PALO ALTO
November 11, 06:07 UTC
"Today is the day!" That was Artemis' first thought as soon as she awoke that morning not even allowing her eyes to open. Last year she had awoken him with her excitement, jumping out of the bed in a haste and rushing to the kitchen to try a new recipe for his birthday. When she was done placing everything in the tray, she felt how his arms had found the way around her waist and his lips to her neck and it would've been a great welcome to the day ahead if it wasn't for the fact that she really wanted this to be a surprise for him. "Wally! Why aren't you in bed, this was supposed to be a surprise" And even if she tried to say it with a somewhat bothered expression she couldn't help the smile that drew by itself on her supposed-to-be-pursed lips, she turns around in his embrace to look at him and her heart swells with affection at the sight of his disheveled morning appearance being adorned with his adoringly wide grin. "You're no longer as stealthy as you used to be." He says jokingly with the biggest smile he can muster at that hour. "Besides, Brucely didn't help your cause. I was gonna pretend to be asleep but... that smells delicious." He says eyeing the tray with hunger. "You're impossible, you know that…" She says while running her fingers through his hair "but I wouldn't have you any other way." And she kisses him while wishing him a happy birthday. This year she wanted to nail the surprise thing, so before she jumps out of the bed she opens her eyes a crack to make sure he's still asleep, but when she does, her heart shatters for the millionth time. Instead of his peaceful breathing and surprisingly warm body, she's met with his empty and cold spot on the bed and all the will she had to get out of the bed is gone at once. Normally she starts the day as fast as she can so she doesn't see herself being drawn in her thoughts, she's been hating those lately, but today would prove to be one of those days that doesn't allow you to run away from your problems.
She notices how the air has turned a lot colder than usual with the arrival of November and she starts thinking over about how much November meant to them and how it used to hold an especial meaning as well. The end of another academic cycle, the last traces of Halloween and the coming festivities sharing a place in time, the weather getting perfect in California, Thanksgiving and more importantly the perfect excuse to gather in the living room of his hometown to enjoy an immaculate snowy week with his parents, lately her mother and Brucely at their feet as they sipped up a cup of hot chocolate, talked and joked around the fireplace. According to him, those moments made the perfect birthday present and he could never imagine a better one, gifts were only souvenirs and not even the cake could compare. There would be nights when mainly their moms would drive them through memory lane and end up crying over nostalgia.
It's around half an hour later that Brucely comes to wake her up and claim his daily walk and his breakfast and takes her out of her reverie. She's glad with the dog though, because she doesn't know how much more of it she could have had taken. She gets out of bed, puts on her jogging outfit, drinks the usual orange juice and goes jogging with Brucely, a routine they had adopted with Wally shortly after having moved in together because ditching the game didn't mean ditching healthy habits and it was a much needed steam off after been used to work out from four to six hours a day, not to mention that it also helped with the quite active temper of Brucely. She took the usual route and it was inevitable to keep her thoughts straight when her eyes always bounced back to the ghosts made of memories of them everywhere. How sometimes he would have had used his super speed to overlap her just to kid around with her and call out the fact that he was better at something than her. Of course she would get even when they arrived at the public park and started working out in the Outdoor Gym when she would keep on doing push-ups, crunches and more making sure to shove it in his face when his other muscles couldn't keep up with hers.
There was one occasion when he had tripped over Brucely's leash when he tried to pull a stunt on her and do some satellites around her while running, the speed he had at the moment was enough to give him a bloody nose and swollen lip and deep scraps on his knees and elbows and Artemis had laughed her ass off calling out karma on him after making sure he was OK. They returned home earlier to assist his wounds when Artemis knew well that what really needed healing was his ego, and so, she helped. She had applied the basic Aid-Kit and patched up his knees and elbows and was now doing his face. He was seated over the closed lid of the toilette and she was facing him leaning against the counter and had him pressing an ice pad over his nose while applying antiseptic to his eyebrow and lip, he flinched a bit at the sting on his eyebrow "It's just a little scratch, stop being such a baby." She says smiling. "I'm not a baby..." and she interrupts him, "Just a big goof, I know, I know." And he corrects her throwing her a pointed look accompanied by a smile. "Your big goof." By that moment she had applied the antiseptic on his lip and he pouted in disgust at the taste. She smiles down at him knowingly. "C'mon, it can't taste that bad." And she tastes his lips pulling back rapidly agreeing with him while making a face. "Nope, you're right, it tastes awful." He laughs at her antics and faces but is yearning for more of her kisses. "Animals lick their wounds to help the pain and because the enzymes in their saliva kill pathogens, so in a way, your kisses are more effective." He says raising an eyebrow suggestively. She frowns with a smile. "Are you implying that..." But she doesn't get to finish her sentence because he's shutting her up with his lips and she's reciprocating with gusto. That morning they had arrived terribly late to their classes and it's safe to say that he was feeling way better.
She's out of her derailing when almost colliding with someone and forces some concentration on herself. After one hour of hard cardio she's back at their apartment a bit more tired than usual and gets ready to leave to the Watchtower for a mission Kaldur had assigned her with beta squad and she is more than happy to oblige because she finds the rush of the missions a better company than grief anyway, so that's how 30 minutes later she's at the door caressing Brucely goodbye and walking to the Palo Alto Zeta Tube.
MARKOVBURG
November 11, 00:24 EEST
Maybe is the pounding in his head, his aching thorax or the pain in his ankles that wakes him but it makes him miss so darn much the way Brucely used to wake him up by licking his toes to then move to his face some mornings even though he used to shoo him away to sleep some more. He's dizzy and there's an odd sensation regarding his positioning and he forces himself to open his eyes slowly (despite the lights not helping much to his headache) to find everything upside down. How did he get here? Oh, right, he'd been held captive by The Light for five months now after the MFDs thing happened. The Energy of the Chrysalis that struck him several times had overloaded his body with this weird alien energy and by doing so, he had become the energy himself. He believed he must've had a certain signature that was somehow lured and received by an alien machine that would condense him and made him corporeal again afterwards (kind of like what he thought had happened to Artemis and his teammates in the Failsafe simulation, and yes, he's aware of the irony), because he wasn't sure for how long but the next thing he remembered is waking up in a haze in what looked like an alien Ship (probably one of The Reach's) and being greeted by no other than Vandal Savage himself. He's had an inhibitor collar around his neck since and according to some information he'd gathered, he was being used as a Guinea Pig for some experiments they'd been doing regarding the Meta-Gen in an underground lab in Markovia, which by the way, is where he's at right now. This pod is practically the only place he knows of this location other than the chamber they hold him captive in when he's not being a subject of experiments. He looks up his feet and is a little alarmed to see that their normal color has been replaced for a purplish hue that indicates the shackles around his ankles and his current orientation is not allowing enough blood to get to his feet. He doesn't know how long he'll be held here so he tries to make his situation a little more comfortable by pushing his arms outwards to press against the glass of the pod and support his weight with his arms. It proves useful if the returning feeling to his feet is something to go by and not even 10 minutes later, the door of the lab opens and Count Vertigo is walking towards him with Simon Ecks in tow. He's not sporting an annoyed expression for a change and he can tell by the look on their faces that they had made a breakthrough and, yeah, it was Guinea Pig time again, and yeah, that laugh only means pain, so you better be ready not to scream West, because he's not giving them the satisfaction.
"Hello Wally" Says Count Vertigo coming to a halt in front of him and at the mention of his name Wally flinches on the inside and tries to muster what he thinks would be an impassive glare. He wants to tell him that it's still Kid Flash to you, peasant, but he's heard enough from the outside to know that he's no longer Kid Flash since Bart took his mantle as he had requested him to and that everyone thinks he's dead as well, so he bites his tongue instead. Of course one of the first things Vandal Savage had done for him was to have him stripped away from his costume (leaving him in no other than the black shorts he currently had) and his ID. Naturally, they had learned everything about his life except for certain details (which he had been quite careful with when getting out of the live with Artemis having a little bit of help from Dick) and the fact that they clearly had to improvise on the road had lead him to think that what happened to him was a mere accident and he unfortunately landed in enemy's hands. "You finally learned to keep your mouth shut." Count Vertigo says with a sneer. "Good, because next time we won't be so indulgent." Wally feels the space that used to hold two of his molars with his tongue (which had been wildly assaulted as well) and yeah, it hurts enough to keep him from doing his Trademark Wally snarky comments, which always landed him in the most painful of "punishments" (another word for torture according to them) and post traumatic temporal amnesia the next day.
"Ecks, turn it on" Count Vertigo commands the man in a robe that had blended besides the controller and he does as requested. Wally hears how below his head a gurgling noise becomes louder each second and he risks a look at the bottom of the pod to see that it's being filled with tar and he grows quite terrified of the idea of being drowned with black goo upside down. He struggles against his restraints at first, lifting himself up and trying to force his feet free despite the pain such movements cost him and the nauseatingly familiar voice in his head asking him if Is the young hero reduced to that?. Well, he's not proud, but honestly, he has been beaten and abused unconscious every day for five months, he's got deep scars all over his body to prove it along with some broken bones that were never treated and were kinda fine only because of his enhanced healing (the only ability the inhibitor collar allows him access to, by the way), and not one single time has he let his mouth produce a single word or grunt that might satisfy them, so please forgive him if after having endured all of that he totally fears death by black goo in his lungs, I mean, that sounds aggravating so please give him a break. Besides, he keeps his vow and never screams, because as Vertigo sees him squirm with a cold smile plastered on his face he mocks him cruelly before the final strike. Quite literally. "Happy Birthday little hero." And his words are the last thing Wally remembers before his body is assaulted by lightning that spreads from his ankles to his head.
METROPOLIS
November 11, 07:48 UTC
Beta Squad had found the new name the Reach's soft drink was re-launched under two months ago and they had collected some proof that indicated that the new drink was indeed the same one, but they still needed to look for some proof that linked the factories to LexCorp to make a case against Luthor and make him accountable for all past charges. Tigress waits with Kid Flash, Guardian and Kaldur (whom had added himself to the mission because he hoped the knowledge he obtained from his time undercover could increase their chances of succeeding) for Bumblebee's signal, whom had shrunk and past all security measures successfully and deactivated every sensor and hacked the computers with one of Dick's drives. When they hear Bumblebee on the com-link she's giving them the green light and Kid Flash speeds ahead knocking unconscious the guards he encounters without them knowing what had happened (again, ask Dick). Tigress and Kaldur then proceed to enter the building while Guardian stays behind, well, guarding and reporting any activity from the outside. Tigress and Kaldur soon arrive to the main database of LexCorp and with all security down, they start going through confidential information and retrieving it in the flash drives (all with Nightwing's stealthy trademark) and are minutes later joined by Bumblebee while Kid Flash stays at the door making sure their mission goes unnoticed. They think they have it all wrapped up and are about to go when Artemis catches some movement with her peripheral vision, dodging just in time as a bullet makes a hole in the screen she was working on. The assault sets off the alarms and the squad is forced to improvise. "Guardian, take the ship to the roof and prepare for extraction. Tigress and Kid Flash, follow the shooter and immobilize him, we'll take him to the Watchtower. Bumblebee we'll leave a cover to make them believe this was a shortcut fire." Kaldur commands and everyone does as they're told. Kid Flash soon encounters the shooter who happens to be a scientist judging by the lab robe but when is about to knock him out, he uses the reflection on the elevator's door to flash him with a blinder like weapon and he's left disorientated. He's about to get in the elevator to escape when Artemis appears from behind and knocks him hard in the face, making him stumble backwards and fall and by the time he opens his eyes again she's aiming an arrow between his eyes to keep him from running. Kid Flash recovers and approaches him to cuff him and Kaldur and Bumblebee appear at the corner of the hall. "You're not Kid Flash, you're just a cheap copy" says Dr. Ross (according to his badge) in a demanding way which turns to a provokingly way after he sees the way they wince and how Tigress has tensed up. "Oh I see I touched a nerve." Kaldur has to put a comfortingly hand over Kid Flash's shoulder to calm him after seeing the rage in his eyes. "Is it true? That he was too slow to save himself?" "Shut Up! SHUT UP!" Kid Flash is shouting and Kaldur had to intervene. "Enough! If you really must know he gave his life so you could be alive today." And the way he says it shows how he really cared for his friend even though he wasn't as expressive as everyone else. "Huh, no wonder you spent no time to find him a replacement." Dr. Ross says in a whisper but loud enough to be heard and that was the last drop, she can't place the reason, but her patience is short as of lately and she's not allowing this nobody to insult the memory of Wally, so not even a second later Dr. Ross is screaming in pain revolting on the floor and clutching his groin as best as the arrow sticking out from it allows him to. Their eyes open widely and Kaldur looks at her not totally surprised, and she simply shrugs. Kaldur loads him over his shoulder and they run to the roof and are extracted successfully by Guardian.
Once in the ship Bumblebee and Kid Flash seat flanking Dr. Ross to keep him from trying anything while Guardian flies them to the Watchtower and Kaldur goes to Tigress' seat to talk to her and when she sees him approaching she is fast to apologize before Kaldur signals her to allow him to talk. "Tigress, I do not want you to apologize. I can barely imagine what you have been going through and I know he crossed a line. I think we will be able to complete the case against Luthor with what we have gathered so far, thanks in big part to you. But I am worried about you. You haven't talked to anyone about what happened, you have let everyone believe that you are fine but after what happened back there I am more than convinced that you are not. I know is not the same but after Tula..." he makes a pause to let his point sink in. "I think what I am trying to say is that we have been friends long enough and if you need someone to talk to, I am right here." She gives him a small smile and before she can say anything Kaldur's eyes have traveled to her left shoulder. "You have been shot. I will get the first aid kit. Try to remove the armor." She honestly hadn't felt anything until he brought it up probably because of the rush of adrenaline at the moment, but now that she thinks back, there had been a couple of gunshots before she jumped into action. Kaldur is back in half a minute with some instruments to attend her wound and she had successfully stripped off the armor on her shoulder. "It's just a scratch, I'll be fine" she tries to reassure him. "With you is always a scratch." Kaldur says trying to light up the mood and she's aware of the way he smiles lightly, "You still need assistance though. "They arrive to the Watchtower and Guardian is taking Dr. Ross to the interrogation room with Bumblebee while Kid Flash hurries to tell Blue Beetle about his mission and, you know, be a kid. Kaldur is about to escort her to the Med Bay when Artemis (now out of duty and mask off) stays on her spot. "Kaldur thank you very much, but I really just want to go home now, I promise I'll go to see Dr. Garcia once I'm home." Kaldur looks at her somewhat disbelievingly but agrees anyway since he knows she just wants to be alone today of all days and maybe the fact that the way to Med Bay is close to the grotto has something to do. He nods and watches how she disappears through the Z Tube as this one announces that she is indeed, headed for her home in Palo Alto.
MARKOVBURG
November 11, 19:37 EEST
"C'mon Wally! You're the biggest nerd I know, and you know I mean it in the good way." Says Artemis with her head on his bare chest. He loves the sensation, how much she trusts him, he loves all of her the way he's never loved anyone before. After a short silence he finds himself straddled by her with his arms pinned above his head. Her hair is framing her face and highlighting her beauty and he loves the way his oversized jersey looks on her. "You're not giving up on that geeky experiment of yours because I'm not the girlfriend of a quitter." And he takes his time to drink in her beauty before answering drowsily. "Babe, I've already tried every method and nothing's worked" "Then you try a non-methodical way." She says simply, accentuating her words by tightening a bit her grip on his wrists. "What about one of Dick's algorithms?" "Hmm, I hadn't thought about it because we don't cover those until next semester." "And what are you waiting for?!" She hurries him to get his ass working and as it turns out, four more attempts (using Dick's algorithms) is what it takes to have his project ready for the Stanford Science Fair. He returns that afternoon with the first prize and she's not surprised at all because he really is the biggest nerd she knows and she always means it in a good way. They go out for a celebratory dinner at a fancy restaurant and they're back at home making love that night. In their afterglow, just as they are about to fall asleep he hears her muttering as he spoons her. "I told you I don't date losers" He kisses her head laughing half-heartedly. "I'll keep that in mind." They cuddle closer and are soon fast asleep.
He wakes up abruptly gasping for air when ice water washes his body. He chokes and coughs until the tar leaves his lungs and as soon as he feels himself able to breathe again, ice water is washing his body again, soothing the soreness of his body and rinsing off the reminiscent tar left on it. His temperature decreases dulling the burning sensation in his flesh. He realizes that the pod he'd been in is broken and that he's no longer being held by his ankles, he's now laid on the ground. "Rise and shine little hero." Says Count Vertigo urging him to stand up. Wally lifts himself up a little but his feet can't support his weight due to the abuse and he falls back limp, not having more energy. "I'm surprised he's still alive to be honest." Wally hears Vertigo telling Dr. Ecks. "I guess I keep on underestimating the little pest. Tell the guards to take him to his chamber. I'll report our findings." Dr. Ecks does as told and three minutes later his body is dragged through the installation and tossed not so nicely to his chamber and he stays sprawled on the floor not wanting to disturb his abused body. He closes his eyes and starts evoking good memories to ignore the pain: The Team, Dick, Barry, his family, Artemis… And just her name is enough to draw a smile on his broken chapped lips and just like that, he finds the peace he needs to finally drift off to sleep, because he's not giving up yet, not when he still has something to fight for and a promise to keep.
PALO ALTO
November 11, 16:52 PST
Artemis walks in the office taking off her jacket and exposing her shoulder to Dr. Garcia, whom she had informed before coming and had prepared everything for when she arrived. Dr Garcia was one of the hero specialists trained in an institution founded by Batman himself three years ago because the incidents in which heroes would end up needing medical attention were increasing and it was very inconvenient to have their secret identity made public in order to receive said medical attention. Also, common medical education didn't cover the all too different meta-human and alien physiologies, so people who wanted to be part of the program had to be already highly capacitated doctors and would have to enroll for some additional years on training not only in the medical field, but in the secrecy field as well. They were placed strategically in every city and they would also be entrusted with the hero identities that resided in their city of action. It was their job to maintain their cover and health. Dr Garcia was one of the best in her field and her special interest in speedsters was what put her in Palo Alto after Wally and Artemis moved there to start college. She was well aware from the beginning who Artemis and Kid Flash were, the kind of relationship they had and their general background, she became closer to them with every visit and developed with time a really friendly doctor/patient relationship. She had seen her lost stare the first time she went there for a general checkup after her undercover mission and when she realized that Wally wasn't with her she could point out the reason for her tear-stained cheeks.
She is quick and precise when extracting the bullet and bandaging her shoulder and gives her some recommendations and informs her that none important damage was made so she would be back to normal in less than a month. They start the usual interrogation to evaluate her well-being and after some not usual questions Artemis starts to wonder why she's deviating towards a different approach and something gets caught in her chest when Dr. Garcia has the audacity to ask her if she had have any suspicions of her body growing another being inside her and all Artemis does is to look at her in disbelief (and somewhat accusingly) because it's been five months since she was with someone and Dr. Garcia needs to calm her down first before explaining that it could be a possibility that it could have been her situation all along and when Artemis tells her how impossible she finds that to believe, she explains to her how common it is for women that had recently lost a loved one to not know sometimes even until they were about to give birth, and that, given the recent circumstances, it wasn't so far from reality as Artemis thought. She orders a blood test to get a confirmation anyway and Artemis agrees because she needs to know that she had not being left alone to raise a kid, so she completes the procedures and one hour later she's back in Dr. Garcia's office to confirm her most recently worst fear. Or not.
She's on the way to parenthood alone with only twenty weeks to prepare. She goes into automatic pilot trying to process what's happening and she thanks absentmindedly Dr Garcia when she calls in favors to have the Ultrasound Machine moved to her office to check on the baby. After the usual procedure she sees clearly on the screen of the USM the clear silhouette of a baby, her baby, and if she's not excited now, she sure is when she's told she's going to have a baby boy and she feels able to breath for the first time in five long months and her only regret is not finding out earlier. Sure, this event was going to turn her life around 180 degrees and she wished she could be doing this with Wally a couple of years later, but she knows is going to be totally worth it. She goes home after having received all the precautions and prenatal care necessary with a black and white picture of her baby boy and as soon as she opens the door, Brucely is greeting her with the same enthusiasm he always shows and Artemis is telling him how they are soon going to be three again. She starts preparing some tea and takes her phone out, excitement building in her chest at the prospect of sharing this news. "Hi mom! I have something to tell you."