A Smile Like Yours

by Jazyrha

For the first time, Bruce didn't want to think of what he had lost, but what he had gained. / A Bruce x Wally Christmas Tale. / Wally was warm, warm like a fever, spreading through his whole body, making it impossible to think.

A Smile like Yours.

Dedicated to my BETA xRae_Asakurax!

-- -- --

"You are aware this whole idea is pointless and doesn't make any sense, right? Not even remotely so."

Batman crossed his arms over his chest, leaned back in his chair.
Flash put his hands on his hips, tapped his foot against the floor.

"Is not! The idea is, like, totally irrefutable!"

Flash gave him his most cocky grin.
Batman gave him his most sarcastic look.

"Simply because you use words that have more syllables than your own name, your statement won't get any better and I definitely won't say yes."

Batman smiled, just for a nanosecond.
Flash stuck out his tongue.

"I resent that! And it did make you smile. That's the first step to a full-blown 'yes, Wally, you are awesome, so I'll totally go with you!'"

Flash winked.
Batman raised his eyebrow.

"So, there is logic in you making up to me for something you don't need to apologise for, with something I don't want?"

Batman still had his eyebrow raised.
Flash pouted.

"If you state it like that, it sounds retarded!"

Flash pouted more.
Batman had his Wally-dubbed-smartass-face on.

"Most likely because it is."

Batman smirked.
Flash made some rapid, blurred motions.

"No. Dude, Bats! Anything you state in that voice, while having that look in your eyes, would sound like it's stupid compared to you 'super-human intellect'! Like, even the coolest of things, like-"

Flash rambled.
Batman interrupted.

"Mention sleeping with Diana and I will hurt you. And try calling me smart without the sarcasm."

Batman crossed his arms tighter.
Flash held his head to one side, smiling.

"I wasn't going to! And yeah, as if that'd ever work."

Flash tried to look innocent.
Batman hoped his glare still scared the kid.

"If you honestly do want to make up so badly, can't you do it differently?"

Batman suppressed a sigh.
Flash took a quick look around, took off his mask.

"No way! It has to be this way! That's how they do it in films and manga! And you can't resist the look! I know you can't! No one can! I've mastered the puppy-eyes since I was a child! You may be great with gadgets and people may die from your sheer awesomeness, but no one can beat The Look. Yeah, sure, you can try, but try as you might, in the end you'll still feel your heart go all mushy and-"

Flash's eyes were kind of irresistible...
Batman gave up.

"... When do I pick you up?"

Flash laughed before he launched himself at the Dark Knight.
Batman chuckled before pushing the speedster away, but only slightly.

-- -- --

With his hands sunk deep inside his pockets and the dark scarf around his neck, Bruce still wished feverishly he could be at home and not outside here, freezing. But a promise was a promise and it might as well be the only thing that would keep Wally from being noisy for the rest of his life. Slim chance, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

He leaned against the stone wall of the building, trying to look the perfect mid-way between excited/happy and uncaring/annoyed. He hated the fact he was leaning more to the first.

Sure. He had gone over all the worst possible outcomes of this so-called 'date'. And seeing how it was with the (one and only, rejoice) Flash, there had been many. But he had also, even if it was just briefly, thought about the good outcomes.

The sheer possibility had outweighed the calamities he had foreseen.

"Sorry! Did I make you wait?" The voice to his right sounded happy, cheery, warm.

Bruce inhaled the scent of a winter evening and Wally's shampoo before he turned to look at him, taking his sweet time. For the effort he put into not making this as awkward as it should be, he rewarded him with a slight smile.

"Wally, simply because they also do this in manga, you don't need to copy their opening lines."

His laughter was loud and pure like the snow surrounding them, thick like honey, warm like a fire.

"Yeah, well, I didn't think any of my usual pick-up lines would work with you," he winked and even though the laughter subsided, his smile was just as warm.

Bruce didn't think another smile would be appropriate (wouldn't want to spoil the kid, despite it being Christmas), so he made sure it didn't show.

"Though, I do want to mention you look …" he frowned, then grinned, "if I say 'pretty', you'll kill me right here, won't you?"

Bruce nodded, slowly, slightly glaring.

"Could you go for 'handsome'?" the redhead laughed.

"I could go with 'for Wally's sake, let's pretend I never heard that.'"

Another laugh. Bruce tried to remember the last time he made someone laugh so many times in only a few minutes, he failed to recall. Then again, this was Wally, and Wally always laughed.

"You are so regretting this date, aren't you?"

Bruce shook his head no. Wally had no idea how preposterous the mere idea was. But he never would, for Bruce would never tell.

"Not yet."

"Woah! Awesome! In that case, I'll make sure you won't! Let's go, I'm freezing my ass off here!"

The redhead grabbed his hand and even though it wasn't like they would get lost in the crowd (since there wasn't any, no one was dumb enough to go out with this kind of weather) or Bruce wouldn't be able to keep up, he followed, his lips sealed.

Despite the cold, Wally was still warm. Warm like a fever, spreading through his whole body, making it impossible to think clearly.

-- -- --

"So! I totally planned this whole evening of awesomeness! True story, it's going to be beyond awesome! Like, beyond, beyond, beyond awesome with a triple cherry of coolness on top! You're going to tell the story of this night to at least four generations of Rob-" Bruce coughed and shot Wally a look, "-kids! And I am so getting at least one picture of us together and we should totally get that framed, and- Oh! We could totally hang it in the Watchtower, since, yeah, everyone knows everyone anyway, and how cool would that be?! Right? Right! And I swear, GL was all "No, way, he said yes but he won't show up!" and I just said that you weren't that much of an ass, but the jerk still didn't want to believe me! HA! I am so going to rub this in his face. So, anyway, first, we-"

Wally cut his sentence/ramble short and looked around. Bruce didn't bother to urge him to continue, because Wally had to breathe sometime and...
The other part liked the rambling, the speed of his talking, the sound of his voice, endless like the sea.

"Did you hear that?" Wally asked, as he turned around.

Bruce listened, only now noticing the sound. "Sounds like crying."

"There's a playground nearby, maybe…" Wally was walking towards it while he trailed off.

The playground was abandoned, the empty swings covered with white snow, the deserted slide covered with it, too. It was cold, the dark already setting in. The snow loosely, slowly fell down upon them.

In the furthest corner, a little girl was crying. Wally was next to her as fast as he could without going too fast and Bruce was partly surprised the man remembered being out of costume. Wally sunk to his knees, always looked a person in the eyes. Bruce followed, in a slower pace, hesitated, then halted, mid-way.

"Hey, little one," Wally said, his voice soothing, calming, confident, like a father's. Bruce stabbed the thoughts that welled up dead with an imaginary batarang. "Are you lost?"

The girl nodded, her blonde hair falling over her shoulders, covered in snow flakes.

"Aw, don't worry! I'll…" he trailed off, looking at Bruce for a second and knowing this was inevitable, he nodded. Wally smiled brightly, gratefully and turned back to the girl. "I'll help you find your mummy and your daddy! Together, we'll surely find them. Come, let's go."

Wally reached out his hand to her and smiled again. She looked at him before she shook her head.

"Mummy says I can't go with strangers," she sniffled, sobbed and refused to take his hand.

Wally wasn't taken aback even the slightest, just laughed. Bruce wondered how anyone could say no to him.

"Really? Well! You better listen to your mummy, she's totally right, too," he smiled. "Hm, well. Is it okay if we play together? That way, you still stayed here, so you didn't go with me, but you also won't be alone. Is that okay?"

No matter how badly Bruce tried, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the redhead, smiling brightly on his knees, his hand still outstretched to the girl. Wally wanted to save everyone. And sometimes Bruce wanted to believe he could pull it off. That it was selfless, that it was real, that not everything in the world was cruel and cold.

Always, Bruce believed that if something as beautiful as Wally's genuine love existed, perhaps the world wasn't such a rotten place after all.

The girl returned the smile, nodded vigorously, took his hand. Wally remained in his crouched position and pointed his thumb of his free hand at Bruce.

"That creepy guy over there is Bruce. Don't worry, he may look scary, but he's a real softie inside! And I'm Wally," he smiled, "and I'm just as awesome as I look! What's your name?"

Bruce glared at him just for the sake of it, but he didn't put much effort in it.

"Rose, and I'm seven years-old!" she answered despite not being asked, sniffing one more time for good measure. She paused, then: "Wally? Like the robot? Wall-E?"

Bruce chuckled when Wally flushed a bright red, but laughed nonetheless. "Yeah! Like the robot!" and, giving his best impersonation (which Bruce couldn't judge because, heaven forbid, he hadn't seen the film) "Wall-E! Wall-E!"

The girl laughed as if he had done the funniest thing in the world and tickled her for hours at the same time. Bruce couldn't help but slightly smile too and Wally seemed proud of his victory.

"Look Wally, seven-years old do think you're funny," he said, just to be an ass as he walked up to Wally, and the girl decided she wanted to try the swings, between hiccups. Wally looked up, still wiping the snow off the swings and stuck out his tongue.

"Yeah, well! No one thinks you'refunny!" He then turned back to Rose. "Okay! Swing's all ready for you!"

He put her on and pushed her, causing the girl to laugh again. Bruce leaned against the iron pole, the cold creeping into his spine, but he couldn't be bothered moving away. Wally brushed a few strands of flaming auburn hair from his face, gave her a strong push and the sound of their laughter filled the cold air. After a few pushes Wally walked in front of the swing, waiting for the swing to almost reach him and with dramatic sounds and movements he pretended to just not get hurt.

Rose laughed as if she had never been happier. The snow crisped underneath Wally's feet as he gave his best impression of The Matrix.

Bruce never liked to see children play. He avoided playgrounds and kindergartens the way he dodged bullets. It reminded him too much, rubbed what he had lost all over his face, like acid over his old wounds, never healed. Children were too fragile, too easy to break, too easy to be hurt, too dependent. The older the get, the less you can lose, it seemed. Children can lose everything. And sometimes, they did.

But, standing with his feet planted in the snow, Bruce Wayne found himself perfectly happy watching Wally West entertain the little child. The smile didn't seem fragile, only genuine. Even the saddest sound in the whole world couldn't drown their laughter. Not even the worst possible calamity could ruin their fun.

And for the first time, he didn't want to think about what he had lost, but about what he had gained.

Wally looked up and shot him a bright smile, one that could easily outshine the sun. One that could easily make the infinite darkness inside him make a little less impenetrable, a little less endless.

Bruce didn't dare to blink, memorising every single second. No matter what, he promised himself, this memory wouldn't be taken away from him. Wally's smile, his endless happiness, he wanted to remember them all, so that one day, he could remember what it felt like to be happy. Put the memory in his heart and sealed it off, the way he always did.

-- -- --

Wally's energy was endless. He had known that, of course, but it was different somehow. It wasn't that he had been running around all day, not like he did when he was the Flash, not like he always did, but he never once lost his patience, never once wanted to leave.

He had been playing with Rose for hours. The swings, the merry-go-round, the climbing rack… they had done them all. A few times Wally had asked him to join them, but Bruce had always refused (and if anyone asked, he hadn't smiled even once.)

Right now they had decided to play tag. From the bench Bruce had decided to occupy (since he had the feeling this could take a while), he watched Wally run after the girl. He ran slowly, more like skipping, pretending the girl ran way too fast for him, that it was impossible the catch her. Rose laughed proudly. The snow crisped underneath their feet.

The thing about Wally that struck Bruce most was the way he could live with his weaknesses. It wasn't like he tried to cover them up. It wasn't like he was oblivious to them. It was just that he admitted having them and then adapted, changed them, improved them. In cities, he walked at the pace of the grandma with her cane in front of him, didn't seem bothered even once. When playing tag with a seven-year old, he ran at a pace that normal humans would consider achingly slow, but he was still laughing, he was still happy.

Wally's happiness was solid, it seemed, massive like the planet itself, a law of nature. No weakness, no darkness, nothing seemed to be able to make it fade. And Bruce wanted to cling to it, against better judgement, because this was something he couldn't lose, this was something that couldn't slip through his fingers. Even if all else was destroyed, Wally's love would remain.

No matter what, Wally would always smile and that fact made Bruce smile slightly as well.

Shaking his head mentally, he stood up and turned around.

"Heeeeey!" Wally whined in protest, looking up from the snow man he and Rose were making after they decided playing tag was too tiresome in the snow "where do you think you're going, Mr. Wayne?"

"I'm going to get us something to eat," he replied, looking over his shoulder. "My guess is you're starving."

Wally blushed. He nodded. Bruce knew the speedster hadn't wanted to interrupt the girl's fun, not even to go for food. He also knew that he hadn't eaten for at least four hours and that it must've been a personal record.

"I'll come with you…" he trailed off, looking to Rose and back to Bruce with a troubled expression.

"Don't bother. I'll bring some junk food that has no nutrients whatsoever," he said smirking.

"My favourite!" Wally replied laughing, before he turned around to Rose once more. Only after Bruce watched him for a few moments, he could get himself to turn around and go for a hunt for food.

-- -- --

Bruce returned with as many pizzas as he had been able to carry without making too much of a fool of himself. The three of them (by the time Bruce returned Rose had decided she was hungry as well) ate pizza on a picnic table, in the midst of the snow covered play-ground, Rose's and Wally's footprints all over them, pretending it was summer, the cold unable to touch them. The snowman stared at them smiling.

No matter how badly he swore at himself not to, he found himself laughing more than once at Wally's jokes. Those jokes, the way he blushed when Rose asked him whether she would eat just as much when she grew up, the way he laughed, the way he moved, those were the things he wanted to remember Wally by. As discretely as he could, he gazed at him the whole time, a strange warmth rising in his chest. How everything just seemed unbreakable, untouchable.

With a slice of pizza in his hand, somewhere between the laughs, Wally met Bruce's gaze.

Something like love ignited in Bruce's head and he didn't want to look away, didn't want to blink. Wally suddenly blushed and his laugh trailed off a little. Rose silently nibbled her pizza slice, oblivious to what was happening over her head.

"Rose! Rose! Oh, honey! Sweetie!" the voice broke them out of their... whatever it was, and Wally whipped his head to the direction where the voice came from.

"Mummy!" Rose yelled as she jumped off the bench and launched herself at the young woman's arms.

"I've been searching you for hours, sweetie?! Oh, weren't you scared?"

Bruce watched them cuddle and looked away, had to. He glanced up at Wally, who, on the other hand, couldn't seem to concentrate on anything else. His green eyes stared at the far-off distance, a point that wasn't there. Bruce wondered what he was thinking about.

"Nope! Wally played with me! We went on the swings and the merry-go-round and the climbing rack! And I won with tag!" she smiled and then Wally was up, walking towards the woman.

"She sure did!" he smiled, extending his hand. "Wally West, nice to meet you."

She shook it, smiling gratefully. "Suzanne Fraser, nice to meet you too. Thank you so much for thanking care of my daughter."

Wally shook his head, laughed. "It was my pleasure, really. We had lots of fun, didn't we, Rose?"

The girl nodded, laughed happily. Suzanne did the same.

Bruce watched them from afar, while Wally and Suzanne had some more small talk. How easy it came for the redhead. All those things that were impossible to be genuine when they came out of Bruce's mouth, they were so honest when Wally said them. The way he looked so beautiful in the midst of winter, sincere like a painting, vivid like a dream. How each smile seemed to be brighter than the previous one.

"Well, it's already getting dark, we should really get going," Suzanne said after a while.

Wally nodded, sunk to his knees again.

"See you, Rose. Thank you for playing with me," Bruce couldn't see Wally's smile, but he knew it was there.

"Can we play again sometime?" the girl asked.

"Yeah, sure! That would be fun!"

Before Rose left, she waved at Bruce and hugged Wally.

-- -- --

Wally watched her leave and then turned back to Bruce, walking slowly, his eyes focused on the sky. The twilight made it almost magical. Wally stood before him. Bruce could tell he wanted to say something and waited.

"I… officially…" Wally sighed, looking like an opera singer in a tragedy, "ruined this date, didn't I?"

Bruce withheld his laughter just in time.

Wally pulled his hair, the epitome of frustration.

"Waah! I can't believe this! I get one date with you and I ruin it by spending the whole day with some kid I never even met!"

It's why I fell in love with you in the first place, he didn't say, couldn't get the words to flow from his lips, so instead he settled with a soft: "that's okay."

Wally stared at him, blinked once, twice.

"That is definitely NOT okay!" he looked in so much pain Bruce almost wanted to hug him. "I really wanted this day to be awesome! I really wanted to have lots of fun and-"

"But this is what Christmas is about, right?" Bruce interrupted, unable to see how Wally stabbed himself to death emotionally. "Taking care of others, enjoying the simple things, making others smile ─ Surely, you would think about it that way, don't you?"

Wally snorted. "You mean I'm a hopeless romantic and I should get my freakin' head out of the clouds?"

"I do," Bruce said. But it's not wrong, he didn't add.

Wally placed himself on the bench next to him, still looking defeated.

"If it's any help…" Bruce started, "the day isn't over yet."

That made Wally smile brightly. He stood up in a fast movement, squeezed his eyes shut as he smiled.

"You're right!" he cheered. "We can still have so much fun! And I am still getting that picture!"

Once more, Bruce could tell the younger man wanted to say something and he waited patiently. It didn't take very long.

"Can I go on the swing?" he asked then, innocently.

Bruce laughed, but he cut if off quickly. "Yes, go ahead."

Wally, who had been restraining his speed the whole day, was on the swing before Bruce finished the sentence.

"Hey! You have to push me!" he whined playfully, smiling.

Bruce sighed and got up, walking towards him. Placing his hands on Wally's back, only thinking about how warm he was, warm still, for a few seconds, he gave a strong push. Wally laughed, just like Rose had.

"Okay! I'm good to go alone now!" Wally smiled.

"Good," Bruce answered dryly.

"Hey? Want to see something cool?"

"Does it even matter if I say 'no'?"

"Not really?"

Bruce suppressed his laugh, gave in. "Fine then."

"Okay! I'm going to swing really high and then jump ─"

"There is absolutely nothing cool about that, Wally," Bruce interrupted, because he liked being an ass sometimes.

Wally stuck out his tongue. "It so is."

Bruce tried not to think of sea-sickness while Wally swung back and forth, his legs kicking in the twilight-lit sky.

"Just so you know, I'm totally counting on you to catch me," Wally grinned, right before he let go of the iron chains at the highest point.

Bruce didn't actually catch him, it was more like Wally landed safely on the ground, but, because of the force of his speed, stumbled forward a little, bumping into Bruce's chest. In a reflex, Bruce held onto Wally's arm, who was laughing like mad in his arms, his eyes squeezed shut in glee. Wally didn't seem to mind, opening his eyes again as he breathed again.

Wally said something, something about him not having done that since he was a little kid, but Bruce didn't really listen anymore. All he could focus on was the way Wally was so damn close and warm and the way his lips moved so smoothly. Wally seemed to notice something was off, because his voice trailed off, the laughter subsided.

A snow-flake fell on his nose, causing him to sneeze, the sound shaking Bruce out of his reverie. He took a slight step backward, making the distance between them slightly larger, but only by a mere inch.

Just what the hell was wrong with him? Bruce mentally killed himself in a thousand different ways.

"See? That was totally cool, wasn't it?"

Wally was still close, too close, but Bruce couldn't get himself to move another inch.

"No, Wally, it wasn't," Bruce answered as dryly as he could, trying to concentrate on talking and not on how frigging close they were still.

Wally smiled lazily, stuck out his tongue, his green eyes staring into Bruce's blue ones, who felt his heartbeat skyrocketing. Despite the snow, it was too hot all of sudden, the fever rushing through his veins like blood. But what a lovely way to burn.

Some part in the back of his mind told him he was an idiot, that he would ruin everything, but Wally was looking at him, straight to centre, and all else, it didn't seem to matter that much. It was just him and Wally, simple as that, simple as a smile. He felt his gaze soften.

Wally's smile grew a little wider and then all of sudden he was standing on his tiptoes, leaning against Bruce's chest, as he softly kissed him on the lips.

For the first seconds, the kiss was one-sided, Bruce caught off guard too much to respond. But seconds were like hours to Wally and just as fast he backed off, looking like he would die of a heart attack.

"Don't kill me! It's frigging Christmas! Oh god, god, god!" he rambled, running his hand through his hair. "You just looked so cute and then I wanted to kiss you and- Oh, dammit, I just called you cute which means you are going to kill me like, twice! And I would apologise, but you have no frigging idea how many years I've waited to do that! And dammit why am I still talking?"

He took a deep breath.

"I guess I was wrong, like, totally. This is the part where you regret this date, right? I shouldn't have done that…"

"Wally," Bruce said, "do me a favour."

Wally nodded slowly, not always as quick on the uptake as he wished he was.

"Shut the hell up. I'm not going to regret this date."

Once more, Bruce closed the gap between them, the distance unnecessarily big. He knew it wasn't anything like a love confession, nothing like Wally's hopeless romantic mind hoped for, but maybe the kiss could convey some of his passion, some of the love he held.

And maybe, Wally would wait for him, until he found the exact right words to formulate his feelings.

Maybe. Next Christmas.

-- -- --

"No way! You altered that picture with Photoshop or something. You must have."

"Don't be a sore loser, GL. I totally went on a date with the one and only Batman. As a matter of fact, I am totally dating the one and only Batman."

Flash looked at the picture he held in his hands. He stood on his tiptoes and hung it up, ignoring the way GL stared at him, stifling his laugh.

"No… way…"

"Way! Total way! I could tell you all the dirty details if you want to," he winked.

"Oh God no! I'm outta here!"

"I can outrun you!"

GL laughed as he made his way back to the monitors, leaving Flash to make a fuss over how the picture was not hung perfectly. After a few minutes (which was one of the longest times he had focused on one single job) he decided it was perfect.

"You are taking that picture down this instant." The low and commanding voice of the (one and only!) Dark Knight resounded through the room.

"Awwh! Come on! I totally told you I would frame it and hang it here."

"No. You said you wanted a picture to prove to Green Lantern you went on a-"

"Ha, GL, watch this! Batman's going to say 'date'."

John looked scared to death. Batman glared.

"Since you have the attention span of a goldfish, I repeat: take the picture down this instant."

"Or…?" Flash replied teasingly.

"I'll take you down this instant," Batman answered darkly.

Flash paused for a mere second.

"You know, for some reason… You don't seem that frightening anymore now I've seen you naked."

He was gone before Batman pulled out his batarang, but he threw it nonetheless, watching it vibrate in the wall, meaninglessly. Flash's laughter echoed in the room.

Batman decided he would have his revenge later, his anger fading a little when his eyes fell on the picture. It was taken after Wally had decided he totally wanted to see what kind of 'castle Bruce lived in.' After nagging for a few hours, Bruce had given in, asking Alfred to take a picture of the two. Right before the shutter clicked, Wally had launched himself at Bruce, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.

On the picture, Bruce was smiling, but it wasn't anything like those smiles he usually gave when being his Bruce Wayne playboy-self. It was genuine, it was bright, it was real.

"How did he get you to take that picture anyway?" Green Lantern's voice broke the silence after a little while.

Batman didn't turn around so John wouldn't see the smile gracing his lips, as he answered: "try as you might, you can't resist the eyes."

Leaving the picture where it was, Batman pulled the batarang out of the wall and went on a search for the Fastest Man Alive. For now.

-- -- --

Yaaaaaaay!! THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I ACTUALLY DID A HOLIDAY-RELATED FIC IN TIME WITH THE HOLIDAY! Yes, I'm awfully proud of myself!

So yeah. I had this idea in my head for quite some time, since I can just -so- see Wally doing that. And it is what Christmas is all about, right?! Right!

I enjoyed writing Wally's rambling. I think this is the first time I have him in character. XD

Beta'd by the unbelievably awesome xRae_Asakurax! Thank you so much!

And poor GL is scarred for life? XD

Kudos for the one who finds the Elvis Presley quote! =D

-- PLEASE REVIEW!!!

As my Christmas gift?

-- Jazy!