[The Watchtower

March 26, 21:10 EST]

Rudy fired the pistol and Barry dropped onto his back, pressing as flat as possible against the floor. The blast grazed over the logo on his chest and splashed into the wall behind him. Barry lifted his forearm and blocked another one meant for his face, "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

His brother-in-law just growled at him and kept firing. Barry hunched over to protect his head and neck, taking a deep breath. This was going to hurt…

He coiled the muscles in his left leg and launched himself into a sideways roll, coming to a rocky stop beside the cabinets in one corner. Barry had tried to keep hold of his mostly severed leg, but even just barely jostling it was painful enough to make the room swim before his eyes.

He slumped against the cabinets and swallowed his nausea down. The tranquillizer was flooding through his system too fast. It hadn't nullified his powers, but it was going to knock him out in a matter of seconds. Barry mustered his strength and slammed his fist into the cabinets, breaking off two small doors with a great, splintering crash. He blocked the energy blasts with one door and hurled the other at Rudy. It hit him in the arm and knocked the energy pistol up into his face.

Barry slowly slid forward as he started to black out, willing his metabolism to speed up. The tranquilizer might take him down faster, but he'd burn it off just as quickly. He just hoped that the energy blast to the face would keep Rudy down just as long.

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[The Watchtower

March 26, 21:20 EST]

Wally tried to listen to the communicator and fight at the same time. His uncle had responded to a call for help by himself, and Wally was waiting to hear any kind of status report through the earpiece. He'd immediately gotten a bad feeling – the same thing he'd felt when Roy had told him that Professor Zoom was out and running around.

He worked back to back with Conner and Big Barda, who were the only ones durable enough to withstand the explosions he was setting off. Barda was shooting devastating blasts from her Mega-rod and violently kicking aside any Manhunters that tried to sneak up on her.

Conner leapt onto a Manhunter, tackling it to the ground and driving his fist into its core. Energy blasts lanced across his back and burned holes into his black t-shirt, which was little more than tatters at this point. His jeans were only faring slightly better. Man, they really needed to get him a real suit. Wally and the Team had been working on designing one for him and they were trying to finish it by his 'birthday'. Currently, the latest version was a red, blue, and yellow jumpsuit with a leather jacket and the 'S' shield on the chest. None of them really knew how Superman would like it, but they also kind of didn't care. Everyone was still a touch bitter about him.

Wally ran at the Manhunters shooting him and vibrated his arm through them before knocking them as far away from the others as he could get.

A few minutes ago, they'd all heard a massive explosion from the level above and seen fire and debris fall through the hole. After that, they couldn't get either team to give any indication that they were okay. The sounds of fighting let them know that someone was still up and giving hell, but they had no way to know who or how many. The communicators to the levels above were little more than static, and M'gann wasn't answering their requests for a telepathic link.

Grifter was too busy aiming and operating his twenty guns to spare the mental focus it would take to check on them himself. Wally, Conner, and Artemis were forced to put their worry aside as best they could. They fought as a unit, merging both teams surprisingly well.

Grifter kept up a constant barrage on the doorway, controlling the Manhunter traffic entering the room. Roy and Artemis were furiously picking off the few that got past him while Conner, Wally, and Barda took out the rest before they could get to the archers and Grifter.

Wally grabbed a Manhunter and spun it in a circle, stealing its weapon before it could reorient itself and firing the baton. The Manhunter staggered back from the blows until an arrow to the back of the knee from Artemis brought it down. Wally was on it in a second, planting his feet on the Manhunter's stomach and jamming the baton right into the core. He kept his finger pressed down on the trigger until the baton was firmly stuck in molten metal and the Manhunter's eyes had gone dark.

Wally leapt off the heap of scrap metal and left the baton behind. Another thunderous boom shook the Watchtower, and Wally couldn't help glancing up nervously. He hadn't seen Dick since he threw down the grapnel gun that Wally had strapped to his leg, and he had no idea if he was okay or not.

He had to be, though, didn't he? He was Robin. Wally knew that the Manhunters weren't fighting with kid gloves on, but he couldn't even begin to imagine Dick dying. It just didn't really seem possible. He had to be okay, or else…the world didn't make sense.

After all they'd survived so far, surely they'd make it out of this too.

It didn't make him feel better.

Wally's earpiece shrieked again, and he shivered. This time, it wasn't Elongated Man's voice. Firestorm was yelling into the communicator over the noise on his end.

"We could really use some help at the detention level! The maximum security wing is completely overrun, and two members of our team are down!"

Wally's insides started to writhe uneasily again.

Green Arrow's voice answered, "Flash ran down there a few minutes ago to give you backup."

"He's not here," Firestorm said in a strained voice. The sound of constant energy blasts threatened to drown out his words. "-never showed up!"

Wally froze in place, and an energy blast tagged him in the ribcage.

Oh God…

The chatter on the communicator alternated between Oliver and Batman trying to get Uncle Barry to respond. He never did. Wally felt like he wanted to throw up. His whole body started vibrating anxiously, and he was in danger of phasing through the floor again. Something really bad had happened to his uncle. He knew it.

"Flash!" he keyed the microphone on his communicator.

Nothing.

Wally saw Conner pause in between smashing Manhunters to look back at him with wide, sympathetic eyes. Wally just stared back, his whole body trembling as he waited for Uncle Barry to answer on the radio. He was the closest thing to a real father figure that Wally had ever had. If anything happened to Uncle Barry, Wally didn't know what he'd do. What would he tell Aunt Iris?

"Supey, I gotta go," Wally whispered, knowing that Conner's keen ears would pick up his words clearly.

Sure enough, Conner gave him a small nod. He looked reluctant to let Wally go alone but didn't argue, "You need me to clear you a path?"

Roy and Artemis heard him that time. Roy's eyes tore from the Manhunters and fixed on Conner, "What?"

Wally purposely avoided his older friend's gaze. Roy would try to stop him, and he really needed to go find his uncle. No one else in the Watchtower could spare themselves to help, and Wally knew that his uncle was in trouble. He wasn't sure if it was something to do with their powers or not, but he was positive that he wasn't wrong.

Wally increased the frequency of his nervous vibrations and shook his head, "No thanks. I can manage."

"What are you planning?" Roy sounded angry now and worried. Wally didn't answer him. "Kid!"

He was ready in seconds, pressing his fingers to his earpiece, "I'm going after Flash, and then we'll help Firestorm's team."

"No you aren't!" Roy shouted immediately, still laying down heavy fire on the endless stream of Manhunters.

"Kid Flash, do not go to the detention level," Batman's voice ordered darkly over the communicator. He sounded gravelly, and the tone implied in no uncertain terms that Wally was to obey without question. "Stay where you are."

That made Wally swallow apprehensively. The thought of directly ignoring an order from Batman made him feel ill, but he'd do it for his uncle.

"Can't. Sorry," he answered shortly and took off full speed right at the doorway full of Manhunters clamoring to get in.

"Kid!" Roy yelled after him frantically, but Wally didn't stop.

He charged into the Manhunters, phasing through multiple androids, arrows, and bullets without faltering even a single step. The stairwell to the detention level was to the right, but Wally went left first where all the Manhunters were filing in from. He burned down the hallway, vibrating through as many Manhunters as he could before doubling back to the right.

"KF!" Roy called from behind him. The Manhunters in the hallway exploded all at once, drowning out his voice.

But, Wally didn't stop. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him, playing it safe and dodging around Manhunters instead of attacking them. He figured that if he was disobeying orders, he could at least do this and avoid combat where no one needed his help. It was staggering, however, to see how much of the Watchtower they'd lost to the Manhunters; they were everywhere.

Wally ignored his communicator and ran. He made it to the detention level in seconds and nearly tripped over Black Lightning as he rounded the corner. He skirted around the unconscious hero's body and bent down to turn him over and check if he was breathing. That's when he saw Elongated Man down at the end of the hall and heard energy blasts and loud cursing from a branching corridor to his right.

Wally recognized the voice.

Heart pounding frantically, Wally dashed towards the noises. He cleared all the cells and turned a sharp corner into the last open cell where the lights and sounds were coming from. His brain processed everything he was seeing lightning fast.

Uncle Barry was lying on his side with one leg twisted grotesquely backwards below the knee. At first glance, Wally thought it was just broken, but it was almost completely cut off. He wasn't moving or crying out as Wally's dad unloaded an energy baton at him. His dad was dressed in Manhunter armor again with his helmet thrown aside. His face was screwed up in rage, eyes bulging out and skin turning purple.

Wally slammed into him as hard as he could, shoving his father into the glass divider, "Get away from him!"

His dad's head cracked against the glass, and he looked dazed for a moment. Wally knocked the baton from his hand and zipped back to Uncle Barry. He fumbled to press his fingers to the side of his uncle's neck, searching for a pulse. It was there, but it was way too slow for a speedster. Wally kept waiting and felt the heartbeat start to speed up. He let out a shaky half sob of relief and turned around to face his dad.

Wally expected him to say something hateful – something cruel and spoken specifically to hurt. Instead, his dad just lifted an energy pistol from his belt and pointed it right between Wally's eyes, his expression grim and unfeeling.

Wally suddenly remembered hot bullets tearing through his body, and he froze in place. His dad had the same look in his eyes as he did that day. He was going to shoot him just like last time, but Wally wasn't the same person anymore. He wasn't a victim.

He ducked beneath the energy blast at the same time that a jet of hurricane force air shot by next to him and slammed his dad into the glass again. He hit it so hard that big cracks started webbing out from the impact.

When Wally turned around in surprise, he found Uncle Barry awake and propping himself up with one arm. His other arm was outstretched at Wally's dad and rotating at superspeed. Uncle Barry's blue eyes were sparking dangerously with power and narrowed at Wally's dad in a livid glare. He vibrated his hand at an odd frequency until something resembling a ball of lightning formed around his fingers. Uncle Barry's arm flickered, and he hurled the lightning at Wally's father.

The lightning hit him dead in the chest, and he jerked in convulsions as the current ran through his armor and into his body. Wally watched in shock as his father collapsed in howling agony, limbs twitching from the aftershocks.

He snatched the pistol away from him before his dad regained his senses and turned it on him. Wally's fingers tightened around the unfamiliar grip, and his hands shook as he stood firmly between his father and uncle, "Stay down."

His dad cracked his eyes open in stunned anger and lunged unsteadily forwards.

Wally shot him in the foot.

It didn't play out like Wally thought it would. He'd imagined that his dad would drop to his knees, crying and begging for his life. He'd apologize for everything he'd done and ask Wally to forgive him. Wally expected to feel powerful – in control for once.

Instead, his dad gasped in pain and jerked back against the glass. Then the entire back wall of the cell caved in with a thunderous crash, and a Green Lantern was thrown inside with his light extinguished. The vacuum of space immediately sucked the dead alien back out into darkness along with the entire loose contents of the cell.

Wally's dad looked behind him at the open maw on the other side of the heavily damaged partition, and all the color drained from his face.

"Wally, run!" Uncle Barry shouted desperately, even though he could barely crawl with his leg.

The cracking in the glass spread quickly under the pressure, and the whole thing seemed to shift backwards. His dad lunged for his discarded helmet, but he didn't make it in time. The partition was pulled out in great chunks, and Wally watched in slow motion as his dad was gradually pulled inch by inch out through the hole.

Wally had time to save him.

He could've sprinted forwards and grabbed his dad before firing the grapnel gun Dick had thrown down to him. He could have saved his dad's life, but…he didn't.

He zipped over to Uncle Barry's side instead. Wally hooked his arm around his uncle's chest and fired the grappling hook into the floor where it dug in firmly and held fast. Uncle Barry clutched onto him in startled surprise as they were all dragged towards the breach. Wally twisted around in fear and locked eyes with his father for the last time.

He was trying to claw his way along the floor with both arms outstretched and his expression showing dismay and mortal terror. Wally watched him gasp for air and saw his eyes bulging from the pressure.

The grappling hook's de-cel line snapped taut and jerked Wally and Uncle Barry to a halt in midair. Wally's shoulder threatened to pop, and he held onto the fabric of his uncle's uniform with a death grip. When he felt secure enough that the line wouldn't break, he looked back again.

This time, his dad was gone. The edges of the breach rapidly grew back until the hole was the size of a dinner plate. The pull lessened, and Wally and his uncle hit the floor as artificial gravity returned. Seconds after that, the nanomites had sealed the breath.

Wally released his white-knuckled hold on Uncle Barry and flopped onto his back, fingers still wrapped around the grapnel gun.

He stared wide-eyed up at the flickering lights above them and tried to breathe in the thin air. His father was dead… Wally had let him die. He hadn't helped his own dad.

Uncle Barry was clutching his mostly severed leg with tightly gritted teeth. He sat up with a stifled groan of pain, and Wally's eyes flitted over to him for an instant.

"Wally…" Uncle Barry took his shoulder and coaxed him to look up. He should've been crying out in pain and tending to his leg, but the concern in his eyes was directed wholly at Wally.

Wally hadn't realized how badly he was vibrating until his uncle had to force him to stop. He just gave Uncle Barry a helpless, scared look – reflecting exactly what he was feeling on the inside, "I didn't want to save him…I-I didn't want…to-"

"No," Uncle Barry shook his head firmly. He wrapped an arm around Wally's shoulder with some difficulty and tried to move him closer, but Wally was like a statue. "Don't do this to yourself again. This wasn't your fault. You didn't have any reason to save him."

"He was a human being!" Wally insisted, as if that was reason enough.

"Barely…" Uncle Barry scoffed bitterly, but his expression softened immediately after when he realized that his grudges weren't going to be of any help here. "I'm sorry, kid."

"I never wanted him dead," Wally mentally fumbled to explain. "But I…didn't want to save him. I couldn't make my body move."

"Oh, Kid," Uncle Barry eyed him mournfully. "Please don't let yourself overcomplicate this. We are already going to need so much therapy as it is."

Wally's mouth twitched upwards in an almost smile, but he sobered quickly at the memory of his father's dying expression. It would be with him forever. He'd never forget.

"It was an accident," Uncle Barry said soothingly, trying to keep him from going into shock. "And he didn't really leave you very much incentive to help him. Listen closely, though. You're not any less of a hero because you didn't save him. If you need someone to blame, then blame me. I was ready to kill him."

Wally just sat there in a daze, unable to look at anything but his uncle's destroyed leg. His father had done that. To Wally's hero. Now the leg just lay at a horrific angle, twisted uselessly. For a terrifying moment, Wally wondered if it could even be repaired or not. Would Uncle Barry lose his leg because of how much Wally's dad loathed him?

"I didn't want to save him," Wally repeated with more conviction this time and less dismay. "But I wanted to save you."

Uncle Barry opened his mouth to respond but shut it instantly. It seemed like the full gravity of what Wally said hit him all at once. Wally had chosen to save him over his own father.

"Thank you," Uncle Barry told him very seriously, making sure to look him right in the eyes. "You know that your aunt and I aren't going to let you go through this alone, don't you?"

Wally nodded, but he was still wrapped up in the fact that both his mom and dad were dead. He really was orphaned now.

"Come on," Uncle Barry said reluctantly. "Put it all aside for now. This still isn't over."

"You can't fight like that!" Wally got to his feet and looked down at his uncle incredulously.

"I've fought in worse condition before," Uncle Barry countered with a fierce look in his eyes. "I do need something to keep the leg in place though."

Wally immediately started rummaging through what was left of the cabinets and their contents before giving up and tearing off a full sleeve of his costume. He knelt down in front of Uncle Barry and hesitated, trying to decide what to do. Should he just…turn the leg the right way and…match it up with the other half? Wally wasn't entirely sure that Uncle Barry could stand to stay conscious through that. But, what other choice did they have? There was no anesthetic and no time to find any.

"Go ahead," Uncle Barry took a deep breath and grabbed a large chunk of a torn cabinet to clamp between his teeth. "I trust you."

Wally's fingers tightened on the fabric of his own sleeve, and he felt his stomach turn nervously. He avoided Uncle Barry's eyes and tried not to think about the unimaginable pain that was about to fill them.

He reached for his uncle's leg.