A/N- Holy fifty reviews... I'm sorry for the slow update. I couldn't think of anything to write. The idea was being lazy. (I was not. Just to clarify.) But when I re-watched the last episode before the break, an idea was born! So, enjoy. This chapter came out weird to me. : /
The house was too empty for his liking. Nothing had really changed all that much though. The newspaper and books he need for class were spread across the coffee table. Spit had taken up his spot on the couch, and each room was just how he left it. Messy yet organized.
Except, there was a certain wrongness in the air. There was no hint of Artemis's perfume circling around in the vents. No trace of the empty bags from the local doughnut shop that she had become addicted to. It still looked like Artemis lived there, but at the same time, it seemed like a light was cast over the things that brought her absence to the front of his mind. Everything and nothing reminded him of her.
She wasn't dead, but that didn't stop him from missing her. He didn't know what was worse. Knowing that she was alive and in a situation where she could be killed at any moment, or the prospect of not seeing her for what could add up to months. It was an impossible choice, and at his level of emotional exhaustion, he didn't bother himself to find an answer. It was taking everything he had to make his mind as blank and numb as possible.
"Hey, Spit." He called to their dog as he ventured further into the house. The ritualistic greeting brought him a brief sense of comfort, and it almost felt like it was a normal night. Walking without looking in a practiced manner, he dropped his keys on the coffee table and launched himself onto the couch, his frame filling the places that the dog did not.
Resting his head against the back of the couch, he sighed. It had been a really long week, and he knew that from there, his days and nights would only continue to grow in stress and time. He knew that he couldn't stay at the house, go to school, and work like everything was just fine and dandy. If he didn't keep himself occupied and off the topic of his undercover girlfriend he was going to go insane before the week was over.
His only option was to resurrect Kid Flash.
It wasn't his best plan, and every time he thought of the suit his mind flashed to moment where he and Artemis had decided to give up the hero business. They promised each other never again. Since then, he had gone out as Kid Flash with his Uncle and Bart once, and she was deep uncover in Black Manta's operation. He figured that the promise was already shot to hell, why not run with it?
Wally groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. He really needed to clear his head.
"I don't know about you Spit, but I need to run." He said to his dog. Spit merely look up at his owner with a pout then rolled over, making it clear what he thought of his owner's plan.
"Well then, I guess I'm running alone." He mumbled more to himself than his dog.
"Not necessarily." A voice cut through the silence as he was peeling himself off the couch. "Wow, you look like crap."
"Thanks, Bart." He nodded at the intruder, and paid him little attention after that as he stretched for his run. He wasn't going to mess with changing clothes. He was already sweaty and he didn't really feel like doing even more laundry considering he was alone on the house chore front. Not to mention it was freezing outside. He was keeping his jeans, end of discussion.
"Wally." Bart replied and he said nothing else. He just remained leaning against the doorway, watching him with a calculated look.
Silence fell between them, and Wally could practically see the elephant in the room sitting on his couch next to Spit. For some reason it was pink and resemble the one's from Dumbo. If that wasn't the weirdest thought he had in a while he didn't know what was.
"I take it you've heard." Wally said more as a statement than a question, and he straightened out of his last stretch. He felt Bart's eyes on him the entire time, and he tried to keep his face natural and unreadable.
"Superheroes love to gossip."
Wally grit his teeth a little. Was Artemis's 'death' nothing more than gossip to the people she thought of as family? That was a low blow. She had taken a break from the business for a while, but still... Harsh.
"There was gathering at the cave." Bart continued, leaving the question of why he wasn't there hanging. Bart wasn't stupid. He knew that Nightwing would have met with Wally hours after Artemis's death. Bart knew the time-table was right for him to attend the mourning huddle, as he had taken to calling it, even if it was only for a brief second towards the end. He knew that Wally thrived surrounded by people when crap hit the fan.
The only thing he didn't know was why Wally chose to suffer alone.
"We missed you."
"Are we having a therapy session or are we running?" Wally snapped. Without wasting another second, Wally stuffed his keys into his pocket and made a bee line for the door. Bart was trying to have the one conversation that he couldn't participate in. Not just because it would tear him up a little to lie to his cousin that he had become so close to over the course of a few weeks, but also because he would have to dive into what was really eating at his insides like some type of emotional parasite. What if Artemis had actually died?
"Sure. If, of course, your ready Captain Slow." Bart instantly bantered back with a smirk, and he followed Wally out the door. Bart was choosing to ignore the mood that Wally was in, because snapping at his cousin didn't phase him.
"Shut up." Wally joked for the first time since he found out about Artemis's mission. Slipping a hand into his pocket, he pulled out his goggles and snapped them on his head.
"You aren't alone, you know that?" Bart asked from behind him. Wally didn't turn to meet his gaze. He couldn't do it.
"Yeah." He said, trying to brush off the conversation as quickly as possible.
"I don't think you do." Bart continued. It was apparent that he wasn't letting it go without a fight. All that did was throw him over the edge. He didn't want to talk and he was getting enough pity from his parents and Uncle, he didn't need it from Bart as well.
"What do you want from me?" Wally yelled, turning on Bart. His frustration and anger was bubbling to the surface like a volcano that had finally decided that the village below it needed to be put in its place. Bart wouldn't stop pushing. He wouldn't leave him alone to deal with his emotions, not that he was actually dealing with them at all, but the point remained.
"I want you to talk to me!" Bart screamed back.
"I am talking to you!"
"No Wally, I want you to talk! Not this!" Bart said, gesturing towards him. "I want to help. It's been three days, and you all but dropped off the grid. Everyone was worried. I was worried." He added the last part as an after thought as if he wasn't planning on saying it. "I get it. She was your girlfriend, but she was my friend too, almost my sister even."
"I'm not having this talk with you."
"You need to."
"And why would that be?"
A look of sadness crossed Bart's face. He got a little pale around the edges and he looked like a piece of his world or his 'mode' crashed around him. "Because I wish I would've had someone to talk to."
"Bart, I-" He started, but he was already gone, only a few misplaced rocks remained as well as a very confused red-head. How could they have gone from joking, to screaming, to fighting so quickly? When had his nerves become so frayed that he couldn't even hold a conversation with someone?
Wally knew he had screwed up. Bart was trying to help not only his stubborn poor excuse for a mentor, but himself as well. Wally had shut him down and left a hurt teenager in his wake. He was so stupid, and he felt a scream of frustration building in his throat. He was tired of the lies. He missed Artemis. He had just stepped all over the only speedster sibling he was ever going to get. Problem after problem was rushing at him with no hope of slowing down to give him a reprieve. His own personal war was coming, and he didn't need to think long before he found his favorite option.
He ran.
A/N- Review if you want me to follow this story line and if you want me to continue. (bonus points if you can tell me where the nickname 'captain slow' comes from)
The idea gnome enjoys the reviews and cookies... Now he wants more. Review.
