7.
The mark of a mature man is a certain scar he bears: the memory of a perfect woman never won, or of a once-true love forever lost. However much he may love you, he is only here because she is not.
— Anonymous
Pushing him away was most likely the hardest thing Artemis Crock has ever done. So when that door shut with a sound click she had ignored Cameron and poured the remainder of her coffee down the drain before retreating to the bathroom and locking herself in. When living with a known criminal she always had one rule; never to let him see her cry.
Seeing as they were raised together because of their crime boss fathers, they both knew better than to show any signs of weakness, and crying was one of the most definite signs. And since she knew he was listening, she silently sobbed through the loud noise of the shower running.
When Wally West first disappeared, she couldn't count how many times she had fantasized about him returning, how she would jump into his arms and allow him to run off into the sunset. How they would kiss away the pain of loss and make up for however long he had been gone. But she knew he could never make up sixteen years, so why try? Why try to make up for all the hugging, kissing, snuggling and movie nights when she still had to make up for the bills, taxes, mortgages and education costs?
Why try to fix something so broken?
Because their relationship was broken. Yeah, they got along great when he disappeared, but things had changed now. She was 37 and he still looked 21. She had a family and a boyfriend now and Wally had… no one. Yeah, the Team would look after him for the time being, but in the end he really had no one. Dick had gone apeshit since Wally left and turned just as serious as Batman. Bart probably couldn't hold a conversation for too long before breaking off into tears or drowning in doubts. Rudy had died three years ago and Mary had a stroke that paralyzed the left side of her face. Wally had turned to Artemis when he got back, and she just pushed him away. Maybe he expected her to be the only thing that wouldn't change in this crazy world, but she had changed most of all.
Her sobs wracked her whole body and just left her a shuddering mess of deep inhalations and hiccups. She looked up at the mirror above the sink and for a moment was met with a young adult Artemis clad in the Tigress uniform stuffed in the back of her closet. Her eyes were downcast and grey to reflect the dark storm of thoughts brewing inside of her. Her hair cascaded and pooled around her shoulders in a way she had long forgotten and she realized that this was when she was trapped in Manta's Submarine and she had thought she would die with hardly a goodbye to Wally. Another sob and she was back to staring at a red-eyed wrinkly 37 year old woman. Burying her face in her hands, she continued to sob over a red-haired speedster for the first time in six years.
"When did it go so wrong so fast?"
Wally was more lost than when he was in the SpeedForce. After sitting on the porch for a good half an hour, Wally had finally gotten up and moved towards the town where he could get something to satisfy his fast metabolism. Moving at a human speed, he reached the town in a relatively short amount of time. His eyes widened considerably as he looked around.
Everything had changed. And when he said 'changed', he meant full-blown-futuristic-changed. Because this was a science lover's fantasy.
The buildings were all tall with sleek, black windows and glossy exterior. Cars still littered the streets but they had been modernized noticeably and you could no longer see the excreted exhaust. Despite the noticeable lack of shrubbery, there was still a fresh smell to the city, muddled with the noise pollution of chatting passersby's and the wafting scent of hot dogs and city food that made Wally's stomach growl in anticipation. Ignoring the temptation of street venders of the once suburban town, he moved towards where his favorite restaurant was, an all-you-can-eat buffet open 24 hours. It was just his style.
However, his jolly mood tumbled down a hill as he came to the familiar entryway and was met with a 'Starbucks'. Wally held back his sniffles as he silently mourned the place that kept his hunger at bay even on the latest nights.
"Rest in peace," Wally muttered under his breath to compensate for the absurd coffee prices that could not please the monster in his stomach. Turning away, he instead opted to go to the Hibachi restaurant Artemis always dragged him to. He was again forced to stop and avert his path when he came face-to-face with a computer store. Growing irritated, he jogged down the street to the pizza place, only to find that it was also replaced by a more modern store. Desperately searching for cheap and easy food, Wally turned around in a circle and then started walking, eyes scanning the store signs. All he met was dead ends filled with complexes and fancy stores with foreign names.
Giving up, he moved towards the Zeta tube (the only part of the city that hadn't changed) and transported himself to the Watchtower. The initial shock of Wally's reappearance must've not worn off on them because the few members loitering in the missions area stared at him for a second before their collective minds processed the fact that he had returned a few days ago. They all immediately pretended as if they had not had a moment of uncalled for panic and stared at their shoes or whatever newest high-tech gadget they possessed.
Moving past them and pretending to not have caught them staring, he moved down the hall to the place that always stayed the same, no matter how advanced the world around him had gotten.
The Mess Hall.
The savory aroma of freshly made food wafted into his nostrils, filling the speedster with warmth and bliss to make up for the hours pacing around Palo Alto. His stomach growled raucously and he immediately made his way towards the machines with satisfactory ecstasy.
The mess hall was modernized quite a bit in his absence, to his dismay. The railing that you slid your tray across to get food was still there, but instead of the delicious treats on the other side there were strange, stainless steel machines that hummed to life as he approached them. Standing in front of the first machine, he stared it down in confusion as he tried to figure out how it operated.
It looked like a plain box, about a foot all the way around with a small opening underneath where he could only guess food would come out. Peering cautiously at the machine, he waved a hand in front of it as if it would come to life at his presence.
When nothing happened, he gingerly poked the front of the machine. When it still remained immobile, he felt around the sides for a chance there might be a button. With no such luck, he glared at it ponderously.
"Uh, Chicken Whizzies?" He said awkwardly at the chance it may be voice activated. When it remained the same, Wally West grew more aggravated.
"Come on, I came here to eat now give me food!" Wally shouted at the machine, bumping his fist against the top. The humming of the machinery stuttered for a moment before continuing its nauseating loop.
"Come on, I haven't eaten in four and a half hours, I'm starving!" Wally pleaded with the machines, jabbing at it again with his fingers swiftly as if some sort of tickling would increase his luck.
The machine suddenly radiated an angry hum before the bottom opened and a cheeseburger popped out. Wally's eyes widened considerably.
"Uh, thanks?" he asked, grabbing the cheeseburger. Just as he was about to take a bite, another cheeseburger emerged and an eyebrow was raised.
"I think I'm good for now," Wally said, slightly panicking as another cheeseburger appeared.
The angry buzzing continued as more cheeseburgers emerged from the small machine at an alarming rate.
"Uh, sorry for hurting your feelings, but I'm not that starving!" Wally apologized to the machine in hopes it would let up. No such luck.
Dang, they're gonna kill me for killing their food-thing. Wally berates himself, jabbing at the machine in hopes he would find some sort of off switch.
"You're here for four days and you're already vandalizing our kitchen. What a Wally thing to do" a mature voice calls from the door. Wally's head whips around to see Dick Grayson casually leaning against the doorway, clad in his Nightwing costume.
"Uh, whoops?" Wally said with pleading eyes, praying his best friend could help solve his conundrum.
Dick removed himself from the doorway and walked over to the machine. His hand slid to the side next to the flap and the flap closed, sealing all those cheeseburgers inside.
"I really hope you're hungry," Dick said with a vague smile, motioning to the mountain of burgers.
It wasn't until Wally was well into his fifth burger that the conversation started. He had ravenously scarfed down the previous patties as Dick left to get Wally a drink, fries and food for himself. He didn't want Wally breaking anything and he figured leaving him at a table would be the safest bet.
"Besides Supey, I think you changed least of all," Wally said, running his eyes over Nightwing's costume. His hair was a tad longer and messed up, but beside that and a small growth spurt, he really hadn't changed. I guess once you hit 18 you stopped aging noticeably. Well, except for the more defined muscle, the hint of stubble on his chin and the more mature look on his face.
Nightwing shrugged, reaching for a fry, "Well you were only gone for about half my—" he starts before being interrupted by Wally choking on his food.
"Dude!" Wally says as he coughs on the remnants of his meal, eyes wide.
"Wally, what's wrong?" Dick says, getting up suddenly. Wally manages to swallow whatever food he's struggling with before he points at Dick and snorts a little.
"What" Wally starts before chuckling lightly "are those?" Wally asks, gesturing at his hand.
Dick relaxes as he looks at his fingers and sighs in relief, chortling softly.
"These" Dick holds up a gloved arm, "Are called finger stripes," he says with an exaggerated wiggling of his fingers.
"I would've just kept the old outfit," Wally says teasingly as he munches on a French fry.
"You're just jealous. For the record, everyone else thought they were cool," Dick says smugly, crossing his arms.
"Right, because in the future those finger whatevers are totally in and stylish" Wally says with a sarcastic eye roll.
"It's not the future, it's the present. And you're one to talk since I just saved your butt from a metal box." Dick retaliates.
"Hey! That box provoked me!" Wally defends himself weakly, clinging on desperately to his pride. After a moment of hushed silence, Wally hangs his head and Dick bursts into his signature cackle that never seemed to age.
"Dude, you haven't changed a bit!" Dick says.
"Well, duh. I'd say the same for you except you have those weird lines now and how you came in all grumpy and moody" Wally says jokingly.
"Well having your best friend die kind of makes a person like that" Dick says, sobering up.
"Whoa man, it's okay. I didn't die," Wally says in futile reassurance.
Dick looks down "We all thought you were dead, Wally. Sixteen years and I still wasn't over the guilt. I'm still not over it" Dick says dejectedly.
"Guilt of what?" Wally asks, tilting his head slightly.
"It was me who talked you guys into rejoining. I made you vanish for sixteen years," Dick says in shame.
Wally reaches across the table and puts a hand on Dick's shoulder, prompting him to look up "Dude, no one knew what was gonna happen. None of us could predict the future, and even if we could I would've done the same thing. It was my decision to run to the Arctic, you shouldn't have beat yourself up over this all this time," Wally says.
"You don't understand. I'm the reason everyone's different. When you disappeared, everyone changed. The Flash changed, Impulse changed, and I changed." Dick says. Silence fell over them as they collectively realized how Wally's demise had affected everyone. It had affected them all greatly, but none as great as Artemis.
A/N: Wow a week without writing. This entire story was pretty much all written in an hour (as in the hour before I just uploaded it) because I was really feeling the mode this week and camp was tiring. Good news for you and bad news for me- my camp ends in a week. Meaning more time to write and less time being active. So maybe it's a win-win?
Anyways, yes I decided to add the finger stripes. I only have a few Nightwing comics but I've heard about them so I was like why not? But they're there and there's nothing you can do about it. Cue evil laugh.
Well I'm exhausted and that's messing with my brain, so time for an early bed-time. Also, I started adding quotes to the beginning! It was partially inspired by the quote from this chapter that I read about in a song I quoted in a previous chapter so I was like "I really like the quote and it fits so yay" but I just couldn't do it for one chapter so BAM! now they're in all the chapters. Whoops.
I have no idea how to spell Chicken Whizzies so I just went with my gut. And my gut said I was hungry so I took a snack break and then I spelled it like how I thought it was.
For a girl who's obsessed with Nightwing, I really have no idea how to match his personality.