Okay, so this is sorta kinda a sequel to First Time for Everything... Well, in all honesty, that's mostly a prequel for this. It's not necessary to read that before you read this, but it would help... Maybe... Not really... Actually, it'd just make me feel better, but whatevs.

Anywho, this story is rated T for torture in later chapters. If you don't like that, don't read it.

So yeah... I DON'T OWN YOUNG JUSTICE! (As much as I'd like to)

Kid Flash wandered out towards the kitchen, yawning heavily. True, he'd gotten lots of sleep, but he was still tired. He was always tired. And it was three in the morning, but that was irrelevant. Wasn't it?

As he wandered past the living room, he couldn't help but notice that the TV was on, although his tired brain refused to register the words coming out of the mouth of the reporter. Groaning, he walked around the side of the couch to grab to remote and turn it off.

"Whoa!"

Wally jumped at the sudden noise and turned to the kitchen, remote falling to the floor. Standing there was Robin, dressed in civvies with his traditional sunglasses covering his eyes.

"KF! Dude, you look like a zombie," Robin laughed, walking over to his best friend. "What are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same question," mumbled Wally, his exhausted mind still not putting all the pieces together.

Robin shrugged and flipped the TV remote into his hand with his foot. "I'm a bit of a night owl," he replied nonchalantly.

Kid Flash watched as his best friend flopped onto the couch, somehow managing to do it gracefully. Wally shook his head and sat down as well. "Whaddya watching?" he asked through a yawn.

The ebony-haired boy muted the TV with the flick of a button. "Some newscast thing."

"I didn't know they had news at three in the morning," muttered Wally, running a hand over his face and stretching out his features. Robin snickered at him. "Anything good?"

Had he been a little bit more awake, Wally probably would have noticed the flicker of hesitance cross the younger teen's face. "Nope! Never is."

The red head nodded and yawned. "Well, I need food," he said bluntly, getting off of the couch and shuffling towards the kitchen.

"So that's why you're up." Robin got up off the couch, debating whether or not to run circles around the haggard speedster.

Wally just nodded and continued into the kitchen. Robin followed him, seating himself on the counter and watching.

"I thought Batman didn't want you to stay away from Gotham too long," Wally commented, looking through cabinets to find the bread. "He's always making up excuses for you to not be at the Cave overnight."

Robin watched his friend, carefully choosing his next words. "Batman told me to sit this one out. I'm not tired enough to sleep, so instead of wasting my Friday night with something as unimportant as sleep, I decided to come here and wait for you guys to wake up. Or, in your case," Robin started chuckling, "Scare somebody out of their wits."

Wally glared half-heartedly at his friend before taking a bite out of his speedily-constructed sandwich. "Yeah, thanks for that," he muttered, hopping up on the counter next to Robin.

They sat in silence for a while. Well, more accurately, Wally ate in silence. Finally, Wally broke the lull in speech.

"Rob?"

Robin snapped his head up in a jerky, almost surprised movement. "Yeah?"

Wally peered at him in concern. "You okay?"

"Course I'm okay." Robin grinned at his friend. "Definitely feeling the aster. Why?"

"You seem really tense, that's all."

Robin's grin almost faltered. Maybe he wasn't as great of an actor as he thought.

"Dude, you can talk to me." Wally placed a hand on Robin's shoulder, and the younger teen instantly looked at the floor. The speedster sat patiently as he waited for Robin's response, something very difficult for him to do.

Robin's brain was waging an internal war. Tell the truth and look weak, or lie and stay the strong silent one. But the last one would push Wally away. His best friend. He couldn't do that.

After several minutes of thick silence, Robin nudged Wally's hand off his shoulder and slid off the counter, walking back towards the living room. Wally looked dejectedly at the floor. He might be the kid's best friend, but there were some things the speedster would never know.

"Do you remember back about two years ago?" Robin asked in a hushed voice. Wally got off the counter as well, but stayed put.

"Yeah…"

"Remember when we had a sleepover at your place?" Wally nodded, even though the thirteen year old couldn't see him. "Remember how I woke up in the middle of the night, screaming?"

Wally flinched at the memory, but nodded nonetheless.

"I told you about the Joker. The first time I met him. How I'd been really afraid, and how I told you not to tell anybody else. Ever. And then I told you I wasn't afraid of him anymore, just the memory. Remember?"

Wally swallowed hard. "Yeah, I remember."

Robin turned around to look his best friend in the eye. "It wasn't the complete truth. I was still afraid of him. But I could fight past it. It wasn't a paralyzing fear like it had been for the first couple of months after I met him. Eventually, I worked past it. But the memory would just pop up sometimes, mostly in my sleep. I…" Robin's voice faltered; Wally took a step towards him.

"I never told Batman." The voice was now a whisper, and Wally had to strain to hear him. "I was afraid he'd be ashamed of my weakness…"

Wally didn't know how to respond. He walked up to Robin, who turned away from him a little bit.

"You wanted to know what I was watching?" the tiny whisper was so hard to hear, but Wally still managed to pick out the next words. "The Joker broke out of Arkham. Batman wouldn't let me see the report, and told me to go home. I looked anyway." The normally strong teenager swallowed hard, struggling to find the next words.

"All of the Arkham staff he killed… They were all killed the same way." Robin took a deep breath before continuing. "They were all slit across the throat, and… And before they were killed, they had an 'R' c-carved into their left shoulder. Eye witnesses said that they heard him muttering that it wasn't the same, that he wanted the 'real deal.'"

Shaded eyes matched green. "Wally, he's… He's coming for me."

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