Sorry for the long time no update, but school started and they're pretty much trying to bury us alive with homework, so updates are probably going to be very slow from now on. Thank you to all those who reviewed or gave any kind of feedback, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Rule Number 7: You must listen to all the advice about proposing given to you by the family and friends, even if you don't want it.
Wally was buzzing with anticipation. Literally.
His whole body was buzzing, a neat trick he had learned since appearing from the 'speed force' two years ago. He mostly had a handle on his new enhanced powers, but sometimes, if he was really nervous or excited, he couldn't stop himself from vibrating.
And today, he was super, super nervous.
For years, it had been leading up to this moment, and ever since Wally came back from the 'dead,' he knew this was what he wanted. He had been sure of this for two years now, and finally, he was going to act on it.
Surreptitiously, Wally put his hand in his pocket, touching the small diamond ring that was in there. He had had it on him for a month now, after asking his Mom for the family ring. It was technically Grandma West's, but Wally was sure that she wouldn't mind it if he gave it to Artemis.
He was pacing around their home, waiting nervously for Artemis to come home from work. He was so worked up, he didn't think it was possibly for him to stay still anymore. He went over the plan in his head over and over again.
Take Artemis to coffee shop in Gotham where they'd had their first date.
Buy her a low-fat soy milk mocha cappuccino with extra chocolate shavings (and a coffee plus a whole apple pie for him.)
Buy her a slice of black forest cake and slip the ring inside.
Watch her face erupt in surprise as she finds the ring.
Get down on one knee and propose.
Umm… hope she says yes?
Wally's plan was fool proof, he was almost 79% sure she would say yes. She had to say yes, or something. What if she didn't say anything? Or said no? Or found out she was allergic to chocolate and had an allergic reaction that led to her being on her deathbed? What if-
Wally was saved from his own idiotic rambling as the door opened with a click and Artemis's lithe body appeared in the bedroom. He smiled at her and willed his heart to slow the hell down before she got suspicious.
"Hey," he said as calmly as he could.
Obviously it wasn't good enough, because his voice cracked and Artemis raised an eyebrow, "Hey yourself. Didn't you say we're going out tonight? You're not even dressed!"
Wally nodded and ran his fingers through his hair, "Oh, yeah. Give me a sec and then we'll zeta to Gotham, okay?"
Artemis smiled and walked out the room, allowing Wally to let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He quickly pulled on a shirt and pants, hoping for the best.
Sadly for him, he didn't know that he wouldn't even be able to get up to stage 3 of his grand proposal plan.
The café was exactly as Wally remembered it, cramped with a mash of 50's décor, including black and white tiled floors and a live jukebox. The wall was littered with 50s memorabilia, and the waitress even wore a stereo-typical waiter's uniform.
Wally and Artemis slid into their favourite booth at the end of the café.
"I haven't been to this place in ages!" Artemis said, pawing through the café menu.
Wally put his hand down on the menu, pulling it away from her.
"You want a low-fat soy milk mocha cappuccino with extra chocolate shavings and a black forest cake, right?" Wally asked.
Artemis smiled slowly, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, "You know it."
Laughing, Wally got up from the table and made his way to the counter, looking through his wallet for the right amount of notes.
"Well, look who finally came to Gotham City," a familiar voice said from behind him.
Wally turned as was unsurprised to see Dick smirking at him. He was however, very surprised to see Zatanna standing beside him.
"Dick? Zee? What are you guys doing here?" Wally asked.
"Well, I do kind of live here…" Dick replied.
"I meant, what are you two doing here together," Wally emphasized, waggling his eyebrows.
Dick and Zatanna suddenly looked very uncomfortable, and Wally punched Dick lightly on the shoulder, "Nice."
Zatanna glared at him, "We're just hanging out."
"Oh, sure. You two are just hanging out here, like you two are probably going to end up just hanging out in Dick's bedroom- Ow! Dude," Wally whined as Dick punched him none-too-gently on his shoulder.
"What about you Wall-man? Isn't Gotham a little far from where you live," Dick asked.
"I'm here with Artemis, on a special date that no- you two cannot interrupt," Wally said before either of them could even ask.
"A special date? Like, what kind of special?" Zatanna asked, intrigued.
"Like tonight I'm going to ask her to marry me kind of special," Wally replied.
Zatanna let out a shriek that caused quite a few people to turn around and look at them, while Dick just let out his usual, annoying cackle.
Wally looked around fearfully, wondering if Artemis had seen them, but she was still absorbed in her newspaper.
"Finally, man! How're you going to do it?" Dick asked.
"I'm going to slip the ring in the cake and then watch her reaction," Wally said proudly.
There was suddenly a tense, unnerving silence. Dick and Zatanna both stared at Wally.
"What?" he asked.
"I'll go distract Artemis, you make sure Wally doesn't go near that cake," Zatanna told Dick.
Dick nodded, and Zatanna walked away, leaving a very clueless Wally behind.
"What do you mean distract Artemis? And what about that cake?"
"Dude, I don't know how to break this to you, but… You can't propose to Artemis."
"Why the hell not?" Wally asked indignantly.
"Seriously? Putting a ring inside her cake? That is the stupidest proposal idea I've ever heard of!"
"I thought it was good!"
"Exactly."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Look," Dick said, raking his fingers though his hair, "You guys are my best friends, and there is no way in hell that I am going to let you ruin your one good relationship because of your stupid as hell proposal. Zatanna and I will stick with you tonight; go on a bit of a double date and make sure you don't do anything stupid. Okay?"
"No," Wally answered.
Dick smiled, steering him to the front of the counter, "Wally, you don't get a choice."
Wally tossed and turned in his bed that night. His perfect proposal scenario had been hijacked by his two 'best friends' who were doing this for 'his own good'. Which pretty much resulted in a night with him glaring at both Zatanna and Dick as the made sure they wouldn't leave him or Artemis alone together. Wally was half-expecting them to sleep over tonight too.
He turned over, his arm outstretching across the bed, expecting to find a nice warm body. Instead, there were only empty sheets, and Wally almost panicked. Then he remembered that Artemis had to go to work early today, and calmed down a bit. Ever since her stint as Tigress undercover, Wally was always a bit jumpy when he couldn't feel or see her.
"Aw, he's so cute, outstretching his arm and all. It's like he's looking for her."
"He needs to cut his hair. I swear that I can't even see his head from under that red mop."
Wally tensed, hearing those strange voices talking behind him.
"Shh, he'll wake up if you don't keep quiet."
"Maybe we should wake him up. It's kind of boring watching him sleep."
"I think he's drooling."
Okay… This was getting weird. Wally swore he knew those voices, but he just couldn't place them. He turned over again, hoping that if he ignored them they would go away. Until he got a whiff of something distinctly sweet and buttery.
Waffles.
Using his super speed, Wally sprang out of bed, landing directly in front of the source of the aroma. He saw a plate full of waffles, and behind it, saw the huge green eyes of Bart looking at him.
"Sup?" Bart said.
Wally jerked back, focusing so he could take in his entire bedroom. Dick, Barbra, Zatanna, M'gnn, Conner, Tim, Cassie, Jaime and Bart were all squashed into his bedroom, watching him.
"What the hell are you doing in my bedroom!?" He yelled at them, panicked.
"Chill, Wally. We wanted to help,"M'gnn said in a placating tone.
"Help? With what? Scaring me to death? Coz Megs, you guys did a pretty good job!" Wally yelled at them.
"No, we wanted to help with your proposal," Barbra said.
"My… what?"
"P-R-O-P-O-S-A-L. Don't worry, Dick told us and we wanted to help," Tim said, spelling it out.
Wally was silent for a moment, and then took a deep breath, "SERIOUSLY?" he yelled, little flecks of spit forming at his mouth, "YOU COME INTO MY HOUSE WHILE I'M ASLEEP, JUST BECAUSE YOU WANT TO HELP ME WITH SOME STUPID PROPOSAL THAT I COULD DO FINE ON MY OWN? THIS IS LIKE, A FEDERAL CRIME! GET OUT!"
Wally was expecting a stampede out 'sorry's' and 'we'll never bother you again.' But of course, because they were his stupid friends, they just rolled their eyes.
Conner chucked a pair of pants and a shirt to Wally, "Get changed. We'll meet you in the kitchen for debriefing."
Changed and showered, Wally made his way out to his living room where the team seemed to have been very comfortable hanging out. He made himself a PB&J sandwich and settled himself on the couch between Jaime and Bart.
"Stop eating all my food!" Wally grumbled.
Dick rolled his eyes, munching happily and a piece of toast, "Seeing as I pay your food bill, this is technically my food."
"You're such a dick."
"Ahem," Barbra said, calling everyone to attention.
She played around with the buttons of her wrist thingy, that made a hologram of a graph appear in the living room.
"So, today we're all here to help Wally propose to Artemis. First item on the agenda, the setting," she said.
"On the beach!" Cassie said immediately, and Tim nodded in agreement.
"A restaurant. Somewhere she can eat," Bart put in.
"No way, ese. Go somewhere like a skate park so she can do things," Jaime put in.
"She's not fifteen. She needs somewhere elegant, like a theatre or fancy restaurant at the Eiffel Tower," Zatanna answered.
"I think it should be somewhere special, like where they had their first date or where they first met," M'gnn said.
Barbra nodded, writing everything down on the hologram of hers, "And now we need a how."
"Keep it traditional, kneel and propose," Dick said.
"Agreed. Anything else would be weird," Tim said.
"Nah," Conner disagreed, "this is Artemis we're talking about. She loves weird. Do something cheesy and romantic, like a skywriter."
After writing down everyone's endless suggestions, Barbra finally turned to Wally.
"Well, what do you think?"
"You mean I actually get a say?" Wally answered rudely, "look, I appreciate all the suggestions, but I still have one question. Why are you doing this?"
"Because it's you. It's Artemis and Wally. You guys have had the best relationship for over seven years now. We can't let it end," Zatanna said.
"She's right. We had to go through the Cameron and Jinx stage, and then the Linda era that lasted for ages, and yet, you still got back together. We're all rooting for this relationship to work," Dick said.
"Wow, really?" Wally asked, and in answer, got a smack in the head by Cassie (which, by the way, really hurt.)
"So which scenario are you going to choose?" Jaime asked.
Before Wally could respond, their communicators went off, alerting everyone that there was trouble at the WatchTower.
"Duty calls," Wally yelled out, and sped out of the room before anyone could question him.
Even after two years, Wally still felt a little weird donning the Flash costume. It had been Barry's position for so long, he still couldn't get over the fact the he was now the Flash. Barry had given him the cowl ever since he decided to quit the hero work and raise a 'normal' family with Aunt Iris.
Still, Wally loved being in the WatchTower. He was the youngest of the leading seven, and it did get quite annoying because he was always treated as a child.
He did, however, get unlimited access to the canteen food, which pretty much made up for everything.
Tonight, Wally was hiding out in the back of the WatchTower. After assisting Batman and Wonder Woman take down The Royal Flush Gang, he was sitting around, looking out the window into space and trying to avoid… everyone.
"You alright there, Wally?" the ever calming voice of Black Canary called out from behind him.
Wally jumped up, ready to run away as soon as possible.
"Whoa, easy there. It's just me," Canary said, putting her arms up in surrender.
Wally gave her a half-hearted smile and sat back down. She joined him, and took it as a good sign that he didn't edge way.
"What's up? The team is in the canteen, waiting for you pretty eagerly," Canary informed him.
Wally groaned, "Funnily enough, I'm actually trying to avoid them."
"I'm sure what you did wasn't that bad."
"Hey! It wasn't me!"
Canary raised an eyebrow at him, and Wally muttered, "I swear."
"Then what is it?"
"It's just… they've given me… uh, some suggestions of how to do something, and I don't really know what to do now."
Canary was quiet for a minute, then got up and patted his shoulder, "I'm sure they mean well and are probably trying to do this for your own good."
"That's exactly what they said."
"But, if you don't feel comfortable with what they say, then just do things your way and see how they turn out, okay?"
Wally looked up at her, and Canary smiled and walked away. He turned his attention back to the window. He didn't know how she did it, but Canary always seemed to be able to say the right things. Getting up, Wally raced off to the canteen, ready to face his teammates and give them his decision.
As Wally practically crashed through the canteen doors, he started yelling at everyone, not bothering to take in his surroundings.
"OKAY GUYS, I'VE MADE UP MY MIND. I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP AND I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO SAY. I'M GOING TO GO UP TO ARTEMIS RIGHT NOW, GET DOWN ON ONE KNEE AND PROPOSE. AND I'M NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING FANCY. I'M GOING TO TELL HER THAT I LOVE HER, THAT I CAN'T IMAGINE NOT LIVING WITH HER AND BEING TOGETHER. AND THEN I'M GOING TO START RAMBLING AND THERE IS NOT A SINGLE THING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!"
Wally finished his speech, breathing harshly. He looked around the room, looking at the shocked expressions on everyone's faces.
"Yes," a quiet, throaty voice said from behind him.
Wally whirled around only to come face to face with the exact person he was talking about.
Artemis.
His wind running on overdrive, Wally quickly glanced around, looking at the expressions on all his teammates faces. They were watching him with a mortified interest, waiting to see what he would do next.
Without thinking, Wally whipped out the engagement ring and bent down on one knee in front of Artemis.
"Artemis, babe, that was so not meant to happen that way. I'm so sorry. I wanted it to be perfect so I'm just going to do a short version of what I actually wanted to say. I love you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I want to grow old with you and spend every moment with you by my side. I-" Wally was suddenly cut off as Artemis pressed her lips against his, kissing him.
Wally completely forgot what he was going to say next and just circled his arms around her, drawing her close.
Artemis pulled away, wiping away tears from her eyes, "I already said yes, you idiot. And it was perfect. Especially since I've been waiting for this moment for two years."
"You knew?"
"Your mother called me the minute you asked her for your grandmothers engagement ring."
Wally smirked, sliding the ring onto her finger and picking her up bridal style, "Then I guess I should've done it a long time ago."
"Uh, duh Wally," Artemis agreed, and leant up to kiss him again.
He could hear the sounds of everyone 'ooh' and 'aah'-ing across the room, but right now, he only had eyes for Artemis.
Except when he had to duck because there was an arrow whizzing dangerously close to his head.
Wally dropped Artemis and turned around to see an enraged Oliver Queen, holding his bow and knocking back an arrow at him, "Who the hell said you could propose to Artemis!" he yelled.
Wally cowered in the corner while Artemis rolled her eyes and joined Black Canary and tried to soothe Oliver.
If Oliver was acting like this, Artemis had to wonder how much harder it would be to tell her dad and sister.
Yay! Finally got this chapter done! This is a major spoiler for the next chapter, but does anyone know any traditions for a bachelor/bachelorette party? If so, could you please tell me? Thanks! Please read and review.