Flash swallowed thickly as he saw Bruce slowly pat Superman on the shoulder. He was bleeding and on the verge of death, yet he was the one who was consoling Kal. Closing his eyes tightly, the speedster tried to make sense of what was happening. Trying to tell himself to calm down; trying to get the image of Bruce out of his head.

He looked so tiny in Kal's arm. So fragile and broken. It wasn't right. Bruce was Batman. Batman didn't break. He was the one who kept others from breaking; the strong fighter who always did what it took to get the job done, no matter what. Seeing him in a pool of blood, covered in gashes and bruises...

It wasn't possible.

So messed up...it was so messed up. Bruce had been attending a ball three weeks ago.

Something he did all the time. Show up, but on a show, smile brightly and act like he didn't have a care in the world. Simple. So... normal. It wasn't supposed to end up like this.

How did...

How did a night, which was supposed to be perfectly normal, end up being...

A nightmare?

Blood...there's so much blood...and those eyes...

Flash's insides curled and before he knew it, was emptying the contents of his stomach, retching painfully.

Felt his eyes start to burn and didn't bother to try and hide the tears or how his shoulders were shaking. Batman was their teammate and even though knew the Bat would deny it; Flash thought of him as his friend. And now he was in Superman's arms; hanging onto life with just a string, staring up at the ceiling with those eyes of his...

It...it wasn't supposed to end up this way!

()

Diana felt the world grow dim as she fought to stay conscious. Not daring to pass out at the sight before her, because she had no right to do so. Forced herself to watch every excruciating moment without so much as a tremble.

She didn't deserve to cry. Not her.

Not after what she'd done.

Logic told her to slow down and think; that there was no way in a million years that she could have ever guessed that this was going to happen as a result of her...turning her back.

It took her a few seconds to realize just why his eyes never moved from the ceiling, and when it hit home, her heart dropped. Not only that, but it stopped.

Oh god, he's blind.

That thought caused everything else to crash into her. Bruce was blind. Never again would he be able to go out as Batman. Those beautiful blue eyes of his would never again see Dick's face, or Barbara's quirky grin. Or the lights of Gotham City, when she was truly beautiful, at night.

He would never be the same again.

And it was her fault.

It was then that she finally broke down, and cried.

()

It was J'onn who said in that quiet voice of his, that they should get him to the tower. The bleeding wasn't stopping and they needed to do something before he bled to death, and he was the only one with sound enough mind to point that out right now.

It was J'onn who carried Bruce's body into the hospital wing, because Superman couldn't walk. Couldn't even move except to sob.

It was J'onn who began the healing process, taking record of all his injuries and what operations, if any, would be needed in order to insure Bruce's survival. Six were needed.

It was J'onn who stayed by his side, throughout the entire ordeal. The others couldn't do it. Couldn't face him. They'd all thought they'd failed Bruce in some way or another, and they were probably reminded of their failure every time they looked at him. J'onn knew he was.

It was J'onn who hesitantly smoothed Bruce's hair back when the nightmares started, gently waking him up. Holding him down as he started shouting, calmly stating that he was in a safe place and that everything was going to be okay.

And it was J'onn who had the urge to change into one of his human identities so he could cry, lacking the proper tear ducts needed in his Martian form. Yet refusing to do so, knowing that if he started, that there was no way he'd be able to stop.

()

How'd I do? Not too sappy, I hope?