Disclaimer: Despite how much I love both of these characters, I do not own either. *sad face*

A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ROWAN. For whom I wrote this, and the other Young Justice story! This is the angsty one, so be warned. Hehe.

We will be with you,
When you go.
We will be with you,
And hold you till you're quiet.
It hurts to let you go.
We will be with you.
- Bronte, Gotye.
(The song doesn't even really fit, but I don't care because it's a pretty song and I listened to it ALL the way through writing it.)

It was how they worked.

It had always been how they worked.

It was their secret. The thing they kept from everyone else for fear of...for fear of something that neither of them could quite explain. They never spoke about what it was that scared them; there was no need to. They both understood. It wasn't the act of being found out, or even how people would react to it. It was more that no matter who found them out, how they were found out, or when they were found out- the presumed reasons behind the boys' actions would always be wrong. No one would understand. They didn't wantanyone to understand.

It was just them.

It was the night's fault. The night that brought on sleep, that brought on terrible visions of things that had been left on the battlefield. The fear. The pain. The anger that came with the fear and the pain, only ever directed at themselves.

They were teenagers. One at 15 and one at 13. How can a pair of teenagers be expected to be fearless?

...

Fear can be hidden of course, and the too boys were experts at hiding it. Pushing it back down into their souls behind the overpowering influence of adrenaline. Thinking not of the possible death, or the probably injury- but of the success and the proud expressions on their mentors' faces. They thought of each other too. Maybe more than they should.

They were each other's remedies when the fear finally returned in the night under the thin veil of sleep. Nightmares were the more common term for them, but neither boy thought that term quite covered it. They would awake screaming, the pain overflowing from their eyes in a waterfall of tears. The thoughts were never that far away, either.

What kind of an idiot are you? Crying over a nightmare, for God's sake!

Get a grip. How can you call yourself a hero?

Maybe you should just go give up your place on the team. You're useless anyway.

A freaking baby could do better than you!

...

It didn't happen every night, but the boys had become so accustomed to it that they didn't even bother locking their doors at night while they were staying in Mount Justice. It only caused more hassle.

Tonight it was Dick's turn.

He awoke with a start, turning over and letting himself scream into his pillow. You're a disappointment. His body was shaking uncontrollably, and he curled himself into a ball in a vain attempt to control his limbs. It didn't help much. Dick's body was already racking in sobs, the tears streaming down his face and mixing with the sweat that already coated his skin. Idiot. Unworthy. He bit his lip, hard, in an attempt to control the amount of noise he was making. He tasted blood in his mouth and clenched his fists tighter together. Dick needed him.

As soon as he had decided that his body went into autopilot as it did so very often. He didn't even remember getting out of bed. He could barely see through his tears, and he had to use the walls as support when moving around the room for fear of collapsing under his own weight. It felt like the air was pressing against him from every direction, trying to suffocate him until he had no choice but to collapse on the floor in a heap. Batman would be ashamed. Robin needed him.

The door of his room was open of course, and he stumbled through, leaning against the doorframe for a second as he tried to control his ragged breathing. But letting himself calm down for just a second brought the visions back and Dick clung on harder, a whimper escaping from his lips and yet another tear leaking onto his cheek. Useless.

He shuffled across the hallway silently, his tears still silently making their way down his cheeks. The door opposite was open, and he pushed it open without hesitation.

"KF?"

Wally was lying in bed, curled up on his side as he shied away from the cold of his room. As the light from the corridor hit him he slowly awoke, moving his arms around slightly before rolling over and focusing his sleepy eyes on the boy at his door. His emerald eyes widened and he was in front of Dick within a second, scooping his younger friend up off the floor bridal style and closing the door with the back of his heel.

Dick gripped KF's tank top with his fist, burying his head into his friend's neck with a stifled sob. Wally registered it only by pulling his friend closer and walking back to his bed. They collapsed down onto the covers, and Dick immediately tried to pull away from Wally just as he always did.

This game they always wanted to play with each other. Denying what they needed just to cause themselves even more pain.

Wally retaliated, closing the distance between them and pulling Robin onto his lap, ignoring all of his friend's protests until he finally gave in and leaned against Wally's chest. His tears were staining his friends top, but it didn't matter. It never mattered.

...

They shared the pain, just as they always did. Wally rocking his friend forwards and backwards slowly and kissing everywhere he could reach until the tears began to cease. It was always the same. It was never a permanent solution, because less than 2 days after it would probably be Wally in Dick's position. This was their agreement. This was how it worked.

"Rob?" Wally said softly, looking down at the younger boy in his arms. Dick's grip on Wally's top had lessened, and he was now breathing more steadily.

Robin murmured something in response that couldn't be heard as he buried his face into his friend's shoulder once again. Wally leaned his head down and kissed Dick's hair softly, tracing patterns up and down his spine with his thumb.

It was a few minutes before Dick moved again, finally sitting up in Wally's lap properly and staring at his friend with barely an inch of space between them. Wally stared back, his green eyes shining through the darkness. He lifted his hand up and stroked a finger along Dick's temple softly.

"Forgot your sunglasses, dude," he murmured as Robin's eyes flickered shut. He withdrew his hand. "Not that it matters."

There was a pause as Dick sighed slightly. Wally could feel something big was coming, and already he didn't like it. "How long is this going to go on for, Wals?"

There it was.

"What do you mean?"

"This," came the reply, like it made total sense. "We can't keep doing this forever."

There was a silence. The kind of silence that was neither comfortable nor awkward. It was a deafening silence that seemed to be trying to say all the things that the boys couldn't work out how to say. Maybe these things were better left unsaid.

...

"W-Wally," Dick said slowly. His voice broke slightly, and he was biting his lip and breathing hard. "How long is this going to go on?" Each word was defined. Singular. Like they were the most important words in the world but also the hardest to say.

Wally paused for a second, before leaning forwards and pressing a kiss to Dick's forehead. It was slow, and soft, and the noise as his lips left Dick's skin sounded in their ears like a gunshot. Dick had his eyes closed again, and Wally cupped his cheek in his hand gently, not taking his eyes off Dick's face.

"However long it takes for it to get better," Wally replied. Robin opened his eyes, and KF leaned down and kissed away the single tear that was making its trail down his friend's cheek.

"And how long is that?" Dick asked, his blue eyes brighter than Wally had ever seen them.

Wally smiled softly. "You tell me," he murmured and leaned down just once more, his lips brushing against Dick's so softly Dick couldn't be sure that he hadn't imagined it. He swallowed his nerves down, leaning his forehead against Wally's and giving him a small smile.

He didn't have an answer, but it didn't matter. They didn't need one.

A/N: Okay. So….review?:3 I enjoyed writing this, but it was quite hard because I wrote it in a way that I don't usually write things. From a less personal pov if you get me. But, I hope you enjoyed it!