Previously on "Welcome to Earth-0":

"We were able to stop all of them," she says grimmly. "All but one, that is. It was hidden from our sensors due to its proximity to the North Pole. Two speedsters, Flash and Impulse--Barry and Bart--, were order to run against the energy flow, in order to siphon off the energy with their speed. The reaction slowed, but it didn't stop. Not until..."

She tries to stay strong and hold back her tears.

"Not until you joined them," she says conflictedly as she stares at Flash. But she doesn't see Flash. She sees Wally...

Her Wally...

Current Time:

"You were never as fast as Barry. Hell, even Bart was faster than you. But you sure did understand math and chemistry better than anyone I knew..."

Her eyes begin to feel damp...

"The answer was as clear as day to you: They needed more speed. So you joined them...and you...the energy--"

She tries her best to soldier on...

"The residual energy kept building, and it needed a way to ground itself...So it used you--him--as a lightning rod. With each pass he took on more and more of the energy, as it stripped away at his body until..."

She can't hold it back anymore. Looking at her boyfriend's alternate, her eyes let the tears flow as she painfully says, "His last thoughts were of me...He...He dissolved into nothing. No scorching... No ash... No radiation! Nothing!! Just Nothing!! Not even his suit survived! Just..."

She squeezes her eyes tight, angrily telling herself not to cry. The anger builds and is released when Flash tries to comfort her.

She swats his hand anyway when he places it on her shoulder. She then pounds her fists against his chest, while shouting, "Why!?! WhyWhyWhyWhyWhy!?! WWWHHHYYY-YYY-YYYYY!?!"

Flash quickly wraps his arms around her form and pulls her toward him--resting her head against his shoulder as she sobs.

After a few minutes, she stops sobbing.

She looks at his face and painfully ask, "Why did you leave me?"

Flash returns her wanting stare, "I don't think he meant to. It's just... In our field of work, these things just...happen..."

In response, Artemis returns to sobbing into the speedster's shoulder. Wally, once more, wraps his arms around her petite figure--drawing her into familiar sense of comfort. One that she has missed since he...

No!

Not now!

She will not let her mind take her back there. To that dark place.

Not when she is here, in his alternate's arms being comforted in the same way that her Wally would when she felt like the darkness was going to consume her. Instead, she tries to remain calm and listens to the rapid pace beat of the speedster's heart. That sound, combined with his body's natural warmth, is enough to calm her to the point of falling asleep in his arms.

Upon feeling her body relax, Wally lays down with her. For any effort to separate will most likely start this whole situation all over again.

Nightwing chuckles at the sight. Wally goes to berate him, but stops himself, once he sees how at peace Tigris is. He glances at the clock as Nightwing exits the room.

It is 3 am, and Flash finally falls asleep on the couch, with a girl from another dimension in his arms.

A/N: Well...here it is. Here is the first half of this story. It's going to take me awhile to write the next half, so you might not see another part for awhile. But no longer than a couple of weeks. Until then please read one of my other stories. As usual vote, comment, and subscribe if you want this to continue.

--tjgrov157