Anon asked: Ooh! Spitfire prompt for thunderstorm cuddles(:

~o~

AU

When Artemis glances out the window of her sixth story office, a far-away flash of lightning lights up the growing grey clouds. Her eyes narrow until the sound of thunder reaches her ears. She checks the clock on her desktop. I can disappear a few minutes early.

She shuts down her computer and packs some papers into a folder before she stuffs it into her desk. The door to her office opens without warning.

"Artemis, it's starting to- oh," Donna smiles at her and leans against the doorframe, "Good, you're leaving. I was just about to let you out."

"Yeah," Artemis nods and pushes her chair in, before reaching putting on her coat and following Donna out the door and through the hall to the elevator. She pushes the elevator call button and continues, "The storm is moving in a bit faster than I thought it would."

Donna worriedly asks, "Is he home?"

"Should be." Artemis taps her foot and fiddles with the clasp of her bag. I hope he didn't stop to get dog food.

Donna lets out a breath, "Good."

The elevator dings and Artemis tells her friend to drive safely before the doors can close and she travels down to the parking level. She digs her keys out of her bag, along with her phone. With one hand she unlocks the screen and with the other she presses the lock button on her keys twice so that she can find her car in the mess of a parking lot. She can hear the sound of light rain echoing near the exit. She walks towards her car and opens the seven unread text messages on her phone.

Megs

1:03pm- Brunch Sunday? My flight gets in pretty early. :)

She'll reply to that later. She opens the other six with a few flicks of her finger.

Wallman *heart eyes emoji*

4:07pm- I made us a fort in the living room.

4:10pm- We have to sleep in it because Brucely claimed our bed

4:17pm- he's being an asshole when I try to move him.

4:18pm- Also, dog food supplies can last another few days. Didn't stop.

4:37pm- I think he knows and that's why he won't be nice to me.

She unlocks her car door and gets inside just as a little window pops up on her phone.

Wallman *heart eyes emoji*

4:54pm- I warmed up that chili Oliver sent over but it's not as good without you here to make fun of my spicy-food-tears

She starts the car before she quickly replies, Just got out. On my way. I'll be there asap.

She tosses her phone into the cup holder and makes her way out of the underground parking lot. The city traffic hasn't picked up yet- but it will, and with the sudden storm approaching, more people will be rushing home. Her fingers tap against the steering wheel as she drives through the light drizzle with little on her mind but the glimpse of lightning she saw from her window. She has to get home. The universe seems to agree. She catches every green light until she reaches their new, little house on Carnelian Street. It only takes her forty minutes.

She can tell the lights are on in the living room even though the curtains are closed, just like she knew they'd be. They always are on days like this.

As soon as her car locks, she sprints to the front door and gets inside before she can get soaked by the heavy downpour. She tosses her bag onto a table before she peeks into the living room.

He's sitting on the couch in his pajamas, with a bowl of chili in one hand and a spoon in the other, looking at the curtains like they're about to come to life and strangle him. She takes off her coat as she enters the room. There are blankets everywhere- probably every one they own- and the chairs from the dining room are arranged into a neat circle to form a makeshift fort in the middle of the room.

"Hey," she sits down on the opposite side of the couch, pulls her hair out of its bun, and kicks her shoes off, before she asks, "Where's Brucely?"

Wally swallows as he puts the bowl on the coffee table and answers, "Sleeping on my pillow, getting dog drool all over it."

"He loves you." She laughs softly, examining him. He smiles, but the dark clouds outside add a heaviness to it that she doesn't like to see.

The first storms of the season are always the worst.

"Nice fort," she comments, just before a flash of lightning stuns them both into silence. It's the roaring thunder that follows that snaps her out of her stupor. She stands up as the lights flicker, and carefully whispers, "Wally-"

His fingers leave imprints on the couch cushions, she notices, as she pulls him up. His hands shake and she pulls them into her own.

"Wally, you with me?"

When he doesn't nod, she braces herself for a long night.

"C'mon, babe," she soothes, grabbing a few pillows from the floor and leading him down into the fort he made. She sets up the pillows and smiles as he lays down and turns towards her. His eyes are locked on hers and she lets out a tiny sigh of relief, before she says, "I'm going to check on Brucely and change, and then I'll be right back. Is that okay?"

He nods and she gives him a reassuring peck on the cheek. She slips out of the fort and rushes through her nightly routine. She makes sure to text Donna, Might take a personal day tomorrow, before she checks in on her sleeping pet and changes into some shorts and an old shirt. She turns off the lights in the house as she moves through the halls, leaving the one in the bathroom on to give her a little light at night, just in case. Another bit of thunder rocks the house, and she makes sure the front door is locked before running back to the fort. Wally is sitting up waiting for her when she opens the entrance blanket.

"Hey," she slips in, pulling him down until he's laying beside her, "You with me?"

He turns over and smiles bravely, "'Course I am."

"Cool, cause I have to tell you what Lian did at preschool yesterday and you know I don't like repeating myself." She scoots closer to him, moves an arm over his torso, and tells her story, one that's only a little exaggerated. Her story is interrupted by thunder at random moments, but she picks up where she leaves off without pause, tracing circles on his chest as she brings up another happy story about their friends from that vacation in D.C. The sound of the pouring rain outside serves as background noise for the occasional breath she takes between tales, and when Wally begins unconsciously twisting the ends of her hair in his fingers, she starts to relax. He's okay.

They ride out the storm in the fort all night, and when things get rough, Artemis traces kisses along the branching scars that mar his skin from the tip of his hand to the hollow of his neck, and things seem alright again.

The first storms of the season are always the worst, but they're both getting better at this.