Chapter: 7
Wally pulls off the plate spilling the cooling liquid on the floor, grabs the small core by the small carrying handle attached to it. Uses the his momentum to run up the wall and out the open dock door.
As the group of heroes run to the waterfront, a dark streak whips by them. Artemis is the only one of the group to jump three feet in the air and gives out a small scream. The group stops to look at her as she is eying everyone in shock.
"Did he just grab my ass?" Artemis looks in the direction of Wally. "He just grabbed my ass! If he lives through this, I'm gonna killing him."
Before the group could start running again, a flash appears in the distance followed by a rumble.
"That was not two minutes." Nightwing looks back at the others. "It went off early."
It took less then a minute to reach the waterfront, but when they saw no signs of Wally, they began to search.
"Team." Batman gets the attention of the group. "Search and Rescue. Two man teams. I'll contact Gotham PD to send boats out." Nightwing and Tigress go one way; Arrow and Cheshire go another.
After ten minutes of wondering the dock and coastline, Artemis spots a dark figure crawling out of the water. After calling for Nightwing, who is only a few feet from her, she jets off heading for the figure.
Once she gets close enough, she knows the figure. "WALLY!"
As he buries the top of his head in the sand trying to catch his breath before rolling over to his back, he hears his name being called from a distance. As he tries to focus on the figure running towards him, it takes everything he has left to yell.
"St...stop...STOP!" It comes out as a whisper before anyone can hear him.
"Stop. Don't come any closer." Wally breathing faster, trying to get more air in his lungs. "Stay back. I'm contaminated."
Nightwing reaches Artemis who is only standing 10 feet away from Wally. "Talk to us Wally?"
"Radiation, the core was, call Bats." Wally now being motionless on the beach.
Artemis runs at him to see if there's any physical damage.
"Artemis, wait! He's radioactive, don't..." Before Nightwing can finish she's lifting his head and putting it on her lap.
"He looks like he's okay. No external damage." Artemis looks up at Nightwing. "You heard him, Call Bats."
Nightwing touches his ear-piece to open a channel. "Nightwing to all League members. We need a HAZMAT transport for two, possible Teitium radiation at the north-east waterfront about 2 miles north of Cape Carmine. Subjects are Wally West and Artemis Crook and we need it fast."
When help arrives, Wally is still out cold as Artemis still has his head in her lap stroking his hair.
…
Two days later, Artemis walks up to an all white door with a small circular window with a call box to the right side of the door. To her left a medical technician is looking over a few charts and checking the readouts on the two monitors in front of him.
Artemis turns to the tech. "Is he awake yet?"
"He should be." He responds. "The way things are looking, he should be out by tomorrow." Artemis nods before reaching for the call button.
Wally hears the beep of the call box , rolls out of bed and presses the button. "Don't come in, I'm naked."
His answer brings a smile to her face. "Well, I guess I can come back later."
"Artemis. Wait, wait. I was joking. Don't go."
"Relax, Wally. I'm not going anywhere."
Wally looks through the small window with a smile. "I'm glad to see that they let you out. Now, if only I was that lucky."
"Tomorrow. They said tomorrow."
"Oh thank God. You have no idea how horrible being in here is for me." Wally letting out a sigh of relief. "Did they say anything about me glowing in the dark for the rest of my life?"
"Funny but no. You'll make a full recovery. Although from what I was told, you should have been dead."
"Aww, I'm sure it wasn't that bad."
Well since you went swimming in a Teitium base cooling gel and the core itself was giving off Teitium radiation, the only thing that saved your ass was your fast healing ability." Wally nods in agreement. "By the way," Artemis crosses her arms. "Did you grab my ass when you ran by us?"
Wally lowers his head below the glass only showing his eyes to hide his smile. "Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't."
"You gonna owe me big for that."
Wally walks away from the door to sit back on his bed. "You gotta catch me first, Beautiful. After all, I am one of the fastest men alive." Wally gloating a bit, that is until the door opens revealing Artemis.
Wally sits up quickly. "Arty, what are you doing. You can't come in here. Radiation remember."
She steps through the door and closes it behind her. "You said I had to catch you first."
The smile grows on Wally's face as he stands to met her. "Well now that you're here and can't leave until tomorrow, whatcha gonna do now?"
She reaches above the door and pulls the power cord to the camera, then wraps her arms around his neck. "Oh, I have a few things in mind. To start with, you' better NOT be one of the fastest men alive." She pulls him closer and kisses him deeply.
As their lips separate, they stay close to each other. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that."
"Good." She pushes him back down on the bed and craws on top of his lap pulling her hair band off releasing her hair. As she leans back down for another kiss she whispers to him. "I caught you."
…
…
The End ;)