chapter thirty-two. ( beneath the depths of despair. )
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The West-Harlow apartment is silent aside from the faint voices of the television and the even fainter footsteps emerging from the bedroom. Yue drops the duffle-bag containing her suit onto the kitchen-table, then carefully places two gift boxes beside it.
In one box sits a plush-cat, a children's toy for Lian Harper-Nguyen. The other holds an array of scented candles for Raquel's upcoming bachelorette party, it was just one part of the gift she, Artemis and M'gann had bought for their friend.
"You won't forget to hand them off to Arty, will you?" Yue's voice breaks the heavy silence that had haunted their apartment all afternoon. Wally sits on the worn-out couch behind her, his emerald eyes narrowing at the television as though it were more interesting than the inevitable goodbye that was heading his way.
With the tap of a red button, the television is silenced and Wally glances over at her. "I remember the gifts."
"Raquel's could be given to Megs, or Artemis, too." Yue continues her rambling as she runs a hand through the long length of her ebony hair.
"Yue." Wally's voice is louder this time. He stands up from his spot on the couch and approaches the woman standing with her back to him, slowly wrapping his arms around her waist as she hesitantly leans back into his embrace. "We've been over this a dozen times, babe. I remember the gifts, who they're for and who I need to give them to."
Yue, with a frown on her face, sniffles as she nods her head. Carefully, she turns around to face her boyfriend, her dark eyes watering up the longer she stares at his freckled face. "Thank you." She whispers, holding his face between her soft hands.
She had his face committed to memory by now – Yue had loved Wally West since they were both fifteen, and being twenty-two and living together had only ever been a dream of hers that finally came true – but neither of them knew how long she would be undercover, and the mere-idea of forgetting what Wally looked like terrified her more than the unknown of the mission ahead.
What would she do when, for the first time in years, she couldn't wake up beside the man she loved? When she couldn't see him every-day, or even have the promise of knowing he'd be there when she fell asleep? She didn't know if she'd be coming back from this in order to make the future they had spoken about, one with two daughters and a house of their own, a reality.
"I don't like this." Wally voices for the umpteenth time
"I know," Yue replies to his complaint as she always does. "But... After what happened to Jason, you know why I have to do this, Wal."
When Jason died – when he was murdered – three years ago, all alone and afraid in Qurac, Yue made a promise to herself. The last thing she was going to do was let her family follow his footsteps. She wasn't going to let any of them put themselves in danger like that again.
