Song is "Insomnia" by David Guetta… I think? XD Sorry! No idea ;) I really like it though so I couldn't resist. Sorry that this is all a long metaphor thing. I got really confused halfway through.

It feels like insomnia… I just can't go to sleep…

To Dick, life was just a long, never-ending, dim corridor with millions of twists and turns. Every corner he rounded, praying for a light to show him he was near the exit or at least to a happier place, he'd find himself only deeper and further into the darkness, losing track of his sanity with every blind stumble. He'd keep his hands on the cold stone walls, but his hands kept running along the sharp edges and spikes, designed to protect the corridor from intruders like him.

The skin on his palms and fingers was slowly wearing away and he was accidentally staining the once-pure walls with his blood. He couldn't see the pain so he usually couldn't feel it, but in the times when he gave up, following the wall to the floor and sobbing hopelessly into his sticky hands, he couldn't help but feel the contusions. The blood stained his face, showing anyone who was watching his pain, but he hid what he could with his jacket sleeve, scrubbing tirelessly until the pain was nearly invisible.

All he wanted was a light. He wanted to hear footsteps behind him in the corridor and he wanted to feel warm, protective arms wrap around his stomach, the lights snapping on. He wanted to be able to look up into warm green eyes and tell them the truth; show them the pain. Instead though, the lights were off and all he could feel was the presence beside him who he continuously fed lies to.

Yes Wally, I'm perfectly fine. No Wally, I'm not upset. I'm sure Wally; it doesn't bother me at all. Stop worrying Wally; I'd never be mad at you. Of course I'm happy, Wally. These aren't bad tears Wally, I'm just really happy. Life is just perfect for me Wally.

The lies were slowly killing him. Every false word that slipped past his broken lips added another shard of glass to the corridor floor and thinned away at his shoes. If he kept on, following life the way it wanted him to live it, he'd be dead before anyone knew what was happening. They'd find his body crumpled among the glass, his hand reaching desperately for the light that he had just gotten the briefest glance of before he had finally gave up on it all and stopped fighting.

He wasn't done yet though. He didn't proudly display a thin black mask over his face for nothing. Someone out there would see through the mask and see his true pain; detect his real lies. They'd follow him, a torch in hand and they'd trek after him until they found his broken, bloody body hiding in the twists and folds that he'd been sentenced on and secretly smuggle him out, following the bloody path he had marked. Until then, he kept on trudging, wincing as every shard of glass pierced his aching feet and whimpering as his broken hands ran over yet another thing of needles that pointlessly lined the walls.

Sometimes, he'd hear voices bounce through the many twists and turns, but all that he'd get were just a few words. That was how he had come to despise fixes, especially if they were pre. Distraught, disaster, over and under-whelmed, over and under-exaggerations, disadvantages… The prefixes were just unnecessary. They further complicated a word that didn't need to be complicated to start with. They could burn themselves from all dictionaries for all he cared. It'd save him the trouble.

The voices weren't comforting though. They were always taunting him, teasing him, calling him out and ridiculing him for being different than the rest of them. When he heard them, he tried to run after them, but all he'd do is crash into a Wally, taking a face full of spikes in pure agony. One day, he eventually just decided that this was it. He was just going to give up right here.

He stood there in the dark and tossed his mask to the floor. He was done fighting. He was done with it all. He unclipped his cape, laying it out across the broken glass. He unhooked the utility belt, folding it neatly into a little rectangle before setting it by his mask. He slid off his boots and his gloves before he curled up into a ball on his cape, exhaustedly hugging his knees to his chest. Before closing his eyes, he whispered his final goodbyes.

Instead of finally falling into the darkness though, he was suddenly surrounded in light. There was too much. There were so many torches, but at the same time, there was just one. There were a million footsteps echoing around him in the corridor, but at the same time, there was just one. A million fearful screams, but only one stood out to him. He kept his eyes closed though. He didn't want to be saved anymore. He was ready to be done with it all.

"Come on Rob… Why are you just lying around? Weren't we going to hang today?" Wally's voice bounced around the painful stones, but Dick closed his eyes tight and tried to imagine he was alone again.

He heard glass crunch under yellow boots before one arm snaked under his knees and another behind his back, lifting him up.

"Let's get you out of here. How's hot cocoa and a movie sound?"

The voice was so comforting and soothing, but it stung worse than the glass and barbs had. Why was he being saved? He didn't deserve this. He had said so many lies, faked so many smiles, forced too many laughs…

"Leave me alone," he begged, but his voice wouldn't work.

In warm and protective arms, he melted all the way through until nothing seemed to work properly.

"What's with the tears, bro?" Wally should've asked, but he said nothing like it.

Instead, he just saved his little ebony from the darkness, the torch turned sideways with the flame pointing far away from the broken doll in his arms. Wally harmlessly crunched through the grass, not seeming to notice the bloody walls on either side of him and the bloody floor beneath him. He just kept his attention on the kid in his arms.

"I didn't wake you up, did I?" Wally asked carefully.

Dick raised an eyebrow, staring up at his savior before he smiled in the soft playful way only he could manage to pull off.

"Nah… I'm an insomniac. Nothing to wake me from," he got used to the non-existent arms that held him close.

This wasn't real. None of it was. This was just life pulling yet another stupid trick on him. It showed him what he really wanted: to escape this nightmare.

Gay Pairing: KF/Rob. Straight Pairing: Barbara/Robin (or Nightwing/Oracle). Those are the only two people I want to be with the Boy Wonder. Only reason I like Barbara is because of "The Batman" series. Only BOSSES have purplish red hair. This was going to be "Stays Four the Same", but I was watching Robin videos and I found one with Dick and Barbara (shut up, it's not Young Justice so it doesn't count!) for this song. Review?

-F.J.