[A/N: I'd like to thank you all for reading. I know there were bits of misunderstanding in the beginning, but to all who are still reading and to those who are commenting, I thank you. You're why I continue to write at all.
Also I just realized I screwed up their ages... I said Wally's thirteen but Dick is twelve... woops. So lets pretend its December in the fic. After Dick's birthday but before Wally's (you can check me on this, but I've seen a lot of stuff saying Dick's birthday is in late October and I know Wally's is in January) So yeah they're still two years separated, and Wally is still the older one.]
Chapter 4: ASTER pt 1
Dick and Wally's week had been riddled with anticipation. Both boys were excited for their own reasons. Dick busied himself planning ways to mess with the Boy Wonder while simultaneously becoming his bro for life (or more if Bats would let him.) Wally, however, anxiously awaited seeing Dick again. He didn't know why, but the energy Kid Flash gave off was utterly relatable and compelling. Plus, it wasn't everyday Bruce let him leave Gotham – who wouldn't be excited by a field trip?
Now the long awaited day arrived, and Kid Flash (aka Dick Grayson) raced Flash (aka Barry Allen) around Central City Park as they waited for the Dynamic Duo to show up.
"b-Flash! When did Batman say they'd show?" Dick's muscles twitched with slight impatience.
"Calm down, Kid," Barry chuckled as he raced ahead of the raven haired boy decked out in mustard-colored spandex, "Bats is never late. Never."
"If you say so." Dick zipped forward, around his mentor, he slowed to only twice the speed of an average human as he treaded halfway up a nearby oak tree, grabbed hold of a sturdy-looking branch, and did a simple flip. He allowed his speed to carry him, and as he landed, he fluidly continued his run.
Barry rolled his eyes from beneath his red cowl. "You're such a little show off." He commented affectionately.
"Not gonna deny it!" Dick laughed as he weaved in and out of trees excitedly.
Meanwhile, somewhere high in the skies of Kansas, Bruce (the pointy ears of his Batcape sticking out menacingly) pressed several buttons to prepare the Batjet for landing. They would be in Central City within minutes. Wally (dressed in his full-on Robin outfit, cape and all) sat in his seat, shaking with nervous exhilaration. Bruce noticed this out of the corner of his eye.
"Robin, you're nervous." (Batman never put anything in the form of a question – one of the many reasons he'll never appear on Jeopardy despite that he could totally win it fifty times over.) He might as well have been smirking; Wally could hear the mocking in his adoptive father's voice.
"N-no! Of course not! Why would I be?" Wally cursed himself for stammering.
"He's the only sidekick you've ever met aside from Speedy. Its natural to be nervous, especially when Kid Flash loves to tease everyone."
"Yeah, noticed that." Wally rolled his eyes, but spoke quietly "Cocky brat even teases you. It's kinda hard to believe he's not dead, actually..."
There. There was a smirk creeping its way onto Batman's normally expressionless expression, "Speedsters have a natural talent for miraculously not dying."
Wally's eyebrows shot up, stretching the opaque lenses of his mask wide, making his shock clear. Batman just made a joke. The rare Batjoke. Rare like a-planet-orbiting-a-binary-star-system-rare. [A/N: trust me that's rare]
"...It's probably better than the opposite." Wally said to fill the silence as he shrugged. A smirk matching his mentor's appeared on his face. A Batjoke was a sure sign of luck. Sure, Wally didn't believe in luck or magic or anything like that (except unicorns. Unicorns totally exist,) but he did feel more confident knowing Batman was comfortable enough to make a wisecrack.
Dick looked up as he heard the rumble of jet engines. Through the clouds and the sky that matched Dick's eyes perfect, he spotted the dark outline of the Batjet. A rascally grin spread across his face as he jumped up and down eagerly, pointing to the sky with a gloved finger. He shouted melodramatically as Flash ran up to see what he was pointing at, "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's BATMAN!"
That earned the dark haired speedster a look, but Dick only shrugged, "What it's true! Robin's a bird, a jet's a plane, and look," Dick gestured to what amounted to a Batmobile with wings as it landed in the field in front of them, "there's Batman."
On cue, Batman lifted up the roof doming the cockpit of the jet, and leapt out deftly. His dark demeanor contrasted drolly with the bright, wintry Central City Park. Behind him, his ward climbed out, attempting to appear as graceful as the Bat, which he sadly, was not.
As soon as the young Speedster laid eyes on the freckly bird, he dashed over to him at a speed that almost broke the sound barrier. Skidding to a halt, and very nearly ramming into the Batmobile due to his vast momentum, Kid Flash grinned trollishly at the older sidekick.
"Hey there, Rockin' Robin."
It took a short moment, but Robin cocked an eyebrow, "h-Hey there Kid Cheesy-nicknames." Though a normal person might've missed the hesitation, Kid Flash's distorted sense of time allowed him to pick up on it easily.
Still, he was impressed Robin had even managed a comeback. It was a huge improvement on standing there like a mime trapped in a box. Just as Kid Flash was about to test out another cheesy line, Batman stepped in between the two youths.
"We are here to help patrol. This is work, not a vacation. Remember that, Robin." Wally stared at his mentor in a moment of disheartening realization that he'd managed to slip up. Again. He hung his head, determinedly looking away from Batman.
"Sorry."
Kid Flash frowned, thinking to himself, Clearly, Robin needs operation ASTER more than I'd thought. Without missing a beat, he slung his arm around the lean shoulders of the Boy Wonder and gave what must have been a trademarked cheeky grin to Batman, "No worries Bats! I like to mix work and pleasure. We'll have fun while getting the job done."
Batman glared with a mixture of anger and exasperation, though Kid Flash had a feeling the glare was more for the rhyming than anything else. So Bats doesn't like rhymes... That's going on *The List.
"Okay, okay, Kid remember there's a limit to how much Speedster even a Bat can stand." Flash ruffled his son's and Robin's hair. "So how about you two team up for a little patrol work?" He sent a vaguely warning look Dick's way and added, "Batman and I won't be far behind."
Dick rested his knuckles on his hip (nonexistent hip considering he was a twelve year old boy) and snickered "Patrol work? Sounds good to me, but I don't think Baby Birdy here is exactly up to speed." He gestured towards Robin who looked up indignantly.
"Oh really? You don't think I could totally take you? Just 'cuz you've got some hyper accelerated molecules you think you can beat the Batman's protégé?" Robin tossed his arms up in the air exaggeratedly at the last part. Dick smirked. I knew Robin had a competitive side. Step one is a go.
"No offense Down-Feathers, but a little hatchling is hardly going to one up the one and only Kid Flash. You're just not fast enough." Dick taunted haughtily. From the way Robin's lip twitched with agitation, he could tell he would have this ginger boy in the palm of his hand in no time.
"I wouldn't be so sure, Kid Flash." The Batman's voice echoed darkly at Dick's side. He froze for a moment. Damn Batman's creepy...
"Oh yeah? You guys got special Bat!shoes that let you run as fast as me..." Dick attempted a smirk towards the Bat but faltered, and his words trailed off into nothing as he looked Batman in the eyes (or rather, the white lenses of his cowl.)
"Better." The amusement (yes even Dick and Barry could discern a Bat!emotion) in the Dark Knight's voice held ominous menace. The man dressed like a bat nodded at his partner and Robin pressed a button on one of his high-tech gloves. The high-pitched tink-tink of mechanics working sounded from Robin's boots, and suddenly, His shoes grew wheels. Kid Flash could only stand there in shock for a moment before snickering.
"Pfft. Rollerblades? You think I can't out run a kid on rollerblades?"
"No one said anything about out running." Batman's chillingly ominous amusement only deepened.
[A/N: continued in the next chapter 'cuz it was getting hella long. Like almost 3000 words long.]