A/N: I'm so sorry for taking so long to update! RL has been pretty insane, and I've been struggling to find the motivation to write. But rest assured that I would never let a story go unfinished :)

Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me, and an extra special thank you, as always, to the wonderful Black Friar for the beta!

"C'mon, Rob, please!"

Wally carefully lifted Robin's head from where it was cushioned on Wally's leg and gently lowered it to the ground so he could scramble up and take a proper look at his friend. He pressed two fingers against Robin's throat and let out a breath when he felt a few rapid thumps. The heartbeat was too fast and it was thready, but at least it was there. Then he yanked his glove off, held his hand under Robin's nose and waited. After a few seconds he felt a warm puff of air on his skin and he closed his eyes with relief. Robin was still breathing.

He scooted down to check the bandages around Robin's leg and discovered they were soaked, the ground underneath stained dark. He clenched his hands into fists, trying to keep from freaking out because holy crap that was a lot of blood. There was nothing else he could do to staunch the flow; the line was still tight around Robin's thigh and he'd already used up all the bandages Robin had carried with him in his utility belt.

Moving back up to kneel beside Robin's head, he shone the flashlight directly into his friend's face, kind of hoping it would somehow annoy Robin into waking up. When that didn't work, Wally tried slapping him on the cheeks a little and eventually resorted to pinching the inside of his arm, but it was all useless. Robin remained still, and underneath the smudges of grime and dust on his face, he was pale as death.

The sight frightened Wally into further action. He tucked the cape more securely around his friend's body and got up to once again look for a way out. He went over the place practically inch by inch, almost causing another small landslide in his desperation, but there was just no way they were getting out without help. Frustrated, he sat back down beside his friend, checked his vitals, and carefully lifted Robin's head back onto his leg. Robin's breaths were coming fast now, and he knew it was a bad sign.

God, they were going to die here, weren't they? First – oh god – he was going to have to watch his best friend die and then he himself would die of hunger or thirst a few days later. He'd be all alone, in the dark, his best friend's dead body starting to rot in his arms and-

Way to stay traught, Wally! a voice inside his head said. It sounded a hell of a lot like Robin.

Wally scowled. "Easy for you to say," he said out loud, frowning down at Robin. "You're not the one who has to watch his best friend die! Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

"I'm not going to lose my best friend, I don't care if it kills me."

The words echoed in Wally's mind. Robin had said them, mumbled them, after Wally had scolded him for saving his life. For once, Wally had been dumb-struck. He wasn't sure Robin had meant to say any of it, but the emotions that had crashed into Wally at those words had been overwhelming.

Robin hadn't given up then; somehow he'd freed his leg from that damned pipe – Wally didn't even want to think about how much that must've hurt – and had risked bleeding to death to dig Wally out.

Wally glanced down at Robin again. He was in terrifyingly bad shape but he was alive; he still wasn't giving up. Not yet. There was still a chance for Wally to save his own best friend.

He frowned in determination and shone his flashlight around the cave once more, hoping there was anything else, anything at all, he might have missed.

And then the light flickered.

"Oh yeah," Wally muttered, shaking the flashlight lightly,"of course the freaking flashlight's about to die, because that's not a cliché at all."

The flickering only got worse. Cold fear settled in his stomach and he wondered briefly where Robin's flashlight was, but he hadn't come across it while searching for a way out. Robin must've lost it during the tunnel collapse.

Wally cast his unsteady light around the cave once more, frantically scanning for Robin's torch, and then without warning, they were plunged into complete blackness. Wally sucked in a breath and shook the flashlight again. "Come on, come on, this is not happening!" He unscrewed the top, took out the batteries, switched them up and put them back in before fumbling with the power switch in hopes of getting it to work again.

Nothing happened.

Wally hurled the flashlight at the opposite wall with a roar. "God damn it, how am I supposed to get Robin out of here if I can't freaking see anything?! Seriously, what the hell am I supposed to do, huh?!"

And where was their team anyway? Superboy at the very least should've been able to find and dig them out by now! "Superboy!" he shouted into the darkness. "I know you can hear me! GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE AND-"

A small noise from Robin made him freeze and he automatically looked down, even though the darkness was so thick he couldn't see anything. "Dude?"

Robin didn't repeat the noise, but Wally felt chastened anyway. "Yeah. Sorry. Yelling doesn't really help the situation, huh?" Robin didn't answer and Wally leaned his back against the wall with a heavy sigh.

He wished Robin would just wake up. Realistically he knew that wasn't going to happen, which made it only harder not to flip out. Robin would've kept it together, would've kept Wally together; he wasn't afraid of anything. Even the dark was something he embraced, not feared.

Wally's mind took him back to the first time he'd seen footage of Robin on TV. It had been five glorious seconds of Robin the Boy Wonder streaking across rooftops, doing flips and somersaults, and it had been the absolute coolest thing Wally had ever seen. His uncle's superspeed was cool and all, but this was a kid, fighting crime and back flipping across rooftops and just generally doing super awesome things and it had blown Wally's mind.

When his uncle had told him Batman was finally letting him meet Robin, after becoming Kid Flash, Wally had been equal parts excited and terrified, because holy crap, he was going to meet the Boy Wonder! The Boy wonder! Robin had been in the superhero business since he was nine, which made him a total badass, and compared to him Wally was just a novice and what would Robin think of him?

Wally could still picture himself that first night up on a rooftop in Central City, vibrating with nerves, his uncle Barry trying to get him to calm down. And then Batman and Robin had arrived and his first thoughts when he'd actually seen Robin for the first time, in real life, had been oh my god! and then he's tiny! And if Robin could take out criminals and be Batman's partner when he was that small, that, in Wally's mind, made him even more badass! Wally had gawked and stuttered, completely star-struck, and Robin had given him a grin that had looked both delighted and relieved and they had been instant buddies – you know, after Wally had managed to untie his tongue.

They'd progressed to being best friends soon after that. He was pretty good buds with Roy too, he and Robin both were. At least, before Roy had grown the chip on his shoulder. But Dick was his bro. They could geek out about science stuff together but they also shared a similar sense of humor, and he couldn't even count the number of times they'd saved each other's lives. Okay, so sometimes Robin could be an obnoxious little troll, but he always, always had Wally's back. He was pretty sure he'd never find a friend like that again.

Wally looked down and reached out a blind, careful hand to smooth back Robin's sweat-matted bangs. "Please don't die, okay?"

The darkness was starting to push against his chest, blinding him, choking him. He'd expected his eyes to adjust to the dark, at least a little, but it was so thick, so absolute that all he saw was blackness.

Robin's fast, ragged breathing was loud in his ears. It seemed worse in the silence, so much worse, and it made Wally want to scream and yell and tear his own hair out because he felt so freaking helpless. But all he could do was sit there and wait and hope that maybe someone would find them and-

Something brushed against his leg, making him jump and causing him to jostle Robin in the process, eliciting a pained moan. "What the hell was that?!" Wally exclaimed, glancing around wildly even though he was still just as blind as before. Soft squeaking made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and he blindly lashed out, trying to bat the rodent away as panic rose in his gut. A mental image of rats crawling all over Robin's prone body made bile stir in his gut and anger surge in his veins.

"Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!" Wally exploded. "Being stuck here and waiting to freaking die wasn't enough? Now we have to deal with rats too?! What the hell?! WHAT THE F-"

"Wally!"

Wally jerked at the voice that suddenly echoed in his mind.

"Wally, we're coming!"

M'gann?

"It's about damn time!" Wally called back in his head, too upset still to feel any relief. "You need to get down here now! Robin's hurt bad, like, really bad! He's out of time!"

"I know. We're almost there, I promise!"

M'gann didn't lie. Just a few seconds later she told him to cover his eyes, and Wally did, leaning forward to shield Robin's head with his body.

Ominous rumbling bounced off the walls and Wally braced himself, praying the whole tunnel wasn't about to collapse on top of them. There were crushing sounds coming from somewhere above them and Wally realized it was probably Superboy's fists pulverizing the stone and concrete slabs and rubble that was trapping them there. A short while later, the air became less stale and despite the fact he still had his eyes closed, he somehow sensed the oppressing darkness that had swallowed them becoming lighter.

"It's safe," M'gann said out loud, and Wally opened his eyes to see M'gann using her telekinesis to remove the last of the rubble. Wally squinted up at her and Superboy, the soft light of the moon above them still too harsh for his eyes. He was kind of surprised it was still dark; it had felt like they'd been trapped down there for days when in reality it had probably only been a few hours.

"You can let go of him now, Wally," M'gann said, voice gentle, and Wally looked down to find himself still clinging to Robin's limp body.

"He needs help, like, yesterday," Wally said, reluctantly relinquishing his hold on his best friend so M'gann could gather him up in her arms. "His leg's a mess and he's lost a lot of blood and he's got a concussion too and I dunno, maybe internal injuries? He's been unconscious for a while now and I don't know if- oh god, what if he-"

"Calm down," Superboy said. "We've got him."

A surge of anger overwhelmed Wally. "Calm down? Don't tell me to calm down! You have no idea how-"

"I'll take Robin to the bioship," M'gann interrupted, and her gentle voice deflated him like a balloon.

Wally took a breath. "Just…be careful with him, okay?"

"I will." She hesitated. "Can you make it to the ship on your own? Are you hurt?"

Wally waved her off. "I'm fine. Just look after Robin."

M'gann nodded and glanced at Superboy before tightening her hold on Robin and floating up through the rather sizeable hole they'd created in the ceiling.

Wally slowly started to climb up after her, only realizing now how exhausted he was; it had been a while since he'd eaten anything, his snack compartment emptied ages ago. There was no way he could rely on his superspeed, his energy reserves pretty much depleted now that the adrenaline was deserting his system. It made him wonder how long they'd been stuck down there, and he was still a little miffed it had taken their two majorly superpowered team mates so long to- wait. Two?

"Hang on," Wally said, stopping and spinning around so suddenly that Superboy, who had been following behind him, only barely avoided head-butting him in the nose – for which Wally was grateful, because his nose probably would not have survived the encounter. "Where- where are Artemis and Aqualad?" he demanded, torn between fearing the answer and feeling guilty he hadn't thought to ask sooner.

"They're back at the ship," Superboy replied. "They're hurt, but nothing life-threatening."

Wally breathed a sigh of relief and after a moment, turned back to resume his climb.

"You do know I can just carry you up, right?" Superboy said.

Wally scowled. "I can make it by myself." Too many things had been out of his hands this mission.

"The sooner we get to the ship, the sooner we can get Robin and the others the help they need."

Wally halted. Oh. "And you just had to wait till now to say that, huh?" He folded his arms against his chest and waited for Superboy to pick him up.

Superboy wisely kept his mouth shut.

oOo

When they arrived at Mount Justice an hour later, Doctor Midnight, Black Canary and Red Tornado were already waiting for them. Robin, whose condition had steadily deteriorated even though they had finally managed to stop the bleeding, was immediately whisked away on a gurney. Artemis, who had a broken arm, and Kaldur, burns and possibly cracked ribs, both insisted they could make it to the medbay under their own power while Black Canary supported a rather woozy M'gann, who, Wally had learned, had sustained a head wound when the explosion had slammed Superboy into M'gann, accidentally plowing her into a wall. Which had also been the reason why it had taken them a while to find and rescue their teammates.

Wally felt kind of guilty for coming out of this mission virtually unscathed when, apart from Superboy, his whole team was banged up. He dropped into a seat just inside the medbay and watched as Black Canary tended to Aqualad's burns, slowly munching on a power bar someone had thrust at him. His mind, however, was with Robin.

When Wally had finally gotten a proper look at his friend on board the bioship, he had almost thrown up. Robin had looked dead. The image was probably going to haunt him for a while.

"Wally, your arm's bleeding."

"Huh?" Wally started, looking up at Artemis, who had switched places with Aqualad and was now being treated for her broken arm.

"Your arm's bleeding," Artemis repeated.

Wally blinked and looked down at the appendage Artemis was indicating and was surprised to see blood oozing from a sizable gash on his upper arm. "Oh," he said, staring at it dumbly.

Black Canary glanced at him over her shoulder, eyebrow raised. "You said you were fine," she accused.

Wally shrugged. "Guess I didn't notice. Kind of had other stuff on my mind."

The room fell silent, which was fine by Wally. He didn't feel like talking.

Some time later, Black Canary was just cleaning out the cut in Wally's arm when Batman burst in.

"Where's Robin?" he growled.

"Still in surgery," Black Canary replied, straightening up.

Batman stalked towards the doors leading towards the operating rooms, but Black Canary blocked his path. "You know you can't go in there."

Batman glowered, towering over her, and Wally held his breath. Anger poured off of the dark knight in tidal waves, but Black Canary held her ground. "You can glare at me all you want, but you know I'm right. Dr. Midnight and Red Tornado are doing everything they can."

With a growl, Batman turned and began to pace. Wally could practically hear the man's teeth grind and his gloves creak as he balled his hands into fists. Around him, the rest of the team were shooting each other glances, obviously uncertain about Batman appearing so on edge. Wally supposed none of them had ever seen Batman like this; Wally himself had really only seen it once or twice before. Both times had involved Robin being in mortal danger.

Speaking of Robin, why was the damn surgery taking so long? It felt like he'd been taken to surgery hours ago. Sometimes he really wished speedsters could time travel or manipulate time so he could just fast forward to the point where his best friend was okay again.

He would not accept a future where Robin was not okay. Neither would Batman. And that had to mean something, right? Batman wouldn't allow Robin to die, so Robin was going to be fine.

Right?

oOo

Robin survived the surgery.

Barely.

The wound in his leg had gotten badly infected – no surprise there – resulting in a raging fever that had destroyed what had been left of Robin's energy reserves. They'd nearly lost him on the operating table.

Twice.

It was a full week before Wally finally saw Robin again; he hadn't been allowed to visit – no matter how much he'd bugged Batman – simply because Robin had been too weak. A common cold could have killed him, and even though Wally, by virtue of being a speedster, didn't get colds, Batman still wouldn't take the risk. And if Wally was honest, he really couldn't blame him.

But now that Robin was finally on the mend, Wally had managed to persuade – okay, badgered – Batman into letting him see his best friend. Robin had been transferred to Wayne Manor the day before and so Wally was standing outside Dick's bedroom, fidgeting, waiting for Alfred to let him in. He had no idea what to expect.

When Wally was finally allowed to enter the room, all he could do was stare for a full minute. Dick looked like he'd been dragged through hell and back again. And that was putting it mildly. Purple smudges under his eyes formed a stark contrast with pale skin and he looked like he'd lost about half his bodyweight, cheekbones and jaw sharp in hollow cheeks.

He was still hooked up to several monitors and was also still being administered fluids through an IV attached to the back of his left hand. His dark hair was damp and there was a soapy scent in the air, making Wally suspect someone – probably Alfred – had just given him a bath.

Dick appeared sound asleep, and Wally was kind of disappointed because he was only being allowed to visit his friend for a few minutes and he just wanted him to open his eyes and say something, just so Wally was sure he was going to be okay. But he at least didn't look dead anymore.

He sat down in a chair positioned by the bed and he wondered briefly how much time Bruce had spent in it, before leaning back and just kind of watching his friend breathe and listening to the beeps of the various monitors. The noise was almost enough to drown out the groan that came from the bed a few minutes later, but it was enough for Wally to sit up straight.

Dick was frowning, his eyelids trembling, eyes moving rapidly behind them, and Wally wondered if Dick was having a nightmare.

"Wally?"

Wally was out of his seat and leaning over his best friend in a second. "Yeah, dude? You okay?"

Dick nodded slightly, eyes still closed.

Wait, if Dick hadn't opened his eyes then- "How'd you know it was me?"

Dick smiled rather dopily, finally pulling his eyes open. "Stealth still isn't really your thing, Walls."

He sounded exhausted, voice barely stronger than a whisper, but Wally grinned because Dick sounded like himself and that meant he really was going to be okay. "I guess you're gonna have to give me more stealth lessons when you get better."

"Yeah," Dick said, eyes almost falling shut again. He roused himself, his expression apologetic. "Sorry, 's the meds."

"Dude, seriously, don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're alive. How's the leg?"

Dick tried to push himself up a little, arms trembling with the effort, and Wally immediately slid an arm around his shoulders to support him, rearranging the pillows at Dick's back with his other hand. Dick winced at the movement, but eventually leaned back against the pillows with a sigh.

"Thanks," he said. "My leg's okay. It hurts a little but 'm feelin' pretty asterous in general. Kinda…floaty. They're still pumpin' me full with the good stuff."

"Obviously," Wally said, watching another dopey smile appear. He chuckled. "You're high, aren't you?"

Dick blinked slowly, smile never leaving his face. "Maybe."

"Okay, so aside from the pain, is your leg gonna be okay?"

Dick nodded. "Bruce says I'm gonna be off my feet for a while though." A small frown appeared between his brows. "Which, not asterous."

"Be grateful you still have that leg, dude."

"Uh-huh," Dick muttered, eyes drooping. He pulled them open again with obvious difficulty. "What 'bout you?"

"What about me?"

"You okay?"

Wally waved him off. "Oh yeah, fine. Barely a scratch," he said with a grin that didn't feel entirely genuine.

Dick frowned a little. "Were you yelling?"

"Huh? When?"

"Not sure. In the tunnel maybe? When we were stuck?" Dick sighed. "I dunno, maybe I dreamed it."

Wally fidgeted. "I uh…may have flipped out a little when we were down there and, you know, the flashlight died."

"Oh. The flashlight died? So…you were stuck in the dark with me dying on you?"

"Yeah. And also, rats."

Dick's eyes widened a little. "Rats?!" He shuddered visibly, which, for some reason, made Wally feel slightly better about himself.

There was a knock on the door and Wally turned to see Alfred standing in the doorway. "I'm afraid it's time to let Master Dick rest, Mister Wallace."

Wally nodded and got up from his chair. "Take it easy, dude," he told Dick. "Don't let Alfred catch you hanging off any chandeliers any time soon."

He was rewarded with another dopey smile, and Wally made his way to the door with a lighter heart.

- End -