Another week passed. Dick counted a total of four weeks since Wally had died. Flash was doing a little better, but not great. Dick felt the same. It was nearing autumn now, and for most people, the pleasant feeling of summer antics was now completely dead as well.
It was on one of these autumnal days that Dick came home to an empty mansion. Walking up the front steps, he dropped his house key on the small side table just inside, near the door. He found the note for Alfred's absence, reading it with as much interest as he had with everything lately-none. He knew Bruce was usually gone at this time of day, so he didn't bother wondering where he was.
After he dropped his backpack down too, Dick retrieved a soda from the kitchen and plopped himself down on the couch in the living room. Remote in hand, he turned on the expansive flat screen. Good thing Al was out of the house or else he'd be on his case for living out his days as a couch potato-something he'd been doing more of lately.
As soon as he turned the television on though, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," he muttered, even though no one was home. He made his way slowly to the door.
Dick couldn't believe it.
Standing before him was someone he hadn't seen in a long time; Roy. And not only that, but Roy was propping up a very familiar and very much alive redhead with green eyes. Wally grinned, seeing his old friend. "You look a little…'disconcerted'."
Dick wanted to cry. He just stood there, dumbfounded for a few seconds about to. But Roy promptly cut him off. "We'll explain everything when we get inside. Is Bruce around?"
Dick stepped aside for the two to pass, shaking his head. He still couldn't find the words to say what he wanted to say, or even begin to describe what he was feeling. Wally was alive. That's all he kept telling himself over and over again. Wally was alive. Wally was alive. Wally is alive…But wait, could it be possible he was dreaming?
"Dude, you coming?" Wally's voice sailed from down the hall…Wally's!
"Yeah, are you going to stand there all day or come hear how your friend survived?" Roy's cutting voice came from the living room too. Once again, Roy had interrupted Dick's thoughts. But he didn't care; dream or not, Wally was here and alive.
He walked into the living room to find Roy still easing Wally down on the couch. He propped one leg and arm up on pillows…it was so weird seeing his fast friend lying so broken on the couch though.
"What happened? How did you get here?" Dick finally asked.
Roy turned, standing up instead. "It's a long story, is Bruce around?" He repeated.
Dick shook his head, "No, he's still at work."
"Call him."
Dick did as Roy bid and made his way to the phone quickly. He dialed Bruce's number, and waited for him to pick up. "Hel-"
"Bruce, he's back!" Dick's excited voice cut him off. "Wally's back and he's out our house!"
A pause. Then, "What."
"Hurry up! Get home!" Dick hung up the phone.
"Smooth," Roy commented from a chair with a smirk.
"Hey, don't forget I've been dead all this time," Wally chastised from his propped up position. Wally held up his fist, "Missed you too dude."
And without a second thought, Dick returned the fist bump with a grin.
And he knew that moment that he'd never forget this best friend. Ever.
Within 30 minutes, Alfred, Bruce, and Barry were gathered in the living room. Dick had been watching TV with an unusually quiet Wally, when Alfred came home, completely awestruck. Followed by a confused but still serious Bruce, and of course, an overjoyed Barry. Wally had to remind his uncle that he was injured when he hugged him too tight.
"Right, right," Bart said, taking his seat back in a leather chair. "So tell us! Tell us how you are here." His happy eyes were on his nephew, though they flickered to Roy as well.
Sometime before this the TV had been turned off and the room was quiet for a few seconds.
Wally attempted to sit up, which obviously looked painful, so Alfred helped him. "Well it all started when Rob and I got separated in that hallway…"
Dick widened his eyes. And he remembered.
"I'll take right, you go left!" Robin shouted to his costumed comrade.
Kid Flash nodded, smirking, "You got it dude! Left is my middle name," He raced past another man and knocked him over on the way back.
Robin tore down the other hallway, followed by the other half of the guards. He remembered fighting his way through with a metal bar at one time, kicking and throwing batarangs at the bunch. Once he defeated them, he made his way to the controls room. This hadn't been part of the plan, and he remembered thinking at the time that Batman had told them not to separate. But I know I can hack this code and complete the mission, he thought, I just know it. And that's when he set to work.
Dick remembered the moment Batman burst through the door, maybe five minutes later, shouting that they had leave. Because of the type of mission, radio silence had been necessary. So Batman naturally used the tracking device on Dick's watch to find him.
Dick remembered the short but harsh argument.
"He's not here," he had said.
"What do you mean he's not here?" Batman demanded, "Where is he?"
"We separated, he's-"
"Dick, I told you specifically-"
Dick remembered him stopping short and grabbing his arm.
"We've got to get out of here."
Dick remembered reaching back to the controls, as if thinking they'd might help find his missing friend. Little did he know, he was already lost.
"…lost," the same word brought Dick back to reality, and out of his thoughts.
"That's what I was," Wally was still talking. He cleared his throat and Alfred brought him a glass of water. He looked up appreciatively and continued on after he took a drink.
"I couldn't find an exit. So I was running through the building, trying to find an escape when…I found the bomb," he said. "It was in the boiler room, with two seconds left. So naturally I did the only thing I could do. Jump."
"Wait, out the window?" Dick asked, his first words in a long time.
Wally nodded, coughing. "Yeah, out the window," his face held a weak smirk, as if thinking how ridiculous he must have looked. "It was like one of those actions movies. The thing…detonated behind me as I jumped out."
"That was the only thing you could do," Barry cut in, obviously enwrapped in the story. He seemed worried, "Then what happened."
"That's where I came in," Roy nodded, holding two fingers up as he cut in rudely. "I just so happened to be walking by, wondering how this whole mission was going to work out. I saw him jump from the building and land four stories down."
Dick winced, as if it had happened to him.
"When the smoke cleared, there he was…not much else to say. Unless you want me to mention the blood and stuff. He was a mess," Roy looked at the people collected in the room. His gaze rested on Bruce last.
Bruce narrowed his eyes, "Go on."
Dick imagined the scene again…the clearing smoke, some rubble on Wally…his broken bones, wounds, and stillness…
He closed his eyes.
Alfred seemed to notice this, and looked over. But Wally had already seen his friend, and was frowning too.
Meanwhile, Roy went on.
"I took him back to my place. I won't tell you where it is, but I can promise you he was in good hands."
"What made you bring him back now?" Barry asked.
"And I hope I'm not interrupting," Alfred said, "But pray tell why you delayed in letting us know of his safe proceedings?" Alfred looked at Dick, so he knew the question had been for him.
Roy shifted, "Simple. We didn't know how he'd turn out," he looked at Wally, who was frowning off into space. "Even with the best doctors, the best medical care…" He paused, looking out across the room to everyone. "No use telling everyone if he wasn't going to make it, right?"
There was a pause in the room, where Dick looked at his friend, but Wally was still staring off. What was he thinking about? And was it just the trick of the eye, or did he look even paler and more in pain than before?
Bruce looked at Dick, then looked back at Roy. "Let's talk in my office-"
"No, it's ok," Dick nodded back to Bruce. "I can handle it." He straightened his back and put on a more steady face to prove it.
Bruce raised an eyebrow, "Alright." He turned his attention back to Roy, "Extent of his injuries?"
Roy took a breath in, "Six broken bones including four ribs, his left leg, and right arm. One collapsed lung-his right- and a six inch cut on the shoulder-"
Wally's movement interrupted Roy, as his face strained when he tried to get up. Barry jumped up, "Wally-"
"I just need some air," he explained, still trying to pick himself up off the couch. He was having a particularly hard time to move his left leg up and over the pillowed cushion.
Alfred immediately helped him get up again and let him lean on him for support. "Might I suggest the backside deck?" he prompted.
Wally nodded, forcing a smirk, "Sounds great. Thanks."
Barry was still halfway out of his seat when Alfred helped Wally leave the room. Dick watched him go with equal interest.
"Richard, you can go," Bruce's voice came subtly from behind him. Dick turned to see Roy out of his seat. "We'll take it from here."
Dick nodded this time and got up, walking out.
And he hoped his friend's wounds were the worst of his injuries.
Wally had been helped onto one of the porch chairs on the deck. It was strange to Dick, really…not the fact his friend was at his house alive, Dick had already gotten over that. But that he was sitting in such ornate furniture with such a serious frown…well that was entirely something different. He was hardly the Wally that Dick knew.
Alfred slipped back inside, nodding to Dick as he came out.
Then, silence. Dick started to think Wally was mad at him.
"Are you mad at me?" Dick asked, straight out.
"Mad at you? Why should I be mad at you?" He answered. For a second, Dick could imagine the face of the cheerful Wally he knew. But when he walked over, he saw differently.
"I don't know…you just got mad in there, I thought I-"he began.
Wally looked up from his solemn frown and his face broke a little. "Dude, you did what was right. I feel like the stupid one." His green eyes were hard.
Dick was startled, "But it was my idea to split up and then I didn't try to find you. I wanted to crack the code and-…why are you laughing?" He stopped, puzzled when Wally spontaneously laughed.
Wally smirked at his friend, "I knew you were gonna blame yourself, Rob. That's why I had to come back."
"That's why you 'had' to?" Dick echoed, still a little confused.
"Oh yeah, Roy didn't tell you that part did he?" Wally laughed. "Yeah dude, I had to. I kept bugging Roy because I knew you were going to keep blaming yourself. I kept saying 'He takes after the old bat Roy, it's in their blood' and he yelled at me every time about how you two 'weren't related', and that's when I'd feign 'dizziness'…" Wally made quotations around the word 'dizziness'. He shrugged, "And then we'd just do it all over again the next day. He finally cracked," he grinned.
Dick laughed; this was the Wally he knew. He pulled up a chair to sit next to his best friend, "Then why are you mad?"
Wally looked away, and Dick was afraid he had hurt his feelings. "Sorry-"
"No, it's okay," Wally turned a little so that Dick could see Wally's face more. He didn't look mad this time, just hurt.
Dick waited for him to say more. And he did.
"I just got mad at myself, I guess. I mean, I'm one of the fastest guys alive-which I shouldn't be by the way-but I am…and I couldn't get away," Wally wrung his hands while he talked.
"Dude! don't say that!"Dick said, astonished. "You should be alive. You deserve it! What happened was pure accident; I'm only here today because Batman found me!" He assured his friend.
Wally smiled weakly, shrugging and wincing when he did. "Maybe. I know Uncle Barry would've done better though. He would've done something else besides jumping out the window four stories up," he half-scoffed.
Dick had never seen Wally's pride hurt so much.
There was a small cough then, and the two twisted around in the chairs to see Bruce in the doorway. "Dick, mind if we have a word?"
Dick jumped up, "Sure, I'll be right there-"
"I meant with Wally."
Dick shot Wally a surprised look, but obeyed Bruce with a nod and ducked back inside.
Bruce replaced him, walking out. Wally had turned back around in his chair, unsure of what to say. "…What did you want to tell me?" He finally asked, still not making eye contact. He remembered suddenly why Bruce had still been inside, "I know my injuries are bad, but they don't hurt that muc-"
"That's not what I came to say," Bruce cut him off, still standing. He paused, "I just want to let you know how proud I am of you."
This caught Wally off guard completely. His green eyes widened, and he turned in his chair to look at Bruce. "'Proud'? Why?"
Bruce nodded to him, "You did what was right; you saved yourself and got out of there in time."
"I made everyone worry though. I made them all think I was dead because I couldn't do any better," Wally fell back into his melancholy state, looking downward. "I failed."
"You didn't fail," Bruce looked at Wally with an intense gaze. He continued to watch him like a hawk as he sat down, taking Dick's chair. "If anything I did."
Wally looked at him funny, so Bruce continued. "When I swore to protect the people of Gotham, I didn't mean just Alfred, or Dick, or any one person-"he gestured, "But everyone. Though that also applies to friends and family."
Wally thought about this for awhile. Bruce was surprising him more and more by opening up like this. Did he really consider him part of the family now? Did he really blame himself for what Wally thought was his own screw up? "I need to think about this," he finally stated after awhile.
Bruce nodded and stood up, signaling his exit. He paused by Wally's chair though. "As you get older, you realize you aren't the only one who depends on you. Everyone you care about does too."
And with that, he walked out.
Wally thought about this now too, in addition to his ongoing other thoughts. And after a few moments, he grinned. He shouldn't feel all that bad about what had happened. He'd done it, and survived it all. And once more, Batman, of all people, was proud of him. That was something. He'd always be needed.
Equipped with a new sense of pride and self-worth, he leaned back in his chair a bit and winced as he propped up his shoes on the guard rail of the deck. Still smiling, he closed his eyes.
…From behind the glass sliding doors, Bruce watched with the faintest of smiles.
Behind him stood Barry. "That was beautiful Bruce," his peer congratulated him. "You really have a way with the kids."
Bruce half-turned. "I only did what was necessary. From here on out he's yours," but as he said these words, he was still smiling slightly.
Barry watched him for a few seconds, as Bruce slipped away to rejoin the others in the main living room. Alfred was just bringing out a fresh vegetable platter and Roy was entertaining him by eating a carrot.
He then sighed, looking back out to his once again alive and happy young ward.
Then, with a small smirk, Barry looked up at the ceiling and whispered, "Thank You."
