Note: this was written before Roy joined the team in "Insecurity."
The general consensus is that flashbulb memories have six characteristic features: place, ongoing activity, informant, own affect, other affect, and aftermath. See if you can pick them out.
He still remembers everything, each detail etched clearly into his mind.
A series of camera flashes, living on his memory for the rest of his days.
Flash.
The place is a run-down mess - like it could come down on their heads anytime.
It doesn't stop them from laughing, from joking like usual.
It's just another mission.
Flash.
The bomb goes off, sending shockwaves throughout the entire building, shaking him on his feet.
Flash.
M'gann, trying to help an already weakened Conner (they should have seen the krpytonite, should've known they had it), doesn't see a burning mass of wood and concrete bearing down from above.
Flash.
Conner, vainly trying to push the wreckage off, fails to notice the steel beam coming for his head.
Flash.
Zatanna can't utter a shielding spell quick enough to stop the concrete block.
Flash.
Artemis locks eyes with Robin and smiles grimly, just as her fingers slip from the railway she'd been gripping.
Flash.
"Rob!" KF, grasping his wrist and pulling.
Robin remembers trying to resist - we have to go out together - but KF's grip is too strong.
But even his best friend, the second fastest person alive, can't get them out unscathed.
There is blackness.
Then he wakes up.
Flash.
Tubes, IVs, wires, the steady beep, beep of his heart rate, the whir of air-conditioning.
A hospital.
The Watchtower's med bay, to be precise.
Flash.
Batman comes in, looking far grimmer than Robin ever remembers.
That alone places a block of lead in his stomach.
Flash.
"Superboy and Miss Martian were killed on-site."
Together.
"Zatanna passed on the way to the ICU."
Her father will never see her again.
"Artemis put up the longest fight..."
I doubt she'd have it any other way.
There's a pause. Robin looks up.
"Wally?"
Flash.
"Kid Flash is recovering. His accelerated healing is likely what saved his life."
There's something in Batman's expression.
"You're not telling me everything."
The silence stretches for hours.
"Kid Flash does not recall the last two years of his life-in any capacity."
Flash.
"He remembers me. He remembers that he's Kid Flash-but to him, it's only 2008, and he's only just started working with the Flash."
Robin doesn't respond to Barry for quite some time. "I hope he recovers quickly."
He moves to leave.
"You aren't going to see him?"
Robin pauses in the doorway. "I've seen enough."
"But, Robin, he needs - "
"What he needs is to never remember what happened," he says. "I know I wish I could forget." He turns back to Barry. "Don't make me take away his chance at enjoying himself."
Robin looks away. "I can't do that to him."
Before Barry can speak again, he's gone.
Flash.
He learns from Green Arrow that Roy did get their distress call.
He also learns that in Roy's attempt to get to them, he was caught in the blast's destruction as well.
Roy wasn't as lucky as Wally, though: he lost only a year of memory, give or take.
There are more pieces to put together.
He doesn't remember what happened at the Hall of Justice, doesn't remember his anger with Green Arrow or his Red Arrow persona.
He does remember Kid Flash. He does remember Robin.
He also remembers Aqualad.
No one will tell him why Wally won't remember him, or why Robin refuses to see him.
No one will explain to him what happened to Kaldur.
Green Arrow is in agreement with Robin on that count: the less information, the better.
Eventually, that's what drives Speedy away.
Flash.
Batman and Robin were contrasts. Dark and light.
That's how they worked together.
So when darkness begins to claim Dick Grayson, it isn't long before the relationship turns sour.
All he wants is to be alone. He doesn't want to be around Bruce, who is always asking after him. He doesn't want to work with the Dark Knight, who's become even grimmer, even more protective over his ward since the incident.
Robin knows that Bruce can't stand the thought of losing Robin too, on top of everything.
That's what drives him crazy - that Bruce wants the exact opposite of what Robin has wished for so many times.
I should have died with them.
Why couldn't I have forgotten everything-like Wally, like Roy?
Flash.
He doesn't remember the argument anymore. All he knows is that he needs to leave Gotham.
It's not until he reaches the west coast that he stops - not until he reaches a city called Jump.
And there, he runs into a boy that covers up his insecurity with jokes and laughter.
He finds a teenaged boy disgusted with what he is-more weapon than person.
He encounters a girl that keeps to herself, afraid of hurting people around her.
And he collides with an absurdly strong alien, who desperately wants to fit into this vastly foreign and fascinating culture.
When he climbs into bed, that first night in the Tower, he almost chokes on the irony.
I will likely post a few pieces based on this scenario as time goes on.