It has been too long since I've written this story. But my heart broke after Wally "died" so I needed a break. What I didn't realize in taking said break was that a year and a half would go by before I came back to this site and this story. Honestly guys I almost abandoned this little project but your reviews pushed me to continue. And I'm thankful. I spent a year stuck in a Writing class pulling my eyes out. The people surrounding me had little to no skill and my teacher gave out nothing but essays. My creativity became structured and I need to break the barrier that held back my creative sprite. And this story plus fan fiction did just that. So in honor of you guys here is a super long chapter of Whereabouts Unknown. Enjoy!

I own nothing.

Whereabouts Unknown

Ch. 9 Shotgun

…Willow…

I stared in shock at the papers fluttering around me. Tim had tripped over a box marked "Cold Case", a box my mother warned me never to open. But now the box's lip lay motionless on the floor, revealing its true contents.

Inside was not the dark files from homicide cases but newspaper articles about the missing archer, Artemis. My eyes widened, my hands reached toward the age stained pages. When I first heard of Artemis the Archer, I hunted local libraries and hero internet fan sites but found little to no information on her. Now here she was staring back at me- smiling, next to Green Arrow – in the newspaper's photograph. She looked familiar. And then it hit me. The blond girl in the photo looked like me. No not me –my mother.

That was all I need to break my vow. Dropping the paper, I reached towards the cardboard box. My hands shook with fear. My lungs felt heavy and my head began to pound. If my mother was a superhero why would she leave? Tim's hand clasp against my reaching wrist, drawing my attention away. Our eyes met, his showing a different kind of fear. He gulped down a breath, biting his lip.

"Willow," he carefully stated, "You may not like what you find. Do you really want to risk it?" My eyes narrowed. He knew something about this. I suddenly became furious, forcefully pulling my hand away, glaring at him.

"Get. Out." The words pushed their way through my grit teeth. "Now." He looked into my eyes, once more sucking in a breath. His lips pushed in a thin line. His gaze broke, falling towards the floor.

"Alright Willow. I warned you." He pushed himself upwards. My glare followed him as he exited the attic space.

The silent attic air filled my lungs. I paused. Suddenly becoming afraid of the contents of the box. But my mind knew that whatever else was inside would be important. It would answer the questions of my past, the ones I never dared ask. I reached forward once more. My fingers skimmed the cardboard edge. I retracted my hand as a hollow feeling entered the pit of my stomach.

"I'll bring it to my room." I quickly picked up the scattered newspapers and the box and raced downstairs to my room.

…Narrator…

Barry tapped his foot impatiently against the marble floor of the bank. He looked down at his collector's addition Flash watch and grumbled. He was already late for lunch with Arty, but this was ridiculous. 40 minutes. He knew she was going to chew him out. He debated just leaving and coming back later, but decided it wasn't worth it. He had to put this letter in his lock box. He looked down at the thin envelop in his palm. The word Willow was scribbled across its front.

Barry's mind began to wander to the envelope's contents. For years he'd try to put in words all the things the spunky red head had missed, ranging from there first real meeting to who her father was. He wanted to tell the little girl of how wonderful she was and that if she did get powers, like he suspected she would, she would be a great speedster. His thoughts wander towards his little niece. He was so proud of her. She was smart and spunky and fast. After think it over once more Barry decided he was just happy to have had the chance to meet her. Unlike her father.

Another sigh escaped his lips. What was taking so long? He leaned over and glanced at the front of the line. An old lady dumped a purse full of pennies on the counter and slowly counted them, shook her head and started to recount. Barry held back a slew of swears with a long irritated grumble.

"This day just can't get worse." He whispered to himself, but he was wrong.

The bank doors slammed open. All eyes turning to the culprits. Large men with ski mask and heavy looking pistols stood at the entrance.

"Everybody Down!" Armed man one shouted. "Hal get the money. Clark put them hostages into a corner. I'll stand watch. Got it!?"

"Yeah, Bruce we got it." Masked man two said before heading behind the counter. Mask three approached the line shoving Barry hard in the back with his weapon.

"Alright everyone! If you would please make your way to that corner over there. That would be greatly appreciated." The man – Clark ordered. He had an accent reminiscent of those from the city slums. His pistol still poking Barry in the back.

"You know, I have a friend – well acquaintance, really, named Clark. He's pretty super!" Barry chuckled at his joke. Quickly he pulled out his phone and typed a message to his friend the blond detective. The man looked at the Blond man with a dumb look.

"What kind of idiot makes a joke with a gun pointed at his back, and then text someone?" A smirk crossed Barry's lips.

"One making a distraction." At the speed of light Barry grabbed the gun's barrel. The two men wrestled with the weapon both refusing to let it go.

Unfortunately for Barry, his opponent had his finger on the trigger. The bullet hit his leg. Barry dropped to the ground for a second before pouncing on his attacker.

"What are you an Alien or somethin'? " Clark spat out.

"No, I special in other ways." Barry quipped, a hard look in his eyes. The criminals showed fear. He knew that look. He'd seen it in the eyes of the Heroes he'd fought before. This blond man fighting for his gun was not just a crazy civilian. Clark was screwed.

He lifted the gun. Pointing it at his opponent. His hands shaking, he pulled the trigger. The heroic man fell to the floor, his body still.

A scream rung through the air. Clark dropped his pistol. Never had he killed someone before. He dropped to the floor becoming as tight a ball as possible, sobbing.

He had just killed a hero.

…Artemis…

Barry was late. That wasn't strange, but today he was really late. My phone gave a soft buzz as a message appeared.

Arty. Bank. Help.

Barry

My eyes widened after reading the urgent message. I pushed back my seat and raced out of the restaurant, a 20 left behind. The bank was a quick walk down the street, but it felt too long as I tried to push my way past the onslaught of Gotham citizens strolling around. Only once had Barry texted her in such a short way. After an unexpected encounter with Dr. Polaris… at Gotham National Bank. I bitterly laughed at the irony.

The heels of my boots clapped against the concrete sidewalk. The GNB sat in front of me, just across the street. I raced over the road ignoring the explosion of car horns and swear words that followed. My legs raced up the steps of the bank, hands reaching for the door. The entrance of the bank were shut and locked. A masked man stood behind the thick glass, his back turned watching the chaos inside the building. Quickly, I looked around, finding a rock and threw it at the door. The heavy glass shattered and the man swiftly turned. Once I was spotted, he held up his pistol.

"Back away from the door or I'll shoot." He threated. I glared at him, in response.

His words were empty threats. I grabbed at the weapon with one hand, pointing the pistol towards the ground. My other hand reached for his wrist. My fingers swiftly found the man's wrist's weak point and applied pressure. He hissed and released the gun. With a smirk and a fist I punched the oaf out.

Stepping through the doorway, I saw Barry running towards an armed man. Shakily, but quickly, the criminal pulled the gun towards Barry's chest, shooting him down.

My Scream echoed in the room.

The criminal dropped to the ground and began rocking back and forth. I raced toward him. Lifting him up by the collar.

He looked back blankly.

"D-did I kill him?" Blind rage ran through me. My knee collided with his stomach. He doubled over in pain, clutching his midsection.

"You better pray that he's alive." I stated dryly. If Barry was … seriously hurt, this scum would never breathe again. I reached towards Barry and sighed with relief. Shallow breaths escaped his mouth. He looked up at me and smiled weakly.

"Arty." His voice was flat. Unexpectedly, tears rolled down my cheek.

"Barry don't – don't speak, just breath." I looked up as woman in scrubs crawled towards us.

"I'm a nurse," she whispered. "I'll help him till he can get medical attention."

"There – there…" Barry clutched his wound pain etched across his face.

"There is a third guy." The nurse finished, "He's in the volt." I shook my head in understanding, my expression hard. My arms pushed against the floor, but Barry's hand clasped my arm.

"Here." In his hand was small tube. I recognized it instantly, a collapsible staff. I touched the smooth metal surface, remembering Black Canary's lessons in fighting with "sticks". A smile graced my lips.

"Canary… she wanted you… to have it. Got it …early-"

I put a finger to his lips. Making eye contact with the nurse.

"This man was the Flash." Both sets of eyes widened. "If you can remove the bullet, I think he could heal himself." She shook her head and looked down in awe at the blond in her arms. He shrugged at her as if aware of her thoughts. I stood.

The last of the masked men, entered the bank lobby. We made eye contact. My "new toy" expand becoming the deadly weapon I use to play with. I smirked as the man pulled out a weapon of his own.

"Another Dame pistol. You really need a more effective weapon." The banter came so naturally, even after all these years, I still had the mindset of a hero. We began circling each other. My eyes never leaving the pistol.

"When fighting with a staff, wait for your opponent to make the first move. Stand at the ready." Canary's words danced through my mind. The memory was calming, and the effect was instantaneous. I felt old emotions rise within me. I became that 16 year old a girl fighting for her teammate's trust, hiding a deadly secret, only wanting to prove herself to the world, her family, but mostly herself.

I grit my teeth, positioning the staff in front of me. An angry aggressive sound escaped his lips. And I smiled, a bright smile.

"You fucking BITCH! Stop messing with me." My smile widened as he lunged towards me. I stepped aside, slamming the staff against his back. He fell flat onto his stomach.

"Oomph" I smirked at the sound. He tried to push himself up, but I slammed the staff into his back once more. Again, he made a noise, a grunt of pain. I pushed my heel into his rib smirking at his grumbles.

I leaned over towards his ear.

"Too easy. I hoped you'd be more of a challenge than that." He squirmed under my boot. I placed his hands in cuff, as well as the other two accomplices, before pulling out my phone.

My fingers tapped the keys of the device. As the phone established its connection one of the men awoke. I kicked him in the mouth and continued to wait.

"9-1-1, what is your emergency?" calm voice answered.

"Hi, this is Detective Artemis Crock from Gotham City's Special Victims Unit, I've just apprehended robbery suspects while robber was in progress. The location is Gotham National Bank. One hostage has been shot." I walked over to Barry to assess his wounds. He was healing quite fast. "The wounds appear to be minor." The nurse shook her head in agreement. "But he needs a hospital."

"Sending Ambulance and police officers right away."

Within minutes Barry was loaded in the ambulance and the robbers were in custody. I let out a breath of relief as Barry went speeding away to get medical treatment. A little girl came running up behind me, tapping my leg. I looked down with a surprised expression.

"Hello."

"Miss, you're my hero!" Her smile was bright and her eyes were honest. My face became red as I said the only thing possible.

"Thank you"

So this is the next chapter of Whereabouts. Hopefully you like it. Its the longest chapter to ever be written and what surprised me most about writing it was that it all came out in less than 12 hours. That's right people I finished writing a 2095 word chapter in under 12 hours. I've never written that much before in one sitting, not including my random dance parties and tea breaks. I'm sorry it took so long but hopefully it will be done by August 28. That's my goal. Feel free to leave a review and come back for more. I'm not quoting on this story. I promise you.

Thanks for the support

Mimi

P.S I have Chapter 10 ready to post. Good Reviews make me want to post more chapters. I'll post it in a few day other wise