5.

"Lost behind wishes not made,
The tears shiver in the dark
Masks don't slip,
Firmly secure,
Hiding words unsaid,
when they counted
But now, they are
Lost
to the ages
Where they will remain
For all eternity
Never to be spoken,
Lost."
― Testy McTesterson

Being trapped was one of the things Wally West could not stand. Hardly able to open that small window into his world, he had spent most of his days pacing around, often running at fast paces in the hopes maybe he could find some wormhole or a gap that would bring him back. I mean, he found a way in, can't he find a way out? He was Wally West, meant to do the impossible.

"You're pretty close-minded for a guy who can break the sound barrier in his sneakers,"

Artemis' words from years ago rattled around in his skull, making it ache in longing. He needed to get home.

Following his instinct, his feet started moving without him knowing. By the time he realized he was running, he was at his top speed. But it wasn't fast enough. Feeling his legs burn, he pushed himself forward. His arms moved in a cyclic rhythm, back and forth. His feet were rhythmic and recurring, the constant pitter-patter of his friction-proof costume running across the obsolete floors. He soon realized he had accelerated beyond his previous top speeds, the skin around his cheeks slightly pushed back from the force of the wind. As he ran, visions of his past life whizzed by him, spurring him to go faster.

"Whatever Baywatch, I'm here to stay,"
"Don't you ever get tired of being wrong?"

Wally could feel his eyes water behind his glasses, not from the nostalgia but from the fact he was sure he was now going almost as fast as the Flash. The force from running pushed against him, trying to slow him down, but he persisted and kept going.

"Who put me in this?

"Amnesia, remember? Forgot how truly annoying you are,"

Despite his running, everything seemed to stay the same, as if he was running on a treadmill meant to match his speed. He could hear the slight cackle of electricity as the traction formed behind him, encouraging him to move faster.

"EMP shuts off all machines,"

"Two words: Gorilla lice,"

His breath came in ragged pants and the sweat stained the top of his cowl. His pumping arms ached and smarted and his legs were burning from the pressure. He could see a small crack in his goggles that slowly spread as he ran faster, causing him to blink rapidly from the intruding air.

"Hold still, will you?"

"Get to the Bio-ship, I'm almost there!"

The memories came vividly and it felt like they were projected on screens right in front of his eyes. His hair was pushed back and it made him feel like Dick when he wasn't Nightwing. He was sure the pressure from the running would make it stay flat, but it wouldn't matter. Not if he could get back to her.

"You could always Zeta there,"

"And Wally—it sounded fine out loud,"

He knew he was pushing himself. The pain was excruciating, like he had been struck again from the chrysalis' energy. But now the pallor surrounding him started to blur, proving that he was at least getting somewhere.

"Yeah, I was so worried about you guys finding out…"

"Souvenir,"

His suit was starting to tear at the seams from the stress, unaccustomed to running at such a rapid rate. He could feel lacerations form where the skin was now exposed, the whipping winds lashing at his skin like a whip.

"I should've done this a long time ago"

"No kidding,"

That particular memory seemed to shatter whatever realm he inhabited. The soles of his shoes were burning and he could feel the heat spreading up his leg. Unwilling to give up when he was so close, he leaned forward and continued to push. Both his goggles were cracked across the circular pallet of glass, pushing in wind that dried his eyes.

"What could go wrong?"

And then it happened. A wormhole appeared in the distance, the bright colors swirling in a welcoming gesture. He squinted, making sure he was seeing something other than the white. He could feel a laugh echo from his mouth before getting lost in the turmoil, leaving the joyfulness behind in this SpeedForce. The wormhole was approaching fast, and he needed to get there. His body was about ready to give out, far exceeding its limit. It was faster than he'd seen anybody go- not Flash, not Impulse. And without a second thought, he lunged into the wormhole with a thought of:

"What did I have to lose?"

He was back in the Arctic.

The cold air nipped at his exposed flesh, biting into the fresh wounds from his most current battle against the SpeedForce (if you could call it that). He was sitting inside a ditch, more so a moat. It was eroded down from the running speedsters, their footsteps immortalized in the battered ice.

Getting up was tricky. His legs felt like jelly and they burned like Hell. But he managed to paw his way out of the trench and immediately reached for his ear where the Comm should be located. But all he met was the soft skin of his cartilage.

"Well this is gonna be tricky," Wally thinks to himself. In wistful thinking he opens the small compartment on his wrist, only to find his cupboards bare. Sighing, he yanks himself to his feet. Guess he'd have to do things the old fashioned way. Running.

He stumbled many times in the tundra, adding to the collection of cuts and bruises scattered around his body. But he had a mission, and he hated failing missions. The closest Zeta tube was a few miles from the Arctic Circle, but if Wally ran just above human speed, he may be able to get there quickly. He was surprised to find that what would've been a jog before he… ceased, was now a sprint. It tired him less to run faster. Maybe because he had exceeded his previous limit beforehand he had now adapted to running faster. Either way, he got to the Zeta Tube in an astonishing short time.

Sliding into the rundown shack meant for "ice-fishing", he faced the camera and waited as it scanned him.

"Recognized, Kid Flash, B03," the automated voice said and he felt his atoms shift as he found himself in The Watchtower. He was surprised he was still programmed into the mainframe, maybe they forget to take it off or maybe they just didn't want to.

What was more surprising was stumbling in to see Batman and Nightwing debriefing both the Justice League and the Team. They all turned in confusion, facing the beaten down speedster.

"Wally?" Nightwing exclaimed, his eyes widening noticeably behind his domino mask.

"The Wall-man… Is here" Wally pants. His eyes are half-lidded, close to closing completely. Everyone's still in shock, staring wide-eyed at the man who just returned from the dead. Some are blinking rapidly, like if they close their eyes he'll just disappear again and it's just another insane nightmare. Before anyone reacts, he drops to the floor in a heavy heap.

Waking up in a medical facility was not a rare occasion for Wally West. It was part of the whole superhero package. So opening his eyes to the sound of a heart monitor didn't scare Wally in the least. So when his emerald eyes snapped open to see the off-white walls of the medical bay in the Watchtower, he didn't freak out.

"Oh! You're up!" Came an excited voice and Wally's heart stuttered.

"Megalicious?" He asked, his voice coming out teasing. He hears M'gann approaching and sees her green head poke over the railing of the hospital bed.

"That's me. But is it really… you?" She asks and he can see her amber eyes ignite with tears.

"Of course green cheeks, who else would it be?" he says and she laughs as tears fall down her face as she recognized the old nickname.

Wally immediately tries to sit up to comfort the crying Martian, but he winces as soon as he lifts up his torso and lies back down in pain.

"Oh but you can't get up yet, you cracked a few ribs. It seems you got Flash's fast healing power while you were away seeing as all those cuts were healed by the time we came to tend to them" Megan says.

"I'll be fine, I just need to find—"

"Batman said you have to stay here at least a day after you wake up" Megan orders, pushing him down softly as he tried to get up again.

"How long have I been out?" He asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Only three days. But you've been gone for—"

"Please, don't tell me," Wally pleads and M'gann nods in understanding, knowing that he'd find out eventually. But now was not the time.

But Wally could tell he's been gone for a long time just looking at M'gann. Even though she could shape shift to look any age, she had decided to follow aging like a normal human. Vague laugh lines showed on her green skin and her orange hair seemed a bit dull, but it had now reached shoulder length.

Knowing it'd be best to heed Batman's advice, he snuggles back into bed and just waits for the time when he can reunite with Artemis.

Nightwing visits. Superboy visits. Aqualad visits. Impulse and Flash visit. Hell, even Red Tornado visits to give a diagnostics check. But the one person missing from attendance is Artemis.

"Maybe she's just busy. Maybe she hadn't heard the news" Wally excuses Artemis, knowing she wouldn't miss seeing Wally.

But as minutes turned to hours and night came, that phrase turned into "Maybe she's really busy" as hope began to drain from Wally's body.

Wally's released from the medical room at 7 AM the next day. He is not allowed to run for the chance that it may break his ribs again or open his cuts. But he moves at a quick human pace to the Zeta Tubes, a piece of paper clutched tightly in his hand. Dick had given him Artemis' new address in Palo Alto.

"Be careful, Wally," Dick had warned him. "Artemis… changed a lot since you've been gone,"

Wally had ignored it. He was beyond excited to see the love of his life again. And to meet… his kids. Wally and Artemis never talked about children much, but being able to hug them and tuck them in at night...

He had to see her.

The Zeta tube was quick to take him to Palo Alto and he found himself materialized in the sunny city. He followed the street signs a few blocks down until he caught sight of a one-story beige house with a yellow lawn and the shades drawn. Doing his best not to run up the stairs to the front door, he rang the doorbell multiple times like a little kid. Flowers, a gift from M'gann, were situated in his hands and he had a cheeky grin on his face. However, it was soon wiped off his face when the door opened to a pale man with frosty white hair and cold eyes. He immediately dropped into a defensive stance, the flowers falling onto the stoop.

"Icicle Jr!"

A/N: Plot twist anyone? Heh, yeah he's finally back! First chapter I wrote that I actually cried about. Also, I want to write another story and I have three ideas but I don't know which one to go with.

One of them's a Supermartian fic, the other is a YJ Genderbender and the other one is a Spitfire fanfic that takes place in the 5 years.

I'll probably just continue this story but if you want to see any of the above ideas, comment and I can start writing them. Oopsies, I wrote this a week ago and I forgot to publish it, please don't kill me!

Anyways, i'm writing another Spitfire story because I was watching Spitfire videos on Youtube and it gave me an idea.

Also, if nobody saw the San Diego Comic Con news, they're making a crossover for Young Justice and Teen Titans Go! Yeah, it's not what I was hoping for but I'm still excited. Maybe they'll finally put S2 on Netflix...

Anyways, enjoy!