This is loosely connected to my earlier fic, Idol, but you don't need to read it to understand this. I also make references to some material found on Ask Greg.
Enjoy!
"What the hell happened to FlashLad? Did he magically shrink overnight?"
"Fuck whatever bullshit Flash said about not replacing his sidekick, he definitely replaced his sidekick."
"Does he actually expect us to believe this?"
"Bring back the old FlashLad, he's the one we want."
"The new twerp needs to go back to preschool, where he belongs."
When Bart gets bored (like he is now, waiting for his Grandpa to get here so they can go to this Vlatavian Christmas Ceremony that, for whatever reason, they were invited to), he browses the internet forums dedicated to Kid Flash hate. He should be enraged at these people, but Flashlad? Really? He can't take these guys seriously when they don't even get his Wally'stitle right.
His problems started back in August, when he and Flash made the evening news after stopping a bank robbery courtesy of Mirror Master. Although he'd been working with his Grandpa for nearly a month, this was his big public debut. He remembered how nervous he was in front of the cameras, shaking so hard, he nearly vibrated through the pavement. He let his Grandpa take the spotlight and answer the questions, as he was much more adept at handling the reporters, but he smiled a lot, and waved, and thanked the good people of Central City. Then he spent the next week in a star struck daze, going on and on about how he was famous now until Jaime (lovingly) told him to knock it off.
He doesn't talk to cameras anymore.
Like most of The League's image problems, G. Gordon Godfrey was the root of it. Someone at GBS must have cross-referenced footage of him with some of Wally was Kid Flash. He could pretend they were the same Kid Flash from a distance, they looked like identical blurs of red and yellow. But up close, it was easy to tell he wasn't the same person. He had different hair, different eyes, and was at least a head shorter. When Godfrey caught wind of the apparent replacement, he had a field day. Or rather, a field season, as he hasn't stopped ranting and raging about it since. Added to the fact that Flash and the rest of The League vehemently denied the replacement, and now would not speak about it at all, he simply could not let it go.
It seems like everyone and their mother knows that the old Kid Flash and the current one are not the same person, and damn, they are bitter about it. Nobody cared when Kid Flash retired. There wasn't any outcry when he was gone for nearly a year. Now that he's back, and seemingly fronted by someone new, people all up in arms about it. They are sick and tired of the League pulling the wool over their eyes. They think they're entitled to the truth kept behind the locked door, and quite frankly he agrees. He's glad they don't all think he's Wally. He's glad been able to differentiate himself, somewhat, but he wants to be open about it.
There are 7 billion people in the world, and only 100 know about his sacrifice.
There are no statues, no parades, no lavish celebrations, just a hologram up in space where nobody can see it. Wally was never acknowledged to the public. The league treated him like a fluke, something to be brushed under and never spoken of again.
"You, people are starting to get sick of him ragging on you." Tim says to him. He nearly falls out of his chair upon hearing his voice. Bart thought he was alone in this part of the Watchtower. Damn, that boy is sneaky, even when he's not trying to be. He snaps his laptop shut, but he's obviously seen what he's been doing. It looks like he's been there a while; watching him scoff, roll his eyes, and try not to hurl his computer across the room at the idiocy of some of these people.
The Team had this unspoken agreement not to talk to him about the negative backlash. They were trying to protect him from it, and it was for his own good, apparently. It wasn't working, and they knew that, but it was still a sore spot, the elephant in the room. Even Jaime, his best friend who'd always been open with him before, had trouble talking to him about it.
Tim was quiet and calculating in conversation, always thinking before he spoke. He must have reason to bring it up, or else he wouldn't.
"It doesn't mean he isn't right." He deadpans back.
"He's in the right to accuse you of stealing your position?" He replies condescendingly.
"No! I mean that! I," He sighs, and tries to collect his thoughts, "They're right about we're doing. We're lying, and by doing so we're denying Wally his legacy."
"Bart, they're not deny him his legacy, not really anyway. I'm the third person to play the role of Robin. The person before me died doing so."
"I know that Tim." He scoffs. He doesn't see how that's relevant, unless he's playing the empathy card, which in his mind is a pretty weak argument.
"Right, you know that, I know that, and The League and The Team know that. All the people who matter know about Jason's legacy, and that's all the people who need to know. I was like you once. I wanted the world to know about Jason, to know that Robin isn't a single person, but a legacy. But the public isn't ready, they'll probably never be, and I've made peace with that."
"How can you be okay with living a lie like that?" He shouts. He doesn't mean to sound hostile, but from Tim's defensive expression, he thinks he's come across as such.
"Because I know what kind of outcry it would cause if the truth got out. The League's had some image problems lately. Most of them weren't caused by you. During the Reach's stint, public opinion was at an all-time low, and they're still trying to recover from that. As heroes, have a very high standard to uphold, and it has to reflect what the public wants to see, not necessarily who we are."
"That's so dumb though. We shouldn't have to lie because people can't accept the truth."
"We shouldn't have to, but we do. We're perceived as perfect. When we screw up, make mistakes, it doesn't go unnoticed."
"But we're not perfectTim, we're just, people."
"But that's how we're perceived, and perception is reality. Even heroes like me, who are completely human, are seen as all powerful by the public. If we showed them we aren't perfect, that we too die, our perfect illusion would be shattered."
"You act like that's a bad thing. We should shatter it. Change the way people see us."
"But people won't see that as a good change. Bart, the media is powerful, dangerous even. You've seen firsthand the damage it can do. It's a force to be reckoned with, and we can't control it. You just go with it, because if you mess with it, it gets turned against you. Br- I mean Batman's secret identity-"
"Tim, I know Batman is Bruce Wayne." Bart interrupts.
"Oh… um, right." Tim always got a little antsy when he spouted out facts he 'wasn't supposed to know', "Bruce is always being scrutinized by the media, so he knows how much of a force it can be. Even though Batman, and Robin, are very publicly known figures, he tries to keep them out of the public eye as much as possible. It's, in part, how we've maintained the illusion that there's only one Robin."
So that's how the Robins do it. "Robin" has spent nearly a decade on the cusp of puberty, and nobody in Gotham suspects that three people have played the role. They must think Robin's some kind of Peter Pan, a teenage boy literally incapable of growing older.
But where Gotham is ignorant, Central City is judgmental.
He crosses his arms in defiance, "I still don't think it's right."
"Then that's where we agree to disagree. Anyway," Tim continues, "We should get going. Captain Atom's lesson starts soon, and you know how he is on punctuality."
He smirks, "Yeah about that, I'm not going."
He stares at him, puzzled, "What do you mean you aren't going?"
"Me and my Gr- I mean, The Flash, are going to Vlat-uh-vee-uh for the Christmas Tree Lighting Fest or whatever."
He snickers, "It's pronounced Vla-ta-via Bart, and it's the Vlatavian Festival of Lights. I forgot you two are the guests of honor." The Queen of Vlatavia had personally invited them to attend. He had no idea why, he'd never met her before, in fact, he'd even heard of Vlatavia until 2 weeks ago.
"Yeah, I'll see you around then." Bart says, then adds teasingly, "Have fun getting lectured by Captain Atom."
The Queen had asked to meet him personally, and talk in private, before the ceremony started. Flash didn't seem to think it was a good idea, for whatever reason, but he didn't see why not. He has a very famous fan, how crash is that? He'd never met a queen before though. Was he supposed bow? Address her as 'your highness' or 'your majesty'? Hopefully she won't laugh if he does something wrong.
When he enters, he's surprised by her extremely youthful appearance. She's not at all what he pictured. He knew she was young, but he didn't think she would be his age. He can tell she's trying hard to carry herself with regality and confidence, but she still comes off as young and innocent. With a baby face, and giant green doe eyes, she looks like a kid playing dress up.
She's not the only one.
"Uh, hello… your majesty." He smiles and awkwardly bows. She looks at him, puzzled. Maybe he wasn't supposed to bow.
"Who are you?" She asks, confused.
"You were expecting Kid Flash, right? Well, that's me. Fastest boy alive, at your service." He grins and points to the lightning bolt on his chest.
"No, you were not the person I was expecting. I did not realize somebody new was acting as Kid Flash."
"Uh… there's only one Kid Flash, currently." He has to add currently, otherwise he would be lying. The League might be okay with that, but he's not. "And that's me."
She doesn't look satisfied with his response. He starts to think that she's one of them, and that the only reason she invited him here was to prove he's not the original Kid Flash. Until she says something he truly was not expecting.
"Where is Wally?"
His grin dissipates, "H-How do you know about Wally?" He stammers.
She smiles, "Don't worry, his secret is safe with me. When I was younger, he saved my life."
"Yeah, he saved a lot of lives." He adds under his breath.
"I never properly thanked him for it, until last May, when he told me his identity. I.. I think of him as a friend." She adds sheepishly.
"You're right." He informs her, "I'm not Wally. I'm his cousin, uh... once removed. I'm sorry to disappoint you."
"No, it's not your fault. I knew it was too good to be true." She mutters.
"What's too good to be true?" He asks.
"That Wally came back. The last time we spoke, I told him he should consider coming out of retirement. I thought he'd actually done it. I realize now that I was silly for thinking such things."
In that moment he has a realization, she saw the difference. She wasn't blindly idolizing some figure she saw on the television. It wasn't the hero she looked up to, it was the man underneath the mask. If Tim is right, and only the people that mattered should know, she definitely matters and deserves to know. It's going to be difficult, but he has to tell her.
"Perdita," He says, gently, "There's something you should know."
"Yes."
"Wally… did come out of retirement. For two days in June."
"That's wonderful, but why for such short of time? Oh, he hated it, didn't he?"
"No, not at all. In fact, it was the happiest I'd ever seen him. His girlfriend said he was even thinking about coming out of retirement permanently. But-" He falters. He can't do it. He can't bring himself to say the words.
"But what?" She says, voice full of concern.
He takes a deep breath, "He uh-, I'm so sorry Perdita, he passed away."
She says nothing, but the color draining from her face speaks for her. Her body trembles, and she looks as though she might fall over because her legs won't support her. She sinks down onto the floor and buries her head in her hands.
He's not sure what to do. Should he comfort her? Hold her hand? Put his arm around her shoulder? Tell her everything's going to be alright? (No, everything is not right, it probably never would be.) They'd only just met, but then again he'd just delivered probably the most devastating news she's ever heard. He sits down next to her, close but not touching.
She turns to him. It's evident she's holding back tears. He is too now. All the grief he felt comes rushing back to him.
"H-how did he die?" She asks
"He destroyed Reach technology that would have annihilated the planet, but it cost him his life. Billions of people owe their life to him."
"And, the world doesn't know he did it."
He shakes his head sadly.
A guard comes in and grumbles something loudly in Vlatavian. He looks grumpy, or maybe that's just his face. Perdita says something back that puts him off edge, but he still looks at them strangely as he exits.
"He says the ceremony starts in two minutes." She translates.
"And?" He questions.
"He… wanted to know why we were sitting on the ground."
"Right. I'm really sorry to tell you, especially right before the Festival of Lights. I should have waited until after."
"No, I would have rather known now. Thank you, for being honest with me."
Thousands of people gather in the main plaza for the festival. He can see why so many people would come, it's beautiful. In the middle stands a giant tree, taller than any of the nearby buildings. He imagines it's going to look spectacular once it's completely lit.
He stands off to the sides, along with his Grandpa and a few other Vlatavian dignitaries as Perdita delivers a speech. She speaks in Vlatavian. He can't understand a word she's saying, but he doesn't stop listening. She may look young, but she has an amazing stage presence and poise in her delivery. She can command a crowd better than anyone he's met, and he can tell her people love her.
"And now," She speaks in English. He knows immediately that whatever she's about to say is directed toward him, "I would like to take a moment to remember our loved ones who didn't make it to Christmas this year." They're silent, not a sound can be heard throughout the entire crowd. Even the people who don't speak a lick of English get the message.
She reaches out her arm toward him, gesturing him to come join her and press the button that lights the tree in the center of the plaza. Some of the dignitaries look puzzled at the act of friendship, this part of the ceremony was obviously improvised. His Grandpa gives him a knowing glance, silently agreeing that telling Perdita was the right thing to do.
He steps forward, and stands next to her at the podium. She puts her hand on the button, and he places his on top of hers.
"For Wally." She whispers, so only they can hear.
"For Wally."