He's on high alert after he feels the hairs rise up on the back of his neck. There's a tingling in the back of his mind and he just knows that someone's watching him. He points his grappling hook at the rooftop of the neighboring building he's on.
The logical part of him is saying to call for backup or just report the feeling. There's another part of him that forces his lips to stay shut as he continues going about his normal nightly business. He swallows as he propels himself up. For a moment, he thinks he's safe.
And then he hears the call of his name. He breaks out into a run. He's scared and he knows that staying here would equal out to trouble.
He jumps.
~•••~
Wallace Rudolph West is a very tired and very hungry senior. It's really late. He has his backpack on (it's filled with papers and books) and he's wandering around for a place to eat. Too many places were closed since it was two a.m. but he really wants something in his stomach.
Of course, he can eat at home. He has a decent amount of food and his parents are both out of town on a vacation. There's just something about staring and fussing over papers and books that makes one want a change of scenery.
Then he sees it. It's a 24 Hour café and he silently praises whatever high deities there may be. He pushes the door open (the little ding-a-ling of a bell sounds above him) and abruptly stops. He swallows hard and tries to keep his composure.
As expected, there's an employee. He's probably the only one working at the ungodly hour since the place seems silent aside from a quiet static from a television attached to the wall. The boy is mopping up the floor, immersed in his own world.
He looks young. The employee has a small build buried in a big black sweatshirt and washed out jeans with a red apron on top. His hair is black and wild. Blue eyes seem to be made of glass as they focus on the swirls of water being pushed around on the floor.
Wally has a feeling that the employee is distracted. The boy hadn't even looked up when Wally's arrival was signaled by the small bell. The speedster clears his throat.
"H-hey," Wally says, stepping closer when he regained the ability to move.
Immediately, the boy's head snaps toward Wally. The meta is stricken with a wave of déjà vu. Saying nothing, the boy grips the mop's handle a little tighter as he watches Wally with those oceanic eyes.
"You working the night shift?" Wally asks, scratching his cheek. The whole atmosphere is awkward and a little tense.
The boy raises his brows and nods his head towards something on the wall. It's a clock. "No, really?" he retorts. He leans the mop against a table and wipes his hands on his apron. Grabbing a notepad, he makes his way over to Wally and motions for the ginger to sit at one of the booths.
Wally picks up a menu, looking over it while giving minute glances at his apparent waiter. "I'll have a large iced tea and five cheesesteak subs—oh, and some fries."
Without batting an eyelash, the order is written down and a pencil is placed behind the boy's ear. "On it." The boy goes behind the counter and disappears into the door to the kitchen. Wally watches as the door shudders to a close before he pulls his bag onto his lap.
He takes a deep breath and pulls out a few papers to delve into his schoolwork. His parents wouldn't tolerate his slacking if they were home. He's glad they aren't honestly. He's so busy patrolling and training and trying to study and cram it all in his mind.
A few minutes later, the boy emerges with the order on one big plate. He places it on the clear spot of Wally's table and the ginger smiles at him. The food smells as amazing as it looks. He finds it hard to not drool all over his papers.
"What's your name?"
The boy points to his breast pocket. There's a tag on it and Wally wonders how he didn't see it earlier. He reads the name silently in his mind.
"Gardner LaRou?"
The boy doesn't reply for a few seconds. His nose twitches a little. "That's what it says, right? And for the record, it's pronounced 'luh-roo'."
He turns around and goes back to mopping. Gardner seems to return to his distracted state as he aimlessly swirls the mop around. Wally tries to pour all his focus into eating and finishing his papers.
It's kind of hard though, Wally thinks. It's hard to focus when a stranger has the same face as someone who should be dead.
Still sparing him minute glances, Wally eats and works. Every single similarity is brushed off as a mere coincidence. It's been two years and the meta knows he should move on. Everyone else has.
~•••~
Wally's parents are still gone three nights later. He wonders when exactly they'll return as he makes the decision to go back to the café. After all, the peaceful ambience and good food sounds promising. It's one a.m. this time but he's hungry and frustrated.
He pushes the door open and smiles at the sound of small bells. Gardner's there too. Instead of mopping, he's sitting at the counter and staring at the television. There's nothing but static and Wally finds himself being reminded of his Kryptonian teammate.
Gardner's wearing another black sweatshirt that juxtaposes Wally's bright yellow sweatshirt. He ambles over and he watches Gardner watch him.
"You're back," the employee notes.
"And you're still here."
It's quick and disappears in a millisecond but Wally noticed Gardner's lip twitch at one corner. There's no negativity in those blue eyes though so the speedster assumes that he did not offend the boy or something. "That I am," he replies. "Same thing as last time?"
Wally hums out of frustration. He's thinking about what he wants. "Do you have chicken salad sandwiches?"
"No," Gardner says and the speedster frowns. "We have the ingredients though. If you want, I can make some."
"If it's not too much trouble," Wally says with a smile. "Anything's cool with me."
Gardner nods and disappears behind the door. Wally decides to sit where Gardner sat him last time. He pulls out a binder and a thick textbook. He flips to a page and opens up the binder to a clean sheet of lined paper.
There's something about AP Calculus that really frustrates him. Wally's a science whiz and he doesn't really enjoy math even though it comes with the territory. He's able to work out the first few problems in the span of a few minutes but one has him stumped. Knowing himself, Wally supposes that he should pay attention to the teacher more.
And he also berates himself for asking to be recommended for an AP class.
The ginger isn't sure how many minutes passed but suddenly there's an explosion of scents. He sees a plate of chicken salad sandwiches (fifteen to be exact) with a small macaroni salad and iced tea. His mouth waters and he looks up at Gardner to thank him for going the extra mile.
The boy is staring at Wally's textbook and then at the lined paper and back to the book from hell. Wally can't read his expression because it's more blank than his mind mulling over the question. He assumes it to be a confused affect.
"AP Calculus," Wally says, hoping to clear up any confusion. "I don't really get it either."
"Parameter equals nine over four," Gardner says in a monotone voice.
Wally raises his brows. "Excuse me?"
"The slope of the tangent is equal to three," Gardner replies. "You want to write"—he scribbles down an equation—"this equation. Then solve 2x equals 3 if you want to find the x-coordinate of tangency. I think you can work it out from there."
Wally blinks, nodding along. "Oh. That… oh. Thanks." With what Gardner explained, the entire problem was starting to make sense in his mind.
"Hm."
Gardner returns to his spot behind the counter and Wally finishes his homework after prodding the boy for some hints whenever he had gotten stuck. He was quick to eat his meal, dropping the money on the counter and walking towards the door. He pulls it open and places one foot out the door.
Wally turns his head and grins at the boy behind the counter. Gardner doesn't react. "Thank you," Wally says.
He leaves and door closes behind him. Gardner watches the door for a few minutes before he brings his attention to the static on the television. He drums his fingernails against the material of the counter as he leans against it.
~•••~
This time it's three a.m. and Wally could really use some good food. He's actually done with all of homework but he spent the past few hours outside in some desert and he's really hungry. Instead of sneaking downstairs for food, he sneaks out to the café. It's probably his seventh time eating at the café at odd hours.
He keeps coming back.
And every time he was graced with Gardner's presence. The boy was always looking tired and wearing dark colored clothes. Wally always wonders if Gardner was hot under all the long sleeves and long pants. He voices his thoughts but Gardner never replies.
This time, Wally is seated at the counter on a stool. He isn't directly in front of Gardner because he didn't want to have to stare at that face. Gardner seems more interested in the television static than any other form of life anyway.
"I've never seen you around school," Wally says randomly. "Do you go to Central?"
Gardner spares him a glance before looking away. "I graduated early."
"... How old are you?" Wally looks over Gardner. Honestly, the boy couldn't be any older than fifteen or sixteen. He was definitely smart though if he had been able to solve a college level calculus question in just a few seconds.
Gardner says nothing. Wally laughs uneasily.
"You don't have to—"
"How old do you think I am?"
It's an odd question but not by much. Wally hesitates for a moment, wondering which guess he should voice.
Say sixteen, his mind says. Wally finds himself saying the number. After all, that's how old he would be by now. It's hard for Wally to ignore the similarities but he knows that the similarities are why he kept coming back.
"Sixteen," Gardner repeats in a monotone voice. "You think I'm sixteen."
"Yes?"
Gardner's lip twitches at the corner again. "You're right."
The confirmation makes Wally light up. He's a little torn inside. Gardner seems to have yet another similarity to him. Despite that, he grins and decides to get to know the boy behind the counter more. "Really? Sweet," he says. "When's your birthday?"
"Wally West, you should be mindful about what you ask strangers," Gardner admonishes.
He's about to reply but something stops him. His brows furrow in confusion and he raises a brow at Gardner. "How did you—"
"I saw it on your homework in that chicken scratch of yours."
Wally's cheeks flush a burning pink that goes from ear to ear. "My handwriting isn't that bad."
Gardner snorts. "I bet your teacher's mistake your penmanship for scribbles."
"Stop being right," he mumbles.
"Who says I've never been wrong?" Gardner replies. He points to his left cheek. "You got a little something here."
The speedster grabs a napkin and dabs his cheek. There's a bit of marinara sauce because instead of a chicken salad sandwich or a cheesesteak sub, he had a few meatball subs. "Thanks."
The boy behind the counter hums in reply. As per usual, he continues to stare at the crackling salt and pepper on the screen many feet away. Wally chugs down the remainder of his iced tea and pops a chunk of bread into his mouth. After all this time, Gardner has yet to comment on those eating habits.
"Oh, thanks for the help on math homework last night," Wally says, recalling the second time Gardner helped him with calculus. "I understand the material perfectly now."
"That's good."
"Yeah."
Wally feels awkward so he throws two crisp bills on the counter and nods thankfully at Gardner. He bids him adieu and walks out the door. In the back of his mind, Wally absently wonders if asking for one's birthday is really that personal.
~•••~
It's Wally's tenth or so visit to the café at yet another unholy hour of the night. As expected, Gardner is behind the counter. For once, the boy is wearing a white button up with the usual red apron on top. It looks like he's suffering in the harmless piece of clothing.
And for Wally, it's the first time he has a newspaper in his hands. Thankful for the vacancy of the area, he marches forward and slams the paper down on the counter. Gardner startles and looks down at the paper in confusion.
"Is... is something wrong?" Gardner asks, watching Wally behind a metaphorical mask. The older teen seems outraged and helpless and a plethora of tumultuous emotions.
Yes, yes there's something wrong. He had been eating dinner with his parents when his father decided to show Wally the morning paper. Wally flipped through it before he grabbed his plate and the paper and disappeared into his room.
"Haly's Circus is going to close its doors," Wally says. "... Tent? Whatever. It's closing."
He opens it and there's a picture of a circus tent, an old man in a ringmaster get-up, and a poster that Wally finds so very familiar.
"Okay?"
Wally clears his throat. "My best friend is Richard Grayson," he says, watching as Gardner eyes the paper curiously. "He was a part of this circus before being taken in by billionaire Bruce Wayne. He disappeared about two years ago, just a few days after his birthday and there's been no trace of him and the speculation is that he's dead. I... I can't let this circus shut down. He wouldn't want that."
Gardner tilts his head a bit, his lips curving downwards in a small frown. "Okay, and?"
"You look exactly like him," Wally blurts out. "I crave a boon and I'll do anything."
The café boy looks dubious and cautious. He thinks he knows where this is going. "What boon?"
"I need you to pretend to be Richard Grayson."
Okie dokie, so, the line breaks signal the end of the chapter (or the beginning) and the three dots are just to separate different points in the chapter. :3 Italicized paragraphs take place in a different time but a mere line or single word is just for emphasis.
I do not and never will own Young Justice or anything related to the universe or its characters. The idea of a "dead ringer" came from Michelle Jaffe's Ghost Flower. Whether or not you choose to read that is none of my business.
Feel free to drop any questions in the review box. :) If you have any questions regarding my other YJ story (or the ones that have been deleted) you can ask those too and I'll try to address them. I'm warning you now that you should expect random updates.
Added Notes: Reverse!BatFamily, eventual slash in the very far future (don't worry no focus on romance), a few OCs (no Mary Sues and 99% are minor characters)