Prologue: Sepulchral Truths

Summary: That day, for Robin, it wasn't about justice anymore; it wasn't about catching the bad guy, or saving the civilian. It was about finding Wally's murderer. Two years after the conception of Young Justice, and Wally was found dead, an apparent suicide. Now, with Young Justice breaking up, Flash quitting the Justice League and Crime Fighting, it's up to Robin, the only person who believes Wally's death wasn't an accident, to keep everyone together.

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice

"One, two, three…"

I've been told many different things about fate and destiny; I remember having this one talk with Wonder Woman, about the Fates, that determine when people will die.

Bruce doesn't think so – he believes in free will, the ability to choose, as does Superman. I believe in some sort of fate, but with many different paths to it, ones that we choose. There are times, though, when my faith has shaken, and I don't know what I'm doing anymore.

"Four, five, six…"

At the time, the only thoughts in my head were akin to: Why oh why, Wally? Where's the rest of the team?

I was steadily going up and down, careful of the amount of pressure I was putting on his chest, not so much about the tears that were falling from my face.

"Seven, eight, nine…"

Most people know me as Robin, the Boy Wonder; others know me as Richard Grayson, the son of the Flying Graysons. My friends, my family, know me as Dick.

I was an orphan, until Bruce adopted me, and I found the Batcave and became Robin. After that, everything just got better. And I met Wally, and I couldn't have been happier.

"Ten, eleven, twelve…"

Even through the trials and tribulations, Young Justice flourished for two whole years. Connor, M'gann, Kaldur… all of them grew along with me. And Wally. We became more than a team, we became another family – a little different from the Bat Family, but still just as adhesive.

"Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen…"

It had been a day, just like any other. I had come home to Mount Justice, right after school, ready to crash with the rest of the team, only to find it deserted. So I just lazed about, waiting for people to come back.

M'gann and Kaldur were on outings with Martian Manhunter and Aquaman respectively, and ever since Conner learned how to fly, he usually spent time with the Kents in Kansas. They, as I've heard, took him in with open arms. He even went to school in Smallville, just like Supey himself.

"Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen…"

I spent a lot of time in the Trophy Room, just looking at the fruits of our labor: Dr. Fate's Helment, the Riddler's cane, Captain Cold's gun, the Sensei's glass eye. But one stood above all.

In the two years of Young Justice, the most memorable mission belonged to the one that went along with the card sitting beneath the bullet proof case in the Trophy Room: the Joker's calling card.

It was the mission that got Kaldur captured and I had to pick up the slack. It was the first time I really took over the position of leader, and it kinda just stuck after that. I mean, at first I was surprised, but then I just got into the groove of it.

"Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one…"

But, I had found myself wandering to Wally's room. I had never been in there, and I was always curious exactly what he kept in there, making all the shuffling noises at night. So, when he wasn't in the Mount, why not?

When I opened the door to his room, I vomited at the sight.

"Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four…"

Wally was there, hanging from the middle of the room, dressed in his Kid Flash uniform, with the face mask down. I had gotten to him the moment I got over my vomit and cut him down, cradling him in my arms before I set him down upon his bed.

I ignored the stench, and just focused on his face. It was so peaceful. So serene, like nothing mattered anymore. At the time, he wasn't breathing, and I had literally ripped the suit from his body to expose his bear chest.

"Twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven…"

I had already tapped the distress signal I always carried, praying to whatever Gods were watching to send someone to help me. Someone, anyone.

"Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty."

But by the time anyone responded, I was cradling his body next to my chest, sobbing quietly. One hand was at his side, pulling him towards me, the other was holding his hand, searching for a pulse; I rested my chin on his soft red hair, and even when the Flash came, Batman and the Justice League at his heels, I was still cradling him.

But he was dead.

And the only evidence, the only thing pertaining to him was the message written on his wall:

It's here I find communion,

Laid out as a lamb,

Through it I will find,

Only what's within.

But it didn't matter. Wally was dead. And I couldn't save him.

Author's Note: Well… that's the beginning. Don't expect much for updates. I'll update as often as I can, and not too much sooner. Reviews and critiques would be especially helpful . Oh, and for reference, since it's been 2 years since the start of the team in this fanfic, just add +2 to everyone's ages.

Thanks for reading!