He woke up groggy, his head pounding inside his skull. Lights were dim overhead but the familiar walls of stone and slight wet smell allowed him to piece together where he was. "Dick?" He questioned, his voice coming out garbled.

"I would hold off from sitting up if I were you Master West." The elderly gentleman stood rising into Wally's field of blurry vision.

"What happened Alfred?" Wally winced and closed his eyes, why was his voice so loud?

"Before or after you arrived at the scene?"

"All of it." Alfred took his seat again beside the hospital bed Wally was currently occupying and sighed.

"Master Richard was dispatched by Batman to patrol the docks, since he was indisposed dealing with Poison Ivy. There were twenty, or twenty-five men there, some armed, all of them heading towards multiple unmarked crates by the end of the docks." Wally turned to look at him, but the older man was looking at his lap. "He took down ten quickly, but they were huge and on some strain of Bane's venom and… that's when you showed up Master West."

"Big help I was."

"Never doubt yourself Master West, you helped greatly. You took down ten of your own before one of them got in a lucky blow. Seven and half inch blade, double edged, right between your third and fourth rib."

"Any serious damage?"

"The blade punctured your spleen, but I imagine it's almost healed already." Wally let out a breath and gave him a quick nod.

"What was in the needle? I'm guessing that's why I feel like I was hit by an eighteen wheeler."

"An elephant dosage of sodium thiopental; which I fear they were going to use on the women Master Richard found in the crates." The redhead let out an audible groan and lifted his heavy arm to cover his face.

"Is everyone else okay?" He asked from under his arm.

"No thanks to you man," Dick said as he came down the stairs into the cave. "If you hadn't been there it might be me lying here, and as far as I know I don't have speed healing."

"There's a technical term for it but I'm still so drugged up that I'm okay with you calling it 'speed healing'." He held out his hand to Dick, "help me up man so I can get home."

"Master West I must advise a-"

"I had to leave my date with a gorgeous woman who I shouldn't even have a freaking shot with, to go help my best friend beat the shit out of some thugs, and then ended up stabbed and pumped full of drugs, and now I just want to fucking go home." Wally sucked in a deep breath and rubbed his hands over his face. "Sorry."

"It's cool Wally; I'll drive you to the nearest zeta tube." Dick held out his hand and waited for Wally to take it then hauled him to his feet; he swayed for a minute and grabbed his friend to steady himself.

"Thanks."

The closest zeta tube was only ten miles from the house so as soon as Wally was dressed in some spare civvies he had left at the house they hopped in Dick's sixty-five mustang and sped out into the night. Or morning, Wally hadn't bothered looking at a clock.

"Wally," Dick said as they pulled to a stop at the end of a dark alley, "try not to get in any trouble on the way home." The ginger let out a low chuckle and nodded before exiting the vehicle. He stumbled his way down the alley, keeping a hand on the brick wall the whole time. His knuckles whitened as he gripped the door handle hard on the police telephone box and yanked it open.

"B03 Keystone, Kansas." He pulled out his cell-phone and looked at the time '2:30am' blinked up at him. He squeezed his eyes shut tight as white light filled the blue box, and gripped his phone tightly. When the light vanished he slumped against the side of the box and breathed heavily, a stinging sensation radiating from his side.

"Shit," he muttered bringing up the contacts in his phone. "This is going to be humiliating." She picked up after the third ring her voice hoarse from sleep.

"You ditched me during our date and now you're calling me at three in the morning, what is wrong with you?"

"Actually," Wally let out a haggard cough, "it's only two thirty."

"Wally, are you okay?!" She asked her voice losing all hints of tiredness.

"I could be better babe." He exited the box, now in Keystone, and slumped down against it.

"Where are you?" His breath was becoming shallow, and when he touched his side with his hand it came away marked with blood.

"Something's wrong Artemis I'm-" Wally tried to suck in air but the pain was becoming unbearable.

"Wally calm down, just tell me where you are."

"I'm, shit Artemis I… alley between Fourth and Sullivan."

"I'm on my bike now Wally I'll be there as soon as I can." With that the line went dead and Wally was left alone on the ground, blood leaking from his side.