I don't know what it was that brought tears to my eyes, but the second I saw Bailey standing there, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her until I could only feel her and nothing of the real world. She hugged me back hard enough to stop my breathing and I heard her breath catch and grow ragged before she just barely whispered, "I missed you." I missed her so much…. It felt so nice to finally hug her again… see her again…

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Artemis' words ran rapid through Wally's mind, causing his fingers to antsily dance along his jean leg as he tried to think of a way to get out of class to come to his friend's aid. His red Converse were a blur as they drummed quietly against the tiled floor, eyes darting anxiously to every corner of the room for a simple excuse. As his eyes fell on the bathroom pass, a scene played out behind his eyelids.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" he imagined himself raising his arm lazily.

The teacher's eyes narrowed at him, her head shaking in a way that loosened her bun more than it needed to be. Her arms folded over the front of her pantsuit, her glare becoming disapproving in a blink.

"We're in the middle of a lesson, West. Is it an emergency?" she impatiently asked, the dry erase marker earning a cap.

The tan head bobbed eagerly, dramatically crossing his ankles.

"I have to go really bad!" he heard himself whine.

He watched his teacher push her glasses up with her index and middle finger, the annoying way she always insisted on using. Her gray eyes lazily rolled, starting to turn back to the white board to resume the example on it for the rest of the class who had their Algebra notebooks cracked open to copy down what she wrote.

"You should've gone before class," she snidely remarked, uncapping the green again and finishing the 29 she had abandoned.

He imagined himself making a strained face, looking about the room before switching to his last resort.

"I didn't want to say it, but I just started and I love these jeans. Can I please go?" he had to struggle not to smile, running a hand up his forehead through his bangs.

He earned a few snickers, but the teacher's back stayed turned.

"I'm glad to hear the operation was a success, Miss West, but you'll just have to wait until the notes are finished. A little blood will come out easily once you get home," came the reply, earning more laughs and turning the skin beneath his freckles a dark scarlet.

'Well damn, that won't work,' Wally lazily cupped his face in his hands, looking from his notebook to the board again.

The brunette up front continued on and on with the lesson, never seeming to want to end. She didn't understand the importance of how badly he needed to leave to save his best friend. No teacher ever did, causing his eyes to drift just enough for him to spot the stapler at the front of the room. A sparkle glinted in his eyes, a smirk creeping over his lips as he quietly edged up from his seat with a spare pencil in hand, making his way for the pencil sharpener.

He earned a cautious glare, but the dry erase marker continued its path on the board once the crank of the sharpener cut the air. He waited until everyone was looking down at their notes before moving his hand in a blur that would keep the handle spinning so no one would look his way. Then he creeped over to the teacher's desk, eying his hand and deciding his ring finger wasn't as necessary as the others. He quickly set his hand between the stapler's sides and forced his palm against the top, digging a staple into the middle digit of his ring finger with a gasp of pain.

"Agh! Miss Johnson! Can I go to the nurse?" he urgently asked, holding his hand up to show the blood that was slowly crawling down and staining his skin, outlining every little line.

She turned around, ready to silence him, gasping at the sight with a quick nod. She darted over, eyes wide with sympathy before she handed him the nurse pass and pushed him for the door.

"Hurry," she urged, ignoring the wide-eyed stares that watched on fearfully.

Wally had to swallow a grin, pretending to be terrified as he ran for the door and shut it fast, going down the hall to where the nurse's office was. He ran right past it though for the front door, dropping the pass on the mat before exiting the school. He paused against the concrete wall to vibrate his fingers swiftly, easily dislodging the staple from his finger with a small smirk. He wiped the blood off on his jeans and quickly became a blur on the sidewalk.

He touched a hand to his com. link with a small smile, "Rob, what's your location? Artemis told me a little of what happened and I'm on my way to… well… do my thing."

He ran in silence for the longest time, the wind viciously whipping at his cheeks and giving an odd blurred noise to his ears that he had long ago begun to love. He heard a familiar little click and his heart jumped for joy, thinking he'd hear the ebony's voice cut the line.

"Get back to school, Kid Flash. Robin is my responsibility, and he doesn't need your 'thing'. If you honor your life, I suggest you turn on heel and head back," Batman's gravelly voice harshly echoed back, causing a surprised squeak from the ginger's lips.

"B-but… B-Batman! H-he… the news this morning…" he began to argue.

At the mention of the news, he couldn't help but smirk as he remembered seeing his own face on there from nearly a year ago when his hair had been long and shaggy.

'Wallace Allen,' he remembered the name they gave him, rolling his eyes with a bit of relief that he hadn't been rightfully identified or recognized yet.

The happiness was cut short when he felt a shiver run down his spine as he could feel the Bat Glare sending like a reply.

"Batman…" Robin's voice came on softly, "I like his 'thing'… it always makes me feel better… can I please talk to him?"

Wally kept running, his Converse continuing to slap at the asphalt below as he flew through the busy streets, listening intently to the silent conversation the hero and ex-sidekick seemed to be having. It went on for a while until the ebony's voice came up.

"Alright, this isn't working, Batman. I can't see your expression. KF's my best bro…" he tried aiding the argument, his tone broken with an edge.

The ginger felt a happy tint run along his cheek bones, smiling shyly as he recognized the crossing of state lines.

"Then you can see your 'best bro' up at Mount Justice. Kid Flash, head that way and round up the others. We need to find out what's happening," Batman ordered.

The ginger gave no further word, taking a sharp turn to head to the nearest ZETA.

"See you later," the youngest on the line muttered softly, presumably to the redhead, earning another wide smile at it.

"Later, dude," Wally grinned, turning off his com. link and speeding up with gleaming eyes.

When Dick heard footsteps head for his alley, he weakly climbed off of the trashcan that had served as his chair for a half hour of butt cramps too long. He curled his hands into tight fists, hesitating until he recognized the dark shadow running to meet him. A shy grin took over his face, his cheeks marred from the heartbreak, darting fast to greet the costumed man. He paused in front of the spandex-skinned hero though, his arms halfway lifted, the shyness quickly growing strong as he hopefully gazed up at the cowl.

The regular frown was hesitant, but it only took another glance at how vulnerable his ward looked for Batman to open his arms as well, allowing the shorter ebony to lunge forward and wrap his strong arms around the Dark Knight's chest. He hid his eyes on the Bat Symbol, his breath growing shaky again, even after the covered arms wrapped around his back to hold him close.

"Are you alright?" Batman was the first, for once, to break the silence that had settled over them, looking down at the black head of hair that was still slicked back evenly.

Dick's head went from the left to the right, slightly tickling the elder's stomach as he did so, mumbling under his breath roughly. The muffled speech continued until the ebony came to realize that there was a chance his guardian couldn't understand anything he said. He weakly pulled back from the hug, sitting along the wall instead and pulling his knees up to his chest, hugging them to secure them.

Pulling his cowl down to the nape of his neck, Bruce crossed the alley to sit beside him, still watching him with cautious eyes. Blue eyes raised to meet his gaze before the ex-sidekick leaned against his mentor's shoulder, closing his eyes in the softest manner he knew.

"I'm… they… they all…" he struggled to formulate words worth sharing, "Is it… my… fault?"

Bruce's expression grew wounded, his lips parting in surprise before he threw his arm around his ward's shoulders, shocking them both with the affectionate action.

"It is not your fault. If they identified Artemis as well, there isn't even the remotest way that you are to blame. You have no relation to her as Dick Grayson… right?" he had to hesitate, cocking his head in suspicion towards the teen resting against his chest.

Dick tensed, his eyes widening with a look that quickly accused the older man of needing a straitjacket to bind his limbs to keep from hurting himself or anyone else. That was enough to ease a sigh of relief from the man in the Batman costume, the arm around his shoulders holding him closer protectively.

"No one knows what's going on exactly, but it's going to be okay… We'll always have our masks… and… each other…" Bruce struggled on the words, not quite the family man type.

Dick's eyes widened again in surprise, a grin of disbelief passing over his lips before he lay his head back down with a gentle breath of a laugh, swelling the elder's heart like the Grinch's had on that fateful Christmas morning.

"What are we if they know who we are?" his ward mumbled quietly under his breath. "The baddies could learn of our pasts and torture us with the information they know… bring us to places that we find too uncomfortable to fight in… destroy all that we love…"

Bruce curled his fingers around Dick's arm, tapping it to earn his attention.

"Don't worry about anything, Dick. They can't use anything against us if we put nothing to our names. There's nothing we need more than Alfred, and we'll get him to Mount Justice or the Watch Tower as soon as we can," he assured the ebony, his eyes warm and promising.

The warmth didn't seem to pass off though, the discomfort holding its play stubbornly over his features where it seemed to want to stay.

"B-but… but I…" Dick melted, finding himself wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, instantly bringing worry back to Bruce's long list of emotions to contort his expression.

He stood to his feet, pulling his ward up with him as well as his cowl, heading around the corner with Dick still under his arm towards the Batmobile.

"I don't want any but unless it's yours getting into the passenger's seat. We have to go find out who I have to take care of for making you cry."

I am so, so, so sorry. I can't describe how sorry I am with words, actions or images. Nothing can describe it, unless I say: "Writer's Stifling". If you don't know what I'm talking about, you obviously don't watch NCIS and I'm disappointed in you, as you should be with me for taking so long to update. I wish it was better, but this is the best I can offer… Review?

-F.J. III