Wally was silent as he listened to Bruce speak, his gaze focused on the rise and fall of Dick's chest being caused, for the most part, by the machines surrounding the bed. Wally sniffled while grabbing Dick's arm in what he hoped would have felt like a comforting touch.

He knew what Bruce was talking about, he had already heard it before Bruce called the League to inform them of his decision. Aside from Bruce and Alfred, it was just Wally next to Dick with Barbara and Tim closer to Bruce. They were silent themselves, Tim held the signed document and seemed to be re-reading it repeatedly in his mind, Wally could only assume Barbara was doing the same.

Everyone so far had agreed with Bruce's decision and Wally highly doubted anyone from the League or Team would have an issue with it... aside from the fact that the decision had to be made in the first place.

It was a simple plan; it was stated on the document that the DNR would only go into effect twenty-four hours after Dick's surgery had ended. This gave him a better chance during the operation. But if it seemed like it wouldn't work in the long run... then they wouldn't make Dick suffer.

Now the surgery itself... James had explained that the type of operation Dick would undergo would be neuroplasticity. This type of surgery has been known to restore functions that are otherwise unable to be done due to the damage caused by certain traumatic injuries... like a diffuse axonal brain injury. Of course, this was supposed to be a last resort. Given the amount of damage Dick had sustained, there was no guarantee it would do anything for him. Not to mention the risks... even when Dick was in a more stable condition, the chances of him surviving this kind of operation had very low survival chances.

It was mentioned around the time Dick came out of his coma, but James had to quickly educate the man's friends and family. At the time, he was alive and expected to improve at least a little. This type of surgery was still relatively knew. The risks of him passing during the surgery were too high, so it was deemed as a last resort.

And it has come to that.

Wally's eyes narrowed as he took in the readings on the equipment. Stable enough, but how long would that last? His last coma was a mystery to the medical personnel, he may have well came out of it like he did or he would have stayed asleep. Forever. But this one? It was almost 100% certain that Dick would not awake from this, not unless they did something.

There was a soft knock on the door, causing Wally to tense up, digging his fingertips into Dick's arm. He knew who that was, and it meant it was time for him to go. Kaldur, M'gann, Artemis, and Connor were waiting for him in the nearby waiting room, they already had their time with Dick... just in case.

James came in through the door, a group of nurses waiting behind him. They were here to take him away. Wally got up slowly and leaned over to whisper to Dick, a tear threatening to leave his eye.

"Make it through, little brother."

He slowly let go of Dick's arm and walked over to Tim and Barbara, giving them both a little hug before he exited the room and started the short walk down to the waiting room.

Alfred, Bruce, Tim, and Barbara were going to wait at the hospital, but Wally and the others were going to the Watch Tower to be together, on the promise that either Babs or Tim would notify them if anything happened.

It was practically empty in that part of the hospital, none of the other temporary patient rooms seemed to be occupied, perhaps Dick was the only one scheduled for surgery at the moment. At least that meant the waiting room was empty, except for the others.

Artemis was the first to notice Wally's arrival and quickly stood up, prompting the others to do so as well. He met their eyes and quickly took Artemis's hand. He took a shaky breath before opening his mouth.

"They're putting him under now... we can go."

They needed to get out of the hospital, none would say it, but they were all on the verge of a breakdown, they needed to be somewhere private... and Clark had assured them there was a small lounge ready at the Watch Tower, with only them being allowed in. The League and the Team would likely be in the main lounge together but for right now, the original Team members needed to be alone with each other.

-------------------------------------------------------

No one had spoken much, the only sound was the quiet chatter of the TV, they had turned it on for, if nothing else, background noise but no one has paid much attention to it.

They chose to settle in a cluster of small couches and a couple armchairs with a coffee table between them and some bookshelves off to the side. Behind the sofa that Wally and Artemis were occupying was one of the large windows of the Watch Tower, this one giving a perfect view of Earth. It was just three of them right now, Artemis, Wally, and Kaldur. M'gann had insisted on making a snack for them and naturally, Connor had followed her to help. It was likely going to be a treat of some kind, baking always calmed her down.

Artemis had eventually dozed off on Wally's shoulder, her phone still in her hands, the screen still displaying the group chat they had created with Tim and Barbara. No news yet. Kaldur had taken up a book, though it was doubtful he was getting any true reading done... considering he's been looking at the same two pages for nearly an hour.

The quiet was nice at first, it was comfortable silence around them, but then as time dragged on, Wally seemed to get more nervous.

At first his foot was tapping at a normal rate but since the others were otherwise occupied, Wally had some time alone with his thoughts, and inevitably they started drifting through the events of the past two years. The more the thoughts and memories swirled around and repeated in his head, the faster and more erratic his foot started to move, his hands clenching into fists and his fingernails digging into the rough material of his jeans.

"Wally..."

His head snapped up, his bleary eyes quickly taking in the concerned faces looking back at him. M'gann and Connor were back, and she was still holding the plate of still-steaming cookies.

Artemis shifted beside him and rested her hand on his, gently working to undo his fist.

"Babe... we've been trying to get your attention for about two minutes now."

M'gann set the plate down on the coffee table and picked up one of the cookies and handed it to Wally.

He held the cookie gingerly, like it was a tiny and fragile little bird.

'Peanut butter cookies... with peanut butter chips in them. These are Dick's favorite...'

Wally glanced back up at M'gann just as she and Connor were settling back onto their sofa.

"Dick taught me how to make these, back when he was still Robin. He told me that it was his mother's recipe... they have always tasted better than other ones."

Wally blinked at that information and took a small nibble. Yeah... they do taste better than other recipes for this type of cookie. There was something warm and comforting about them, but even so, swallowing that morsel alone felt like he was swallowing part of a desert.

Connor chuckled next to M'gann as he took his own cookie, seemingly smiling at a memory.

"I remember that, you were still trying to get the hang of baking. By the time you two were done, he was covered in flour and peanut butter... you were fawning all over him and he just kept laughing!"

M'gann and the others started to perk up a little bit too.

"I would have burned them if not for Dick... he ended up saving the whole batch and yet still managed to cheer me up about it."

A few tense, and rather forced chuckles, were managed from the group with Kaldur being the next to speak once it had quieted down again.

"He was always trying to help... it had seemed any time I had doubts he was right around the corner... I once told him that is a great quality for a leader to have. I always intended to pass the role onto him, when he was ready..."

Although, perhaps the last two years were not exactly the ideal introductory period, and that fact was not lost on any of them as the atmosphere among them quickly lost the small amount of joviality it had. Especially the Invasion...

Now, that was a particular topic that none of them had been eager to speak about. Once it was over and they had returned to the Watch Tower, no one said a word to Dick. Either it was just a cold glance or just straight up ignoring his existence.

Artemis and Kaldur had tried to get a word in with him in order to, if nothing else, make sure he didn't immediately shut himself down. But he wouldn't allow it. Not verbally anyway.

Apparently, his family had tried to as well, but that went about as well as it did with Artemis and Kaldur. In fact, by the time the rest of the household was awake the next morning, Dick had already packed up his stuff and had been on his way to Bludhaven.

After that, no one heard from him at all, except for the brief news reports on television, covering all of his latest appearances in his new city. It was only six months later that Alfred finally managed to convince Dick to come home, even if only for a day. After a few minutes of back and forth between the two, Dick had finally relented and promised he was in the process of packing a duffel bag as they spoke.

And then the accident happened. Despite him being out of uniform, despite all that had just happened to him-- he never hesitated to jump into that burning building.

It was only when he was officially reported to be in the hospital under critical condition did everyone else on the Team and League finally take a moment to step back and think. To actually think through Dick's thought process, think about the reasons, the tactical decisions. They finally seemed to grasp what Dick had initially tried to explain them. But it seemed to be too little, too late.

And for Wally, hearing that Dick was in critical condition was enough for him to get his head out his ass, to finally dissolve his pent-up anger and frustration. Though the anger he had for Dick after the Mountain exploded didn't completely abate until Dick was confirmed to be in a coma. Then all that seemed to become a moot point to the speedster.

Of course, Dick falling into a coma, Wally's brain catching up with his mouth, and Dick miraculously waking up wasn't enough to clear the air, no matter how much they pretended that there wasn't a rift between them. It was something Wally always intended to bring up with him, whenever they were alone but there never seemed to be good time, never a--

Wally's body jolted upright, and he nearly choked on his second cookie.

"I never told him..."

The others turned their attention to him, puzzled looks on their faces for a brief second until he returns their confused look with his horrified one.

"I-- We never talked to him about it! Even after... all of this! We never told him that--"

He turned completely towards Connor and M'gann.

"We never told him that we were sorry! That we love him, that he's still... our little brother..."

Wally jumped to his feet, while Connor and M'gann recoiled at that revelation.

"We never told him those things and now we might never get to--"

At that both Artemis and Kaldur stood up along with them, both sharing knowing looks with each other.

"Wally, calm down! That's not--"

"He knew, my friend!"

At that Wally stopped still, the little vibrations that were starting to spread through his body suddenly stopped as well.

"What?"

Artemis grabbed him by the shoulder and gently pulled him back down with her, Kaldur falling back into his seat with a long sigh.

"He knew Wally... Kaldur and I did manage to text him in a private group chat, a couple of times actually..."

A few tears were threatening to leave her eyes and she looked over to Kaldur for help.

"She is right Wally; he was of course hurt deeply but he did not speak ill of any of you."

Wally looked as if he was about to argue, as if that wasn't good enough evidence for him, before Kaldur quickly cut him off.

"If he truly felt the things you three fear he did, would he have allowed you to come to the hospital? At all?"

He then turned to Wally, making direct eye contact.

"Would he have allowed you into the Manor? Or to allow you to see him in such a vulnerable state? He was well aware he could have had you three banned from both the hospital and his home if he did not feel comfortable around you three."

Wally seemed to deflate, his voice dwindling to a near whisper.

"What if he doesn't make it?"

The rest of them exchanged uneasy glances with each other before Kaldur turned back to Wally, his face softening.

"You cannot dwell on what might be, it hasn't happened yet, therefore you should not agonize over the 'what-if' questions Wally."

Wally's face screwed up with emotion, it seemed as though he was perfectly fine with making himself suffer.

"But--"

A sudden, urgent buzzing came from Artemis's phone. She hastily picked it up and looked at the screen.

"It's Tim..."

She quickly unlocked her phone and took a moment to scan over the message before her entire face went lax, a strangled and heavy sigh passing between her lips.

She wordlessly showed the message to Wally, who promptly slumped in his chair and allowed what he was holding back all day, the ability to cry.

But the others could not discern whether or not they were relieved tears or... if he was mourning. That is, not until Artemis turned the screen towards them. It was only two words but she found herself unable to trust her voice.

But the other three instantly felt tears fall down their faces, their bodies slumping into their seats. Their muscles finally relaxing for the first time in nearly six hours, six hours of waiting for something. And this was it.

He's alive.