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“Got you,” Vandal sneered as Wally made the mistake of getting with reach of the villain’s hand, which found its way around his neck. The last thing he saw was Artemis with a look of pure terror on her face, but he was gone before the scream tore from her throat.
Wally opened his eyes to find himself standing in an unfamiliar room, which was wrong for a few reasons.
Firstly, he shouldn’t be awake because he was pretty sure he was dead. Second, if he had just woken up he wouldn’t be standing, and lastly, he wouldn’t be in a funeral home standing in front of his own coffin.
He stood in the middle of the room and watched as his family and the entire Team walked in and took seats around the room.
He watched as Dick got up and talked about how they’d been friends forever and how he’d been a great hero. He didn’t cry, but Wally knew that after the night was over and he was done comforting everyone else he’d go home and do it alone.
M’Gann was next, but she broke down before she got halfway through her speech.
Kaldur went after her, quoting some of Wally’s favorite scientists.
Conner was next, but he didn’t get out a single word. He squeezed the podium until it cracked in his hands, and he simply went back to his seat.
Barry went next, talking about how he’d been a good, smart kid, and an even better sidekick. How he kept his cool Wally would never know.
Artemis went last. She stood in front of the broken podium for a minute without saying anything before whispering I’m sorry and returning to her seat, tears streaming down her face.
Wally had had tears running down his face since Dick had started, but the look on Artemis’ face made it feel like he was suffocating, even though he wasn’t even really breathing. At least he didn’t think he was, but it was hard to tell. This wasn’t even like the time he had put on the Helmet of Fate. He couldn’t even tell if he was really crying or not.
He wasn’t sure how long everyone sat around for, but Dick and Artemis had stayed the longest. Dick only left because Artemis told him to go home and get some sleep, and that she’d be fine. All three of them knew it was a lie, but Dick left anyway because he knew there wasn’t anything he could do.
After Dick had left Artemis finally broke down, sobbing loudly into her hands, and there was nothing Wally could do about it. He sat down next to her and decided to try and talk to her anyway.
“Don’t cry, don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault Artemis.” He said, getting no reaction from her. “I put the suit back on, it was my decision, and it was my fault.”
“Don’t blame yourself. Everyone else is going to blame themselves; I couldn’t live with it if you blamed yourself too.”
It’s all your fault that you broke her heart.
Shut up, West. You’re already dead.
“Dick is going to think it’s his entire fault because that’s what he does. Supey’ll think it’s his fault because he couldn’t save me, same with Kaldur. M’Gann will find some way to blame herself too. Don’t you do it too, Artemis.”
Eventually Artemis stopped crying, and Wally hoped that his words had somehow gotten through to her, but the look in her eyes told him otherwise.
She can’t hear you idiot, you’re dead.
The look on her face was empty, and the fire in her eyes was gone. She carelessly wiped the tears from her eyes and Wally wished he could do it for her. He wished he could hold her, kiss her.
Artemis stood up, glanced one last time at Wally’s closed coffin, and walked out. He followed her.
He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to, or how long he had for he disappeared, or if he’d be like this forever, but he had to know she was going to be okay.
She walked to the nearest Zeta tube and headed home. Wally was just glad he could Zeta as well/ Or teleport?
None of that matters, you’re dead.
He followed her home. It was her first time back at the house as far as he knew. He found it ironic that he had just spent all that time in the house without her, and now she’d have to spend the rest of her life without him.
She stood in the door way as Brucely jumped up to greet her, excited to see her after so long. She shut the door and kicked her shoes off and headed straight for the bedroom. Wally could hardly watch as she curled up with his pillows wrapped up in her arms, her face buried in them.
Wally sat around as Artemis just laid in bed for a week. On the third day he yelled at her to get up. To do something. All she’d done so far was get up to eat, feed or let Brucely out, or use the bathroom. Dick had stopped by once but she hadn’t answered the door.
Her phone rang a few times but she ignored that too. She wouldn’t even pet the dog whenever he jumped up on the bed.
He did not want her to do this to herself. He didn’t want her to blame herself for something that wasn’t her fault.
“Snap out of it!” He screamed at her on the fifth day, practically ripping his hair out.
When he didn’t get a reaction—and honestly he didn’t really know what he had been expecting to happen—he sighed and slid down the wall across from the bed into a sitting position.
He didn’t move for the next two days, even when Artemis did, until the seventh day when she seemed to move with some kind of purpose. He stood up as she sat up in the bed, running a hand over his pillows, smoothing out the wrinkled pillow cases that covered them.
“I’m sorry, Wally.” She said, her voice quiet from not being used for a week.
When she got up from the bed and walked towards the bathroom Wally’s heart broke at the look in her eyes. (If it could break, he was dead though, so what did he know?)
She had the look of someone who was completely defeated and broken beyond repair.
Wally couldn’t help but think that he may be dead, but he wasn’t the only one who died.
He was about to follow after her when her retreating figure started to turn fuzzy, and then he felt dizzy. (Could he feel dizzy?) He closed his eyes to clear them, but when he opened them nothing was there.