Okay, so I wasn't planning on uploading this for at least another week, but I had nothing else to do and I wrote a decent amount and found a good place to finish, so I'm just going to leave this here. (You can probably tell I have a weakness for loud, messy emotional arguments).
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Wally finished his third tub of ice cream and tossed it to the side with the other two cartons. He had stopped tasting chocolate brownie five minutes ago, and would never had even started eating if M'gann hadn't explicitly told him to. The Martian was the only member of the team who had been to see him since he woke, and it stung.
But it wasn't just the isolation that bothered Wally, it was the lack of action. No doubt by now the Shadows were conducting a full manhunt for Artemis, and if she hadn't been caught already, it was just a matter of time. The frustration had made him agitated and there was only so much more stress he could take before he snapped.
The door opened, and Wally's eyes cut to the person entering the medical bay. It was Rob, and he was pushing an empty wheelchair in front of him.
"Batman wants to speak with you in the mission room," he said, somewhat awkwardly.
He walked up to the hospital bed and moved to help Wally up, but was shaken off.
"I just wanted to-"
"I'm fine. I can walk." Wally insisted, climbing out of bed and trying not to show how much his legs were shaking.
They walked in silence.
When they finally reached the mission room, Wally was surprised to see the rest of the team clustered around a holographic screen, Batman tapping at a keyboard. He tried to ignore the weight of their combined gaze on him, and picked at the bandages on his arms instead.
Eventually, Batman spoke. "Kid Flash."
"I'm not wearing the suit, so it's Wally." He replied. M'gann had brought him a change of clothes earlier, and while the familiarity of old jeans and a Tshirt was comforting, they hung off him like his limbs were made of wire.
"You claim to know a Shadow by the name of Artemis, is this correct?" Batman asked, ignoring Wally's comments.
"Yeah."
The caped vigilante tapped at the keyboard again, bringing up a slightly grainy black and white image of a girl onto the holographic screen. It looked like a still from a CCTV recording, and it was undoubtedly Artemis. Wally felt his heart jump a little. Maybe they had listened after all, maybe they had decided to go looking...
"Is this Artemis?"
"Yes- have you found her? Where is she, is she okay-" Wally started, but was interrupted.
"This is camera footage taken from Star labs, last year."
The image zoomed out, showing Artemis half hidden behind a wall, a guard just down the corridor. Dread seeped into Wally, he knew how this would end, but he could not look away; all eyes in the room were on him. The video started, and Artemis leaped from around the corner, shooting the guard straight through the jugular. He went down, spray of blood soaking into the floor beneath him as Artemis pulled out another arrow and shot directly at the camera.
The screen went black.
"I... Sportsmaster was making her go on missions, she didn't choose to..." Wally trailed off as another video started playing.
"Nine months ago, Paris."
It was a bank, and a group of men were standing over cowering civilians, waving guns around. Artemis stepped into the frame and appeared to be giving out orders- most of the men quickly split off from the group and through a door, leaving her with just a few spare goons to command.
The archer appeared to relax for a moment, then spun around and fired an arrow in the time it took Wally to blink. A bank employee was crouched next to a desk, her hand inches away from what looked like a panic button. She probably would have pressed it, had there not been an arrow sticking through the palm of her hand, pinning it to the side of a desk. The woman's face twisted in agony, and Artemis turned away.
Wally looked at the floor, trying to ignore the murmurs enamating from the rest of the team.
"She's changed, she's not like that anymore-"
"Beijing, six months ago."
The image changed to a large hall, then flickered to life. Wally watched, his throat tight-fisted, as an arrow hit the centre of the room and exploded. In the chaos that ensued, a figure jumped down from the ceiling, bow in hand, another arrow already loaded. The archer had taken out at least a dozen men before the smoke cleared, and Wally did not need to see her face to know that it was Artemis. The video ended, and Wally stood alone in front of his friends.
"She's not a bad person... she had a mission right before I was caught and she refused to kill someone, the only reason I'm still alive right now is because of her."
He sounded limp, and it was because, inside Wally's mind, Artemis was killing those innocent people on a loop. Over and over and over again, she lifted that bow, aimed, and fired.
From the cluster of teammates, Kaldur stepped forward.
"We know you suffered terrible trauma at the hands of the Shadows, and the last thing we want to do is ignore that, and any... psychological problems you may be facing."
It made a lot of sense now.
"You think I'm crazy." Wally said. He took a step back.
This is not happening. No way.
"The evidence is quite clear; Artemis is a Shadow." Said Batman. "And regardless of whatever you think may have occurred during your imprisonment, we do not prioritise the wellbeing of our enemies over pending missions. Black Canary is on hand and she is willing to help you through this."
Wally searched the faces of his fellow teammates for understanding, maybe even support, but he found none. Desperate, he locked eye contact with his oldest friend.
"Please, Rob, you have to believe me."
The boy cast a wary glance to Batman, then Wally.
"I'm sorry, but the tapes don't lie." His voice was laced with pity and it made Wally nauseous.
How could everything be going so wrong, so fast? Why wouldn't they believe him?
Rob took a small step towards Wally, like he was trying to calm a frightened animal. "Wally, you need help, you're not yourself."
"No- you don't understand." He couldn't believe this was happening, it was like some awful nightmare come true. "Please, just hear me out..."
"We are doing this for you." Kaldur reminded him.
Feeling sick, Wally turned and ran. He got to the doors but his legs went limp before he could get out, his head spinning. Rob started to run over-
"Wally, wait-"
But Wally had scrambled to his feet and was sprinting out of the mission room, down the hallway, past the Medbay, making a sharp left into the souvenir room. He was leaning heavily against a wall, panting, when Robin ran through the door.
"Wally, I-"
"Does none of this count for anything?" Wally interrupted, one arm freely gesturing to the wall of objects the pair had collected over the years. He didn't give Robin the chance to answer, and began to tear off the bandages on his arms, the gauze taped over the left side of his face.
"What about this?"
The bandages fell to the floor as Wally stood, trembling with some noxious blend of anguish and frustration, his arms by his sides, palms out. His bruises glowed, only just beginning to fade, and his skin was pink and raw where the heat of the explosion had burned him.
He caught Robin glancing away.
"Look at me! I went through hell for you, I was starved and threatened and tortured for weeks, Rob, weeks, and I could've made it all stop by telling them what they wanted, but I never did. Do you know why?"
His friend still wouldn't meet his eye.
"Just look at me, Dick!" That worked, and Robin stared at him, shocked. "The only thing that kept me from giving in entirely was the thought that any moment you'd run in and save me. That's what you're supposed to do, right?"
"I'm sorry." Muttered Robin.
"But you never did, and the longer I spent waiting for you to come, the more I thought you'd forgotten about me. Is that why you don't believe me? Do you just not care?" His words were all running together now, a constant stream of trapped rage that had managed to escape and fly from his mouth while his best friend just stood there, frozen. "What did I ever do to you, Dick?"
"Wally, I'm sorry."
There was a deep sense of shame in Robin's words, and Wally felt something shudder and break inside him. He couldn't breathe, his back hit the wall and he slid to the floor, streams of hot tears trailing down his cheeks.
"They hurt me, in there. They really, really hurt me, and all I had was Artemis and now she's gone and you won't even help me find her, she was the only good in that hell and you're letting her die, it's not right and it's not fair and it's not... you." Wally dragged his knees up to his chest and hugged them with knuckle-whitening force. He felt so, so small.
Robin's feet appeared in his field of view as he approached, and then his friend was sat beside him, an arm over his shoulder.
"I wish I could go back and stop them ever taking you, I swear." He sounded sincere, but Wally was too cautious to be fooled twice.
"You left me to die in there, Dick, you can't do that to her, too."
A pause.
"Do you really think she's worth saving?"
Wally looked up, finally in control of his teary eyes and shaking lower lip.
"I know she is."
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I would've liked to carry this on a little longer, but that seemed like a nice place to end, so there you go. I'm hoping to post a longer chapter next, but be prepared for a long wait. As always, thank you to everyone who posted a review, you are glorious creatures of rainbows and sparkles, I love you all.