Wally had run back to the cave around 7:30 pm to change into his Flash uniform. Barry had told him when he first got back that he'd earned the title of Flash after he fought his way out of the speed force. His new suit looked pretty awesome in his opinion. It was a deeper red -not as bright as Barry's- with white accents. He'd also decided to drop the yellow symbol and switch it to a bright white one. Wally had made sure his red hair would be able to flow freely in the wind as he ran.

He'd given up on trying to find Dick's apartment after the first few hours. Wally figured that if he couldn't find Dick, why not try to find Nightwing? Dick should be out patrolling by now, after all, he was a 'bat'. They always started things early. Well, at least he hoped he did.

Wally climbed to the rooftop of the closest building, taking in the sights -which wasn't much considering it was Bludhaven. He looked over the wretched city and wondered how Dick could stand living here. Smog from the factories clouded up the sky, making the city more disturbing than it already was. No stars were visible in the dark fog, and they probably never would be. A crisp November breeze blew over Wally, ruffling his hair. He shivered and crossed his arms over his chest. He missed the warmth of Central City. It's bright sunny days and the not-so-bad crooks. How could Dick stand living in such a disheartening city? The last time Wally came to here it looked a lot less depressing than it did now, so what happened?

He stood silently and watched as his foggy breath mingled into the chilly air. The Team was starting to make him worry. Why were they talking about Nightwing like that? Especially behind his back? Wally knew that Dick had told the Team his plans, but why were they still upset? What happened while he was 'dead'?

Flash watched the tops of the surrounding buildings, hoping to see Nightwing fly over one. Wally knew how much Dick loved to flip across them -He was his best friend after all. He could faintly remember Dick telling him once that grappling off the skyscrapers made him feel like he was flying. That it made Dick feel free from everything. Wally hadn't understood what Dick meant back then and honestly, he still didn't.

The sound of a fight beneath him shifted his attention to a nearby. He glanced over the ledge to see what all the commotion was about. Three large men were ganging up on a small string bean of a man. Wally sighed, he really needed to find out what was wrong with Dick. He didn't have time to deal with these small quarrels.

The three thugs were circling the smaller man who was crouched down, trembling in a muddy corner. The largest -and ugliest- thug stepped forward. He was wearing a green flannel and looked like he just crawled out of a dumpster. The other two weren't in much better condition even though they were both wearing black. Wally swore he could smell them from his hiding place on the roof. He really hoped the police in Bludhaven gave showers to the criminals because if not, they were in for a real tear-jerking surprise.

The flannel wearing thug raised his knife, aiming right for the string beans head but before he could strike down, Flash sped down from the roof and slammed his fist right into his face. Wally felt the man's jaw bone shatter upon impact. So...maybe he hit just a little too hard. He wasn't used to the new strength that his escape provided him. The man crumpled to the ground along with his knife, which skidded across the wet pavement. The remaining two thugs stood shocked at Flash's sudden appearance but they quickly recovered. They each held up their weapon -a baseball bat and knife- and sent nervous glances to each other.

"Oi! Who the hell are you?" Stinky number one snarled at Flash, waving his bat around in the air, hoping to intimidate the red-clad man.

"I'm Flash," Wally said and gestured towards his red costume. "It's kind of obvious, ya'know...zoom zoom." He made a speedy motion with his hands, laughing internally at the thugs confused expressions.

"What're ya doing here? Flash doesn't belong in Bludhaven. Get out!" The second stinky shouted. Both of the criminals faces were starting to show signs of uncertainty. It was time for Wally to end this fight and get back to finding Dick.

Wally chuckled and placed his hands on his hips. "I may not belong in Bludhaven, but I do know that you belong in jail." he retorted.

"Get him!" The thugs growled out as they charged at Wally with their weapons aimed to kill.

Flash ducked underneath the wide swing of the bat and punched the first thug in the stomach. The man stumbled back and leaned heavily on his knees. However, before Flash could deliver the knockout blow, the second thug charged, his knife aiming to slice Wally's throat.

Wally decided that he'd had enough. No more playing around. He raced forward and grabbed the knife from the smelly man's hand. He twisted the man's arm to a painful angle behind his back and kneed him in the stomach. The man at his sudden loss of breath, leaned forward, gagging. Flash took this opportunity to knee the man in the face, reining him unconscious. The man fell to the ground with a loud thud. The last thug stared at Flash for a moment, his eyes like saucers and took off down the alleyway. Flash sighed and quickly ran to catch the man. By the time the police arrived the three thugs were tied to a lamp post and the skinny man was nowhere to be seen.

--------linebreak---------

"Have you spoken to Nightwing recently?"

Tim looked up from the report he was writing, confused by the random question. He looked at Bruce, who had his cowl down and was typing away at the bat-computer.

"No, why?" Tim questioned, laying down his pen. Bruce still hadn't looked his way, and his fingers remained hovering above the keyboard.

"Just wondering," Bruce replied curtly. He hesitated in his typing and stood up. "I'm heading up, make sure you turn off the lights when you're finished." Bruce paused for a moment, "And don't forget to turn in your report." He added as he strolled towards the elevator.

Tim stared blankly at the cave wall. Why did Bruce leave so suddenly? Normally he hangs around the cave for hours after a big case. Tim picked up his pen and reread what he had written so far. It wasn't much, considering he was barely able to focus. He just couldn't get what he said to Dick out of his head. 'Maybe I was a little too harsh, changing the caves passwords.' he considered. 'I'll just change them back tomorrow.' He decided.

Tim stood from his chair and placed his unfinished report on the Batcomputer's chair. 'Whatever. I'll just finish it tomorrow morning.' he thought and headed up for the night.

--------linebreak------------

Bruce's anger rose ever so slightly as he stood in the elevator. He knew that Tim had just lied to him, but it was the 'why' that was confusing him. Tim never lied to him. He expected things like that from Jason and Dick, not Tim.

Bruce exited the elevator as soon as the doors opened -foregoing his usual grace- and hurriedly made his way towards his room, waving to Alfred as he passed.

"Will Master Tim be coming up as well?" the old butler questioned.

Bruce turned to face him, concealing the frustration in his voice, "As soon as he's finished his report. You can retire for the night if you wish to Alfred."

"That's quite alright Master Bruce, I will wait for Master Timothy to emerge. Sleep well." Alfred spoke warmly, a smile gracing his worn face.

"You too. Goodnight Alfred." Bruce smiled back and gracefully turned around.

"Goodnight Master Bruce."

Bruce listened to the sound of Alfred's footsteps fading down the hall as he turned a few corners and faced his room's doorway. He twisted the knob and stepped in, heading straight for his bathroom. As he brushed his teeth and got ready to settle down for the night, he thought up his to-do list and started to check off the accomplished tasks.

Bruce was almost halfway through when he realized he hadn't heard from his eldest in weeks. It was worrying, not hearing from Dick in so long. He usually called every few days. Bruce knew how Dick could occasionally slip into a small depression. It's been happening for years. It never got too bad or lasted long, but Dick would always call him when it happened. As of right now, with not hearing from Dick in a while, Bruce was starting to fear that it had happened again. He thought that with Wally being back and all, that Dick would start talking to him again. Apparently, he was wrong.

Bruce turned off the bathroom light and slipped into his pajamas. 'Tomorrow,' he thought. 'I'll go check up on Dick tomorrow.' And with that final thought, he laid down on his bed and drifted off to sleep.

----------linebreak----------

The night had been fairly smooth so far, only a few attempted muggings here and there. Attempted being the keyword. Nightwing had managed to stop them all, escaping with a few minor injuries. Nothing too serious, well, not what he considered serious anyway. Only some minor cuts and bruises, and a few cracked ribs. Although it was still more than what he would usually get in a night.

Nightwing was sitting on a rooftop that overlooked the Little Drawbridge, taking a quick break. He was thinking about heading home early tonight since everything was so calm. 'Might as well catch up on lost sleep.' He watched the cars that drove by, some heading home, maybe some were even heading to work. Everyone consumed in their own little lives, their own worlds. The same routine day after day. Sometimes, Dick wished his life was like. Happy and carefree, where the worst thing he'd be fretting about would be his grades. Not his friend's death.

Dick observed the bridge silently, just breathing, thinking. His eyes followed a raven as it flew by the bridge. A glimmer of red grabbed his attention and he noticed something unusual on the bridge. A man was standing by the concrete wall, looking over the water.

Nightwing jumped to his feet and quickly shot his grapple line towards the bridge. He swung down and landed a few feet behind the man, who didn't even turn around. Nightwing spoke loudly before he'd even looked at the man.

"Sir, I know you're feeling hopeless, and I know you think it'll never get better, but I can guarantee you suicide is not the answer." He knew it was a bit ironic to say considering what he had done earlier, but it would at least catch the man's attention. It always did. They were always looking for a way out. All but him, he at least deserved what he was getting.

Nightwing glanced up from putting away his grapple line in time to see the man turn around. To say he was shocked would be a lie. A beautiful lie.

The man was equally surprised by Nightwing's appearance, which was shown by the widening of his eyes, and appeared especially shocked when Nightwing abruptly turned away to leave.

"Nope. No way am I dealing with this right now. Good day sir." Nightwing spoke bluntly and turned away, trembling slightly. This was NOT happening. There was no possible way this could be happening. 'I must be hallucinating.' "I think I need to go sleep," he mumbled to himself.

"...Nightwing?"

Dick froze in his step and his breath caught in his throat. No...nononono. This isn't happening. He must be dreaming, it's all a hallucination. He can't be here. Nightwing forced his heart down his throat and urged himself forward. To place one foot in front of the other. Dick started to sprint. He couldn't deal with this. He pulled out his grapple gun.

"...Dick?"

Leave. Run. Get as far away from here as possible.

"Wait! Where are you going!?"

Run.

He was on a roof now. So close. His hands were trembling and his breath was ragged and heavy. Dick was panicking now. Nightwing wasn't supposed to panic. He jumped off the edge of the roof and clumsily swung around another corner, nearly hitting a wall. Leave. Dick could still faintly hear the frantic shouts calling for him to wait drift through the air. He desperately searched the rooftop he'd landed on for a place to hide. Finding none, Dick ran over to a shadowed corner and curled up into a ball, hoping he wouldn't be noticed. 'Just go away, ignore me. I can't take this again. Please, just go away,' he thought anxiously and curled tighter into himself.

---------linebreak---------

"Wait! Come back!" Wally shouted after Dick's fading figure. 'What the hell, why is he running from me?' The speedster thought angrily.

He was just barely able to see Nightwing tuck himself away into a corner when he reached the roof. 'So now he's trying to hide from me as well? What is going on?'

"What the hell Dick, why are you running from me?" Wally practically yelled as he neared the cowering figure of his best friend. It was only when he approached did he notice how much Dick was trembling.

"...Dick, are you okay? What's wrong," Wally asked worriedly, and kneeled down, gently placing his hand on Nightwing's shoulder. Dick recoiled violently at the sudden contact, forcing Wally to drop his hand. Wally let his hand fall weakly to his side. 'What's wrong?' he gaped at Nightwing, and desperately wished he had the answer. He'd never seen Dick act like this. Not even when he'd refused to get out of bed for days.

"What's wrong?" Dick spoke weakly, lifting his head up slightly. Wally gazed into the whites of Nightwing's mask, wishing he could see the blue eyes underneath. Then, maybe he could figure out what was going on. "What's wrong?" Dick's voice rose slightly, "What's wrong is that you're dead!" He shouted and uncurled himself, seizing a fistful of Flash's costume, causing Wally to lose his balance and fall to the muddy rooftop. "You're dead!" he roared and shook Wally, "I watched you disappear! I watched them bury an empty coffin. Empty!" Dick's hold slackened and he weakly shook Wally, dropping his head to the speedster's chest. He breathed in heavily, struggling for air. "I watched them bury my best friend!" He released a small sob from his chest. "You shouldn't be here." Dick weakly choked out. "You shouldn't be here," he whimpered noiselessly to himself. "You shouldn't be here."

Wally sat dumbly, watching as his best friend crumbled to pieces in front of him. What was he supposed to do? The silent sobs soon turned into anguished cries, and Wally felt his heart twist in his chest. 'Who did this to you? What happened?'

"Shh Dickie, it's alright," Wally spoke soothingly, bringing his arms up to envelop Dick tightly. "I'm here. Didn't the Team tell you that?" He inquired softly. "I came back."

Dick only clutched Wally's costume tighter, another cry escaping his throat. "You're really here right? I'm not making this up?" he asked desperately, tucking his head further into Wally's chest.

"Hey, look at me," Wally vocalized, "Look at me." Wally reached down to Dick's face, gently pulling off his mask. His eyes were a splotchy red from the tears that now rolled openly down his cheeks, and the bags beneath them were made prominent by his reddening skin. Dick looked terrible. "Look at me, I'm real. Why wouldn't I be?" Wally smiled down at Dick, who's breathing had finally slowed down. "I'm real."

But the longer he held Dick, Wally kept wondering the same thing.

'Did they not tell Dick I was alive?'

-----------linebreak---------

Hello! I'm back with a new chapter! Hurry! I hope you like it!

I would like to inform you all that I'm not very good at writing fight scenes, but I'm trying to get better. If you have any suggestions on how to improve, I'd love to hear them.

So let me know what you think of the chapter. Did you expect this to happen? Is this what you wanted to happen? What do you want to happen? What are your thoughts? Let me know :)

Till next time,

Rachel