Hello Darkness my old friend
It has been a long time since Wally has last seen Dick look so destroyed. He has only seen such heartbreak on his best friends face three time: the time Wally sliced his wrists in front of him, when Jason died and almost a year ago when Wally returned. The first time Wally had been too heartbroken himself to realize until much later and the second time Wally had ended as broken as Dick. Therefore, Wally was terrified about what could have broken Dick Grayson once more and what would this new heartbreak would bring.
It was a Tuesday. Wally had come home to his new apartment in Keystone completely wrecked from his second day of work as a CSI at the Keystone police department. He had planned to take a hot relaxing shower, eat some of Aunt Iris' leftovers from the weekend family dinner and fall asleep while watching 'SpongeBob' reruns. However, all of his plans flew out the window when he found Dick Grayson curled up on his sofa. He looked like a mess. His best friend was blankly staring at the blank TV screen. His eyes were red and his nose was running. Tear tracks still mapped his cheeks and his hair showed evidence of anxious running fingers. He had evidently been here for a while.
Slowly, after taking off his shoes and dropping his bag and keys, Wally gently moved Dick so he was curled up with his head on Wally's lap. He didn't question what had brought him over, but simply ran his fingers through his hair waiting for Dick to speak up.
"It's Tim." Dick finally said. Wally immediately tensed. However, before he could panic, Dick cleared up his fears. "He's not dead." The relief that hit Wally vanished almost as soon as it came. After all, there were many things worse than death. Especially, in their line of work.
"Is he going to be okay?" Wally asked hoping not to put much pressure on Dick, but at the same time needing to know Dick would not lose another brother.
"I don't know. Will he?" Dick asked finally looking up at him. Wally knew hope was a dangerous thing, but at that moment, with Dick's hopeful eyes looking up at him, there was nothing more he wanted than to reassure Dick that Tim would be perfectly fine. Sadly, he could not.
"What happened?" Wally asked instead knowing Dick needed the push and that he needed to know what happened in order to help his best friend. After a few silent minutes, Dick spoke up.
"Tim became Robin because he said 'Batman needed a Robin'. Bruce was losing it after Jason and I…well, you know." Wally did know. Dick had been heartbroken and their fight couldn't have helped. Besides, even though they weren't speaking, Wally had heard rumors. Rumors of a Bat that was brutal and blood thirsty. Rumors of a prodigy that refused to set foot in Gotham. Bruce had gone dark…well, darker and like Dick had taken his anger on Wally, so had Bruce on Dick. "It was weird at first. Batman and Robin had always been people marked by tragedy but, Tim was just a kid who wanted to help. He still had his parents and he was the sole heir of a fortune. What could have motivated him to play dress up and beat Gotham's scum?" Dick's bitter tone implied that he knew the answer and it was probably the reason why he was here.
Wally tried to realize for himself what could have gone wrong, but he didn't know Tim that well. Not like he had known Jason. The first few years of Tim as Robin, Wally and Dick weren't speaking to each other. They had only seen each other a couple of times and in those circumstances they hadn't even spoken. All he had known from the newest bird had been the snippets he had heard from Bart. Bart had said Tim was cool and that he was an even better hacker than Dick. Wally had silently disagreed and proceeded to leave the room not wanting to hear more about the Bat family. Afterwards, he had "died" and time had moved on without him. Once he returned, after the first tense moments of the overprotective Robin, Wally and Tim had been amicable with each other when he visited the manor and the watchtower. However, they had never been alone or had a one on one conversation. Therefore, Wally couldn't think of any strange actions from the bird. He now wished he had made a bigger effort to get to know Dick's "adoptive" brother.
"Tim's always been very dedicated. He even spends most nights at the manor. At first, we wondered what his parent's think he was doing but, Tim just said they were traveling and knew he was staying with us instead of at home with the maid." Dick continued. painting an image that Wally was finding familiar and didn't like at all. "His parents own Drake Industries and thus, have known Bruce for a very long time. Tim even went to some of the Wayne Galas before he became Robin at twelve. Because of this, we knew the Drake's were really busy people. One of their past time is searching and buying antiques so, they travel a lot. Tim had school and couldn't go with them so, he used to stay at home with the maid. After becoming Robin, he told his parents he and I became friends and asked if he could stay with us. Bruce, Alfred and I love having the kid over so, we didn't care that he stayed with us. Most rich kids are raised by the house maids and it isn't unusual for Gotham socialite to leave their kids to travel the world. Bruce's parents were an exception, so we didn't find it weird that the Drakes' traveled all the time and Tim spent only the Holidays and a couple of weeks a year with them. This summer, the Drake's decided to take Tim with them for a family vacation." Wally knew this. Tim had been pouting for a whole week after Tim was gone because he missed his little brother. Then, he had pouted even more because the Drake's had taken Tim to a remote area where there was no phone reception or internet. At the time, Wally had called Dick over-dramatic, but now fear clawed at his gut.
"Tim's arrival was set to be last week, but we didn't hear from him. I texted and called. I even emailed him! But, he didn't answer. Bruce said not to worry that he was probably resting from the vacation and Barbara prevented me from hacking and finding him. Yesterday, Bruce had a fundraiser at the Manor for the Children's Hospital. We all expected to see Tim then but, he didn't show. However, the Drakes did." Dick spat the Drake's name with so much hatred that Wally would have thought he had mentioned the Joker. Wally already knew what was coming next but, he couldn't stop Dick from talking now. His best friend needed this. However, instead of continuing, tears suddenly started falling down his face.
"He didn't want to go to the vacation Wally! I convinced him to do it!" Dick sobbed on Wally's shoulder. "He said Robin couldn't take time off and I told him he should spent time with his parent's because some of us couldn't. I guilt tripped him! This is all my fault." Wally knew denying it would not help Dick now. Instead, he tightly held his best friends as sobs rocked his body. An hour passed before, Dick could speak again.
"The Drake's said Timmy was sick, so I decided to visit him in my lunch hour. Alfred made soup and Bruce gave me a stack of books from the Manor's library. Nobody answered the door so, I slipped in. It took me some time to find Timmy's room. Everything was dark and when I turned on the lights…" Wally couldn't feel the air entering his lungs but, Dick's face was crumbling again so he didn't care if he suffocated. Dick's eyes were empty as he looked directly at Wally and uttered the words that he knew were coming. "They beat him." Even though he knew it was coming, the words shocked Wally. Memories of his own parents flashed before his eyes but, before he could get pulled by the darkness, Wally forced himself to snap out of it. Dick needed him.
"His body is just one giant bruise, Walls. He has a broken arm and two broken ribs. His throat is sore from all the screaming. I…he isn't even lucid. When I found him, his fever was so high that he didn't even know who I was." With this final words, Dick fully crumbled. Wally tried to contain his own tears, but it was inevitable. So they held each other for the longest time until, the sobs ceased and the tears dried. Through the window, Wally could see the sun slowly rising. He had work and his stomach was protesting with hunger. His face was probably a wreck and he still needed a shower. But he didn't dare let go of Dick. He would never let go if Dick asked him to. The sun had fully risen when the oldest bird spoke again. However, when he spoke, Wally wished he hadn't because he didn't know how to respond.
"Is he going to be okay?" Dick asked once more and Wally just stared because, he didn't know, will he? Wally didn't have the answer, so instead he gripped Dick even harder, trying to hold together their broken hearts.