Oh wow! QoQ
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed / watched / added this story to their favorites!
I wasn't expecting so many... *crying*
Have another chapter, you amazing people! *throws fanfic at you*
As by request - thank you user keepmovingforwar :D - here's an alt. ending to the previous chapter!
and so I don't forget this
DISCLAIMER - YJ is not mine. Though it should not belong in the hands of murderers either.
Another End, Another Story
"Wally..." she rasped.
"Landing now! Get Artemis prepared to move Wally!"
"Artemis! Stay with me!"
"Sorry...Baywatch..."
Artemis's head fell back, her eyes closed, and Wally did the only thing he could do. He ran like his life depended on it. Which, in a way, it did – being that his teammate was literally dying in his arms. The BioShip's hatch opened and Wally sprinted to the infirmary. Batman and Uncle Barry had already set up an operation table and Wally almost slipped – thank God he didn't drop Artemis – and laid her down.
"Help her!" he shouted. Batman's gaze hardened – the mask made it hard to tell, but the eyes of his cowl seemed to narrow – and Uncle Barry stared at him in surprise.
"We'll do what we can, kid. Go wait with the rest of your friends."
"But –"
"Wally," his uncle's voice was stern, with that hint of remorse hidden at the edge of it, like he was already preparing to tell his nephew that Artemis hadn't made it. "Go wait with the rest of your team. Robin should be calling Green in, and I'd imagine Roy and Black Canary will be coming in too. You need to explain what happened, and you need to take a breather. Go on outside."
No matter how illogical it would have been for Wally to stay there, to make sure Artemis made it through, he knew Uncle Barry was right. Pulling the cowl away from his face, his mouth set in a thin line, Wally nodded and left the room.
It was like babysitting a bunch of children.
Connor couldn't sit still, and ended up sparring with Kaldur to get his mind off the current situation. It would be a total and blatant lie if the Atlantian said that he didn't need to clear his head either.
M'Gann was wrought with panic, zipping back and forth from the kitchen, always coming back empty handed. She'd end up staring at the broken green compound bow lying on the table in the make-shift living room. Zatanna had come as quickly as she could, and did her best at comforting the martian as well as anybody else.
Robin was uncharacteristically quiet, and sat with his head in his hands, his black hair mussed and standing up on end.
Wally was…anxious. There couldn't have been a better word for how he appeared. His expression was strained – he'd changed out of uniform and now wore a white t-shirt with baggy gray sweatpants – and was currently staring at the ceiling.
"Guys, Artemis will be fine." Roy said from across the room. The archer crossed his arms, not meeting their gaze. "She's too stubborn to die," he added, with a slight scowl curling his mouth. "I don't think anybody else was that ready for a fight, and she knew the consequences. The worst case scenario happened and her bow broke and she was defenseless against Sportsmaster who – might I remind you – had a gun. It was a miracle she survived that long."
"Shut up Roy," Zatanna, Wally, and Robin barked at the same time.
The Boy Wonder shot his friend an apologetic grin, but it failed and he ended up standing to go change out of his uniform as well.
Connor and Kaldur returned in their absence – both sporting a few newly swollen blue bruises – and the Atlantian appeared to have returned to his calm demeanor. SB at least looked glad for the momentary distraction.
Returning in his normal clothes, Robin looked around the room and smiled. "Artemis is going to be fine," he said.
Everyone visibly relaxed and M'Gann wiped tears from her eyes, grinning. Roy scoffed and left the room, heading to the infirmary.
"That's great to hear. How'd the surgery go?" Zatanna said, rising from her chair.
"The bullets passed straight through. It'll take time for her to heal, and she's off missions for at least a month, maybe more. Green's with her now; she'll be spending the night here, but she might go home with him." Robin's gaze landed on a certain red-headed speedster, and he grinned.
"Artemis says thanks," Robin added, smirking. "She doesn't remember everything, but she remembers that you stayed with her. She wanted me to thank you."
Wally was too stunned to reply, and rose from the couch, walking towards the kitchen before pausing and turning to go towards the infirmary instead.
"Wait, why isn't Artemis going to her own house?" M'Gann said.
Robin's face darkened only for a second before the expression seemed to disappear. "Her home life hasn't been that great lately. Artemis and her mom had a fight the other day, and Artemis was waiting for her mom to cool off. She'd been staying here for two weeks, but she'll need supervision as she heals, and staying at Mt. Justice isn't exactly the best idea if we're trying to keep her from missions."
M'Gann's eyes were wide, but she nodded. "She'd constantly insist she was okay, and then we'd be forced to send her home; that or she'd find some sort of trouble to deal with herself."
Robin shrugged. "That's about it."
Wally stood outside of the infirmary, peering around the corner. Oliver sat next to Artemis's bed, Roy standing behind his former mentor, and was holding on to his new prodigy's hand.
"Oliver, I'm fine, Batman said so himself. You know he wouldn't lie to you about that." Artemis said with a sigh, her voice raspy. Shadows circled under her eyes, and her face was pale, but that familiar scowl that Wally had the privilege to become acquainted with was spread across her face.
Grateful for her uncle's company, but wishing he'd leave her be.
"Green, she's not lying on her deathbed anymore. Let's just let her get some rest," Roy said, acting uncharacteristically polite.
Artemis looked as surprised as Wally must have been, because she actually gave Roy a small, grateful smile, and her teammate and mentor left the room.
Roy met Wally in the hallway and patted the speedster on the back.
"Good luck," he said, remembering Wally and Artemis's past arguments. "I was in there for not even ten minutes and I wanted to strangle her."
Wally snorted and stepped inside the room. Artemis had leaned back against the headboard, her eyes closed, breathing shallow. When the doors closed behind him, she opened her eyes and sat straight, surprised to see him.
"Hi," Wally said quietly, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"Hi," Artemis rasped.
The two were silent for a minute and Wally rocked back and forth on his heels.
"Do you need anything?" he asked, breaking the silence.
Artemis paused. "A glass of water would be nice. And my phone, if you could grab it for me."
Wally dipped his head in a nod and sped out of the room. The doors didn't even have time to close when he slid to a stop, glass and phone in hand.
"Thanks," Artemis gave a half grin, taking both from him.
Another moment of silence as Artemis scrolled through her phone, taking a sip from the water. She made a call and pressed the phone to her ear.
"Hi," she said. "Yeah, it's me. No, I'm fine. I just ran into some trouble, and it looks like I won't be home soon. I'm sorry, okay? I just wanted you to know that. Yeah…okay, bye."
She hung up the phone and laid it on her nightstand.
"Well that was short," Wally noted, taking the seat Green had before him.
"There's not much to say right now," she retorted, taking another drink of water.
"So what did ol' Bats and my uncle say? Any broken bones?"
Artemis shook her head. "A few stitches, a hell of a lot of bandages and medicine, and constant rest and supervision. I should be back on my feet by the end of the week."
"But no missions."
Artemis's expression darkened. "Yeah, no missions."
"Well you just need some rest. You'll be back at it soon enough."
Artemis snorted. "Thanks for the water by the way. The medicine was making me loopy enough."
Wally gave a short laugh. "Sure. Any time."
Artemis played with the sheets, mouth setting in a pout. "Listen…I'm sorry you had to take care of me. I probably caused you guys a lot of trouble just because the mission went sour on my end."
Wally leaned forward. "Hey, that's not your fault. You did the best you could."
"But it really wasn't enough."
"Artemis, listen to yourself. You're not a machine – you can't keep going forever. You're just as human as the rest of us – one of us could have ended up in the exact same situation."
Artemis refused to meet his gaze, gritting her teeth.
"Artemis, I realize it's hard to let people into your life. Robin told me about what's going on with you and your mom," Artemis stiffened, turning a pair of stormy gray eyes on him in a glare, "but you really need to let people take care of you sometimes."
"Wally – "
The speedster in question held up a hand. "I know, I know. 'I don't need the help. I don't need the protection. I'll do my part in the mission, you do yours'. I get it. But you need to learn that people aren't going to follow that exact motto – they WILL throw themselves in the line of fire to save you or anyone else that they can. A team is meant to fight together, not individually. We weren't going to let you take that fall and NOT take care of you. That's what friends are for."
Artemis's eyes went wide and Wally realized what he'd said.
Did I just call Artemis my friend…?
Looking at her, sitting in the bed half-mummified, Wally realized with a start that he had. And she was. No matter how much they argued and bickered, and constantly threatened to throw the other off a cliff, they were friends.
"Yeah, we're friends," Wally said aloud this time, as if he had to reassure himself just as much he to convince her.
"Well…"Artemis started, turning away. "That changes things."
"What?"
Artemis shook her head. "Never mind. Thanks again; you should probably be heading out. It's getting pretty late."
Wally checked the time and inwardly groaned. "Yeah I guess. Wait, hang on…" Wally pulled out his phone, calling his parents. "Hey, it's me. Sorry for calling so late, but something came up. Is it okay if I stay at Mt. Justice tonight?" Wally grinned. "Yeah, sorry again; thanks. Good night mom."
"So you're staying here tonight." Artemis said with a dramatic sigh. "How will I ever live with the guilt of dragging you away from your family?"
Wally chuckled, moving towards the door. "You'll just have to make it up to me. I'll be down the hall if you need me. Night Artemis."
Artemis arched an eyebrow. "Night Wally."
Make it up to him…?"
It wasn't until late that night, as Wally lay in his bed, that he realized what he'd said exactly.
"Oh my God…" Wally wheezed, feeling as if he'd had the breath knocked out of him. "I really hope she didn't think anything about that."
But of course, she did. And she held it over his head as blackmail for months to come.
Happy ending?
I think YES. *heavenly choir*
And it was long too... *shakes head*
You all are SO spoiled.
I hope to add more to this set of drabbles guys!
Thanks to everyone!
(let's all pray for another season guys, Wally CAN'T be dead. I refuse.)
If you want to see a certain themes come to life, send them in!
It's hard coming up with ideas for these guys without breaking down xD;
Read and Review please! =w=
~Aoi~