"Poor unlucky boy…" Ivy cooed, her vines bringing the speedster close, "…. Entranced by a pretty face… only to meet another."

Wally weakly glared at her, still too stunned to try and escape the vines, "Lady, you're green…. Never in a million years would I consider you to be a pretty face. Now, let me go!"

He needed to find Dick…. Dick was in trouble, he needed to help Dick.

She snarled in fury, bringing his face close to hers, "Don't. Push. Your. Luck…. You're cute, but you're not that cute."

…

"There…" Slade brushed a lock of hair away from Dick's face as he lay unconscious on the bed, "… it's as if this never happened."

He headed to the door, tightening the chains and still chattering, despite Dick's lack of consciousness. "I'm making your favourite, despite everything…. I tried to tell you Richard. You can't say I didn't try to warn you. The world is a dark, dangerous and cruel place… if it finds even the slightest ray of sunshine, it destroys it!"

….

Less than half an hour later, Dick groggily woke up, pushing himself into a seated position as he blearily tried to remember what happened.

"Wally…" he whispered, "… Oh god, Wally!"

He buried his face in his hands, shaking his head in dismay at the familiar feeling of the chain around his ankle.

He was so close to seeing Bruce again… he should have just let Wally run him to the house. He could have been in the mansion by now, with Alfred's hot chocolate and Bruce's emotionally-constipated pats on the shoulder.

He was so close.

…

Wally hated feeling like this…. He couldn't remember how he ever felt before his accident, but it was probably never this vulnerable.

His speed still wasn't up to scratch, but it didn't stop him from struggling violently.

He needed to save Dick.

….

There was the sound of chains rattling violently up above, causing Deathstroke to sigh wearily.

"Richard?" he called up from the bottom of the stairs, "Richard, you won't get free, you know this. Why waste your energy like that?"

Silence.

"Richard?"

Slowly, Dick emerged from the room, limping heavily with his face pale.

"Richard, what is- "Deathstroke stopped in his tracks, eyes finally noticing the sickening angle of Richards' ankle…. And then he watched it pop back into place, the bruising growing and then fading.

It was then that Deathstroke noticed the tear stains on Dick's cheeks

"I'm not doing this anymore…" the young man muttered, "… I'm not letting you control me anymore!"

Silence.

"Did you hear me?! It's over!"

A couple of seconds passed, before Deathstroke straightened up, looking every bit the mercenary he was. "Well, well, well… someone grew a backbone."

"I always had one…. Or did you conveniently forget that I broke your nose once?"

Deathstroke stepped closer, "I am trying to protect you Richard. Going back to Bruce will only kill you… he's already lost one Robin."

"He was brought back, and you know it…" Richard vaulted over the bannister and rolling when he hit the floor, "…. I got healing powers and he got anger issues."

"Richard- "

"- For ten years, you've been using me for my powers!"

"RICHARD!"

"Well fuck you!"

Deathstroke growled, "You really think Bruce will just accept you with open arms? He has a new Robin, he doesn't need you! And that speedster won't be waiting for you!"

"I knew you did something! What did you do?!"

"… Poison Ivy is having a little fun."

Dick took a step back in shock, frowning as Deathstroke got closer, a low chuckle breaking through the mask.

"There, there…" he was clearly trying to be soothing, "…. Everything is as it should be."

Before his hands could touch Dick, the younger man grabbed his wrist and growled at him. "NO! You're what's wrong in the world! Bruce will be waiting for me and he won't keep me a prisoner for my tears!"

Deathstroke pulled his wrist away in fury, stumbling backwards and knocking a large mirror, shards of glass now scattered across the floor. "You want me to be the bad guy…" he hissed, "… fine, now I'm the bad guy."

…

Wally struggled furiously against the grip of the vines as he was dragged closer and closer to a large, probably man-eating plant.

His super speed was slowly returning, but it wasn't enough.

However, less than an inch away from his sudden doom, there was the sound of a sword scraping along the floor, before vines started to fall to the ground, Poison Ivy screaming in anger.

"You!" she snarled at an unseen figure.

"Me."

Wally couldn't help but sigh in relief when he heard the familiar voice, as dismissive and imperious as usual.

More vines fell to the ground.

"STOP!"

More sword slices.

Poison Ivy audibly growled, the remaining vines swinging around violently to try and catch the intruder off guard.

Robin was far too well-trained for that.

Before Poison Ivy could fully get control over the situation, her vines had all been sliced into miniature little pieces and Wally was lying on the floor. "I bet you're really missing the other Robins right now." He chuckled, watching as Damian suddenly dropped down from the ceiling and landed on top of the villainess, knocking her out instantly.

"Tct…" Damian tutted at the sight of him, "… some speedster you are."

Slowly pushing himself to his feet, Wally rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Where were you earlier?"

Damian scowled at the question. "Deathstroke took advantage of my compliance with Father's rules about 'helping people'. Lured me away with an injured dog."

"…. You were nowhere to be found, because you were helping a hurt dog?"

"Tct."

Damian was clearly embarrassed by this, and usually, Wally would take full advantage of that… but he needed to find Dick.

"Go and get Batman…." He ordered the pre-teen, "… I can't defeat Deathstroke, like at all, so I'm going to need Batman!"

"I'll come with you!"

"No! Get. Batman!"

Damian was silent for a few minutes, before he straightened up and scanned Wally from head to toe. "I've underestimated you…. Fine. I shall get Father, and you will attempt to save my brother."

"… Thank you."

Just before Damian could leave, Wally spoke up again.

"Robin? Please be quick about it."

A sharp nod was his only answer.

…..

It didn't take him long to reach the tower, racing up to the bottom of it and speeding up the side of it, climbing in through the window.

He spotted Dick on the floor, relief over-taking him before he properly looked at the scene.

"Dick! Thank god, I'm so glad you're- " he stopped in his tracks, frowning when he realised that Dick was tightly chained to the floor…. And there was a gag in his mouth.

BANG!

Wally screamed as a bullet shot straight through his left kneecap, sending him to the floor with a THUD.

BANG

Another bullet entered his chest.

"Look what you made me do Richard…" sneered a familiar voice, "… don't worry, our secret will die with him."

Wally groaned in pain, reaching out when he heard Dick cry out behind the gag, the other man clearly struggling against the chains.

His enhanced healing wouldn't be able to save him before he died… and with the bullet in his knee, he wouldn't be able to run anytime soon.

"And we are going somewhere, where no-one will ever find you again!" Deathstroke growled, his hands reaching out for the chains, pulling on them as Dick continued to struggle, "Richard! Enough! Stop fighting me!"

With a little more effort, Dick managed to displace the gag, before glaring up at Deathstroke. "NO! I won't stop! For every minute, for the rest of my life, I will never stop fighting you! I will never stop trying to get away from you!"

He then took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down, "But if you let me heal him, then I'll go with you…. I won't fight, I promise! But let me heal him!"

"Dick…" Wally groaned, trying to shuffle closer, "… Dick, no!"

"I won't run…" Dick continued, ignoring Wally, "… I won't try to escape. If you let me heal him, then you and me can be together forever…. That's what you want, right? Just let me heal him!"

Deathstroke stared at him for a few moments, before rolling her eyes and removing the chains from Dick, heading over to Wally and chaining him to a nearby post, ignoring his screams of pain. "Just in case you get any ideas about following us."

Wally tried to summon up the strength for a witty comment, only to slump against the post as Dick shuffled closer, "Wa- Kid Flash!" he exclaimed, wincing at the amount of blood that was dripping onto the floor, pooling under the speedster and staining his yellow suit, "Oh, oh okay…. I am so sorry. Everything's going to be fine!"

Before he could muster up enough tears to heal Wally's wounds before he succumbed to them, the hero reached over and stopped him, trying to push him away, "No, Dick stop- "

"- No, you need to trust me. I promise- "

"- No Dick!" Wally winced at the exertion, "I can't let you do this!"

"…. And I can't let you die!"

"But if you do this, t-then you'll die!"

"Ssssh, sssh, sssh…" Dick smiled tearfully, placing a hand over the more serious chest wound, "… Everything is going to be alright."

Just before he could let the tears fall, there was a commotion from the window, prompting him to spin around as Deathstroke suddenly screamed in anger and pain.

The tears missed Wally and fell to the ground.

"NO!" Deathstroke was screaming, a katana blade protruding out of his chest, Damian pushing it in as far as he could, pushing the older man closer to the window as he went, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

Damian saw his opportunity and seized it. Letting go of the katana, he took a running leap and kicked the mercenary in the stomach, sending him flying backwards out of the window.

Dick reached out, as though to catch the older man, but it was too late.

With a horrified scream, Deathstroke fell to the ground far below until it suddenly cut off, signalling his impact with the ground.

But Dick didn't focus on him anymore, quickly turning to Wally…. Who was deathly still.

"Wally?" Placing a hand on Wally's cheek, he winced at how cold the speedster was, "No, no, no! Stay with me Wally!"

Nothing.

"Wally, don't do this to me!" Dick begged, tears pouring down his face and landing on Wally's suit, "Please, please- "

A gentle hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks, with Damian sighing wearily. "I'm sorry…" the boy whispered, clearly unsure with what to do, "He told me to get Batman, but I knew he was no match against Deathstroke, so I wanted to help… but I should have let you heal him first."

The young boy actually sounded sorry about this rash decision, so Dick couldn't be angry with him for long.

"It's okay…" he whispered, turning back to the still body.

"… Can't your tears- "

Dick shook his head, stopping Damian mid-sentence, "No… Deathstroke said it was unlikely my tears would have the same potency as the Lazurus Pool, or even the flower. I can heal wounds… not cure death."

With Damian remaining silent, Dick gently pulled Wally's mask off his face, lifting the speedsters head into his lap.

"Heal what has been l-lost.

C-change the fates design.

Save what has been lost.

B-bring back what once was m-mine…. What once was m-mine."

As he closed his eyes and started to sob bitterly, cursing Deathstroke under his breath, Dick knew that no matter how many tears were shed, Wally wasn't coming back.

However, with his eyes closed, he failed to notice how Wally's skin started to glow in the places where the tears had landed, the intensity of the light getting brighter and brighter, especially in the wounded areas.

It was impossible to miss what happened next, however.

When the intensity of the light grew too bright to ignore, Dick leaned back, mouth gaping open in shock as golden rays emerged from the wounds, lighting up the dark tower and forming a beautiful flower in the air.

The whole process must have only lasted a minute, but to Dick, it felt like hours.

Eventually, the rays disappeared, and everything went dark once again. Frantically, Dick examined Wally's wounds, quickly realising that they were all healed up… but did that also mean- He desperately searched for any signs of life…. It seemed cruel for his tears to heal the fatal wounds, and yet, not bring Wally back.

It took a while, but eventually, Wally sucked in a desperate breath, back arching as his eyes flew open. "Dick?" he gasped, clearly shocked to be alive and in Dick's arms.

"Wally! Wally, are you okay?"

"…. Did you just bring me back from the dead?"

"Y-Yeah… apparently." Dick wetly chuckled, tears only just drying on his cheeks as he pulled Wally closer, wrapping his arms around him in a hug, "I-I can't believe this!"

Wally cackled in glee, reaching up and pulling Dick into a kiss, completely ignoring Damian's tut of disgust.

"Disgusting…" the younger boy eventually muttered, "… come on, let's get going."

…

It was a shock when Alfred came rushing into the room.

Bruce had been doing more investigating on Dick's disappearance, as he always did around this time of the year, when Alfred ran in, his usual British stoicism completely gone.

"I-It's… Master D-Dick… H-He's in the hall… o-our hall."

There was a brief moment where he was too stunned to move, before Bruce suddenly shot to his feet and raced towards the main entrance hall. Rushing up the steps to the secret passageway, he raced into the hall and stopped in his tracks.

Standing there was a young man, probably about eighteen. His hair was dark, and when he turned around, Bruce held in a gasp.

Those were Dick's eyes… he'd know them anywhere.

"Dick… Richard." He whispered, as they stepped closer to one another, Damian and a familiar red-head forgotten to one side.

Bruce and Dick examined each other for a few moments before, in unison, they practically lunged at one another, arms wrapping around shoulders and chests in a hug, with Alfred placing a gentle hand on Dick's shoulder, a beaming grin on his face.

"You're back!" Bruce whispered, "You're actually back!"

"Bruce… I can't breathe!"

After a few minutes, Bruce glanced up from the hug and spotted Damian and the red-head standing there.

"Damian…" he whispered, "… when did you- "

"- It was all Wallace Father." Damian interrupted, uncharacteristically humble, "He was the one who found Richard and fought to bring him back."

Bruce then turned to the red-head, easily recognising him as Flash's nephew now, beckoning the young man closer. As soon as Wally was close enough, he was yanked into the hug.

"Uh…. Dick?"

"Just accept it Wally."

….

Well, you can imagine what happened next.

Gotham rejoiced (sort of) as did the League… the part lasted almost an entire week.

Batman had the best taste in alcohol.

At last, Dick was home with his family… complete with little brothers, who he adored (even if they tried to resist it).

And as his new alter ego, Nightwing, he was a hero worth waiting for.

And as for me… well Batman seemed to respect me a lot more, and didn't even bat an eyelid at my regular appearances in Gotham.

But I know what the big question is…. Did Dick and I ever end up together?

Well I'm pleased to tell you, that after years and years of asking and asking and asking…. I finally said yes.

"Wally…. Really?"

Alright, I asked him…. Literally two days after he came home.

"And we're living happily ever after."

Yes, we are.