"Wally!" Artemis cried out as her boyfriend screamed. Sportsmaster took advantage of his daughter's distraction and slammed her head against the stone wall. The blonde dropped to the ground, dazed and bloody from the blow to her head. The pain was almost blinding as she reeled from her second concussion in a matter of days. It took every ounce of her will to keep from slipping unconscious.

"W-wally…" The archer muttered, peering through the dissipating smoke to see what was going on. Wally was on his knees, hugging his arms around the rapidly growing red spot on his stomach. Blood was dripping from his mouth and his whole body was shivering with the effort of controlling the pain. As the speedster raised his head to look at the man who shot him, he felt the cold metal of Joker's gun press against his forehead.

The explosion had been the perfect attempt at turning the tables in this fight. The blaze had drained Kal'dur of his energy, dropping him uselessly to the ground next to the unconscious M'Gaan. Neither would be much use in the midst of all these flames. Roy recovered from the explosion and loaded another arrow, but not before Freeze unleashed another blast of ice, knocking the bow from his hand and pinning him to the wall with icy shackles around his wrists, neck and waist. The ice wouldn't last long in the heat of the explosion, but it would keep him immobile long enough for Joker to pull the trigger. The archer scanned the room for the rest of his team, hoping someone else would be able to stop the clown before they were forced to watch Wally die for the second time! Jason and Barbara were now completely confined in Ivy's vines, being constricted tight enough that they were both having trouble breathing, and the stab in Jason's side was losing a dangerous amount of blood. Dick, who had never fully recovered from his beatings at the courthouse, was now so exhausted he needed to lean on Tim for support just to keep on his feet! Batman and the league were surely on their way, but if they burst in and startled the villains, who known how much young blood would be spilt in the process!

"Joker, you don't have to do this! Killing Kid Flash gains you nothing!"

"Save your breath Red Arrow. You can't reason with a mad man." Jason hissed, his voice strained and distorted from the tight binds around his chest.

"But you can bargain with them." Nightwing's defeated voice replies. He raises his eyes to meet the Joker's, ignoring the sounds of struggle as Jason, Barbara, and Roy caught on to what he was about to do.

"This whole things started with me. You wanted to kill me, in front of the whole world. Look around Joker, it's not KF's rivals that are gathered here. They don't care about his death, they care about mine. So I'll make a trade: Spare KF that bullet, and use it on me instead."

"NO!" The cries echoed throughout the room as the heroes fought against their restraints and their weaknesses, desperately trying to stop Dick from giving his life.

"Don't be stupid Nightwing! You know what would happen if you died! I came back here to stop that future, no matter what the cost! You are not going to...AHH!" Joker's foot collided with Wally's stomach, kicking him directly in the growing red spot on his shirt. Wally doubled over in pain, curling inward to protect his damaged stomach.

"Oh shut up! You're taking all the fun out of Birdbrain's sacrifice!" The Joker giggled, turning his attention back to Nightwing.

"You do make a point Birdie, but you're forgetting one thing… This was never about you! You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time! Don't you remember back at the fun house? You weren't the bird I was hoping to catch! Although, you do make excellent bait!" Joker cackled. Before Dick could even process the meaning of his words, Joker raised his gun and fired three bullets towards the youngest member of their team. Even with the Batclan's swift reflexes, two of the bullet's hit their mark, while the third buried itself in Nightwing's shoulder as he tried to shield his little brother from the shots.

The physical pain didn't even register to Dick. Instead, it was the emotional pain that tore him apart. In the past two years, he had ignored his little brothers. He isolated himself from the team, refusing to come when they called him, brushing them off whenever they offered to help. He had all but disappeared from the lives of the people that cared about him… how could he have been so stupid? How could he have shut them out when they needed him? When he needed them?! For those two years, he could have been at his brother's side. He could have taught Tim how to lead the team, he could have fixed things with Barbara, he could have helped Kal'dur train the others, he could have used Wally's death to empower himself like Artemis had. Instead he walked around as if his life had no meaning. Even now, he was willing to surrender without a fight, forcing his friends and family to watch him die, just so he wouldn't have to suffer losing anyone else. It wasn't until he had his little brother cradled in his arms that he'd realized what the past two years had cost him. As Tim's eyes fluttered closed, Dick realized that the kid had been right all along. The words Tim had muttered on that rooftop several days ago, suddenly flashed through his mind.

"You know, you're selfish Nightwing. You're so wrapped up in what you've lost, you've got no idea how much it would hurt the rest of us if we lost you. I hope you realize that before it's too late."

Too late… I'm sorry Timmy.