I don't own Young Justice

"Please let this be a dream

A nightmare.

Another one of those dreams where my subconscious is trying to tell m something.

Anything but this being real.

She's lying there, on the infirmary bed, alive" (just).

Wally wants to find whoever did this to her, vibrate his hands, and rearrange their internal organs. He wants to shout at her team mates for letting this happen. He wants to run and run until he couldn't think anymore.

But most of he wants to wake up, next to Artemis, for another day of saving the world. He knows he won't, his weird dreams have always been about how he sees the future. This can't be his idea of a future. Even if the simulation messed him up more than he thought, he wouldn't see Artemis critical like this, she'd be...well you know.

The fact remains; this isn't the future he wants.

He and Artemis are getting older; they need to decide what to do with their lives. Wally wants to study physics; Artemis has expressed an interest as well. They're both smart, no-one doubts they could make it to University.

But the question of their costumed lives keeps coming up. It's hard enough as it is, balancing everything, and it's only going to get worse. He knows most older heroes didn't have this problem; they had their lives set up before getting a costumed identity. Or they had so much money they didn't need to worry about jobs.

Wally's generation doesn't have that luxury. Starting a crime fighting career at such a young age seems to affect everyone differently, but Wally can always see it in their eyes. Too old for the rest of their bodies, disdainful looks given to authority figures that can't fly or win a fight in 10 seconds, maybe the second one was just Wally.

In any case, the time was coming when they all had to decide how much they would commit to heroism while in that transitional stage between teenager and adult, and the most challenging stage of their educations thus far. Conner and M'gann seemed to have it figured out already (lucky for some). Rob was a foregone conclusion, everyone saw him as the heir to the Bat family (even if Rob himself said otherwise). Raquel still had to decide, but hadn't voiced any concerns about balancing her civilian and costumed life. Zatanna, well from what Wally understood, having magic meant you could never walk away from the extraordinary.

He and Artemis, they're not seen as the direct successors to any Justice League members (he's had to except that he'll never be a fast as the flash). Nor are his ideas of the future as entwined with costumed heroics anymore. "Maybe I'm kidding myself" Wally thinks, "the simulation showed me what could happen, but why am I having doubts now". "Maybe it's because I was living one day at a time back then, not thinking about the future except as some far off point". Now Wally has to make things work long term, and the costumed part of his life is looking less and less compatible with the rest of it. Can he face going further with his education, finding a job, maybe starting a family, all while risking death on a regular basis? Can he face being with Artemis through all of that, knowing that one day she might not come back either?

How did Conner and M'gann do this? Was it because their powers made them more durable. Was it that most of their family and friends were costumed heroes, while Wally had a life outside of being Kid Flash? Even Artemis had started to make friends at school.

Wally looked at himself in the infirmary mirror, his costume in tatters, worn with some casual clothes he kept at the Cave. The image summed up his situation; he couldn't be Wally West and Kid Flash anymore. To go the furthest he could as one, the other would have to become a shell at best. Wally knew that none of the League members had much of a life outside of their costumed work, at best a job and family that didn't conflict with it. Barry Allen didn't go bowling on Fridays, and since becoming the Flash he hadn't gotten a promotion...

As much as he wanted to wait for Artemis to wake up, Wally was getting tired. He knew he wouldn't be able to help her if he couldn't keep his eyes open. As he drifted off to sleep, he hoped again that this was a nightmare, that he would wake up with Artemis at his side. All his doubts, fears, and simulation trauma would be gone. Wally West would wake up ready to face the day, and Kid Flash would be ready to save the world...

Wally woke up ten hours later, not knowing or caring what day it was, to find himself disappointed.

He took his costume off, putting it away with the reverence most would expect for a funeral. His resolve hardened, he waiting by Artemis's bedside. Every second he waited for her to regain consciousness was torture. But Wally knew that when she was awake, he would have to say the three dreaded words.

We need to talk.