As it happens, this is angst and joy all rolled up into a oneshot thing. ENJOY.

I AM ALSO THINKING OF A WALLY/DICK DRABBLE SERIES. IF ANYONE APPROVES OF THIS IDEA, YOU COULD, YOU KNOW, PUT IT IN YOUR REVIEW. C:

Disclaimer: Not mine, ladies (and gents?)

Dick is dying.

And Wally is not okay with it. So he's talking to the boy who can no longer hear him and he is desperately wondering why no one is coming to their rescue. He wonders and he is bitter because someone should be coming. Anyone. He is dying.

Dick is making noises of pain, regardless of the fact that he is no longer conscious. Wally cradles his best friend close, curling over him protectively. The blood pooling on his clothes doesn't make him flinch anymore.

—

Dick is dying.

Wally is clutching at him on the gurney (that's what they carry dead people on –), "C'mon Dick, wake up, there are things I need to tell you, so wake up –" why had he waited so long it wasn't fair he should have told Dick sooner –

A female doctor pries his hands away from his friend (oh God he wants to be more than friends he should have said something) and grasps him by the shoulders as a team of medics takes Dick down the hall.

And Wally is crying.

"Is he your friend?"

"Best friend," his voice is shaking, he knows.

She is looking at him with trained doctor eyes. "We're going to do our best. I'll come for you the minute we're done. I promise." She glances over his shoulder to Batman who he knows is standing there. "The moment we're done. I'll make sure he gets the best care we have. But you gotta wait here. That's where you'll be the most useful."

"The best care?"

"Yes, sir," she says, squeezing his shoulders. She guides him to a chair, and sits him down.

All he can do is wait.

—

Dick is dying.

He feels like he's peeling away from his body, not sticking to the ground the way he's supposed to. In a way, he's relieved, because it doesn't hurt anymore.

And his parents are there, glowing so close above him, holding out their hands. He reaches, reaches, because he has missed them more than anything. But there is a noise, a voice, and Dick stops and listens. He feels that he needs to.

"C'mon Dick, wake up—" It's Wally. Dick stops completely, half in and half out of what is his body. "There are things I need to tell you—"

Wally. Wallywally—

He looks back up at his parents. His dad is smiling his shining smile and is mom is blowing him a kiss.

Maybe some other time, my little bird.

He replay's Wally's voice in his head, anchoring himself where he needs to be.

—

Dick is breathing.

Wally is totally okay with this turn of events.

Blue eyes are tired, but Dick's looking at him, alert. "Things to tell me. You said things..."

"I love you." Dick's eyebrows go up and he opens his mouth. "I'm sure, so shut up." The mouth shuts. "I made sure. I knew that I couldn't hurt you, so I had to be sure that I was one hundred percent with you. Megan doesn't make me feel as happy as you do. Artemis makes me wanna strangle a kitten." Dick snorts. "And no girl, or guy, can make me feel like you do. So, yeah, I can say I love you. And I'll say it every day, because I was so close... you were—"

"Dying," Dick said quietly. "I was dying."

Wally took a deep breath. "Yeah."

"But," he said, mussing up his dark hair, "now I'm not."

Wally smiled one of his lovely smiles.

"Right. Now you're not."

—

Dick is dying all over again.

It's been eight months since then, and it's been eight months since Wally had said "I love you." And true to is word, he has said it every day. More than once.

But right now, Dick is sure he's dying.

"W-wally, Wally." Breathless.

"What," also breathless, "Boy Wonder?"

Dick drags his fingernails against Wally's back and that feels so good, he has to be dying.

Then there are stars and Dick is sure that this is what Heaven feels like and he has to be dead. He and Wally have to be dead and they're in Heaven together, because there's just no explanation for how good everything feels right then.

"I love you," Wally says. Dick blinks, takes a deep breath.

"I love you too." He cups Wally's face. "I love you too."

Dick is alive.

(And, Wally thinks into the mixture of silence and breathing, watching Dick drift off to sleep, we lived happily ever after.)