Chapter Nine
Wally sat alone on the edge of her bed; hands folded staring at the floor. The room was empty now, sterile. Dinah had come in days earlier and packed up her belongings and taken them back to the Queen Mansion. She had no family to return them to, just a villainous sister who'd disappeared into the wind. It was not done out of necessity, there were plenty of living quarters available for any new upcoming team members; it was done purely for closure.
When it was appropriate, she and Ollie would go through the archer's belongings, saving photos and keepsakes to share with her friends, but for now all that remained was the Alice in Wonderland poster that hung on her wall.
The speedster had quickly made his way through the seven stages of grief; shock, denial, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression, but hope and acceptance were not forthcoming, he doubted they ever would be.
His eyes were swollen and bloodshot, his heart numb. He hadn't slept more than a few hours since her death, hoping that he'd awake to find it all just some bad dream, that she'd be cuddled next to him making some snarky remark about him waking her. All that was left now was an empty room.
Artemis was the bravest, kindest, and most loving girl he'd ever known. They'd started out as enemies and they ended up closer than either expected. They were in love. She was his spitfire and now she was gone. Artemis Crock was dead
There were always risks in their line of work, no one was ever promised a tomorrow, but they were young and invincible, a team that could survive anything and win the day. Her death was a devastating reminder of just how dangerous their line of work truly was, and the image of her tears from the opposite side of the blast doors would be burned in his mind for the rest of his life.
A lone figure walked into the room, another friend and teammate as heartbroken as he was, Robin felt little comfort in knowing he'd done everything in his power, everything he'd be trained for to save her. In the end it wasn't his fault any more than Wally's, but regardless they both carried the same burden, the same guilt. They'd failed her.
Dick hated to disturb him, but it was time to say goodbye.
"We have to go. The service starts in an hour. Everybody's waiting"
Wally nodded, wiping his eyes and reaching over and pulling on the black suit jacket.
"I can't believe she's gone," he spoke softly
"I know," Dick replied, his mind searching desperately for something...anything he could have done differently to save her, and for the thousandth time he'd come up empty.
The two friends stood and walked out of the room. Wally turned back one final time to lock away in his mind all the precious moments that had taken place in there. He had no intention of ever opening that door again.
They made their way down the hall towards the hanger when Wally turned to his best friend. "Does it ever go away? the pain?"
Dick contemplated the question for a moment. He'd lost more than most in his relatively short life; parents, brothers, a sister. He wished there was a way to ease his friend's burden, to say something that would make it all better, but the most honest answer was also the most painful one.
"No," Dick replied sadly, "but it does get easier over time. Even after all these years I still have my bad days, but in a way I'm kind of glad. I never want to forget them; I never want to trick myself into thinking its ok."
He turned and put his hand on the red heads shoulder. "You won't be going through this alone. I'll be with you every step of the way, we all will. We'll make it through this I promise."
Wally nodded and began to tear up again when Dick embraced the speedster and patted his back. A few moment slater Wally eased away and took out his handkerchief and wiped his eyes.
"Thanks Rob, I really appreciate it."
"Hey, what are best pals for?" Dick smiled.
"…..Uh…Professor West?"
Wally's head jerked up, snapping out his reverie to see his entire class staring at him curiously. One minute he was discussing Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle before trailing off and staring into the smart board.
"Are you ok?" the young brunette student asked.
"Yeah….sorry guys. Um where were we?"
Another student chimed in, "That Niels Bohr had discovered an electron with the qualities of both a particle and a wave."
"Right," Wally confirmed, "the wave-particle duality theory. So when we measure an electron's position, we are treating it as a particle at a specific point in space but with an uncertain wavelength…."
Wally paused again, before putting down his pen and turning off the projector. "Tell you what guys, let's finish this later. No homework this weekend, just kick back and relax, life's too short. We'll come back to this on Tuesday."
The room erupted in cheers and not one student complained they were getting out of class and hour early this day, another prime example why Professor West was the coolest teacher on campus. The students shuffled out, walking around the auburn haired student waiting in the doorway.
Bart walked in, and shut the door behind him, pulling up a chair and sitting across the desk from his cousin.
"You ok?" he asked.
Wally sighed. "How'd you find out?"
"Tim," Bart answered simply. "Evidently she showed up in Gotham about a week ago."
"Nice of him to warn me. She showed up at my house yesterday."
"No way!" Bart gasped. "How'd that go?" he asked shocked.
"Well I got my ass handed to me by a carjacker, I was drugged by an assassin, my house got trashed, and when I wasn't throwing up I spent most of my morning in a screaming match with my dead ex-girlfriend, so other than not too bad I guess."
"You are freaking kidding me? Are you ok? We're the twins home?"
"No thank God," Wally exhaled. "They were at mom and dads, but they could have just as easily been, and that scares the hell out of me."
"I bet," Bart confirmed. "Does she know? about Barry? about your speed?"
"Yeah, she knew about Barry, and after watching me getting my ass kicked she figured the rest out pretty quickly."
"Why didn't you call? I could have been there in a second…literally"
"I thought I had it, I really did. It was just one freaking guy, but he had partner I never saw coming, then all of the sudden Artemis, Cheshire and some huge dude come out of nowhere, and the next thing I know I'm in my bed, puking my guts up, arguing with a ghost, so I didn't have a lot of time to make a call," Wally lamented
"So she shows up out of nowhere, saves your life and then roofies you."
"Pretty sure those weren't roofies, but you get the drift," Wally frowned.
"What did she want?"
"I have no idea," the elder speedster replied. "To explain maybe? Apologize? Justify? Who the hell knows? I don't even know why she bothered. What's done is done."
"So what happened to her? Where is she now?"
"It's a long a story." Wally sighed.
"You can tell me over lunch, your treat of course," Bart grinned.
"Of course," Wally sighed, digging into to his wallet looking for cash. A folded up note he'd placed there weeks earlier slipped out from inside and landed at the speedster's feet. Wally knelt down to pick it up, opening the note and staring curiously at it, right before his face went pale.
"Oh shit! No..No..No..No….What's today's date!?" he has asked his cousin frantically. "Is it the 21st?"
"Uh yeah I think so," Bart replied a bit confused. "What wrong?"
"Parent teacher conferences, that were supposed to start…" he looked down at his watch, …"Oh about ten minutes ago."
He grabbed his bag and ran to his jeep, cursing the entire way. It wasn't fighting supervillains or saving the world that made his miss his speed most, it was days like these.
Thirty minutes later Wally pulled into the school parking lot, his wheels squealing as his jeep lurched to a stop. The crossing guard shot him an angry glare, but the red head ignored it, jumping out and running towards the school office. Jai sat inside and leapt to his feet when he saw his father sprinting towards him.
The raven haired boy ran to the door and opened it for his approaching father. "Dad come on!"
Wally nodded, reaching the entrance of the school just in time catch the irritated frowns of both his son and daughter, as well as their teacher as Mrs. Fogle, who was nice enough to go the extra mile to point to her watch angrily. Wally bent over hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.
"Won't….happen…again…" he panted.
"Um-hm," the grey haired woman replied sarcastically, opening the door to her office and leading the West clan inside. Her reports were mostly positive; straight A students, social, respectful, a bit too chatty when they shouldn't be, as well as a bit too easily distracted. Basically like every other third grader since the dawn of time. Wally nodded in agreement to every statement; barely listening to the same report he'd heard since the day they'd started kindergarten.
He gazed out the office window for a moment, taking a brief respite from the educator's annoying nasality, when he noticed an odd figure standing between the departing school busses a good fifty yards away. He wore a trench coat and hat that seemed a bit out of place for such a warm spring day. But what was even more odd was whoever this person was seemed to be looking specifically in his direction. An eerie feeling washed over the speedster, and he squinted harder trying to make at the person's features when the teacher cleared her throat loudly for the second time. "Mr. West?"
Wally shook the cobwebs from his head, and quickly turned back towards the homeroom teacher. "I'm sorry Mrs. Fogle, I think we were at... easily distracted. Right?"
The teacher rolled her eyes. "I wonder where they get that from."
Wally bit his lip and took her jibe. She reached down to hand out the folder of his kid's schoolwork when Wally looked back out the window only to find the man gone, nowhere to be seen.
Wally palmed his eyes and stifled a yawn, chocking up the paranoia as side effect to the series of poisons he been injected with days earlier.
Thanks a hell of a lot Artemis he grumbled bitterly.
xxx
"I want to see her," the red head demanded.
"It's not that simple," he countered.
"Bullshit."
"I don't know where she is Barbara, that's the truth."
"The truth? You got a lot of damn gall using that word around me Grayson. Find her. Your boss is the Batman. That's what he does, that's what you do."
"Babs it's not that easy."
"Easy like how? Finding out one of your closest friends isn't really dead or easy like my fiancé knew it the whole time and kept it from me."
"I didn't know it the whole time," Dick carefully corrected.
"You knew enough. Dick you had no right to keep me in the dark." she argued. "She was my friend too."
"It was a bad call," the hero frowned.
"Bad call? Bad call?! It's a bad call when you get drunk and accidently text dick pics to your old girlfriend instead of your new one. It's a bad call when you send Dahlias to your fiancé when they are the only flower in the entire world she's allergic to. This is not a bad call, this gigantic fuck up. You don't do shit like this to the person you supposedly want to spend the rest of your life with. Is there anything else you're not telling me?"
Dick knew the question was rhetorical and any answer he could give would only be met by the same ire, so smartly he remained silent. He'd learned long ago when Barbara Gordon was on a tear, you keep your head down and your arms inside the vehicle at all time until she comes to a complete stop. As she continued to vent he held his tongue, trying not to fuel the fire.
He understood Barbara's rage, remembering well the sharp sting of betrayal the day Batman showed him the blurred images of two masked assassins he'd been sent from an agent deep inside Interpol. He remembered the burning pain in his stomach when the Dark Knight suggested her death had perhaps been staged, but most importantly he remembered the anger as his hands tightened around the bomb makers neck as the man described the clients who'd hired him to create the explosives, the same explosives he thought had killed on of his closest friends. He remembered feeling all the same conflicting emotions that his fiancé felt now, but after a few more minutes of accusations and allegations, Dick had finally had enough.
"I screwed up ok? he yelled. "I've spent years blaming myself for her death…years! I was literally a foot away from her and there was nothing I could do to save her. Then I find out not only she was alive, but that she'd faked everything and was now working for the Shadows? Of course I wanted to tell you, I wanted to tell everyone, but Bruce knows how the Shadows work, what they do, what they can make you do. He convinced me that if we went after her they'd kill her, and as much as I hated it, I knew he was right. So I lied. I lied so no one else would have to feel as helpless, as angry, as sick as I felt…as I feel."
He paced the room, trying to get control of his anger, his pain. On the horizon an approaching storm caught his attention and he walked to the bay window to stare out across the city watching, the wind pick up and the clouds darken, feeling his soul was do much the same.
"You feel betrayed. I totally get that, but I didn't do it be selfish or cruel. I did it to keep her safe and to keep you safe too by not trying to go after her. If you tangle with the Shadows, it's not just one fight, it's an all-out war, and you know that as well as I do."
"But your forgetting one little thing," he added, his voice becoming louder "This was her decision! She went to a lot of time and effort to lie to all of us. She knew what this would do to us, how many people she'd hurt, but she didn't care. So maybe instead of chewing my ass you should think about who started all of this shit to begin with! But know this: if keeping it from you keeps you alive and off the Shadow's radar, I'd do the exact same thing again!"
The room fell silent as Dick searched the den for his sunglasses and keys. Once again another problem he'd tried to fix had blown up in his face; it was slowly becoming the story of his life. Bruce had convinced him to apologize, and make things right, but the bitter irony of it all was Bruce was the one who'd convinced him to keep it secret to begin with.
It wasn't until after his outburst did Dick realize an ugly truth, that perhaps deep down he wasn't sorry at all. He felt betrayed and angry, but it wasn't just at Artemis, but someone else he'd lost long ago, someone closer than a brother who blamed him like he did the archer. Dick was no stranger to loss; parents, teammates, family; all dead and buried now, but for some strange reason nothing stung quite like losing his best friend. He'd kept these feeling locked deep down inside, but when the dam finally broke, years of regret and pain flowed out as well.
Dick turned and wiped the beginnings of a tear away. He needed to get out of there, but when he turned back towards the door a gentle hand rested on his shoulder and slowly guided him back. Strong feminine arms wrapped around his neck, softly resting his head on his shoulder.
Barbara had been worried about him for so long; worried about the way he'd changed when he put on the mask, how his voice grew deeper, his eyes more narrow. He may not have had a bat plastered across his chest, but Dick was becoming more and more like the Dark Knight with each passing day.
But Dick wasn't Bruce, and where Wayne could lock his feelings and secrets away in a cold vault, Dick Grayson hurt, and he'd been hurting for a long time. He didn't like showing this side of himself, he didn't like letting the world see how weak and vulnerable he felt sometimes, but Artemis's appearance in New York had reopened a wound he thought long healed.
"I'm sorry," he whispered as she held him tight and his body began to relax. "If you want to reconsider this whole wedding thing, now might be a good time to bail."
"Not a chance," she smiled stroking his hair, "We're going to be fine Boy Wonder. There's a… tiny...molecular sized chance that I overacted a little."
She felt his body chuckle, feeling his smile form against her shoulder.
"I wish you'd told me," she said kindly, "I wished I could have carried this burden too. It wasn't fair to you. You've got to stop listening to Bruce babe, he gives the worst advice sometimes."
Dick laughed, resting his forehead against hers. "You'll get no argument from me"
"Good, let's keep it that way. It's a good lesson for when were married," she smiled before her face grew serious. "I'm pissed at her too Dick, pissed, hurt, sad, angry…you name it, but I need to know her side. We can't just let her walk out of our lives not knowing why. She came back for reason; I want to know what it is. She owes us that."
"Yeah," he sighed in agreement. "She tried, I wouldn't listen."
"Let's change that," the red head answered
"I wasn't lying Barbara, I don't know where she is."
"You'll find her."
"How do you know?" he asked.
"Because you're a detective," she smiled, kissing his lips warmly.
xxx
Supermax is the name commonly used to describe a handful of prisons scattered across the continental United States and abroad, long considered to be the most secure facilities every built. A typical day for an inmate housed in one of the facilities involves a twenty three hour per day, single-cell confinement lasting for an indefinite period of time. Inmates in Supermax housing have minimal contact with staff and other inmates. The bottom line is once you arrive you never leave.
But these state of the art prisons could not compare to the facility located within the desolate mountain ranges just outside of Nye County, Nevada. This prison had no title, no designation, just a taunting nickname used by the guards to antagonize the inmates. They called it The Tomb. Its location was beyond top secret, completely off the grid, located in what was presumed to be a radioactive wasteland of a former U.S Government nuclear test site. There were no roads, no landing pads or runways, just miles and miles of barren desert.
On the surface stood fractured remnants of Survival Town, a collection of structures, buildings, even mannequins designed to measure the effects of atomic weapons used against urban centers. Radioactive Fallout Warning signs dotted the landscape in all directions for miles and miles, but only a handful knew the testing grounds true purpose. No bomb was ever dropped here, not one explosive ever detonated. Two thousand feet beneath the broken structures rested the most secure and secretive holding facility ever created. It only had one purpose, it only held one type of prisoner. Meta-Humans, criminal so vile, so dangerous, that they could never be allowed to walk amongst society again.
No one knew for sure who'd built or funded the facility, and the only way in or out of the bunker was a heavily encrypted Zeta Tube, so everyone inside, including the inmates, knew more than likely where that technology had come from and who had gave it to them; The Justice League.
The large steel door of cell block three groaned to life, allowing Officer Michael Warren to enter, carrying the cardboard lunch tray. Inside sitting at the control panel, feet resting on the desk, Officer Ken Brady sat watching the clock on the wall, wanting desperately for two o'clock to strike and his shift to end. It's not like he had a home to return to any time soon, shifts inside the Tomb lasted for months, but at least back in the guard's quarters were movies, videogames, books, some form of connection to the outside world. There was no sun, no sky, only a paper calendar on the wall that counted down the days till the relief team arrived.
There was only one prisoner housed at this end of the facility, and unlike the other cells blocks, where unruly super villains and Meta humans kept the guards entertained and on their toes, prisoner 341 sat quietly on his bed, Mozart playing softly throughout the room. His days consisted of reading and rest, with only one hour a day set aside for exercise with heavy shackled and inhibitor collar firmly in place.
As of late, prisoner 341 had begun declining that option, settling instead for books and solitude, the preparation for any movement outside the cell just too much of a hassle. As far as inmates go, prisoner 341 was the most well-behaved, as well as the most boring.
"Anything to report?" the guard asked his partner.
"Nope. Same old same old. Hasn't made a peep in hours. Just laying in bed and reading as usual."
Warren sighed and walked to the thick transparent aluminum wall, unlocking the narrow compartment to slide the tray through.
"Soups on Professor," the guard said sarcastically, using the nickname given to the man early on in his incarceration, back when prisoner 341 would lecture anyone within earshot about the history of the future, his statements always dismissed as the ramblings of a madman. Over the past year the lectures had finally stopped presumably as the prisoner resigned himself to his fate. The Tomb had that effect on people, but the guards assigned to his detail now wished he'd start back up, anything to kill the time and make the day move faster.
The tray rested on the floor, with the occupant not even acknowledging its entrance.
Warren sighed and walked back towards the exit. As boring as his job assignment was, he was still thankful he didn't have Brady's job. Weeks of this and he be as insane as the guys housed in the psychiatric ward.
Warren was about to say his goodbyes when the lights flickered, just for a moment before returning to their depressing florescent brilliance. Brady seemed nonplussed by the brownout, checking the readings on his control panel of the energy field around the cell, its charge never dropping and amp during the half-second long event.
"This shit keeps happening," Brady groaned irritably, "but the boys down at engineering keep saying it's nothing big."
Warren nodded. "It's annoying as hell, but it happens so fast the backup generators don't even have a chance to kick on. They say it all the radiation around here that messes with the power lines or something."
A small shuffling sound caught their attention and suddenly prisoner 341 now sat at his table, eating his lunch silently, raising his glass to the two guards before cutting into his chicken parmesan
Brady cracked his knuckles and yawned as Warren scanned his ID card and waited for the retinal scan.
"See ya tomorrow," he said as the steel door closed behind him.
"Yeah see ya," Brady grumbled, turning and resting his feet back on the desk.
We got guys like Neckron, Metallo, and the Absorbing Man here, how in the hell did I get stuck with Eobard freaking Thawne he sighed.
xxx
Very few things shocked the archer anymore these days, but seeing this specific name appear on the caller ID of a disposable burner phone truly surprised her. Phones like these were typically used only a handful of times before being discarded and a new one purchased, it's user never wanting to leave a digital footprint behind to be tracked, but what was really impressive was the fact that this specific phone and just been activated a day prior and had yet to make an outgoing call.
How Barbara Gordon had found her number was assuredly a trade secret learned under the tutelage of one of the world's greatest detectives, but what intrigued the archer more than the how was the why.
Artemis sipped her tea, grateful she was inside on this rainy Gotham day. It was surreal being back inside the City Café, it had once been one of her favorite hangouts back in the day, and one of the few coffee shops in the city that actually made decent Vietnamese Tea. She held the mug with both hands, savoring the flavor when her guest finally arrived and approached the table.
"Artemis," the red head spoke respectfully.
"Hi Barbara."
Artemis rose uncomfortably from the booth, unsure if a handshake was appropriate after all these years. She extended her hand to the red head when Barbara brushed past it and wrapped her arms around the archer and embraced her. Artemis relaxed into it, surprised at how good it felt. She knew she didn't deserve it, but after the cold reactions she received from former teammates, it was a welcome change, but still she remained cautious, it was her nature.
"You look good," Barbra complimented.
"You too. I guess there's no point in asking how you got my number. I'm impressed."
"Detective. Remember?" the red had grinned, "besides how often does a person get to share a cup of coffee with an actual ghost."
"Touché," the arched chuckled, just as the waitress came by and took Barbara's order.
"Soooo….." the red head began.
"Yeah," the archer sighed, "I'm a real bitch. I know."
Batgirl remained silent, neither confirming nor denying her friend's appraisal.
"It's been a shock to say the least."
"I guess you know the story by now."
"More or less," Barbara confirmed.
"I'm really surprised you called. I know I'm not exactly welcome around here anymore, Dick made that pretty clear."
Barbara frowned. "Dick suffers from an acute case of verbal diarrhea sometimes, but for what it's worth, he's sorry about the way he acted."
Artemis paused for moment before replying with a smile, "No he's not."
"No he's not," Barbara grinned in agreement and her honest reply made them both laugh, "but he does wish he'd handled it differently."
"I deserved it."
"Maybe, but you're not the first hero who's screwed up and lost their way. I'm pretty sure you won't be the last."
"I'm no hero Barbara, not anymore."
"I suppose that's up to you. It's not my place to judge, I've never had to walk a day in your shoes."
"Trust me you don't," Artemis said regrettably, taking a long sip of her tea.
"I guess not," Barbara nodded. "I'm sorry to do this, but I have to ask, was it worth it?"
The archer stared down into her cup, hoping for some profound explanation that would make sense. When none came she just answered as truthfully as she could.
"I told Dick it was, but honestly I'm not sure anymore. I was expecting something more. I thought there would at least be some sick satisfaction that he was dead, that before he died he'd see the irony that the daughters he'd spent a lifetime trying to turn into assassins had been the ones to take out the mighty Sportsmaster."
"But when it was all over, when he was dead and lying at my feet, I was just as numb as the day we buried my mom. I was so blind with revenge; it was all I could think about. After the all things he did to our family, I just couldn't let him do something like that to anyone else, especially you guys, and trust me, he would've kept trying, he was that fucking vindictive. So that's how I justified it, that's how I thought it was ok. I knew if anyone of you had found out you would've stopped me, that's why I tried so hard to cover my tracks."
Artemis's closed her eyes in regret, unable to look at her former teammate. "I should have known Dick or Bruce would have figured it out. I don't know…maybe I was hoping they would. Right after it happened I tried to figure a way to come back and explain…to apologize, but I got scared and then the Shadows arrived and….well you know the rest. What I did to you all was unforgivable. I'm …"
She fought the tears as her voice cracked. She took her cup and drank another sip, unable to finish her thoughts.
Barbara remained silent as the server arrived with her beverage. Her reaction was pretty much what Artemis had expected. They were close once, but her actions had destroyed so many relationships, why should this be any different? The archer looked out the large storefront window, watching as the forecasted rain began to fall, searching for something to say when she noticed a single tear sliding down her friend's cheek just before the red head quickly wiped it away.
Artemis swallowed hard, completely taken aback by her friend's reaction. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, her husky voice betraying the pain she tried so hard to hide. "I fucked everything up, it's what I do."
"I'm so pissed at you," Barbara sniffled, "but I'm so glad you're alive. I missed you." she spoke, reaching over and taking the archer's hand.
"I missed you too. I missed all of you. I knew I wasn't going to make it, that eventually the Shadows were going to kill me, but I thought about you all so much, but after a while it just hurt so much and I just…let go."
Barbara squeezed her hand before finally letting go and palming the remaining moisture from her eyes.
"I know Dick hates me, you probably do to" the blonde sighed, "I don't blame you."
"Artemis, I wouldn't be sitting here drinking overpriced coffee if I hated you, I'd be taking you out back and beating the living shit out of you for what you put us through," she smiled.
"And Dick doesn't hate you either; he's just…really conflicted right now. It's been a rough couple of years for him. He blamed himself for your death. Not being able to save you crushed him. You weren't just his friend Artemis, you were his family. It wasn't long after that the team started to splinter. It wasn't just because of you; it was a lot of things. We weren't kids anymore. We were growing up and a lot of us just didn't want to keep playing cops and robbers. There was school and family and jobs. Dick felt obligated to stay, but the others felt differently and gradually dropped down to part timers, occasionally going on missions with the new recruits every now and then, but it just wasn't the same. And then the whole thing with Wally….."
"Barbara what happened between them? Roy said he didn't know, but I know he was full of shit. He's hiding something."
The red head nodded understandingly, blowing into her cup to cool the coffee. She hated bringing this back up after years of trying to make peace with it, but Artemis deserved to know.
"I guess he told you about Wally's wife? About Thawne?"
Artemis nodded.
Barbara glanced around the café, pulling her chair in closer to the archer. "Right after it happened; the League went on a worldwide manhunt for Thawne. They called in everybody and I mean everybody. Thawne hadn't just murdered Wally's wife, he'd killed one of their own. Barry was a founding member; he was the glue that kept everyone together."
"Superman was the first to find him. He wasn't anywhere close to Thawne's speed, but he kept him busy enough until Wonder Woman, the three Lanterns, and the Manhunter arrived. It took all of them to wrestle him down and get the inhibitor collar on him, and when they finally did he just sat on the ground and laughed and laughed. They said it was like watching the Joker, it was that twisted."
"When they got him back to the Hall of Justice and into a holding cell, everyone took a breath and waited for Bruce to arrive to figure out what to do with him. It wasn't like they could just send him to Blackgate or Iron Heights. There'd have to be an arrest, a trial of some kind, but the League knew they couldn't risk it. He knew secret identities, family members, things that would come out if any of this went public. It would've put even more innocent lives at risk. It all happened so fast and getting him off the streets was their biggest priority, but afterwards no one knew what to do with him. Something like this had never happened before; there were no protocols in place."
"Hindsight's twenty/twenty, but as soon as Zoom was secured the first thing they should have done was track down Wally and Bart and keep them away from the Hall, but like I said, nothing like this had ever happened before. Everyone was so busy waiting on Batman and throwing out suggestions that they never heard him arrive. That's when Wally took him."
"Hold on a second. Wally took him? Took him where?"
Barbara looked curiously at the archer, not realizing until that moment that her friend didn't know the whole story. "What exactly did Roy tell you?"
"He told me the League tracked Thawne down while he was trying to break into STAR, and from there took him into custody and sent him off to some black site." Artemis replied in confusion.
"That's the official story, that's what the founding members told everyone, but it wasn't the truth, not even close."
Barbara took a deep breath and continued. "In all the confusion Wally grabbed Zoom from the holding cell and shot through the Zeta Tubes before anyone could even move. His speed overloaded every readout and there was no way of tracking him until the system was rebooted, and that would take time, but Dick knew exactly where he'd go. So after everyone took off towards Central and Keystone, Dick transported to Mt. Justice alone. It had been abandoned for years, but he knew that would be the last place anyone would look."
"Wally had Thawne on his knees execution style, preparing to vibrate his fist through Zoom's skull when Dick tackled him and pumped him with enough tranquilizers to kill a buffalo. He knew Wally wouldn't be able to live with himself if he took a life. Dick did what he thought was right and hoped Wally would understand once he could calm down and think clearly again."
"Days later a few of us arrived at the Hall to pay our respects and to check on him. When we walked into the conference room they were going at it full bore. Wally was screaming, completely out of control, just knocking the shit out of Dick left and right, but Dick refused to fight him. He just took it, blow after blow until Kaldur and Conner pulled Wally off of him. Dick had three broken ribs, a dislocated jaw, and a fractured occipital bone, but he refused to put up a fight or even defend himself. That was the moment Wally walked away and they haven't spoken sense."
Artemis was in shock, completely stunned by this discovery. The two friends were closer than brothers, in and out of uniform. They'd saved each other's lives more times then she could count, always there for the other no matter what. Never in a million years would she have believed something like this could've happened, not between them.
"Wally quit the League and that's the last time just about anyone's heard from him. Conner and Zatanna see him from time to time, I know Roy checks up on him, but mostly he and just keeps to himself and raises the twins. As far as Zoom goes, no one knows for sure where he is. The only thing Batman's ever said was he's in a place where he'll never hurt anyone again. I know he's not dead, but whatever Bruce's done with him, even Dick doesn't know."
"Did you all know…." the blonde asked hesitantly.
"…about his speed?" Barbara answered. "Yeah Dick figured it out. The Flash doesn't just one day shrink four inches and become left handed. It took only a few times seeing him on CNN before we knew it wasn't him. Then Tim confirmed it."
"Tim?"
"Robin, well the new one to you I suppose. A lot's changed since you've been gone." Barbara replied.
"Tim and Bart are pretty close. Kid Flash was one of the new recruits just like Robin was, but when Barry died Bart and Wally pulled away. Bart quit the Team, Wally quit the League. We're not sure what happened or why, I doubt we'll ever know. As to why Bart wears both suits, our best guess is that he keeps up both personas just for appearances, to keep Central City feeling safe and the bad guys on their toes. Barry's death was never made public and I guess they wanted Central and Keystone to keep thinking everything was still status quo. So how'd you find out?"
"I saw Wally almost get killed by carjacker. If Jade and I had jumped in he'd be dead."
"Oh my God," the red head worriedly exclaimed. "Is he ok?"
"Yeah, for the most part I guess," the archer shrugged dejectedly.
"So you've seen him? How'd that go?"
"Let's just say not well," she sighed. "I still care about him Barbara. I care a lot, and it's not like I expected him to welcome me back with open arms, I just wanted…I needed to explain, to make things somehow right, but it was stupid and selfish and things went south pretty quickly."
"I'm sorry Artemis, I really am. Wally's different now; he's not the same guy you remember. None of us are."
Artemis nodded; truer words had never been spoken. The archer could feel the mood of the conversation taking a definite downward turn, and the last thing she wanted was to hurt the feelings of the last friend she had.
"So you and Dick huh?" the archer asked.
"What?" Barbara asked.
Artemis's gaze never waivered.
Barbara laughed it off, tilting her head in the direction of the news rack. "You do see him on the cover of Gotham Post over there don't you? Ms. September I think, I don't usually keep track of playmates, it's bad for my self-esteem."
Artemis pursed her lips, staring down the hero. "You're a terrible liar."
Barbara tried to feign ignorance the best she could, come up with a millions different cover stories, but soon realized someone who'd worked for the Shadows for almost a decade could most likely smell a lie from a mile away sighed, it was probably one of the reasons she was still alive. After a few seconds she realized there was no point in trying to hide it. She opened her purse, and pulled out the ring.
"Holy shit! You're engaged!?" Artemis blurted out loud enough that a few other surprised patrons glanced over at them. Barbara's eyes grew wide and she quickly reached over and covered the archer's mouth. The hero scooted closer to the table, trying to shrink their distance as Artemis as did the same
"Engaged?" Artemis repeated with a whisper.
"Yes," Barbra shushed. "No one knows, not even Bruce. You can't tell anyone."
"Who am I going to tell?" the archer deadpanned.
"Ok good point," the red head agreed.
High school romances very rarely last, and Artemis had seen enough of the will they won't they from Dick and Zatanna back in the day to make certain assumptions. Since her return, after seeing enough of Gotham's golden boy plastered across every tabloid in New York with some bimbo by his side, she'd assumed that, much like his mentor; Grayson would remain a bachelor for life. Looking back now Artemis couldn't believe she'd ignored the obvious. Batgirl and Robin had trained together, fought together, literally grew up with each other. No one understood the curse nor the privilege of wearing the bat more than they did. It's usually the most obvious choices that were the hardest to see. It was only natural that they'd eventually discover feelings for each other; the courage to act on them was a whole different matter, but courage was something Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon held in great supply, and besides if an archer and a certain speedster could have ended up together despite their glaring differences, anyone in this crazy world had a shot.
"Well congratulations," Artemis smiled, unable to take her eyes off the impressive diamond.
"A little gaudy if you ask me, I don't like the idea of wearing a ring that could literally pay off someone's mortgage, but Dick says it all about appearances, just like those girls his publicist arranges for him to appear with. Trust me when this is all over, this ring is going back to the jeweler and turned into something good, like a scholarship of some kind. If we had our way though, we'd be in a chapel in Vegas tying the knot, but Mr. 'high society' is a tad too well known to do something like that, so we have to do the whole formal announcement thing. I'm just don't know if I'm ready to live my life in the gossip section of the Gotham Times, and he knows better than to think for a second I'm giving up being Batgirl. I swear lately I just want to choke the life out of him, especially when he does the things like this, things like you. It's going to take a lot of time and patience trying to be his partner in and out of costume. We know it's going to be a bit complicated at first, but we're working on it."
"Anything worth having usually is. When's the big day? the blonde asked.
"Well he's got to tell Bruce soon, so I imagine there will have to be some kind of formal announcement out in a few days or so, then some Wayne Foundation engagement party, Dick has all the timetables in his head, he knows how fast Bruce works. We don't have a set date in mind yet, but somewhere along the lines of six months to a year I guessing, if we last that long."
"You will." Artemis smiled.
"You should come."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me," Barbara repeated. "You should come. Dick's been looking for an excuse to get everyone together. Everyone's schedules are always so packed, but people always make time for engagement parties, especially our friends. When are you going to have another chance like this? There are a lot of people who I know would like to see you, people who need to see you."
Artemis frowned slightly. "Barbara I can't, I appreciate the sentiment, I really do, but it would be a huge mistake. I'm not going to be in Gotham much longer, besides you've seen how Dick and Wally reacted, can you imagine how pissed Conner and Kaldur probably are? And oh god I don't want to even think about Zee, I'd be lucky to survive the night. This is about you guys; the last thing you need is that kind of stress."
Barbara shook her head in agreement, but didn't give up. "Just consider it ok? You came back for a reason. If you're really leaving, when are you ever going to get another opportunity like this to say goodbye, the right way," she glared. "I won't put any pressure on you, but just think about it ok?"
Artemis nodded, knowing full well there was no way in hell she'd ever put herself back in a situation like this, she'd learned her lesson well, but still...if Barbara had gone to so much trouble to reach out to her, the least she could do was think it over, despite how terrible and idea it would be.
They continued reminiscing with Barbara telling stories of old friends, triumphs and tragedies, things that made the archer smile. Artemis shared what she could, never getting into any gory detail, but still sharing things about the Shadows that the detective part of Batgirl would find interesting. They talked for hours, as if the last ten years had never existed. The waitress came over with the check, and the red head grabbed for it before the archer her could react. Barbara grinned to Artemis dismay.
"You'll get it next time," the hero smiled.
"Next time," the archer agreed. The waitress took her card and went to the register as the red head gathered her purse. As she was about to stand she looked to see Artemis fidgeting about, biting her nails, twisting her hair, all signs Barbara easily remembered despite the years. There was still something on the archer's mind, something she'd held back until now.
"Barbara, what was she like? Wally's wife?"
Barbara exhaled, a small reminiscing smile crossing her face. "She reminded me a lot of you."
"Asian?" Artemis chuckled.
"He does have a type," the hero smiled. "She was beautiful, elegant, funny, fearless. Even in a room full of meta-humans, aliens, and vigilantes, she was never intimidated. The Flash is one of the fastest men alive, a true superhero, but to her Wally was just a normal guy, a bit obnoxious from time to time, but normal," she smiled as they both chuckled.
"She kept him grounded, and they were both just really happy, until that monster took it all away," she said bitterly. "Linda never even got to hold her own babies. That piece of garbage took everything from him, his wife, his mentor, his friend. If there's any justice in this world, Thawne will rot away in whatever prions he's in and then hell after that."
Artemis took Barbara's hand, regretful she's asked and the bad memories it had brought back. "I'm sorry Barbara."
The read head squeezed it, "No its ok, it's just still really sad. Look I gotta run. Think about what I said. It would mean a lot to me if you'd come, but if not we definitely have to get together one more time before you leave ok? Promise?"
"I promise." the blonde warmly smiled.
Barbara's brows furrowed. "Artemis…."
"I promise" the archer chuckled. "You're going to hold this whole faking my death thing over me for a long time aren't you?"
"You have no idea, the red head evilly grinned. "Talk to you soon."
xxx
Wally sat on the back porch in his zero gravity rocking chair staring up at the stars. It was a clear Missouri night. The moon shone brightly as the warm spring breeze blew through, carrying fragrant traces of honeysuckle along with it. He covered one eye, spying a slow moving point of light in the northern sky, trying to decide if it was one of a thousand satellites that moved through that orbit, or something much larger.
Wally had been to the Watchtower dozens of times over the years; mission briefings, holiday celebrations, retirement ceremonies, and of course honoring the dead, but no memory of that place stood out more than that December night, hours before the New Year, when he and an unruly set of sidekicks literally saved the world. The last time he set foot on that space station was to inform its members that the Flash was formally retiring from the Justice League. Before he transported back to Earth he took one final walk through the Memorial to the Fallen, pausing at every marker and paying his respects one last time. Ted Kord, Jason Todd, Barry Allen...Artemis Crock. At least now there was one less marker up there he supposed.
To say Artemis's return had him sent for a loop would be an understatement. Redheads are stereotyped as being hot-headed, tempestuous, dramatic, high-strung; and he'd lived up to every word of that definition when it came to the events of a few nights earlier. He needed someone to talk to, to help he sort out what he was going through and god knows he couldn't tell his mom, her Irish temper at times dwarfed his own, and between her freaking out that he'd played hero again and almost died along with Artemis being alive and the one that saved him, well that was a road he wasn't anywhere close to wanting to go down yet.
Bart had tried and Wally appreciated his cousin's effort, but the speedster was still young, and despite the enormous pressure that rested on his shoulders, the super hero game was still fun to him, it still gave him the rush. Wally needed someone who could talk him down off the edge and help him sort through his conflicting feelings. He needed his wife, he needed his uncle. He needed his best friend. Two of them had been violently torn away from him, and the other pushed away and punished for something he didn't deserve.
Dick would have known exactly what to say; he would have understood exactly how he felt, all it would have taken was a simple phone call or text, but it was too late now, too much time had passed, just another thing Zoom had stolen from him.
He'd spent years blaming himself for Artemis's death. Barry would have easily been able to vibrate though that blast door and save the day, but the younger speedster had failed time and time again. The look on her face from behind the glass when she knew he wouldn't be able to save her still haunted Wally to this day. It was the same failure he felt as he held his dying wife's hands when the doctors took her off the respirator and she slowly faded away. All because he wasn't fast enough, he wasn't good enough.
Now one of those haunting memories was a lie. He wished he could have felt some sort of relief or comfort knowing the archer was still alive, but the only thing he felt was anger and resentment. She'd played him on so many levels. Looking back now he realized that her master plan all along had factored in his inabilities, his weaknesses, his blind love.
He'd barely listened to the stories she shared, the pain and suffering she'd caused, the torture and guilt she'd experienced, the nightmares that her life had become. Instead all he thought about was himself and what he'd lost. She didn't care about that, she didn't care about him. How do you do something like this to someone you love? Maybe it wasn't really love after all?
If that was true then why was she here now? It made no sense. Once she'd made it out alive, released from her captors and given another chance at life, she could have gone anywhere, done anything. She was finally free, and what was the first thing she'd done with her new found freedom? She'd come back to apologize and saved his life in the process.
He'd thanked her by throwing her out of his house and telling her how broken she was. Artemis might not have been a hero anymore, but he sure as hell wasn't one either. He was lost in those thoughts when he felt the tug of his shirt and bright green eyes came into focus.
"Daddy?"
"What is it baby?"
"The Avengers is on TV, want to come watch it with us?"
At that moment all the self-loathing, anger and guilt slowly drifted away. Behind Iris, Jai stood impatiently at the screen door, "Come on… it's starting!?"
Wally smiled, getting out of the chair and in one fell swoop reached for his daughter and shot her into the sky above him. The freckle faced girl shrieked in delight as she fell safely back into her father's arms.
Wally placed her down in front of the screen and raced to the kitchen to get some food. Three minutes later he appeared with a huge bowl of buttered popcorn and settled down between the two.
They'd seen the movie so many times they could literally recite Loki's dialogue word for word or hum along with the heroic score. A few minutes later a commercial came on and Jai rushed to the bathroom, leaving Iris and Wally sitting against the couch.
"It must be so cool to be a superhero," she said, shoving another handful of popcorn into her mouth before her brother could come back and yell for her to share.
Wally smiled to himself.
It had its moments.
A/N – I wanted to get this out before I left town for a few days, so there's probably a few typos here and there, I'll have to fix them later. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter out in about two weeks. This one might have been a tad slow, with maybe a little too much character development in it, but I needed to set the table before the action begins. As always reviews are appreciated and thanks for reading.