Wally was pacing the mountain, not knowing what to do. Since his school started way earlier than anyone else's, his also got out earlier. Meaning that his mom had kicked him out of the house and told him to go do something productive instead of sitting on the couch and blowing people's heads off.
He didn't want to train, or practice, or do anything other than sit in the dark with the air conditioning and play gory videogames. But there was no game console at the mountain anymore, because Superboy had gotten pissed when his data didn't save and threw the freaking PlayStation at the wall, where it proceeded to break into two hundred pieces.
He impatiently glanced at his watch. Two thirty. Robin should be coming any minute, because the redhead had whined to his best friend about his boredom through the younger's entire technology period (which Dick had been thankful for, because he already knew everything the boring teacher was droning on about anyway).
To the speedster's delight, the zeta tubes announced his best friend's arrival. The impatient moron ran over to the hangar.
"God Rob, you do not know how- oof!"
He was attacked by a hug.
"Well hello there. Bad day?"
"The worst," came the muffled response.
"Did you lose your calculator again?"
"No. It was just really really boring."
"Ah. Well would you like to watch eighties sitcoms with me on the giant tv?"
"Mmhmm."
"Okay. Come on."
"Gimme a piggy back ride."
"Fine."
2.
Wally walked into Robin's room in Wayne manor. "Yo. Alfred said I could come in. I brought Assassins Creed 4."
Receiving no response, he looked around the room and realized there was no one to be seen. Meaning Dick was probably lurking in the shadows somewhere.
Wally rolled his eyes. "Fine, I guess I'll play it myself."
Suddenly, Robin launched himself at the redhead from behind the door. "SUPER MEGA ULTRA NINJA MONKEY KOALA ATTACK HUG!"
"Wha- OOF!"
Wally looked down at the fourteen-year-old attached to him much like an octopus.
The ebony grinned. "Hai."
"Hello. Fancy seeing you here."
"Very much so. You smell good."
"That's nice."
"I'm a ninja monkey koala."
"I noticed."
"Just thought I would make sure you knew."
3.
Wally leaned his head back against the wall and wrapped his arms tighter around his best friend. He was sobbing himself sick. It was the five year anniversary.
"I just keep seeing them fall again and again and I don't know what to do cause it was my fault cause I saw someone moving up there but I didn't say anything and if I had then maybe they would still be here and I-"
Wally rubbed his back. "Shhhh. It wasn't your fault, it wasn't. It will never be your fault. You couldn't have known, no one could have known."
"And I feel really bad about putting you through this every year because I know it's not how you would spend your weekend-"
Wally shifted the boy so he was looking directly at him. "Hey. Look at me. No. Don't even say that. Don't even say that. I would spend twenty years in here of it would make you feel better. So don't even say that you feel bad, because it's my choice to come and if I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't."
Robin curled back up and nodded.
Wally smiled a bit. "And I've already put up with too much of your shit for me not to be here."
Robin laughed a little through his tears. "Yeah."
"Like that time you dyed my hair green, and that time you blamed me for painting the Batmobile hot pink, and the time you told Alfred I was gay and he gave me a weird look every time I would talk about girls until he finally figured out that you had lied."
Robin nodded and snuggled his head into his best friend's shirt. "Or the time where I put fake dog poop in the cave and said it was you and M'gann believed me."
Wally laughed. "Yeah, that one was evil. Or the Superbowl bet that I lost and you made me wear an adult diaper on every mission for a week. That was bad."
Robin laughed. "Yeah. Or where I dared you to scream "I am Batman" in the middle of a covert mission and you did, not knowing it was supposed to be a covert mission."
Wally chuckled. "Yeah, and then Batman was really offended when we came back."
Robin smiled and leaned his head back against the wall, his sobbing turning into sniffles. "Yeah."
They were both quiet for a moment until Robin leaned over and gave his red-haired idiot a hug. "Thanks. I needed that."
Wally smiled and returned the hug. "I know, bro. I know."
4.
"Wallyyyyyy. I tired."
Wally slowed down his pace so he could walk with Robin. "Me too, little man."
"Ninjas hurt. Especially when they fight you."
"Yeah."
"It turns out they don't only slice fruit."
"Apparently so."
Robin looked up at the bio-ship that was about fifty feet away. "Wait." He looked back to his best friend. "Iss too faaaaar."
Wally rolled his eyes. "No it's not. Now come on. I want some food."
"No no no. You don't understand. I'm tired. And iss too faaaaar."
"So you can fight ninjas, but you can't walk the fifty feet to the bio ship?"
"Nope." The ebony attached himself to the speedster' s leg, much like a koala now.
"Why are you hugging my leg?
"It needed love. And you gotta carry me. Cause I don't wanna walk."
Wally sighed and continued to walk. "Fine."
Robin rubbed his face against Wally's leg like a cat. "You smell like sweat and ninja and smoke."
"Wonder why."
"Me too."
Wally climbed the steps into the bio ship.
Artemis raised an eyebrow.
"Don't ask."
"Didn't intend to."
Robin growled like a cat. "Stop walking. I can't fall asleep if you keep moving."
Wally flopped down in a chair as the other team members observed carefully. "What makes you think I want a sleeping child on my leg?"
Robin, now sitting on the floor, shrugged. He was still holding on to Wally. "I dunno. But you're warm."
Wally rolled his eyes. "Go to sleep."
"M'kay."
5.
Dick shivered in the cold arctic, the wind nipping his nose and ears. He tried to ignore it as Zatanna and M'gann worked, their faces creased with determination and concentration.
They were going to get him back.
Artemis didn't know- Dick didn't want her to break down again if it didn't work. She didn't show it, but the people who had known her for over five years could tell. So if he came back, which he would, then they would surprise her.
M'gann and Zatanna had been working for ten minutes now, Dick nervously waiting. He stared into the giant hole made by the three speedsters not even two months ago. The minutes had dragged on like a boring school lesson, but Dick wasn't going to give up hope.
He would never.
And then suddenly there was the explosion. Wind screamed and howled, snow whipped through the air. All three of them were knocked off balance and into the snow.
Dick was the first to get up, and he jogged over to M'gann and Zatanna. They were laying in the snow, no sign of injury, but obviously drained.
Zatanna sat up and groaned. "Well that hurt."
"Are you guys okay?"
M'gann propped herself up with an arm. "Yeah, I'm fine, just kinda tired."
"Go see if he's there," Zatanna said with an encouraging smile. "We'll be there in a sec."
Dick, not wanting to push the matter any farther, quickly nodded and ran to the edge of the crater, looking for any sign of yellow.
And he was there. He was lying on his back, smack-dab in the middle of the giant hole, staring up at the gray sky.
Dick ran down the sloping sides of the pit and clumsily slid to a stop next to his best friend, who had pushed himself up in a sitting position. The ebony ripped off the domino mask covering his eyes to make sure he was actually seeing this.
Wally laughed. "Hey birdie. Miss me?"
Dick tackled him in a hug, which Wally quickly returned.
"I'm sorry."
"Me too."
"I was an asshole."
"I was a dick."
"Life sucked without you."
"Aww. He does have a heart."
Dick pulled away and punched him. "Seriously. Promise you'll never do that again. Please. Look me in the eye and promise."
Wally looked him square in the eye. "I promise. Why are you crying?"
"I'm sweating through my eyes," Dick said as-a-matter-of-factly.
The redhead grinned."I see."
"I need another hug."
"Okay."