DISCLAIMER: I own not ONE of these beautiful characters! All I got is a terrible story idea and the desire to write it.

Please enjoy. ;)

"Hal?" The voice sounded far away, like whoever owned it was on the other side of a large room.

Yet he could see Barry's face in front of him, big as life and touched with worry. Hal wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't sure how to say it. All he knew was that everything seemed like it was distant, and he felt detached.

It was almost as though he weren't really there, though some distant part of him knew that he was.

"What is it?" There was a voice he recognized.

Spooky.

Hal wondered who that was, and whether or not it had any significance. Faintly, he felt something give way, and his view went haywire as he fell.

He thought he fell forever, and it was a while before he realized that he'd been caught, the remote feeling of the hard ground underneath him letting him know that he was looking at the sky.

Only it wasn't the sky, it was Spooky and Barry.

"Can you hear me, Hal?" Barry's voice was worried, and distantly, Hal sympathized with him.

Deep inside of him, he felt that worry too, but it was easy to forget the pit in his stomach when he just, ... left. It was like he was gone. He wasn't even there. He knew that it wasn't true, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Something pressed into his neck, and a part of him supplied the words 'fingers' and 'pulse'. He knew that was important, but didn't really care why.

He just didn't care at all.

He couldn't really see anymore. Everything was blurry, and it felt like a TV channel that had a bad signal, because he couldn't understand the garbled sounds around him. Hal could only tell that they were words, and thought that perhaps he should try to understand them, yet he didn't want to.

He didn't want to try, though, so he didn't.

Hal didn't try anything.

That's when his surroundings became even darker. In the background, he heard panic, and distant words that lifted above the rest, "We- ... pois- ... stopped breathing! ... CPR ..."

Hal thought he ought to care, but he couldn't.

He felt good. The darkness was happy to see him, and he wanted to stay with it, but wasn't able to when he felt air force its way into him. Light flared around him, and he could feel himself suddenly, as though he were there again.

When had he left?

Something was pressing on him, but he couldn't tell what it was. More air came, and he felt himself shudder.

Hal heard more panic, and finally a faint voice so quiet he wasn't sure if it was real, "Please don't die. You're my best friend."

Something was wrong. Who was that?

Barry, his brain supplied.

Oh yeah. He knew. He knew with a suddenness that made him jerk when more air came.

Hal could tell he was moving, and now he heard another voice, "He's strong, he'll make it."

Was that ... Ollie? Should he care?

"Only if he has the will." That was Spooky. He knew that. And suddenly, he did care, but all at once, he realized that he couldn't.

Hal couldn't move, and he couldn't really see.

He couldn't breathe, and when he felt something force its way down his throat, he knew it wasn't air.

It hurt. It burned.

He could feel, but he couldn't do anything about it. The voices were clearer, becoming understandable as he struggled to do anything.

"Of course he has the will." Ollie's voice sharpened, driving into him with a tense, furious tone.

The will.

"Ba-r-" He choked out, and immediately, the sounds around him fell silent. Something was still forcing air in, and he now recognized it as a tube, obstructing his speech even as it helped him breathe.

"Hal? Buddy, can you hear me?!" Barry's face made itself clear to him and he began to try to move, panicking when he realized that something wasn't letting him.

"B-Barry-" Hal slurred as he tried to speak again, pushing against whatever was holding him down, only to recieve a small slap from his other side.

"Stop trying to move, you're going to die if you don't get the antidote, and activity will only make the poison move faster."

"Sp-Spooks," It was the first word that he'd managed to get out, and a small smile left him with it. Of course Spooky was there.

"Hal, you got poisoned; do you remember?" Ollie's familiar tone was back and his face followed it this time, his eyes green and sharp, while his voice had softened. He seemed to be doing something, but Hal couldn't move his head enough to see what it was.

"I- huuuurt." Hal drew it out longer that he knew was necessary, and in response, his friend grimaced.

"We know. You came into the monitor womb while we were on duty, bleeding everywhere-" Oliver was cut off as Barry shoved his way in.

"You'll be all right, Hal. Don't worry about anything, you'll be fine, okay?"

"Poiso-onnnh ..." Hal grunted, "Wh- Wha' hap'nd?" He was struggling to form words, but still managed to ask the question.

"We don't know." There was Bruce's hard voice, "But J'onnz is on his way, and that should help."

"Y-yer tellin' th' whole L-league?" Hal felt panicked again. He'd been caught out, and he didn't even remember what had happened.

"They just want to make sure you're okay too." Barry soothed.

"Date- wit-with Carol." Hal said it seemingly apropos to nothing, but he was worried. He didn't want Carol to know.

"Don't worry about Carol." Ollie smiled, but his eyes weren't twinkling, and Hal pointed it out,

"Y-you'-re worri'd."

"You almost died." Ollie blanched again, and Hal finally tilted his head enough to see that Arrow was wrapping his chest, "How can I not worry?"

"Do you remember anything?" Batman asked, leaning in and looking at his eyes. His mask was off, revealing a slightly red face and disheveled hair.

"N-no." Hal was having trouble speaking still, and it confused him until he remembered that it was because of the breathing apparatus that he was attached to. He looked down at it with an effort, his face obviously displaying his confusion, because Barry spoke in a placating tone,

"You stopped breathing for a while there. We were really worried."

"I c'n b-breathe 'n m' own n-ow." Hal tried to move his arm to pull at the breathing apparatus, but found that he still struggled to move.

"I gave you something to slow down the poison." Bruce explained even as he continued to monitor several screens at once, "We can't take the chance that it won't spread."

"W-why'd I-" Hal cut off, forced to take a deep breath before continuing, "s-sto-p-"

"Stop breathing?" Barry finished helpfully. Hal managed a shaky nod.

"We don't know for sure-" Oliver began, but was cut short by Batman's barbed voice.

"You stopped trying."

"O-oh." Hal definitely didn't miss the looks that they gave each other. He half remembered giving up, and wondered why he'd done it.

"I came as quickly as I could." J'onn melted into view, causing Hal to flinch a little.

He hurt all over, and as his friends cleared a path for J'onn to get through, he could see the bloody mess that they had been taking care of. Ollie had said he'd been bleeding all over...

"Good. Can you see what happened?" Bruce wasted no words.

"Indeed I could." J'onn's forehead furrowed in the Martian's expression of worry, "I fear, however, that entering his mind now would be damaging. He is too weak and disoriented."

If Hal hadn't agreed, he'd have protested. As it was, however, he said nothing.

That seemed to worry his friends, but Batman just nodded in acceptance of J'onn's explanation, "Then we'll wait. Flash, go get the antidote, it should be finished by now."

"Got it." Barry was back almost immediately, and it made Hal smile.

Batman took it and walked out of Hal's line of sight. The speedster followed him while J'onn landed next to the bed, sharing a look with Ollie.

Hal noticed it, but the ramifications of it hit him a little more slowly. "'re y-ou guys tal-talkin' w'thou-t me?" In retrospect, the question sounded ridiculous, but it had only just occurred to him, and they still understood. Ollie immediately jumped to reassure him,

"Hal, J'onn just said that you were too weak for telepathy."

"Th'n t-ta-lk out l-loud." Hal tried to speak forcefully, but only ended up coughing; which was agony with that tube. Ollie looked uncomfortable, but never got the chance to reply.

"It works!" Barry's voice interrupted, as he came back with Bruce, who quickly prepped a needle. Hal didn't like how serious everyone was being. It scared him.

"This should counteract the poison, but that doesn't mean you're healed." Batman gave his famous glare.

"'m n-not du-mb." Hal grumbled as Bruce injected it, immediately feeling better for the banter.

All of them watched him expectantly, and at first he felt nothing. Then, he realized that he was falling asleep. He managed a glare at Bruce, who didn't even have the grace to shrug, "You need to sleep it off. It will help your system reboot."

"You'll be fine, Hal." Barry said, and Ollie laughed at his expression.

"I ha-te y-you, Sp-pooks." Hal choked out half-heartedly. The last thing he saw before he finally fell asleep were the worried faces of all his friends, and he couldn't help but smile just a little. It was nice to be cared about.

It was nice to care.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed that as much as I did. :) I recently fixed it up, so if you see anything out of place, PLEASE let me know so I can take care of it.

If you have any comments, I would love to hear them. They always make my day.

Till next time,

-Al