I've been busy recently, so this is a written-at-one-in-the-morning special that I hope you enjoy.
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Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Disinfectant stained the air, stinging Wally's nostrils as he resurfaced to consciousness. He felt sheets under his fingertips, and when he opened his eyes to look around he immediately screwed them shut, the overhead lights glaring white.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
A groan rattled in his throat. Why did everything hurt? He tried to move but his limbs were heavy and numb. Voices tickled his ears, and Wally strained to work out what they were saying.
"...waking up, look."
"Shhh, you don't wanna..."
Recognition hit him like a freight train, he knew those voices-
"Hey, KF."
Wally's eyes snapped open. He was lying on a hospital bed, hooked up to an ECG monitor and some sort of IV fluid. Leaning over him, eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses was-
"Rob?"
The boy flashed a trademark grin.
"The one and only."
Wally felt his own mouth curl into a smile. He tried to sit up a second time, but gasped when pain ignited across his arms.
"Take it easy, kid." A hand gently pushed him back down, and Wally glanced up at its owner. Barry had his Flash uniform on, but the mask was pulled back from his face. There were tired swathes of violet under his eyes.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Like I went through a meat grinder." Wally grimaced, inspecting his arms and finding more bandage than skin. He was about to ask how the bandages came to be, but all of a sudden there was a flurry of voices and Wally craned his neck to see who they belonged to.
"-look, look, he's awake!"
"Is he able to speak?"
"I don't know, you ask."
Kaldur, M'gann and Conner had appeared in the doorway, all wearing varying expressions of delight, worry and relief.
"Hey guys." Wally called, gingerly waving an arm.
M'gann flew to his side, next to Robin, her smile wide and bright.
"Wally! We were all so worried about you!" She exclaimed, clasping her hands together in enthusiasm. Conner nodded from behind her shoulder.
From the back of the room, Kaldur stepped forward. "It is good to have you back, old friend."
"It's good to be back." Said Wally, but the words felt wrong as he said them. There was something at the back of his mind, something he was forgetting and it irked him.
"We should have a party to celebrate!" M'gann said, the excitement in her voice almost tangible. "We can invite the league- I'll bake something- we can have balloons and streamers and-"
"That's a great idea, but what Wally needs right now is rest." Barry interrupted, his attention switching from the enthused Martian to his protégé. "You were hurt pretty badly in that explosion, I don't want to make anything worse."
His words struck a chord with Wally. Explosion? When had he been in an- Ah. It was all coming back now. The scent of aviation fuel, adrenaline in his veins. Bullets shrieking past him. Running until his legs gave out.
An archer.
"Wait." He called to his friends, who were slowly slinking away. They stopped and turned. "Where is she?"
Kaldur looked at him like he'd gone insane. Maybe he had.
"Where is who?" Asked the Atlantean.
"Artemis," Wally said. "Where is she?"
An uneasy silence settled in the room.
"Dude, kind of a weird time to start looking for the goddess of the hunt." Said Rob, cracking at a joke.
Nobody laughed.
Oh, no. Now he remembered. She had turned and ran at the last moment.
Please, no. She could be anywhere by now, and the Shadows would be after her.
All eyes were on Wally, who was quickly becoming more and more frantic.
"She was there when you rescued me." He said. His eyes flitted to each of his team members but none would meet his eye. "She was right there- we escaped together, she saved my life!"
"Wally." Barry's voice was soft, like he was trying to calm a frightened animal. "You've been through a lot, and you need to get some rest. It's okay to be a little bit confused-"
"I'm not confused!" The sudden increase in volume made the team flinch. "She's the reason I'm still alive, and she's probably being hunted down right now!"
He sat up, ignoring the protests of his aching limbs and tried to club off the hospital bed. Barry stopped him.
"Please, just lie back down."
"They'll kill her! Please, I have to find Artemis, I promised-"
"Wally, don't make this more difficult than it has to be. Just relax and we can talk about this."
Wally was very quiet for a moment. Then he nodded, but stayed sitting up.
"Who is Artemis?" Barry asked.
"A girl, my age." Wally struggled to keep his voice steady.
"And you say she escaped with you?"
"She's the reason I made it out of there alive." Wally said with conviction.
Barry looked thoughtful. "Was she a prisoner too?"
Uh oh. Wally bit his lip. There was no easy way to say it.
Here goes nothing, he thought.
"No. She was a Shadow."
The reaction was instant.
Barry stood, his face bearing an expression that Wally couldn't quite place. M'gann and Conner's mouths dropped open and Kaldur's brow furrowed with deep concern. Beside him, Rob did a double-take, then leaned forward, asking:
"What!?"
Wally scrambled to explain. "No, she didn't want to- it wasn't her choice, Sportsmaster forced her into it."
His teammates continued to stare at him in disbelief.
"She's not a Shadow anymore, though, she's good. And right now, she needs our help."
Wally's appeal was lost on the five other people in the room, who continued to stare, dumbfounded.
After a long silence, Barry spoke.
"I need to talk to Batman." He said quietly, and in a blur of red he was gone.
The others made feeble excuses, until only Rob was left, staring at Wally but not quite meeting his eye.
"You believe me, right?" Wally asked, hesitant.
He saw Robin's jaw tense.
"Right now, I'm not so sure." The younger boy muttered. "You were gone for a long time, and I don't know if you're the same guy you were two months ago."
Wally did not reply, and merely watched his best friend slip out of the door.
The glow he had felt five minutes ago was gone. Even now, after everything he had been through, he was alone.
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Hopefully my late night scrawling is the same standard as my usual writing- I just wanted to get this bit over with so things can get a bit juicier. Mind you, the next couple of chapters will be a little slow (in action and uploading) so don't worry if it takes me a while.
Also- I would like to thank everybody for leaving lovely reviews. It seriously warms my tiny, shrivelled heart. Internet hugs to all of you.
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