Civilian
Dick silently shuffled through the streets in his civilian clothes late at night. His sunglasses had remained folded neatly in the neck of his shirt and loosely jangled around with every step he took, his eyes focused on his sneakers as if there were something interesting in them.
It's time for you to give up the mantle as Robin.
Give up the mantle as Robin? It had been his life ever since he was nine. Ever since his parents died in the accident and discovered the identity of Batman, he had been Robin. It was even before Batman that he acquired the name from his mother! How was he going to hang up an identity? It was who he was! Would Batman be forced to hang up his mantle because Dick said so? Or anyone else in the league? He had just turned eighteen and along with the happy birthdays he received, the least expected one of all was when Batman pulled him aside before patrol and told him that it would be his final night as the boy-wonder. After all, he was no longer a boy.
He sighed through his nostrils and saw a familiar face walking through the streets of Gotham. Walking. The twenty one year old ex-speedster had never quite gotten over the fact that doing what he loved the most was killing him. Literally. Wally looked over at Dick from across the street and stopped, lifting his head up from its hanging position and giving a small sigh before donning a smile, his hands still shoved deep in his pockets. Dick had called him over from Central and knew that it'd be a while before he'd get to see his friend—something he wasn't used to. If anyone had a right to complain about hanging up a mantle, it was Wally. Dick quickly glanced down both sides of the street and crossed it, meeting up with his friend. Wally casually slung an arm around his neck of the younger man in a brotherly fashion and shook his head. "Life sucks, huh?"
"Yep…" Dick nodded in agreement, the corner of his lip pulling up in a small smile of disappointment. It hadn't taken Wally long to tell Robin and the rest of the Titans about hanging his mantle, but it was still Robin he told first after two weeks of sulking and resting. But he was there. There was a full support group behind him and even a going away party as he pulled completely away from the Titans. It was the hardest decision of his life but he was reassured that there would be people to take over his place in central. It was mainly Barry who had made him feel secure enough to have hang up his suit and call it quits. Without him being Flash, he would have continued to stay Central's superhero. Without Flash, Kid Flash would die a little bit each time there was a bad guy that needed to be dealt with. Without Flash, Kid Flash would kill himself for the sake of others. Barry had to step up to the plate and take over Wally's missions whenever he could but without telling Wally once in a while if it became too tough, he would let the Titans take care of the problem. If Wally knew, he'd have a fit and don his yellow and scarlet suit and return to the Titans, and Barry wouldn't hear any of it.
"You hungry?" Dick questioned them as they stopped in front of a burger joint, smiling wryly as he looked at the dim neon sign and inhaled the scent of fries and meat. Wally cracked a smile from ear to ear, almost painfully so, and clutched onto his stomach. "I'm not so hungry all the time anymore, but let's head in anyways. I could go for one of Gotham's burgers from one of its many holes in the walls." Dick felt a twinge of pain and gave a small nod. "We don't have to, you know…"
"I want to." Wally gave him a supporting smile and guided him by the shoulder inside the restaurant and sat down at a booth. Wally had leaned back and looked outside, bringing one leg over the knee of the other and lacing his arms behind his head. "What do you plan on doing now since…you know…?" Dick sighed and ran his hand through his hair, turning his attention outside to the tops of the buildings, almost sure that Batman was watching. It would not have been unusual if he was. After all, his protégé was just booted from his job and he ripped away his identity, it was almost normal for him to have a negative reaction of some sort. However, if he was with Wally—laid back Wally that had already coped with hanging up his uniform—he would be alright. He would have left the two of them alone for a much needed man-to-man discussion without Dick's overseer. "I don't know…I can't imagine my life not fighting crime and defending the world and all, but as what?"
"You can always take on a new identity." Wally held his fingers over his eyes as if they were a mask. He was trying to help in the only way he knew how and earned a small chuckle from him. "And why didn't you? You can still fight, you know."
"You're the one without powers, Dick. You fought under the mantle not having a single super power. I have…had…super speed. I relied on that. It's a harder transition, believe me. Black Canary tried to keep me to close combat and I just couldn't do it without my speed. You can, Dick." The younger male was surprised by his sudden outburst. Wally was…envious. It was written all across his face. He wanted nothing more than to help fight crime beside his favorite superhero of all time and he was denied that right all because of his disease. He wanted to fight crime with every fiber in his body and every fiber in his body was screaming NO. And he had to listen. The newly retired hero felt a twang of pain and let his shoulders slump. Wally never really spoke about how it bothered him to not be Kid Flash anymore. He was always so...silent about it."So you can't be Robin anymore, so what! You've got the abilities to be someone else! So what Batman took away your mantle as Robin, you really think he's going to take away whatever else you want to be? I don't know, be Underwear man or something and just fight!" Dick looked up at him (he had bolted upright sometime during his rant) and saw his face turning a bright red color out of anger. Wally was always one that could never keep his emotions quite in check, but that was what he truly admired deep down inside—the ability to freely express himself without a care in the world. And on that note, Dick began laughing and gave a few nods. "Underwear man? Come on, Wally, even you can think of something better than that!"
"Well, it's an idea at least." Wally sat back down and saw a waitress warily eyeing them, two menus in her hands. "Hey, lady, we're starving here!" She hurriedly rushed over to them and placed a menu on their tables, taking out her notepad and pen. "Two cokes and a huge plate of fries!"
"Add two burgers with the works." Dick added, winking at Wally. The ex-speedster knew that meant that he was picking up the tab. With a grin, he held up two fingers. "Two milkshakes as well!"
"Right. I'll be right back." She gave a nod and walked off, leaving the two ex-superheroes together once again. Wally smiled and scratched his head a bit, leaning over the table a bit and pointing over at Dick in a fatherly fashion Dick never knew he had in him. "You're better than that, Dick. You need to just get yourself together a bit. Bats doesn't want you to sulk like this. He wants to see if you can do things on your own. You're an adult now."
"You are too and you're still ordering shakes like you were still kid-" He stopped himself mid-sentence and slapped his forehead. It was too easy to forget he wasn't Kid Flash anymore. They had lost contact for so long because of the lack of abilities that it was almost a chore to see each other. Usually it'd be no problem for Wally to run over to Central and they'd have a casual meet for a few minutes, joke around, and bam, Wally would be back in Central without a care in the world and knowing that he had more than enough time in the night to make his rounds and ensure that everything was a-okay. Not so much over the past few years. It got to the point where online gaming would be interrupted because Robin would have duties to perform without Wally. Robin would have a mission with the Titans. Robin would have a mission with Batman. Robin would have a Wayne banquet he had to be there for. And Wally West would be left in Central—forgotten and treated like just another civilian. No praise for the ex-speedster. No recognition. No thanks. Nothing. A hollow life away from the only thing that really made him notorious for who he was and what's worse, away from his best friend. "Anyways...how have you been?"
"Change of topic, huh? Well, nothing much, I guess. College life is boring. Tell me about a few missions you've been on! What's the coolest one so far!" Dick grinned from ear to ear and began to recount his tales as Robin, forgetting the fact that he was no longer Robin and just Dick Grayson.
"You think they'll be okay?" A familiar scarlet-clad superhero stood on top of a building with the Dark Knight. They had both lingered in the shadows and had grown slightly agitated that Dick had sensed them. "They'll be fine. Let's go."
"Look, Bruce, maybe you should talk it over with Dick. He's going to go through an identity crisis like Wally did. Believe me, it was hard. The kid would forget to wake up in the morning to make the bus because he forgot that he couldn't use his powers to make it to school on time." Batman took a final glance at Dick and Wally and spun around, reaching for his grappler and holding it firmly in his hand. "Bruce…"
"I'll talk to him in a few days. Right now, he needs to talk to Wally."
"Yeah…it's the first time in a while he's gone outside his apartment too." Flash let out a few chuckles and watched Batman take off to complete his rounds. In a blur of red and yellow, the man took off back to Central to finish his own rounds.
AN: It ain't long, but it'll do for now. If I learned anything in college, it's quality, not quantity. And I'm tired. Adieu! Until next chapter!
