I don't own Young Justice

I recommend anyone reading this chapter find the omissions from the last Young Justice Invasion episode; otherwise this chapter will seem to contradict the cannon.

Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed or favourited this story. But now the final curtain is about to be raised on Wally West...

Wally was running.

He'd been doing it allot recently.

Between maintenance, upgrades, research.

The former Fasted Boy Alive, goggles and all, races through the Watchtower. Task after task (with frequent food breaks), with no apparent end, and this didn't bother him.

Except there was no Artemis in the Watchtower.

Wally knew that she was safe, just waiting to be extracted from a mission gone slightly over its expected time. Regardless, Wally wanted her here, with him.

He didn't know how long he'd been working, or how long it would take Artemis to return. He knew that he had to suit up before 1800 EST for a mission; Rob wanted some brain power on a Team mission.

After the Reach had been kicked off Earth, Wally and Artemis had sort-of come out of retirement. They finished their educations; got jobs connected to Wayne Tech and Queen Industries, and made an agreement with the Team. The two of them would give a certain amount of time to the League, as well as be on call for anything apocalyptic.

It hadn't always been easy; the risk strained their relationship at times. At first it had mainly been Wally learning to accept Artemis's willingness to put her life at risk. Then Artemis had to learn to deal with Wally's post mission hyperaware of mortality attitude. He would be extremely worried about any injuries she had sustained or close calls, despite his own nonchalance about his own state. This had caused no shortage of squabbles in the Watchtowers infirmary (no-one could say they hadn't gotten a room). In time a wordless compromise was reached, Wally wouldn't berate Artemis for her risky actions on missions, and Artemis would let Wally check her over when she returned.

The missions they carried out were quite different. Artemis was a veteran member of the Team with more experience piloting the Bioship than most. Wally was sent on missions requiring either his scientific expertise, or when the Team needed a speedster and Bart wasn't available.

A few of the newer Team members had taken to calling Wally Flashlight (behind his back). They quickly learned this was a bad idea.

Wally also frequently helped with the Watchtower's technical side, working with Adam Strange (who right now was trying to improve his translator).

As he waited, Wally became more and more agitated. He knew Artemis was safe, but couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong. Something in his brain was telling him she should be right next to him. Wally was used to being impatient for his girlfriends' return, but this was far, far worse than normal.

And so, Wally kept running.

Eventual Wally found Rob, in full Batman gear, alone in the Watchtower's control room. He seemed unsurprised by Wally suddenly tapping him on the shoulder (he swears Bats are near impossible to surprise).

"Rob, where's Artemis" asks Wally, trying and failing to keep the edge out of his voice. Rob sighs before answering "she's safe Wally, you know that". Wally lets a little bit of panic into his voice as he replies "I know, but...I don't get, I just can't shake the feeling she should be here".

Rob smiled in the way Bats do when they know something you don't (which Wally found infuriating in this context). "We've been here before Wally, once again you need to open your eyes" came Rob's oh so sage words to his highly stressed friend. Said sage words pushed said friend over the edge, from stressed to outright lashing out. "Did you take a class on how not to get to the point, something's wrong here, I know it".

"I'm trying to prod you, to make you remember you've been here before, the last time you were in denial". Rob's words were delivered like a teacher, trying to get through to a bright but stubborn student. Wally at this point stopped looking like a man on the brink on panic, and just stared. Wally had vague recollections of a dream many years ago. It was after a disastrous simulation that had made him regress to his Artemis=outsider view, at least on the surface. Wally couldn't quite put his finger on when he had realised what he had been doing, but the more he thought about it, the more he thought of a similar situation to this one.

"Well this is quicker than last time, do I need to give you a full explanation?" challenged the Dark Knight.

It hit Wally like a bolt to the brain (he would know). He knew he was dreaming, he knew that he was having another dream about his desired future, and he still didn't know where Artemis was...

"Well how do I wake up" demanded Wally. Dream Rob's expression changed to one of sympathy. "That's deeper than I go, but think about what you can remember of recent events". Wally remembered Artemis's deep cover mission, the risk, the lies, his anger at Rob, the extraction, and memories he's glad the real Rob didn't have access to...

A weight settled on Wally's chest, a feeling of physical weight rather than the mental weight of concern/panic he'd felt until a (seeming) minute ago.

The next memories were so vague as to be obviously fabricated, a future where Wally West and Kid Flash co-existed. Artemis, Wally knew, hadn't been entirely happy about retiring from the costumed life. Her use of the same name in and out of uniform carried its own meaning.

"So how do I wake up", Wally asks dream Rob, attempting to come across as calm but still sounding pleading, why he was trying to hide such things from his own mind, Wally didn't know.

Dream Rob's smirk returned as he replied "When your' ready".

This didn't go over well with Wally "WELL I'M DAM WELL READY NOW"

"In that case, go through that door and suit up" said Rob, pointing to a door that Wally swore wasn't there before. Somewhere in his mind, Wally knew that going through that door would mean action, danger, Artemis...

And there it was, Artemis was intertwined with his costumed life. He had tried to leave it, but he had been dragged back (apart from that one time...). While he had ran, Artemis had reluctantly followed him, and had jumped at the chance to get back in the game, would she go back into retirement after this...

No

And so Wally had to decide, could he take the risk of losing Artemis in the costumed line of duty, or would he lose her to the costumed life. Could he keep running from what he'd been unable to escape?

Rob had disappeared, the room had disappeared, and all that was left was a grey hallway with a door in front of Wally, who held in his hands his old costume.

Wally made his decision, he would take the risk, and would take it with Artemis. He suited up and walked through the door.

Wally opened his eyes to a sight that made him grin like a cheshire cat, the most amazing (and dangerous) woman in his life, Artemis. To hold her like this after their time apart, and knowing that the threat was over, was one of the best moments in Wally's life. Parts of their respective costumes lay scattered around their bedroom (the best kind of stress relief), and both young heroes clung to each other under extremely disturbed covers.

Wally moved slightly and Artemis, still sleeping, gripped him tighter and groaned in protest. Wally decided not to move for as long as possible. Unfortunately, as he had used a lot of energy last night, it didn't take long for Wally to get hungry. Reluctantly, he very slowly removed Artemis's hands and limbs from his person and moved into the living room as quietly as he could.

Moving like he was in stealth mode (please let the dog stay asleep), Wally made his breakfast as though about what was to come. He and Artemis had many awkward conversations coming up, and all sorts of work to do to re-establish her civilian life. Despite all that, compared to dealing with the deep cover mission, it would be like a holiday. When he finished eating, Wally felt it was time to open curtains.

As dawn light shone through the window Wally was reminded of Kaldur'an's words on the 4th July all those years ago

"Today is the day"

The End