Psych 101

Defiance,struggling, crying 

In hindsight, they should have expected an outcome like this.

"oh my god, we're gonna die," Wally ranted, words spraying past his lips before he could think of what he was actually saying, "we're gonna die, we're gonna get poisoned and die, or shot, or tortured, or all of them, and we're gonna die. Oh my god."

Robin took a deep breath, trying his damndest not to snap at his friend as he attempting to pick at the lock of the cuffs keeping him restrained to the pole. Wally looked over his shoulder at Robin.

"don't you have like, an emergency pill or something? Isn't that a thing in the movies?"

"we're not going to die," Robin grunted, twisting as he tried to get at the locks when he couldn't see them.

The two were tied and cuffed back-to-back, a metal pole between them. There were several along the room, structural supports, this was, after all, a basement.

"oh, do you have a miraculous plan? Lay it on me."

"yep, I've got a plan," Robin said, "step one, get out of the cuffs. Step two, figure out the rest later."

"great, okay," Wally hiffed, "so no plan, no weapons, nothing, we're fucked."

"will you shut up?" Robin snapped at his friend, "you are not being very helpful right now."

"well, I'm sorry, I'm just fucking panicking, cause I'm worried about being tortured."

"torture is over rated, it's not that bad," Robin grunted, finally hearing the tell-tale click he was waiting for. He grinned, laughing to himself as he shook the cuffs off and stood, "alright, yes, okay, I'll get you out."

"I'd belay that if I were you, sprout," came a voice from the top of the stairs.

The two whipped to look at who had entered the room. Red hair draped over green-tinged skin, patterned, green fabric covered her torso in a leotard, vines twining up her legs and down her arms, bedazzled pockets sat in the palms of her hands, Robin knew they held poison ready to be used.

"Ivy," he scowled, staring at her, he had no weapons but she wasn't much for physical combat, he could take her.

"little birdy, how lovely to see you again," she said, descending the stairs with slow purposeful steps, "have you hit a growth spurt? Not much of a bean sprout anymore."

"cut to the chase," he glared, "what do you want?"

She flicked a hand in the air dismissively, reaching the bottom of the stairs, "it's not what I want Robin, it's the people running the show. But no matter, the league's dealing with them-"

A beeping filled the room, she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"speak of the devils."

She smirked and pulled a communicator from a clip on her hip.

"Luthor, you old wrinkly gardenia, what do you want?" she said, lacking all the amusement she'd shared while speaking with Robin.

"you are needed to battle the league, Ivy," Luthor's voice drawled form the other end. He was interrupted by someone else.

"get your green-coiled ass up here before I start setting fire to all your 'children'."

She hmphed and clicked the communicator off.

"duty calls, you know how it is."

"what, don't want to fight?" Robin grinned, "I suppose I'll just run along and escape once you're gone then."

"oh, no, sprout, we can't have that," she said, smirking as she strode closer. Robin surrendered a step then threw a punch, Ivy caught it in a vine. Robin used the momentum and pivot point to swing in a kick which Ivy dodged, she laughed as she brought the vine holding Robin's arm closer to her, pulling him with it. he struggled against it, scowling.

she patted her vine, red lips turned up. The plant grew thorns, twisting around Robin's wrist. He yelped, writhing and trying to escape the vine. Wally, still tied to the pole, struggled against his restraints, screaming at Ivy to stop.

"now, I don't think I'll bother tying you up again," Ivy said, voice sweet as she leant down to Robin's level, hunched as he fought the vine's grip.

She held a hand up and blew across the poison-holding pads of her palms. Pollen flew into the air, straight for Robin's face. She let go of him, the vine leaving a bloody ring around his wrist thanks to his gloves being absent to protect his skin.

"I'll see you around, boys," she said, turning and strutting out.

Robin stumbled, groaning and holding his head.

"Rob!" Wally called out, "Robin, what did she-"

"it's fine," he cut in, staggering backwards and reaching for the pole to steady himself, "just a-" his words gurgled as his tongue grew heavy in his mouth, "sedative..." his breaths were laboured, his eyes watered, he felt like his blood was turning to air inside his veins, something hot pooled in his nose and made his face feel like it was bursting with pressure, "just a... blood..." his grip turned light, knees weak, "thinner..."

He dropped, eyes rolling into the back of his head. his skull thunked as it hit the concrete, the skin splitting on impact and blood beginning to drip, faster than it should, far too fast.

"Robin!"

Wally struggled against the ropes and the cuffs, not taking his eyes of his friend. A drop of blood was slowly pooling at the base of his nose. His head was leant backwards, he could choke on it if Wally didn't get there to help him.

He tugged on the ropes, wrists aching and beginning to grow red with friction burns. He scowled, getting his feet under him so he could stand. He tugged at the ropes and cuffs to make them follow him up. He put his foot against the metal and used it to help tug. Eyes glancing to Robin over and over again, staring at him as his breathing became more and more laboured. With every exhale more blood pooled, slowly falling from his nose. He'd started breathing though his mouth thanks to his nose being blocked by blood, but it would still be running down his throat, he would still be struggling with air, at risk of choking on his own blood that was running too thin and too fast. He could haemorrhage, blood vessels could burst. Blood thinning poisons were serious fucking business and every second that ticked by had Wally's heart beating faster and louder while Robin's neared a slow and quietly dismal end.

He tugged, tears welling and his throat aching with sobs that wanted to come. He tugged and tugged and tugged, wrists aching, until eventually he felt a snap and he howled, holding in screams as his wrist throbbed and ached and burned red hot with friction burns and a brand new fracture. Wally didn't care.

He glared at the ropes, gritting his teeth as he tried vibrating his molecules, blood rushed through his head, loud and painful and turning his vision red. He felt his body vibrate, felt every muscle hum at thousands of miles an hour. But he was injured, he couldn't reach a top speed. And even if he could, he'd never been able to succeed at vibrating his molecules through something. All he'd ever earned was a bloody nose and a headache and a sore ego.

And no he was going to earn a dead best friend.

He grit his teeth once more, expecting the thrum in his ears, the ache everywhere, the buzz of everything moving far too fast.

He tried once more and failed once more, his nose was burning but not bleeding, his vision was blurring, he felt like he was choking on the lump in his throat and a tear spilled over.

He failed once more, everything hurting, his wrist screaming. Robin was dying and he couldn't help. Robin was dying and there was nothing he could do.

He screamed, pulling on the ropes, head banging forward and back as he wrenched, tugging, pulling, pleading with the laws of physics that he could just get out.

He sobbed, dropping his head against his hands as the rope continued to hold. His shoulders shook as he cried, sobbing uncontrollably, snot and spit joining tears as he found himself unable to close his mouth as wails broke past his lips.

Robin was lying there, bleeding next to him. a line of blood from his nose and another from his mouth.

Wally swallowed, staring at the ropes through a blur of tears. His knees shook and he let himself fall, sitting back down on the concrete, shaking and crying and whimpering as everything hurt.

He looked back at Robin.

His chest wasn't moving.

Wally was going to be sick, he was going to throw up. He couldn't do this.

He'd said it to Robin, that they were going to die. He'd been joking, he knew Robin would get them out of this, he always did. Robin always had a plan, or at least something he knew he could do, a trick he could pull off. He was on a whole other level to the rest of the team and they were all fools to think otherwise.

And he was lying there, not breathing.

Wally took a deep breath, shoving air into his lungs past clenched teeth. He stared at the ropes through his fringe, drifting before his tired, stinging eyes.

His wrist still hurt, everything still hurt. But fisted his hands, grit his teeth, swallowed down his fear. He vibrated his molecules.

It didn't work.

He did it again.

It didn't work.

He did it again.

It didn't work.

He did it again.

And again and again and again and again. He would do this forever if he had to until he succeeded or he died. He would do it again and again and again.

His nose turned hot and blood ran out, he didn't care. His ears popped. Every piece of skin and muscle felt like it was being torn apart.

He screamed, a sob breaking past the anger as he pushed himself harder than ever.

His vision swam, he blacked out for a few seconds, falling to the cement.

When he faded back in to consciousness, a few seconds later, his nose and chin were sticky, he wiped it away.

His hands were free.

He'd done it.

He lurched forwards, to Robins side. He rolled him over, hitting his back to try and dislodge any blood in his throat. He rolled him back, shaking at Robin's head.

"Dick!" he hissed, "come on, come on, breathe, wake up, do something."

Robin did nothing.

Wally grit his teeth and put Robin's head down, clasping his hands together over his chest.

"come on," he hissed past his teeth, "four, five, six," he mumbled it to himself as he pushed. That was what he was always told, start chest compressions. Thirty and two breaths. There was no point to breaths here, it wouldn't get in, there was no point to counting, but it gave Wally something else to focus on as he pounded on his friend's chest.

"ten, eleven, twelve," he took another breath and it rattled into his lungs, fighting past the lump in his throat as more tears slipped past. The blood dripping from his own nose ran past his lips, metallic, iron. Wally breathed out through his mouth and the drop flew off his mouth. A sob broke past his defence, shoulders shaking slightly between each compression.

"Come on, Dick," Wally said, "come on, please, don't do this to me."

He didn't register the sounds of crashing and fighting upstairs, wasn't listening to his surroundings. Eventually Black Canary came rushing down the stairs. It was a haze after that as she tried to pull him off Robin, he refused, some part of him refusing to let anyone touch Robin but him.

Until Batman stumbled in. There as no arguing with Batman.

Flash showed up, to, eventually. Wrapping Wally in a hug and fussing over his injuries. Wally just brushed past, following Batman as he carried Robin upstairs and out to a hospital stretcher. Wally refused to leave his side and eventually someone wrapped a shock blanket around his shoulders and let him ride with Robin to the hospital.

He spent the trip staring at the oxygen mouth over Dick's face, feeling the ghost of his chest under his palms.