Wally seized up. Frozen, utterly.

For a small while, he said nothing, swearing with panic that he was now imagining things... Hearing things. But... ... But... ... ...

"... I-... Izzy... ...?"

...

"Hi."

...

"Nice, ngh... -view from here."

...

"No... Really. I've always wanted to, nngh, stare at-. your butt all day..."

At the onset of impatient sarcasm in tone, Wally finally reacted, quickly- but carefully! - leaning down again and laying Izzy back on the ground. Where the latter. Of course. Promptly broke into a string of immature snorting and giggling, putting the hand of his unharmed arm to his mouth in an entirely not-serious attempt to stifle it. This eventually broke onto full on laughter, or as much as the youth could manage without straining himself too much in his condition.

Wally West... could not believe it.

He literally could not believe what was happening.

He still hadn't entirely registered what was going on.

What-... ...

He barely remembered to try and keep up with what Nightwing was saying in the meantime, his concentration and focus going in and out of the present time and catching up on what had actually just occurred.

'... -see your face. ... ... -so funny! ... were freaking out... ... almost got me there... ...'

Just as Wally finally started registering what had been afoot this whole time, Izzy was in the midst of playing up the facade in his amusement. He put his unharmed arm across his forehead and feigned utter limpness, mouth gaping open as he waved his head from side to side in exaggeratedly fake delirium. Very obviously made up sounds of pain and suffering were thrown in for good effect.

"Oh, KF, the pain! It's just-... just too much to bear! Nnghhaakgh."

Also some coughing.

"Tell... Tell Sir..."

He reached up with his healthy arm and grabbed at the front of Wally's costume, pulling him down closer as he reached up and whispered dramatically.

"That I never... had... enough... ..."

His lips were practically to Wally's ear.

...

"Allowance."

He wheezed.

Before letting go and falling back against the roof, sniggering and hitting the concrete lightly with his able fist in display of his amusement.

... No. No this one wasn't okay, actually.

This is where he'd draw the line.

"... Why did you do that."

Wally asked vehemently, momentarily forgetting about the actual wounds Nightwing had. If those were even real... Nightwing ceased his snickering in time to grin carelessly to himself and tip his head to one side, the white flash of his teeth at once dangerous and sinister,

"I wanted-... To see what would. -happen..."

...

"For the... ngh, record... You did very well..."

He couldn't tell whether that smile and tone were genuine or patronizing. Curling his fingers into fists at his sides, he shook from a multitude of emotions that swept over him. Closing his eyes, he turned his head away from the other boy and took a moment to see whether he could just let this go. ... No, no it had to get out. He snapped his head back to Nightwing and raised his voice, frowning seriously and pointing a finger at him.

"Don't DO THAT."

He yelled. Nightwing's smile didn't even flinch, though he had become quiet and seemed intent on watching where Wally's outburst would take him. He was all too happy to indulge him on this one.

"Don't. Don't ever do that again, okay. That wasn't funny. Not-. Not this time."

...

"I thought it was pretty funny."

Practically a shrug in response, and he was still smiling.

But Wally didn't let it go.

"No. It wasn't!"

"Why."

"Because-!"

"Because why."

"Because! You really scared me, okay? I thought you-! ... I was-... ..."

...

...

Izzy's smile had widened oddly; that crooked smile he had come to recognize that meant that he was pleased by what he had heard, that he had obtained something he had been working towards, that he had been... satisfied... ... A deeper understanding dawned on Wally, and stark realization once more came onto him. ... A silence lasted between them, until Wally, shaking and barely able to stop his voice from doing the same, sealed the last of it once and for all.

"... I was worried about you. ... Really. Worried... I didn't want you to be... y'know... hurt bad..."

...

"I didn't... want you to... I dunno, die or something... ..."

...

He felt dumb saying all that. At least, that's what it sounded like to him. And embarrassing. This isn't the kind of thing he wanted the other boy to hear. It wasn't 'cool' or 'manly' at all, and he was admitting to things even he didn't entirely understand or comprehend yet. Stuff he wasn't sure he ever would. He fully expected Nightwing to laugh at him, mock or ridicule him as he was made the laughing stock at his own expense yet again. ... But none of these things ever came about. Izzy only continued to smile up at him in that bizarre, twisted way he couldn't quite read beyond his available initial analysis... Eventually Izzy pushed himself up into a sitting position using his healthy arm, with only the aid of tremendous visible effort and what had to be a terrifying amount of stamina. His smile cracked into an amused grin as his right hand went to the back pockets of his belt and pulled out a rolled up, bound kit of some sort.

"You have... a spare hand-. you could lend me...?"

Breathing a sigh of comforted relief, Wally felt free to move on from that all from before and... just focus on some fun stuff again. Stuff that wouldn't give him such a headache, and would make him feel better. Them, feel better... The opportunity seemed to present itself aptly with the oncoming of comedy they could now both understand, or rather that Wally could now attune his humor onto Izzy's wavelength at almost freakishly natural speeds at this stage of having known him.

"Sure, just gimme a sec to saw it off."

KF made a saw shape with his right hand and 'sawed' at his left arm, making exaggerated sawing sound effects whilst Izzy laughed in genuine amusement. The Laughing Young Devil rolled out the black bundle, and Wally's brief forays into medical science allowed him to not only identify that yes, duh, it was a First Aid kit, but that it was an incredibly advanced and well composed one. He could hazard a guess that actually, the kid had everything here that he would possibly need for the basic steps of addressing his current wounds for the time being. ... Damn. What had he been so worried about...

As they set about to work, Izzy managed to calm Wally's nerves (about handling such a thing without any doctors or grown-ups around and being trusted with another person's state of health full stop) by simply going through some steps of the process. He first pointed out that if KF had been paying attention and had looked closer, he'd have noticed that the steel fragments- not to be confused with shrapnel, he emphasized- in his upper thigh, stomach and side actually hadn't punctured his body. They had been largely stopped by the layers upon layers of kevlar in those areas, 'That's kinda what it's there for'. So they were free to tug those out as harmlessly as candles on a birthday cake.

At this point Izzy mentioned that he hadn't been bothered on taking them out, or addressing the actual problematic ones along his arm, earlier whilst he was 'playing dead' because you had to wait until they cooled down first. Even after the flight from Deuce and Enigma, KF's run hadn't even been a minute long, so he'd reckoned they would still have to cool down. Wally reflected that when he'd poked one earlier, it had felt kinda warm underneath his glove... Though he'd been too busy having a panic attack because dead friend alert to take any note of it at the time.

This led to the actual stressful part of dealing with the ones embedded in Izzy's upper arm. They still seemed to err on the smaller side, thankfully, once Wally had cared to take a closer look at them. None of them appeared to have exit wounds, even. Nevertheless the damage they were causing was still bad in his view, and it held the evidence of the thin streams of blood that were still dribbling down Nightwing's arm that Wally was still trying not to look at. This naturally led to 'squeamish' jokes from Izzy as he promptly tried to wave the fragment-impaled arm in Wally's face. Nevertheless, Nightwing again emphasized nonchalantly that really they were 'just punctures with impaled objects'. In that exact 'no big' kind of tone and even with a wave of his hand, which prompted conversation from Wally on just what even had to happen for him to be fazed by something. Izzy left that as a mystery for him to maybe one day find out, though Kid Flash himself wryly doubted whether he'd ever see such a thing. Because at this point he doubt it even existed. The thought of which was simply mindboggling. As under that line of interpretation, Izzy was close to... unbreakable, or something...

They cut away the short sleeve of the undershirt around his shoulder, then irrigated and cooled the afflicted area of his arm first, sterilizing both the entry sites and a probe with an Iodine-based solution that Izzy assured him was of the correct concentrations. After also assuring him multiple times that the fragments hadn't hit anything vital and that he wasn't going to start bleeding all over the place if the pieces were removed, Wally finally agreed to help take it all out. After using the probe to locate all the internal debris, the extraction process was awkward to say the least. But between a pair of forceps, more antiseptic, Nightwing's one hand and Wally's shuddering two, they just about managed it. The more Wally did it and the longer Izzy just talked to him idly about variations of relatable 'blast injuries', the more confident Wally became in the task. By the time it got to fishing out the smaller internal debris with the aid of the probe, his hands were considerably more steady than when they had started out. And this was right as Nightwing was just telling him how he even got these wounds. Grenade blast, apparently. 'Standard issue M67'. A good amount of meters away from him at least, and at an angle too. He just... hadn't gotten entirely out of the way in time. 'Stupid, really...'. For the first time, Wally noted his tone was actually self-deprecating... even... shameful.

Checking and rechecking that that had been the last of it, Nightwing again remarked on his luck in position and placement when the grenade went off. He'd definitely experienced worse before. This was meant to make Wally feel better and happier for him, Wally realized this. And it did. ... But really he didn't think Izzy realized it actually made him feel worse in many ways too. He didn't want to think of that these 'worse' things than this were that Izzy had apparently undergone... A couple of the wounds would need stitches, and after affirming that Wally knew bare basics on 'how to sew' and giving him extra pointers, Wally was left to work at it using the equipment provided, whilst Izzy seemed suddenly preoccupied with something else. Specifically, putting a finger to his ear as he had done so some time ago and looking off vaguely in some direction.

Wally couldn't help but listen in, pretending he wasn't and focusing on his work, but... definitely listening in. Who wouldn't? He could only hear Izzy's end of the conversation, but the gist came across even with that handicap.

...

"Here. Did you-. make it back?"

"That's great!"

...

"I'm fine, but what about-"

...

"I'm fine, really!"

"Really really."

...

"Yeah just stitching and dressing now."

...

"No, KF's helping, so... it's a lot easier than last time. But are you ok-"

...

"Yes. Yes I remembered to apply the solution generously and-"

...

"But it doesn't hurt! I won't even notice by tomorrow...!"

Wally suppressed a snort, and every other expression of amusement. Izzy's tone had rapidly spiraled into one of a child deeply embarrassed by an overbearingly attentive parent. He was just waiting for the 'You're embarrassing meeee' line any moment now, oh man this was just too priceless. Context was swept away entirely in his head, forgotten in this moment of humored empathy and an entirely relatable situation.

...

"It's really nothingggg. Just-. keep your promise and watch that movie with me tonight, okay...?"

"You promiseddd."

...

"Tell him to make milkshakes."

"Strawberry."

...

"You still haven't told me-. if you're okay... "

...

...

"Hehe, see~? I told you it'd work!"

...

"Yeah but I'll be back too reeeaaallllly soon won't I."

...

"And then we watch the movie."

...

"Okay!"

...

"W-wow, thanks..."

...

"Uh-huh. See you soon!"

Wally resisted all temptation to look up as Nightwing ended the conversation, finishing the last of the awkward but uh, satisfactory stitches just as Izzy turned back to him with a look that was buzzing with radiant energy. He didn't even have to ask who that was, of course, but he felt like he didn't have much to say on the matter. Not that it was his place to butt in anyway, but, he just preferred to quietly wonder about all that. It sure seemed... weird? In running with all the other experiences he had shared and seen with this boy, then again the home life of his younger acquaintance was entirely unexplored territory... And Wally felt extremely privileged and trusted to have been able to just be in the same place as Izzy as he had rattled off in what seemed like an entirely routine, but private conversation holding an undeniable level of intimate connection. He began buying into the rumored notion that The Dark Knight and Nightwing were father and son, or something very close to it anyway...

He could feel Izzy's eyes staring into his skull as he pretended to look over the stitching for the umpteenth time, and he knew in that moment he was being suspected of harboring thoughts. He probably was being a bit too quiet, yeah. Heh, that wasn't like him at all. So, he'd have to offer him some form of comment... Well, there was one thing he was wondering about. As he let go of Nightwing's arm and turned to the bundles of loose, sterile dressing, he voiced his query.

"So... How did you end up in that situation anyway? I mean, grenade blast yeah, but... You were with the uh... um... Dark Knight, because you went to meet with him in the first place, right? So why were you guys even split up..."

It'd have to have been involuntary, especially if it was in the heat of things. When stuff got serious in Central City, or as serious as they got to there anyway, he tended to stick to Uncle Barry's side as though he were the most ridiculously powerful adhesive in the world.

Izzy seemed to reflect on this, probably on whether and how much to reveal, before shrugging his healthy shoulder and simply spilling it out.

"Sir was busting a ring of arms dealers we'd been tracking since last month-... ngh, when it turned out it was actually a much larger operation than we'd-... anticipated. They'd formed some-. last minute alliances over this week and sprung them the moment they were-... under attack... That's why I was called in to help out. ...But by the time I arrived-. Our 'heroes'... had been tipped about it, joined in and it-. became this three-way mess. ... Then, grenades, 'boom'. ... ... I got the shy end of some of it, but I was doing a lot better than-. Sir. He was... hurt really bad... ... The gangs were subdued kinda quickly though, because... both the Underground and us were... mostly targeting them... But we knew-. We knew that once the gangs would be depleted, those police-lackey jerks... would turn on us and treat us no differently than the bad guys we were all trying to get rid of... So when those 'heroes' moved to take custody of the surrendering gangs... I said we should make a break for it..."

Wally was thoroughly taken in by the tale, winding the dressing around the last, smaller and more insignificant wounds with much attention and yet unable to stray his mind too far from its vivid imagination of this scene as it was told to him. Izzy took a brief pause, either catching his breath or simply reflecting in wonder about it again, but he eventually continued.

"... I said... I told Sir because he was hurt a lot lot more than me, he should definitely make it back to the plane... But there were a bunch of 'heroes' in this group tonight, four in total, and in his condition... ... So for that, I said I'd lure a few of them away to give him a better chance of getting out okay..."

Izzy chuckled to himself in idle amusement.

"He didn't like that idea at all... But I just said it was the best chance we had at both making it out okay... I somehow managed to persuade-. him, though... I just kept saying I'd definitely definitely make it back too..."

A smirk spawned across his face, its nature immediately dark and foreboding.

"... ... ... Anyway... So then I made a really visible run for it. They knew I'd been hit. By an earlier blast... and must have seen the evidence again in that moment. ... I managed to get two chasing after me..."

"Deuce and 'Enigma'..."

Wally voiced in understanding, showing that he was following closely.

Nightwing smiled whimsically and tapped his chin with a finger.

"... Yeah... ... Those two... I figured The Joker would leave Harlequin in charge of the captured mob guys before the police came, leaving only him to pursue Sir once he also made his own run, for the plane and all... I just led those other two as far away as possible, before my options began narrowing down... And then-. Well. ... You know the rest..."

...

"You were a great Get Out of Jail Free card, by the way."

Nightwing added breezily, a flash of teeth accompanying the tease as he played in delight along an earlier thread of comedic value. One that had been provoked by Wally himself, so he quite happily took some pride in that.

... A pause then lingered after he had finished, and Wally finally felt as though he could leave Nightwing's arm be after checking it over pointlessly for the last few times. He drew it out for as long as he could mostly because he was using it as something to do to give him time to mull over the story without it being an awkward silence or anything. Once he'd let go of Izzy and leaned back on the balls of his feet, still crouching there in front of him, he itched at his cheek and mentioned offhandedly.

"That's... That was pretty cool of you..."

"... Hmm~. ..You would have done the same... for your Uncle."

Nightwing mused absently, regarding him with an analytical smile.

Kid Flash gave a short laugh and a modest shrug,

"Hahah. Yeah... Yeah, definitely... "

A thought struck him in that moment, and he snapped his fingers as apt representation for his 'A-ha!' moment. With some visible enthusiasm he bobbed forward slightly and vaguely pointed a finger in Izzy's direction whilst the latter went over some final inspections of his wounds.

"Hey! This means we're even now, right?"

Izzy looked back to him, blankly inquisitive.

"For the thing."

...

"The thing. You know. Back when you uh, helped me out a little, some months ago... with the police guys and uh, my... 'meltdown'... I finally paid you back for that! So, now we're even!"

He ended with a beaming, self-satisfied grin. Nightwing returned it, but it was far far more impish in tone, which in turn matched his following voice.

"Hnnn~ no~. We're still not even."

Wally's face promptly fell in a rather comical manner. He practically spluttered.

"Wh-what? But- But I. I took down Deuce! A-and Enigma! Sure for like, a second but, like. Yeah!"

"Exactly."

... ? ?

A labored sigh.

"You 'took down' Deuce and Enigma. I just... neutralized some policemen back when all that happened... This is... kind of a bigger deal..."

Realization finally came to Wally, and his grin widened considerably. Come to think, he hadn't had time to really bask in the significance of just what he had done back there. Those guys were professionals, the real deal. They'd been working even longer than Captain Cold! Well, Deuce for sure. And he'd taken them on, for even just one second... That... that was pretty awesome, wasn't it? Aw man, how cool was he...! Barely in his first year of, um, cape stuff, and he ruffles some of the biggest names in the business! ... But wait, that Nightwing had pointed it out... So, did that mean...

"S-so you mean... You owe me again?"

A one shouldered shrug and tilted smile.

".. Sweet!"

Wally threw his arms into the air in glee, aptly reacting just as a child would after winning a contest and getting the bonus prize on top of just the most awesome satisfaction of victory. Coming back down to earth, the speedster bobbed forward again in his positively energetic mood and wagged his finger in front of his face again, his grin now playfully challenging.

"I gotta say Izzy, I look forward to seeing how you'll top this one."

Nightwing simply lifted his own hand and 'scissored' Wally's wagging forefinger between his own index and middle fingers, the abrasive thick and metallic material of his gloves crushing the digit softly, drawing it away from his face to reveal his scheming smile.

"I'll find a way."

Kid Flash merely budged his forefinger back out of Izzy's trap, shifting his digits around artfully until his pinky finger linked in with that of the other boy. He leaned forward and grinned, shaking their pinky fingers up and down, as if to seal forever this secret pact to keep helping each other, no matter what. With a declarative voice that resounded throughout the years to come,

"You're on."

. - . - .

Izzy had only watched the schoolyard ritual with a quiet studying look as it had played out, which led in turn to Wally having to explain to the younger boy what a 'pinky swear' even was. He still didn't really get it after the lesson, which only provoked reflection in the speedster that, now that he thought about it, it was kinda random to him too. He'd have to Google where it came from later... Anyway, more importantly, the sense of its significance didn't seem to be lost on the other boy. He even wanted to do it again, now that he knew what it meant. So they had. Only, Izzy couldn't resist the temptation to abruptly force Wally's hand down and slam it against the roof, uprooting the speedster's precarious balance on his feet and making him fall over too. Something like a sudden brutal arm wrestling move, which is exactly what Wally had called it, over Nightwing's cackling laughter anyway.

As boys would be boys, this naturally eventually turned to the two simply having arm wrestling contests. Izzy won. Every. Single. Time. Which left Wally baffled to the point of wanting to run back to his room and cry in confusion. This kid was like, only as tall as his chin. His arms were tiny. Tiny! He was both older and bigger, didn't that = stronger? Oh man this was so embarrassing. He kept at it in the conviction that it was just flukes or tricks every time, and that he'd win at least once. It became an absolute non-issue when Izzy offered to wrestle with his wounded arm instead, 'To make it fair'. That smirk. ... Yeah sometimes it was the smarter thing to just give up, okay. He promised he'd be back stronger than ever for next time though, and didn't let go of the theory that Nightwing was tricking him somehow. It all made the other boy laugh, which is what he found most important. Most gratifying...

Their more rambunctious choices in activity died down again once Izzy started showing visible signs of fatigue and mild pain again, naturally the effect of his arm, not to mention the harrowing night in general... As a result the two were content to just sit there next to each other, looking out over the city, listening to the 2 am traffic... and waiting... Somewhere in the back of his mind, Wally mused that he was going to be really late getting back home... ... Oh well... That didn't seem so important to him right now, honestly... ...

The comfortable silence continued for quite a while, until eventually, it was Izzy who broke it.

"Thanks."

...

"No problem."

...

Izzy sounded amused, turning his head and looking over to him,

"Not... just for that... ..."

...

"... Oh?"

...

"What you decided on... When I pretended not to wake up... You could have taken me to the hospital... back to those 'heroes'... ... ... You're terrified of him."

Izzy ended with an all-too-knowing smirk, but there was a softer tone underneath it, something a little more... graceful...

Wally understood him. Closing his eyes and smiling to himself, he leaned back from his sitting position all the way until he toppled back onto the roof's surface, laying one arm across his midriff as the other slid underneath his head. He answered.

"Yup."

...

Izzy looked back to the city.

...

The gravity of the moment weighed heavy upon the atmosphere, as recognition and understanding passed between them without any need for words. The importance, the significance and the meaning of what Wally had been prepared to do unfurled itself in silence and dug its roots deep into the foundations between them. The elder boy allowed for it to sink in, soaking up the quiet appreciation that now hung like drapes over this little area. His mouth twitched further into a broader smile, and with his eyes still closed, he simply added,

"You really didn't care about those wounds, did you..."

"Nope."

Wally chuckled loudly at the shrug of an answer, still remaining in his entirely relaxed state and demeanor as he did so.

"... What."

He heard Izzy ask flatly. Wally relented with an easy smile.

"Ah~ dude~... ... You're so, so cool..."

...

"... You think so?"

"Um, yeah."

Duh. Anyone with that insane level of tolerance for pain and a bonus genuine lack of any care for it, heck that whole ability to keep other priorities above self-preservation and persevere through even really bad things just for the sake of a mission, ranked up there with not looking back at explosions in coolness factors. Another few things he'd learned from TV and action movies. He wondered if Nightwing even knew the meaning of 'surrender'. He'd seen that look on his face, when he'd been cornered back in that alley. That feral grit that had possessed him. Practically bleeding his arm off and having ran god knows how many blocks just so he could make sure his boss got home safely. What kind of physical and mental stamina even was that for a non-powered human, a kid that was even younger than he was... It was unbelievable. Incredible.

... Amazing, really.

No matter what else anyone could ever think of him, Wally would think that you could never, ever deny him at least that...

... Well now he'd gone and inflated the kid's ego. At least it sure seemed that way as Izzy smirked to himself in that self-satisfied way he tended to, looking back out over the multitude of rooftops spread out in front of them. Smug jerk. ... But damn if he actually did have a reason to be on this one... Still a bit of contextual deflation wouldn't do any harm. Hahah, it'd make him feel better anyway.

"Whoa there, rein that ego in, dude. You still don't have any super powers."

Wally laughed outloud, only attempting to stifle it after feeling Izzy's rebuking wrath in the form of a sharp 'playful' hit of the younger boy's armored gauntlet-bearing hand to Wally's own ankle. Ow. ... Ah well, nothing his metabolism wouldn't eat right up and heal anyway. He continued to snort and snicker occasionally even after that.

Another period of quiet soon cast over them again, but this time it was far more brief.

"Shouldn't you be... getting back? It's pretty late, for you."

Nightwing observed aloud, putting the hand of his healthy arm to his chin and tapping it lightly. Wally sat up again, rubbing his eyes with both his hands and blearily looking over to his smaller friend.

"Hm? ... Oh, yeah, I guess..."

... He hadn't meant to sound so hesitant. He sure didn't want to sound that hesitant. But nope, too late. And before he could even make up reasons as to why he was lingering and delaying it, Nightwing, astute as always, leaped upon the predominant answer within seconds in a very certain tone of voice.

"Some~one's scared of the da~ark~."

... Stupid detectives.

"It-It's not just that! I mean, it's not that at all!"

Aaannd here came the hysterics.

Well he'd just talk over him then.

"Seriously! Even though the energy levels never dip, I'm still running really low on my actual fuel. I'm starving and I don't have anything left to eat...! I'll probably just, collapse somewhere in Ohio or something..."

After he'd finished laughing about the nighttime cross-country running fears thing, Izzy wiped away some imaginary tears and perked in his direction. His smile was that assured variety, the one that expressed how he clearly knew what he was doing. Wally tensed slightly in anticipation of what he was going to reveal next, especially once his healthy arm shifted to the back of his belt and seemed rustling around for something.

"Aren't you lucky someone else is always prepared..."

He promptly took out a bunch of energy snack bars from his rear belt pocket, waving them in front of Wally's face teasingly before dropping them into his lap. After expressing his instant immense gratitude through a garble of words and noises, the speedster abruptly put his hands to the food to his mouth. As he worked his way through these all too appreciated gifts, Izzy averted his gaze and began talking idly about some ideas, such as what to do next time they meet up, whether it should be in Central or Gotham, or maybe even somewhere else, their options were pretty open after all. They always had their line of communication, so planning now wasn't an absolute necessity. ... But, as for shorter term ideas...

"... I think I'll just give you a lift."

"... Huh?"

Wally spluttered out amidst his gorging, not even pausing despite his confusion as Izzy continued.

"Back to Central City. ... Yeah. Yeah, that sounds do-able. And fair."

He smirked back at Kid Flash, and the latter nearly choked on his food the moment his mind put two-and-two together.

"Doesh thet meen-" He swallowed, "- I-... I get to go in your jet?"

Izzy smirked airily.

"... Maybe."

After downing the second-to-last energy bar, Wally took a breather simply to backtrack and ask with a great deal of genuine concern,

"But... dude, your arm. Shouldn't you go back to... wherever it is you live and rest and stuff?"

Once again Izzy seemed entirely unbothered by the whole thing, shrugging lightly again.

"No. It's fine..."

...

"... Hey, KF..."

Wally was already halfway through the last bar, though he cared to look up and make a questioning noise even as he continued to eat.

"Are you okay...?"

A crease had formed upon Izzy's brow, and his voice sounded very concerned all of a sudden. The ginger haired boy finished off the last of the generously donated snacks in a gulp, tossing the wrapper carelessly over his shoulder and looking over at the younger boy in absolute confusion. His vision blurred and shuttered weirdly as he did, he reckoned he'd turned too fast. Whoops.

"H-hm?"

Izzy was still looking pretty worried, as far as he could tell with his vision, which was currently fading around the edges and... tunneling, weirdly enough. He was feeling really dizzy too... Man, these late hours sure were catching up to him, huh... that and the cross-country run from earlier, probably...

"You look really tired... Maybe you should sleep a little."

Izzy's voice echoed, and he just caught the edges of that mouth curling into a dark smile.

... Wait.

No.

Wally turned back awkwardly to look at where the pile of energy bar wrappers lay, his arms and legs rapidly losing their sense of feeling so that when he turned back to Nightwing he could barely sense what they were doing any more. Izzy was grinning deviously at him, then laughing. His vision was blurring and fading, he wanted to say something, wanted to move, but all he felt himself do was topple uselessly onto his side in utter frailty as a shadow fell across him. The Laughing Young Devil was now standing over him, waving goodbye with his hand. The boy chimed in a sing-song voice as the world closed in around him, and darkness swallowed everything.

"Good night, Wally~..."