DON'T OWN JL OR THIS PLOT OR ANYTHING

" Wally? May I come in?" Diana asked politely, just as her mother had taught her all those years ago,

" Sure, you here to see Shay?"

" And you."

" Oh, well I was just about to go to sleep. I'm really tired Diana." She smiled sweetly,

" That's alright, I'll just sit here." She placed herself in the seat facing Wally's bed and stared. Wally fidgeted and feigned a yawn. Diana continued staring and this was beginning to make the teen uncomfortable,

" Could you look somewhere else? You're kinda creeping me out."

" Of course." She shifted her gaze to the window and Wally pushed himself deeper into the pillow. He held his eyes close for five minutes before sitting up,

" Ok! Ok! I give! What the hell do you want?"

" To talk."

" That's coming from the woman who's been sitting and staring for ten minutes in complete silence." Diana picked up the chair and placed it next to Wally,

" So, how are your cuts and wounds?"

" Fine."

" Are you comfortable?"

" Yes."

" Can you remember what happened to you?"

" Why?"

" Wally," her voice remained gentle, " Please, you have to get this off your chest…that is the only way to begin healing."

" Where did you get that bullshit from?"

" Wally—"

" What the hell do you want me to say, Diana? I'm fine! Why don't you, Bruce and Clark get that through your thick skulls! God, why is it that John is the only one who's not playing mother hen?"

" He doesn't know what exactly happened. None of us do. You were missing for almost eight hours, we don't know what happened during that time."

Wally pushed himself up higher on the pillow, his hands and knees shaking, if he wanted them off his back he would have to tell at least one of them, might as well be Diana,

" It started out fine…until I got tossed through the bakery window. That's how I got the cuts on my back. After I got tossed in most of the Ravens I was fighting went to go deal with John, only three came into the bakery. They were the same ones who jumped me, Rick, Tyler and Carter. They got a few kicks in before I managed to get away, the back door was blocked so I headed for the basement, hoping for a window I could go through."

Wally grabbed another pillow and hugged it, his eyes tearing up and his voice becoming weaker,

" I found one and I was almost out. Tyler and Carter pulled me back and held me to the ground. I thought Rick was going to kill me, instead…" His voice faltered and Diana laid a comforting had on his own,

" He-he ripped my jacket and shirt off…I don't know when he cut my pants…all I could focus on was him…Carter found some rope and tied my hands to the heater pipe. I can remember fighting Rick the whole time before realizing I wasn't going to win. I just screamed and screamed for anybody to help me, I black out for a while after that. Later, I woke up and I- I knew what had happened. They were talking on the stairs and I found my knife still nearby. I managed to cut my ropes and get on what was left of my clothes before they noticed. I got through the window before Rick jumped on me, I managed to slash him on the chest with my knife but by that time Carter had me pinned. I think I blacked out again, 'cause when I woke up I was at a ratty apartment, tied up to a mattress."

He sniffed loudly and placed his head on his knees,

" He wo-uldn't stop! I begged him not to! He wouldn't stop…he told me if I kept screamin' he would go and bring Shay there and kill her. I gave up! I let him do whatever he wanted! Carter too! Four hours! Then Rick shot Tyler! God, he shot him! He kept askin' me where Clark was…then he stopped asking he just kept…Diana, he wouldn't stop! Even after he shot Tyler, before Carter knocked me out."

Wally's words and cries were muffled but that didn't stop Diana's heart from breaking,

' He had stopped fighting to save Shay…by the gods…' She gave his hand a little rub,

" Please, Diana…don't touch me…please…go away." Diana pulled her hand back quickly and stood up,

" If you need anything…" She stepped swiftly from the room. She closed the door and began to walk to the reading room.

Bruce was always right, but sometimes she wished he wasn't.

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" How did it go?" Clark asked. Diana sighed and slumped into the chair, mentally exhausted,

" He told me what happened. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy." She shook her head and wiped at a falling tear. Clark stood up, his eyes flashing in anger,

" That's it! That is it! I'm going out and I'm going to find this Leader and when I see him," He grabbed his jacket off the chair it was hanging on,

" Enough!" John yelled, his voice interrupting Clark's, " You go out there and the Ravens will tear you apart…you don't really want that, do you?"

" I don't care—"

" Maybe Wally and Shay do." Bruce's calm voice halted the argument, " As do we." John nodded,

" Listen Clark, I don't think we can afford any more losses."

" We're just lucky that they'll both pull through."

" Physically, you mean."

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