Sidelined

Chapter 2

              Tears were streaming down your vision. Things were going just fine up until today. Over the last few months yours and Dick's relationship had steadily been improving. Your "sparring" sessions had slowly become more and more like actual dates, whenever the two of you could slip away from your older brother. The team had gotten a new member, Artemis, and you had taken to her quite fast, as she didn't let Wally get away with anything. All of that progress was now for nothing. Artemis was dead, the entire League was dead, millions of people were dead, and more and more were being added to the toll with each passing moment. Black Canary had only recently cleared you for light missions, you weren't anywhere near ready for something like this. These invaders that had appeared over Earth mere hours ago now spanned the whole globe. Your brother was adamant that they were only being teleported with those beams that were fired, but something inside you knew that it wasn't the case. In your mind, Wally was just scrambling for any possible excuse to ignore the fact that it was likely almost everyone they knew and loved were now gone.

              You felt another fresh wave of tears fall from your eyes, your sobs muffled behind your gloved hand. This isn't what you wanted when you begged to be a hero along with your brother. You knew that you would likely see some horrible things, it came with the job, but never in your life did you believe that you would watch every single member of the League vaporized in front of your eyes. You hoped your family was okay, but it was highly likely that it was down to just you and Wally. What you really wanted was for him to comfort you right now, even just a simple lie like "everything will be alright" from him would do wonders for the streaks running down your cheeks right now. But that wouldn't happen. Ever since that small argument in the training room, the relationship between you had been steadily getting worse. If you were in the mood to be even more honest with yourself, the deterioration of your relationship had begun in earnest when you had first insisted on joining the team. Your relationship with your parents suffered from it as well. To them, you could never be Wally. You were always someone lesser than him, someone less capable in every way. The only people who ever seemed to see you as yourself and not just an inferior version of your brother was Dick and Black Canary, and one of them was no longer alive.

              You were shaken back to the present when you felt a hand on your shoulder. Looking up, your watery eyes me the concerned gaze of Dick. His expression unguarded like it always was around you, and his worry for you written in every feature. It only made the knots in your stomach tighten even further. "Like Kaldur said we'll have time to mourn later, right now we need to be one hundred percent focused on the mission and on helping save as many people as we can." His voice was firm, but there were undertones of emotion in them, betraying the calm demeanor her was trying to keep up. He missed everyone too, and you understood perfectly. You nodded, wiping away the fresh tears that had fallen and took a few breaths to steel yourself like he had taught you. By the time the bio-ship reached the Hall of Justice you were ready.

              There was a small contingent of soldiers ready at the entrance, greeting the team with cheers as you all exited the bio-ship. Quickly, Kaldur ordered you and the rest of the team to split into groups, following the intel you guys had gathered in the Arctic with Artemis' and Wolf's sacrifice to salvage as many of the canons as you could for the military so that they may be used in a future counter attack. Once all the canons in the immediate area were gathered an accounted for, you and the team made your way into the crumbling structure of the Hall.

              There was a solemn silence as everyone picked over the ruins, searching for anything that might give you guys a clue, or aid you in the coming fight. You were still lost in your own thoughts, not really paying attention to your surroundings. Your foot caught in some of the rubble, and you fell forward, rolling down until you landed with a thump at the base. Before you were one of the fallen statues of a League member. The sight of it set you back into turmoil, knowing that you'd never see them again, and that it was likely one, if not more of you could be joining them. You pushed yourself up into a sitting position, bringing your knees closer to you as the tears started to fall once more. Robin was quick to come to your side, having been keeping an eye on you since this whole thing started.