Parenting 25 Yellow and Red

Thanks to Lillianna Rider for the idea. And thanks for the reviews for the last chapter. I found out I had a whopping 20 altogether for Chapter 1: I was proper chuffed, I'll give you that!

Hope everyone enjoys, don't forget to leave a review!

"You just got your leg cast off. You just promised me that the hero life was behind us- what insecure, crazy part of you decided throwing yourself in front of a bullet would make things better?" Artemis was blankly staring at her husband, spitting words out of her mouth like they were disgusting. He was back in the hospital soon, and she feared that if she didn't do something, it would go back to the past, like when they were teenagers, and soon the ER would become an everyday thing. She ran a shaking hand through his ruffled hair, and let her fingers trail down his cheeks, to his neck. "I'll break your legs, Wally. And I'll make sure you don't get any more mission calls from Dick. You need to stop while you can, I did." Artemis swallowed and continued trailing her hand down Wally's neck, towards his heaving chest, stopping at the place of his heart. Even though the steady beeping machine on the left of Wally's bed told her what was going on, Artemis still brought her head down, and listened to the steady bumping. She hadn't even realised she was crying until she raised her face, and saw the wet patch on Wally's cotton top. He hadn't woken up since the incident, and Artemis was beginning to worry more than she ever had done for his health. She sniffed and moved away from her husband, keeping only her hand in his own. She circled his ring with her finger, lost herself in the moment, before trying again. She hoped Wally could hear her, and she hoped she wasn't wasting her time, "Babe. For me, you need to forget about wearing the Yellow and Red, and think about your family. About me. About Iris, Jai and-"

Artemis was interrupted as the door behind her creaked. A nurse walked in and smiled sadly before tapping her watch, "Family hours are other, Ms. West, we'll call you if anything happens." Artemis stood and smiled, but struggled to hide her rage. If anything happens? Who did she think she was, predicting perhaps horrible and unthinkable events? She crossed her fingers for the women, and hoped the short red-head meant Wally waking up, before proceeding to stride out of the room.

When she got home, she tried to suck up her tears and force herself to believe everything was okay. Iris was over at team head-quarters. Every Thursday after school, Artemis had allowed her child to go help out, though she refused to let Iris join the team full-time. Artemis brushed past Dick- who was babysitting Jai for the duration of her time visiting Wally at the hospital- with force and made her way into her son's room. She motioned with a point of a finger for him to get out, clenching her jaw and trying to restrain herself. She hoisted Jai upwards and touched her nose to his. He screeched and wriggled free of her grasp. He jumped up and down on the spot in his stockings and dark blue t-shirt, clapping his hands. His wavy red hair looked like a flame; it ruffled upwards, and lit up his muddy green eyes. Artemis smirked, and placed a piece of paper to his table, before calling Jai over, "Baby boy, how about we draw Daddy a picture?" Jai smirked and nodded, sitting down and grasping a pencil in his chubby hands.

Artemis had drawn the dotted-outline for a house, and had done the same for four figures. She pointed to each one, and stated the name as Jai worked through the sheet, colouring and adding his own artistic flair throughout the session. After he had finished, a family 'portrait' was in Artemis hands. The smiling people wore matching red tops and smiles, but it was easy to tell who was who. 'Daddy' stood taller than the others, flaming hair and a grin slightly more upturned than the figure next to him wore. 'Mummy' was shorter, her bright yellow hair the thing that set her apart. The only way one could tell she was a woman were her three unrealistic eyelashes on each grey eye. 'Jai' was the smallest person, waving in the image. He apparently had no teeth, and a mix of red and yellow hair, but it was still obviously him. Iris was next to Jai, holding a pink ball. Her four strands of red hair reached the floor, and orange freckles dotted every inch of skin; she looked like she was suffering from a bad case of chicken pox. Artemis sniggered and strode out of the room to place the image into her bag, so she could give it to Wally the next day. She hardly expected Dick to still be in her kitchen making a cup of tea when she found her bag. She snarled and threw her scarlet satchel to the floor, before rushing towards the man, and grabbing him by the shoulders, pushing him out of the room, and to the doorway. When he was outside, she snarled and threw her head back, balling her fists, "Don't you even have the decency to leave me alone now? My husband is ILL because of you; my children may not have a father because of you! And now you're laughing! If you don't leave, permanently, then they won't be able to even put your body back together with glue and tape after I'm done with you!" She slammed the door on his face, and burst into tears in the doorway, struggling to compose herself. Dick was already on a thin line, and as usual, he had crossed it.

At the team head-quarters, Iris had donned the yellow and red spandex and was having fun speeding around the room. Superboy clapped her on as she ran up the walls and onto the ceiling, before reaching the floor once more. She paused, and took a deep breath, before screaming and clapping. She had done it! All her practise had paid off! She'd gone fast enough to defy gravity, and she had loved every second. Conner smirked, and left the room, leaving Iris to converse with the new generation of heroes, who were semi-excited for her small part of the team. Some, of the team thought she was too young, too inexperienced, and somewhat annoying, but others thought they could mould her to become a perfect asset to the team. Iris didn't care what anyone thought however; she knew she wanted to be a hero, no matter what could go wrong- even if she had semi-witnessed what had happened to her dad only a few nights before. In fact, it was because of her dad that she even wanted to be Impulse. She wanted to be a scarlet/gold speedster, so she could be just like her daddy.

This fact hit Artemis hard back at home, as she began to think of her child's place on the team and what could happen. Horrible scenarios ran through her mind, and she tried to shake them off. Her head was pounding, and she hadn't even noticed Jai before he slapped her leg for the fifth time. She had managed to zone out completely, and block out all outside sounds. She shook her head, to try to get back into herself, hardly noticing why Jai was jumping up and down again; the phone was ringing.

Artemis and Jai were back at the hospital within ten minutes. Artemis was shaking more than ever, and Jai was slightly confused to what mood his mother was feeling. Dick rushed into the hospital with Iris, and the two adults crossed paths for a moment. Artemis clenched her jaw and somewhat slowly handed Jai to the man, who tried to smile. He looked somewhat wounded, but in Artemis' mind, he deserved the injury, unlike her husband.

Iris struggled out of Dick's grasp, and rushed to her mother's side, desperate to see her father. Artemis either didn't notice, or was too busy trying to find the correct room as she said nothing when Iris' freckled fingers intertwined with her own quivering ones.

Artemis swung Wally's door open, and was holding him in a tight embrace before he could even register her appearance. He awkwardly patted her back as the same short nurse from before tried to pry her away. Artemis moaned and threw her face into her palms, falling down to her knees, "Thank God you're okay!" She whispered, trying to stifle her tears, "I would have killed you if you would've died!" Artemis began sobbing once more as Wally tried to shuffle out of bed to comfort her; his movements stopped by Iris who grabbed his arm and hugged him tight. Wally chuckled and cleared his throat, before lifting his daughter to sit on his lap and hugging her back. Before long, Artemis had joined too. Although Wally stated it was the strong smell of disinfected that was making his eyes water, he was truly happy with his family.

After Iris had gone out of the room, Wally grabbed Artemis hand, and gazed into her eyes for perhaps hours before he began talking. Artemis kept trying to look brave, sitting up straight and preventing tears from spilling from her dull-eyes, but her ragged breathes were bruising her pride. Wally smirked, "I heard everything...well, I think I did. I heard some of the stuff you said, at least."

Artemis raised an eyebrow, thinking about what he was saying while his deep voice continued, "I kept trying to open my eyes, to say something back. But, I just couldn't. I was so drained, you know?" Artemis nodded and guided Wally's hand to her face. He began rubbing circles on her cheeks, before outlining her mouth with his thumb, "I love you, Artemis." He stated, trying to stay serious and concealing his smile with a look to the left. Artemis tried to reply, but choked on the lump in her throat. Wally chuckled, and continued, "If it'll make you happy, I'll stop my hero ways." He sucked in a breath, possibly regretting his words, before nodding his head, "For you, Iris, Jai, and apparently someone else too? If this is for Dick, babe, then-" Artemis shook her head, and opened her mouth, imitating a gold-fish, before the devil-of-the day, Richard Grayson, paraded into the room with Iris and Jai hanging off his arms. He smirked at Artemis, who rolled her eyes. The duo had a upspoken conversation using short motions of eyes. At long last a small smile that cracked Artemis features. Wally rolled his eyes, and hoped this friendship would last; if this really was for Dick, removing part of his identity from his life, Wally hoped it would work out. If it didn't, then at the very least, he had someone to blame.

Hope you enjoyed!

Please leave a review!

-fish