Wait, what? Why would I ask who she was staying with? The realization dawned on me when I remembered the unmade bed in what used to be my room. I placed the top of the compartment back in its place and took May's journal with my as I dashed across the hall. I stared at the room that was once mine from the doorway. My pulse in my ears and my head spinning a mile a minute. The closet, I thought, check the closet. I hurridly made my way to the sliding doors of the closet and pushed them to the side to reveal men's clothing. Blazers, slacks, dress shoes, button up shirts, ties. One tie in particular caught my attention. The tie was pink with a brown stain at the bottom. That stain and that tie, I had seen them somewhere but where?
The click of a gun snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Hello, Artemis."
That's when it clicked; I knew who that tie belonged to.
Wally POV
I wiped the grease off of my mouth from the third burger that I had just finished. I reached for my glass of Coke to wash it all down.
"Five Guy's has nothing on Bibbo's," I stated dipping a fry in ketchup.
"Coming from a burger lover, I'll tell you that nothing can even come close to Bibbo's," Dick agreed across from me before eating a mustard covered fry.
I sighed, even a satisfied stomach couldn't get my mind off of the earlier events. The happy chatter of the rest of the team couldn't compared to the volume of my thoughts.
"Something's not right," I blurted out.
"I know! They need to have a Bibbo's in Gotham. Supes can't keep all those burgers to himself!" Dick stressed. He looked up at me and his face fell when he realized that I wasn't talking about Bibbo's.
"Wally, she's a big girl. Artemis can handle herself," Dick lightly reprimanded and comforted. His words did nothing to take away the nagging feeling that Artemis wasn't "okay".
"I know, I know. I just can't shake this feeling that something isn't right. I know that it is like her not to report for awhile, and usually it doesn't bother me but I'm telling you something's not right," I told them.
"Wally, understand that the other times that Artemis has done this were under different circumstances then this. That might be why you are feeling this way," Kaldur tried to reason, but I could sense the worry even from him.
"Alright, alright," I said defeated with my hands up. Putting them down I leaned over closer to Dick. "Just track her phone-"
"Wally, I am not-" Dick started before I cut him off.
"Track her phone and if she seems that she is in a place where she can handle herself, I'll back off," I pleaded. I stared at him with the best puppy-dog eyes that I could manage.
"No, that is a violation of her privacy and - no!" Dick put his foot down.
"If she finds out then I'll take the blame," I could see him starting to be convinced. I could sense the others looking at Dick expectantly as I gave him the puppy-dog eyes again. They were all worried on some level with the information that Artemis told us a little over an hour ago.
Dick sighed in defeat. "Fine," he reluctantly agreed. He pulled out his phone and used his nifty tracking app that he designed. We waited in heavy silence for the information of Artemis's whereabouts. Moments later Dick visibly paled before uttering "shit". Dick only swore when something was completely, terribly wrong.
"What do you mean 'shit'?" I tentatively asked.
He showed me his phone. It was a map with a green dot in the middle of it with a dreaded address. All I could say was, "shit."
A/N: Well, that sure took some time out of studying for finals... oh, well. On the bright side, the Seahawks are going to the SuperBowl again! GO HAWKS! Hope you have a good rest of day!