Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It wasn't supposed to be a hard mission. Another suspected assassination; not uncommon. All they really needed to do was be on the lookout. Somehow, it all went wrong. 

"KF!" Dick yelled as soon as the bombs went off. "Let's get these people out of here!"

Wally wasted no time in joining Dick, making laps throughout the entire building, carrying people to safety. They quickly fell into their normal rhythm; Dick rescuing people from underneath the rubble, or simply getting them into a clearing, and Wally taking them to safety. 

As he rushed through the building, bombs still going off, he could feel it begin to collapse. 

"Rob, you might wanna finish this up quick!" He shouted as another corner of the building blew up. 

"I know!" He shouted back. "I just need to get these people out."

Wally just shook his head in annoyance at Dick's unyielding determination. He rushed the citizens out of the building at an impossibly faster speed, hoping he could finish this before his friend got himself killed. 

On his next trip inside, Dick stopped him again. 

"These bombs are targeting the supports..." he pointed out. "KF, they're trying to take the building down."

Wally's eyes widened in realization. "It's not an assassination... it's a terrorist attack!"

He quickly turned his attention to his teammates over their mental link. "They're bringing this building down! We need to get everybody out and away from the building!"

He heard the entire team confirm they had heard him as he rushed the last few people out, fuelled by adrenaline. 

He got what he'd thought was every last civilian out of the building in record time. The mission had gone horribly wrong, but they'd adapted perfectly, just like Batman taught them. He was safe, his team was mostly safe, and only Megan and Dick left inside the collapsing building. 

As he sped back in for what would clearly be the last time judging by the state of the building, he saw Megan on her way out. He knew Dick. He knew he wouldn't come out unless he knew every civilian was safe or until he had no other choice. 

"Robin, we gotta get out of here, now!" Wally shouted through the mindlink.

"I know, I know! There's a kid here. I gotta get her out!" He replied. 

Wally saw everything happen in slow motion. He saw the bomb on the building's support, just behind the girl that Robin was trying to save. He saw Robin see the bomb. Worst of all, he saw the bomb go off, and he saw his friend realize that he wasn't getting out in time and shield the girl with his body. 

Wally ran. Probably faster than he'd ever run in his entire life. He could see the explosion progressing, threatening to swallow Dick whole. His legs were on fire with the effort, but he knew he wouldn't make it as the flames reached his friend.

As Dick was swallowed up completely, the shock wave reached Wally, throwing him back and knocking him out.

Wally was certain he was dead. He couldn't feel, he couldn't see, and he couldn't hear. That is, until he could feel pain.

It started in his head and traveled throughout his entire body. He knew he must've been knocked out... he just wasn't sure how. 

He rolled onto his side, opening his eyes slowly, and he saw... ash? Dust? He wasn't sure. 

Upon further examination of his surroundings, he saw the wreckage of the building he was in, and his memory was back in an instant. Dick. Dick was hurt. There was no way he wasn't, being that close to the blast.

He shot up despite the pain and dashed to where he had last seen his friend, and began searching. 

"KID! ROBIN! ANSWER ME!" Kaldur screamed in Wally's mind as his search became frantic. He realized that it was probably a little concerning to hear an explosion and then get no response afterward.

"I'm here, I'm okay. I- I can't find Robin," he answered quickly. 

"Kid, thank Poseidon. What do you mean you can't find him?" Kaldur asked.

"He- he was caught in an explosion, and now I can't find him," Wally answered. Admitting that he didn't know where his best friend was, nearly pushed him to tears.

"Stay calm. We're on our way," Kaldur replied. 

Easier said than done. As Wally continued to search, he noticed that his hands were shaking. Trying to calm himself, he reminded himself that panicking was not going to help Robin. 

Suddenly, he spotted him, maybe ten feet away. He was lying on his left side, curled in on himself and the girl, covered in dust and ash.

Wally sprinted towards him, ready to scoop him up and rush him out, but he paused when he knelt beside him.

He paused because Robin was covered in blood. He was lying in a puddle of it. 

Wally's hands ghosted over his friend, wanting to carry him out, but unsure of his injuries. 

It was then that he realized that the girl was still conscious. She was still curled up in Robin's embrace, but she was staring up at Wally with tears in her eyes. 

"Hey... I'm Kid Flash. I'm- I'm gonna get you out of here, okay?" He said, nearly forgetting his routine speech.

Sitting up, the girl just nodded. He pulled her up onto his back and went back to his assessment. 

"I found Robin. He's hurt, but I can't tell how badly yet," Wally relayed to the team.

Very, very carefully, Wally turned Dick over, trying not to make anything worse. 

He froze when he saw the ravaged mess that was his friend.

Dick was badly burned on his left side, the blackened flesh starting on his hip, and climbing up his neck. His abdomen must have been hit by some shrapnel, because it was bleeding badly. Worst of all, his left arm had been almost completely blown off, leaving a bloody, mangled mess behind. 

"It's bad, guys," Wally reported. "It's really bad."

"Get him out of there, we're waiting for him outside," Kaldur replied, the anxiety seeping into his voice. 

Wally quickly picked Dick up, wincing at the pained groan that he let out. He dashed out of the building before Dick could lose any more blood.

"God, please not him," Wally prayed. He had never really believed in any god, but in that moment, he was willing to believe anything if it meant saving Dick. 

"Wals...?" Dick groaned weakly in Wally's arms as he ran.

"It's me. Just hold on, okay?" Wally said as he ran out of the collapsing building. 

True to his word, Kaldur was waiting outside, but Wally ran right past him, his brain on autopilot. He ran until he had reached a secluded wall up against the neighboring building. 

Dick whimpered in pain as Wally came to a stop and laid him on the ground. He was really starting to scare Wally now. Robin never showed it when he was in pain, and these pitiful noises he was making were highly irregular. 

"Is... is he gonna be okay?" A small voice asked. It was the girl on his back. 

"Yeah. Yeah, he'll be okay. He always is," Wally said, pulling the girl in front of him, away from Robin so that she wouldn't have to see the gory mess. "I'm gonna take care of him."

Even as he said it, he wondered if he was lying. Dick's injuries were severe; more severe than he had initially thought. 

Doing his best to ignore just how much of Dick's blood was soaking into his suit, he pulled a tourniquet out of Dick's utility belt and secured it on his arm. Or, what was left of it anyway. 

"K-KF..." Dick stuttered shakily. 

"I'm here, Rob," Wally answered. 

"You- you gotta get her outta here," he replied. 

"Robin, I'm not leaving you," Wally answered. "Not sure if you noticed, but you're hurt bad."

"But it's- it's our job to- to," Dick tried, but he seemed exhausted and confused. 

"Robin," Wally cut him off, now holding back tears. "Please"

Luckily, Kaldur got there right on time. 

"Kid? Why did you run past us? We can help you with... with... oh, Neptune," he whispered when he caught sight of Robin. 

"You gotta get this kid to the other survivors," Wally ordered.

"I... I will be right back," Kaldur replied, picking the kid up. "I trust you can help him until I get back?"

Wally just nodded, and his leader took off with the kid.

"Dick, you self-sacrificing idiot," Wally said through the tears that were finally falling as soon as Kaldur left.

"I'm- I'm sorry, Wally, I-"

"Shh, don't try to talk," Wally said as he began packing the wound in Dicks abdomen. "I think whatever hit your abdomen jacked up your lungs."

"That'd explain why I can't breathe..." he answered softly. 

"You're having trouble breathing?" Wally exclaimed. 

"Y-Yeah... got hit good this time, h-huh?" 

"Yeah, I'm not gonna lie to you, it's pretty bad," Wally said. 

"I... I don't know what to do... I don't know how to fix this..." he admitted. He was trying desperately to stop the bleeding from his stomach, but it just seemed to be soaking through no matter what he did. The bleeding from his arm seemed to have slowed, but he'd already lost so much...

"You're gonna be okay, Wals..." Dick whispered. 

"No. No, don't talk like that. You're gonna be fine," Wally said adamantly, more tears running down his face, despite his efforts to keep them back.

"'M not gonna be fine, KF. I'm already feeling it," Dick said. 

"Feeling what?" Wally asked, somewhat afraid of what Dick was going to say.

"I'm dying," he answered simply. 

"No!" Wally said sharply. "No, you're not. I won't let you."

"Wals..." Dick said lovingly. 

Wally wasn't feeling the love. He was scared, and he was angry. He was scared because he was starting to realize that Dick was right, scared because his best friend was dying in his arms. And he was angry because he felt that Dick was giving up. 

"Dick, baby, come on. You gotta hang on for me," Wally said, his tears now falling freely. He cradled Dick closer, but relaxed some when he winced at the action.

"I'm- I'm trying, Wally... I'm just so tired," he answered. He could see in Dick's eyes that he was trying desperately to stay conscious, but it was clear that he was fading fast. 

"I know, I know," Wally said. "You're doing amazing, just a little longer."

Dick shuddered violently in Wally's arms, his face twisting into a grimace, and his eyes sliding shut.

"Hey, eyes open," Wally said sharply, tapping Dick's cheek.

"It- it hurts. It hurts so much, Wally," Dick said, a tear slipping out from underneath his mask.

"Shh, I know," Wally said, trying to comfort him. "Dick, you gotta promise me that you'll fight, okay? You can't just give up."

"I- I promise, and I'm trying, but Wally..." Dick answered. "Damnit this hurts. You... you gotta get Bruce. Please. I- I need Bruce."

Wally shuts his eyes and presses harder on Dick's stomach, more tears falling. He knew what Dick was asking. He was asking to say goodbye to his dad.

"Dick, I don't know that he's gonna get here in time," Wally said, the acceptance that his friend may really be dying causing a sob to rip from his throat. 

"J-just try... please..."

"I need Kaldur..." he said. Kaldur was the only one with a direct link to Batman, other than maybe Dick. 

As always, he was just in time. Wally turned around just in time to see Kaldur running towards him as fast as he could, the team following. 

Wally watched as the team's expressions changed to fear when they saw the tears on his face. 

"Kid, how is Robin?" Kaldur asked as soon as he was close enough. 

"Not good..." Wally answered. 

"Holy shit..." Artemis breathed when she saw his injuries. 

Megan rushed to Robin's side, opposite of Wally, as quickly as she could. 

"You're going to be just fine, Robin. We're here now," she said comfortingly, but Wally could see the tears on her face. 

"Aqualad, you need to contact Batman," Wally said. 

"Already done," he replied quickly. "He's on his way."

"You hear that, Rob? B's coming," Wally spoke to his friend, still cradled in his arms. 

Alarm bells rang in Wally's mind when Robin didn't answer him. He appeared to be conscious, but he was just staring up at Wally, not answering a thing. 

"Rob? Robin. Come on, Robin, don't do this to me."

Robin just turned his head into Wally's chest, and he felt Robin's breathing pick up. What remained of Robin's left arm moved up, almost as if he was trying to get closer to Wally. 

Wally wrapped his free arm around Robin's back, pulling his head up to the crook of his neck.

"Rob, c'mon, stay with me," he begged, but it was starting to look like this was all in vain. 

"Wally..." Robin managed. He sounded like he wanted to say more, but couldn't. 

"Guys... something's wrong..." Connor said from just behind Wally. 

"What is it, Superboy?" Kaldur asked from where he was trying to stem the bleeding. 

"Robin's heart. It's... slowing down. I think he's dying!" Connor exclaimed sounding more terrified than the others had ever heard. 

"No. Nonononono. Robin, stay with us!" Megan cried. 

"M s'rry..." Robin said, speech slow and weak. 

"Come on, Rob, please..." Wally begged. 

"Wally, you- you gotta promise you're gonna be okay without me..."

"No. No, you know I won't be okay," Wally cried. He knew he would have no idea what to do with himself without Dick. 

"Wally, please," Dick said in that tone. The one Wally hated. The tone that meant that Dick was close to tears.

"Okay. I promise," Wally said. He knew it was a lie. He could never be okay without him, but he promised himself to try. Dick deserved to die with peace. 

Dick spent the next few minutes in silence, his energy spent. Wally didn't mind. He just held his little bird closer, rocking him back and forth, praying that maybe, just maybe, Bruce would be there in time and be able to fix him.

Kaldur was still trying to stop the bleeding, but Wally could see how defeated he looked.

Suddenly, Dick fully relaxed in his arms. 

"Robin? Robin. Dick, wake up," Wally said, shaking him. Secret identities be damned. "Come on, Dick. Please wake up."

"Wally," Connor said softly, putting his hand on Wally's shoulder.

"No," Wally said quickly, shaking his hand off in denial. "Dicky, please!"

"Wally," Connor said, more firmly this time. 

This time, he looked up at Connor, only to see tears on his face. 

"Wally, he's gone."

"No. No, no, Dick, please no," Wally said, his quiet tears growing hysterical. 

Wally let out the most mournful scream that the team had ever heard as he held Robin impossibly closer, burying his head in Dick's shoulder. He screamed and cried until his voice was gone. He was speaking, but nothing that came out was making any sense. He wasn't even sure what he was trying to say. He was holding on to Dick like he was the last good thing on earth. 

As his screams settled into sobs, he looked down at Dick. With his lax body, and the eyes of his mask tiny slits, Wally could almost convince himself that he was just sleeping. He checked his pulse just to be sure, but no, Connor was right. Dick was gone. 

Wally bowed his head, planting one last kiss on Dick's forehead, still sobbing. He felt like someone had carved out his heart with a dull shovel.

Finally, he looked up at the team. Every one of them was a mess. Connor was holding an inconsolable Megan while he himself was sobbing. Kaldur had moved back a few feet, his shoulders shaking, and his head in his hands, the blood staining his near white hair red. Artemis was the only one aside from Wally who was still with Dick, her tears making clean rivulets through the ash on her face. 

Wally realized that he also probably looked awful. He'd cried until his nose bled, he was still clinging to Dick, and his uniform was absolutely soaked through by Dick's blood.

"Kid Flash."

Wally's head popped up quickly. Batman was here.

"B..." he whispered brokenly.

"Robin... is he...?"

"He... he's gone. Gods, I'm so sorry..." Wally said, nearly cascading into another fit of sobs.

Batman knelt beside Wally, his gaze never leaving his sons body. He moved to take Dick from Wally, and surprisingly, he let him.

Suddenly, he did something that Wally had never seen him do before. He removed his gloves. His hands were just normal, human hands, but they were shaking. Gods, Batman's hands were shaking.

When the gloves were off, Batman placed his hand on Dick's forehead, brushing his bangs out of his face. He grabbed Dick's remaining hand and pressed it to his lips with an aching tenderness, and he bowed his head, seemingly in defeat. 

Wally looked down at the floor, unable to scream or cry out. He'd cried himself nearly dry, and while there were still tears running down his face, he had settled into some kind of awful numbness. 

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he locked eyes with his leader. Wally hadn't even realized he'd moved.

"Come," he said, very softly. "Let's give them some space."

Wally nodded, too numb and disoriented to protest.

Kaldur slung one of Wally's arms over his shoulder, helping him up. He guided him away from the heartbreaking scene, and over to a curb. Wally was so out of it that he didn't even realize they were moving until he was sitting on the ground again. 

"Did... did that really just happen? Is he really gone?" Wally asked, in a state of complete shock.

"I am afraid so," Kaldur answered.

Wally shook his head in disbelief, wanting so badly for this to just be a nightmare. 

He looked up at Dick and Bruce again, and immediately wished he hadn't. Bruce had removed his cape and wrapped Dick up in it like a blanket. 

The tender moment between father and son caused all of the emotion to catch up with him physically. He turned away and began throwing up almost immediately. He felt Kaldur put a hand on his back as he was finishing up. 

When he sat up, utterly exhausted, Kaldur offered his arm. Wally accepted and leaned into him. He could feel Kaldur's body shaking from tears as he held him.

When Barry arrived, Wally didn't even acknowledge him at all. It barely even registered in his mind that his uncle was there at all.

"I'm here, I just heard," Barry said, rushing up to him. "Is Robin gonna be... Wally? Are you okay? Robin, he's not..."

Wally nodded sadly, pointing to where Batman was now carrying Robin off. 

"He is..." he said, his voice coming out quiet and broken. "He is..."

"Wally, I'm so sorry," his uncle said, putting a hand on Wally's shoulder, tears now streaming down his face. 

Wally rested his head on his uncle's chest, feeling completely hollow. 

The next thing he knew, he was at home, his mom running her fingers through his hair. He had no idea how he'd even ended up there.

"Mom?" He asked. 

"Yes?" She answered. 

"When... how did I get here?" 

"You don't remember?" She asked, confused. 

Wally shook his head. 

"That's okay. You were pretty out of it when you got here," she said gently. "Your uncle Barry brought you here. He told us what happened. I'm sorry, Wally..."

Wally just nodded mutely.

"You don't have to do any mission debrief until tomorrow. Just try to get some sleep."

"Roy," Wally said suddenly. 

"What?" His mom asked. 

"Someone's gotta tell Roy. Dick's like a little brother to him. He needs to know."

"We'll tell him..." she replied. 

Maybe thirty minutes later, she had left to give him some space, but he hadn't moved an inch. He hardly even noticed she left. He just stared at the wall, unmoving. 

He would get no sleep that night. 

When Batman heard the screaming, he knew he was too late. He had known it wasn't going to be good when Aqualad had contacted him, mid mission, just to inform him that Robin was injured. He just... hadn't expected this. 

The moment he heard the Flash's protégé's cries, he was across the scene in an instant. He wasn't ready for what he saw. 

Dick, his protégé, his son, lay completely lifeless, only being held up by West, and soaked in his own blood. 

He sunk to his knees beside him, taking his body from his friend. He removed his glove and smoothed Dick's hair out of his face; the method he would always use to get him back to sleep after a nightmare. 

He scanned his injuries quickly, feeling the bile rise in his throat when he got to his left arm. Or, lack there of. He looked away quickly, knowing that there was nothing he could do now. He grabbed his right hand, bringing it to his face to warm it up. Logically, he knew it wouldn't work. He knew Dick would never be warm again, but he still tried.

He noticed the tourniquet around his upper arm. He'd given him that tourniquet, along with an entire trauma kit after someone he was trying to save had died. He had gone through a phase not long after of carrying as much medical supplies as he could to avoid it happening again. Bruce ended up having a long talk with him about how it wasn't his fault, and that people are still going to die, even if you do everything right. He also vividly remembered telling him that some injuries just aren't survivable. 

The sick irony was not lost on Bruce.

He removed the tourniquet from his son's arm, and put it back in his utility belt. He didn't need it on anymore. 

As he was removing it, a few tears slipped out. He'd thought he could make it home before this happened, but apparently, he was wrong. 

He sat alone with Dick's body for several minutes, trapped in a daze. He wasn't sure when the team had left, but they had.

He held Dick closer as he got colder. It felt so wrong. He was never this cold. 

Batman removed his cape, wrapping Dick up in it, getting ready to move him. It was time to go home. 

"Come on, Dick," he said out loud. "Time to go." 

He lifted the boy up like he weighed nothing, and walked him back to the batmobile. He heard Flash arrive, but he paid him no mind. He was going home. 

Carrying Dick's limp body to the car, he was reminded of when Dick was a child. In his earlier days as Robin, he would often be so exhausted by the end of patrol that he couldn't stay awake. Bruce never complained. He would just carry him into the car and drive him home.

He snapped himself out of his memories when he got to the car. Gently, he placed his dead son in the passenger seat and buckling him in.

He put the car into autopilot, knowing he was in no state to be driving, and sat facing his son. That was when the tears really started. When he looked over the way he always did to see the steady rise and fall of Dick's chest, only to remember that it had stopped, never to start again. 

When he truly broke was when he had to call Alfred. He'd messaged him before, telling him to get the medical supplies ready, and telling him that he would no longer be needing it was possibly the hardest thing he'd ever done. Telling him that, instead of bringing home his kid, he was bringing home an empty shell, was what finally broke him.

Bruce didn't sleep that night, either. He didn't sleep for many nights afterwards. 

Chapter Text

Wally barely remembered anything from the next several days. He remembered little snippets here and there, but the majority of his memories were just of him lying still, facing the wall. He didn't remember the debrief at all, or if he even went. 

Two days after Dick's death, when he was building up the energy to finally go eat something, his phone rang unexpectedly. He almost ignored it, knowing that it was probably just Kaldur or Megan trying to check on him again, but he paused when he saw the contact name. It was Roy.

Though he knew it was going to be a rough phone call, he picked up immediately. 

"Wally," Roy said immediately after he picked up, his voice shaking. Whether it was fear, anger, or something else entirely, Wally had no idea.

"Wally, it's not true, is it?" He demanded. 

"Roy..." Wally tried, finding that his voice was no longer working. 

"This- this has to be some kind of sick joke, right?" He said, voice beginning to break. "Wally, answer me!"

"...it's true. His funeral is tomorrow," Wally said tears slipping out against his will. 

"No... no, what happened?" Roy said in disbelief. 

Wally knew exactly how he felt. Robin was the strongest person on the team, and had always seemed unkillable. He rarely made a mistake, and almost never failed a mission. 

Slowly, he took a deep breath and recounted the mission. He treated it almost like a debrief, just to keep himself together. He knew that if he went into any detail aside from the basic facts, he would break down again, and Roy didn't need that. 

As it turned out, this method didn't work as well as he was hoping. He still ended up crying by the time he finished. 

Roy was somehow crying harder. Wally had rarely seen him cry at all, but now he was sobbing over the phone, and Wally was helpless. 

"I- I'm so sorry, Roy. I s-should've d-done something..." Wally sobbed. 

"No. Don't you dare start with that Wally. Y-you did what you could. He- he would be really proud of you," Roy said, trying to make him feel better. 

It ended up having the opposite effect, causing Wally to begin crying harder than before. 

Roy didn't say anything, but Wally could still hear him crying over the phone. 

After about ten wordless minutes of the pair just crying it out, Roy finally spoke. 

"Wally... what're we gonna do now?" He said, voice still shaky.

Wally knew what he meant. Robin, although he was much younger, and had been introduced to the team later, had so much more experience. He always knew what to do. He was a rock, someone to rely on when things got tough, and a person they could all lean on. But more than that, he was their best friend, and their little brother. He was someone they were supposed to protect. And Wally had failed him. He just... wasn't fast enough. 

"Roy, I don't know," he answered. "I'm not sure of anything right now."

"Can you... can you stay on the phone with me tonight? I'm not sure I should be alone right now," Roy asked, his voice horse, but no longer shaking. 

"Yeah," Wally replied. "Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing."

Neither of them spoke a word after that, but their presence was calming. Wally finally slept that night. 

Before Wally even arrived at the funeral, he knew he looked like shit. He felt like shit. He'd finally showered, and even forced down some food for the first time in three days, but he knew he looked awful. 

As it turned out, he wasn't the only one. It was Dick's personal funeral (as opposed to his hero one, which would take place two days after) and the entire team, along with the entire league looked seriously disheveled. 

Diana and Bruce were, by far, the worst. Dick's aunt and dad. Diana's usually sleek, black hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in days, and she had this dead look in her eyes. They were rimmed with red, a clear sign that she'd been crying, but they held no emotion. 

And Bruce... Wally never thought The Batman could ever look so broken. The man who always commanded so much power now just looked like a regular man. His shoulders were slumped, and he looked as though he was staring off into space, like he wasn't even on the same planet. He still had his cowl on to protect his identity, but Wally felt like he could see right through it. 

Then he saw his team. They looked hollow, like the life had been sucked out of them. Honestly, it had. The light of their team, Robin, had been forcefully taken from them. Sure, Wally was fun at times, but without his Robin he was just... lost. Empty, even.

He sat next to the team, but none of them spoke. None of them had the energy. They took comfort in each other's presence, and no words were needed. It wasn't until they announced that it was time to see their friend for the final time, that someone said something. 

"Wally should go first," Artemis said. 

No one moved to argue, so Wally got up. He didn't feel ready to sat goodbye, but he wanted to see Dick. As it turned out, he wasn't prepared at all.

The moment he walked into the room, he felt bile rise in his throat, and he felt extremely dizzy. It was just so wrong to see Dick in that coffin. Fuck, he was only 13! He had so much more life to live!

As Wally peered over the coffin at Dick, he began shaking. They had cleaned all of the blood off of him, but Wally could still see it. He could still see it flowing out of him, soaking his hands as he desperately tried to stop it.

"I- I'm so sorry, Dick. I love you, I'm sorry," he sobbed, the confession both relieving and harrowing. 

As his shock turned to panic, he staggered back falling to the ground. He began sobbing uncontrollably. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't control his breathing. 

Suddenly, he felt someones arms wrap around him. Initially, he thought it was his uncle Barry, and was surprised to hear Bruce Wayne's voice. 

"Deep breaths, Wally. Deep breaths."

Wally leaned into his embrace. Wally thought it was... unusual for Bruce, but he was hurting too much to care. He knew Bruce was, too.

He sobbed into Bruce's chest for longer than he cared to guess, but the man didn't seem to mind. He just held him, rocking him back and forth until he could calm down. 

"Come with me Wally. Let's let the others in," he said when Wally had caught his breath. 

Taking one last look at Dick, he allowed himself to be guided out of the room.

After having sat down, the two of them just stared numbly off into space. They had both just lost one of the most important people in their lives, what was there to say? It took Wally several minutes to get his words in the right order.

"I'm... I'm sorry," he said finally. "It was my fault. I was so close, I was right there, I just... I wasn't fast enough."

It was all he could manage to say before he started choking up again. 

Bruce said nothing. Wally would have rathered he screamed at him about how Dick's death was his fault; anything was better than this silence. But Bruce was just staring at nothing. 

"No," he said unexpectedly. 

Wally looked up at him, confused. 

"It wasn't your fault," he continued. "You did everything exactly the way you should have. The only person at fault here is the terrorist that planted that bomb. I am sorry this happened. This is... the worst case scenario in our line of work, and I'm sorry it happened to you." 

Wally looked at the ground, in danger of crying again. 

"But you can't blame yourself for this," he continued. "If I blamed myself for everyone I couldn't save, the guilt would crush me."

Stunned, it took him a minute to answer. In the end he just nodded. Neither of them spoke for the rest of the funeral. 

Eventually, after they had all gone to say their goodbyes, he moved back to the team. It ended being Kaldur who comforted him through the entire service, his hand never leaving Wally's shoulder. 

As they were leaving, Wally caught him on his way out.

"Kaldur? Could I stay with you guys at the mountain tonight? I don't want to be alone right now," he asked, uncharacteristically quiet. 

"Of course, my friend. Always," he answered. 

Wally followed him out, neither of them saying a word. 

Back at the mountain, Wally found himself alone in his room. That was probably for the best. He just... needed to process everything. 

Normally, everything a speedster does is fast. Apparently that didn't apply to grief. Everything had just seemed to slow down for him.

Sighing, he pulled out his phone. He hadn't even turned it on since before Dick's death, other than to call Roy. It had just been sitting on his charger.

He cleared away his notifications almost mindlessly. He had a few missed calls from his friends trying to check on him throughout the week.

He froze when he got to the final notification. It was a voice message. And it was from Dick. 

Checking the date, Wally saw that it was sent on the day he died. Only a few hours beforehand. 

With shaking hands, Wally clicked on the notification. 

"Hey, Wally! It's Dick. I just wanted to make sure we're still on for Saturday. Y'know after this next mission's done and all. I... I actually have something to tell you. Call me back, k?"

With that, the message was over. Wally just sat and stared at his phone in shock for a couple minutes. Today was Saturday. He was supposed to be hanging out with Dick today. Instead, he had gone to his funeral. 

His tears started up again in full force, with his breath coming in convulsive gasps. It hit him all at once that Dick was gone, and he wasn't coming back. He was never going to see Dick again. We would never hear his cackle. And he would never know what Dick had wanted to tell him.

He clutched at his chest as the hole inside of him grew impossibly wider, and he gasped for air that wouldn't come.

He looked up abruptly to see the door open and Kaldur enter. His friend ran to his side when he saw him. 

"Wally? Did something happen?" He asked hurriedly, worried for his friend.

Wally shook his head. Physically, everyone was fine. Everyone except Dick. 

"Are you okay?" Kaldur asked, to which Wally shook his head again. He was not okay in the slightest. 

"I understand," he said. "I miss him too."

"Y-you don't understand," Wally managed to say. 

"What do you mean?" He asked. "Talk to me, Wally."

Unable to console himself, he simply replayed the voice message. 

"Oh, Wally..." his friend whispered when it was over.

"And now I'll n-never know what he wanted to tell me," Wally said through his tears. 

"I know. He told me beforehand," Kaldur said. 

Wally looked up at him, intrigued. 

"Wally, he was going to tell you that he loved you, and he has for a long time now."

Wally buried his face in his hands, the sobs racking his body harder.

"I am so sorry..." Kaldur said, placing a hand on his back.

Wally gladly leaned into his friends embrace as his cries slowed. He could feel Kaldur's slightly shaky breathing as he cried with him. They just sat in silence until Wally cried himself to sleep up against his friend. 

Dick appeared to him in his dream. He was just at his house, sitting in the backyard, when he noticed Dick sitting beside him. 

"Dick?" 

"Wally," he replied simply. 

"How... how are you here?" He asked. 

"I don't follow," Dick replied. 

"I mean... weren't you just...?" He started, in reference to Dick's death. 

Dick gave no answer other than a knowing smile. Wally missed seeing that smile.

"You said you'd be okay. You promised," Dick said, suddenly serious. 

"Dick..." he said, not knowing what to say. "I don't know what to do with myself without you."

"You have to be. You have to try, at least. Wally, you're a blessing to the world, and you can't quit just because I'm gone."

Wally nodded, trying to hold back his tears again. 

"But then... who do I go to?" 

"The others," he said simply. "Who do you think has been checking in on you?"

"But, Dick... you know it's not the same."

He nodded, putting a hand on Dick's shoulder. "I know. Things are different now, but you don't have to be."

Wally nodded, end embraced Dick, leaning into him. He held onto Dick for as long as he could until he woke up.

When he did finally wake, he realized that it was Kaldur he was hugging.

"Wally? Are you awake?" He asked. 

Wally nodded, letting him go, but still laying almost on top of him.

"It's going to be okay, Wally," he said. 

Wally sat up, wiping his eyes.

"You're right, Kaldur. It is."

Nothing would be the same again, but they would be okay.