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Leaving the life had been one of the hardest decisions in Wally’s life and one he didn’t regret for a moment every time he looked over at the love of his life. She was to busy making stir fry and reading her marine biology textbook to notice him staring at her again. The concept of a normal life with Artemis was a beautiful dream that they were fighting to make a reality. It was hard because every time they saw the headlines or watched the news. It was easy to ask themselves ‘what if they had been there?’ But seeing her like this, seeing her in the closest she had ever come to living a mundane life, made it all worth it.
If you had asked him what he wanted in life when he was in college when he was ten, he would have probably had something along the lines of what he had now. In college with a scholarship, in a committed relationship with a beautiful girl, have a place for them to live together, and Brucly, their dog, had been an added bonus. Wally couldn’t be happier. Artemis turns and smiles at him, and everything flickers for the briefest moment. It’s enough to remind Wally that he needs to keep moving, living in memory will only get him so far.
He forces himself out of his chair in their kitchen and heads out the door, back to the roar of everything he doesn’t want but has to face. Another dreamscape won’t save him. He needs to get back to the real thing. It’s almost painful to hear the door close behind him as he leaves a little part of his paradise.
The roar of whatever this place is leads him to another door. As Wally opens it he finds himself standing in an empty apartment. Looking around at the remnants of everything that he had that he couldn’t hold onto hard enough. Wally couldn’t help the ache in his chest, As he wanders the apartment, he runs a hand through his hair. For a brief moment as he looks into the mirror, he can see her red eyes as she packed up boxes in his reflection he whirls around in hopes of catching her only to be met with nothing.
Was this his fate? To be stuck chasing her? Seeing her in passing moments but never being able to touch her? If it was, it was going to kill him. But Wally had promised that he would always try his best to return home to her. So it was out the door in hopes that maybe it will the one that takes him home.
As he’s swept off into this empty void he hears a voice calling to him somewhere off the path he has been running. Heart pounding his ears, he tries to slow down and follow it. Working against the current, he does his best to make his way to the voice that has slowly become two. It sounds like Barry and somewhere else he can hear Bart too. Both are yelling for him but for some reason, he can’t respond. Somewhere in front of him, he can see light and it’s not through another open doorway.
Something is pulling him back and away from that light, trying to pull him down. He uses his hands to catch himself as he tries to pick up his pace to break free. Soon he can see someone in red cutting through the haze of everything, they are moving faster than him because they are not being held back, the void isn’t trying to keep them trapped. Just as Wally is being overcome with the weight pulling him backward, a hand reaches out and grabs at his arm, pulling him forward. He hears his name again and the force seems to snap and let go of him. Wally hears yelling but he can’t respond back, then he is being pulled into the light.
Wally wakes up in a medical room with machines all hooked up to him. He turns to see his mom asleep in the chair next to him. Old cartoons are playing on the tv by the door. Ones he remembers from when he was a kid. As he lies there, he wonders if he is reliving the aftermath of nearly blowing himself up to get superpowers. Fate had been cruel before, to give him the hope of escaping only to send him back into another memory. This was just a new level. He pulls himself into a sitting position, preparing himself to leave, the longer he stayed this time, the more it would hurt to leave.
Before he could start pulling the IVs out of his arms, the door opens to reveal Artemis, with shorter hair and eyes that were red from crying. Wally feels all the air rush out his lungs as he takes her in. Artemis, for her part, lets out a choked sob and launches herself at him. He knows how this is going to end, with her going through him. Like it has so many times before.
Which is why he lets a startled noise when her body collides with his. It takes him a moment to take in the feeling of being touched again and then his arms are wrapping themselves around her. He hadn’t realized how touch strived he was until this moment. Wally buries his face in her neck. If this was a dream he doesn’t want to wake up. In his arms, Artemis is crying her eyes out, saying his name over and over again. It was going to take an act of God to get him to leave now.
Everything seemed so much clearer than it normally did. No fazing in and out. No reflections showing different things. He was able to hold the love of his life in his arms again. As Wally takes all of these little things in, the door opens up again to reveal his uncle, who gives him a watery smile. It takes him another moment to realize that he might actually be out this time. The feeling of relief is so overwhelming, it’s verging euphoric. He rests his head against Artemis as he registers tears running down his face. No dreamscape could compare to the real thing.
Wally was finally home.