"Hi, is Artemis there?" Cassy was calling an old friend who lived in Central City who might be able to help her out.
"I'm sorry, who is this?" It was a man speaking through the phone which unnerved Cassy slightly, but she knew to play it cool.
"Tell her it's an old friend from middle school." Cassy could hear the man call for Artemis, and before handing her the phone say something quizzically. She smiled as she heard her old friend's voice.
"Who is this and how did you get this number?" her friend snapped.
"Come on, archer, you really don't recognize my voice? I thought the Shadows taught us better than that."
"Night? What...?"
"It's Cassandra now. I assume you still go by Artemis?"
"Yeah. Wait, what happened?"
"After you left, it was rather chaotic. My best friend was gone and I had no one left to train with. You leaving to be normal and a hero though gave me the courage to do so as well. I've been on my own since I was fourteen."
Cassy could hear her friend laughing. "I'm not going to ask how you knew that I'm a hero, but I'm glad you came around. But that was almost ten years ago. Why are you calling now?"
"Unfortunately, when I left, I forgot to tie some loose ends up. Someone recognized me and threatened my family."
"You have a family?" Artemis sounded slightly wistful and envious.
"A husband, a daughter, and a son hopefully in a couple weeks. What about you?"
"The loaf you heard earlier was my husband. We're finally expecting and morning sickness is terrible. I can't keep anything down."
Cassy laughed, thinking of her current pregnancy. "You don't know half of it yet. Try some warm milk mixed with Sprite though. I've been living off the stuff for the past eight months."
"Thanks, Cass. But you mentioned someone threatened you.
"Yeah, not sure who yet. But I know he was serious. I talked to my husband Richard and we decided to move to Central City, your place. Do you think you could meet us there? We're trying to find a good house and jobs."
"Sure, I know everything there is, including houses. We're actually trying to find one as well right now. A one bedroom apartment isn't going to work for much longer."
"Thanks. How about this Saturday at two? We can catch a bite to eat."
"See you then."
Richard was smiling widely as he walked down the street with his arm placed over Cassandra's shoulder and Abby holding his hand. They had looked at a couple houses already, and deciding nothing was what they were looking for, took a break for lunch and visited the local park where Abby had a blast running around. Now as their feet padded on the sidewalk walking towards the local coffee shop where Cassandra was meeting an old friend.
As one of the several banks the city had come into view, Abby started to run ahead leaving Richard's hand outstretched with him calling out for her to slow down and wait for them. Cassy called again as Abby's dark hair was about to disappear. While Richard was thinking of a good scolding for his eldest child, a man dressed in a blue parka ran out of the bank's door carrying several bags of cash with police closely following. As they nearly gained on him, Richard felt his heart stop in fear.
The man, whom he presumed to be Captain Cold, grabbed his precious daughter Abby and pointed a freeze ray to Abby's head. She shrieked and tried to escape the man's grip, but he held tightly and the police froze. They called out the usual, let the girl go and surrender and such, but Richard recognized the cold glint in the man's eye and knew he would rather freeze and kill Abby than get caught. He had do something. He had act.
Richard wasn't sure what he was doing but some sort of hidden instinct or repressed training kicked in and as he sneaked up silently behind the villain. A punch to the kidneys sent the man arching his back in pain, loosening his grip on Abby. He swept his daughter aside, putting aside his feelings as Abby fell down, scraping her knees. He turned the man aside, and putting in all his anger, furious rage, and desperate fear into a single punch to Captain Cold's face. The villain fell down to the ground unconscious.
Richard scooped up his girl who had tears streaming down her face. He brushed them away, kissing her forehead when the Flash ran up. He screeched to a halt, probably wondering why the bad guy was already being handcuffed.
"Are you okay?" Cassy fussed over her daughter kissing her, hugging her, and generally doing mom stuff. Abby was fussing about being fine, and pushed her away to look at her dad's face.
"Daddy?" Abby asked, her eyes filled with admiration.
"Yeah, sweetheart?"
"I want to be like you when I grow up."
Cassy smiled and Richard felt his heart swell with pride at proving himself to his daughter. He grinned his trademark crooked grin, making his family laugh and cry, unable to deal with the stress and the possible outcome that was neatly avoided. They had almost pulled themselves together when Cassy shrieked, her hands flying to her belly.
She looked up at Richard, "The baby's coming."
Richard, though he had known what to do only moments ago, couldn't remember anything at that moment. He didn't even register his wife's statement until she shrieked again, groaning this time and with her eyes fearfully wide.
"It's not due for at least another week!" That was all Richard could stumble out of his mouth.
Cassy's eyes ignored the pain of contractions and glared at her husband. "I know that! But... it's... coming... now!"
Richard hailed a taxi as quickly as possible, but when that didn't work, he asked one of the extra police officers who was waiting around checking on people. He asked the man, a husky football player looking guy, nodded quickly saying he had a family too. The entire time, the Flash was staring at Richard curiously, but Richard ignored it. Once they were in the car on their way to the hospital, the police officer only asked that Richard answer some questions afterwards. Richard agreed, shuddering with glee and ignoring Cassy's nails in his arm.
His baby was coming.
Wally took off his cowl as he walked out of the zeta tube into the cave he had spent most of his high school life in. The current Team was there, more than a few Wally hadn't bothered to even learn their names. He went over to the supercomputer and began to type away furiously.
Artemis who was the Team trainer and finished her lesson walked over to him and began to rub his shoulders asking casually, "Are you coming with me to the Central City to get coffee with friends?"
Wally had known of this trip and planned to come along, but now was consumed by the man who stopped Captain Cold and looked remarkably similar to one of his old friends. As he brought up the security cameras and watched them repeatedly, he saw the agile grace in which this man brought down the Captain.
"That's a Bat move," Artemis whispered confirming Wally's thoughts. Could this really be the Dick Grayson who disappeared over seven years ago? The age and build was right, along with the black hair and vivid blue eyes. Now that he thought about it, hadn't he heard the pregnant woman call him Richard? Wally facepalmed, mocking his own stupidity. How could he not recognize his best friend.
"It's Dick."
"Are you certain?"
"Positive. He'll be heading towards the closest hospital by now. His wife, I assuming, went into labor after the incident."
"Let me try something. I have a hunch." Wally watched his wife take out her cell phone and dial. Within seconds, someone answered. "Hi, this is Artemis, is Cassandra available? That's fine. Tell her I wish her luck. Thanks, bye."
"I guess I won't be having coffee today. They're in the Central City Community Hospital. Cassandra whom I was supposed to meet today went into labor about half an hour ago."
Wally looked at his wife in confusion. "What does Cassandra have to do with Dick?"
Artemis sighed, and Wally knew he had missed something. "I thought I recognized her." Artemis pointed to the screen. "This woman on the screen, Dick's wife, is Cassandra. She's nine months pregnant and only due in a week or so. The stress of whatever happened with Captain Cold must have sent her into labor early. Now do you mind? Let's go. I want to see the baby."
Artemis grabbed Wally and left, leaving him very confused about why Dick had started another life when he had one here. What had happened to Dick that first night on the job that caused him to leave everything he knew and loved?
The nurse placed the baby boy into his mother's arms. He had been cleaned, measured, weighed and more since he was born an hour ago. The nurse had been rather frightened throughout assisting the birth because of the mother's wild attitude. One only had to look at the claw marks on her husband's arms to understand. But as the mother held her son, she smiled lovingly and the father was beaming with pride.
"What's his name?" the nurse asked gently.
Richard looked to Cassandra. They had talked about names, but had never fully decided on one. They had talked about Henri, Luke, Daniel, but now that their son was in their arms, all names did not seem to fit anymore. But as Richard looked at his son with one of the greatest prides he ever knew, a name popped into his head which struck him as familiar and something he loved. He looked to his wife.
"How about Wally, short for Walter Bruce?" Richard proposed. A knock at the door dragged the nurse away, but Cassandra nodded eagerly. It fit perfectly their son who had the smallest tufts of dark hair only just beginning to grow. "Wally Gray, welcome to the family."
The nurse popped her head through the door with a quizzical look on her face. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but you have visitors."
Richard was about to invite them in. He was feeling like a father and wanted to show his son off to anyone who would put up with him. But a look at his wife's panicked face made him hesitate. He was about to ask something when a tall woman with long blond hair burst through the door.
"Cassandra!" she shouted and quickly walked over to his wife's bed carrying a tiny little teddy bear as a gift. Richard opened his mouth to speak when Cassy's let out a breath of relief and another person walked through. He was an inch taller than Richard with freckles, red hair, and bright green eyes. Richard closed his mouth staring at the familiar man who was likewise glaring back.
"Oh my goodness, he's so adorable!" Artemis was saying. This distracted Richard for a moment, his heart swelling with pride and love even more, but he returned to the familiar man. "What's his name?"
"Walter Bruce Gray. Wally for short," Cassy answered, not taking her eyes away from her son. Richard stared at the red haired man as he quickly turned his head in surprise, then back at Richard with confusion. Richard glanced back to Artemis who was laughing.
"You won't believe it, but my husband is Wally, short for Wallace though."
"What a coincidence!" Cassy laughed as well, especially when she saw the two men glaring at each other.
"Perhaps not." It was the first thing Wally had said since entering the room which surprised the younger couple. While the tone of his voice was not hostile, there was something being implied. "Nice to see that you haven't forgotten the Bat glare, Dick."
"Excuse me?" Richard asked, confused by this man. He could see Cassy equally baffled, clutching their child a little closer.
"You're Dick Grayson."
"I'm who?"
"Dick Grayson." Artemis put in, quietly ignoring her friend's confusion.
"He's been Richard Gray for as long as I've known him." Cassy argued, her voice strong.
"What about before you met him?" Wally asked.
Cassy stopped, unable to answer. She only looked at Richard, wondering, hoping he would tell her something that would prove this man wrong. Richard could only stand with his mouth open, deep in thought. Before his coma, everything was dark. He had no idea who he was before Cassy found him on the side of a road in Philadelphia seven years ago. The feeling of familiarity Richard had been feeling since Wally walked into the room moments ago grew. Something that had been dangling in front of his mind since then was now alluringly close.
It was before the circus show. He could hear the crowd outside roaring with anticipation. His mother and father were nearby, with one of each of their hands resting on his shoulder. It was his first show with them. It was the first time they were performing together as a family. He could feel the nervousness in his stomach, growing and threatening to eject his lunch. His mother knelt next to him and looked at his eyes which matched her bright blue ones. She smiled.
"It's going to be okay, my little robin." She smiled again and he knew that everything was going to be fine. He could trust his parents who would always be right by his side throughout life.
"You don't remember, do you?" Wally said. it was more of a statement than a fact.
"Excuse me," the nurse came in again, unsure of what to make of the scene. "But I have some flowers for the lovely mother." She handed a bouquet of black flowers to the mother, looking a little put off by the darkness in the room. "There's a note too." She left before anything could be said.
"Nightshade," Artemis whispered, identifying the flowers.
Richard, though not being able to begin to comprehend what was going to through his mind, saw the horrific fear on his wife's suddenly ghost white face. He grabbed her hand, squeezing it comfortingly.
Cassy read the note out loud. "Congratulations, Cassandra with a healthy son. I hope he lives to be strong and courageous like his mother." Cassy took a deep breath and a tear fell down her cheek on little Wally's fuzzy head. She read the true meaning behind the note. I hope your son survives. "Artemis, you recognize the handwriting right?" Cassy breathed.
Artemis, likewise pale, nodded. "League of Shadows, or more specifically, Ra's Al Ghul."