When they lost Wally, those he was close to divided up the tasks that come after someone's death. M'gann informed people outside the hero community, occasionally imitating someone else who would be more likely to approach that person. Barry and Iris shut down various accounts, from a long-forgotten MySpace to the credit card he had only used for emergencies. Artemis went through his clothes and things with Wally's parents, or she would when they would all be able to handle it.
Dick got his cell phone.
He paid the bill every month, but he didn't really have cause to answer it that often. Mostly he told telemarketers to remove this number from their call list. He did learn that Wally had apparently been looking at buying a motorcycle when the dealership called. After he told them why the phone's owner would never be purchasing from them, he wondered what a speedster would be doing with a motorcycle anyway. The most frequent callers were the ones he didn't answer, the ones whose names were saved in the contact list. Arty, Uncle B, Mom. The people who wouldn't want Dick to pick up because his wasn't the voice they wanted to hear.
It wasn't a name that flashed across the screen as the phone rang this time, but a number. A number with a period after it. It was an old trick, one that Bruce taught Dick and Dick taught Wally. When a number was important to answer but only in certain settings, save it with the contact name as the phone number with a small change, so that it's not immediately obvious to those around you that it's not a random call. Usually it signalled a number for someone they only know from the hero business, but this wasn't one of the many that Dick had memorized. Who knew what secrets Wally had been keeping?
"Hi, this is Rosemary at Williams Jewelers. I'm looking for Wallace West?"
"Yeah," he said, somewhat startled. A jewelers?
"Mr. West, I'm calling regarding payments for the item you have on reserve with us. Our records indicate that you are three months behind and have not responded to our emails. We need to discuss either making up payments or removing the item from reserve."
This was the last call he expected to get on Wally's phone. "Wally actually passed away two months ago," he admitted. "May I ask what he was purchasing?"
"Oh," she said. "I'm… I'm actually not sure if I'm allowed to say. Discretion is one of our company's main tenets."
"What if I guess?" It wasn't hard once he thought about it. The charms he bought M'gann every birthday for her bracelet weren't that expensive, and neither were any of the trinkets he might have picked up for his mom or aunt. Artemis rarely wore jewelry, so the only thing Wally would have a payment plan for was, "It's an engagement ring, isn't it?"
The woman stayed quiet, so Dick pressed on. "How much did he owe?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"How much did he still owe on the ring? And where are you located?" he added as he looked around for his shoes. "I'm going to come pick it up."
"Sir, this is very unorthodox."
"Look, Wally is-" The word choked him because it was no longer true. Even if Wally were still alive, it may not have been true. They didn't exactly get around to making their peace before... "He was my best friend. He knew I have money, and he knew I like to spend that money on my friends. I'm betting the only reason I didn't know about the ring already is because he was afraid I might swoop in and pay off the whole thing, and he did have his pride about some things."
"Sir…"
He took a deep breath. "They were good, okay? They were the kind of thing people write songs about. He kissed her at midnight on New Year's when they were sixteen, and she asked what took him so long. They built their life together, were a part of each other, and she deserves to know that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Even though… even though he already did that." Five years was not enough time to count as the rest of a life.
The phone was quiet a moment longer before the woman said, "May I suggest a simple necklace chain as well? That way she can keep it close even if she doesn't feel comfortable wearing it under the circumstances."
Dick sighed. "Yeah, that's a good idea. One of every length you have in a matching metal." He heard her try to interrupt. "She's not one for jewelry, so I don't know what she likes, and like I said, I can afford it." He grabbed his shoes when he finally saw them. "So about that address…"
He couldn't bring himself to give it to her face to face, didn't think he could look her in the eye while he broke her heart again. Instead, he broke into her apartment and left it on her desk with a note. She didn't acknowledge it to him, but the next time he saw her out of uniform, smiling softly and swinging her feet as she sat on the counter watching M'gann bake, he noticed a gold chain tucked safely into her shirt.