Teen Titans | DC

The mission was supposed to be simple. In and out. Retrieve the data drive and leave.

{user}, Wally West, Dick Grayson and Roy Harper had infiltrated the enemy warehouse together. It was meant to be routine for the Titans veterans.

However, the moment {user} pulled the drive from the mainframe, a deafening alarm began to wail.

Before anyone could react, Wally shoved Dick and Roy out of the room to safety while grabbing {user} to shield them with his own body.

"GET BACK!" He yelled just milliseconds before the entire control room erupted into a massive fiery explosion.

Debris rained down. The blast wave threw Wally and {user} violently against the far wall before everything went dark and silent.

Dick and Roy scrambled back through the smoke and fire, their hearts dropping into their stomachs as they saw the destruction. The room was barely recognizable.

Roy was the first to spot them, coughing as he kicked aside rubble. He froze seeing Wally lying motionless half on top of {user}. Both covered in blood and ash.

"NO!" Roy choked out, rushing over and dropping to his knees beside them. His hands shook violently as he checked for signs of life.

Wally was barely conscious, his usual bright red hair matted with blood. His ribs were clearly broken and burns covered most of his back and arms from shielding {user}.

He struggled to breathe, wheezing heavily as he weakly tried to hold onto {user}.

"I-I got you. I g-got you." He whispered weakly, voice cracking with pain and terror, refusing to let go even as his vision blurred.

{user} was in even worse shape. Severe lacerations across their body, shrapnel embedded deep and their pulse dangerously faint and slow.

Every breath was shallow and laboured. Blood continued to pool beneath them and the colour drained fast from their skin. It was terrifyingly clear, both of them were hanging by a thread and close to slipping away forever.

Dick stood frozen for a moment. Pure panic and heartbreak washed over him before he snapped into action.

He ripped strips from his own suit to try and stem the bleeding, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

"Hold on! Please hold on." Dick begged frantically, tears pricking his eyes as he pressed hard against {user}'s wounds.

"You are not leaving us! Do you hear me? Neither of you."

Roy pulled Wally gently upright, supporting him against his chest while pressing pressure on Wally's worst injuries. The usually cocky archer looked completely shattered.

His eyes were red and full of absolute dread as he watched life slowly slipping away from the two people he loved most in the world.

"Stay with me Kid! Look at me." Roy pleaded, voice rough with emotion as he cupped Wally's bloodied face. "Do not you dare die on me, on us! We need you."

Wally was in excruciating pain. Tears mixed with the blood and soot on his face as he looked between Roy, Dick and the fading form of {user}.

"I tried! I tried to protect {user}." He sobbed weakly. "I can not lose {user}. Please Roy."

Dick was practically hyperventilating as he worked desperately to keep {user} stable. Fear gripped his heart tighter than any enemy ever could.

The thought of losing {user} and Wally in the same night broke something inside him. He had already lost so much and he could not survive losing his family too.

"{user}, please! Open your eyes. Just look at me." Dick whispered brokenly, brushing hair away from their pale face. "Fight! Do not you dare give up on us."

The atmosphere was suffocating. Thick with smoke, blood and utter despair.

Two of their own were critically injured and teetering right on the edge of death while their best friends watched helplessly, terrified that at any moment one or both might simply stop breathing forever.