One week. It had been one week since then. Even though he didn't remember it, Wally knew it happened. And it had been one week since then. And as the water washed over his face, he was reminded once again. It had only been one week.
Wally had ignored his League responsibilities for one week. Ever since he woke up half naked in a bloodstained bed, Wally had ignored every call. Every demand. Every question. Every friend. He had refused to let anyone in his apartment. It wasn't that he thought they wouldn't believe him. They would, he knew they would. But just imagining how disappointed they would be made him never want to see them again.
Besides, he now had to think about something else. Madison said she was pregnant. And if she hadn't been then, she probably was now. He didn't want anything to do with her, but she was pregnant. She wouldn't have told him if he wasn't the father, right?
Bang, Bang, Bang!
"Wally, I know you're in there! Open the door!"
Wally ignored the voice of John at his door. In fact, as he turned off the water he heard John's voice fading away. Wally had escaped his friends again – for now. They'd be back again soon. Probably tomorrow. Wally just knew it.
Wally called in sick to work again. His boss didn't believe him again. But that's okay. He could always get another job. He spent the day watching TV and taking showers after every program. During the commercial breaks. Since he could do it fast enough.
Not fast enough to escape.
Well, it wasn't like he could have run. Madison had been blocking the exit.
Nothing to fight her off with.
He'd moved a kitchen knife into his bedroom. Just in case she tried again. But he couldn't avoid her forever. She was pregnant with his baby.
Trapped.
It was night time. He washed his sheets every night before he went to sleep. He even made it to the communal laundry room and stuffed his sheets in the washer. He even managed to squeeze his blanket and pillowcase in, too. He paid the machine and left.
Wally stopped at the door to his apartment. It was new. It had to be because it had been replaced a week ago. The old one broke. He'd told the landlord he'd been mugged and slammed it trying to escape. It wasn't even close to what actually happened, except the door had actually broken. So maybe it was a little true.
He entered his apartment and stopped when he saw someone there. Someone who shouldn't be there.
"Hello, Wally," J'onn greeted warmly.
Wally blinked and then spoke. "Hi."
"Is everything alright here? You've been avoiding us lately," J'onn paused. "You're not acting like yourself."
"I just needed some time away is all," Wally answered. "I'm going through a hard time at work."
"Batman says you haven't been to work. In fact, you haven't left your house for a week."
Wally froze. A week. That's how long it had been since Madison was there. One week. He hadn't seen anyone for one week.
J'onn watched him carefully. "Did something happen? You seem upset."
Wally rushed past him to the bathroom and started to throw up. J'onn lingered in the living room before approaching the bathroom.
"Wally?" He asked uncertainly.
Wally wiped his mouth on his shirt. He mouthed the words he wanted to say but couldn't.
I'm not okay. She did this to me. I'm trapped forever.
Despite wanting to say it, as much as he wanted to talk, Wally found himself unable to say a word. He repeated the unspoken words with no voice. He could hear someone else coming in the apartment. J'onn turned invisible. Wally saw the last person in the world that he wanted to see.
"Hey, Wally. I let myself in. We have to start talking about the future. Since you're going to be a dad and all," Madison said in a bored sounding tone. She walked toward him.
Knife in her hand, against his throat, digging in, blood everywhere-
"Stay away from me!"
His eyes were wide, his breathing heavy. J'onn noticed clear signs of panic and true, undisputed fear. By contrast, the girl seemed utterly bored. There were no signs of compassion, no hints that she even cared about anything. She was a frighteningly empty shell. J'onn even wondered if she could even be taken at her word. He felt that this girl could tell a convincing lie to anyone, himself included.
"Wally, you have to man up. Get a job, support the baby," Madison shrugged. "Or don't. I don't really care."
"Wh-what do you want, Madison?" Wally tried to say it without stuttering, but found himself shaking with fear. "I'll pay child support. But I can't, I mean, I don't-"
"Don't what?" Madison asked, her eyes flashing dangerously in the low light. "Don't want to be with me? That's not what you said last week."
Wally went pale, knowing that J'onn was listening to every word.
"I didn't want that, you know I didn't. I had no choice," he said.
"Don't be such a liar. If you didn't want to, it wouldn't have happened."
J'onn didn't understand humans very well, but even he understood what they were talking about. He'd dealt with depraved people who used others in sexual situations, by force or otherwise, in the past. J'onn knew something like that had happened to Wally. Green Lantern had explained it when Wally was in the hospital, though Green Lantern did tell him not to say a word to anyone else.
"You had a knife! You stabbed me!" Wally yelled suddenly.
"I wouldn't have had to do anything if you had just given me what I wanted!" Madison screamed.
"What do you want, Madison? A baby? Because you'll be a terrible mother! What kind of mother stabs the father of her baby?" Wally challenged.
Madison was silent. Then she turned around and walked out of the apartment.
"I'll be back tomorrow. Then we'll discuss this," she said as she left.
Once the door was shut, J'onn became visible again. "Wally-" he started.
Wally was shaking. "I don't want to see her. Please don't let her come back here again. Please," he begged. "She had a knife. I had no choice."
J'onn hesitated. From what he understood, rape happened to women more often. But the way he acted around her, his words, even his attitude screamed that he'd been raped. After all, it wasn't that men couldn't be raped, just that it happened less often.
"It'll be okay, Wally. Lantern and I will make sure she never bothers you again," J'onn offered.
"She's pregnant. I can't escape her," Wally said. "After the baby is born, I'll have to see her."
J'onn had his doubts that a woman like that was even capable of caring for a baby. "We'll deal with that when it happens," he said firmly.
Suddenly, they both heard Madison calling out.
"Wally! Wally, look!" Madison laughed as she dangled her legs over the edge of a window across the street. "Come catch me!" She continued laughing as she maneuvered her body out of the window. "I'll be a great mother! Just look at me! Wally, I love you!" The windowsill broke under her weight and Madison fell four stories to the hard concrete below. Blood pooled around the splattered corpse of a woman who had once been Madison Morello.