Archive of Our Own ^beta

(She hasn’t slept well in a long time.)

But this, this feels different.

They’ve found a way to bring him back.

Dick is saying something, but she keeps pinching herself to notice. She’s stubbed her toe against the table about 6 times. Nothing’s working.

Oh. Shit.

“What?” she asks, slightly taken aback.

Dick gives her a concerned look. “I said, they’ve found a way to bring him back.”

Him is... who?

No, she knows. There’s no secret in his voice, in his expression.

The world is stopping, she thinks.

Science. Something scientific, with the help of several brilliant minds and scientists, including Dr. Roquette and Adam Strange. That’s what will bring him back. She hears things about stopping the loop and sucking him out but her mind has begun to wander into the territory that says "it's not real."

She’s been without him for so long that it scares her. So many attempts at getting him back, hoping to find him (because his body is missing, how can he be dead when there’s no proof—)

And then having to deal with the consequences of hoping. Having to accept that we can’t get him back, Art, please, come home. All of this, just for science to bring him back in the end.

Wally has always believed in science. It’s what made him who he was. Who he is.

She doesn’t want to hope, to have her heart broken again. Can she handle it one more time?

The prospect of bringing back the lost nephew of the Flash brings up the spirit of the new Team, all young and full of life. But the older members are skeptical. Zee, always watching Artemis out of the corner of her eye. Connor and M’gann silently talking in corners, sometimes him looking wary and her softly holding his face. Kaldur mindlessly pacing, lost in thought. Dick out on “missions,” but they know he doesn’t want to face them without absolute answers.

And Artemis, what has she been doing?

Just dreaming.

“I need to wake up.”

“No, what you need is a good night’s rest. For crying out loud.”

“Zee, it's happening tomorrow. This cannot be real.”

“It is, it is. Here, I’ll make that one sleepy time tea again, if you want.”

“...How will I know it’s really him?”

“Because, Art, there’s only one person in the world he’d stop running for, and she’s standing in this room. And also, it’s not me.”

The world stops as Wally West appears out of thin air. The wind is calming, still. Nothing moves, for fear that it’s a dream.

And it’s not, because his mouth moves and words spill out in a way only he could do it.

His voice rasps, dry and breathless. “Oh man... oh man.”

The Team watches as the once-lost hero is joined by the ones who started it all. He collapses into Dick’s arms, as if he’s just ran for decades. Then suddenly Dick is sobbing (“you idiot, holy shit”), and Kaldur has to grab Wally as he shifts his weight. And then Kaldur is crying (“my lost friend”), and Connor has to join into the mess. Connor’s face is twisted as he holds them up. Artemis just knows that he’s trying to keep himself composed, and unapologetically failing.

Soon, M’gann joins in the crippled group, shedding tears together. She’s the most emotional one, constantly rubbing Wally’s face to make sure he’s there.

And Artemis is distraught. Dick would hate her for her choice of words but that is the least of her worries right now.

She can’t move.

She’s seen a ghost.

“What’s this—“ the presence coughs, and the jumble of people hold him up. “Dick... Kaldur... are those wrinkles?”

“Shut up,” Dick says through his tears, smiling somberly at him. Kaldur sniffles and grins, embracing his friend.

Meanwhile, while he's gasping for air, Artemis is refusing to inhale any.

You’re dreaming. Time to wake up.

When the group soon disentangles, his green, green eyes move and soon they’re set on only her.

She can’t move a muscle. The ghost won’t take his gaze off her and even blinking might make him disappear. And at this very moment, she doesn’t know if she wants this to be real or not.

But then he walks. He walks over to her, through the flurry of heroes, past Dick and Connor and Kaldur—who seem to have seen a ghost as well, is it him?

And Wally--yes, Wally--in all the races he’s done, walks to her. His speed, in all its glory, bundled into him as he makes his way agonizingly slow towards her. She can’t fucking breathe.

Oh man is right.

She takes a step back, ready to turn around and bolt. All her deep breaths and hugs with Bruce and tears couldn’t have prepared her for the love of her life coming back like this.

The fastest man alive, slowing down for her. She can’t take it. She has to go.

As soon as she turns one shoulder, he’s at her side. A split second, and he grabs her hand.

“Babe.” A breath, a gasp, a blink of the eye. “Babe.”

Her eyes instantly water. Everything in her body is overstimulated. She’s ready to burst.

“Beautiful... you’ve only gotten... more breath-taking,” he heaves, like he’s running out of air. “Damn... no wonder why I’m struggling. Who... who hurt you so bad?”

She chokes back a sob. She can’t speak.

He squeezes her hand, then grabs the other. “Babe.” He won’t stop calling her. She can’t move. “Did Uncle Barry... tell you?”

The tears start to flow, the ones she didn’t think she had anymore. The ones reserved for a moment like this. “Wally” is all she can manage to choke out.

The room is deathly silent, and growing emptier by the moment. Suddenly all that is left in the room is the old Team, the ones that were just kids, the ones in that failsafe, the ones in that mountain, that old world.

She slowly breathes, shaking as she inhales and exhales. She finally grasps his hands as the tears run down her face. “You made it home.”

“Did you... ever doubt me?” His eyes gleam, watered and freed.

“But how?” She asks, hands running up his arms, to his shoulders, to his chest. He’s real, it’s real, Wally is here.

You’re awake.

“I just... kept running,” he says, a finger curling a strand of her hair. As tired as he was, he heaved a deep breath.

“I just had to make it back to you.”