Disclaimer: If I owned Young Justice there wouldn't be such a tragedy in the last episode of the season.
The Flash stood in the fake greenery of the Watchtower. Three holographic statues surrounded him. Three dead heroes. There was one pillar at his feet, yet to be activated. It was for the first Kid Flash, and the only Wally West he ever wanted to know. The speedster pulled down his cowl, he couldn't turn on the platform as a hero, he had to do it as a loving family member.
Batman ghosted into the room, effectively scaring the bejezus out of Barry. The big bat put a hand on his colleague's shoulder. "Turn it on, Barry."
The blonde shook his head, "I can't. It just doesn't feel right."
"How so?" Batman pondered.
"We've had death scares before. Artemis was just undercover. I was just stuck in the Speed Force. Clark was just in another dimension. How do we know he isn't dead?" Barry was about ready to pull his hair out.
"Barry, we saw him disappear before our eyes. He's gone," Batman tried to reason.
"I don't think so, you can say what you want," Barry argued and ran off.
Batman sighed and activated the hologram. With a longing gaze at Jason's own hologram, he too left the room.
.:In Memory:.
Artemis sat cross-legged in front of Wally's holographic display. She tried to seek some sort of comfort, so she talked like he was there.
"Bart looks good in the Kid Flash costume," She started off. "When I saw him standing in front of the hologram, I thought he was you. It scared me, but in a good way. Like scared before a big mission good. Then he turned around and I saw it was him. Pretty much sucked, but it brought me back to reality real quick."
The blonde sucked in a breath and continued, "Y'know, you died in the same place I did in that fake mission that was all in our heads, the one with the invasion of a different sort. When I realized that I started crying again. I know you don't like it when I cry, but I had to. If I had actually died a few months ago, I'm sure you would've cried too. Would've flooded the apartment, I bet. Yeah, now that's my job. Spike misses you by the way. He waits by the door at the exact time you'd get home from you Chem class. Did he do that for me?"
She stares at the hologram for a second before tearing up a little. "When I told you parents, I didn't even have to speak. It's like they just knew something was wrong. Parental instinct I guess. Then they gave me ice cream and sat me down on the couch. We watched old news reels that they had on tape of all the Kid Flash stories that existed until the sun rose. God, Wally, they're so proud of you. I am too. We all are."
Artemis wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her Tigress outfit. "I thought that when the Invasion was over we could finally settle down and retire, for good. Maybe get married and have kids, or something cheesy like that. They could have your speed, the kids. And maybe your freckles. Hopefully your smarts. It doesn't matter, I just wanted them to exist, and for us to be the parents."
She stood up as someone called her name. There was a mission briefing soon. With a parting glance she said, "Part of me hopes Barry's right, that you're alive somewhere. If you are, just hurry up and come back, no matter how late you are."
.:In Memory:.
Nightwing stood in front of his best friend's hologram. Everyone was on a mission somewhere, or relaxing away the aftermath of the invasion. He took off his mask out of respect.
"Barry actually has a sound theory about where you are. Stuck in the rifts between dimensions, according to him. I'm taking a little time away from the Team to look into it. I owe it to everyone after making them think Kal was a traitor and Artemis was dead. I'm not sure how long it'll take before I finally give up, but it'll probably be a while. Wherever you are, I hope they're feeding you well."
A/N: Spoilers galore in this author's note. For the love of Batman, why do they have to mess with my favorite characters so much? First it's Nightwing acting like Batman. Then Artemis has to go undercover and barely seems to know who she is anymore. Now Wally's gone. Gone, not dead in my mind. Don't judge me.
Then Bart goes and becomes Kid Flash, but he doesn't seem to like it. I wouldn't like it either if I had to carry on the legacy of a "dead" man just a few days later. And Artemis becomes Tigress full time. That, I don't get. Sure going back into the hero business, I get. Not using the Artemis persona anymore, I get. But using the same persona you used to wrangle up kiddies to be used for experiments? I don't get that. It'll scare the living wits out of all those kids.
Now Nightwing's taking a leave of absence while Aqualad resumes his leadership position. Everyone has to admit Nightwing pretty much messed it up when he was making plans behind the Team's back, but he was still a good leader. Gah! I just need a season 3, and I need it now. Well have a nice day, if even can after this episode.
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