A/N: Oh my gawd, people actually like my story so far. That's just...amazing. I can't even-Just wow. So, all of those who reviewed, thank you so, so much. Everytime I'd see a new review my heart kinda leaped for joy and then did an excited little dance. So, once again, thank you so so so much for reviewing. This chapter is going to have some Brotherly Wally, heavy Bluepulse, and light Birdflash. Well, you can only see the Birdlash if you ship them, because if not then all you see is friendship. Oh, and I swear there is a method to my madness! So far all you have read is poor Blue getting hurt for no reason, because it shouldn't hurt that he got put on Mode, right? Well, I have a reason for that, and it ties into the plot later. So, I talk too much. Sorry. Now on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.

Bart sat in the uncomfortable hospital chair with his knees pulled tight against his chest, his arms hugging them close and holding on to his elbows, and his head rested on his knee caps. He stared blankly at the Latino teen who tossed and turned in the bed, his eyes clamped closed and small cries escaping his chapped lips though he was still asleep. One could obviously see the metal plates from the Scarab shifting under his tanned skin and it was disgusting to watch. Occasionally, Bart and whomever else was in the room at the time, could hear yet another bone snap under the Scarab's will and force out an unconscious plea from Jaime. Grayson had told Bart that, from what knowledge they gathered from their sources, the Scarab wasn't killing Jaime, but re-arranging him to what the Scarab saw fit. Of course the proccess would not be pleasant, but there wasn't much anyone could do to stop it.

Each time a doctor or another hero would try to cut Jaime open to fix him, or try to inject an anti-biotic or IV, the armor beneath the Mexican's skin would block it. All anyone could really do was lay the thrashing teen in a hospital bed and hope for the best. Nightwing had travelled to El Paso and explained to Jaime's family that he was in a sort of 'Witness Protection' program, and would be released as soon as they 'caught the villian'. They believed him without a doubt, he was a superhero, and didn't question any further, besides asking if Jaime was safe. Nightwing had smiled and said, "Of course, nothing will hurt him under our protection".

Oh, the irony.

For three agonizing days Jaime had been asleep. And for those three days, Bart never left his side. The Team would try to trail him out with food, but he wouldn't budge. They had to forcefully shove the food into his mouth and tell him to chew. His teammates would try to negotiate with him with promises of "he'll be alright", but the speedster refused to abandon his friend. Some team members even tried to pick him up and drag him away but he would simply phase through them, never stopping his blank stare towards Jaime. He didn't ever leave the room. Beast Boy tried to lighten the mood once by jokingly asking "How have you not gone to the bathroom yet?" but Bart didn't acknowledge him. He didn't acknowledge anyone who spoke to him. He just stared at Jaime.

It was Barbara who suggested they call Wally, since the Garretts nor Barry were successful in moving Bart, no matter how hard they tried. Maybe the red-head would cause some sort of reaction out of him. Wally didn't want anything to do with their situation at first, but hearing about how still Impulse had been for three whole days, he was a bit worried. So he begrudgingly stomped to a zeta-tube and went to his cousin's aid. When he reached the hospital, he wasn't surprised that everyone was in the waiting room. Though none of them knew Jaime very well, they were scared for his future. Most of them loved Bart, of course, so the fact that he was so broken over Jaime scared them too. Wally refused to look at his old teammates though, and walked straight to the room where his cousin sat.

The room was stark white, as most hospital rooms were, and the only colour was Jaime's skin and Bart's clothes. Said speedster sat with his knees pulled tight to his chest and his head resting on them. He didn't flinch, or show any sign that Wally had walked in, but just continued to gaze upon the unconscious Jaime. Wally pulled a nearby chair to sit it beside Bart, then slumped into the squeaky seat. He took a long moment to gather his thoughts, not sure with how to approach the situation, and took a deep breath. Wally used to be great with cheering people up, but after he got with Artemis, it seemed he lost that ability. So now, as he sat beside the depressed child, he had really regretted letting the archer mellow him out like that. Just as Wally opened his mouth to say something, though now that he thinks back, he really didn't have anything to say, a small voice interrupted.

"Have you ever had a best friend?"

The college student stiffened. Where was Bart going with this? Was he just asking random questions? Wally shook his head to clear his thoughts and took another deep breath.

"Yes."

It was true. Him and Dick...they had known eachother forever. They had known everything about the other and were rarely apart. The bestest of friends. Every nightmare Dick had, Wally would hold him, even as they got older. Every fight Wally got into with his father, Dick would comfort him. They always knew how to make the other laugh and it was only with Wally that Dick would actually snort. Wally smirked at the memory, but caught himself and straightened the grin back into a frown. It was different now. Dick was just an old stranger.

"In my future..." Bart glanced down to the floor briefly. "There was no such thing as 'best friends'. Not even 'friends'. We had allies, but you could never truly trust someone. Not in the conditions we lived in."

"Your point?" Wally hadn't meant to sound rude, but the subject was uncomfortable.

"My point is that I've never had a best friend until now." He squinted his green eyes, trying to keep his stupid tears in. "I've never been so close with a person...I've never trusted someone as much as I trust him."

"So this...is the first time you've been hurt like this." Wally finished, his face grim. "And you don't know how to deal with it."

Bart nodded solemnly. "Everytime he makes one of those noises it just hurts so much."

Wally didn't know how to reply, and Bart seemed to sense it. So he carried on with his explanation.

"From the beggining, Jaime has been so nice to me. After we were kidnapped by the Reach when Mount Justice exploded, and I told him about he would...will become...He was still my friend. If anything, me revealing that to him brought us closer." He sighed, defeated. "Ever since then we've just...I don't know, bonded? I have spent every other weekend at his house, and all the other weekends he spends at mine, er, the Garretts'. As soon as he gets out of school, he calls me and tells me about his day and I just shut up and listen. I never just shut up and listen. I always talk! But, he changed that."

The older speedster felt an unwanted feeling of Deja Vu, but didn't dare interrupt Bart.

"When I have a nightmare...He hugs me and tells me that everything is going to be okay and that he'll protect me...", He squeezes himself tighter and tries to pretend that it's Jaime holding him and not himself. "We watch cheesy Disney movies together all the time, because where I'm from we don't have televisions, and he's set on making me watch every single Disney movie ever made. Sometimes his sister comes in and watches for a bit, but she usually just leaves us alone."

Bart smiled. "And sometimes when he gets really excited or angry, he'll just switch to Spanish, and then when he sees that he did he gets all flustered and has this cute little blush on his face..."

The smile faltered.

"Just the thought of knowing that Jaime, my Jaime, is dead and that a new, scary Jaime is going to be born...It just kills me."

"Bart..."

Wally transferred his gaze from Jaime to his cousin, just to see the smaller boy bury his face into his palms and let out a terrified sob. The older teen didn't know what made him do this, he wasn't all that close to Bart, but a deep-seeded instinct caused Wally to reach out and effortlessly pull him into his lap, cradling Bart like the child he was. He rocked back and forth slowly, much like he used to with Dick, and ran his fingers through the red mop of messy hair. Wally knew that Jaime wasn't dead or missing, but as he laid on the bed, whimpering and goraning, he was gone to Bart. And if he was on mode like they thought...He would be gone forever. He would be the monster that haunted Bart's dreams. He would be dead to Bart.

"I can't say that I've been in your situation, but I've lost a...best friend too." He struggled as he spoke. "And I know exactly how much it hurts."

Bart's voice was muffled. "How did you lose him?"

"He-"

It wasn't Dick's fault. It had never been Dick's fault. Dick was the one fighting for Wally, yelling and screaming and fighting for him becaused they were just that close and Wally was pushing him just too far. For those couple of weeks of transition, Wally had been fighting with Dick all of the time and he just got tired of it. So, in the end, he chose Artemis over his best friend. They had been in the middle of another screaming match when Wally had said it. And nothing has ever even come close to hurting him as much as the look on Dick's face did.

"God damn it, Wally! How could you forget something like that?" Dick cried out, his face flushed with anger. "You know how important their anniversary is to me and you just completely blew me off! Why?"

"I was with Artemis!" He yelped back, his fists clenching. "You know how important she is to me!"

"Of course you were with her..." He mumbled, shaking his head before yelling again. "You're such an asshole! You couldn't cancel one date to help me?"

"I thought the Batman didn't need help?"

"I'm not him! Don't even fucking go there!"

"Why not?" He stepped foward and poked the little bird in the chest. "You obviously want to fight, so I'm just picking it up a notch!"

"I don't want to fight with you, Wally!" He slapped his freckled hand away and snarled. "I just want you to hang out with me a little more! But it's always about Artemis, right?"

"Did you ever stop and think that maybe I like her more?"

The blue eyed boy's eyes widened and his mouth resembled an 'O'. He faltered, taking a step back as if his best friend's words literally hit him. His dark eyebrows furrowed together in confusion and hurt because he just didn't understand. "What are you saying?"

"That maybe..." Wally turned away from him as he spoke his next words, forcing them out and nearly choking on them. "That maybe I don't want to be your best friend anymore, Dick."

"I messed up." He finally whispered, his hold on Bart tightening. "I was angry and I messed up and I can't ever fix it."

"But...He's still alive."

"No." He turned his head away, too ashamed to look Bart in the eyes. "What I said...I killed the old him, my him. He's a new him now. And this new him wants nothing to do with me."

They both stayed silent and still, unlike everything a speedster should be. But then again, nothing was as it should be.

A/N: So this chapter focused on the recoil from what happened last chapter, so it's really kind of a filler. It was really rushed, wasn't it? I felt like it was but I really tried to make it all feelings and stuff so...Ugh, I failed. As for the Birdflash, I was just going to have a couple mentions and stuff but it morphed itself into this. Oops. Like I said earlier, I swear I have a plot and it isn't just me being mean to Blue and Impulse. I actually have this awesome, elaborate plot that is going to rock your socks off. And did everyone get why Jaime was hurting last chapter? The Scarab is re-arranging his insides to 'perfection' because you know the Reach is. Everything has to be perfect. Please be nice and leave a review! I'm still iffy on continuing this because it kinda sucks so...yeah. Thanks for reading!