A/N: No edit. No rereading. Just started writing this while watching 'Mona Lisa Smile'. Good movie. I found this quote in The Watchmen. Amazing book, and it's published by DC comics, which was pretty cool. I hope you enjoy, and ignore the grammatical errors. I didn't proofread this. It was spur of moment, and it was meant to be short, concise, and messy. Enjoy.
…
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Who watches the watchmen?
~ Juvenal, Satire VI
…
The blood flowing from Artemis's head is thick and red. Full of life. And it's slowly seeping out of her. Wally hurriedly rips a strip of cloth from the shreds hanging off of Artemis's tank top. Her soft lips are set apart slightly, short, shaggy breaths that are intermitted by long, long pauses that make Wally's heart clench with fear every time the pauses occur. He's scared. For her. Because there is a slight chance (well, more than a slight chance, but he's compelling himself not to think on that, it's best to remain calm) that Artemis will die. Her face is growing chalky and pale, and her eyes flicker back and forth in an erotic manner.
The bleeding staunches slightly, but her breathing slows drastically and becomes even more shallow. Wally reaches for his communicator, pressing the emergency signal button in a panicked and harried manner.
"Wally? What's going on?" M'gann's voice cuts through the silence, and then her voice fades out with a bit of static.
"…Artemis… " Wally swallows, his throat thick, "She's hurt. She's hurt! I need help!" He manages to choke it out, and he shouts the last few words.
Artemis's eyelids turn blue. Whatever was in that knife the Joker chucked at her must have been poisoned.
"We're on our way. I'm sending Connor ahead with the medical kit. Our ETA will be about twenty minutes."
Connor arrives about five minutes later, a large red bag in his hand and worry softening his hard face. Wally cradles Artemis in his arms, and Connor gently pulls her away from him. Wally cries out, distressed when Artemis's head lulls back from gravity, but Connor shoots him a cursory glance, and he falls silent once more.
Connor deftly wraps the head wound, using skilled precision and a soft gentleness that Wally didn't know the clone could possess. He puts the blood-soaked strip of Artemis's shirt that Wally had used earlier on the ground, and Wally picks it up, slightly dazed. Connor picks Artemis up from the ground and she emits a slight groan.
"You're hurting her!" Wally yells, startled by Artemis's emission of sound. Wally runs toward Artemis, gently cradling the curve of her chin in the palm of his hand.
Connor makes a soft sighing noise, but continues walking, "She'll be okay."
Wally doesn't answer, and instead frantically pulls his goggles off to see better and caresses her face.
M'gann soon swoops in in her bio ship, looking distressed and her eyes wide with fear and worry. Dick comes in behind her, his face stoic and pale. Kaldur carries a stretcher, and with Connor's assistance, place Artemis gently onto the stretcher. Dick gently leads Wally into the bio-ship.
On the long, long,
Very long,
Excrutiatingly long,
Painfully long, journey back to the Cave to get Artemis to medical attention, Wally briefly recalls a story Grandpa Jay had once told him about the benefits of hero life.
"…If you get hurt as you're fighting or helping people," he had said to the bright-eyed Wally, "The spirit of Justice will save you."
"The spirit of Justice?" Wally asked, turning his head in a curious manner.
"The spirit of Justice," Jay repeated, "Is the embodiment of everybody who does good for those who deserve it. Fight those who hurt others for their own gain, and if you are a part of the spirit of Justice, then the spirit of Justice will help you."
"What if you've done bad things in the past? Like, one time, I stole a cookie from my cousin," Wally said slowly.
"Well, are you sorry now that you stole the cookie?" Jay asked gently.
"Yeah, I guess," Wally says, shifting from side to side.
"Then the spirit of Justice is with you," Jay said triumphantly.
As Connor and Kaldur carry Artemis into the med bay, Wally gently places a chaste kiss on the corner of her temple. She shifts a little, and Wally mutters a silent to this 'Spirit of Justice.'
.
.
.
Artemis wakes up from her blood-loss induced coma two days after the incident. And Wally thanks the Spirit of Justice or whatever the hell is up there watching over them profusely.
Because the Cave wouldn't be the Cave without Artemis's loud insults ringing off the walls.