Author's Note: Edited for gore.

Neither Wally nor J'onn had called them yet the police were there so fast that Wally thought they had broken the sound barrier. A figure of speech, of course. Most of the police officers were attempting to shoo away the growing crowd.

If I had jumped out the window, that could have been me.

Wally didn't realize that he was shaking at the thought until J'onn put his hand on Wally's shoulder. It was a comforting gesture, but Wally still couldn't stop shaking. The idea that it could have been him and not Madison who ended up all over the street was somehow sobering.

J'onn silently moved Wally into his room and sat Wally down on the bed. Just in case. Wally stretched out on the bed, staring at the ceiling. J'onn stayed until Wally finally fell asleep at almost five in the morning.

Wally almost missed his phone ringing. He had woken up just in time catch it at the last ring. It was his boss, asking if he had seen the accident on the news. Wally almost said no, but then the unthinkable happened.

"Don't you live right next to that building?"

Wally's mouth opened and closed like a fish's, unable to answer. His boss took his lack of a response as a 'yes.' His boss seemed to put the pieces together, telling Wally that he could take one more day off, but that he needed to return tomorrow and hung up.

She's gone. She's not coming back. I should go to work today. I want to run around the city.

Though Wally wasn't sure where that last thought had come from, he was grateful nonetheless. It actually sounded good. A quick run around the city and go to work. So he did. It felt amazing to leave his worried to the wind. Especially now that the source of most of his worries was gone.

Gone and not coming back.

As much as he hated Madison, Wally couldn't help but feel guilty for that thought. It wasn't his fault, per se, but he still felt somewhat responsible for her death. Had he gone too far with his "bad mother" comment? Was that why she climbed out the window? Shouldn't he have run to save her? Could he have gotten there to save her in time?

Maybe it was my fault.

Lost in thought, Wally didn't notice when he bumped into a woman while leaving his office.

"Oh, sorry," he apologized.

"No, it's okay," she responded.

Then Wally got a closer look at the woman. She was blonde. She had the same eyes. She was, without a doubt, Madison's mother and she looked exhausted.

"Did you need help finding something?" Wally asked, putting on his best customer service voice. Turns out you never forget retail even when you're working at a police station. Go figure.

The woman sighed. "No, thank you. I'm only here to identify my daughter."

"Madison is your daughter?" Wally asked before he could stop himself.

"Yes, did you know her?"

Wally nodded.

"I hope she wasn't too much of a troublemaker. She never had any ambition, but she could manipulate anyone. Play them like a fiddle. There was always something wrong that that girl…" The woman trailed off. "Her sister was always afraid of her."

"I dated her for a while. She never mentioned a sister," Wally admitted.

"That's not surprising. Madison always hated her sister. Carla was born when Madison was seven. It was a nightmare from day one. Carla would do anything to avoid being around Madison. I could never prove it, but I just know that Madison was abusing Carla."

"I'm sorry," was the only thing Wally could say.

"Don't be," The woman said with a strange smile. "I'm sure, wherever she is, Madison is finally content."

"Do you mind if I ask one last question?" Wally said hesitantly.

"No, of course not."

"Do you know if Madison was pregnant when she died?"

The woman watched Wally for a long time before answering.

"She wasn't," the woman said as she turned to walk away.

Wally backed into the wall and slid to the ground.

She wasn't pregnant. Why would she tell me she was? Did she think she was pregnant?

The woman's words ran through Wally's mind. There was always something wrong with that girl.

So Madison was just like some of the villains he fought. She just didn't have the same lust for power or enjoyment of messing with people that most of the villains did.

The knife digging into his skin, blood everywhere, his blanket stained-

Or maybe she did and was just better at hiding it. Not many people would consider forcing someone they claimed to love. Not like that. Even though he had refused, even though he had been forced, even though he wasn't even sure he had been conscious, Wally could not call what happened to him rape. It seemed so… strange. Like admitting to something shameful. He hated every second of it. He knew J'onn would leave most of it out and the League would tiptoe around the matter until he was ready to talk about it. Right now, he thought that might never happen.

The death was a much better excuse. He could probably get away with saying he was traumatized by it. They would know he was lying and J'onn would know the truth, but it would be a start. Until he was ready to admit what happened. Until he was ready to say the truth. He would return to work, try to forget about everything that happened involving Madison. It wouldn't be too difficult to say that he was going through a bad break up. His boss would believe that. His coworkers would believe that. The League wouldn't believe it at all. While trying to come up with a perfect excuse that the League would believe, Wally noticed a sign on the wall.

All personnel must receive mandatory counseling every six months.

...On the other hand, maybe therapy would be better.

Author's Note: There will be a sequel to this. It will focus on recovery.