Tough Love

Part 3

<Part 3 is here. Thanks for reading.>
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Everyone filed out of the room respectively, Barry actually going at a human speed. The blonde archer (the female one) was the last to leave, flashing a glance at the computer as she slung her bow onto her back. Heading to the changing rooms, she stepped past M'gann before the Martian could inquire about anything, and went over to the lockers. Sitting down hard on the bench, she buried her face in her hands, trying to compose herself. They would find him. They would. Wally was strong and he could definitely survive this. He had to. She looked up, but seeing the swinging light above her made her think twice. What if he doesn't? What if he dies, the little voice in her head was screaming. You'll never see him again, never ever. He's going to be gone forever, and you won't ever hear his voice. She willed the voice to shut up, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to block it out, but failing. The voice kept getting louder, until a hand on her shoulder brought her back to her senses. A green hand. She looked up into her amber eyes, filled with concern. She gave her a small smile and stood, leaving the Martian standing there with her hand out and a slightly confused expression on her usually cheerful face.
Changing into her uniform quickly, the blonde archer put her tank top and shorts away into her locker, slamming the door with unnecessary force. Heading over to the sinks, she splashed some water onto her face, trying to get rid of the tear stains. A quick check of her watch made her jump, grabbing her bow and exiting the now empty changing room as M'gann had exited a while ago. She was greeted by the sight of the team accompanied by their mentors, with the exception of Barry who was standing alone, looking slightly forlorn, which was understandable. As she was slightly late, Ollie quickly filled her in on the plan, speaking quietly as the others were still conferring. It would be simple enough; Robin's state of the art technology had pinpointed the signal to the East Wing of Arkham Asylum, on the fifth floor in an abandoned electroshock therapy ward.
The mission would be a rescue; Artemis and Ollie would be providing backup, Barry infiltrating with the aid of the Martian Duo, the Bats coordinating and tracking, as well as providing the intelligence necessary. Even Roy had been called in, to show how major it was, as there would be many criminals present that night. The archer trio had been instructed to shoot to kill, and bring as many arrows as they could, as they didn't know who or what was sheltering in the walls. All they knew was that it would be hard, there would be casualties and it was going to be dangerous. As the meeting adjourned, the respective groups stepped into the zeta tubes, reappearing in the one closest to Arkham.
The scenery was quite obscene; dark, wet, grimy and God knows what else. Broken glass and destroyed chunks of wood lay on the ground, floating around in puddles. As the groups stepped over the rubble and neared the Asylum, Artemis noticed various items that would belong in either a doctors office or torture chamber lying around, in varying states of dishevelment, most of them completely dilapidated. Upon Green Arrow's command, the three archers swiftly grappled into the building, landing smoothly on their feet. A quick red blur could be seen flitting to and fro, and if Artemis had blinked she was sure that she would've missed it. Barry, she thought, looking around for signs of the others. A blur of shadows indicated Batman, and the slightly shimmery image showed the Martians floating themselves over the wrought iron gates. Peeking through the broken door, the archer locked an arrow in her bow, looking around before setting off down the corridor, looking back to make sure that Roy was always covering.
After the corridor had been secured, she quickly radioed in, and everyone else arrived. A beep in her ear indicated that a guard was coming their way, so after all of the others had been bundled into a side room, a shot from her arrow silenced him, his body dropping to the ground, dead. As the group advanced towards the East Wing, it continued like this. Oddly enough, not many criminals were encountered, and the ones they did the group had thankfully been able to hide without too much trouble, unless you counted Roy being elbowed in the face, which was very amusing to Artemis.
Spotting the sign for the East Wing, Bruce quickly did a check on everyone to make sure they were alright. Apart from Roy having a black eye, Barry sporting a swiftly healing gash and Artemis having a few pieces of glass lodged in her arm,everyone was pretty fine. Well, completely fine apart from Ollie who was missing part of his beard and looking damn disgruntled about it too. Whatever, beards would grow back, but Wally's time was ticking. If it was anywhere else, the mission would've been more carefully planned, but in Arkham it was more than unpredictable.
So with the best intentions, everyone had been rushed off, as the longer they waited the less chance his heart was beating. Giving everyone a few minutes, Bruce checked in with Robin, who was manning the connections and making sure the coast was clear. Luckily for them, the East Wing had about six remaining working video cameras, and after Robin had altered the connections and power cables, the group could use the cameras in their favor, allowing them time to escape if criminals or guards were seen. Barry looked over impatiently, green eyes darting back and forth from the door to Bruce and back to the door again.