My first 'song' fic. For ZephyrInk's video: Love Save the Empty on Youtube. Due to lyrics parts of this story may not be in chronological order. Once again feel free to prompt and review!
Little girls don't know how to be sweet girls. Mama didn't teach me.
Her mom had left her for six years. Six years alone with her dad. Jade left, for parts unknown. So she didn't have her mother's saving grace to teach her how to be nice sweet and innocent. Being those things only got her heart hurt so she built up icy jagged walls around her heart. A blunt, defensive persona was erected; to soften the blows to her brittle heart.
She later learned that Jade became a killer rather than just toying with the innocent to make them think she ruined it for pay and pleasure. She slowly watched as Jade took pleasure in dragging Red Arrow into the shadows and tarnishing him and then she left him waiting in the dust. Lian became their shared responsibility.
Maybe she could protect the next generation. Let someone else be the sweet, strong, girl she couldn't be. Save someone from the bitterness the world incurred on her.
Little boys don't know how to treat little girls. Daddy didn't show me.
Wally never asked his dad how to treat women, he already predicted his answer. Honestly, his ideas about gender roles were a little outdated. Also, he kept berating Wally for emulating his fictional hero Captain Kirk.
His uncle was no help either. His uncle's personality and his own widely differed. So he really couldn't ask him for help. Also, his uncle fell for his aunt Iris. How many women like that were in the world?
The Flash, the League, none of them were any help in him finding his own way. So he fell to the stereotypes society presented. Even though the persistence in testing methods were admirable; expecting different results was not.
Face down on top of your bed. Oh, why did I give it up to you?
He didn't want to tell her. About the bullies, the stress, and the secret that Roy told him. But she needed to know. So he collapsed, face in the mattress of her bed, breathing in her scent. She sat next to him, and he told her. Wally told Artemis about Lian's existence, the problem he had with scholarships, and the idiots that kept trying to get him to do their science homework.
She calmly rubbed his back and soothed him. She reassured him; and somehow it did get better. Wally's life saw subtle improvements. When Roy confronted Wally about telling her, she was there firmly backing him up. She then tore the rug out from under both of them when she invited both of them to dinner with her mother. Leaving Wally to wonder: Why?
Is this how I shoot myself up high. Just high enough to get through?
Artemis was an over-achiever. She had to be. Artemis had to get out. She had to get a better life for her and her mom. So she maintained her grades through missions and burns. She studied hard for her tests and perfected her essays for scholarships. She polished them as she tried to buff away her dirty history for the team.
She didn't have to be great... Artemis had to be better, she had to surpass Roy, keep up with the metas, and keep up with Robin. It was surprising she didn't become so brittle that she shattered into a million pieces.
Yet, some days...specifically the days she ticked off her teammates whose opinions she valued, or disappointed Bette or Richard; she felt like she barely passed muster. Those days were the worst, so she redoubled her efforts. Artemis aimed higher.
Again for false affection. Again break down inside.
She was pissed. Wally once again was flirting with M'gann when she was clearly with Conner. For some reason the whole situation ticked her off. Something snapped, she could no longer stand waiting.
So after discussing it with Zatanna and Robin she confidently set forward to tell him. She wished she was capable of breaking it gently but she never learned how to be tactful. Artemis told him in the manner that she could, frankly. Not with malice, uncoated, but the raw truth. She hoped it would be enough.
Love, save the empty. Love, save the empty and save me.
Wally realized, as he closed in for the kiss that he should have done this earlier, and said as much. But then, the moment itself was insubstantial and eternal. He realized he could wait forever for her, and he would. Good thing she was too much of a spitfire to let him. So he closed his eyes and believed.
Sad boy you stare up at the sky. When no one's looking back at you.
Kent Nelson was dead. How could someone so alive, be so dead?
What did it mean for him?
Kent Nelson was gone. Nabu let him go for interfering?
What could Wally believe in now?
Wally had anxiety about his future...It didn't stop him from running.
So he looked up, waited, and took off when everyone was distracted.
You wear your every last disguise. You're flying then you fall through,
He kept denying that he was attracted to Artemis; even though his subconscious knew better. He did not have those kinds of dreams about her. Lies! If denial could be worn as a t-shirt, he'd have one in every color.
The first step into letting go to hold onto her was hearing her admit her past. The second step was a potent mixture of lack of sleep and adrenaline from the battle. The final step was the chime of New Years as he started his new beginning.
Again for false attention. Again you're breaking inside.
Artemis felt guilty. There were two Roy's deserving of Ollie's attention. Even if one was MIA and the other was unhinged. Yet here she was as his protégé, having chili.
For some reason it saddened her. It saddened her that, the best father figure she ever had also made her feel guilty for the attention. She promised that someday she'd return the favor to someone who needed it.
Artemis later cried as she brought her niece to meet her Grandpa.
Love, save the empty. Love, save the empty, save me.
She was falling further and further into this rabbit hole. Artemis cried tears of relief when she woke up in the hospital. She kissed Wally thoroughly, mussing his brilliant red locks.
Batman let out a hesitant cough, waiting to debrief her on her injuries. Apparently she was protecting a child from Mad Hatter's scheming before herself succumbing to the mind control. She didn't have to ask who saved her.
Love, save the empty. Love, save the empty.
Wally had to get home. He raced, he pushed through the pain. Wally fought, he fought to the edge of his endurance and beyond it as he collapsed a hushed thought echoed through his mind.
Let me get home, Artemis needs me.
When he was awakened to the pain of a slap and the general aches and pains of his body he greeted his wife listlessly: "Hey beautiful," content that his spitfire had lead him home.
Scars feel like knives. They tell us why we're fighting.
Wally traced her scars as a reminder to protect her better, as a reminder that she was strong and she could take care of herself.
Artemis traced her scars to recall how she got them, recollect the torture of her father and each life saved. She traced Wally's to remind herself that: she had to be better, to keep up and protect him.
They both wore their scars proudly as signs of protecting the next generation.
Storm, wait outside. Oh love hold us together.
The hoped, beyond hope that this peace would last. That they could relax. Then the phone rang. "Artemis, dad knows about Lian!" They shared a look, whatever tomorrow would bring they'd face it together.
Love, save the empty. Love, save the empty.
As she exchanged her vows her heart was filled with love for her speedster who would always have her back and believe in her.
Love, save the empty. Love, save the empty and save me.
As he exchanged his vows his eyes radiated his happiness at the fact that he found his spitfire who could keep up, and save him from himself.
And save me.
She stared at the family photo on the mantel with a smile. Her life had come so far from when she was her kids' age and it was all thanks to love. Determination and the love of both her mother and her speedster saved her from falling deeper into the darkness, and pulled her towards the warmth of hope.