Okay...I know it's been a while...honestly, the only thing that even motivated me to continue this at all was the reviews it got showing me that people were actually interested (between here and AO3 it was almost 30 comments/reviews!) in reading more. Reviews actually do help! So I hope you enjoy this next part!
Everyone's eyes were on Batman as soon as the words left his mouth.
"That man is Wally's father?" John questioned, eyebrow raised. Shayera stepped forward as well.
"That can't be right. He's an orphan, his parents died..that's why he was in an orphanage all those years." She said, though she didn't seem completely sure of herself. Flash didn't talk about his past much, specifically in regards to his parents.
"He can't be-" "That's not ri-" Once the team began to argue and speak over one another, Batman quickly cut them off. They all silenced and looked to him.
"You're both right." Five questioning glances were sent his way, prompting him to explain.
"We shouldn't talk about this here." He said, paranoia slipping through as he discreetly checked his surroundings.
"But-" Shayera started, only to be cut off once again, this time with a pointed look, not quite a glare, to go along with it.
"Later. Let's go." He said, leaving no room for arguments. With a swish of his cape, he was stalking back towards to javelin, leaving the others to follow.
ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo
"What are we missing here, Bruce?" The team, minus the speedster, were gathered in the conference room. Diana had suggested they wait for Wally, but he'd turned his comm link off, obviously not wanting to be bothered at the moment.
"Biologically, Rudolph West is Wally's father. His Aunt, Iris West-Allen, found him at an orphanage when she moved to Central City from Keystone." A few nods, a confused look from Shayera.
"West-Allen? As in Barry Allen, the previous Flash?" John asked. Bruce nodded.
"Barry was Wally's Uncle. He and Iris adopted him when he was 9 years old." He explained.
"I'm afraid I'm not following. If his father is alive and well, what was he doing in the orphanage at all?" Diana asked. Bruce tensed slightly; he'd been waiting for them to catch on.
It was only the third time that Wally and Bruce had spent the night together. Bruce wasn't ready to give them a...label...quite yet, but he would admit that he deeply cared for the redhead, more than he thought he would ever be comfortable with. Due to different patrolling schedules, their nights spent together like this were few and far between, so when the opportunity came, they took advantage of it. Said redhead had dozed off about an hour ago, curled up at Bruce's side with an arm thrown over his middle. They were both shirtless and the blanket had been thrown off, but the sheet left on. They both tend to run hot. Bruce was absentmindedly running a hand up and down the speedsters back while he watched the news on the television, making sure nothing was going on in Gotham that needed his attention. It was pointless, J'onn was watching the monitors up in the Watchtower and would let him know of any situation much sooner than the media could ever hope to, but it made him feel better all the same. The only light in the room was from the TV and the window, where the full moon was bright in the night sky. His attention was pulled away from a repeat report about a romaine lettuce recall when he felt the body next to him go stiff. He furrowed his brow but didn't react, instead waiting to see if anything else would happen.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please, please don't, don't hurt me, I'm sorry Dad, I'm sorry." Bruce froze when Wally mentioned his father. He knew from Barry that Wally's father had abandoned him at a park when he was a kid, and he hadn't seen him since. This sounded like something more.
"Wally, wake up, it's me, it's Bruce. Nobody's going to hurt you. Wake up." He whispered gently, trying to wake him up without startling him. The redhead was struggling, trying to get away from an unseen evil. There was a loud gasp and a thud and Wally was across the room. He'd tapped into his speed in his sleep and in his blind attempted to get away, he'd collided with the wall. He was on the floor now, awake and confused and gasping and crying and looking back and forth until he finally saw Bruce rushing towards him. He scrambled back towards the wall, away from the large man coming towards him.
"I'm sorry, Dad, I'm sorry, please, please don't, I'm sorry." He was mumbling, looking anywhere but at Bruce and trying to make himself as small as possible. Bruce stopped and thought for a moment before sitting on the ground across from him, keeping a distance.
"Wally," He whispered, "Wally, it's Bruce. I'm not going to hurt you. Look at me. I would never hurt you." A few more seconds of coaxing and finally Wally looked up, made eye contact with Bruce. He recognized him and let out a sigh of relief, all the tension leaving his panicked body at once and he slumped against the wall. Bruce slowly crawled toward him, not wanting to startle him. Without a word, he sat next to the redhead and pulled Wally into his arms. A few moments passed before Wally breathed out an apology.
"Nothing to be sorry for." Bruce replied, stroking his hair. They were both sitting/lying on the hardwood floor of the bedroom with no intention of moving anytime soon.
After nearly an hour, Bruce finally spoke. He almost wished he hadn't.
"Wally, there's something you're not telling me, isn't there?" He said. Silence followed and if it wasn't for the still uneven breaths coming from the speedster, he may have thought he'd fallen asleep. A few more moments, and finally he felt Wally nod against his chest. He took a deep breath before asking.
"You're father...he hurt you, didn't he?" A tense moment, followed by another nod. Bruce said nothing, just wrapped his arms tighter around the younger man and pressed a reassuring kiss to the top of his head. They'd deal with this another time. Right now, he just wanted Wally to know that he was safe with him.
Batman looked around the room at his colleagues, who were waiting for an answer.
"That... isn't my story to tell. What I will say is...he was much better off."
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Wally had just finished lap number 978 around the indoor track in the Watchtower training room when he heard the door open. He felt another presence in the room with him and a quick glance told him it was Bruce. Instead of stopping, he elected to finish his laps. 979, 980, 981...
Bruce watched silently as the red and yellow streak circled the room. He knew he'd find him here, running was one of the ways for him to calm his nerves. Other times, the speed was the cause of his anxiety, and what he needed was to slow down. J'onn, Diana, and an old friend of his and Dick, Raven, had been working with him on meditation. Bruce let him run a few more laps before interrupting.
"You're going to wear a trench in the floor again." This time the blur came to a stop a few yards in front of him, bent over and slightly out of breath. After a moment, he straightened up, right hand rubbing at a cramp in his side.
"Can't have that now, can we?" He joked as he reached up and grabbed the base of his cowl, pulling it off. He send Bruce a wink as he reached for his water bottle.
"Moving a little slow there, I could almost see you..." Bruce continued, keeping his tone light.
"Well I have been slacking off recently,.." he said with an eye roll and a smirk. He knew that Bruce knew how hard he'd been working to increase his speed and hone his skills. This run wasn't for training, it was purely to burn off steam.
"It shows...you're in...terrible shape..." He said jokingly, distractedly, as he watched Wally peel his sweaty uniform top off, exposing his toned abdominal muscles. He wasn't as heavily muscled as the other men in the League, but just as capable. Large muscles like theirs weren't necessary when your speciality was speed and agility. When he put his speed behind him, he could be just as strong as them, with maybe the exception of Superman.
Finally, Wally walked up to Bruce, who was still standing in the same spot he'd been when he'd finished running. Without a word he wrapped an arm around the dark haired man's neck and pulled him into a firm and filthy kiss. Bruce's arm wrapped around his waist while the other buried itself in the mop of red hair on his lover's head. Finally the speedster pulled away, smirking.
"We should talk."
Just like that, the smirk, as well as the light atmosphere in the room, was gone.
"There's nothing to talk about." Wally said, breaking eye contact with Bruce and stepping out of his grasp and away from him. He turned away, reaching for his water bottle and taking another drink. He leaned against a wall for leverage as he pulled his signature yellow boots off.
"What happened today says otherwise." Bruce retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.
"What happened?" Wally asked, feigning innocence. He avoided eye contact and acted as if everything was fine, clearly trying to avoid the conversation.
"Wally." Bruce said sternly, and suddenly Wally was talking to Batman. The speedster sighed, admitting defeat.
"Okay, fine. We'll talk about it. But not right now, okay?" He stepped into the men's locker room and turned on the hot water of one of the showers. Bruce had followed him to the door. He stepped back out, a sly look on his handsome face. He placed finger on bat symbol on Bruce's chest.
"Right now...I could use some help burning off some more steam...if ya' know what I mean..."
The finger had trailed up until his hand rested on his collarbone, fingers expertly unlatching the cape so it fell to the floor around the feet. The serious Bruce quickly faded away as arousal took its place.
He went to say something but Wally was quick to quiet him with a finger to his lips.
"Shh...Supes might hear," With a wink he was gone. The bottom of Wally's uniform was thrown out the door of the locker room, and that was the last push Bruce needed. With an eye roll - but a smile on his face - he followed.
If you are interested in more chapters, please let me know! I don't want to waste my time writing if no one cares haha
