Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.

In Public View

Enough

Disasters sucked. They were, in a sense, worse than the crazy villains prancing around in brightly colored spandex, threatening to blow up/destroy/take over/kidnap/rob/kill/vandalize or whatever. They sucked because they were not a force of thought, but a force of nature.

There was no thought behind their actions. They just did.

Or some else did anyway.

And this was looking very much like a someone.

He was so sick of this.

Wally had been feeling a little out of it. Nothing so bad that people were concerned or something. Just moody, so Dick had told him earlier to throw on the civies and get ready to head out.

Also... Also, no one else on the team knew about the divorce. Not even Artemis.

Of course, technically, and as far as his parents were concerned, neither did he. In fact, he was pretty sure they were going to tell him tonight.

Tonight.

After eighteen and a half years with him they should really know how to hide things from him better by now.

Yeah, tonight was going to suck.

And then they had seen the fire.

Both had frozen for an instant, just smelling the familiar trail of heavy ash in the air as the fire raged a few blocks down, clearly visible from one of the upper floors of an apartment building. Dick had actually taken a step towards the building before Wally got ahold of him and pulled him into the nearest alley to at least change first. Maybe if it was something else he would have let it go, just run in with the civies on and get out before someone got a good look at their faces. But not this. Not when the fire retardant material of their costumes could be the difference between life and a closed casket burial.

And then, even though Dick really was getting kinda big and people were always making fun of them for it, he let Dick latch his arms around his shoulders and press his no-longer-quite-so-boney knees into Wally's sides.

Wally ran.

Run run run.

The air was heavy to breathe, scorching his throat as he inhaled, making him dizzy. Wally hated fires. He hated the way the heat pressed down on him, surrounding the skin like a smothering blanket. He hated the way the breaking buildings would let off embers that burned his face, formed trails of burns down his arms, and messed up the flame resistant material of his uniform.

He saw Dick flint in the window he just broke to get inside, cape held over the lower half of his face as he assessed the situation. "You take left and we stay on the comms." Wally nodded, halfway gone before Dick even finished his sentence.

It was bad. Not in the building collapsing sense, which was nice, but the so-structurally-sound-no-air-is-coming way, which actually really sucked. It hurt to breath, the heat of the air burning his lungs and making his eyes water uncontrollably.

Wally West really, really didn't like fires.

Good thing Kid Flash clearly loved them, otherwise he was sure he wouldn't constantly seem to find the nearest thing in flames.

Wally coughed. This wasn't how he had wanted to spend tonight.

Hot flakes of wall or burning something stuck to his face like tacky glue that couldn't be wiped away and everything smelled heavy and dense.

Run run run.

It wasn't a big space, but he couldn't see too well, even with his goggles.

"KF!"

Wally whirled around and followed the sound of Dick's hoarse voice through the smoke. As soon as he was in front of him Dick was practically throwing a very out of it looking woman at him. "Get her down!"

Wally gripped the woman by her waist and tried to be gentle when he tossed her over his shoulders. She coughed faintly, "My daughter locked herself in her room."

"Don't worry," Dick told her, "I'll get her out."

She gave a small nod, then, "My son…"

Dick turned his head as his mouth turned into a stiff line. He didn't say anything.

Wally didn't ask, and then he was running again.

Run run run.

In the time Wally had gotten the woman down safely and zoomed up again Dick was at the apartment's exit, a bundle of wet blankets scooped up in his arms. "Girl." He informed him before turning back into the rooms, "Not breathing."

Wally drew in a ragged and took off again.

These days, running was all he ever did.

Wally figured that if it had been anyone else, Dick probably would have told them to wait for him outside. Not so much because he knew he didn't need the help, but because he didn't like the constant worry of making sure they were okay too. Probably a Bat thing.

But Dick never told Wally to stay back. At this point Wally liked to think they've known each other so long they could move together without asking or telling the other to do something.

Still, Wally wasn't sure what to make of the look on Dick's face, blankly furious and looking vaguely homicidal as he struggled with a much larger person who appeared to be making an attempt at bashing-in Boy Wonder's head.

"The girl?"

But Dick just shook his head and jabbed an elbow into the stomach of the dead weight he was dragging. Immediately the other boy tossed up his head and tried to shove Dick away.

"Hey! Knock it off!" Wally demanded. Dick gave him a look and shrugged, letting some of the person's weight fall onto Wally's shoulders.

Jeez.

This was probably the other kid. All two-hundred plus pounds of him. Wally spit out a chunk of long, scraggly blond hair that fell into his mouth when the boy turned his head.

Yeah. Fires sucked.

Dragging the kid to safety was an adventure in all of its own. Occasionally the lump would throw out a fist or launch a foot their way. Wally gave up on yelling at him, and Dick had been hitting back long before even that.

But now, here on the ground, firemen with blessedly wonderful oxygen mask running towards them, was when Dick lost it.

Dick whirled around on the teen and shoved him backwards, "You idiot! What the hell were you thinking?"

The teen stumbled back a few steps and waved his arms out in an attempt to regain his balance. His small glazed eyes took Dick in. Comparatively short and hunched over with coughs and burns. The large boy took two heavy steps towards him and drew back a meaty fist. The punch never would have landed on Dick, smoke-dizzy slow or not. The boy was too uncoordinated in the smoke and very likely drug induced haze that were messing with his vision.

"Robin! Whatthehellareyoudoing?"

Dick coughed, "HE STARTED THE DAMN FIRE."

Wally froze.

Then boy launched himself at Dick.

Wally was on him before he fully realized what he was doing. He threw out an arm to block a meaty punch and yanked his raised hand higher and threw a balled fist into the boys rounded stomach. He doubled over and was suddenly being thrown over Wally's head in a whirling motion so fast he almost didn't realize it until he hit the ground.

Wally felt like he was on fire and suddenly everything was just too much. The stupid divorce and the stupid Speed Force and stupid him for not being faster, for not getting faster anymore and this stupid, stupid boy for starting something destructive and deadly and maybe killing a little kid tonight.

But then flashing lights were surrounding him, and a pair of gloved hands on his shoulders turned him away from the light. "KF…"

Another camera flash went off. Wally froze. The bright lights of news cameras were on them, other people occasionally clicking away on their digitals. In the dark his could make out a few with the tell-tale red light that meant it was recording.

Come for the fire, stay for the heroes.

He hated that. The way the media pushed in on them, calling them good and bad, wrong and justified, incompetent and tomorrow's leaders. Who were they to judge? They didn't know anything.

He didn't like the way his friends, his only true friends, could die at any moment of any day, possible thousands and thousands of miles away from home or help.

Or even Dick and the way his eyes were young and ancient at the same time, his body scarred more than any sixteen year olds had a right to ever be. More scars were added that night. More could be added the next.

And what was it all for anyway? Tonight a little girl is probably dead, and if not her, then someone else. He couldn't save her. He couldn't save his parent's marriage. What were they playing at? Saving people only so they could die another day? Child heroes falling in battles they never should have fought. The look of people in the halls after a hero dies is awful. Pretending like something, someone isn't missing. They always been told, right from day one to toughen up and move forwards.

Ridiculous.

Run run run.

Maybe Wally West was done playing hero.

"Come on, Robin, we're leaving."

I need soda. And ideas.

Feel free to leave comments, and ideas,

KydChyme