A Dark Day It Is, A Dark Year It's Been

by RingwraithYJLOVER

Dick and Wally hear the news that the Princess has fallen. Rated T for safety. It mentions deaths that have happened. It's been a long year. Carrie Fisher - I never knew her personally, but I still miss her. She was someone I looked up to. Princess Leia was awesome. She still is. I just had to write this.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

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Dick had called Wally immediately when the news broke. Sure, the speedster had always been more of a Star Trek fan (personally, Dick had always been more of a Star Wars fan), but both of them shared that love for Star Wars.

Shoulder to shoulder, sitting on the couch, Dick and Wally stared at the static TV in front of them. Each of them wore jeans, and Dick had on his Star Wars dark sweatshirt that had HAN SHOT FIRST across it in bold yellow letters.

Wally fiddled with the edge of his T-shirt, and he glanced down at the characters on it. Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, C3P0, and R2D2.

All of them giant figures, larger than life.

"Princess Leia is dead," Dick said in disbelief, "Carrie Fisher is dead."

The words sounded strange coming out of his mouth. They didn't sound right. There was this gaping wound left by the stark truth, and he felt like he'd been blindsided. Like someone had just slapped him, or dumped a bucket of cold water over his face.

Shell-shocked, Wally muttered, "Uh huh."

The redhead was pale, and his green eyes had a faraway look in them. Both of them tried to process this new information, but it wouldn't quite compute. Dick felt like crying. He felt like screaming and raging to the world that this was unfair, that had been a mistake, because this couldn't be possible.

Someone who had helped shaped his childhood was dead.

"This year," he said decisively, "has been one of the worst."

Wally nodded, managing to say in a steady voice, "Alan Rickman. Leonard Cohen. Muhammad Ali. Christina Grimmie. Kenny Baker. The ones in Orlando. So many others, people we don't really know."

"Yeah," Dick said bitterly, "We thought we were done, we thought we made it. Looks like 2016 had one more loss to hit us with."

"The force is dark today," Wally quoted Billy Dee Williams.

There were no words to describe the loss. There was nothing either of them could say to make it better. So they sought comfort in the familiar.

Mournfully, Dick declared, "This requires a Star Wars marathon. Starting with A New Hope."

"Then a Harry Potter marathon," Wally decided, "Before New Years'."

Dick walked to the TV, and pulled out the correct DVDs from the cabinet under the TV.

He held up A New Hope. "Let's get started then."

Wally felt like crying. "My childhood . . ."

Dick walked back to the couch, and sat beside his friend once more.

He consoled the speedster. "There, there . . . I understand. I understand."

Quietly, Wally told Dick, "It doesn't feel real. I can't believe they're gone."

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What a year it's been.

*Christina Grimmie died on June 10th, 2016.. Not in 2014. She was a well-known singer. I also added Kenny Baker, who died August 13th, 2016. He played R2D2.

Written in memory of Carrie Fisher. Rest in peace.