This chapter contains:

Spoilers: An episode from Season 1 and general Season 2

Random Lyrics from: To Be Loved by Papa Roach

Pairings: Spitfire, Dick and Artemis brotherly/sisterly friendship, Some DaddyBats and DaddyFlash

Extra Notes: Thank you all so much for the favorites, follows and reviews. :)

This chapter is rated teen for a trigger topic (PTSD), some depression, mild violence, scenes of torture, romance pieces and a good amount of crude language.


this is real, as real as it gets


Dick snickered to himself once he heard the bathroom door shut behind Artemis, as Wally slandered into the apartment's small kitchen. The first place the speedster headed to was the fridge, grabbing the carton of milk before closing the fridge and taking a seat next to Dick at the island, looking through half lidded eyes at his friend.

"Good morning," Dick chirped, knowing full well that Wally wasn't a morning person while continuing to send careful glances towards the closed bathroom door, patiently waiting for the shower to start and for Artemis to run out in a fit of fiery rage. He swallowed another spoonful of Cheerios, turning towards Wally when the older man groaned loudly. "Well you had to get up sometime, be happy I didn't wake you up at two in the morning when I went out as Nightwing."

Wally grunted in reply, lifting the milk carton to his lips and chugging. Dick went back to eating his cereal but before he had a chance to lift the spoon to his lips Wally was throwing the empty milk carton in the trash and moving towards the candy cabinet. "It's ten in the morning and you are going to raid my candy supply already?" Wally grabbed two Snickers bars, tearing the wrappers off both and eating them faster than Dick could blink.

"Half of it is my food anyway, I do live here." He grumbled and as if on cue the bathroom door slammed open; causing both boys to flinch.

Artemis entered the kitchen, her deadly glower pointed at Dick. He jumped out of his seat, holding up his hands in surrender, "Hiya Art . . . how was your shower?" She didn't say anything in response, instead storming right up to the man soundlessly. Dick chuckled weakly, "Alright listen I've been through a lot—"

He cut himself off when Artemis suddenly started sending punches to his shoulders and chest, Dick trying to shield himself from her lousy hits. Wally watched lazily from his spot where he was leaning against the counter, nibbling a left over piece of grilled cheese from the night before.

"You are such an asshole Dick! Jacking the shower to spray ice cold water instead of hot?" Dick laughed, grabbing the woman by her wrists to stop her from counting to throw punches his way, Artemis sending him a substantial glare. Dick towered slightly above her, a smirk similar to the ones he used to always have when he was Robin present on his features. "Damn it Dick, I'm going to kill you one of these days." She mumbled, Wally snorting behind them.

Dick grinned in response, "I'm pretty sure you are gonna kill Wally over here way before you even get close to murdering me."

"Not cool dude," Wally griped as he finished up his food and shuffled over to the living room couch, taking a seat next to Brucely and flipping on the television set. Artemis shoved Dick's hands off her, moving over towards the fridge and opening it.

"Go fix the damn shower Dick,"

The man laughed with a short nod, heading towards the bathroom and closing the door behind him. In a matter of moments the shower was up and running again, Dick stripping off his clothes and jumping in.

It had been five weeks since that faithful night where Wally had saw the word forever scarred into his skin and the older man had promised that he wouldn't tell anyone what the word was or how bold it still stood against his pale skin. Wally had unhappily agreed, but Dick found that it wasn't even needed as the rest of their friends saw the word sometime or another during their last team meeting.

Wally and Artemis still stayed with Dick in his apartment just because Wally still wasn't too sure if his friend was okay. Dick had told him time and time again he was fine but Wally had an inner gut feeling that he wasn't speaking the truth so the two stayed (Artemis felt that something was off with her friend too).

The apartment was a good size; with two bedrooms, a bathroom, small kitchen with an island in the middle, living room and one walk in hallway closet. The walls were painted a sloppy sapphire gooey color from obvious neglect from the last owner of the place while the ceilings of each room was a glistening white. Dick had the master bedroom (blissfully unaware of what had been happening in there while he was still recovering) while Wally and Artemis shared the queen sized bed in the guest bedroom.

It was congested at times and seemingly trifling when more than five people were there at one time but the three wouldn't want to have anything else.

Wally and Artemis were in gratifying contentment as their relationship seemed to have only gotten better, Dick and Wally were brothers in and out of the field, while Dick and Artemis were like the bickering siblings in every household (though the two would never admit that they did love one another like brother and sister would).

Everything was going good.

The only thing that was bothering Dick was the fact that the damned scientist who had tried to cut into him like meat was never found and the fact unnerved him.

At night he still wasn't able to get the man's all-knowing eyes out of his brain or the revolting, immoral look of his irises seemingly taking in Dick's body like a meal—like a prize of some sort. The way the man handled the knife he was using, the precise presentation that could only come from years of practice; maybe the man was one of those 48-Hour Serial Murder Cases that had never been caught, like the ones shown on television.

On top of that, how the man acted was disturbing—as he made his way in trying to literally dissect Dick—he would stammer to himself here and there, like as if he was talking to another person in the room. At times he would turn around and screech at the bare air behind him and Dick felt like that was the true torment; not knowing what was to happen next or who would abruptly meander in from the doorway.

Not knowing was just bloodcurdling, there was no other way to describe it.

Dick sighed as he turned off the shower, exiting and drying himself off with a towel. He wrapped the towel around his lower half and stared at his stale self in the mirror; reaching up and wiping away some of the steam off the heated glass with his hand.

His azure colored eyes were better now with no red decorating the rims, his cheekbones were no longer hallowed out from not eating, most of the bruising from before gone from his face with only some yellowish dots here and there, his black hair was damp but laid flat on his head—no longer riddled with spit and bloodshed, and Dick actually could pretend that he was back to normal; back to how he was before getting kidnapped.

But he wasn't going to lie to himself, because the truth was that he would never be better because life just didn't work that way.

Next his eyes looked down from his face, inspecting his well-developed chest. From determination of not wanting to be caught off guard again Dick had stepped up his game and had started going to the gym a few times each week with Wally to buff himself out a little more and that was shown broadly in his torso and arms. There was a faint trace of the start to more defined muscles in his abdomen, his arms had free flowing veins that moved boldly with little use of strength, hands calloused with the use of sleepless nights catching thugs in the bitter nighttime hours.

Dick hated his chest sometimes.

It wasn't because of his lean form or anything (even if he had matured much since he was thirteen) but it was the scars that always found a way into his mind—jeering and arrogant and screaming at him.

The gash on his right side was stitched up but a thick tender line still stood there brazenly, the needle marks on the inside of his left elbow were like dark spots on Dick's pale skin, a big knife cut from Sportsmaster still loomed near the bottom of his stomach and all of the other small inflamed splotches and sore parts of skin gawked at him from the mirror and he got a prickling feeling in his gut—one where he just wanted to send a punch to the glass in front of him and shatter it.

A soft knock on the door jolted him out of his thoughts and he cleared his throat, "Yeah?"

"Hey dude, you've been in there a while—are you okay?" Wally's nervous voice came from the other side of the door and Dick couldn't help but smile at his broken reflection in the mirror.

"Yeah dude I'm fine. I'll be out soon."

He waited for Wally's footsteps to disappear down the hallway before making sure his towel was firmly secured around his waist and walking out. He made it halfway to his room—he could see the ajar door in his vision—but instead someone walked into him.

"Shit, Wally watch where—"

Artemis froze when she looked up and saw that she hadn't walked into Wally but instead had slammed into Dick, who was trying to cover his scar-maimed body from view. Dick was proud of how his body was now but he was also self-conscious about it with all of the marks and pink blemishes so he had gotten rid of any tank tops he owned (he left a brown box in the bottom of Wally's closet one day labeled 'old tank tops, all yours' and Artemis held Wally tight in her arms that night as he felt agony for not being able to rescue his buddy sooner) and never walked around shirtless.

Wally saw him that one night and then Dick was so paranoid that he would sneak around the house if needed to avoid either adult to see him topless. He saw Artemis' eyes stare at his chest for a moment and then the slight flash of the word on his inner arm—but before long she was looking back up into his face and her heartbroken look killed him.

"I-I um Dick, I'm—I-I didn't mean to run into you but uh I'm sorry I really d-didn't—"

"Babe did you grab the lotion yet?"

Dick looked up from the floor, cracking an uneasy smile to try and lighten the mood; and also to get the attention off him. "I don't think the lotion is going to help fix Kid Idiot over there Art, you might need something stronger."

She scrambled for something to say, stunned that Dick had even got two words out. It took all of her strength to not gape at his marked up body, she wasn't trying to but it was just so outrageous for her, that her father had done something like this to a living—breathing—human. To just another simple guy in the world, one that had already experienced enough loss in his life.

One that didn't deserve anything else to happen to him.

When Artemis had found out his real name, after she punched him a few times for the picture he had framed on his living room wall next to the one of him and Wally stuffing their faces full of pizza, the first thing that came to her mind was the tragic story of The Flying Graysons.

She had heard about it all over the news and always felt bad for the kid left alive and on his own, she felt a connection with him because even if her parents were alive they were never too good of parents—her father was the devil himself.

A few more fleeting seconds passed before Artemis opened her mouth to retort to Dick's wise crack. "The lotion is just one of my many feeble attempts at trying to kill him early," She joked with a snigger, hearing her boyfriend protest from the other room.

"I thought you loved me!"

She turned her head to answer him, "Whatever floats your boat babe,"

When the woman went to turn back around she was surprised to see Dick gone and his bedroom door closed, her heart deflating a little. How were they supposed to help him become himself again if he still isolated himself?


whoa i'll never give in


"Wally," She hissed, pushing Brucely out of her way so that she could sit on the couch next to Wally. The dog grunted in disapproval of being moved, shaking his fur out as he hopped off the couch and plopped down in a heap of white, fluffy fur on the dog bed resting near the flat screen television. Artemis scoffed at the dog, "Oh shut it Bruce, you aren't allowed on the couch anyway according to Dick."

"Old Dick said he didn't mind the last time I talked to him," Wally interjected, Artemis rolling her eyes. She grabbed the remote forcefully from his hand, hitting the mute button and placing it on the coffee table in front of them. Wally threw up his hands, turning towards his girlfriend. "What was that for? Bruce and I were watching the morning news."

"I just ran into Dick in the hallway."

Wally laughed, "Well that's to be expected I mean he does live here,"

Artemis placed a firm hand on his shoulder, shaking him a little bit. "Stop it Wally I'm being serious right now. I ran into Dick by accident when he got out from the shower; I saw his . . . chest."

Wally got a hard look in his eye all of a sudden, sitting up straight in his seat. "Is he okay?" Both knew how sensitive the topic was, both were concerned.

Artemis nodded her head solemnly, "Yeah, he said some jokes but I just don't know Wally I mean he seems to be okay but he's Batman's protégée—I would bet he knows how to hide things if he needs to."

Wally agreed with placid emotion, "God Artemis, do you . . . do you think Sportsmaster really screwed him over? Will be ever be, I don't know, the same?"

As a natural instinct she went rigid at the mention of her father's name and Wally noticed almost instantly, bringing her close to him and slinging an arm around her shoulders in a side hug. She rested her head on his burly chest, grateful for the warmth he always seemed to have. "Wally . . . I don't know. If someone took you against your will away from everything you know, all your friends and family and chained you up and did torturous things to you—would you ever be the same?"

Wally ran his fingers through his girlfriend's blonde hair, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts and numbers (he was a scientist at heart you know). "I wouldn't. I wouldn't be able to get past it, wouldn't be able to get it out of my mind no matter what I tried to distract it with. Human brains either bury tragic experiences with mounds of meaningless things or never forget it."

"So what has Dick done?"

Wally opens and closes his mouth like a fish out of water but no words leak out and he scrunches the bridge of his nose in thought.

Artemis takes the silence as an answer long before Wally can come up with one.


whoa i'll never give up


He's breathing heavy.

His heart is a jackhammer in his chest.

A pounding is echoing in a throb through the right side of his skull, like a second pulse.

He feels like he can't breathe.

Like he's drowning in an abyss of endless water or suffocating in a dirt grave being buried alive.

His muddled brain is trying to come up with an answer for what is happening to him, trying to piece together the science and math floating around in his mind to make a final deduction.

But it's too hard to gain air in his lungs and too hard to exhale because it feels like he is getting smothered with a heavy pillow.

The world is closing into black around him and the one thing his brain can figure out is that if he doesn't get some type of oxygen to his lungs then he is going to pass out and once again be fawned over for a few extra months, possibly even years if Bruce were to hear about it. He really doesn't like the pity that follows him around after a failure, or the most recent example, the kidnapping.

At first it was because of his parent's death; whenever he wanted to just take a meek damn walk somewhere people would approach him and give him their misfortune. It was all over the news for a while, because it was such a shocking type of death scenario, it was outstanding that someone was able to pull it off on such skilled people.

He gasped quietly when the black suddenly left him after thinking about his parents and he saw that he was half collapsed on the floor and half leaning against his bed frame.

His mind still raced and his stomach was twisted in knots and his fingers were near blue from being numb but he stood anyway and went to his closet, his eyes shakily searching for some clothes to pull on.

He settled on grabbing a navy colored tee-shirt, pair of grey boxers, black sweatpants and hasty started to throw on the chosen outfit; his brain still a train wreck. The symptoms he just had were too serious to be caused by a headache or—

"Shit, Artemis, is that happening here?" Wally's shocked voice caused Dick to snap his head up and listen to what he could hear from behind his closed door.

"No, downtown Gotham. Should we call the team?" It was Artemis' muffled voice that responded as Dick pulled his tee-shirt over his head, figuring he could just figure out what had happened to him later.

He shuddered at the peculiar fact that it seemed like he just had a panic attack as he shambled out the door and headed to the living room.


and i just wanna be, wanna be loved


Dick listened carefully to the news anchor as he approached Wally and Artemis sitting cocooned in each other on the couch. He didn't like the tense tone to the news anchor's voice, considering he was a robust older man with a buzz cut to his brown hair and piercing indigo eyes that seemed to bore into your soul (ex-military maybe thought Dick), because that meant the story was alarming on its own.

"—downtown. I repeat, breaking news. There has been a break in to Gotham City's very own high tech scientific labs industry downtown, owned and cared for by groundbreaking psychology professor Jonathan Crane, who studies the effects of fear and thrives to find a cure."

Dick scoffed loudly at the false 'good image' they were trying to paint Crane as but at the same time how could he say anything? They didn't know the man was the overly-obsessive, fear-crazed Scarecrow that reigned fear toxin on petty criminals for 'experiments' by night.

Wally jumped ten feet into the air at the sudden sound of Dick's scoff behind him, turning around in a fighting stance. Dick raised an eyebrow and Artemis couldn't help but start laughing madly at her boyfriend's movements, Wally's face flushing as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I-I thought you were an intruder,"

"An intruder scoffing at the news KF?"

The speedster nodded his head, embarrassed as Dick walked around the couch, taking a seat next to Artemis on the other side. "I just found it funny that Gotham still doesn't know about Crane being the deranged, attention-seeking Scarecrow yet. I mean, his toxin speaks for itself."

Dick trembled at the memory of having to be under the influence of that once when he was twelve and fighting alongside Batman as Robin. They had just made it to Scarecrow's hideout and kicked down the door, ready to take him in and then there was a very painful prick in the back of his neck and he was surrounded by darkness and blood-soaked memories of his parents dying over and over for what seemed like hours.

It turns out, as Batman had the cure on him and just had to subdue Crane first, that Dick was only locked in the nightmarish state for five minutes. It felt like years, it wasn't pleasant.

Artemis calmed her laughter a minute, the three turning back to the breaking news in progress. "GCPD was sent there to stop the attack, but we haven't heard any updates from the station nor the police force sent to the ground. The dynamic duo isn't anywhere in sight from our helicopter cameras either." The screen switched to live footage from a police helicopter flying above the lab and Dick narrowed his eyes.

The lab looked virtually spotless, not a thing out of place and he wouldn't have any idea of a break in if not for the flashing red lights around the polished white building.

Wally looked to Dick, "Where are Batman and Robin?"

Dick didn't look away from the screen as he answered, "Out of country on a mission with the new team in Africa. They tracked traces of abnormal energy and went to investigate."

Since Dick's untimely absence, Batman took it upon himself to be the temporary leader for the new team until Dick was ready to take back the reins. He believed Bruce did it to try and make up for some of the responsibility he felt for allowing his son to get captured, even if time and time again Dick told him it wasn't his fault. If Dick was being honest, he wasn't sure if he would go back to being the team's leader (as much as Beast Boy, Gar, would be forlorn because he looked up to Dick—Nightwing—like an older brother since losing his mother).

Suddenly the footage on screen went out and the camera switched back to the very distressed looking news anchor. "Uh . . . we seem to have lost our um camera footage. Please stand by—"

Wally stood up and walked over to the television, pressing the power button with his finger as the elegant screen went dark. He turned to the two already standing up behind him, "Time to suit up?" He questioned, to which Dick nodded to.

"Meet out here in five." Wally and Artemis nodded and started to walk off towards the hallway, Dick not missing Wally trying to slip his hand down to her butt only for her to slap his hand starkly.

"Oh and guys?"

Both turned once they made it to the doorway of their room, "Yeah bud?" Wally replied, misunderstanding seeping across his face. Artemis saw the playful leer appear on Dick's face and immediately went and stalked into her room, Wally still as confused as ever.

"No make out sessions, there will be plenty of time to make babies once we've thrown every thug in jail."

Wally glowed bright red and mumbled something incoherent before following after Artemis into their room and closing the door behind him. Dick let out a laugh as he headed to his room, man how he wished he had a picture of Wally like that framed.


i want domination


The three finished suiting up at the same time, Dick tapping a few buttons on his refurbished communicator which brought up Alfred back at Wayne Manor.

Dick's Nightwing suit was now close to being near pitch black; with reinforced bullet-proof metal plating on his shoulders, legs, hips, back and chest areas. The inner arms of his suit were no longer covered by black strips, instead his under shirt acting like a tank top as his pastel arms were shown—along with the word. His signature ocean blue bird still had it's wings spread wide across the brawl of his chest, there was now a suit tracker not only in his communicator but also a hidden on in the crook of his right elbow along with his utility belt and fighting sticks strapped to either of his sides.

Wally's Kid Flash suit was still the same colors as it was when he was a kid; lively yellow, neon red and his signature red googles on top of his head. He had bullet-proof shoulder pads, along with some defensive metal padding in his upper chest and stomach areas (because for some reason all of the bad guys aimed for his chest instead of his head when they tried to shot him zooming pass everyone). He also had a large snack compartment in his arm which he didn't fill considering the mission they were going on was going to be an in and out type of task.

Artemis was dressed in her usual superhero garb, she didn't like change too much, light ivy and dark emerald intermixing together to create a calm mixed color that was spattered throughout her outfit.

Dick turned away so that he could talk to Alfred as Wally and Artemis shared a deep kiss before lowering their cowls. He held his girlfriend in a hug for a few moments, whispering nothings in her ear before he said something somber. "Stay close to me," she opened her closed eyes and saw his twinkling green ones pleading her to agree with him, as they always did when he said something of this variant each time they went out on a operation together.

"Always."

Dick opened up the kitchen window, climbing out and grappling up to the apartment's roof. "Hello Master Richard, quite early for you to be calling sir." Dick chuckled, looking down at the butler now present on his hologram screen.

"You should be proud Al, remember when I refused to get up if it was earlier than one in the afternoon?"

"Those were some trying times sir,"

"Yeah now look at me, ready to go by eleven thirty."

Alfred allowed a ghost of a smile on his lips, "Of course sir." He had missed the boy dearly, having the last moments with Dick and not being able to save him as he raddled off last minute sayings to tell everyone he knew—it was horrible. Those were the only times when Alfred wished he was a superhero you know, when Bruce or Dick got into serious endangerment.

"Alright Alfred, I need all of the info you have on the lab that is currently being hijacked." He saw Wally and Artemis appear on either side of him on the ledge of the building after Alfred typed some things into the bat computer.

"Security cameras were disabled thirty minutes before the initial attack and nothing odd is reported being seen in any past hours before that, the coms for the four GCPD units sent to contain the unknown threat have been silent for at least forty-five minutes and counting. This really is an attack in the dark Master Richard."

Dick turned to Wally, "Take Artemis and run ahead, but don't get seen. Switch over to your covert camo if you have to, we aren't engaging until we know what the threat is."

"Got it," Artemis climbed on Wally's back in a mock piggy back ride and he sped off, leaving Dick alone.

"Master Richard," Alfred trailed off and Dick looked down at the man.

"Yeah Al?"

"I don't like the thought of the three of you approaching this case. Maybe you should wait until Master Bruce returns?" Alfred treated his words with tenderness, knowing pissing off Dick would be no way to go.

"Al, we will be fine. I have this covered, we are just going to go and see what's up."

"You said that last time sir and look what happened,"

Alfred answered softly and Dick sighed, "I'm doing this. But if there is something I can do to make you feel better about this—"

"Take the GPS with you, please sir? It would put some of my worry at ease."

Dick sent a beam to the butler, "Of course Al. I'll contact you if I need anything else."

"Good luck sir."

Dick cut off the connection and chambered back into the apartment, going to the back corner of the candy cabinet and grabbing his GPS. He attached the box to his belt, turning and seeing Brucely wagging his tail and nose in his face. "Hey boy," He scratched behind the pit bull's ears, taking notice of the streaks of a cream color enlaced within his roughed up fur. The dog let out a high pitched whine and Dick's eyebrows ceased in puzzlement, "What's the matter boy? Wally forget to feed you breakfast again?"

Brucely barked in response and Dick grabbed three scoops of dog food, tossing them in the dog bowl. The dog still seemed dismayed but went over and started eating anyway as Dick washed his hands. Dick rubbed the dog's back once more before moving back towards the window. The dog lifted his head and whined again, Dick finally knowing what his issue was.

Wally and Brucely had a very close relationship, the dog loved him the most out of the three of them. "Kid Idiot forgot to say bye to you didn't he boy?" The dog howled and Dick sighed. "It'll be alright boy. KF, Art and I will be back before three. I promise. Then you can bite the hell out of Wally." Dick exited the apartment, closing and using a lock pick to lock the window (fancy trick he learned from Bruce when he was younger and bored at one of their causal parties).

They would be home by three and then when Wally stumbled through the door in a blood-crusted suit from doing something stupid Brucely would come up and bite the living day lights out of him.

That's how it always was and exactly what would happen today.


i want your submission


"Watch out Nightwing!" Dick jumped out of the way just in time as Bane tossed a crate his way, the man still trying to find where Wally had scampered off to in the chaos. Actually, to be more accurate, Dick was still trying to figure out how they had gotten seen.

One second the three were sneaking through the lab and then the next Wally had ran off to try and clear the way out while leaving Artemis and Dick out of the shadows—the worse place to fight in a battle. Dick always preferred the shadows, the strange calming sense they brought in the mist of disorder.

They were like a second home to him, when he was younger Bruce had always found him hiding in closets and under the bed simply for the dark consuming him.

"Where the hell is KF Artemis?" She launched an arrow at Bane's gigantic form, rolling out of the way when he charged towards her as the arrow bounced off his bloated green veins.

"I don't know! The coms are jammed and Miss Martian isn't here so we don't have any telepathic communication." Dick groaned mentally. Maybe it would have been better to call Batman and ask him to send over Conner, M'gann and Kaldur to help them with this stupid hijacking.

They had gotten to the lab to find Bane and only Bane loading black painted crates with the words 'WARNING: TOXIC' all over them and as soon as he, somehow, spotted them—the truck took off and left a very pissed off Bane in its wake. Dick knew Bane was known for selling drugs and illegal toxins but never from a working science lab.

"Baywatch says to me before we leave, as he always does, 'stay close to me' and then runs off like a chicken with no damn head!" Artemis shouted angrily as Dick got a good hit in on Bane with one of his sticks.

Suddenly a blur came from the right and Wally appeared, zipping around Bane a few times to confuse him. Artemis didn't look amused when the giant fell backwards—Wally and Dick finishing him off with some kicks to the head to render him unconscious.

"Art I think you need to learn to keep up." Artemis just jeered, Dick walking over to the two and pulling them into a hug.

"We did it guys."

"Technically we did lose the truck," Wally interrupted and Artemis elbowed him as a warning.

They pulled away from each other and as Artemis and Wally started bickering, Dick heard something behind him. He went to turn around and everything around him seemed to happen in slow motion as some sort of bullet flew pass his face and directly in Wally's neck.

Artemis screamed and Dick shouted as Wally slipped into a blanket of cool black.


i see you're not resisting, to this temptation


Dick yells out in frustration as he slams his fist down on the holographic computer in the cave's base—Artemis flinches from her spot next to him, not expecting the outburst. "I can't get a damn trace on him," Dick mutters and Artemis feels her heart contract.

Eleven hours had already passed since Wally's kidnapping and all of the team was getting more edgy as the moments whirred on.

It was already around ten at night.

After the 'bullet' was shot into Wally's neck, the hero of the night went to his friend's side and pulled it out; letting out a huge sigh of relief once it was seen that it was just a sleep dart. The next thing Artemis and he realized however; was that similar dart fired into their necks and they fell asleep. When the two awoke, Wally was gone and Dick's GPS was smashed to itty bitty pieces next to his face.

They called Alfred who contacted Bruce and in return the elder man sent Conner, M'gann and Kaldur back overseas to aid in the search for their friend. Kaldur went to place a steady hand on Dick's shoulder, "Clouding your head with anger—"

Dick nearly jumped out of his skin when Kaldur's fingers brushed against his shoulder, the man turning and moving away from Kaldur quickly. Kaldur stared at Dick, as did the rest of the team. Artemis wiped her eyes and looked at Dick, "Nightwing," her voice was low and caring—a voice he had never heard from Artemis before; "what's wrong?"

Dick looked from the computer screen to Artemis to Kaldur.

"I-I, you—Wally, h-he—"

He seemed to choke on his words as his eyes went wide, crazed. He rapidly turned and ran from the meeting room, ignoring the calls of his teammates as he stumbled down the hall to where his old room used to be.

The world was slowly closing in on him as he slammed the door open and fell to the musty floor on the inside of the room—breathing rabid and heart thrashing. His vision started to go black at the rims of his eyes, his mind superficially turning to mush within seconds.

Oxygen got caught in his throat, stopping him from breathing.

"Dick, Dick! You're alright. Everything is okay." A stifled voice reached his ears as someone struggled to pull his weighted body into their lap, attempting to calm him down. "You're okay, it's just an anxiety attack. Your fine, everything is alright. Take big deep breaths."

Dick heard the girl's voice and was trying to listen to it but it was too hard, he just wanted to go to sleep.

Sleep was painless.


i've got one confession


"Why do all of you struggle?"

Wally gasped from pain as the knife poked gingerly at his rib cage, he could feel his skin ripping from the increasing pressure the man was putting there. He gritted his teeth to prevent himself from screaming as the man shoved the knife inwards abruptly, Wally guessed it was from lack of answering.

But why answer a question when you have unbearable pain flowing through you anyway?

"Every single one of you maggots I've taken, none of you ever give in without a fight. Tell me Kid, will you be like all of the others?" Wally felt like he couldn't get the air to his lungs, like the knife was a blockade within his veins.

When he had woken up; he was laid across a hard, metal table in a dimly lit sterilized room. He really hated anything remotely close to smelling or looking like hospitals, it started back when he had gotten tricked in the mission where he had to deliver the heart to the young girl. The feeling of defeat and fatigue mixing together as one was the worse type of discomfort he had felt, up until this moment, and from then on he loathed hospitals and anything relating to them.

The amount of times he had to leave Dick's side while he was recovering in the cave's infirmity to just get away from the odor of hand sanitizer and the hospital smell was outrageous. Artemis would come in and keep watch over Dick when Wally couldn't take it anymore and at times she would find her boyfriend's fear comical.

Now Wally would have given anything to just be away from this demented man—to be back home. The way he thought Dick had felt versus how he really felt, as he now fully understood, was an emotion one couldn't gauge.

It was impossible to image how it felt until it happened to you.

"Still no answer Wallace? From my research I thought you talked nonstop. Such a shame to hear you so quiet, when you might not ever speak again." Wally looked at the scientist directly in the eye (God how much he hated the dude) and then he allowed a smirk to fit across his lips.

"Go to hell you piece of shit."

When the man didn't respond and instead turned away to grab something off the medical table next to them Wally let out a grateful exhale. Did he finally get the damn guy to shut up? The color was drained from his face however when the scientist brought back a Taser in his wake. "I've also heard you like to experiment with things Wally; have you ever played with electricity?"

As the Taser was pressed against the ripped skin of his suit, Wally would have given anything to be wrapped in Artemis' arms in that moment of suffering.


a love deprivation


"It's okay. It's alright."

One minute the woman's voice is soothing to his senses and her touch is like butterflies kissing his skin and within the next it's like he's back under Sportsmaster's damn intent look and glimmering carving knifes.

One minute there's a woman holding him in her lap, blissfully ignoring the size difference between them, skimming her fingers through his hair in a comforting motion and the next is a million pricks of knifes impaling his skin from all around him.

His brain doesn't know what to make of it, the sudden change in emotion—sudden change in physical modification.

"I know how you feel Dick," the woman whispers softly, "you feel like the world is closing in on you. You feel like a black hole is swallowing you up and that you have nowhere to run."

Dick's eyes snap open and meet the eyes of Artemis. Her irises have a glossy tint to them, a few dried tears resting in spots on her light coffee colored skin. She smiles once his eyes are open and he is aware of his surroundings again, how he takes instant notice of their forms slouched over each other in a heap just next to the still-freshly-made-bed from one year previous; when he had moved his infrequent amount of things from the cave to his apartment.

"Hey Dickie," He smiled at the nickname she obviously picked up from Wally using all of the time, against Dick's wishes.

"Hey," He croaked, surprised at how scratchy his voice came out. He cleared his throat as he slowly sat up, moving his body from her lap and getting into a sitting position next to her—propping his head on her lean shoulder. She grabbed one of his hands resting in his lap, her head falling gently to rest next to his.

A peaceful silence whelms them.


i've got a jet black heart


"No, no . . . no!"

Wally's eyes shot open at the startling sound of the man's raspy voice screaming from across the lab room, where all of the testing equipment resided. Wally grunted with the effort of lifting his head up, struggling to see what the scientist was livid about as he scurried from one side of the glass table to the other—poking tubes and dumping altered dyed rainbow liquids from one container to another.

He let out a heavy puff of air through his nose, not really wanting to signal to the man that he was awake.

The last thing he remembered was burning white hot pain in his lower stomach area, from the Taser the man so frantically used. Wally tried to move his arms and legs, temporarily forgetting that they were restrained by metal shackles attached to the table, causing the man to sharply turn around.

"You!" He heckled, Wally's heart dropping down to his knees, "This is all your fault!" The man roared, approaching Wally and sending a slap directly across his face. Wally's face jolted with the movement, neck craning as it was forced to impossible angles.

"Your accelerated blood ruined the cure!"

Within seconds the man's hardened hands closed around Wally's throat, effectively choking him. The speedster had a sickening feeling that this was the end. After all of the torture he went through, the end actually didn't seem too bad.

He would take the Grim Reaper's hand willingly if he had to.


it's all fucked up and it's falling apart


"Thank you," His gruff voice breaks the silence around them and Artemis opens her eyes at his words.

"Dick, why didn't you just tell us you were getting anxiety attacks? Getting bizarre whenever people touched you or came near you?"

Dick stared at their entwined hands, "What did you tell the team, about why I ran off?"

Artemis sighed, half in defeat. "I told them you just needed some time. Now stop dodging the question." Dick slowly pulled his hand out of her limp grip, his mind racing. He shouldn't be focused on anything else then finding Wally.

When he was taken; he had heard that Bruce had gone without sleep for three days straight, Artemis couldn't look at herself in the mirror without feeling like her father was torturing Dick directly behind her, Wally had lost all motivation to eat anything, Kaldur felt like a failure in not protecting his teammates properly, M'gann couldn't stop crying when her mind shot to anything relating to Dick while Conner . . . well let's just say he took care of some of his pent up rage by finding some uninhabited Cadmus buildings and tearing the remains to shreds.

And what was Dick doing while his best friend was probably being tortured senseless?

He was fighting off a pathetic anxiety attack, being consoled in Wally's girlfriend's arms.

It was a messed up turn of events.

"I still have panic attacks sometimes." Artemis spoke unobtrusively, Dick rotating his head in reaction, "As um you figured out when you were Robin back in the day . . . and figured out just a few months ago when you were alone with him—he wasn't the best Dad in the world."

Dick's tongue felt like lead, but he was able to get himself to speak after a moment. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head, "He was verbally abusive all of the time; only got physical when he was pissed off or high off adrenaline from his latest victim. It was hell, growing up in a family like mine and I still feel horrified every time we are about to go into battle or something. Sometimes, if I get fearful or scared for someone else I'll slip into a panic attack—like how I used to when I was younger." She pauses for a second to catch her breath and it feels like a century has passed before she speaks again. "And I know what you're thinking in that bighead of yours, that it's stupid or pathetic, that you should be out finding Wally. But it's not any of those things because it is a reality and it is a real thing that happens to people. Don't push aside your health because of your fortitude to find Wally."

Dick wondered how much Artemis had truly gone through that she wasn't telling.

Her voice in that moment sounded like one that could come from a woman who had been through too much in her twenty something years of life.

"Does KF know about any of this? What you've been through?"

She seems to ponder the thought for a moment, curling into herself—head resting on her knees. "Some of it," her beaten murmur was painful to Dick and he knew that he find to Wally.

Not only for his sake and everyone else's but for Artemis—who was still looking for someone not to leave her. Someone to stick by her side through it all.


i've got another confession, i fell to temptation


Dick and Artemis walked out of his old room composed and were meant by the concerned faces of the team when they made it back to the mission room in the cave. "I am sorry if I upset you Nightwing,"

Kaldur's voice was waved off by Dick who sent him a smile, "I'm good now, thanks to Art."

M'gann tugged her friend into a side hug at Dick's words, Artemis chuckling and hugging M'gann back. Dick turned to the computer after watching the exchange between the two girls and getting a heartfelt nod from Kaldur.

He clicked a few buttons, bringing up Wally's goofy picture on screen (of course the day of public record pictures or whatever, there was pizza sauce dripping off his chin—only Wally West could achieve such a thing without problem).

"Our last contact with Wally was twelve hours ago, when he was fighting alongside us to take down Bane."

"What was Bane doing in Gotham exactly?" Conner interrupted boldly, Dick shaking his head.

"From the looks of it he was stealing crates full of toxin from an active science base; we still have no idea what kind of toxin it was or for what reason." The computer beeped from behind Dick, Bruce appearing onscreen with his signature Batman frown plastered on his cowl. "Hey Bats," his son answered, looking muddled, "is there something wrong?"

Bruce saw Dick tense when he spoke of something wrong and the man really wished he could find that man who did those horrid things to Dick and tear his body to pieces. He did try to rip Sportsmaster a new one but Clark had stopped him just as he made it to the new high-tech prison the vile man was locked in.

"I just wanted to check in. We've encountered another mission tagged with similar dangerous aspects as this one so now we have to travel to Europe to ensure that the threat is eliminated at all costs. All of the Justice League, excluding Flash and Green Arrow who have agreed to keep an eye on you six, are meeting up with us in Europe to help with finishing off this threat to the world."

Dick looked unsure, "Batman, do you w-want to switch us out with the new team? If this is such a serious threat that you need the entire league to assist you—"

"No, you six stay there and keep an eye on North America. I've already had an accomplice re-wire the zeta beam to be able to teleport you to anywhere within the zone of the northern hemisphere." Bruce heard the slight waver in his son's words, the look of relief after he had told Dick to stay put. He knew finding Wally was Dick's number one priority—for the well-being of him and the rest of the team.

Meanwhile, Dick smiled at the mention of Bruce's 'accomplice'. He knew that was just fancy talk for the man asking a favor of Alfred.

"Status report on Kid Flash?" The strict tone of his voice was enough to direct the conversation back to its main point. Dick seemed to look lost at his words so Artemis stepped in and answered for him.

"We have gotten nowhere. Nightwing's GPS was smashed by whoever knocked us out, and Wally's suit tracker was ripped out and left next to my head."

Bruce looked grave, lost in thought.

He spoke after an overwrought minute, "Have you tried having the computer track his heat signature? I set up a few motion detectors around the United States for when Flash would get pissed off and just keep running. They have sensitive motion detectors along with the ability to take unlimited pictures of the heat signatures passing by. With the heat sensors, when something runs by it at an abnormal speed it gets tagged or when something simply moves within it's range it will record it for further inspection. The history is reset every month."

Dick looked like he was throwing numbers together or inventing science formulas in his brain, "How many sensors are located in and around Gotham?"

"Four hundred within the city, probably around six hundred around the outskirts."

M'gann's eyes widened, "That will take us hours to sort through!"

Bruce looked at the distinct faces of each member of the team. "Not if you all work together to save your friend. He would do the same for you." With that final grim note, Bruce's face bleeped off the screen and Dick felt oddly alone again.

Before turning around to meet the staggered faces of the team he brought up the sensors on the computer screen, bringing up a removal tab. "We can remove any sensors near schools, hospitals and highly public places. Lower the standards of the heat signature we are looking for to match KF's height, weight range, veins and bone structure and that leaves us with—"

The computer beeped once Dick hit the enter button, turning to face the team. "Two hundred to sort through." When it seemed like the rest of the team didn't want to speak their shock Conner took the reins.

"The faster we finish this, the faster we find Kid Flash."


and there is no question, there was some connection


"Stop, please j-just freaking stop! S-Stop." Wally panted out, screwing his eyes shut when the man put another slash into Wally's now crimson colored skin.

"Rhetorical question Wallace . . . have you ever been picked on in school? In a public place?" The man removed the knife as he waited for an answer, Wally trying to move his arms from the shackles caging him in with no success.

He hadn't been picked on since middle school, where some kid had shoved him into a locker for being so skinny and 'looking like a troll'. Wally fixed that by high school, cleaning himself up and covering up his insecurities with a loud laugh and contagious grin.

What was this man's goal?

"M-Middle school. Shoved into a l-locker."

Every word hurt, it felt like one of his ribs was shoved into his lung. The man grabbed a syringe off the table next to him, eyeing up the yellow liquid inside. "Everything about me; from my looks to my raspy voice—they would take any stab they could get in. Nice shoes they said. Shame if they got lost they said. Next thing I knew they were tied to the top of a flag pole. You think you know what pain is," he hissed, shoving the needle harshly into the flush skin of Wally's shoulder blade.

Wally screamed, he had no idea that was such a spiteful spot. Maybe this mad scientist dude had a background in doctor stuff, Wally thought half heartily. "But the truth is . . . you don't. I've lost my mother to a tragic thing. I've lost my sanity to the people around me. I'm only trying to make you understand how I feel."

The blue bruises on Wally's neck seemed to suddenly throb at the man's words and Wally had to hold down the ire trying to rise up his throat. "The truth is, you will never understand how I feel every day of my life. How I am endlessly searching for a cure. How you will play such a minor part in making me feel . . . normal."

Wally would've said a smart remark actually, if the man hadn't grabbed another three needles and the Taser. Wally squeezed his eyes shut tight and thought of Artemis' lips covering every inch of his body as a scream ripped from his throat.


i've got to follow my heart


Dick moved backwards for a moment, rubbing at the itchy domino mask covering his eyes. He wished he could take it off but not like that was a possibility with a bunch of exhausted young adults around him. A loud whoosh from behind him had him snapping his eyes open. Was Wally back? He made it out?

He whipped around so fast he could've gotten whiplash but it was obvious his face fell when it wasn't Wally who had skyrocketed into the cave but instead the Flash himself—Mister Barry Allen.

When Barry saw the disappointed look on Dick's face he found himself sending the man a remorseful look but Dick shook it off and moved towards the man; pulling him into a short hug. The move astonished Barry and the team around them but the elder speedster hugged back anyway, patting Dick on the back before pulling away.

"Hiya Night," It killed Dick that Barry's voice was missing the usual energy he always seemed to have; even if he tried to hide it by using his special nickname for Dick.

"Hey Flash,"

The older man's eyes inspected the room they were in; Dick noticed how his eyes quickly glanced at each mini screen with information about the heat sensors on them. He looked back at Dick, "How are you guys doing?"

"Okay. Bats told us that we should check the—"

"Motion sensors in Gotham?"

Dick chuckled, "How did you know about that?" Barry shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. Dick ignored the pang in his heart at how he realized where Wally got that same habit from. From his loving uncle.

"I know he put some in all of the places I could run to if I got mad about something. There are a lot more in Central City." Dick noticed the faraway look Barry's eyes got after a minute of quiet silence. Dick placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and Barry's eyes glanced at Dick wearily.

"He will be okay Flash."

"How do you know that Night? How long did it take you to recover?" Artemis risked a side-glance at the two, knowing Barry was treading on thin ice. Dick's lips went into a thin line, his eyes cold and dismembered behind the white slits of his mask. Barry felt a twitch of responsibility but that that consumed by the rage hidden deep down inside of him. His nephew was missing, the kid he looked after like he was his own.

"I'm still recovering." Dick answered firmly, feeling the word engraved in his forearm burning severely.

"I know your strong Night, damn it I know you are. But what if Wally can't recover? He's never been kidnapped or tortured before; he's never had to deal with such a thing! Central isn't like Gotham, our petty criminals are just like pawns in a chest game. But the thugs in Gotham are like bishops and rooks and kings and queens!"

Artemis stood up then, walking steadily in between the two, "Stop it, both of you. Wally is going to be perfectly fine."


no matter how far


"Worthless!"

Slap.

"You are nothing!"

Hit.

"You are a damn disgrace!"

Punch.

It all stings and it all causes Wally's vision to go darker in each passing moment. He thinks he had started bleeding out around twenty minutes ago. The man presses against one of Wally's cuts in finale. "I thought taking you would give me a cure. I-I thought I would be able to get somewhere. My father actually thought kidnapping a super would be challenging. That I wouldn't be able to destroy you. But oh, look at this. You shake at my very touch."

Wally wanted to spit out a smartass comment, about how he was quivering because of the sharp fingernail of his bayonetted within his bleeding stab wound.

"I'm going to let you go," Wally couldn't stop his heart from skipping a beat at the scientist, the man noticing and laughing hideously. He removed his fingernail from Wally's cut, with a breathless wheeze from Wally, and headed over to the sink in the corner. Wally could hear the cool rush of water and it was like music to his ears, a sliver of normal.

"I'm going to let you stumble out of here in a haze with one final experiment. But fear not, I'll take Richard and you again soon. Now let me go and fetch Bane."


i've gotta roll the dice


"We aren't going to find him in time," Barry muttered, crunching thoughts in his head.

It had been fourteen hours and no word.

Fourteen hours and they weren't any closer.

Green Arrow was busy with Red Arrow and it was just Barry and the old team left to search for Wally. There was too much land and not enough people. Artemis ran a hand through her bangs, "We are. We have to!"

"Guys!" M'gann's excited voice shocked everyone, considering the circumstances.

"What is it?" Conner questioned, moving to stand behind M'gann. His eyebrows raised after a moment and he looked over at Dick with what the man could only assume was a grin. "She found a heat signature. It's Wally. He's laying behind a billboard just a few blocks over from Bruce Wayne Manor."

Dick's eyes narrowed behind his mask but only Artemis noticed because they both thought of the same thing.

A message to them.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Barry was out of the door before he could finish his sentence. The team followed as fast as they could.


never look back and never think twice


He was cold.

But then he was hot.

He was in pain.

But then it would disappear within a ripple.

Was he floating between dimensions? Passing between life and death. He was muttering to himself in such a low tone of voice that he wasn't even sure what he was mumbling because of how much shock he was still in after the final experiment.

Everything friggin' hurt.

"A-Aer—on . . . " He heard something whoosh to the right of him and hands fitting over his face and chest. A soft sound.

"Kid? Kid can you hear me?" He could but he also couldn't understand why two certain words continued floating around in his brain, crying out to be heard.


take your past and burn it up and let it go


"Kid? Are you alright?" Wally groaned, barely holding on to his mushed brain.

"H—ya. D-Des." He cried out weakly when a hand brushed against once of his cuts. Talking surrounded him and then two more sets of hands were touching his body. Wally wished he could open his eyes.

"Babe, oh thank God Wally. You're alive."

Just hardly, Wally thought bitterly to himself in the meantime.

A pair of lips pressed themselves against his and he took a pity guess that it was his girlfriend. "Wall-Man, you alright?" That was Dick's voice, he was sure of it. Who else would use one of his embarrassing nicknames in a frail attempt of waking him up?


carry on; i'm stronger than you'll ever know


"Listen Baywatch I love you okay? I freaking love you so you can't die on me, not now. Okay because I need you to be able to say it back to me." Artemis tried to keep her voice strict, she did. But she couldn't help the falter in her words or the sob stuck in her throat.

Next Dick spoke and Wally didn't know how much longer he could hold on. The darkness seemed so damn nice. "You saved my ass so now I'm going to save you man, okay? Just hold on."

Then his uncle spoke and it broke his trampled heart. "C'mon Kid. You can survive this. You're Kid Flash, you can survive anything."

Next it was M'gann because he could feel her wet tears all over him, more so than Artemis'. "Wally, you're the only one that can make me smile. You're the one that made me okay with being . . . me. So wake up so I can hug you and see that crooked stupid smile on you one last time."

Then it was Conner. "Get up man, come on. Who else will steal the shit out of my room? All my hidden food?"

Finally Kaldur and Wally felt a shiver run through his spine. "My fallen friend, we need you. But in the end it's your choice. Either join the warriors of the afterlife or continue to fight for the foes of the present."

Wally felt a smile fall upon his lips and muttered the only words that could come to mind. "A-Aeron Hyad-des."

The darkness took him and Artemis let the tears fall. Dick's posture sagged. Barry picked up Wally and ran, ran as fast as he could. "Hang on Kid, I'm going to save you."

And somewhere in Wally's clouded mind he heard a cackle and a whoosh of speed and an arrow flying by and wondered why everyone had to grow up. It was easier when he was just running for the wind flying through his hair, when Dick would cackle from the shadows at the humor of stupid bad guys and when Artemis just shot arrows at camp targets.

Where had their childhoods gone?