Last Monday was the 4-year anniversary of me posting the first chapter. It's totally wild to me that it's already been that long, but thank you so much to everyone who has been reading from the beginning and welcome to all the new readers. I wanted to post this last week, but I'm with a surgeon who has a crazy schedule this month, and that did not happen. As an apology…you'll have to read because it'd be a spoiler for me to tell you.

Anywho, happy anniversary to us :)

-TheDarkAbyss

Location: Gotham

Date: Dec 7th

Time: 21:35

The shot of a bullet echoed through the destroyed gym. Emmy twisted her body in front of Sage even as her mind screamed that it was too late. She squeezed her eyes tight, bracing for impact, for the searing pain of a bullet tearing through her flesh.

It never came.

She cracked open her left eye. The bullet hovered mere inches away from her head, encased in a soft green glow.

"Good one," Sage sighed, face still mushed against Emmy's neck.

"That's not mine," Emmy mused.

"I think I've seen enough murder attempts for one night," Hal called out, his calm voice filled the gym. He lowered his ring hand, letting the bullet drop, and flew down from his position outside a crack in the ceiling.

Emmy looked to Lawrence. His entire body was encased in green energy. He was stuck; arm outstretched with the gun. Unable to fight. Unable to taunt. Unable to hurt. His eyes moved wildly.

"You sure took your time," Sage groused, leaning away from Emmy. "I hit the emergency call button on my ring, necklace, and bracelet the second he threw me in the bag at the park."

"I was waiting until you really needed me," Hal shrugged before winking and pointing at Emmy. "Your sister's orders."

Emmy huffed out a shaky, relieved breath and let her forehead drop to the top of Sage's head for a moment. She willed herself to stop trembling. Get it together, East. She leaned up with a jaunty grin, keeping one arm wrapped around Sage's shoulders and using the other to send a structure to help Artemis stand up, "You sure cut it close. I think you had a little too much faith in me there, GL."

Hal shook his head as he surveyed the damage, "No, I think I had just the right amount."

Emmy exhaled another shaking breath, blinked rapidly for a second, and let her grin soften. She put her fingertips to her chin and moved them toward Hal. Thank you.

"Dammit," Artemis muttered, leaning heavily on the green rectangle Emmy put next to the archer as she struggled to get to her feet. "I missed the good stuff."

"I wouldn't say that." Emmy flew toward their father. "Lawrence Crock. Under the intergalactic laws of Oa, for your attempts on the life of Green Lantern 003 of Sector 2814, you are hereby arrested and will be sentenced to life in servitude to Oa. Pending investigation."

Lawrence's eyelids narrowed into a glare.

"What happened to being three laps ahead, Daddy Dearest?" Artemis taunted, using her bow as a crutch.

Emmy flew up to be eye-level with her trapped father. "You know, you were right. I used to be too weak to beat you. You used to terrify me. I spent years panicked that you would find me and the kids. That you'd beat me and take them. In fact, I spent so long with the weight of you on my back, that I didn't even notice when I outgrew you." Emmy let her mask drop to look into her father's raging eyes with her own rather than the glowing green ones, "But I did. I outgrew you. And the thing is, Dad. I'm not a ten-year-old kid anymore. I survived. I'm a Green Lantern. And don't you ever forget that I kicked your ass without breaking a sweat."

"Have fun in space prison, Dickwad," Sage hollered.

"Sage," Emmy pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Give her a pass," Artemis nudged Emmy with a grin. Her smile dropped as her gaze hardened, and she limped closer to their father. She lowered her voice to mutter something to the trapped monster.

Emmy tugged Sage away, "Let's give her a minute."

"So," Hal put his hands on his hips as he looked at Kallista's unconscious form on the ground. "Should I take her too?"

Emmy faltered, "No. I'll- uh…I'll handle her."

"You sure, Kid?" Hal raised an eyebrow. "She wasn't exactly holding back in that fight. I'd call it attempted murder."

"I don't think she…" Emmy folded her arms. "She's not all there. Mentally. I'm not even sure how she's alive. I'll take care of it."

Hal nodded. "Whatever you think is best, Chief."

Artemis returned to their group, wiping at her nose with the back of her left hand. "We all done here or what?"

Hal looked at Emmy. "You ready for me to take him? You'll need to testify at some point."

Emmy looked at Lawrence out of the corner of her eye. His rage was clear in his unblinking gaze, still trapped in Hal's structure. Emmy flipped him off with both hands. Sage blew a raspberry at him. Artemis mimicked jerking off and threw imaginary semen at him.

Hal snorted and tried to cover it with a cough.

"Yeah, we're ready for you to take him." Emmy turned back with a grin.

None of the girls bothered looking back as Hal flew toward Oa with their father.

Emmy scratched the scar on her neck as she looked down at the fallen assassin. Kallista's breath was unsteady, burned face flinching with pain as she remained unconscious. Her severed metallic backpack still leaked venom around her.

"How are you here?" Emmy whispered to herself.

"So," Artemis threw a heavy arm around Emmy's shoulders. "Whatcha gunna do with her?"

"Are you putting your arm on me as a gesture of friendship or because you're still feeling the poison?" Emmy smirked half-heartedly.

Artemis chuckled, "Good memory." The archer nudged the unconscious assassin with her toe. Emmy flinched away, "Dude, What the hell? Don't try to wake her up."

"Sorry," Artemis raised her hands up before wincing and grabbing her shoulder. "You can definitely take her now though. You were holding your own pretty well even without the ring."

"Sure," Emmy scratched her scar again, other hand on her hip. "I guess I just take her to the hospital?"

Sage looked down at the assassin. "This is really Kallista? This is our mother?"

"I'm not sure," Emmy sighed. "I think so."

"Well, not to be a bitch, but this is kind of a downer, and I'm still enjoying the high of beating Lawrence at his own game," Artemis grinned. "I could fight a whale with my bare hands right now."

Emmy's lips twitched upward. "Yeah, punching him was way better than therapy."

"Hell yeah," Sage laughed before sobering. "But we should still do a session with Canary, right?"

"Oh, yeah, this adrenaline crash is going to be rough," Artemis nodded.

I'll probably have a panic attack later, Emmy groused to herself before refocusing.

"I'll take, uh, the assassin somewhere, then we can get dinner?" the lantern asked. "I don't know about you two, but I'm starving."

"I'm so hungry," Sage rubbed at her bruised wrists. "Getting kidnapped really takes it out of you. I want burgers and milkshakes."

"And a mountain of fries," Artemis added.

"Sounds perfect." Emmy smiled softly, still unsure of whether or not she was looking at her mother or a clone or something even worse. "I'm going to have to stay in uniform though. The second I power down my body is going to fall apart."

"Where can we go that won't look twice at three beat-up girls in masks?" Artemis asked, handing an extra green mask to Sage.

The three sisters looked at each other before nodding and unanimously saying, "Waffle House."

Emmy kept a rectangular structure around her mother as she flew into the emergency room lobby. St. Mary's was a small hospital the League often brought criminals to. The workers were discrete and very good at their jobs, so Batman made sure the hospital had the best materials money could buy.

"Are you in charge of patient intake?" Emmy asked a nurse who only looked shocked by the Lantern's presence for a moment before nodding.

"Yes, uh, I am. Miss Green Lantern, Sir," The nurse moved confidently despite her verbal blunder.

"This woman is withdrawing from Kobra Venom. I'm told you have an expert in this area at this hospital?" Emmy let the structure fall and placed her mother on a nearby gurney.

"Jessie, page Dr. Stephens," The nurse turned to a woman behind her before moving to the gurney.

Emmy strapped a pair of handcuffs between each extremity and the gurney.

"Is that really necessary?" The nurse raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"She almost killed me tonight," Emmy deadpanned. "You think you can beat her?"

The nurse looked warily at Kallista before nodding to Emmy to continue her bonds.

"Contact me with updates on her condition and if she wakes up and proves to be an issue," Emmy handed the nurse a burner phone and a copy of the key to the cuffs. "She shouldn't have increased strength now that her Venom has been stopped, but don't underestimate her. I'll check in again tomorrow."

Emmy flew away before the medical team finished moving Kallista behind the emergency room doors.

Emmy smiled softly at the scene through the window. Artemis and Sage were on the same side of a booth – Artemis on the outside, protectively caging Sage against the window – somehow looking majestic in the harsh, flickering fluorescent lighting. Artemis's extra mask was slightly off-kilter on Sage's face, and the archer's bow was slung over her shoulder in a way that could not be comfortable when sitting. Emmy could see Sage's bruised wrists from here, and Artemis's left shoulder had an alarming amount of dried blood on it. But they were both alive, and they were both smiling.

Emmy groaned in pain as she gingerly collapsed into the seat across from her sisters. The two girls chuckled at her.

"Oh, ha ha," Emmy rolled her eyes, trying to find a position that didn't send electric pain through her entire right side. "Laugh at the family punching bag. You did not need to hit me that hard, Arty."

"I'm a method actor," Artemis saucily tossed her ponytail behind her back, wincing as the motion tweaked her hurt shoulder. "And I clearly had more aggression to get out than you. I feel great now."

"Maybe I should hit you too then," Sage suggested with a grin.

"I leave you two alone for five minutes," Emmy sighed, shaking her head with thinly veiled amusement.

"How, um, how did that go?" Sage asked carefully, fiddling with an empty straw wrapper. "Dropping the package off?"

"Fine," Emmy said. "I'll check again in the morning. Have you already ordered?"

"Yup," Artemis grinned wistfully, her stomach growling. "Three cheeseburgers with fries, hashbrowns for the table, a stack of pancakes, and two waffles."

"You have 5 bucks to your name," Emmy smirked.

"And that's why you're payin', Big Sis," Artemis smirked back.

Emmy's eyebrows raised at the moniker. Maybe they would be okay after all. Maybe their relationship could be better than it ever was.

"Do you feel…" Artemis trailed off, looking around at the empty restaurant before letting her smile out in full force. "Giddy? I think I feel giddy. I wouldn't know since I'm pretty sure I've never felt this way before, but it's like all my stress evaporated, and all I can see is sunshine."

Emmy snorted. "Uh, I don't know. I think it hasn't really sunk in yet. You know, what this means for us. Him gone. It doesn't feel real yet."

"Well, he is gone, and it is real," Sage nodded determinedly, quickly pushing her mask back into place when the extra fabric fell down a little too low. "We kicked his ass."

"Hell yeah, we did!" Artemis laughed.

Emmy smiled a little. "Hell yeah, we did."

"I'm choosing to believe your excitement will grow when you realize that this means you don't have to hide anymore," Artemis smiled even wider. "Bobby's dealt with. Lawrence's dealt with. You're in the clear. You can relax."

Emmy blinked in shock. "Holy shit. You're right."

She let herself melt against the back of the booth. After all those years of hiding from their father, terrified that he would learn about Sage and Hunter being alive. After betraying Sparks and worrying about his retaliation. After the constant state of hiding and worrying and plotting and running and fighting, Emmy was done. She didn't have to ignore the panic in the back of her mind that Lawrence would take the kids every time they got out of her line of sight. Artemis was right. When it came to the two men she had been terrified of in her lifetime, she could relax.

Emmy's shoulders shook with silent sobs before she could attempt to repress them. Artemis and Sage moved to get to their feet in an instant, but Emmy waved them off.

"No, I'm fine. I'm fine," Emmy pressed the heels of her palms into her watering eyes, unable to stop her shoulders from twitching with relieved cries.

Two sets of hands patted and rubbed Emmy's shoulders and hands as she took a few moments to calm down.

"Not totally in the clear though," Emmy fiddled with a straw, blinking the water out of her vision. "I still don't know what to do about-" she paused, struggling to find the right words. "-the assassin. Whether she's a clone or the real deal or something else entirely, it's-it's still going to change everything."

Artemis and Sage sat in silence for a few moments.

"Wouldn't it be a good thing?" Sage asked quietly. "It would mean you haven't killed anyone."

"There were two other men in the basement," Emmy monotoned. "And I've killed off planet. And I'm sure I've killed on accident by tossing background goons too far away or something like that. And-"

"Alright, alright, you're a bad person. We get it," Artemis rolled her eyes. "Right now, the only thing you're killing is my good vibes. Just let us enjoy the win that we had today and worry about the rest later."

"Yeah, can we just talk about something else? Something not related to our confusing family?" Sage suggested.

Emmy bit her lip. If the assassin really was Kallista, well, she would need to talk to Batman. Actually, she probably needed to talk to Batman regardless. Maybe it would be better for me to give him the full report now while it's still fresh. She looked at her two sisters – Sage staring hopefully and Artemis glaring threateningly - It could wait for tomorrow.

"Okay," Emmy grinned softly, putting her forearms on the tabletop. "What do you wanna talk about?"

Sage's innocent look turned devious, "Wally."

"Oh, come on!" Emmy slouched back, folding her arms and muttering, "I can't catch a fucking break."

"That's a good topic," Artemis smirked. "You have been mooning over him for a while."

"Hey, you're the only mooner here, Moon Goddess," Emmy glared.

"What happened after you gave him his birthday gift?" Sage was practically bouncing in her seat. "I wanted to ask, but you would only talk about the plan."

Emmy's frown soured, and she glared out the window. "Nothing happened."

"Uh huh, real convincing," Artemis leaned forward, eagle eyes interrogating Emmy's body language. "Wally's party was 5 days ago, and I haven't seen him in the Cave since then. You've been in a mood, but I figured that was stress about the plan working." The archer leaned another few inches further, enjoying the way Emmy's frown turned into a mildly affronted expression. "But the plan worked, essentially perfectly-"

"You call that perfect?" Emmy snorted. "We got ambushed, which we knew would happen, and got beat up anyway."

"Essentially perfectly," Artemis emphasized, waving away Emmy's complaints with a bruised hand, "And you still have your spandex in a twist, which means that something negative happened instead of 'nothing.'"

"Oooh, she got you," Sage fist bumped the archer.

"Fine," The lantern clipped out. "Fine. Yeah. I gave him his gift and then he asked for space, so. Whatever."

"That doesn't make sense." Sage frowned. "What did you do?"

"Hey," Emmy complained while Artemis chuckled. The waitress blessedly returned with two trays of their food mountain. Emmy had a few moments of peace as the three girls tore into their meal.

"But seriously," Sage continued, loudly slurping at the last drop of her milkshake, "that doesn't make sense for him to just randomly ask for space."

"Yeah, dude has it bad," Artemis motioned toward the lantern with a handful of fries. "Tell us exactly what happened."

"It wasn't a big deal. I gave him the gift, he asked for space, kissed my forehead, and dipped," Emmy chomped at her burger angrily.

"Details are the heart of any investigation," Sage rolled a pancake up and started eating it like a burrito. "Tell us the full story."

Emmy groaned but acquiesced. She filled them in on going to find him after they finished the mission with the Ice Fortresses. How Wally and she had complimented each other's performances on their respective assignments. How she gave him the engraved chopsticks, kissed his cheek, was told he needed space, was kissed on the forehead, and then left alone in Wally's souvenir room.

"It's not a big deal. He clearly just needed some space because he doesn't like me and the chopsticks were coming on too strong," Emmy's voice was casual, but she was cutting her waffle with enough force to frighten an axe-murderer.

"But that doesn't make any sense," Sage waved her fork in the air erratically. "He said that whole thing about falling in love with someone who was on the team and at your school, like, five hours before that."

"And he bribed Hunter to get you on that Love Tunnel ride at the fair," Artemis added, chomping on two pieces of bacon at once.

"Did everyone see that but me?" Emmy huffed. "Look. I can appreciate that you both want my crush to be reciprocated, but he is clearly not into me and-"

"Oh, shit," Artemis turned to Sage. "She finally admitted she has a crush on him?"

"Yeah, I got her to cave right before Wally's surprise party." Sage puffed her chest out with pride.

"And you didn't tell me?" Artemis scoffed at the lantern.

"I had to trap you in an Ice Fortress to even look me in the eye and you wanted me to talk about my emotions?" Emmy raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

Artemis waved her off, pretending not to notice as Sage stole fries from her plate, and continued her tirade, "We're not imagining things. That boy is head over heels for you. It's obvious to literally everyone but you, so if he asked for space, it's got to mean that you did something to upset him."

"Gee. Thanks for the faith," Emmy deadpanned.

"Go through the event again," Sage finished her burger. "With more detail this time."

"Oh my gosh," Emmy ran a hand down her face. "I told you already. I gave him the chopsticks. He asked about the engravings. I told him they meant an inside joke. He said he didn't believe me. I asked what he thought they meant. He asked if Artemis and I were still fighting over Sportsbastard. I said no. He thanked me for the gift. I-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Sage interrupted. "Wally doesn't know about Sportsmaster, so what did he ask exactly?"

"I don't remember," Emmy pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Think harder," Artemis paused cutting her waffle to point the butterknife at Emmy.

"For the love of - okay," Emmy looked at the ceiling for a moment, annoyance growing. "He said, 'Did you make up with Artemis? With your fight over that guy?'"

Sage gasped dramatically. "When you two fought at the fair. Aqualad asked what you were fighting about."

Artemis's eyes widened a fraction as her train of thought collided with Sage's, "I said it was over a guy."

"So?" Emmy's patience was wearing thin. "It was."

"Oh my gosh, it's about the connotation," Sage rolled her eyes. "Use your brain, GL."

Emmy looked at Sage blankly.

"If Wally thinks that you and I were fighting over a guy, then that would make him think what?" Artemis coaxed, obviously enjoying understanding something Emmy did not.

"That you and I were fighting over a guy." Emmy said, unamused.

"And why would two girls fight over a guy?" Artemis rolled one hand in a circle.

"Because they hate him."

"No, for the love of God, Wally thinks you and I have a crush on the same guy. A guy who is not him." Artemis asserted.

"That's ridiculous, why would-" Emmy paused. "Oh. He…Oh."

The knot in her stomach that Emmy had been determinedly ignoring since Wally first asked her for space unfurled a bit.

"Okay," Emmy started slowly. "Let's say he thinks Arty and I have a crush on some mystery guy. That doesn't automatically mean that he likes me."

Sage scoffed and pulled out her phone indignantly. "Look at this picture and tell me he doesn't like you."

Emmy squinted at the photo. It was not particularly flattering of her. Sage had taken it at the fair. Emmy was a little blurry, laughing and choking on funnel cake while a concerned Megan slapped her on the back. Robin's fist was a few inches from Wally's arm, either about to or having just punched the speedster, but Wally was unfazed and watching Emmy laugh. He was staring at Emmy with a soft smile and a dopey look in his eyes that made him look gentle and devastatingly handsome. The lantern felt her cheeks threaten to heat. She wasn't sure anyone had ever looked at her like that. Like she was the only thing they could focus on. Like she was the only thing worth focusing on.

Emmy coughed once. "An argument could be made that he looks…fond of me in this photo. But that doesn't mean he likes me."

"Fond," Artemis mockingly repeated in a whisper to Sage before turning back to the lantern. "Let's look at the facts. The two of you hang out a ton. He acts like he has a crush on you, he looks like he has a crush on you, he bribes your younger brother to get you on a Love Tunnel ride, you ditch him to fight another girl over a guy, then he asks for space even though you two have never asked for that without having a fight first. Sound right?"

Emmy nodded once.

"So, it stands to reason that he asked for space not because he was angry, but because he was hurt." Artemis continued.

"Because he thinks you don't like him back," Sage over-clarified.

Emmy had avoided thinking about the speedster for the last week, but now she mentally returned to her last few interactions with Wally, particularly the tunnel. She sat up a little straighter, "Oh shit."

"What?" Sage perked up, far too invested in her sister's mental epiphany.

"I think Wally was going to ask me something in the tunnel," Emmy furrowed her brow as she thought. "He was talking about us getting along and spending time together, and he was in the middle of a question when I had to run off."

Artemis and Sage shared a look.

"Yeah, he clearly doesn't like you," Artemis's sarcasm was caustic. "He was just midway through asking you out when you went off to fight over a guy. Then he had to ask for space because he was so unbothered by you liking someone else."

"Okay, okay, sheesh," Emmy bit the inside of each cheek in an attempt to stop smiling. "I get it."

"Finally," Sage rolled her eyes. "It's like convincing a brick wall that it's made of bricks."

"Alright, calm down," Emmy rolled her eyes. She tapped her fingers against the table in an erratic beat. "So…what do I do now?"

"You text him," Artemis smirked.

"Out of the blue at 2AM?" Emmy rolled her eyes again. "I think not."

"No need," Sage cackled evilly, waving Emmy's phone in the air. "I already did it for you while Arty distracted you."

"What?" Emmy yanked the phone back in a panic. "When did you even get that?"

She glared at her sisters. "Seriously? You sent 'U up?' at 2 in the morning? You couldn't even spell out the word 'you?'"

"Wrong connotation," Sage smirked.

Artemis snorted into her milkshake.

"How the flying fuck do you know about the connotation of-"

Artemis cut off Emmy's diatribe, "Hey, don't blame us for wanting you to stop moping around over a reciprocated crush."

Emmy was still glaring at Sage suspiciously, but she softened a bit. It was sweet that despite all the lies and drama and strife between the three sisters, they still wanted Emmy to have more than she thought she should want.

"Besides," Sage continued. "After the men you've faced this year, telling a teenager you like him should be no biggie."

"Huh," Emmy scratched the scar on her neck. "You're not wrong."

"Sure, worse case, we pretend Wally's not crazy about you, you'll still be just fine," Artemis stated. "Sparks and Sportsmaster are both done with. There's no reason not to shoot your shot."

Emmy hummed to herself. It was true. She had grown into herself this year. As an ex-criminal. A current hero. A sister. A friend. She wasn't the same distrusting, guarded girl she had been before joining the Corps and the Team. She was still distrusting and guarded, but not as often, and not with her teams. She and Wally were friends. In many ways, he was her best friend. She knew he likes spending time with her, he said it himself, so even if he doesn't like her romantically, so what? She'd still be fine. Right?

"So," Emmy finished her waffle. "I should…talk to him?"

"Yes!" Sage snapped while Artemis nodded.

"…Okay. Sure. Yeah," Emmy nodded to herself. "Yeah, I can do that. Hell, after dealing with Sparks and Sportsbastard, I can do anything."

"Atta girl," Artemis slapped the table. Her eye twitched as she tried to muscle through the pain in her shoulder.

Emmy nodded to herself some more. She had never confessed feelings to someone before. Akio had just happened, and she'd never liked someone before. "So…when?"

"How about now?" Sage instigated.

"It's the middle of the night on a weekday," Emmy scoffed.

"So?" Artemis smirked. "Go wake up your mans."

"Shut up," Emmy glared.

"I don't think he'll mind," Sage teased. "He's probably dreamed about you in his bedroom in the middle of the night anyway."

"Watch it," Emmy warned.

Sage rolled her eyes before turning serious, "You've put so much on hold. Why keep waiting to be happy?"

"I don't need a guy to be happy," Emmy rolled her eyes.

"It couldn't hurt," Artemis muttered. "You're not exactly a ray of sunshine on your own."

Emmy snorted but still glared at the archer. "Just finish up your food, Drama Queens. I want to go to bed. We have school tomorrow."

Sage and Artemis both groaned at the thought.

Location: Mount Justice

Date: Dec 8th

Time: 02:58

Emmy's fingers couldn't stop tapping as she stared at her ceiling in the dim light of her uniform – still powered up to heal her wounds. With food in their stomachs, Artemis and Sage had been amenable to quick first aid before crashing in their rooms at the Cave. Emmy had been struggling to stay awake until the second she hit her bed. Hal sent an update once he got to Oa, and it had somehow been the thing to click in Emmy's head that it was all over. Sure, she had her mother to deal with. Sure, she had to testify against Lawrence on Oa soon. But the hiding, and the panicking, and the paranoia, and the terror that her family was always in danger – that was gone. That portion of her life was over. The monster that traversed her nightmares and kept her squinting into her own shadow was gone. Banished to prison in a different solar system. Emmy couldn't sleep. She was jittery. She kept laughing at odd intervals that probably would have had her thrown into Arkham if witnessed. That giddiness Artemis mentioned earlier; Emmy was pretty sure she'd hit it.

It was like her entire world opened up in a single evening. She had spent so long assuming that she wouldn't make it out of her teens. Thinking that she would die protecting her siblings against their father. But that would never happen. Because their father, the most terrifying man she knew, wasn't even on the planet anymore. Emmy could do anything she wanted now. She could be anyone she wanted now. She had never even thought about what she might want to do beyond her teens or who she might want to be in the future. But now, jittery and smiling, there was only one thing she really wanted to do.

Location: Central City

Date: Dec 8th

Time: 03:42

This is a bad idea.

Emmy lightly knocked on Wally's window anyway.

She knew she should be at the mountain, letting her ring heal her injuries without using up energy flying, or at the very least, getting some sleep before school. But the buzz in her veins wouldn't let her rest. She felt light, untethered. Free in a way she hadn't since she first put on the ring what felt like a lifetime ago.

She knew her euphoria would disappear if his parents woke up, but she was feeling good enough to risk it. She knocked again, a little louder this time.

A groggy, disheveled redhead stumbled toward the window, rubbing his eyes. His brain went from sluggish to alert the moment he saw her in uniform. His hands shot to the window latch, yanking it open with enough force to rattle the frame. "Is everything okay?"

"Uh," Emmy hesitated. Hadn't thought this far. "Yeah. No emergency mission, sorry."

Wally exhaled, the tension leaving his shoulders as fast as it had come. His panic faded into confusion. Then amusement.

"Are you drunk?" Wally couldn't help but chuckle quietly, taking in Emmy's dopey grin and the way she swayed slightly in place despite being crouched on his roof.

"No," Emmy rolled her eyes, her grin returning. "I just…I won a really hard fight. A fight that felt more like a war, if I'm being honest." She kept her voice soft like he had, both doing their best not to disturb his parents into taking a trip down the hallway.

"You okay?" Wally leaned closer to look at the bruises on her face illuminated by the green light of her uniform.

"Better than okay," she smiled before sliding forward to sit on the windowsill, body mostly inside his room. Wally took a half-step backward, his left hand still pressed against the wall next to the window from when he leaned forward. She looked up at him, wondering if he was also aware of the fact that he had partially boxed her in, "So, I was wondering…"

"Uh-huh." He raised an eyebrow. "Must be some important wondering if it brought you here at 3AM."

Emmy waved him off, still in too good a mood to feel embarrassed, "Listen, I wanted to give you space because, y'know, this isn't exactly the first time we've fought, but I guess I'm used to knowing why we're fighting? Or why you're mad at me, at least."

She looked over his face to see any signs of anger, but he looked away, a bit bashful. Hm looks like Arty and Sage might be right. "So, essentially, I'm wondering how much longer you're going to be angry," she continued. "Not that I want to rush you. You're entitled to feel how you feel."

"I-" Wally short-circuited. He pulled off the wall to put a little distance between them and put his hand behind his neck. He opened his mouth then shut it. He crossed his arms then put his hands on his hips. He shifted on his feet before running a hand through his hair and replying, "I'm not mad."

"You're not?" Emmy tilted her head a bit, observing carefully.

He shook his head, looking helpless.

Her lips twitched. Gotcha.

"Good," She said airily, leaning back with her hands on the windowsill before callously admitting, "I missed you."

Wally inhaled sharply, yet his response was a breathless, "I missed you too."

Emmy's lip quirked up, "Cool. I'm picking you up at six tomorrow night then."

"What?" Wally's heart clenched. Yeah, he missed Emmy, and it was great to know the feeling was mutual enough to send her to his window in the middle of the night. But spending time with her – knowing there was some other guy involved, someone that he hadn't even known about – was just…he just wasn't ready for that yet. "No, Emmy, I-"

"You said you're not mad." Emmy asked as a statement.

"Well, I'm not, but-"

"And you just said you missed me." She looked certain, like she knew she had him trapped. Which she did. Because she had put him there.

Wally swallowed. "I do."

"And you don't already have plans for tomorrow night?" She looked unsure for the first time since he opened the window.

And Wally's traitorous brain, damn it, wanted nothing more than to get that look off her face and keep it away forever. "I guess I do now."

Emmy grinned up at him. "Cool."

She stood up and turned to leave – only to smack directly into the window frame with a dull thunk.

"Ow." She whisper-hissed. Emmy rubbed her forehead and blinked at the frame, affronted as though personally betrayed.

Wally wheezed, biting teeth marks into his knuckle to keep from bursting into laughter. "You sure you're not drunk, Em?"

"Watch it, West." Emmy glared at him. He felt a little better with the familiar look on her face instead of the brilliant, flustering smiles she'd been directing his way since showing up.

Still chuckling, Wally hesitated before rubbing the back of his neck. "Hey, uh…school's in a couple hours, do you wanna crash here?"

Emmy raised an eyebrow.

"I mean," Wally blurted out, immediately second-guessing himself. "I can take the floor. Or you can. I don't know if it's more sexist for me to let you have the bed or if it's more sexist for me to have you on the floor—"

She snorted, eyebrows waggling. "Have me on the floor, huh, Wallman?"

Wally groaned quietly, dragging a hand down his burning face while flipping her off with the other one.

Emmy chuckled silently. "Thanks, but I still have too much energy to crash yet, so I might as well head back to the mountain." She flew out the window.

"See you later," she waved before shooting into the sky with a playful Whoop.

Wally shook his head after her even though he couldn't keep the smile off his face. He was closing the window when a voice called from down the hall.

"Wally? What was that?"

"Uh, nothing, Mom!" Wally sped back into bed. "A weird bird, I think."

The spoiler is that I switched my original plan for this chapter a bit to have Emmy and Wally talk in person. I was just going to have Emmy text Wally, but then it occurred to me they hadn't had a new conversation since he asked for space 3 chapters ago (cough 1.8 years ago cough).

Until next time,

TheDarkAbyss

SurniaUlula – I love all your theories. Maybe we'll learn some more about Emmy's mom in the future? Who's to say...

KirikaAndo- Thank you! Glad to be back and hear from you again, my friend.

Angel2u – Same, babe

Guests – Thank you for taking the time to comment :) Also, I actually do have an AO3 (I'm Lavender_Lumen over there), but I haven't posted in a hot min and don't have any YJ fics.