(A/n) I feel I might've had Wally a little out of character in the last chapter. I will try my best to get him more in character, but no promises. The first summary I posted this story with is only a small part of the big picture, the problem that gets the story running. I will be changing that soon. In the meantime, enjoy this long chapter.(A/n)
Wally knew he had to change tactics. It had been nearly a week and he still hadn't found the Resistance. Maybe instead of going to them he could have them come to him? But how would he go about doing that? He had to figure out something. Otherwise, he wouldn't find Dick until it was too late. His thoughts were interrupted by a commotion nearby.
"No! Please! I haven't done anything wrong!" A girl about Dick's age was being dragged, kicking and screaming, towards a van by two strong men. A thin man stood watching nearby.
"Yeah yeah. Tell it to the Lords." The thin man said.
"No! Please! Let me go!" The girl cried.
"Hey!" Wally intervened without thinking. "Let her go!"
The thin man and strong men looked over at him in surprise, which soon warped into anger.
"Unless you want to go see the Lords too, I suggest you stay out of this." The thin man snarled.
The girl roundhouse kicked one of the strong men in a pressure point near the neck while he was distracted. He dropped like a stone.
The other strong man grabbed the struggling girl's other arm and slammed his head into hers, successfully knocking her out.
Wally had seen enough. He sped into action and easily fought and knocked out the second strong man. The thin man was an even easier KO. He clearly wasn't expecting that much of a fight.
Wally grabbed the girl and raced out of the city he'd been in, which was in Gotham's location. He didn't know where he was going until he reached the destroyed gate of Wayne Manor. He looked up towards the manor to find it in ruins.
"Whelp. Definitely no Batman in this dimension." He mumbled. He climbed over the gate and found a place on the grounds for him and the girl to hide.
It was about an hour and a half before the girl came to. Wally covered her mouth before she could cry out.
"Shh. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." He slowly removed his hand from her mouth. "My name's Wally. What's yours?"
"How do I know I can trust you?" The girl whispered.
"Well, take a look around. You're certainly not at the fortress of the Lords of Divine Justice. That was where they were taking you, right?" Wally said.
The girl looked around. "Why are we at the ruins of Wayne Manor?"
"Instinct, I think. I was looking for a place to hide and my feet carried me here."
"You've hidden here before?"
"Yes and no. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me."
Wally took a deep breath. "Well, I jumped here from another dimension. My best friend was sent here by kidnappers. He's surely around here somewhere, but I'm not sure where. In my dimension, this place isn't ruined and my best friend lives here." He paused. "I really hope he's okay. He disappeared a while ago and I only figured out what happened to him like a week ago. From what I've managed to learn of this place in the past week, it isn't exactly the safest place to be a kid."
The girl stared at him. "It's true that this isn't exactly a safe place for kids. My older sister was captured by the LDJ when I was ten. They killed her through experimentation and left her body on the streets outside their fortress. She was all I had. My parents died when I was six and she was eleven. We only had each other until she was taken. Then, it was just me."
"Well, we should stick together then. Maybe you can help me find my friend, since you know this world better than me. I was hoping the Resistance could help me, but I can't find them. If Dick found them, I'm pretty sure he'd stick with them while trying to find a way home. So I'm trying to find the Resistance. The fact they're so well hidden is a good sign though. It means they're hiding somewhere safe. And if Dick's with them, then he's safe. At least for the time being."
He didn't miss the look of relief that crossed the girl's face when he said he hadn't found the Resistance, but he ignored it for the moment.
"My name's Samantha." The girl said. "I want to join the Resistance. We can search together."
"Great." Wally smiled briefly, the smile disappearing as Dick crossed his mind once more. "I just hope we can find them in time to save Dick."
"Don't worry. I'm sure your friend's fine." Samantha told him. "For all we know, he could already have been rescued."
"I sure hope so." Wally murmured.
"And you're sure they were the last to see Wally?" Flash asked again.
Batman grumbled. "For the hundredth time, yes. Wally told me he was investigating this group for ties to Robin's disappearance. That was the last time he contacted me."
Flash nodded slowly, picking up on Batman's irritation. "Just wanted to make sure."
The two adults were currently standing on a building across the way from where their suspects were.
"So…" Flash turned to Batman just to find him gone. "I hate it when he does that." He sped down the side of the building, following the path of destruction left by the dark knight. Soon, he'd caught up and was fighting by his side.
Before long, they reached the bosses. Batman slammed one into the wall while Flash took care of the rest.
"Where are Robin and Kid Flash? Answer me!" Batman growled.
"We don't have them! They're not here!" The man cried.
"Then where are they?" Batman continued.
"Probably a dimension or two over. I don't know much, but it's a one-way device. It only goes in one direction. If they can make it back to this dimension, it probably won't be for a long time." The man revealed.
"This dimension?" Flash inquired. "What do you mean by 'this dimension'?"
The man kept his mouth shut.
Batman put pressure on the man's neck. "Answer him."
"Ack! We've been studying interdimensional travel and we built a device that we think can accomplish it, but we don't know for sure it's safe and we only built it to build a portal to one side of the current dimension. If they didn't leave the portal open, which I doubt they did, they'd need to go full circle to get back here."
"And what does that have to do with Robin and Kid Flash?"
"All we know is that one of the Flashes stole it. Must've been Kid Flash if the Flash is here."
"What about Robin?"
"What about him?"
"Kid Flash was searching for Robin and wouldn't go out of his way to steal a dimensional device that has nothing to do with his search."
"Oh… um… drat, the kid must've overheard us talking."
"Talking about what?" Batman again put pressure on the man's neck.
"I refuse to tell you." Batman slammed the man into the wall again. "Still won't tell you."
"You do not want to deal with an angry Batman." Flash warned.
"Well, I'll be dealing with an angry Batman either way, so I refuse to give the information."
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ROBIN?!" Batman roared.
"I… I told you… he's in another dimension…" The man stammered, wetting his pants.
"You said your device wasn't completely safe."
"He's… he's probably fine. It's not like we killed him or anything. We just sent him into another dimension while he was unconscious."
SLAM! The man slumped against the wall that Batman had just thrown him into.
"We've got our answers. Let's go." Flash mentioned hesitantly, frightened by the bat's temper.
Batman stormed out of the building. Flash padded along behind him, not wanting to run back while Batman was in this sort of mood.
They made it to the Zeta tube and Zeta'd to the Watchtower. Batman stormed past everyone and slammed the door to his room, locking it behind him.
"Flash, what happened?" Superman asked once the bat was gone.
Flash sighed. "We found out what happened to Robin... and Kid Flash."
"I wasn't aware Kid Flash was missing." Wonder Woman mentioned. "I thought he was keeping in contact with Batman while he searched for Robin."
"He's probably found Robin by now, but, unfortunately, they're in another dimension and most likely don't know a quick way back. I'll explain the details later. I need time to process this." Flash sounded exhausted. "Oh. And I suggest you don't bring this up to Batman. He's really angry right now."
"We noticed." Hawkwoman commented.
Flash retreated to his room in the Watchtower as well and collapsed on the bad, hoping he'd be able to sleep despite what he'd just learned.
(A/n) Bold Speech is Romani (A/n)
The first thing Dick was aware of as he came to was a steady beeping sound. A heart monitor. He was still alive?
He struggled to sit up.
A gentle hand pushed him back down.
"Easy, sweetheart. Rest. You're safe now." The voice was achingly familiar. It was the Mamica-like lady from before. Mamica Lady stroked his hair softly in an effort to help him relax.
Dick attempted to force his eyes open. But it just caused a wave of dizziness to cycle through his head. His eyes would not open and he felt horrible. He was so weak…
"Mamica... Are you Mamica?"
Mamica Lady froze mid-stroke. "Romani? I haven't met anyone who speaks Romani in so long… other than my husband, that is." She resumed stroking his hair, probably trying to ignore the fact that the boy she'd saved had thought she was his mother. "What's your name, sweetheart?"
"Grayson… Richard… Grayson…" Dick choked out before launching into a coughing fit.
"Your name is Richard Grayson?" Mamica Lady tried to hide her surprise. "How old are you, Richard?"
"I was 14... when I was captured... Probably... 15 now…"
"And where are you from?"
"I live... Gotham… Born… Haley's… Circus…"
Mamica Lady couldn't hide her surprise anymore. "Haley's Traveling Circus was disbanded almost twenty years ago! How could you have been born there?!"
Dick started coughing harder. Some blood came out of his mouth.
"Never mind. We can talk another time. You shouldn't try to speak right now. You're very ill." Mamica Lady stood up. "I'm adding some medicine to your IV. It will make you quite sleepy. Don't worry about anything happening to you while you're asleep. You're safe here."
Dick didn't respond, still busy coughing up blood.
Soon after, the medicine kicked in, and Dick found himself fading out of consciousness once more.
Wally kicked a rock in anger and frustration. "This is taking forever! Dick could be dying right now and we wouldn't even know!"
Samantha sighed. They'd been searching together for two weeks, and Wally's frustration had slowly gotten worse and worse. Although he'd somehow managed to mostly earn her trust despite the frustration.
"We'll find him, Wally." She said. "We just need to be patient."
"I've been patient! Searching for them clearly isn't working! How do we locate them if we don't know anything about where they'd be hiding?!"
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here." Someone sneered. Wally and Samantha spun around. A group of strong men stood watching them. "Two little kiddies running around after dark. Don't they know the danger of doing so?"
"Back off!" Wally growled. "I can kick your butts easy!"
"Rash now, aren't we?" The same man continued. "Bullet needs more test subjects after his last couple were stolen. You two seem like you would make a good addition to his collection."
"I said, Back off!" Wally snapped.
"Grab them." The man commanded. The strong men surrounded the two teens.
Wally caught the look of fear on Samantha's face and whispered to her. "Let me handle this."
The strong men charged. Wally had them all down in ten minutes using combat moves he'd learned from Black Canary. The strong men clearly weren't trained for that amount of resistance. He figured it would make him a bigger target if he used his superspeed, so he avoided using the ability as best he could.
"Wow…" Samantha whispered. "You're good."
"What do I say? I'm just that awesome!" Wally grinned. "Now come on. We gotta run before they wake up."
"Follow me." Samantha decided. She led Wally back to where they'd first introduced themselves, the grounds of Wayne Manor. "Stay here."
Wally was confused as Samantha ran off. "Wait!" She didn't stop, but did return a few minutes later with a face Wally had seen before only in photographs.
Before the man could speak, Wally blurted out. "You're Thomas Wayne!"
The man raised an eyebrow. "You know of me? You seem a little young to have heard of me."
Wally realized his mistake. "Oh. I heard of you from a friend. It was a while ago. He showed me a photograph." Not a lie. Dick had told him about Thomas and Martha Wayne and showed him photographs before.
"Where are you from, Kid?" Mr. Wayne asked.
"Central City." Wally answered.
"I thought you said you were from a different dimension." Samantha commented dryly.
"I am. But I do have a home in that dimension and it's in Central City." Wally replied.
"Samantha tells me you're looking for the Resistance. Care to explain why?" Mr. Wayne continued.
"You see, my friend was sent into this dimension by kidnappers, and I've been searching for him for months." Wally explained. "I feel like Dick might've seeked refuge with the Resistance. You know, if he wasn't captured by the Lords first. I need to find him, like pronto. I'm… I'm worried about him. It's been months and he could be in bad condition for all I know. I overheard that one of the Lords performs experiments on kids. 'sokay…" His speech sped up, and then he paused. "Wait. Why are you asking me that? Is this a test?"
Mr. Wayne nodded. "Samantha seems to trust you. She has pretty good judgement, so I'll trust her. Follow us."
Wally was super confused but tentatively obeyed. Mr. Wayne led him and Samantha deep into the ruins. On one of the walls was a rectangular set of holes each just big enough to put your finger in. The holes were arranged like a keypad. Mr. Wayne poked his finger in several of the holes. Wally realized he was typing in a code. A door-sized imprint appeared in the wall, receded inward, and moved aside, revealing a staircase.
Wally gasped. "No way. It was here all along?"
Mr. Wayne glanced at him and led the way into the stairwell, making sure the entrance closed behind them. He grabbed a lantern from a set of hooks on the wall just inside and lit it as the sunlight vanished behind them.
Wally looked around as they descended. Dick had snuck him into the Batcave once to show off. (Batman had not been happy.) This place was way bigger than the Batcave, and that was saying something. The area was carved out and several terraces and staircases were jutted into the wall. A large number of people were camped out on the terraces and on the ground below. Mr. Wayne led them down to the middle level, where the Batcave was in Wally's dimension. There was a gap in the floor and another staircase leading down to lower levels.
On the middle level, several men and women were waiting for them. Wally recognized Commissioner Gordon, Lucius Fox, Selena Kyle, and, surprisingly, John Grayson. There were two others he didn't recognize, but he ignored him as Mr. Wayne explained the rules of the establishment and the fact that he would be watched for a few days to ensure he didn't try to betray them.
Wally promised them to obey the rules, while also silently promising himself not to use his superspeed unless absolutely necessary.
Moments later, Mary Grayson emerged from the lower levels. "Samantha, we were worried when you didn't return from your errand. Did you manage to obtain any supplies from Leslie Thompkins?"
"I did, but I lost them when the LDJ's goons attacked me. Sorry, Mrs. Grayson." Samantha replied
"Wait a second! You knew this place was here the whole time?!" Wally exclaimed in disbelief.
"You had to earn my trust before I even considered taking you here." Samantha said simply.
Wally almost groaned before his mind switched gears. "Wait! Do you know if Dick is here? Please! He's got to be okay!"
Samantha looked to Mary for the answer.
"I'm sorry. I don't know a Dick." Mary stated regrettably. "Is there any other name he goes by?"
"Um… His full name is Richard! Richard Grayson! Dick is his nickname!" Wally exclaimed. "Please say you've seen him…"
"Actually, I have. He's very weak right now, but…" Mary didn't get the chance to finish before she was interrupted.
"He's here?! Is he okay?! Can you take me to him?!" Wally asked excitably.
"Yes." Mary held up a finger to silence Wally before he could interrupt again. "But he's very ill. You can't try to wake him, okay? We found him in the last batch of kids we rescued from the LDJ's fortress."
Wally's mind figuratively stuttered to a halt as he processed this new information. Dick had been rescued from the LDJ. The LDJ had had Dick! If it hadn't been for the Resistance... he quickly banished the thought from his head. Dick was still alive. She'd said he was ill, not dead.
Wally took a deep breath. "Take me to him."
