Spitfire oneshot collection

Abuse

Wally West had never felt so alone. He felt a sharp stinging in his left cheek, and blood running along his jawline, mixing in with the salty tears pouring from his emerald eyes. He had not cried in a while, and he had forgotten what it felt like to truly be sad.

He sat in the darkness of the beach next to Mount Justice, his barefoot feet in the sand as he watched the waves crash on the shore and seagulls chatter softly in the distance. It was late, about eleven o'clock at night. Wally had gone home for the night, only to be greeted by a familiar face. And abused. It might seem odd for a seventeen-year-old to be abused, but suprisingly it happened more than you thought. Wally bit into the delicate skin of his lower lip thoughtfully and sighed deeply into the cold air.

Where would he go? He was not going to go back home, and at the same time he didn't want to confront his friends. He didn't want to explain his problems to anybody, just to wait for them to solve themselves. He knew that somehow, he would have to confess. Confess the grave situation he was in.

Wally sat there for a while longer, deep in thought, until he heard sand crunching beneath toes and he turned.

"Wally," Artemis frowned quietly and breathlessly, tucking her long blonde hair behind her ear. She was wearing gym shorts and an oversized green t-shirt, and looked quite cold. Wally, on the other hand, wore a wool jacket over a yellow, thin t-shirt and ratty old jeans. "Why are you here?"

"I couldn't sleep," Wally lied, and looked away to conceal the blood and bruise on his freckled face as Artemis sits down on the sand next to him.

"You honestly don't think I believe that, do you?" Artemis asked gently, grabbed his hand and squeezed it firmly.

"No," Wally winced, avoiding her gaze and those stone cold grey eyes that always made it near to impossible to lie to her when she stared at him intensely.

"Y-you're bleeding," Artemis gasped, and took his face in her hands. She turned his face to profile and goggled at the purple bruise and blood trickling down his face. "W-Wally,"

"I couldn't sleep," Wally repeated roughly, swatted her hand away from his face and looked away dismissively. "A-Artemis, just leave me alone. Not in the mood to talk right now."

"You have to tell me," Artemis begged, and grasped onto Wally's arm as a lifeline. "I told you all my secrets. Now tell me."

"I can't," Wally said after a long time. "Artemis, I just can't."

"Please." A tear fell down Artemis' face and hit the sand next to their clasped hands. The sand darkened with the moisture, and Wally stared at the tear-stained sand, deep in thought.

"Its my dad," Wally confessed, and Artemis' eyes widened in curiosity. She had never heard about Wally's dad before, but all she knew was that he left Wally and his mother a few years back after hitting the happy juice a bit too much.

"He did this to you?" Artemis whispers.

"He-he was drunk. He always is when he does stuff like this. It wasn't his fault." Wally's voice was shaky and uncertain when he replied, not entirely convincing Artemis.

"You could call the league." she suggested, but Wally just frowned. "or the police. This is against the law, Wally! This is child abuse!"

"Artemis, that would just land him in jail. No."

Wally explained. "He's a good man, but he doesn't know it."

"Wally, you need to do something about this." Artemis insisted, and Wally just silently turned her face to look at his. He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. She stared back at him with wide gray eyes.

"It won't happen again, my little spitfire." Wally promised.

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Author's note: ... Not sure what to say about this one. Just felt like writing Spitfire, I guess. And YES, I'm going to put in Wally's abusive, drunk dad like in the comics. Set in the 5 year gap between young justice (season one) and invasion (season two). Hope you like! Comment and follow me for updates! :)

<3, indigoplains