"Hope is what gets you out of bed in the morning when it's the day of prom and you haven't been asked. Hope pushes the caterpillar through the cocoon and drives the salmon upstream. Your stomach may be big and your glasses may be thick, but hope doesn't hold up a mirror. Hope is the horizon we head for, leaving nothing behind us but fear. And though we may never reach our goals, it's hope that will save us from who we once were." –Megan Griffin, New Kidney in Town, Family Guy episode 166

Disclaimer: I own nothing (:

The night had been cold and bitter, more emotionally than physically for the new-instated heroes, not even the slightest of a smile shared between the closest among them. All hearts had darkened that night and no one had enough light left in them to drag themselves home. The darkness was calling them and they were ready to bask in its warmth until they could finally stand the faces staring back at them in the mirror and the lights shone proud and true through the mist of negative emotions that swarmed them all.

The older heroes knew better than to bother with the troubled teens, almost afraid to approach the young creatures that could stand the boiling blood within their veins. Most of the heroes didn't even bother to come back to the Cave. The ones that did show only came to say goodbye to their sidekick or family member before quickly escaping to a place where they wouldn't get their heads torn off for 'smiling weird'. They were sure if their young ones needed them, they could easily find their way home by themselves.

The second the teens' shoes, or in Kaldur's case: bare feet, hit the ground, they basically locked themselves in their rooms to either blow off steam or to explode, depending on how well they could diffuse themselves. The mission had been a failure of the worst degree and everyone had almost died from just a single slip-up, so the anger and misery was justifiable. It would've been worse if they hadn't been angry at each other! Just the fact that they hadn't killed each other yet was amazing.

The League probably would've had the same reaction to such a failure, only they would've handled it a bit more mature in manner, with the exclusion of the Flash. Fingers would've been pointed and accusations would've been hatefully screamed, as well as some hidden angry tears falling in the shadows, just like what had happened to the sidekicks.

With the older heroes though, Superman wouldn't have punched Batman for insulting Martian Manhunter's fighting skills and the Flash wouldn't have tackled Superman and started to beat him down with the quiver he had stolen from Green Arrow and Green Arrow wouldn't have had to kick the Flash halfway across the room, only to be caught by Aquaman who was trying to restore order the best he could in the hysteria. Martian Manhunter wouldn't have dropped to his knees and started sobbing at the anger and Batman wouldn't have tried to blow up Green Arrow with a purposefully thrown batbomb that was swiftly removed by Aquaman who almost hadn't noticed.

The point was, pressure was high and everyone wanted to kill each other. It probably wasn't a good idea to leave them all alone together. That was probably why Batman was outside of Dick's spare room at the Cave, doing his best to resist the urge to kick it in and drag his baby home.

"If you change your mind, I'm keeping the front door unlocked," Batman sighed, his words directed at the wooden locked frame that barred him from the only person he really wanted to see tonight.

The silence that followed was angry and heated, but Batman could sense his sidekick and ward's presence as well as the empty words that longed to be spoken hovering between them, probably stuck halfway between the door. The elder ebony waited patiently as the words dug themselves out, his patience being poorly rewarded.

"D-… don't wait up for me," a broken voice growled, hinting that maybe the silence had been used to brush away fallen tears and to swallow the start of a sob from a small throat.

Batman's eyes widened and he frowned, the pain leaking from his aching heart to his lips. He set a hand to the door, bowing his head for a moment. He didn't want to leave Dick here, especially in the state he was, but the little ebony was so stubborn that even the great Dark Knight was helpless to command him in most cases. Clenching his teeth tight, he took a small step back and rested his hand at his side again. He turned his eyes to the door in the spot he assumed the back of Dick's head would be.

"I'll leave the porch light on," were his final words, a silent farewell and 'I Love You' laced within the simply statement.

Dick waited against the door, blinking the tears down his cheeks in a steady streak until he could no longer feel the hesitant love that usually radiated from his 'father' instead of body heat or anything scientifically correct like that. When he thought he was alone again, he gave a shaky breath and weakly turned around, setting his forehead against the door, hugging his stomach weakly. To his relief, he didn't hear the sound of a heart beginning to ache in sympathy. He was alone for sure now. Great.

He turned his teary eyes down and lifted his shirt up, seeing that he had changed into loose fitting civvies that wouldn't hurt as bad as his costume. The bruise was darker now, most definitely, and the blood hadn't stopped yet. If his ribs weren't broken in that spot, he had suddenly become the statue of the Virgin Mary, only the blood was coming from his stomach randomly instead of from his eyes. Dick hissed in pain, ghosting his fingers over it to feel for a bone. It felt completely normal which was the bad part. He couldn't do anything about it for now.

He pulled his shirt down to hide his shame and eased the door open, silently ghosting down the hall. Normally when in a mood like this, he happily would've stormed down instead of ghosting, throwing a batbomb at every square inch of wall and calmly continuing his rampage as the background exploded behind him like it did in the cool movies. The only reason he took the form of a mouse, the tiny pitter-patter of his feet on the floor nearly silent, was because Conner was down the hall and he didn't want his ribs broken for sure.

The angsty teen was already pissed enough as it was and Dick couldn't afford to become a human punching bag. After all, it would be near impossible to explain the jagged cut down his cheek to Barbara on Monday. The last thing he wanted to explain was why every step he took, just like right now, was aided with a gaspy hiss of pure pain. She'd probably call Child Protective Services and Bruce wouldn't be able to explain the pain without blowing his cover so little Dicky would be taken away and every night, he'd be arrested for running away to get back to the dad he preferred.

Dick stayed silent until he got to Wally's door where he only made a single noise: a sharp, quick knock. He quickly turned, praying desperately that Conner hadn't heard. The speed made him whimper in pain, but the pain could wait. He had something to discuss with the speedster. The silence was long and cautious before a loud splintering sound and a cry of pain cut it deep and clean.

"Damnit!" Wally howled, growling angrily. "Who is it?"

Dick didn't want to be heard, but the door was locked and he didn't feel like picking the lock. Last time he tried, Wally mistaken him for a burglar and tried to suffocate him with a pillow. Looking both ways, Dick brought his lips close to the door.

"It's me," he said gently, not wanting to speak much louder.

He was about to say it again when the door was opened swiftly. A cry escaped the pink lips as Dick lost his balance, falling forward. Wally was quick to catch him, looking down in concern at the face pressed into his shirt.

"Rob?" the ginger ducked down, carefully putting his arm under Dick's knees and lifting him up into the air.

He had to pretend not to notice Dick's muffled scream of agony, hurrying to set the little boy on his bed on the side nearest the wall. After all, Wally had to have somewhere to sit too, right? After adjusting the little ebony the best he could without making it any more painful than it needed to be, he sped to the door and relocked it so no one could come in and bother them. Before the click sounded, he was already beside Dick on the bed, turned on his side so he could see him. With the warmest smile he could muster from the pit of his stomach, the ginger grazed Dick's cheek with the back of his hand, picking the side that wasn't covered in dry blood.

"Hey bro," he tried not to sound as pissed as he really was. "What's up?"

Dick raised an eyebrow at the strange show of affection, but he didn't really seem to mind. He actually smiled softly to himself, folding his hands over his stomach gingerly. Even not touching the bruised area left him sore, but the action was much more comfortable than just having his hands at his side. He took to staring up at the ceiling instead over at his best friend like he wanted to.

"Batman left and with Conner on his meriod, I don't want to be alone," Dick said casually with a smile.

Wally laughed softly, raising an eyebrow of his own. He was now propped up on his elbow, his other hand bent and resting in front of him.

"Meriod?" he repeated curiously.

Dick nodded, glancing over quickly to note his friend's expression.

"You know, man period? Meriod?" when Wally still looked questionably back at him, Dick was quick to add, "Babs came up with it, not me."

The ginger laughed, playfully rolling his eyes. "Of course she did."

His laughter cut off almost instantly, his eyes returning back to the center of his eyes. The grin was extinguished like the flame of a candle, a worried frown replacing it.

"Did he- er, Conner…" Wally swallowed hard, his eyes lowering to his friend's hidden stomach, "How bad did he hurt you?"

Dick clasped his hands tighter over his stomach, securing his shirt in place so Wally wouldn't be able to see what he had to shamefully hide. He wanted to tell the ginger how bad he had been hurt, but from the concern written in his friend's face, he suspected Wally would go confront Conner himself. The last thing he wanted to attend was his best friend's funeral. He had suffered through two horribly depressing and scarring funerals, in one day to add, and he knew he wouldn't be able to make it through another one. He turned his head, forcing his best acting to bubble up from inside, complete with a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine," he lied right through his teeth, "It's just a little red. He didn't hit me that hard. I just overreacted."

Wally's eyebrows furrowed and it became obvious in a second that he didn't believe anything he had just been told. For whatever reason though, he nodded slowly and did his best to change the subject. It was extremely out-of-character, even for someone like him.

"Are you…. you sure?" Wally asked again, his eyes darting up to meet the dark blue eyes that he had just recently been introduced to.

Dick forced himself to nod, his knuckles going white from how tightly he had his fingers interlaced. He expected to lose feeling in them soon, but that wasn't his main concern at the moment.

"I'm sure KF. No more lies, remember?" hearing the words spill from his lips broke his own little heart, going right through the bones and flesh that tried to always protect it.

Dick should've been used to it though. His life, from the moment he found the mask hiding in the Bat Cave, had been just a big lie, the gaps and question marks filled in by some ridiculous story that made sense to everyone but him. He was used to telling the world he was a natural ebony, that he had two loving parents who cared for him, that his 'dad' wasn't one of the richest men on earth… Well, that last part wasn't a lie. Bruce was rich, but several people out weighed him in monetary value.

To make it worse, Wally seemed to buy the lie. His emerald eyes stayed shrouded with dark clouds, blinding him from the brilliant sparkle that usually occupied them, but there was less visible doubt on the surface. The ginger nodded even more slowly, shaking his thoughts out of his head. Something was brewing dark in his mind, but he donned his own little domino mask and kept it to himself.

"Right… so… uh… does this mean you and me are hanging tonight?" Wally sounded surprisingly excited at even the idea.

Sound and sight are two different things though. You can rattle a metal sheet and make it sound like thunder. The point was, his emerald eyes lacked their regular sparkle. He was distracted, that part was obvious. What he was distracting himself from, Dick had no idea so he just let himself smile happily as the thought occurred to him.

"I-I guess," he grinned widely before it started to fade to a weak smile, "That's… that's okay, right? Do you want me to… go..?"

Wally's eyes widened for a moment before he honestly smiled, the sparkle flickering back into his eyes. He leaned forward, weakly hugging his friend. He tried not to notice the wince and just focus on the smile.

"You can stay if you want bro. It's probably the best for both of us… You have Conner to worry about and I have…" he gestured to the wall beside him that was smothered in fist-sized holes, "… this… wall…"

Dick laughed, his eyes twinkling as if he had captured to stars from the night sky and shoved them in through his ears. He didn't notice the pale hand slowly centimeter-ing across the covers towards him.

"You're going to have to save me from the big scary wall," Wally winked playfully.

The ebony glanced over at the wall with a smirk, comparing it to himself. He pretended to look terrified from it.

"You're going to have to do the saving freckle-face. I'm but a damsel in distress!" he dramatically hid his face in his elbow, giving a fake sigh to signify fainting.

Wally rolled his eyes with a grin, his hand discretely brushing the bottom edge to Dick's shirt.

"I can do more than save you princess," he smirked strongly, his cold fingers gently touching to Dick's stomach.

The little ebony tensed, his eyes doubling in size at the touch. He suddenly forgot how to think, let alone breathe. The truth though was that he really didn't mind the touch and he saw no harm in the action, especially on Wally's part, so he touched his hands back to his side as his face went scarlet. He tried not to smile, averting his eyes to the ceiling.

"If y-you're planning on being my p-prince, you better get that stallion pretty-boy. I'm n-not being rescued unless you're the r-real deal," it got harder and harder to talk calmly as the hand on his stomach started to explore. "I-I don't want a-a-another liar in my t-tower."

Wally's hand was like Icy-Hot, cold at first but the heat that follows is amazing. At first, you feel kind of sick using it, but in a moment you have the urge to just use more and more despite the fact that the label doesn't encourage that. The ginger smirked wider, the clouds fading and the sparkle quickly returning to his eyes.

"I'm as real as they get doll-face," he chuckled at the face Dick made at the nickname, "Come on, would this face lie to you?"

Wally furrowed his eyebrows, smiling innocently. Dick dragged his eyes from the ceiling over to his friend, embarrassed to show the full extent of his blush. He had to look away again just as fast, his blush darkening. He had to grit his teeth calmly, but this time it was to hide happy sounds, not pained ones.

"Yes," he smiled teasingly, the smile vanishing as Wally's hand brushed the last place he wanted it to.

The pained sounds returned and dark blue eyes were squeezed shut as Dick quickly moved away from his friend. Wally truly looked scared at the action, his face draining of color.

"R-Rob! I'm sorry!" then he looked down at his hand, starting to tremble as he recognized the scarlet substance that stained his fingertips. It caused pure betrayal to show in his face. "Y… you…"

The betrayal lingered, even after the words were long gone. Dick lowered his eyes, tears starting to head towards his eyes. He lowered himself back onto the covers, shamefully lifting his shirt up to show the skin that Wally had tried to see. The bloody bruise stood clear for all to see, but Wally was the only one to notice. He noticed it for a long, patient moment, the emotion and the blood from his face collecting down in his feet.

"I… I didn't want you to-," Dick began, his face still red.

Wally screwed his eyes up tight, hurrying to pull the white shirt back down over the lie. He knew he couldn't hear it, but seeing a lie wasn't any better.

"Just-… shut up," he laid down, pulling his friend close to him. "I'm going to protect you. You're mine and I'm never letting him do this again. You're going to close your eyes and when you wake up, you're going to tell me with a laugh that I was in your dream and that it scared you, but you're okay now and I'll be happy."

Dick frowned lightly, wrapping his arms around what he could of the ginger. He obediently shut his eyes, slowing his breath. Through the wall, he could hear distant screams of anger and other splintering noises. This was the reason why he hated being human. Just a single slip-up was enough to make all beings like him go into a frenzy where they seem to think the whole world is against them. Just a single slip-up.

I had to end this. I've been working on it forever so I know it was poorly done. I could've tried harder. Blame writer's stifling, or whatever Timmy McGee called it. I ran over it once so… um… sorry… Review?

-F.J.