Sorry it took so long but here's my next chapter. Thanks for the favs, follows and reviews! It means a lot to me. Tell me what you think of this chapter.
I only own the plot.
Zoom stared up at the starry midnight sky. He still lay in the crater he created earlier. The speedster had been there for hours; to him it seemed like days. Finally as he began to register feeling in his arm the speedster slowly unclenched his fist to find a single tiny shred of scarlet fabric resting in his palm. It was all he had left of his sister. For a single moment he wanted to sit there and grieve. He wanted to scream to the heavens in anguish. He wanted retribution, but that was only for a moment before he remembered that he didn't care about Irey anymore.
Ultimately, Zoom pulled himself to his feet. His aching body screamed out in protest, but he ignored it as he half limped half ran back to Central. When he eventually made it to the city he tried to attract the least attention as possible. All he wanted to do was go back to his apartment.
When he got to his place he went straight to the shower. Jai couldn't even look at himself in the mirror. The water ran red as it washed off all the blood. His whole back was raw from sliding across the ground. After the water was shut off the speedster stood there for a few minutes, his ebony hair hung limp over his forehead and his body was burning as if it was on fire.
The young man winced in pain as he toweled himself dry. He then slipped on a pair of boxers and limped over to his apartment's tiny kitchen. His stomach was growling like a raging beast, it desperately craved some form of nourishment. The hunger was starting to take a toll on Jai, but he just couldn't bring himself to eat. His steel gray eyes focused on the small scarlet shred that rested on the countertop. He couldn't stop thinking about Irey. The nightmarish memory of losing her played over and over in his mind like a broken record. He could still hear the screams, her whispered farewell and the whistling of the wind. He could still see Irey, it was almost if her eyes were still staring into his. Honestly, he didn't know what to feel. His emotions were so conflicted it was like a vicious war raged on inside him.
Jai had meant to crush her. He wanted to hurt her. He wanted to see her cry. He wanted to watch her heart break. He wanted to see her slowly die inside as he destroyed anything and everything that mattered to her. He wanted her to beg for death. He wanted to take everything she had. He wanted to break her. But in turn Irey gave up everything. He knew she could've slowed down. She wanted him dead or it least gone, but in the end she saved him. She forfeited it all in a single selfless act of compassion. And it shattered him.
"She's not breathing!"
Wally stood frozen in the middle of the room while everyone else jumped into action. The speedster wanted to move, but he couldn't, his body wouldn't budge. His masked face retained a look of pure horror as he watched them trying to revive the dying woman that was supposed to be his daughter.
"CLEAR!"….. "AGAIN!"
Wally couldn't believe it. He was absolutely shaken as he looked at his baby girl lying on a stretcher. There were so many people around her it was hard for him to see, but every time he got a glimpse he was taken aback. He couldn't believe the fact that his daughter was The Flash. How did this happen? Why? When? Yesterday Irey was a carefree teenager full of laughter with a passion for science, moonlighting as Impulse. Now she was an adult on her deathbed. What happened to his little girl? Where was Jai? The two were never apart, Jai would be there if his sister was dying. Where was Artemis? Where was his family?
"CLEAR!"…"We're losing her! AGAIN!"
The speedster was barely able to comprehend what was happening. In less than five minutes he went from having no clue what was going on to receiving the shock of his life and having even less of an idea what exactly was occurring to facing the horror of possibly losing his daughter. Everything was almost too overwhelming for Wally, but he hadn't even reached the tip of the iceberg yet.
"CLEAR!"…."AGAIN!"…..Beep….Beep…..Beep…."We Have a pulse!"
The former Flash felt a wave of relief as he saw the rising and falling of his daughter's chest. Finally he regained the ability to move as they wheeled Irey down the hall. The father followed them to the room and waited outside while the doctors stabilized her. As soon as the doctors left he rushed into the room. Jay and Nightwing sat in the plastic chairs in the corner of the room while Damian sat in another seat next to Irey's bed.
Wally couldn't wait any longer he needed answers. "Dick." He addressed his friend in a low and serious tone. "What is going on?"
The acrobat in his mid forties let out a heavy sigh. Wally was going to have to find out eventually. "Wally, it's been seven years. You've been dead for seven years."
It was hard breaking the news to him and even harder to see the expression on the speedster's face.
"No…" Wally whispered as he just let it all sink in for a minute. The news was a devastating blow.
"Seven years?" The speedster murmured as he stared at his feet. "Seven years?" He repeated in disbelief. "I've been…dead…for seven years?" The speedster asked, stumbling on the mentioning of his death. It was a fragile subject for the speedster.
Jay and Nightwing both nodded solemnly, there were no words to say.
It was already too much and Wally didn't even know what happened yet. The whole thought was painful, but he had to ask. "What happened?" he inquired with a sigh looking over at his daughter.
"A lot." Nightwing answered, dreading the imminent questions. Even he couldn't bear to tell his friend the horrible news.
"Where's the rest of my family?" Wally inquired getting right to the point and not stopping, he bombarded both men with questions. "And why is my daughter Flash? Where's Bart?"
Nightwing didn't know what was worse, telling Wally his son's a villain hell-bent on Irey's ultimate destruction or that his cousin died more than five years ago at the hand of the rouges.
"Where's Artemis?" The speedster asked not even waiting for the answers.
"We're in the process of contacting her." Nightwing answered.
"What kind of bullshit is-" Wally started to call Dick on his bluff but as if on cue the zeta-tube announced the arrival of a certain archer.
"Speak of the devil." Damian murmured from the corner, he was glad that he wasn't Dick right now.
"WHERE IS SHE?" the blonde archer shouted from down the hall. Nightwing bolted out of his seat and rushed to meet the angry woman before she got to the room. Wally was so deep in thought he didn't even acknowledge the departure.
Dick reached Artemis right as she was about to turn the corner and make it into the hallway Irey's room was in. "Where is my daughter?" the blonde woman demanded. She looked like a mess wearing one of her old Stanford sweatshirts and sweatpants. It was like she had just dragged herself out of bed.
"She's stable, but there's something you need to know." He tried to inform her.
"I get a phone call at three in the fucking morning saying that my daughter has gone into cardiac arrest. There is nothing that is so important I need to hear it now. Where is she!" Artemis snarled venomously and she tried to push past him, but he stopped her.
"Trust me, you need to know what happed first. Irey's not going anywhere. You need to hear this." He told her earnestly.
"Let me see my daughter damnit!" she cursed as she tried to get past Nightwing again.
"Artemis, calm down and listen." The acrobat ordered.
"Calm down? You want me to calm down? I just learned that my daughter's heart stopped and you want me to calm down so you can tell me how it happened? I don't think so. Honestly I don't care, I need to see my daughter." The woman hissed.
"This isn't about Irey Artemis. There were other..." He paused trying to find the right words. "…Complications…You need to know this now." His voice rose slightly as he started to get frustrated with the blonde woman.
"You have five minutes." The archer growled, finally giving in. The two sat down across from each other in a little waiting room close by.
"Are you aware of the encounter between Zoom and Flash this afternoon?" Nightwing asked in a cold monotone almost identical to Bruce's.
"Yes, it was all over the news. Now what did he do to her?" she asked urgently, dreading learning the actions of her estranged son.
"I don't have the whole story, but from the footage and other accounts we gathered we think we have a good idea of what happened." He started.
"Tell me then!" Artemis shouted impatiently.
"We think Flash was trying to prevent collateral damage by drawing Zoom out of the city, but either something went out of hand or it was part of her plan all along because neither of them stopped running. It was like when Wally fought Zolomon for the final time, or so it looked at first. As soon as we were alerted of the conflict we sent people after them to prevent another disaster like what killed Wally. From what they saw apparently Flash did something and Zoom was thrown back. Flash was starting to fade away so we focused our efforts on saving her. She disappeared into some vortex, but Jessie grabbed her arm in the nick of time, but that's when things get complicated. Irey didn't come back alone." He explained.
"What do you mean she didn't come back alone?" The bewildered archer questioned.
"What I'm trying to say is that when they pulled her out of that vortex she was holding onto someone." He clarified.
"Who?"
"Wally."
Artemis let out a loud gasp as she gripped the arm of her chair for support. A small lump formed in her throat and a fresh set of tears lay in wait in her stormy eyes. "That-that's impossible. He's dead" She stammered. "They saw him die."
"There was never a body, he probably never even died either." Dick said distantly.
"Then where the hell has he these past seven years?" The archer shrieked losing her control for a moment.
Nightwing was unbothered by her outburst. "I don't know, same place Flash would've gone I guess."
Artemis sat there silently for a minute digesting the information. It was a lot to take in. Honestly she didn't know how to react. The archer had no clue what to feel or even say, but she had to do something.
Finally, she got up. Her knees still felt a little weak but that didn't matter; she had to go in there. He needed her more than ever right now.
"What does he know?" she asked before she ventured to the room down the hall.
"All he knows is that he was gone for seven years. He has no idea about Bart, Jai or anything." Dick said softly, he couldn't help but feel slightly guilty.
Artemis took a moment to compose herself in front of the room. She was almost afraid to walk in there. The archer knew she was going to break his heart and that killed her inside as she hesitantly turning the knob and opening the door.
Another cliffy, sorry about that, but it had to be done. As I'm sure you've all heard Young Justice and GLTAS have been canceled for next season, but there is still hope. The best thing you can do is buy the episodes and watch them on tv or even have your tv on when they are showing so CN gets the ratings and realizes that these shows are worth keeping. We all need to put fourth effort to save out shows. If you want more info look me up on tumblr, I'm Hockeygirl2814.
SO what did you think of this chapter? Was it good? Was it bad? Did it make you happy? Did it make you sad? (oh god I'm starting to rhyme) What did you feel? Any thoughts? Please let me know what you think. It seriously takes like 15 seconds to review, please I worked really hard on this it would be fantastic to get some feedback. Also I'm looking for some cover art. PM me if you want to maybe do it.