This was written for the Young Justice Anon Meme. Listening to the song Safe & Sound made me think of all of this. Really depressing.

Just close your eyes
The sun is going down
You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound

-Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars, Safe & Sound

The world around him is a mess of smoldering fire and debris, unnaturally silent and still. He can't hear anything past the blood rushing in his ears, can't feel anything but numb detachment. He's not sure what happened, but he distantly thinks it was a bomb.

Everything around him is destroyed. He and Wally's favorite arcade is nothing but a pile of rubble and ash. He can barely make out some of their favorite games, the casings now twisted, burnt, and unrecognizable. His feet drag him over to collapse among them, his back ending up against what he thinks is the old Pacman machine Wally loved so much.

He doesn't understand how it's all just gone, so suddenly like this. It's like it was there, whole, one second and gone the next. He almost cries, except heroes don't cry. Especially over an old arcade that only ever had cheap old games from the 80's and pool.

It doesn't matter that it's he and Wally's favorite hangout, the place they'll always share, or that it's actually so much more than just the games and pool. It doesn't matter that he was supposed to meet Wally here but Wally stood him up and now it's gone.

None of that matters.

Except it does.

It does matter because it was their place and it's gone. It's just gone. Everything's ash and dust and rubble. Gone.

And Wally never came. It's gone and Wally never came.

He pushes himself off the machine and takes another look around, catching something in the corner of his eye. It takes him a minute to realize that someone else is there, half crouched in the wreckage and blacked by ash.

Through his fogged mind he can hear crying and muttering and it takes him a second to realize they're talking to someone, or possibly pleading with someone by the sound of it. And as he steps closer the voice become clearer he recognizes them.

Wally.

He came. He came!

He wants to run over, but only manages to stumble about, stopping just behind the dirt and ash coated redhead. He calls out to him, tears slipping down his cheeks though he doesn't know why.

"Wally! Wally!", he pauses as he gets closer, his best friend's words finally clear. "Wally...?"

"It's gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay..."

He steps up behind him, realizing that he's crying and rocking back and forth. There's someone in his arms, their skin burned and blackened, and he can just make out their legs on the other side of him, or more accurately their leg. They're missing one.

"Wally..."

The redhead gives a harsh sob. "You're gonna be okay Rob. It's okay. Y-You're gonna be okay. I promise."

Wha- What was he talking about? Why was he-

He moves close enough to see the burnt figure in Wally's arms face and lets out a chocked sob. His own eyes stare back at him from a charred face, a milky sort of faded blue, and his own lips are parted in a lasting bloody cry.

He falls to his knee's, staring at his own dead face, and he remembers now.

He was waiting for Wally, the speedster nearly thirty minutes late, and pacing in front of the arcade. He'd scowled huffily and looked up at the sky, daylight fading, only to notice something odd in the sky's above Gotham.

There were black shapes, moving fast, and he could only make out what they were when it was too late. People on the streets screamed as the planes, that's what they were, released bombs into Gotham, the streets below exploding as they hit.

He'd been unable to move or evade, the heat and force of the combined assault knocking him backwards into the arcade. He felt the building fall down on him and everyone inside, his body lost under the rubble created, and he screamed.

When he finally came back to himself he was buried alive, ash in his lungs and his whole body on fire. He couldn't feel his left leg or his palms, but he could feel the blood in his lungs swishing around and hear the cracking his skin made as he breathed.

He hadn't know he was being dug out until hands grabbed him and blinding light filled his vision. He'd wanted to cry, scream as he was torn from the rubble and pulled against someone, but all he managed was a slight gurgle, blood flooding down his chin.

He'd only realized it was Wally when the speedster's voice filled his ears and his soot covered face filled his vision.

"Oh god...Oh god...Don't worry Rob, helps on the way, you're gonna be okay!", the redhead had cried, tears slipping down his cheeks and leaving tracks through the dirt and grime coating him. "Just hold on okay?"

He'd managed a bloody smile, words garbled and slick. "Y'u C'me..."

Waly had nodded down at him, brushing his hair away from his face and smiled shakily. "Of course I came."

"L-La'e."

Wally nodded slowly, trying to hold back a sob. "I know...I lost track of time...I'm sorry..."

He nodded slowly, trying to blink away the darkness overtaking his vision and tried to tell him it was okay , but nothing came out. He heard Wally screaming, crying, but he couldn't focus. Everything was slipping away.

"Rob...please...Hold o-"

He looks back to Wally, cradling his burnt body, and gives a small sniff. He moves to sit beside him, leaning against him despite the fact that he can't feel him or see him, and gives him a small shaky smile.

"It's okay. I-I forgive you for being late. You still came.", he puts an arm around him, Wally sobbing over his body, and looks down into his own dead eyes. "It's okay..."

Wally gives a small sob, almost as if he can hear him. "Don't leave me...please...Just hold on..."

He sniffs, patting his friend on the shoulder. "Thank you for coming..."

And with that he slowly vanishes like smoke spreading out by the wind, leaving Wally and his body behind. As soon as he's gone Wally looks up and smiles slowly, eyes watery and tear tracks clear on his cheeks.

"You're welcome..."

Wow, this is really depressing, but I think the ending was a bit hopeful. Yeah? I feel bad for killing off Robin like that.