chains ♕ [spitfire] ON HOLD

two

«i never asked to be the one to set me free. another mask you wore that only i could see»

Artemis' eyes fluttered opened. She frowned. Wally's familiar warmth and scent were not beside her. She bolted upright, her eyes darting around the room. She wasn't even in her own room. Her heart rate spiked and she jumped off the bed, racing to the door. She opened it in a haste, crashing into someone in the process.

"Ow . . ." the person groaned.

Artemis chuckled. "Sorry, Wally I . . ." Her voice faded, her stomach tightening. "You - you're not Wally . . ."

Zatanna stared back at her. She picked herself up and helped Artemis up as well. "No, I'm not," she said lightly.

"Where's Wally?" Artemis asked.

The magician laughed nervously, fidgeting with the buttons on her sweater. "Um . . ." She hesitated. "You . . . don't . . . remember?"

Artemis frowned. "What?"

Zatanna stared helplessly back at her friend. She had no idea what she was supposed to do.

"Tell you what. You go take a shower, and I'll make some breakfast and we'll talk later, okay?"

Artemis looked confused but nonetheless agreed.

Zatanna sighed, rushing to grab her phone. She punched in the numbers and brought the phone up to her ear, biting her lip nervously.

»

Artemis walked out of the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel. She stopped whatever she was doing and stared. "What's he doing here?"

"Artemis," Nightwing started, standing up and walking to her. "You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"Try to think. Try to remember what happened yesterday." The memories swam past Nightwing's eyes and he fought back the urge to choke on his words. He led Artemis to the couch and sat beside her. There was no easy way to say this. "Wally, he . . . died yesterday."

Artemis' heart stopped beating when she heard those words. The memories she had blocked out in the back of her mind resurfaced. She gasped, the memories stinging her like a hundred bees. The ache in her heart returned, only this time it was stronger. "Wally . . ." she gasped, then drew in a deep, long breath. "He - he can't . . . He won't . . . He promised he'd never leave me!" she sobbed, curling into a ball on the couch.

Nightwing stared up at Zatanna, hopelessness evident in his eyes. There was no way he'd be able to comfort Artemis if he couldn't even comfort himself - he was grieving Wally's death, too.

He awkwardly stood up, and left the house. Zatanna went into the kitchen, and came out with a cup of tea. She placed it on the coffee table in front of the sofa and sat beside her distraught friend. She took a look at Artemis and knew that it was going to be a long time before Artemis got over Wally.

«

[14 november, 2015]