Okay. This chapter is how the two birds handle losing their brother, and how an older sister helps them through it. The next will be how Conner and Kaldur take the loss and I might throw Roy into the mix. We'll see. Enjoy!
The team had gone off to their respective activities. They all were trying to get over leaving Wally.
He was a core part of the team. If it weren't for Kid Flash-and Robin and Aqualad-there wouldn't even be a team. Kaldur went to the pool to clear his head. Conner went to the gym to destroy yet more innocent punching bags. M'gann headed to the kitchen to bake Wally's favorite cookies. Artemis took Abigail to her room. *Somehow, I don't think she'll want to stay in her brother's room after tonight.* Artemis thought. She sat the younger girl down on her bed. "Hey sweetie," she said,
crouching down. "How ya doin'?" Abigail looked up with a haunted look in her eyes.
"Th-there was so much blood," she said in a strangled voice. Artemis looked at the girl in confusion.
"What?"
"When Wally got shot. . . .I tried to st-st-stop the bleeding. There was so much blood." Gail looked down at her hands. They were stained red. Her hair fell down around her, hiding half of her face.
Artemis looked at the ends. They were caked together. "What happened to your hair?" she asked,
lifting up a chunk. "Oh, dear. It's blood," Artemis said in disgust. *Wall'y blood.* She added to herself. Gail's head snapped up. "What?"
She grabbed her hair and when she felt the wet ends, let out a short scream. "Hey, it's okay. Come on. Let's just go wash this out." The older girl lead the younger to her bathroom and they washed out the blood. They both ended up just taking an out right shower. Artemis lent some of her pajamas to Abigail. Artemis brushed out her hair then gave the brush to Abigail and went to change herself. Abigail tried to brush out her hair and Artemis heard a yelp. She came out of the bathroom.
"What happened?" Abigail was holding both her arms behind her head at an awkward angle.
"Um. I might need a little help."
Artemis laughed. "Let me help. Here, sit down." The two girls sat down on the blond archer's bed.
Artemis smiled as she tried to untangle her sister's hair. *After all,* she mused. *Gail is more my sister than Jade ever was.*
"Ow!" Gail yelled, jumping a little.
"Sorry, sorry. Wow, your hair is really thick." Artemis continued to fight with the many knots in Abigail's hair. Eventually, she got the brush to go through smoothly. Abigail looked so crushed, though, so the archer kept brushing. Then, she put down the brush and started french-braiding.
She remembered long ago when Jade had taught her how. Artemis parted the hair and french braided both sides, then joined the two and continued the braid down her back. When she was finished she grabbed a mirror from her night stand. "What do you think?" Abigail took the mirror and looked at her hair. "Cool," she said trying to smile. *Leaving Wally really broke her.* Artemis thought.
Megan pulled the cookies out of the oven. *The one time I actually do them right. . . * she couldn't finish the thought. Thanks to Abigail, Megan had kept the cookies from burning. If Wally had been there, he would already have sped to the kitchen and eaten half the pan. He seemed to have a knack for smelling food. M'gann flinched when she got a sudden surge of emotion. A lot of pain. And guilt. *Robin.* He hadn't said anything really about what happened. She made a mental link with the young boy. (Robin. . .Talk to me.)
He laughed. . . in his head. (You actually want to talk. You sure you wouldn't rather yell at me?)
(Why would I want to yell at you?)
(I left him there. I pulled my sister off him and dragged her away.)
(You didn't want to leave him. I can feel your pain. Literally. If there had a been a chance to save him, if there had been a way. You would have found it.) The Martian assured her little brother.
(But. . . .I didn't. I-) The self-loathing was coming off of Dick in waves.
(Dickie. Where are you? Let's talk face to face.)
The Martian was floating outside the door. She had never been inside of Robin's room. She took in a deep breath and knocked on the door. "Robin? Let me in." She heard light foot steps coming toward the door. The door to Dick's bedroom opened. "Hey, Megs. Come on in." They walked in and sat down on Richard's bed. "So. Do you want to talk about it?" M'gann asked.
"We already did." Richard said, not looking at the green girl.
"Well, then let's talk about something else. Like what you meant by 'he told me to.'"
The boy's head snapped up. "He-he didn't exactly say it. But, I know Wally. I took one look at him and I knew without him saying it. I told him no, but he just said 'You have to.'" he put his head in his hands.
M'gann scooted closer to him and put her arm around Richard's shoulders. "I think. . . that you did the right thing. Wait, let me explain," Megan said holding up a hand. "You know that Wally is my friend. He's like my brother. But if you had stayed. If you had tried to help him, even though you knew there was no real way to do that. You and Abigail would have been captured too. And we would have lost three friends, not just one. How do you think we are supposed to get him back without you?
"Robin. Dick. You are our best hacker. You're also the best fighter. You also put things into perspective for us rookies when things get tough. Kaldur may be the leader. But we look to you when things get bad.
Remember when the Reds attacked? You came up with the plan to save us. You kept a level head and took care of things. The-the training exercise?" Both teens flinched as they thought about it. It had affected them the most. "You were the one who kept us all going. We need you Robin. So, no. I don't want to yell at you. I want to give you this," Megan told him just as she planted a kiss on Dick's cheek. She got up and walked to the door. "Don't be so hard on yourself," she added, just before she opened the door.
"Megs, wait!"
"Yes?"
"Thanks. For everything."
The Martian smiled. "You're welcome. Want some cookies?"
"Sure." *Maybe I did make the right decision.* Dick told himself.
This is a fluffy chapter! I thought it would be good. I like how it turned out. Hope you guys do too. I thought it was a nice touch to have M'gann kiss Robin. Oooo, Wally's gonna be so jealous! Not that it matters right now.
