Author's Note: The plot thickens!!!

Disclaimer: Everyone except Wally/Flash, Kid FLash/Bart, Robin/Tim, Nightwing/Dick, J'onn, Green Lantern/John Stuart, and Batman/Bruce Wayne are mine. Which doesn't leave a whole lot of characters, but enough that I'd rather not list them too. Oh, and the story Flash tells is from JL:The Brave and the Bold, so that didn't come from my brain either.

Chapter 25- Silence

"Why won't you talk to me?
I'd tell you anything
Oh don't push me away
I want to know you
I want to know you"

-Wanna Know You by Manafest

Wally woke an hour later and still wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. He wanted to go check on Shayera and Dick, but the risk of running into Faith or John was enough to keep him in his room. The two of them would be keeping a close eye on him and he couldn't deal with that right now. And while John's worry could be easily put to rest, he wasn't very good at getting away with lying to Faith.

Running a hand through his bedraggled orange hair, he walked over the the bedside table and grabbed the Bible he'd bought aroud six months ago after he'd become a Christian. Pulling it open, he read a few chapters in Psalms before closing it two minutes later, because that was all it had taken him to get through it.

Normally, reading it would bring peace and settle his nerves, but right now his nerves were too frazzled to pay attention to the words, so with an annoyed sigh, he stood and pulled his cowl over his upper face.

The seven had decided a few months ago that it was best if they didn't go running around without their masks, so that action was banned. Wally was the one who'd often been chastised for it, but now he complied because he understood why the rule was in place and had actually voted for it. The Watchtower had been infiltrated before and so had it's systems, it just wasn't wise to let the other heroes learn your secrets like that.

And if one of them went rogue, it could be the end of that 'secret' identity altogether.

Flash didn't want to let go of Wally. He couldn't lose that part of him.

He slid the door open and sped down the hallways, zipping past the brightly colored men and women who volunteered their precious time to save the earth each and every day. After flashes of red, yellow, gold, and purple, he finally found his way to the Medical Bay and skidded to a stop in front of one of the windows.

J'onn was inside, typing away at a computer and setting up equipment beside two empty beds.

You can come in. John's telepathic voice broke through his thoughts. Apparently, the martian had seen him.

The red speedster started, then recovered himself and headed into the room.

"Where are they?" he asked, eyeing the bed hesitantly.

"Both are in surgery. Your assumptions about Shayera were correct- she does have internal bleeding and they're going in to close up any veins that have opened up, as well as get rid of the leaked blood. She'll have to get stitches and won't be seeing any duty for a while.

"Nightwing had to have his tibia reset and they may have to put a small titanium rod in to keep it aligned while it heals. Either way it looks like he will be in a cast for a few months." J'onn explained, watching him for his reaction.

Wally grimaced at the facts. He hated seeing his friends hurt. He hated knowing that it had been caused by people he cared about. Bart had done this to Shayera. He'd hurt her, badly, and Wally couldn't help but blame himself. He'd put too much pressure on the boy so early...

He wondered how Dick would feel when he woke up. Sapphire was his little sister and she was the one who broke his leg so badly. Yet she'd been aiming for Flash, not Nightwing, and the realization made him hang his head.

Why can't I do anything right?

"It's not your fault, Wally." J'onn reminded him sympathetically, this apparently being one of those rare times when the martian chose to use his real name.

"Uh-huh." he responded with a non-commital grunt before dashing off again.

Robin watched Dark Falcon with a worried expression as she rebraided her hair and pulled it back up into a tidy bun again. She'd stopped crying not long after she'd started, but now she would hardly say a word, only giving a short response when asked to give one.

Kid Flash was even beginning to worry him. He was pacing his cell rapidly while ringing his hands. He wasn't quite sure what was going on with the other boy, though he guessed it had something to do with worry about what he'd done to Shayera. Could it also be the slowing down of his body? It made Robin wonder if his hyper-accelerated mind could make him go crazy if he were contained for too long. The idea of it made him cringe.

Either way, he had to get them all talking again, otherwise both of them really would drive themselves crazy with their obviously dark thoughts.

He racked his brain for something, anything he could use.

"You know, I've always wanted to change my last name." he finally broke the silence. Three pairs of eyes turned to him curiously. No one took the bait. "I've always wanted to change it to our father's name."

Still no one spoke, but everyone was still looking at him, so he took that as a good sign.

"What about you, Falcon?" he asked.

She closed her eyes quietly and leaned her head back against the glass, "Me too." she answered quietly. "I don't much care for my current one."

Silence prevailed again and Robin began to rack his brain again before Lois spoke up.

"Have you told him that? Your father, I mean." she asked, trying to make it appear as if she didn't know their secret. Though both were silently glad that she had her back to the security cameras.

"No." he answered honestly. He'd never found reason to tell him or to bring it up, but he'd much rather be Tim Wayne than Tim Drake. He'd rather not be reminded of his father's betrayal of him. And he could understand how Sapphire held the same sentiments.

"Well you should. I think he'd like to hear it. What parent wouldn't?" she responded, violet eyes smiling with the information. The idea made him smile. Bruce really would like it if he changed his name? She knew Bruce pretty well, from what he'd gathered from the information on the Batcomputer, so she would know. The thought brought him a certain measure of comfort.

He looked over at Dark Falcon, whose eyes were still closed,and saw a smile form on her pale face, but it left almost as quickly as it arrived- seemingly pushed away by darker thoughts.

"We're going to make it out of this guys." He finally said, taking charge of the situation. "We're going to get through this and everything's going to be fine." he told them firmly.

Dark Falcon let out a sigh and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I hope you're right, Robin. Oh, I hope you're right."

Faith shivered as she flew through the air above the buildings in downtown Central City. Winter, being in full swing, clung to the city with cold fury and she couldn't help but wish she'd brought a coat. She was just thankful that Central hadn't started snowing yet, or she'd really be in trouoble due to lack of planning ahead.

Flying into building that had been her destination, she rubbed her hands together rapidly just in time to be greeted by the woman that ran Central City's Orphanage.

"Faith!" she smiled warmly. "How are you today? Come to play with the children?" The older woman asked. She was a heavyset woman with salt and pepper hair tied up in a bun. The wrinkles on her face betrayed years of smiles and laughter that made her that much more beautiful, in her opinion. Her gray eyes had a motherly feel to them that always made Faith feel right at home.

"Good evening, Mrs. Laveque." Faith smiled warmly as she put her hands on her face to warm the exposed skin. She was thankful that the mask hiding her identity had also kept that bit of her face out of the wind. "Of course, I'd love to play with the kids for a bit, though I'm actually looking for Flash. I thought he might be here."

The older woman shook her head.

"No, I haven't seen him today. Not yet, anyway, but I'll let you know if he drops by. I wouldn't want you to miss him." she smiled as she began leading the way to where some of the kids were watching a movie. Her expression saddened a little. "I'm glad you're here, Faith. Ever since the kids heard about Kid Flash's disappearance, they've been terribly upset, as they always are when one of you is in danger."

"We're all upset." she answered honestly. "We're all very worried about him."

Still, she had to smile at the children's concern for her as well as the Flashes. After only six months, these kids had already warmed up to her amazingly. Though she was mainly a League hero, she often came with Flash to Central City and she couldn't help but smile when one of the kids had pointed out that Flash had a crush on her. They hadn't let it go ever since.

"Kids, Faith is here to watch a movie with you." Mrs. Laveque told them with a bright smile.

The eight children who had been previously arguing over whether to watch Cinderella or The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe stopped what they were doing to greet her with an onslaught of hugs.

"It's nice to see you too." she answered their hugs with a smile. Sitting down on a black bean bag, she asked, "Now what movie are we watching?"

Mrs. Laveque left to get some cookies and the children suddenly began a second argument on which movie they ought to watch.

"Miss Faiff shud pick." a little blonde boy named Billy said, tugging on her long sleeved-shirt gently. "You pick."

The rest of the children were silent and nodded, realizing this was the best solution.

Faith squinted her eyes and put her chin on her hand like she was thinking real hard, causing a few of the girls to giggle.

"I think Cinderella might be too girly for some of these men in here." she finally decided, ruffling Ben's copper hair and looking apologetically at the girls. "I'm going to go with Narnia."

"Yay!" the boys and one girl celebrated as they settled onto their respective bean bags and Jen put in the correct movie.

The cookies arrived about the time that the movie started and effectively silenced them all, except for the sound of munching, particularly from the boys whose mouths coudn't seem to stay closed while they chewed.

Halfway into the movie, Mrs. Laveque stood in the doorway and motioned for Faith to come out. Billy had fallen asleep in her lap and she adjusted him in her arms so that she could easily carry him, before silently standing and floating over to where the woman stood, so as not to distract the others from the movie.

"What's up?" she whispered as she set her feet on the ground again.

"Flash is here, he's reading to some of the boys in the library room. He ought to be finishing up in a few minutes. It's not long until their bedtimes."

"I'll go put this one to sleep and then I'll be right there." she told her, smile widening on her face.

Walking down the hallway, she found the room he shared with four other boys his age. Gently she laid him on the edge of the bed and changed the almost three year-old into his pajamas before settling him under the covers.

She grabbed his teddy and secured it underneath his right arm before leaning down and pressing a kiss against his forehead. Then she floated out of the room and shut the door gently before making her way toward the library room.

She said a prayer for the precious boy as she walked, she hoped the sweet child would find a home with loving parents that would take good care of him.

When Faith reached the library room, no one took notice of her, so she slipped into the back corner and sat in a chair and listened to the story. Apparently, Flash had finished early and he was now recounting a tale from his work in the Justice League.

"So then I banged his metal helmet down over his eyes and hit it a few times, but what he didn't know is that I switched some of the wires in it." he said, demonstrating by waving his arms around. "So then he yelled at me and I told him that I could fight him man on well, gorilla, if he just took off his helmet. He laughed and so I pulled off my circlet that protected me from his mind control and threw it across the room. He tried to use the mind-power thing on me and it short-circuited and fried his brains."

"Really?" a dark haired boy asked, eyes wide.

"Mm-hmmm. Though he ended up un-frying it later and caused more trouble for the League, but we can handle him."

"What happened to the city of gorillas?" a little hispanic girl asked.

"We saved them." he shrugged. "And now they're safe, though we almost lost Wonder Woman in the progress, but she ended up being okay."

It was then that Mrs. Laveque came into the room and shooed the children out, reminding them that it was past their bedtimes. Some argued, but most were too tired to do even that.

"Thank you, Flash. I can tell they really enjoyed that." she told him.

"No problem, ma'am. I enjoyed it." he smiled in response.

She nodded and headed out of the room.

Flash leaned back with a sigh in the chair he'd been sitting in. Faith crossed her arms across her chest before speaking.

"Needed to get your mind off some things?" she asked quietly.

The startled speedster almost fell out of his chair before he realized who it was.

"Can we talk?" she asked standing and walking over to him. She held out her hand and let a small smile grace her face. "Please?"

He made no move to take her hand, only groaned and placed his head in his hands.

"Flash, something's wrong and it's about more than Kid Flash getting kidnapped. Please talk to me." she said, voice beginning to crack with the strain.

Still he wouldn't speak. His body began to shake, more like vibrate, but it was subtle.

"Look, I want you to know that I'm here for you. I just want to help. Bottling all your emotions up and pasting a smile over them isn't going to help you heal- it's just like putting a bandaid over an infected gash that needs stitches, it only hinders the healing process. Whatever it is- your past, something you've done, whatever. You know I'm here for you. Just please, don't block me out." she pleaded.

His body shook harder and he shot up to standing position, face twisted in anger as he pushed her away from him. The force of his shove knocked her onto her rear and she stared at him, wide-eyed, as she stood back up.

"Just leave me alone! Butt out!" He raised his voice. His body continued to vibrate rapidly as he stalked toward her and she took a few steps back in horror.

"Flash, I'm only trying to help." she said, tears beginning to fall down her face, as the middle of her mask scrunched together as if she were furrowing her brow beneath it. "What's happening to you?"

"Nothing's happening to me!" He yelled this time. "Nothing's wrong with me! Just leave me alone! Get away from me! Stop interfering in business that's not yours!"

She was backed up against the wall now and sobbing, tears streaming from beneath her mask as he shook with rage.

"I don't understand, Flash." she cried. "Please, please stop. You're scaring me."

"No, you don't understand." he replied simply and coldly, jaw setting hard. He drew back his arm and thrust it forward. Faith's eyes shut tightly so she wouldn't have to see it coming at her face. When nothing happened, she opened them again and saw his red gloved fist had stopped less than an inch from her face.

His hand dropped to his side, "Of course you don't." he said sadly. He backed up a few feet, looking at her in horror before turning and running away in a blur of red.

Faith sunk to the ground and let her tears fall freely.