I know you wanted a longer story out of this, but I didn't want to leave you waiting for chapters that would never come. Letting people down is my thing, baby. Fall Out Boy is also my thing, and the Hardy Boys.
For silverangel83.
When the shrill ringing bled into Wally's voicemail for the fourth time, Dick hung up and abandoned his cellphone on the table beside him before leaning forward onto his thighs. He carded his fingers tiredly through his hair, helplessly trying to fade the stabbing worry into something more tolerable. When it stayed all the more present, he gave a shaky sigh and left his hands to dangle between his knees.
It had been two weeks since he had heard from his best friend, and more than one since his family had gotten any word from him. Normally, that wouldn't have Dick this unnerved, but Wally didn't just drop off the face of the planet. He always left word, even if he didn't want to be found. That's just how Wally was, and there was no reason for him to change that 18 years later.
Barry and Iris were the last two people to see him. It had been eight days ago at dinner, and neither said he acted any different than normal. He had been laughing and cracking jokes, and had nearly ate them out of house and home. The next day, there had been no sign of him. His communicator was offline, he hadn't left a money trail, no note- the only sign left of him was his phone, which hadn't moved from his parents' house in the last eight days. It was as though someone had just erased him from existence.
When he had brought it up with the team, they had lacked the reactions he sought out. Of course they were concerned; Wally was a teammate, after all, and a friend. He was also 18 now, though, a fact that everyone wasn't fast to forget.
"Maybe he thinks he's too old for us now," someone had said, and that had stopped all conversation about the matter.
They all had treated Wally's disappearance like a dirty little secret and swept it under the rug. As many times as Dick would bring it up, and as many times as they tripped over it, they never did anything but sweep it away again when he took it out.
When Dick had accused them of not caring, he had gotten a variety of comebacks, but the takeaway was that they believed Wally hadn't disappeared; he had moved on.
The teen had tried to entertain the thought once, the thought that his best friend had grown tired of him and had left without a word. Whether it was unrealistic or that he just couldn't bear to imagine it, he shot the idea down fast.
Wally would have said something, he told himself, and that mantra had been building him up higher and higher to the point that when it collapsed, he would, too.
The thoughts had entangled the acrobat and effectively taken him away from the world all the while, his features scrunching up and his chest feeling a lot tighter. It wasn't until the doorbell rang, breaking him away from his trance, that he was able to take a deep breath again.
He tucked his phone into his pocket, got up, and made his way over to answer the door, stopping just once to fix his hair in a mirror that hung over the bench near it. He wasn't sure who he had expected, but when he recognized the redhead standing on his porch, he forgot how to breathe once more.
It was Wally, there was no mistaking it, even under all of the new additions. His hair was a little longer and rattier, and he had some heavy scruff coming in. He had heavy bags under his eyes that looked more like bruises, suggesting he hadn't gotten much sleep as of recent. His cheeks were puffy, the green of his eyes were now a painful red, and he was overall very twitchy.
He looked broken, or if Dick didn't know any better- high. Mostly, though, he looked terrified.
Before Dick could say a word, Wally moved forward and wrapped him into a tight hug. His scruff was rough against Dick's cheek and he held on too tight, but as soon as Dick could get his arms up, he knew his grip was just as tight. He pressed his face into his friend's shoulder and just breathed him in. His heart hammered, and then he wasn't sure that it beat at all.
"Hey, buddy," Wally said nonchalantly with a watery laugh.
When he let go, Dick's eyes darted over his friend's dirtied form, trying to pull some answer from the mess in front of him. The holes in his jeans and the bruises on his knuckles didn't offer anything but more questions. Out of all the questions though, Dick couldn't think of what to say.
"I've been trying to get a hold of you," he said dumbly.
"Oh yeah, about that," Wally rubbed his neck sorely with a smile that came and went in a flash. "Threw my phone out the window. Sorry. Can I come in?"
The two stared at each other, tired eyes fulled to the brim with sudden warmth they hadn't seen in too long, and then they both laughed. It was a sore laugh, out of practice, but it lasted, and Dick put his arm around his best friend.
"Please," he grinned, and he guided the redhead inside.
He locked the door behind them as though to make sure Wally didn't leave again, and then he just watched him in some kind of awe.
"Thank you for not getting tired of me," he wanted to say, but he didn't.
"What the hell happened to you, man?" he asked instead.
Wally turned from the stair bannister that he had been studying so intently and took a deep breath, meeting Dick's eyes and just holding them for the longest time. Dick tried to read what they were saying, but they were so tired, and he couldn't pick anything out of the muddied gaze.
"I just..." Wally bunched one hand into a fist and then relaxed it, looking down to his bloodied knuckles with a flicker of some emotion that he couldn't place. "I need to sleep. Just for a bit. Please."
The request took Dick back, but he nodded all the same. Absently, he pointed up towards his room and put an arm back around the redhead to guide him up the stairs. Wally took the hint and nodded, jogging up the stairs and glancing in the room down the hallway at the top until he found Dick's near the end of the hall. When Dick made his way inside, he saw Wally throwing the curtain over the now-shut window, eyes wide and hand trembling. Once it was secured, he made his way onto the bed, sitting on the edge.
Dick watched from the doorway, at a complete loss from the sudden change in attitude. "Do you... need anything? A... drink, maybe?"
Wally stood up before he could make much more than a step backwards out of the room.
"No! P-," he started, and the absolute volume stopped Dick in his tracks. "Can you... stay in here? I'm sorry... I..." the redhead looked away, slowly sitting back on the edge of the bed, "I'll explain when I..."
Dick chewed at the side of his lip for a moment, watching the shell of his best friend watching him with wide eyes, and then he nodded. He shut the door with the heel of his foot, and locked it upon request.
"I'll stay," he promised, and that was enough for Wally to lay back on the mattress.
Still chewing on his lip, lost in thought, Dick pulled his desk chair over beside the bed. As he went to sit in it, he noticed that Wally was already asleep. He lay on top of the covers, hugging the pillow as though letting it go would kill him.
"Wally," Dick murmured, brow furrowed tight.
He went around to the other side of the bed and lifted that side of the comforter, pulling it over towards Wally until he was covered. When he was done with that, Dick sat back in the desk chair and slid his phone out of his pocket.
He wanted to tell Barry and Iris that he had found Wally and that he was okay. He wanted to tell the team he was right. He wanted to put Mary and Rudy at ease again. Instead, he texted Alfred and asked for tea. He didn't mention Wally.
As his friend snored, finally looking peaceful, Dick had the mind to light some incense. He fished out the automatic incense burner from his closet, a kind where you could combine smells, and he plugged it in on his dresser. He stayed silent as he did, and once it was lit, he sat back in the chair again. Faint smells of sawdust and cotton candy filled the room and somewhere between watching his friend and getting lost in thought, Dick fell asleep.
He woke up when Alfred knocked politely at the door, and he uncurled from the ball he had tucked himself into. Th door unlocked with a tiny click and Dick accepted the hot cup of tea with a plenty of gratitude. He kept the door only open a crack, hiding Wally from the butler, and shut the door again when Alfred left. When he turned, Wally was sitting up with a hand fisted in the pillow.
Dick made his way back over and sat on the edge of the bed by his friend's feet, offering the tea over. Wally accepted it with a flicker of a smile. He looked a little better than before, but the fear hadn't lessened much. As the redhead drank, Dick worked up the nerve to ask a question.
"Are you okay?"
Wally acted at first like he hadn't heard him, but once he lowered the hot cup to his lap again, he lowered his gaze, too.
"Honestly?" he asked softly, and Dick nodded, meeting the green eyes when they raised again. "No-... um... is there somewhere... secure we can talk?"
Wally put extra emphasis, and after a moment, Dick understood. Something bad was going on, and that was the best reason, if there ever was one, to show his friend the legendary safe room.
"Yeah," he said, and he stood up, circling around to turn off the incense burner. "C'mon."
Wally wrapped the top cover around his shoulders much like a child, still holding the cup of tea, and he followed behind Dick patiently. He didn't argue when he was asked to stand outside the study while Dick opened the way to the Bat Cave, and then he led the way down the metal steps while the other shut the entrance again.
His shoes made a tiny clang every time they hit a new step, and with every step he tried harder to be quieter, even once he got to the concrete. He looked over the Cave in awe, eyes trying to take in every inch of the literal cave interior and all of its tech coverings. Dick opened the safe room while he was distracted, and even as he was herded into it, his eyes still roamed the previously unseen territory.
"Is that a... cow?" he asked slowly, and Dick had to swallow down a laugh.
The safe room was essentially a secret panel built into the cave wall that opened to a room big enough to hold a good amount of people. The walls were metal, and the door disappeared without a seam once Dick entered a code into the keypad. Despite the metal, there were couches and beds, fridges, and other necessities inside. At his friend's urging, Wally made his way onto one of the couches and curled his knees up to his chest under the blanket.
"You're sure this place is secure?" the redhead asked in a small voice.
Dick cracked a little smile, sitting beside him. "The safest place here on Earth, at least. I'd take you up to the Watchtower, but the ZETA connection down here hasn't been working all that well recently."
Wally seemed to relax again, but his eyes still darted around nervously in-between sips of tea. When it seemed that he needed a prod, Dick provided it.
"Now that we're... 'secure'... want to tell me what happened to change your attitude?"
Wally didn't answer. The quiet he gave crumbled when his face scrunched up, and the calm breathing grew into quick breaths, as though he were going to hyperventilate. He looked traumatized, and Dick moved closer, fast to put a hand on his arm. When Wally flinched at the contact, Dick drew back, his own eyes widening.
"Wally? What the hell happened to you? Are you... high?" the teen murmured more to himself, keeping his hands to himself.
Wally's chin trembled and he seemed very close to tears again. Dick took that as his cue to back off entirely, so he moved to the opposite end of the couch and tucked his legs up underneath him. He waited patiently, and eventually, Wally calmed down. It was just barely, but it was enough.
"Where do I start?" he asked, brokenly.
Dick swallowed hard. "Give me a quick summary first... and then... we'll break it down?"
The redhead gave a hysterical laugh, no matter how brief, and tightened his hold on his tea. The porcelain trembled in his fingers.
"There's nothing... 'quick' about this. I've... I'm... I'm being blackmailed," he said, and then added, "I've got a stalker- the same person doing the blackmailing, I think. The same... people. There's... threats on my life, yours, my family's... everyone I know, everyone I love..."
His face tightened again and he looked very close to tears, and Dick sat there entirely speechless. When he could manage a breath, he scooted closer again, and very carefully touched his friend's shoulder. The affection almost broke his friend.
"How long has this been going on?" Dick managed to ask.
Wally gave another panicked laugh and ducked his head into the blanket so he wouldn't be seen crying if any tears actually fell. When he lifted his head again, he watched his cup.
"Months, maybe?"
It came out in a whisper, like he was ashamed to have to say it. Dick reacted as though it had been yelled and tensed, eyes widening.
Months? He had seen Wally in the past few months, and he had been just fine. He had actually been really happy, now that he thought about it, to the point that Dick assumed he had a girlfriend he was hiding. Then, he had gotten a little upset, a little twitchy, and he had assumed a breakup. Then he hadn't showed up at all, just texts and phone calls, and Dick had assumed the breakup was devastating. He never would've assumed anything like this.
He reached a shaking hand of his own out and rubbed his friend's back when he thought to do so, and it seemed to help calm his nerves, or at least enough to stop the tremble in his chin.
"Why didn't you come to me sooner?" Dick asked.
Wally looked up at him slowly, and even though he had had calmed a little, his eyes were still wet and hurt. The bags were overpowering and he looked so painfully human.
"I didn't want to see you get hurt because of me," the redhead choked out, and he leaned away from Dick's hand to set the cup of tea down on the floor.
When he sat back up, he leaned back into the affection again, and Dick kept rubbing circles in his friend's back with a deep breath. His heart ached and for a moment, he considered punching him.
"I can handle myself, Wally."
"I know, but I... I couldn't risk it! You don't understand how powerful they are."
"Then help me understand! Fill me in."
Going from a whisper to a shout and back again had their voices echoing around the room, and when the echoes died off and set them back in silence, they held each other's gazes again. Wally swallowed hard, and then he began.
"A few months ago, I found an envelope addressed to me- er, Kid Flash, by the ZETA I usually use. In it were pictures... of me in costume, and a note that said the sender admired me and all that... stuff. I just thought they were a fan, you know?" he gave a tired laugh and drew the comforter tighter around himself. "It was really flattering at first. No one ever really notices me. I mean, you're big, but I'm just the Flash's sidekick."
He tucked his feet inside the blanket shield he had made around himself and leaned back into the curve of the couch. Dick had curled his legs up underneath him by this point and had his arms folded along the back of it, pillowing face in them. He watched his friend with a slight furrow in his brow, biting the inside of his lip. Wally took his patience as a sign that he could go on whenever he was comfortable, and after a few deep breaths, he did.
"The pictures started showing up more after that. It was... the team on missions everywhere, you and me, me and Artemis... The letters stopped after a while, but I didn't care. It was... nice to have a fan, I guess. I actually kept the pictures," the faint smile he had picked up faded quickly and he lifted his head with a sigh. "Then, another envelope came. It had pictures, just like before, but... it was me without a costume on... and there was a letter with it. 'You're quite the hero, Wally'."
Dick stopped breathing for a moment, his eyes widening. Wally seemed to have been watching his expression, and at it, his shoulders sank and the last bit of hope flit out of his eyes.
"To be honest, I thought you put it there. I thought you had noticed the envelopes and were playing a prank on me... but your face just now..."
"I wouldn't do something like that, dude," Dick lifted his head, sounding offended.
"I know that, but... you know, I didn't want to worry then... so I brushed it off as just being you. Then... another one showed up. It was all pictures of me out of costume... some where I was playing vigilante. There was a letter in this one, too, and it said that if they could find out a... 'nobody like me' was... they could find out who all of my... 'little friends' were... and that they could find you guys and hurt you just as easily."
Wally leaned his head back until it was along the back of the couch and he broke one hand out of the shield to comb through his hair, squeezing his eyes shut.
"I didn't take it seriously, but then... the envelopes started showing up at my house, in my room... they had my grade cards, my cell phone bills, my homework even. The letters were now threats... of what they'd do to you guys, to me... They... I... didn't know what to do," he sunk down farther into the couch until the blankets covered most of his face. "Then they had requests. They wanted me to... steal stuff. Break my hero reputation. They had... lists of stuff they wanted me to bring them."
"Wally," Dick interrupted, leaning forward to grab his friend's knee as he noticed the blankets trembling.
"I didn't do it! I... I mean... I didn't do anything. I thought they were bluffing. I mean... I'm... really bad about keeping my identity, but most of you guys haven't told the team your real name. I can understand them cracking me, but you guys..."
He wiggled up out of the top of his blankets and looked at his best friend, eyes wet and heavy. His cheeks were wet, too, but he was trying his hardest to hide that part. In his eyes shone something not quite shameful, though, and Dick barely noticed the tears.
"The next envelope had information about Artemis. Her name, her parents, her last physical, her address... and there were pictures of her at her home. This was... maybe two days after their request," he said quietly, and then he looked away, clenching his teeth. "Later that day... it was... you."
"Me?" Dick repeated, feeling his stomach jump to his throat.
Wally nodded, staring intently at the wall. "You. Stuff even I didn't know. Your blood type, stuff about the circus, how Bruce isn't legally your dad, but has ownership... your school, your awards and accomplishments... pictures of you here with Bruce, with Alfred, and Babs and-"
"Stop," Dick pleaded, covering his eyes. "God, s-..."
Wally stopped. He gave a noise a lot like a whimper and clenched his teeth a lot tighter, barely choking out an apology.
"It's not your fault," the acrobat assured him, but the dislocation of his stomach had only worsened with the new information. "I just... Bruce is going to be so mad at me... I... ah, go on. If you.. can."
Wally shut his eyes and took a moment, composing himself, before he started again.
"In six hour... increments... they knew who the whole team was. The stuff about Kaldur and M'Gann was a little... iffy... but they knew enough and I..." he shut his eyes again, but he didn't stop. "The last envelope said I had 12 hours to drop the stuff off at a park they designated or they'd..."
His voice broke and he shook his head quickly, trying to throw the idea out of his thoughts. Dick couldn't even begin to imagine how bad it had been, so he just held his breath, afraid of where he was going.
"So... I did. I... stole. And I hated it. I went home and... I cried. I wanted to tell you... I was j... I was just so ashamed," Wally pressed his face down into his hands as he started crying again and apologized as he did so, but with a shaking voice, he went on. "The next envelope had Batman's identity, and a... schedule of where you and he would be going in the next few weeks. The letter said... I had to do the next... job... in costume... or they'd set off an explosive at one of the events and... kill... you both. I couldn't... I c... Christ, Dick, I couldn't lose you!"
He had to stop for a moment, sobbing into his hands at even the thought, and Dick found himself close to tears, too. Caught between wanting to puke and wanting to never leave the safe room, he moved over and put an arm around Wally, keeping a hand on the redhead's knee.
"You didn't, though. You didn't lose me, Wally. I'm right here," he squeezed his friend's knee to emphasize this. "You did what you had to do. I would have done the same thing."
It was heartbreaking to see someone who was always so strong, composed to a perfect T and cracking jokes in any light, stripped down to this. It was hard to remember that heroes were humans, too, even to the other heroes. Wally here was just that. Any sign of Kid Flash was gone.
"It's not what you'd have done! That's the point!" Wally bit out sharply, and he raised his eyes from his hands, trying to catch his breath. "You're an actual hero! You'd have told someone, or did your hacky computer-thing, and you never would have had this problem. I just..."
The two sat there, Wally arguing that Dick would've only dealt with the stalker for a day and Dick saying that he was human too and no he wouldn't have, until their arguments ran out and Wally could talk evenly with only a few wavers. Only then, in a mutual silence, they reached an actual agreement and Wally gave a curt nod.
"But... the next time I... stole... I did it in costume. I stole... a lot of things. I've been stealing a lot of things... and now they want me to... rob a bank," he finished, and he slid the blanket back off from his shoulders.
Dick stared blankly as his friend reached down into his pocket and unfolded a paper, handing it over with shaky fingers. Once he handed it over, he slid back under the cover of the blankets, and Dick looked the page over with a furrow in his brow.
Typed out in a block print, it said that Wally had three days to rob a bank of his choosing and to leave the money at a park just out of state under a bench. It warned him to not watch the park or they would shoot his mom, and attached was a detailed work schedule presumably from his mother.
"None of the letters has ever had fingerprints, or anything we can track," Wally interrupted before Dick was even done reading. "I'm scared. I've got two days left or my mom-"
Dick put a hand up to stop him, eyes still running over the paper's content, and Wally barely managed to stop himself. When his friend started folding the paper up, he started up again.
"I can't do it, Dick. I can't risk even a chance of losing her. You know what it's like to lose a parent," Wally went on, and he flinched at the same time the teen beside him did. "Please help me."
Dick had drawn back from the redhead, hands folded in his lap patiently, but his face was scrunched up from something other than offense. He had brushed off the comment about his parents right after it had been said. This face was one that Wally knew well, and took comfort in.
"I know that face," Wally said, voice teeming with optimism.
The teen had a notch in his brow and a frown hard on his lips, gaze elsewhere as he slowly got to his feet. He held a hand back towards the redhead, an absent thought, and nodded in answer to the conversation he was having in his head.
"Stay here," he said, and he left the safe room.
Dick had been thinking, and his thinking was going to save Wally. It had to. With that mindset, Wally tucked himself into the blanket and waited, trying not to worry more than he needed to. Minutes passed and worry grew, but Dick came back eventually. In his hands was a clunky phone turned to the side, the keypad instead replaced with a video screen. Wally couldn't see the face on the other end, but he didn't have to to know that it was Bruce.
"I explained the situation," Dick told his friend as he sat beside him again, and he turned the clunky phone to get Wally in the shot with him.
The redhead pressed on a smile and he raised a few fingers out of the blanket to wave. Bruce managed a smile back, but he had the same face he had seen on Dick minutes earlier. They were thinking. Wally had never said so many hallelujahs to himself before.
"Don't worry, Wally. We're going to help you," Bruce said calmly, sounding overwhelmingly like a father before he switched back into the commander the young hero had grown up with. "I own a bank off of Main. I'm going to get in contact with some people, but I can replace the tellers with actors, or something like that. You just rob the place and they'll play along. You drop the money off at the park and Dick and I will subdue whoever goes to retrieve it. Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian will tail your mother and make sure nothing happens to her."
Wally bowed his head, completely overwhelmed, and he found himself close to tears again.
"Thank you," he choked out.
Dick put an arm around his shoulders and Wally leaned in towards him this time, shutting his eyes with a watery laugh.
"You protected us, buddy. Let us protect you," Dick said softly.
Wally stayed over that night, and just like when they were kids, they stayed up playing video games and passed out in Dick's bed with the controllers still lazily clutched in their fingers. The next morning, Wally shaved the ungodly scruff and borrowed some clothes, and then he and Dick hit the town, the former of which looking like a new man.
On the off chance Wally was being watched, they played it up as though Wally were leaving for a while, and that this was their last hurrah.
When Wally returned to his parents' home and greeted them with large hugs and all of the affection he could possibly tolerate in one sitting, he found an envelope addressed to him in his bedroom in the type that had began to haunt his dreams.
The stalkers had bought the story from the sounds of it. They assured Wally that they weren't done with him, and that the only way he'd be leaving would be in a body bag. They also took the time to wish him luck, which he found endearing. It ended with a reminder to stay away from the park and to not involve any cops, or anything of that sort. They asked complete silence of him, and he grinned to himself.
He slept easy enough that night, and he showed up to the bank in his costume. With prior instruction from Bruce, he snuck into the bank vaults- coincidentally unlocked, and pretended to knock out the one guard who happened to notice. The man played along very well, enough that he nearly convinced Wally that he had actually hurt him.
The money fit in a backpack and Wally ran that backpack to the park. Instead of discretely hiding it, he threw it at the marked bench in a literal flash and made his way home again. He changed into his baggiest pair of pajamas and hung out with his family again, feeling like an entire world had been lifted from his shoulders. On the off chance he was still being watched, he held his tongue on his location and promised to tell his family some day soon.
It was after dinner when Dick texted him and said he was on his way to pick him up. Wally threw on a hoodie, but kept on the pajama pants. When his friend pulled up outside, he waited patiently in the driveway until Dick got out.
"Well?" Wally asked, his hands stuffed into the pocket of his hoodie, a small shrug on his shoulders.
Dick mirrored the action, and then a grin broke over his face and Wally found himself with one, too.
"We caught 'em, KF. Bruce and I nabbed the guy who came for the drop and interrogated names out of him, and then interrogated names from the new names. We've got 'em all. You're safe."
The teen who had all the answers now could only a manage a muffled cry as Wally tackled him in a hug.
The ride to police headquarters was six songs screamed at the top of two teens' lungs down the highway a few miles above the speed limit, and inside, Wally got to meet his tormentors. Introductions were made, and before anyone could stop him, he punched the head of it all in the face a few times.
Maybe heroes didn't believe in happy endings, but whatever this was, Wally would settle for it.
-F.J. III