Notes: This one-shot was written for the 6 month contest over at The BatFlash Clan on DeviantArt. The theme was 'cutest love confessions' and as usual I've left it to the last minute!
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Wally scraped the last residues of food off his dish with his finger and then made sure his bowl was really clean by licking it. Well no one else was aboard the WatchTower to complain about his lack of manners and that had been a really good sundae. The young hero leant back in his chair, propping his feet up on the table and letting out a relaxed burp. It was good to get in some stress-free time around his meals. Too often he had to eat and run.
The man known as the Flash was just debating what to do next when very faint strains of music drifted down to him through the speakers, making him frown and stare up at them. He was damn sure no one else was here, right up until a voice started singing and even though that male voice was singing, and doing so quietly, Wally still recognised it instantly.
"I'm searching for the soul,
I'm meant to share my soul with.
I'm looking for the cure
To this emptiness."
"Batman? No way!" Wally whispered as he listened, dropping his feet off the table. The red head was struck by just how good the other man's voice was; deep, melodious, full of feeling… Wally tilted his head to one side as he realised that the feeling showing through the most was longing and he had never heard that from their Dark Knight. OK, yeah, granted, they hadn't heard him sing either, but the way he seemed so exposed, like there was nothing standing between them, touched Wally deeply and he was on his feet before he knew it.
"So I pray for the love that will save me.
So I wait for the arms that will lift me.
So I wait for the eyes that will tell me,
I am home, I am home."
It didn't matter where Wally ran, that voice followed him, but the Flash wasn't running away. No, he was trying to find the man behind that wonderful, haunting piece of music, but once he found him, seated at a work station deep within the WatchTower, Wally didn't know what to do. He stood in the doorway listening and watching. Bruce seemed unaware that Wally was standing behind him, but Wally knew differently to believe that, which meant he didn't mind that he was no longer alone.
"And I wait for my life to be changed with one look, one touch.
I pray for the love."
Scratch that. He was Batman; he knew his voice was sounding out throughout the entire WatchTower, he knew who else was on the station, namely just Wally, so unless Bruce was suddenly possessed by a singing demon, he had to be singing deliberately. Singing a song about finding love to only Wally. The speedster's heart gave a weird, little flip-flop that made his stomach tight with an emotion he couldn't describe.
"For somebody in my life,
To walk across this life with.
For someone to shield my heart from the loneliness.
Share all my dreams, share all my time.
Wait for the one,
Who's waiting to find me."
Wally's feet were moving him again, taking him towards the other man until he had drawn level enough to see Bruce's face. He let the shock of seeing the other man without his cowl on register and then pushed it away as he studied Bruce closely. The Dark Knight's eyes were closed as he sang, making him look vulnerable, which was something Wally thought he'd never see on him, but it suddenly made the younger man feel fiercely protective. He drew yet closer and then stopped with a gasp when Bruce lifted his head to look at him. Those blue eyes seared straight through him, deep into his soul and Wally knew he could never forget this moment, no matter how long he lived.
"So I wait for the eyes that will tell me,
I am home, I am home,
And I wait for my life to be changed with one look, one touch."
"…Bats," Wally whispered as the other man rose to his feet slowly, never breaking the eye contact. "Bruce…"
Batman slowly, carefully, never breaking that deep melody, cupped each side of Wally's face between his hands, almost like he was trying to hold him still to pour those feelings into his very body.
"Pray for the love,
To fill my soul.
You want to walk through this life all alone?"
Red gloved hands gripped the outside of the black gloved ones as he stared into those emotion filled eyes. To see Bruce so exposed when he normally showed the world a cold, uncaring visage opened a part of Wally's heart he didn't know needed opening and a fine tremor ran through him, making him cling a little tighter to Batman's hands. In some ways he wanted to shut his eyes, to lean into that solid warmth that was Bruce's chest and just listen to those words, but he couldn't break the gaze Bruce had him locked in. Every word, every nuance was burned into his memory.
"And I wait for my life to be changed with one look, one touch."
Wally heard the faint tremor that ran through Bruce's voice as he sang that particular line and found himself reaching out, both with his hand and his heart. Softly the younger man stroked his fingers down through that bit of dark hair that curled in front Batman's ear and could feel vibration through Bruce's skin as he sang. The muscles in his jaw moved under Wally's digits and he was careful not to hold onto him in anyway that would affect his singing. That voice was his whole world at the moment but Wally was also impatiently waiting to find out just what would happen when Bruce finished serenading him.
"So I wait for the eyes that will tell me,
I am home, I am home,
And I wait for my life to be changed with one look, one touch.
Pray for the love."
Bruce's voice faded and silence fell on the room. Wally blinked, wondering why Bruce wasn't doing or saying anything and why he was looking so unsure. It was almost like he didn't know how Wally was feeling, which Wally thought was pretty obvious from the fact that he was standing there staring at the taller man like he was. Bruce dropped his hands, pulling away, which Wally decided really wouldn't do. He still had one hand on that pale face and, using his speed, he slipped it around behind Batman's neck, ruffling the dark hair on the nape of his neck. The older man stilled, looking back at him and Wally smiled.
"You're going to leave me hanging like that?"
Bruce's eyes searched his face, looking for some sort of answer it seemed, so Wally tugged his own head gear off, exposing his tousled red hair and bright green eyes. That appeared to be all that Bruce was searching for, because in the next instant his hand was back on Wally's face and his lips were being pressed into the Speedster's. The kiss was gentle, yet left Wally in no doubt to the feelings behind it.
When Bruce pulled back there was a light in his face that Wally realised, with a shock, was happiness. That was something he had never seen on Batman's face before and it made the man that was the Flash feel blissfully, sinfully happy, just because he'd put that expression there.
"Thank you," Bruce murmured. "I have wanted to do that for a long time."
Wally felt a grin light up his face. "You sang me a love song!" A slight stain of red spread across Bruce's cheeks and Wally's smile grew.
"My prayer work though," Bruce replied, curling one arm around the slim waist of the other man. Wally's answer was to kiss him again. Their lives had been changed by one chance and neither planned on ever letting it go.
