Wally didn't sleep very well that night.

He was up until the early hours of the morning, doing anything he could to keep his mind busy and off of...everything. He typed and revised his French paper, reread the letter from not-Artemis, went over his Government notes, reread the not-Artemis letter, pondered on how eff'ed up his life was at the moment, read the not-Artemis letter again, checked on Arlynn (more to see if she was actually there and existent than if she was still asleep), crumbled up the not-Artemis letter and threw it away, paced anxiously throughout his small living room so fast that he accidentally burned holes in the carpet, stressed over that for a bit, sat back down, played angry birds for a while, checked on Arlynn again, and watched Netflix on his phone until he finally passed out from sheer exhaustion roughly around 3:30.

"...ter? Mister? Mister. Mister!" a young, irritatingly persistent voice was what woke Wally up only a few hours later. ...What? In his half-asleep state, his thoughts were muddled and confused. A kid? How did a kid get into my-oh, right.

The events of the prior night caught up to him and Wally wanted to either yell in frustration, or cry in despair. So it wasn't just a nightmare as he had hoped...

He pushed himself into a sitting position, and rubbed at a sleepy green eye with a balled fist, "...Kid? What is it?" He yawned. Glancing down at the girl, he saw that her emerald eyes had an almost panicked glint in them as she stared with wide eyes up at him. Instantly, Wally was on high alert.

"What happened?" Before she had a chance to answer, Wally sniffed the air, a very distinctive scent reaching his nostrils, "Is that...smoke?"

Arlynn nodded frantically, "I didn't mean to! I promise! I was just trying to...and then the...and now it's on fire and I tried to pour water on it but it only got bigger and-"

Wally didn't stick around to hear the rest of the explanation as he sprinted to where the source of the smell was coming from: the kitchen. The fire on one of his appliances wasn't huge, but it certainly wasn't a small spark. Making his way over to the cabinets which were thankfully a reasonable distance away from the fire, Wally pulled out a mini fire extinguisher and after making sure it was correct and not expired, he sprayed it's contents on the appliance.

The fire went out, leaving only the foul smell of smoke and the burnt remains of the appliance.

"My toaster..." Wally moaned, staring pitifully at the destroyed appliance. He heard the small pitter patter of footsteps as Arlynn approached him from behind.

"What. Happened." he asked, well, growled, would be more accurate.

"Um...the toaster caught on fire?"

Wally inhaled deeply and pinched the bridge the nose as he exhaled slowly, "Yeah. I got that much out of it, kid. How?"

"Well...I was making toast and...I think it didn't like me very much."

Wally glanced angrily back at Arlynn, who stared stubbornly at her bare feet for a while before guiltily meeting his gaze, "...Sorry?"

Wally clenched his fists as he grit his teeth in annoyance, "Kid," he sighed upon seeing Arlynn's kicked puppy expression, his own features softening, "Just...ask for help next time. And never, ever try to use water to put out an electrical fire, 'kay kid?" This is only gonna be for a short while, Walls. This is only gonna be for a short while...

She nodded and hesitated only briefly before speaking again, "Arlynn."

Wally blinked, "What?" he asked confusedly.

"Arlynn, not "kid". That's all you've been calling me since I got here." she explained.

"O-oh. Sorry ki- ahem, Arlynn. Um, well if we're addressing names then stop calling me "Mister". I'm 21, not 30. Just Wally's fine."

Arlynn gave him a small smile, "Alright then, Wally. Sorry about your toaster."

"Yeah, I'll never know how you managed to set it on fire by trying to make a piece of toast, but don't stress over it. I can buy a new one...eventually." Wally replied, giving Arlynn a small, reassuring grin.

Arlynn sat at the small dining room table a short while later, doodling on a piece of paper with a few colored ink pens that Wally had scrounged up from his bag.

("You don't have any crayons?"

"...Do I look like a kindergartener to you?"

"Well..."

"Just shut up and entertain yourself while I find us something to eat.")

And so he did. As Wally searched his kitchen for any non-toaster related breakfast food, he found that he was in desperate need of grocery shopping. Aside from a couple packets of instant ramen, some canned chicken noodle soups, half a bag of Chicken Whizzies , and a box of Frosted Flakes, his pantry was completely empty.

Man, I didn't realize I'd been so busy to forget food shopping...

Making a mental note to do that sometime soon, Wally pulled out the box of Frosted Flakes, finding one of his few clean bowls (I need to do the dishes too, he noted as he eyed the kitchen sink, almost overflowing with dirty silverware, cups, plates, and bowls). He rinsed the bowl as an extra safety measure before filling it with cereal, opening the fridge in search of milk. Like his pantry, it was almost completely empty, save for a few (probably bad) takeout leftovers and aha! Wally took out the quarter gallon of whole milk, checking it for an expiration date. Huh. It says it expired two days ago, but maybe it's still-eck! Definitely not! Wally wrinkled his nose at the foul smell of the milk before pouring it down the sink drain. Grabbing a clean spoon and putting it in the bowl of dry Frosted Flakes, he placed it in front of Arlynn.

"Alright kid, bon appetit."

Arlynn took no time in picking up the spoon and eating the cereal, seemingly taking no heed in the fact that it was dry. Wally raised an eyebrow at that, but took the win as he sat across from her and grabbed a handful of Frosted Flakes straight from the box, stuffing it into his mouth.

The two ate in silence for a while before Wally decided to finally address the elephant in the room.

"So...ki-Arlynn?"

Arlynn perked up at her name, her curious green eyes meeting his nervous and somewhat anxious ones.

"We should probably talk."

Arlynn blinked and took a moment to swallow her food before answering, "About what?"

Wally scratched the back of his neck nervously, "I mean, everything would probably be a good start."

Arlynn tapped her chin in contemplation for a brief moment, "You want to know why I'm here." she said. It wasn't phrased as a question but Wally answered anyway.

"Well, yeah. And where the hel- heck is your mom?" He wasn't supposed to curse in front of children, right?

"I told you already, I don't know." Arlynn replied.

"Arlynn, come on. Your mom had to have given you some reason for bringing you here." Wally pushed. He knew he was sounding desperate but well, he was desperate. The words of the not-Artemis letter were ingrained into his mind, echoing throughout his thoughts right along with the 'what ifs' and 'maybes' and he wanted, no he needed to hear something, anything that would disprove even a portion of it.

"Um, well she didn't tell me where she was going and when I asked, Mommy said it was a secret. Then I asked if I could go too and she said no 'cause I'm too little. Then Mommy told me to pack my things 'cause I was going away to another place for a bit 'till she picked me up." Arlynn said.

Well that was completely unhelpful. It seems Arlynn knows less about what's going on than I do.

"Well did she say when she was coming to get you?" Wally asked in an attempt to get some kind of useful information out of her.

Arlynn shook her head, "Not exactly, but when I asked if she'd be back before my birthday, she said she would."

"And when's your birthday?"

"September 1st."

Wally sighed, running a hand over his face. It was February 15th. Well at least you know she won't be here forever, the optimistic part of his brain supplied. Yeah 'cause having to put your whole life on hold for almost a whole friggin' year is so much better, the cynical part countered.

Don't get overzealous here. Ah...there it was, logic. You still don't know if she's even yours.

Paternity test. Right.

...

How did this become his life?

"Sorry I don't know more, Wally," Arlynn apologized, looking very guilty for her part, "Mommy's really good at keeping secrets. A lot better than I am."

Wally gave a small, partially forced smile, "Don't stress over it."

Arlynn raised an eyebrow, "Well you sure look like you're stressing over it."

"I'm not, I just-" Wally cut off his lie, knowing that it would do him no good since he could hardly believe himself at the moment. He opted instead to change back to the subject, "What about your..." Wally paused, reluctant to finish his own question, "your dad?"

Arlynn finished another bite of her cereal before replying, "Oh, I don't have one."

Wally's heart dropped.

"...You don't?"

Arlynn shook her head, "No, it's always just been me and mommy. I mean, Brad was there for a little bit and then there was Todd but-"

"I'm sorry, Brad and Todd?" Wally asked, he wasn't sure why that was what caught his attention the most.

"Yeah. They were Mommy's douchebag boyfriends. Neither of them lasted very long." Arlynn said matter-of-factly.

Wally had to stifle an amused snort at Arlynn's nickname for the two, "And why do I get the sneaking impression that you had something to do with that?" he asked.

Arlynn shrugged as she shifted her gaze to a wall on her right, "I dunno what you're talking about." she lied.

Wally chuckled, "Of course not." he replied. His amusement died down quickly enough however, as he came to a realization.

"Um, well she didn't tell me where she was going and when I asked, Mommy said it was a secret."

'As for where I am, well, I can't exactly say...'

"Then Mommy told me to pack my things 'cause I was going away to another place for a bit 'till she picked me up."

'...I need you to watch her until I get back.'

Their stories matched. Sure, the not-Artemis' version included more detail but in the overall gist of things...

Maybe...maybe it's just a coincidence.

Yeah, that's it. That had to be it.

"...it's always just been me and mommy."

'Arlynn, she's...ours.'

This was all just a coincidence. It had to be. This was all just a badly-timed, strangely-accurate coincidence.

"Wally."

Wally jumped slightly in his seat at the sudden voice.

Arlynn raised an eyebrow at his strange reaction, "Are you okay? You're being weird." she stated bluntly.

And there was that rising headache again, "I'm fine." Wally lied.

Arlynn wasn't convinced, "You don't look-"

"I'm fine." Wally repeated more firmly.

Arlynn rolled her eyes as she finished the last of her cereal, "Whatever." Picking up her bowl, she slid out of her seat and stood on the tips of her toes as she placed it in the sink atop all of the overflowing dishes. Wally glanced at the girl. She was still clad in the same pink jogger pants and black hoodie from the night prior, though they were wrinkled from sleep. Her hair was also a mess, having had fallen half out of its side ponytail with several tangled strands of her golden hair hanging loosely to her waist.

She turned around, meeting his gaze evenly as she crossed her arms, "So what now?" she asked.

"What?"

"What now?" Arlynn repeated, "You said that I could only stay for the night and we'd figure things out in the morning."

Oh. I did say that, didn't I?

"Um, well, I, uh..." Wally fumbled over his words, "I've decided that you uh...you can stay. For the weekend that is." Once again Wally had to ask himself, how was this his life?

"Really?" Arlynn asked, no small amount of suspicion in her tone.

"Um, yeah. Yeah, I just...I just thought, you know, since you have nowhere else to go for the moment-and you really don't have anywhere else to go right?"

Arlynn shook her head.

"Well, yeah, I figured, you know that, you know, you're a kid and I'm...not, a kid that is. And you were left on my doorstep in the first place so I have to hold some sort of responsibility for you even if I'm completely the wrong person to have it and-" Wally paused briefly before he drifted even deeper into his ramblings, "Ahem. My main point is that I should...I should probably erm...confirm some things before sending you off on your way, is all."

Arlynn stared at Wally blankly, silently relaying the message that she had no clue if what just came out of his mouth was even remotely english. "...Okay...?" she said unsurely, "And after you "confirm" or whatever, I can just go?"

"Uh..." Wally hesitated briefly in his answer, really not wanting to have to lie a little kid, but did he really have a choice? Based off of their brief conversation from the night prior of Wally calling the CPS (or as Arlynn called them, "the people in suits"), Arlynn would not react very well at all to him telling her the truth of that being his exact plan of what to do if-no, when-the negative paternity results came in. "Uh, yeah. Sure." Wally said quickly. Technically, it wasn't a complete lie, she would go...just with other, experienced adults to a home or...wherever else they take kids in these kind of situations. As the guilt inside him bubbled up at the thought (which Wally totally didn't understand since he was doing the right thing), he decided to quickly change the subject.

"So, anyway, why don't you go and get washed up and dressed? We're going out."

Arlynn drew her gaze to her hands as she fiddled with her fingers, "Um, I don't have any other clothes."

"...What?"

"I don't have any other-"

"No, I heard what you said. I just-I don't-didn't you say that your mom told you to pack your things?"

"I did pack my things." Arlynn replied.

"And did your things not consist of clothes?"

"Of course they did."

"And you didn't think it was important to pack them?"

"I mean, I thought it maybe could've been important-"

"Maybe?"

"-but then I wouldn't have been able to fit my other things in my bag."

"What other things?"

Arlynn's face scrunched up in an adorable look of concentration as she tried to remember the contents of her bag, "Um...well I had to bring Mr. Teddy and Mrs. Unicorn and since they both get grouchy without their tea set I had to bring that too. And then I packed my toothbrush and my sparkly princess toothpaste and oh! Did you know my toothbrush could sing?! Anyway, I also brought my favorite Bella Ballerina shoes 'cause they make me spin 'round and 'round and 'round really fast if I want to. And I also brought my blanket and my special pillow since I don't sleep very good without them."

Wally blinked, "And those are what you deemed important?" he deadpanned.

For her part, Arlynn looked genuinely confused at what Wally found so unbelievable about it and Wally couldn't bring himself to feel anything more than mild irritation towards the girl. She was only four, after all, and it wasn't really her fault. Whoever this kid's mom was should've known to supervise or at least check her packing afterwards.

"Fine. Fine. This is-this is okay. This is...I can work with this." Wally said, more so to himself than Arlynn. Man, once this whole thing was done and over with, Wally would make it his personal mission to never have any kids. Here he was babysitting one for a single weekend and he was already fairly sure that he was greying. "I have an idea."

"This is stupid." Wally heard Arlynn call out to him a short while later as he finished with his daily hygiene and changed into a fresh pair of clothes. He emerged from his bedroom, making his way to the living room.

"Well kid, it's the best I could do on short convenience so-oh." Wally's eyes widened slightly as he caught sight of Arlynn. The girl's hair was still damp from the shower she had taken and hung limply down to her waist, slightly wetting the back of the largely oversized t-shirt she wore. Wally had been sure to choose one of his smallest t-shirts, yet on Arlynn the short sleeves still reached her elbows and kept slipping off her shoulders, much to Arlynn's annoyance. It fell to past her knees, nearly reaching her mid-calf and leaving only a bit of her jogger pants (she had stubbornly protested to keep those on) visible. Couple that with the adorable scowl she wore, and she looked like a kitten drowned in clothing.

Wally had to stifle a laugh.

Arlynn bristled at that. "It's not funny!"

"Right, right. Of course not." Wally replied, fighting to keep the amused grin off of his face.

"It's not!"

Wally raised his hands defensively, "I didn't say it was!"

"But you were thinking it!" Arlynn retorted. She then crossed her arms over her chest self-consciously, "Isn't there anything else that I can wear?"

"Oh come on, Arlynn. It's not that bad." Wally said.

"I look like a game of dress-up gone wrong," Arlynn protested, "If my hoodie weren't so stinky, I'd've worn that instead."

"Well...I can't disagree with you there, but it'll be a quick trip. Promise."

Arlynn huffed, still not fully convinced, "Can't I stay here?" she whined.

"Er...no. Besides the fact that you're four, and well four, I'm pretty sure that it'd be breaking some kind of law leaving you alone. Plus, I don't need you setting anything else on fire and I'm not around."

"I said I was sorry..."

"Yeah and I forgave, but I didn't forget. Now put on some shoes."

Arlynn huffed, but slipped into the skechers she wore the night before, "Where are we even going, anyway?"

"Nowhere fun, I can promise you that."