Tough Love

Part 4

<To be continued>
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After a few minutes, Bruce gave the signal, and the archers (Artemis and Roy) entered the wing, quickly destroying the battered door with their bows. As the blonde walked in warily, a grimy hand snatched her from behind, muffling her words. Not missing a beat, she quickly elbowed him in the face, turning around and whacking him forcefully on the head with the bow, twisting away with a swift kick. When she returned, everyone was already heading down the hall, Ollie waiting for her with a look of approval at his protege's combat skills. A further message from Robin directed them down another corridor and up a fire escape, which passed quite uneventfully, or as uneventfully as Arkham Asylum could be, at least. When she walked past a dilapidated door, she heard the word "stop" in her psychic link, and stopped in front of the door.
"Guys, this is it." The archer said, pulling a smoke arrow from her quiver and locking it in her bow. With a quick "thank you" to Dick, she waited until everyone was assembled. Knowing Arkham there would be a lot of ahem, interesting villains lurking, and it was best to not take any chances. Upon Ollie's nod, Roy wrenched the door open, and the two blonde archers entered, followed by the ginger, then the bat and the Flash. The Martians exited the asylum via window, as the group would be hindered with them as their powers were mostly psychic instead of physical.
When Artemis' eyes adjusted to the brighter light in the room from the single lightbulb, she felt her heart shatter. Wally was tied up in the center of the room, unconscious and bleeding. A large amount of small shallow cuts were all over his body, several syringes lay scattered, empty vials all over the place. Most horrifyingly, a severed jumper cable and empty bottles of water stood next to him, the cable still connected to the power box. Wally's shirt was ripped and covered in blood, ashy marks where the ends of the cables burned him, and red marks all over from beatings. After Bruce, Ollie and Roy made sure the area was secure, Artemis and Barry ran over to him, looking at him in concern. The blonde choked back a sob at his battered appearance, his green eyes were closed and the ever present smile on his face was no longer there. His ginger hair was tangled and matted with blood, and his arms had puncture wounds. The son of a bitch that did this is going to pay, she thought savagely, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth.
As the duo walked up to Wally's unconscious body, Barry was feeling many of the same emotions. He surveyed his nephew's broken body, and wondered if the green orbs would ever open again. Pulling off his cowl, Barry swept his blonde hair out of his eyes, and unhooking the chains that bound him. Upon release, Wally dropped into Artemis' arms, a dead weight in her arms. She cradled his broken body close to hers, feeling for a pulse, when she found none. "Barry! Barry!" She shouted in alarm, grey eyes widening and the tears that she had held back for so long threatening to fall.
Barry pulled his nephew's limp body out of the blonde's arms, looking at her in concern. "Barry...there's no pulse." She sobbed, tears mixing with blood from a cut into a swirly red beautiful mess of art onto the dirty floor of the asylum. As Barry heard the words, he felt his heart crumple, and all the breath leave his lungs. He placed him down on the floor gently, silent tears falling from his green eyes. He made no effort to wipe the tears away, and just cried, kneeling on the floor, failing to notice Bruce feeling the ginger's neck and wrists for a pulse. Feeling a slight heartbeat under his wrists, Bruce's face split into a smile, a small smile but still a smile. After about ten seconds, the smile faded into his usual scowl. He stood up, and walked over to Barry.
"Barry. He's alive." He announced, placing a hand on Barry's shoulder. What came next, he was not prepared for.
Barry's eyes lit up, what had been lifeless green eyes sparkled with hope. Turning around swiftly, Barry pulled the Bat into a bone crushing hug, whispering his thanks as his tears soaked Bruce's uniform, and arms wrapped around the bat. "Barry. We need to get him back to Mt. Justice so he can receive the adequate care he needs." Bruce said quietly, prying the blonde off him. Barry nodded in understanding, going over to Wally and picking him up in his arms, hating how limp and small he looked, but grateful for the fact that he was alive. Martian Manhunter appeared outside on the ledge, and levitated the pair down. Bruce, Ollie, Roy and Artemis all grappled down, landing smoothly on their feet. After they had all landed on the ground, the archers shot a series of arrows to exit the asylum, shortly followed by Barry still carrying Wally, speeding away to the zeta tubes. Bruce followed in a blur of shadows, and the Martians flew over and disappeared into the zeta.
When they arrived, Wally was swiftly placed onto a waiting gurney; luckily Batman was very quick on a telephone. As he was whisked off to the medical centre to get checked over, Artemis dropped onto the couch in slight disbelief. Wally was alive. He was going to be okay. He was gonna be okay! She thought, feeling elated. But the voice came back again. He was unconscious, who knows if he's gonna wake up again, huh? The annoying voice pestered the blonde. She tried blocking it out, just looking at nothing in particular, her eyes unfocused, not even noticing Ollie plucking glass shards out of her arm. Only the sting of alcohol jolted her out of her reverie, and she looked at Ollie in alarm. Her pleading eyes said it all; no words were necessary. Is he gonna be okay, she asked, without words, her hand gripping his tightly. He shook his head with a slight shrug. He didn't know. He really didn't know.