Wally took a deep breath and then forced himself to continue, "Nightwing's been shot."

"... How is he?" Oracle managed to reply, but Wally could hear the tension behind the question.

"He's in surgery right now, but the doctors I spoke to think he'll be all right."

"What happened?"

"He had come out here to help me out on a burglary spree that was giving me fits. Of course, Nightwing was able to figure out their pattern; we made the bust; everything's great. We had just turned them over to the authorities when I heard Nightwing cry out. He must have seen something, because he had thrown himself in front of a little girl, and there was blood everywhere. There was a silencer on the rifle -- that's why I didn't hear the shot." Wally paused as the scene replayed itself in his mind.

They had been standing in front of the police station, Wally remembered; he had turned to talk to one of the officers in charge of their prisoners. Where was Dick? That's right, one of the other detectives had asked him a question, and they were discussing something. When Wally heard Dick call out, "Flash!" he turned, just in time to see Nightwing's body picked up and thrown backwards by the force of the gunshot. No sooner had he realized what had happened when he heard a second shot -- from the roof of the building across from the police station, in line with the shot that must have struck Nightwing.

Wally shook his head as he remembered the sad scene. Apparently, the man had been aiming for a little girl who was in the crowd around the station, but Nightwing had pushed the little girl aside and taken the bullet instead. The man then put a handgun to his temple and shot himself. The Flash had heard several of the police saying something about a custody case and child abuse, but that had been peripheral to getting his friend some medical attention.

Wally's reverie was broken by Oracle's insistent voice asking, "You said he'd be all right, though?"

Even through the electronic distortion, Wally could hear the worry in her voice. "Gee, I didn't know you cared."

"Of course, I care!" the voice replied angrily. "Nightwing's one of my closest friends."

"Sure he is," Wally replied sarcastically, "that's why you won't go out on a date with him."

"..."

"Don't worry," he continued, still sarcastically, "your big secret -- whatever it is -- is still safe."

"Then why ..."

"We got to talking last night, and I made the mistake of teasing him about you once too often."

"Teasing him about me?"

"Sure. All of his friends do -- about how his voice changes when you two talk; how even your voice sounds different; when are you two going to realize what's going on and get together -- stuff like that. Anyway, he finally lost his temper and told me the problem wasn't on his end. You'd turned him down. When I tried to get more details, he just said he couldn't tell me any more, but that he'd appreciate it if I'd stop riding him about hooking up with you."

Wally stopped his tirade as he saw Nightwing's doctor coming toward him. "Hey, doc! How's Nightwing? Is he going to be okay?"

The surgeon raised his hand to stop the flow of questions. "Your friend is very lucky. His ... outfit slowed the bullets enough so that even though they still penetrated his body, the damage was much less than we'd feared. He will need to rest up for a while from the surgery, but he should make a full and complete recovery."

Wally broke out in a huge smile as he shook the doctor's hand, "Thanks, doctor! Thank you very much! When can I see him?"

"We're moving him to recovery right now, so we'll let you see him in an hour or so."

"And you've kept his mask on?"

"As we agreed, his mask has remained in place during the entire procedure."

"Great!" Wally exhaled in relief. Now for the next problem. "When can I take him home?"

"I think we can release him in a few days or so."

"Days?! Doc, I don't think you understand! I have got to get him out of this hospital! The sooner, the better."

"Flash, I assure you, no one is going to try to discover your friend's identity ..."

"No, doctor, you don't understand! The longer Nightwing is in your hospital, the more danger you and everyone else in this hospital is in! We all have enemies, Doc; some of Nightwing's don't really care how many people they might have to kill to get a shot at him. I remember seeing cameras at the police station earlier, so I'm afraid news of this shooting will leak out. I have to get him to a safer location!"

The doctor finally agreed that Nightwing could be moved once he had come out of recovery and left to check on his patient. Wally suddenly remembered something else he had to do. "Oracle?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"Could you notify Batman for me?"

"..."

"Normally, I'd do it," Wally ignored the snort of disbelief on the other end of the communicator, "but maybe under the ... circumstances, he'd take it better coming from you?"

"You're just scared to talk to him."

"NO! I just, uh, don't think he'd listen to me. Right now. Under these ... circumstances. Really."

There was a very loud silence in response to this. Eventually, Oracle let out a sigh whose exasperation was not masked by the electronic distortion. "All right, I'll let him know, but you owe me." She then insisted that Wally bring the injured Nightwing to her to recuperate.

"I thought you wanted to keep your identity a deep, dark secret from everyone," Flash replied in surprise.

"Nightwing will be fine here -- he'll be more comfortable than at the cave with Batman," she replied, and then paused. "And finally, I think I'd like Nightwing's best friend to know why I turned him down, and I don't want to discuss that over a communicator."