Yoooooo- to all of you people complaining about how short the chapters are, I hear you. And I would have elected to ignore you but this chapter actually came out longer than intended(longest ever, yaaaa)- there was meant to be a little bit extra but then the kitchen thing happened and I just ran away with the word count, so lucky you.

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Wally let Rob and the rest of the team lead him back to the medical bay, a silent thoughtfulness following the group. This time they did not leave, but quietly asked if he was okay, if there was anything they could do to help, and if he needed anything. M'gann offered to make cookies, but Wally did not feel like eating anything. Kaldur apologised, but Wally was not sure what for.

A silence settled and he fidgeted with the IV line before noticing the glances shared between the others. The familiar twitches in facial expressions, the change in body language for no visible reason; Wally recognised it immediately.

They were having a psychic conversation- without him.

Any last dregs of optimism left him then, and Wally fumbled for something to say but he came up short. He just fiddled with the IV for a couple more minutes before blurting out a simple: "I'd like to be alone now," and then they were gone.

It had hurt when they did not believe him, but it hurt worse when they did not trust him.

The following morning, Rob came in with breakfast (a heaped plate of bacon, eggs and toast) and news.

"Black Canary wants to see you today." He said evenly.

Wally nodded, his mouth full of breakfast food. It wasn't a surprise as she had been mentioned the day before, but Wally still felt a tiny jump of hope. Maybe someone believed him, maybe Black Canary wanted to help find Artemis, maybe finally, finally, he was getting somewhere.

When he finished his food- five minutes, far slower than his usual- Rob walked him to the room Black Canary used for her 'talks' with team members. It had usually been mundane conversations about thoughts and feelings that took place in there, so Wally was accustomed to dodging awkward questions and blagging off the rest.

He took a deep breath, and stepped through the door.

"Hello Wally." Black Canary greeted him, sat in her usual spot. "Have a seat."

Wally perched on the only available chair, directly in front of her. He kept his eyes fixed on the floor, Black Canary's gaze bearing hot on his skin.

"Do you want a snack?"

On the coffee table between them were bowls of chips, popcorn, sweets. Any other time and Wally would have fallen on them like a starving man. Now, they just made his stomach turn.

"I already ate." He mumbled.

"Wally, we're worried about you." Black Canary's voice was the perfect balance between sympathetic and disproving. "You don't look well; you have to eat more."

Wally gave up trying to argue and picked a bowl of popcorn off the table. Slowly, he picked up a piece, placed it in his mouth, and began to chew. It was sickly sweet, and he swallowed it with a grimace before looking up at his stand-in psychologist.

She pursed her lips, then spoke.

"How do you feel?"

"Fine." Wally answered, a little too quickly. "I feel fine."

Black Canary looked unimpressed.

"Wally, you can tell me the truth. Nothing you say in here has to leave this room, okay? This is private." She leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees, hands clasped together. "Really, how do you feel?"

Time to let it all out, Wally thought.

"Like crap." He didn't wait for Black Canary to prompt him further. "Like I haven't slept well in weeks- I still can't. And when I do, I have nightmares. Do you know who gets nightmares? Kids. Stupid five year olds that are afraid of the dark, not someone like me."

A shaky breath escaped Wally's lungs, but he wasn't finished. He hadn't realised just how much of his feelings he had been bottling up, just ready to release.

"And I ache all over; even though the bruises are fading and everything's healing I still ache. I can't run like I used to, I feel nauseous if I move too fast and I'm so much weaker now. I hate feeling like this, I thought I was supposed to get better."

Absent-mindedly, he ran a hand through his hair, catching his fingers on the knots.

"And I just feel like nobody cares, like I was gone for so long and nobody even bothered looking for me. Did I even matter? I finally come back and all I ask is for people to just listen to me and they freak out. I haven't seen Uncle Barry since I woke up, and the team's too busy talking behind my back to do anything to help. I went through hell, y'know? I went through hell and it's like no one gives a damn."

Spent, Wally pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged himself. His eyes wandered to Black Canary, who was looking at him like he was a wounded animal.

"I know how you feel." She started, with careful, measured words. "And you shouldn't blame yourself for what has happened, it isn't your fault. But it also isn't the fault of your teammates that it took us so long to rescue you."

Wally frowned, and Black Canary continued.

"You may recall that M'gann was shot in the warehouse that night. She still won't walk if she can fly, the injury makes her limp. Robin was slightly better off, the bullet hole in his arm was just a flesh wound, it did not cause any long term damage. But both took time to heal."

"Rob didn't tell me about that." Wally muttered, his eyes downcast.

"Because he feels guilty about it, their injuries delayed the search. It was fortunate that you managed to send us that distress signal, or we never would have found you."

Wally looked up sharply. "What distress signal?"

It was Black Canary's turn to be confused.

"The night of your rescue- the watchtower received an encrypted message, coming from the north of Gotham. It told us where you were being held... we assumed you were the one who sent it."

"No, I never sent a signal." Said Wally. But who did? His mind flitted to the only person it could possibly be.

"Artemis!" He blurted out, and suddenly it all made sense. "She left me right before they were about to kill me- she must have sent the message."

"Just hold on a moment-" Black Canary struggled to regain control of the situation.

"You have to help her now, she helped you find me!" He waved his arms, frantic; this was his last chance to be believed.

"Wally, please, let's talk about this before we do anything irrational."

Wally settled back down. He waited for his hopes to be crushed again.

"About Artemis..." Black Canary began, "Did Batman show you the video files on her?"

Wally nodded.

The woman in front of him sighed, and muttered, "I told him not to." Then she looked back up at Wally. "And you still want to find her?"

He didn't quite know what to say.

"Uh..." Great start. "You see, I already knew all that stuff about Artemis. Because she told me. And she looked out for me, when I was... there, so I trust her, and I know that's not who she is." He fidgeted with his hands, then matched his gaze up with Black Canary's. "She risked her life for me- more than once, and isn't that what we're all about? Saving people? I know, she's done some terrible things, but she didn't have a choice, and now she's in danger and we need to do something. Please."

His appeal seemed to have an effect of Black Canary, and she seemed to stop for a moment and think. She leaned forward.

"Wally, I know you're upset. You've been through a lot, and it's going to make you say things you wouldn't normally say," No- "Or do things you wouldn't have done otherwise." Oh, no. "I don't think-" Wally knew where she was heading.

"So you're not going to do anything? You're the Justice League, you're supposed to help people!" He exploded, standing up and throwing out his arms. "Artemis looked after me, she could have been killed for it but she did it anyway. And now she needs our help and you're just sitting here, doing nothing!"

"You're talking about a Shadow, Wally. Just sit down."

His face turned to stone and the speedster lowered his arms but stayed standing, indignant.

"I'm talking about the girl who saved my life."

Black Canary stood, but she wasn't cold or angry. The look she wore on her face was pity, and it made Wally seethe.

"I'm sorry you had to go through what you did. Really, I am." She put a hand on his shoulder. "And it's up to me to provide a diagnosis on your mental state. The trauma, combined with long term isolation... Wally, I hate to say it, but we're looking at Stockholm Syndrome."

He stared at her, dumbfounded, his hands shaking with either shock or rage.

This wasn't happening. This was not happening.

"You dont get it, do you?" He asked, quiet. "You don't fucking get it."

As if she could read his mind, Black Canary stood, one arm out to stop him.

"Just wait, we can talk about-"

He was gone before she could finish her sentence. The cave passed by Wally in a blur and he shook off the sick feeling associated with his super speed, he had to get away from all this, he had to go find Artemis; even if it meant going alone. Within a heartbeat he was at the zeta tubes in the mission room, just listening for the familiar mechanic voice: Kid Flash. B03-

Nothing happened.

Panic surged in his veins, and Wally quickly backed up before running over the threshold.

No bright lights, no voice, no nothing.

A second later, Black Canary appeared across the room, panting slightly.

"Wally, just sit down and we can talk about this!" She shouted, but her words bounced off him.

Stupid, he cursed himself. Stupid to trust her, stupid to think they'd believe you, stupid stupid stupid.

"Why won't you let me leave?" He yelled back.

"We just wanted to keep you safe, you're not behaving like yourself."

Wally was seething. This was wrong. Black Canary began to walk closer, her hands up like she was trying to tame some kind of wild animal. Maybe she is, thought Wally, and then blind rage gripped him and he was running again, past the woman before she had even registered any movement, down the twists and turns and hallways that led to the team's live-in quarters of the cave.

He wanted to break something. Maybe lots of things. And he wanted to do it right now.

Wally reached the kitchen in an anger-fueled clamour and blur, opening cupboard doors so fast he ripped one clean off its hinges and it flew across the room, crashing into a wall. He didn't even blink, just grabbed a stack of plates and threw them all to the ground, relishing the ear-splitting crash they made on impact. But it wasn't enough.

He had moved on to the glasses and was launching them all at the far wall when the noise drew out his teammates from their rooms. Robin had to duck to avoid a frisbeeing plate heading in his direction, and M'gann used her telekinesis to reroute some cutlery away from Kaldur and Conner. The four watched silently as Wally tore apart the kitchen at an inhuman speed.

He had just moved on to pots and pans when Wally felt a lurch- for a moment he was back to normal speed and a large wok slipped out of his hands and hit the tiled floor with a resonating bang sound- and then he was up to speed again, flinging a saucepan so hard it took out a light fitting in a shower of sparks. The destruction was satisfying, but it did nothing to calm him down.

Wally barely noticed Robin approaching, he was too busy pulling bags of flour out of cupboards and slamming them into the countertop. They exploded in clouds of white fog.

"Hey-"

Another gut-wrenching lurch hit Wally, worse than the last time, but not enough to stop him wrecking things. He didn't even register his best friend's voice. His hands pulled the fridge door open and numbly, he upended a carton of eggs. The shaking was getting worse, the nausea returned tenfold. In the distance, he thought he heard Black Canary shouting.

Robin edged closer just as Wally found the knife block.

"Wally? Are you okay?"

He dodged a meat cleaver, the blade brushing the side of his head before burying itself, hilt-deep, into the wall behind him. A bread knife followed a split second later and Robin had to duck behind the counter to get closer to his friend.

"Wally! Stop, before someone gets hurt!"

It worked. Maybe it was the desperation in Rob's voice, or maybe it was the lightheaded, stomach-sick feeling growing inside Wally that made him pause for breath. Either way, the chaos stopped, and Robin emerged from behind the cupboards, his hands up.

"We need to talk, you're not well."

Wally flashed a snarl. "And whose fault is that?"

Immediately, he felt bad. Rob's shoulders sank slightly, but their eyes remained locked together.

"Just sit down, I know we haven't been fair with you. We're only trying to help."

"Help me?" Wally said, just loud enough to hear. Then his voice rose in volume until he was roaring. "You have done nothing to help me since I got back!" He tore open the last cupboard and snatched at the contents. "Everything you've done has made-" A colander whizzed through the air. "-something-" It was followed by an electric whisk. "-worse." On the last word, Wally threw a blender to the ground, where it shattered.

Realising just how close everyone was and how claustrophobic he felt, Wally turned and ran. Or started to, anyway. He had barely taken two steps at super speed before another lurch hit him in the gut and his vision clouded.

The last thing Wally saw before he lost consciousness was the ground, rushing up towards him.

Wally woke up in the medical bay, with Black Canary pulling broken pieces of glass out of his arm.

"Don't move." She warned, a pair of tweezers in her hand.

Wally looked away and saw Rob hunched in the far corner, watching him. He did not return the weak smile his friend sent, just a cold glare.

Eventually, Black Canary finished bandaging the arm worse off- most probably the one he had landed on- and let out a sigh.

"Wally, you can't go on like this. You're not just hurting yourself, you're risking the others around you, and it isn't fair."

Wally continued to stare straight ahead. For a moment, he felt her gaze on his shoulder, where the fabric had ripped and the raised scar from Sportsmaster's knife was visible. And then, quite suddenly, she stood and looked over at Rob.

"Robin, a quick word please."

The pair walked out of the room, but stopped right outside the door because Wally could hear their voices, low and fast. He strained to make out the individual words.

"Dangerous... but necessary."

"...not a risk worth taking."

"But is it?...we need to..."

"No. Absolutely not."

"...okay."

There were a few seconds of silence, then Robin walked back into the room, alone. Hurriedly, Wally tried to act casual, pushing a hand into his hair. He immediately regretted it when he pulled his hand away to find it covered in a transparent slime.

"What-"

"I think that's a bit of egg." Rob grinned, and Wally felt a pang of loss. His frustration for not finding Artemis only just overrode the friendship that the pair of them shared, or had shared, and he almost smiled back. Almost.

"Listen." Said Rob, walking over to where Wally lay. "I just want you to know, whatever happens, whatever Bats or Canary or the rest of the team says, I got your back. I know you might not feel like that's how it is, but you just need to trust me."

There were a hundred spiteful things Wally could have said, but Robin's last two words resonated in his mind. Trust me. He had heard those two words before, from a different person, and those two words had saved his life.

"Okay." Wally said.

Rob did a sort of double-take, and blinked for a moment before continuing.

"Because... I want to help you. With Artemis."

It was Wally's turn to look confused.

"What...?"

"Wally, I want to help you find Artemis."

Wally's breath caught in his throat and he only just managed to choke out a:

"What?"

"The others don't know, I want to keep it that way, for now." Rob bit his lip, then looked straight at his best friend. "I mean, we need to be a bit... covert about this, you know how the others feel."

Wally nodded. They didn't understand.

"So you're really going to help me?" He asked, afraid he might wake up at any moment.

"Yeah, it shouldn't be too hard to find a teenage assassin in Gotham city, right?" Rob grinned, and this time, Wally grinned with him. "We can start now, if you want... but you should probably have a shower first. I hate to think about what that egg's gonna smell like in a couple of hours."

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Hope you liked the more optimistic ending this time. But will everything turn out okay? Idk I'm kinda making this up as I go along but anyways, thanks to the cuties that leave reviews. You are glorious space mermaids and I cannot thank you enough. Seriously, I would have stopped before the second chapter without you guys. Also- I'm gonna be away for like, the next three weeks, so you'll either get a short chapter in a week or so, or one helluva chapter in August. Depends on how lazy I feel.