Outvoted! Gay story! (I've never written one like this, so I'll focus more on the story then the romance)

Wally opened the manuscript to the official first chapter, deciding against reading the Prologue. It was only three sentences, so it couldn't be important. He turned to Robin, to make sure the boy was ready. His green eyes saw a pair of eager, Robin egg blue eyes locked on his, the ebony haired boy hiding under the sheets, only his eyes and up showing. He had been like that since the author had appeared and seemed to be afraid to get out of the position. Wally didn't blame him.

"Try to stay awake Rob," he told Robin.

Robin nodded, the crease of a smile taking over the sheets where his lips would be. Wally turned his attention to the typewritten pages and smiled weakly, cracking his neck before beginning.

"Alright, here we go… Not too long ago in a land that could be near, or could be far, there was a boy named Robin…"

XxXxX

Robin paced back and forth outside of the Justice League Hall. His heart hammered in his chest.

I can do this he thought to himself, determined.

He forced his legs to stop shaking and slowly walked up to the doors of the hall. He opened them slowly and stepped through. He felt a bright line shine over him and a female voice said, 'RECOGNIZED: RICHARD GRAYSON'. Robin nearly jumped out of his skin and he scrambled back out of the Hall and tore down the staircase. He didn't stop running until he was at least a thousand feet from the building. He weakly collapsed on the last stair and leaned against the concrete support wall that lined the stairs. Tears burned in his blue eyes and he bowed his head weakly in defeat. Fumbling in his pocket, Robin brought up a picture and a small rock, setting them both on his lap, gentle tears running down his face in frustration.

He held the picture in front of him, memorizing the wrinkled and faded photo. There were three people on it. There was a woman and a man in each other's arms, smiling softly, and there was a boy who looked just like him, only much younger in between them. The rock in his other palm was gray and had smooth edges, a strange pattern carved into it.

"I-I thought… I thought if I brought these… these… that I could do this," he whispered to himself.

He brought his arm up to his eyes and rubbed at his eyes furiously.

No! You can't cry now! It won't do you any good!

He stood up, stuffing his rock and photograph back into his pocket before walking down the street slowly, his eyes glued to the ground. He didn't know where he was going. He just kept walking. He was sure he'd know where he was going once he got there, but he wasn't there just yet.

"Hey Dick," he heard a gentle voice call from across the street.

"Hey Smithy," he returned, masking the sadness.

"How'd it go?" Smithy asked, polishing the counter of his drive-through, about ready to close his shop for the night.

Robin wiped harder at his eyes. "Not so good. I chickened out again."

He heard Smithy sigh.

"Don't worry boy; you'll get it soon enough. Just keep trying."

"Thanks Smithy," he muttered, continuing his trip.

Before he knew it, the asphalt beneath his feet became bright golden sand. He looked up in surprise. He was on the beach. Robin looked around surprised. His eyes became glued on the sunset. A slight gasp escaped his lips. It was simply beautiful. Bubbles that captured the rays of the sun floated around elegantly, one landing on his nose. Robin let out a weak laugh as it popped, showering him with sea salt. He wiped off his nose, staring at the sun longer. It took the breath from him, almost making him forget about his failure. After five minutes though, he became bored with staring and continued walking down the road to his make-shift home of three years. He didn't make it ten feet before he stopped in his tracks, gasping again.

In the sand not far from him lay a body, a human body. The body had shocking red hair and a torn up green shirt as well as baggy khaki colored shorts. Robin ran down the sand, the golden shards flying behind him as his Converse hit the sand. When he came to the body, he dropped to his knees and shook the body hard in hopes of waking the person.

"Hello? HELLO?" he yelled at the body, worry overcoming him.

Is this person dead? What do I do? What do I do?

His pounding heart picked up speed and his breath came faster. He set a hand to his head.

"No… please don't be dead… gah… no more dead bodies! Please wake up!" he pleaded.

To his relief, he saw the person shake gently and began to move. His heart skipped a happy beat.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked the red head.

The red head groaned in pain and gently lifted his head, opening his emerald eyes weakly. The boy stared blankly at Robin. He didn't seem to answer.

"Hey…" Robin said again, slowly.

Maybe this person doesn't speak English?

"Guten tag?" he tried.

No response.

"Bon jour?" he tried again.

He still got no response.

"Uh…"

He signed hello in sign language. The red head just raised an eyebrow. Robin set a hand to his forehead.

"Sprechen sie Englisch? Do you speak English?" he continued to try every language he knew, all 12 of them, but the boy didn't respond to any of them.

With an angry sigh, Robin extended a hand, offering to help the boy to his feet. The red head looked reluctant, but he grabbed Robin's hand and Robin tugged him to his feet. The boy stood two or three heads over him and his face was splashed with dozens of freckles. Robin set a hand on his neck awkwardly.

"Hey…" the boy finally said, his voice gentle.

Robin smiled triumphantly.

"Hey," he returned. "Are you okay?"

The red head looked himself up and down and moved his body, checking for pain, but nothing felt bad.

"Yeah."

Robin nodded. "Well… that's good. My name is Richard, but you can call me Robin. Who are you?"

The red head hesitated.

What is my name? he asked himself.

"Uh… Wally," he remembered. "Wally West."

Robin's smile widened.

"Well… Wally…" he tested the name out. "What are you doing… face planted in the sand?"

Wally frowned, fighting to remember. He couldn't remember anything though. He shrugged.

"My memory's a bit fuggy," he admitted.

"Fuggy?" Robin repeated.

"Foggy and muggy."

Robin nodded. "I need to remember that… Hmmm…"

The two stood there for a moment. Wally's eyes scanned over the sunset, smiling gently at all of the bubbles. It was beautiful to him.

"So… Robin… where am I?" Wally asked, his voice distant.

"New York," Robin explained. "Actually, you're technically in Gotham City, but it's easier to say New York… hmm…"

New York… Wally repeated in his head.

He looked the ebony haired boy over, studying him. He noticed how scared the boy's eyes were, the deep scars on his arms and the tear marks on his face.

"Are you okay?" Wally asked the boy.

Robin winced at the mention.

"What? Oh… I-… why do you ask?"

Wally drummed his fingers against the edge of his shorts.

"Well… you have tear marks on your face…" Wally explained.

Robin jumped and set a hand to the area under his eyes. He sighed in defeat.

"I… I'm not okay… I'm a big chicken," he admitted sheepishly. "I wanted to go sign up to be a sidekick today… but…"

He frowned and pulled the small rock from his pocket, running his thumb over the strange pattern.

"But…?" Wally probed.

Robin shrugged. "I thought having my… my prized possession with me might help… But… I got too scared."

Wally looked at the rock, interested. Robin handed it over so Wally could see. Wally's eyes examined the pattern. It triggered something in the back of his mind that caused his head to go numb. He saw literal red, but he blinked it off. He tried anyway. The world went black for a moment.

"Just set it here," a man voice said.

"I-I can't! Losing… can't hold on…" he heard his voice say.

"Just a little bit longer! Please!"

"Can't… losing grip…"

"Hey, are you alright?" Robin asked Wally who had his eyes closed tight and was biting his lip unconsciously.

Wally was snapped from the voices.

"What? Oh! Yeah, I'm fine… I'm just tired… and adjusting," he lied, faking a smile.

Robin bought the story and took the rock back into his own hands.

"Sorry… I'm sure you'll remember soon enough," he assured Wally.

The red head smiled.

This kid… Robin… he seems pretty nice to me… but we just met? It doesn't seem like he's a rapist though… so I don't mind I guess…

"You mentioned being a sidekick?" Wally probed again.

Robin raised an eyebrow. Then he remembered.

"Oh! Um, the Justice League, a group of super heroes, became short of members because of the recent increase in crimes and villains, so it's been hiring people worthy enough to become heroes…" Robin explained.

"Don't you have to have superpowers to be a hero?" Wally asked, meticulously popping his knuckles.

Robin blushed slightly in embarrassment.

"Well… yeah but… but I'm strong! I can take down someone twice my size and can get out of a room of 40 trained assassins in less than five minutes," Robin argued, setting a hand on his neck.

Wally eyed Robin's muscles automatically. The proof lay there. He was ripped, to say the least, for a… well, he looked like he was ten to be honest, but he had the body of twenty year old. Robin felt the emerald eyes on him and he averted his eyes, now even more embarrassed.

"What about you?" he asked. "Do you have any super powers?"

Wally opened his mouth to remind Robin that he didn't have any recollection of the rest of his life, but a voice cut him off.

"We'll be taking that," a nasally voice snarled.

Wally and Robin both looked up in surprise. Two buff men stood about twenty feet ahead of them. One's skin was the deepest shade of ebony possible on human skin with a black buzz cut and piercing brown eyes. The other was pale with long blonde hair and dark green eyes. Both had menacing grins painted across their faces.

"Taking what?" Robin asked, clutching the rock tighter in his hand, ready to fight.

Before he got an answer, a canister hit the ground between him and Wally, releasing a mind numbing, horrible smelling gas. Both Robin and Wally collapsed, clutched at their throats in agony. When the smoke finally cleared, both of the thugs were gone, as well as Robin's patterned rock. Robin let out a cry and his eyes flicked around the sand, but he knew where it was.

"They took my rock!" he cried in panic.

Heh, that's what he said he thought to himself, snickering on the inside.

But on the outside, he looked furious.

"Come on, let's go get it back," he found himself saying.

Robin felt a strong hand grip his arm and before he knew what was going on, he was being dragged across the ground at super-human speed, right after the thugs.

So, yeah… what do you think? I hate having to mention the rock, but it's really important in the end… What do you think so far? Any suggestions are welcome!
-FJ3