Set: Post-Relevation
Not so bad.
That was the strange thought that crossed Wally's on the way home that night.
She's not so bad.
He wasn't sure where it came from, but there it was. It had started that night, the most important night of his life, the night they proved themselves, the night they-the 'sidekicks'-had won.
They were fighting the big guns.
They were after the masterminds behind everything that had happened to them; the reason Selena Gonzalez was killed, the reason Red Tornado betrayed them, the reason Meg and Kaldur almost died. He couldn't forgive that, but, then again, he couldn't forgive anything about the Injustice League. Him being a hero (or hero's partner, whatever), that's just how it worked.
They had flown in; camouflaged, but spotted almost immediately, so their face-off began. Kaldur ordered Rob and M'gann away to complete their mission; he chose them because they were skilled, because they were fast, and Wally approved of the choice, but he knew what it meant for the rest of them. They were the distraction, the front line.
Somehow, Wally was alright with that.
He never completely faced the thought that they would were the decoy, that they would be the first to die, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he accepted it. He wasn't afraid of it, that's what being a hero was about. They would probably die, but Robin and M'gann would complete the mission, it would be alright.
They had taken away Artemis's bow and Kaldur's water bearers, so it had surprised him, once they were free, how fiercely they fought (it shouldn't have surprised him really, perhaps his head was still wonky from Vertigo). She fought so hard, yet she had no chance, and he could see it in her face, the fear of losing; dying. He was hit, and recovered, just as she was and when she readied herself to jump back in, he saw it. The fear of dying beaten back and taken over by her violent refusal to lose. She wasn't going to let herself die, not tonight, and he understood.
When Conner was so worried about M'gann, when Robin faked death for the Reds, when Kaldur attempted to break the cage, when Meg abandoned her ship, when Artemis gave him the breather; they all had it, and so did he. Being a hero was not surpassing the fear of failure, but overcoming it. He had been told that once, by his uncle, but he forgot, how had he forgot?. And it took her and her sheer determination to remind him, and it was that same determination that empowered his next words.
"Leave her alone."