Chapter 45

Wally West ran through the wrecked streets of Metropolis, he was passing Metropolis City park when he noticed a soldier waving his arms in the air shouting,

"Flash, over here, please" Wally skidded to a stop and circled back, the soldier looked disappointed, "I thought you were Flash" Wally shrugged,

"I might be able help instead" He offered, the man nodded and quickly began leading him across the street,

"Follow me, we've got an injured officer, she's not doing well" He led Wally to a convenient store with the door pried open, 1 man stood guarding the front door, another was positioned at the back, a fourth man was tending to the injuries of a woman with black hair and light brown skin, her right arm had been sliced off just above the elbow, she was wearing dark pants and a black tank top, her police vest and black long sleeved shirt were laying on the ground beside her covered in blood, her eyes were glossy and distant.

"We doped her up to save her from as much pain as possible" The soldier who had led Wally in said, Wally nodded,

"Do you guys have a vehicle?" He asked, the soldier shook his head,

"We were barely able to make it here on foot, we got ambushed by a group of Gorillaz and lost our missile launcher, I assume they're the enemies" He explained, Wally nodded,

"I can get her to safety, but I won't be able to come back for you guys for awhile" The soldier nodded,

"We'll be fine, we can move faster without her, and probably stay under detected" He said,

"Ok, get her as stable as possible, I'm taking her to the Titans tower, you can bring anyone else there, the bunker is as safe as it gets."

Artemis had tended to Donna's injured hands in the infirmary along with an injuring on her neck and was now washing her hands and arms in a sink, Garfield pushed open the doors and Wally walked through carefully with Chief Carla Perez, he laid her on 1 of the beds,

"Shit, what happened to her?" Artemis asked rushing over,

"Not particularly clear, can you help her?" Wally asked her, she stepped back defensively,

"I'm not working magic here, I have a little training from a combat medic" She argued,

"You're more qualified than anyone else here, will you?" She could see Wally's eyes pleading with her,

"Ok, I'll try, I'll get cleaned up, find me a large flat table and sterilize it, nothing on wheels, not below my waist, no higher than my solar plexus so you don't have a lot of room to work with" Wally smiled in relief,

"Less with you then most" He joked before running off, Artemis began rewashing her arms,

"I can help" Garfield volunteered, she turned to him "The village I grew up in didn't have a hospital, my mom was a nurse and helped out with injuries, and I would help her"

"Ok, then get cleaned up, quickly" She said.

11 years earlier

"Come on, you want it dead?" Lawrence Crock stood over Artemis as she sat on the ground over the dying cat, she had been given it 4 months earlier, her older sister Jade had seemed disappointed and she hadn't know why until now, tears rolled down her face as she stared at the large wound in the cat's stomach,

"Aren't you gonna save its life?" Her father asked again,

"I can't" Her voice was quiet,

"Not if you just sit there" He was angry, she could tell, she put her small hands on either side of the injury and pried it open, there it was, a razor blade, lodged in the cats stomach, she reached in and pulled it out, the blade sliced her hand and she dropped it on the ground beside her, liquid began spilling out of the new opening and she rushed to stop it, eventually she realized it was useless and pulled the cat's body against her chest and cried.

6 years later

Artemis pulled the needle through Jades skin,

"Careful" Jade demanded, she was holding a small bag of ice to her head with 1 hand, in her other hand was a half empty bottle of Alcohol,

"Sorry" Artemis tried being more careful but accidentally slid the needle in too deep, Jade cried out in pain and backhanded her across the face, the stool tipped and she crashed to the floor.

2 Years Later

Artemis had come upon the deer while looking for Oliver, it was laying on the ground, it's back leg was broken, she carefully scanned the treeline, when she didn't see Oliver she ran from her hiding spot in a large group of bushed, she dropped to her knees and stared down at the injured animal, she heard a twig snap behind her and turned to see Oliver with an arrow drawn back, she turned back to the deer and wiped her eyes dry.

"What happened?" Oliver asked finally noticing the animal,

"I don't know, I found it like this" She answered, He kneeled down and checked it,

"It's gonna be ok" He assured her, she watched him take 2 arrows from his quiver, he broke both ends off and taped the splintered ends, he than realigned the leg and bandaged the 2 arrows on either side to hold the break straight and in place, when It was over he place a hand on her shoulder,

"I'm proud of you, I wouldn't have caught you if you hadn't stopped to help it, if you needed proof you're not like him, this is it kid" He told her, she stared up at him, he smiled "Let's get back to camp, I'm starving."