The Girl of the Wild {DC Comics/Part 1 The Wildflower Series}

Ch. 33 Silence

They had saved the world from total destruction, but the cost was too much. Silence filled the air. Patterns of gray and pale blue danced across the polar landscape. A green bow lay dejected across the ice and fragments of a machine speckled the icy floor. The harsh arctic breeze whipped around the face of a young woman, who had fallen to her knees on the icy tundra. The woman shivered in the snow, her face drenched with frozen tears. Strands of blonde hair fell from her pony tail, covering her tear drenched face. Quiet sobs fell from her lips as another heroine in a navy cape clutched her quivering body. Six others stood around her, grief stricken. The young woman had just lost the one thing that had mattered the most to her. Of all the days, it was their anniversary. "He wanted me to tell you... he loved you."

Yards away, a young man was pounding on an invisible barrier that was keeping him away from those he loved. He cried out to communicate to them that he was still there, still alive and okay. But they didn't hear him. So he began to beat frantically against the barrier, but it was to no avail. The tinder skin on his knuckles split and his fists slowly began to cover in blood. Suddenly, a blast of electricity shocked him, sending him to his knees. The electricity flailed and sputtered around him, creating a wave of bright white light. Reluctantly, he cried out in anguish before the light overtook him once again and he vanished.

Wally woke up startled. The speedster clutched desperately at his chest as he tried to calm his racing heart. His limbs tingled with static at the reminder of the electricity that pulsed through his body so long ago. His breath was rugged and uneven, causing his chest to heave like a buoy in midst of an ocean storm. For a moment Wally thought that he was back there, back at the place that still haunted him in his dreams. But as he looked around at his small unit at the Watchtower, he realized he was safe. At least, he was safe for now.

The speedster slowly pulled himself up on shaky arms. He groaned as he clutched his head. It felt like he'd just been hit by a truck.

The doors of his room slid open. M'Gann's eyes widened as she saw that Wally was awake and sitting up. The Martian made her way over and sat down on the edge of his bed.

Wally looked away. "Wha-what happened?" He asked hesitantly, dreading the answer. M'Gann's auburn eyes softened. "What's the last thing you remember?" She asked.

Wally stared down at the white sheets of his bed. "A fight. Wounded. Delmira... falling out of the sky." Wally, Nightwing, and Delmira had almost escaped until Wally let one of Savage's goons get the drop on him. He'd been wounded, unable to fight. Wally remembered seeing the panic flash through Delmira's eyes as she rushed to his side. Like an idiot, he'd told her to leave his side and stick to the mission. And like a good soldier, she'd listened. He acclaimed her for her valor. And when she had sprouted those wings, it was like he was seeing an angel before his own eyes. He remembered seeing her soar off into the sky before he blacked out. The next thing he knew she was falling. Oh God, the anguish he'd heard from her beautiful lips was like a razor blade to his heart. The teleporter had overpowered her, but still she had had the strength to obtain the link device they needed to return home.

Wally remembered struggling to his feet and helping Nightwing carry Delmira's broken body to the closing portal. They'd made it just in time. Then everything else went by in a blur. Panicked voices, Delmira's screams of pain, the smell of anesthetic. The last thing Wally remembered was collapsing in a chair at the infirmary and everything going black. "Delmira..." He whispered. "I have to see her," he declared, as he used the little amount of strength he had to try and push himself up from his bed. M'Gann was quick to stop him by lightly pushing him back down to rest on his pillow.

"No," she said firmly.

Wally's eyes widened. "M'Gann! I have to see her," he implored, attempting to get up once again.