incoming transmission ... :: from @speedconduit / wally west: "You want me to be the villain so bad? I can damn well provide." (big thread)
and weapons don't weep || accepting!
How had it all gone so wrong so fast?
The question echoes in her mind constantly. It has since she had first stepped aboard Black Manta's submarine all those years ago. Beside Kaldur, leaving a life and the person she loved more than anything to scratch the itch the game left them with. While she has never regretted going to help her closest friend with his undercover mission to save the world, she regrets the time she had lost. And even moreso when the reunion with this love had been stolen from her, from them, barely a night after.
And yet, here he stands. Copper curls tousled, freckles she could trace perfectly simply from memory, build more toned and primarily favouring red over the yellow he once had. Still Wally, but not recognisable to the man she had once known. Maybe he had been right all those months Artemis had all but thrown herself at his feetβsomething she normally would never deign to do. Maybe they were too different now, and their love was a thing of the past. He certainly looked at her that way most of the time. They always struck her like the lightning that followed him.
Except when he thought she wasn't looking, the forlorn glimpses from green eyes. And when she felt his eyes on him and met his gaze, he would immediately retreat. Into the jerk, into the stranger. Into someone she no longer knows.
They argue like bitter exes. He hooks and she bites back. Distance is usually kept between them and as much as her heart aches from repeatedly being shattered by the one person she thought would keep it safe, it's the only way Artemis can breathe.
Having him around was so constricting. She had floated the idea of taking a step back from the Team, from vigilante work at all, but Oliver and some of the others had strongly protested. She'd had to got to Dinah for a psychologist recommendation just to get out of her own head.
β You're damn well acting like one. I should know, right? β she immediately shoots back. Her irises are as cold as steel, and she tastes her own venom behind her words. It drips down her chin, travelling to her ribcage where her insides stammer with her dishonesty. The words bounce off the metal off the Watchtower, ricocheting off the walls. β You said it yourselfβwe ended when you died. The Artemis you know died. You saw it happen, so why should we pretend any different? β
She sneers at him, turning away to face the holographic computer again. She types a few keys, purposefully ignoring his un-ignorable presence. But her next inhale is uneven, and she stops when she realises what she had said. The only giveaway of any further emotion from her. But no regrets are voiced.
β You're not the hero in my story anymore. The Flash can't save everyone. So be the villain. Embrace it. I don't give a fuck. β
Her sword is sharp, but her teeth are sharper.
