AN) Hey! DC was AWESOME! Really hot though, the bus as crowded. Anyway! Guys! Read The Girl in the Forests' stuff! She's really good! And to IbeWildBella—you have my blessing! Write that story girl/guy, I can't wait to read it! Without further ado—the story!
The giggles sounded down the hall, the trio turning slightly to see who it was. But they didn't need to look—they'd recognize his laugh anywhere. Any Leaguer would. The little boy came toddling around the corner, he smiled brightly at them—racing over.
Arthur was the one to scoop the child up, Dick playing with his beard ever so slightly. Barry grinned wildly and began searching his pockets for a candy bar or something to give the kid and Ollie ruffled the boy's hair.
"What's up kiddo?" He smugly inquired as Barry offered a Three Musketeer to the birdie—which of course he took.
"Daddy, Billy and I are playing hide and seek! Daddy's it!" Richard giggled, now pulling Arthur's hair into two little ponytails and twisted them together. Arthur smiled at him, brushing his bangs away. The king found it amusing how the child could find amusement in anything—like braiding his beard.
"Well—let's find you the bestest hiding spot ever." Barry scouted the hall. Snapping his fingers and pointing up to the air vent. "I've got it!" Dick followed his gaze, eyes lighting up as he saw the perfect spot as well.
"Thanks Uncle Barry. Boost, I need a boost Uncle Arthur! Daddy said I'm not allowed to jump off people anymore." He pouted slightly, a wave of slight relief washing over the Leaguers—surprise attacks were common from the child. They were enjoyable to watch when happening to others, but the receiving end was not pleasant.
They helped the child scrabble into the vent, Ollie recovering the shaft. Dick gave them a thumbs up from inside the vents, through the screen. Ollie grabbed Arthur's arm, as they heard footsteps from where Dick had come.
"We'll throw him off Dickie."
Getting ready for Hal to come around the corner they were shocked as Billy came bustling about. He was in his ten year old form, he looked at Barry first.
"Hide me!" He panted. "Hawk Girl and Hawk Man kicked me out of the broom closet!" Oliver doubled over in laughter. Billy blushed, it had been awkward—Carter had gone red, and Shiera had screamed something and shoved him into the hallway—pulled her husband in and slammed the door behind him. Billy vacated the area as fast as he could.
"You can hide with me Billy." Dick offered from the vent. "There's a lot of room."
"…..thanks." Ollie once again removed the vent cover and Barry helped the kid climb in. "Why are we in the vent?"
"To hide from Daddy silly."
"Oh yeah."
Breakline
"Has anyone seen my son?!" Hal screamed for the seventh time in the past hour. Oliver groaned. It had been maybe, three hours since the boys hid in the air vents—and they disappeared. John was trying to find them, but Dickie was good at hiding mentally. Clark wasn't there, and Bruce didn't let Hal on the computer unsupervised after the incident of April 7th. So manual searching had been used—so far nothing. And Hal was slowly losing it.
He threw the cafeteria doors open, all in said room turning to look at the pale Lantern. Ollie tried to quiet him but instead—
"Does anyone know where my son is?!"
Murmurs swept across the room, most shaking their heads—but one voice popped up.
"Hal!" Kyle called out, waving over his fellow Lantern, who sprinted over. "Do you have your phone on you?"
"No, I dropped it in the sink—why?"
"Cause this just happened." Kyle held out his phone, letting Hal read the texts from Roy. Hal's eyes widened, a look of terror and pride mixing on his face.
He turned away, with Kyle's phone in his hands. "ThanksgottagoBYE!"
"That's my phone ya buttface!"
Breakline
"Unbelievable!" Hal shook his head, glancing in the back mirror. Billy was covered in suds, and Dick had feathers in his hair. "Billy, come on man—I was counting on you."
"Sorry Uncle Hal."
"Dick—you know better than to zeta off without telling me! What if something went wrong? What if you got hurt?" Dick looked down, rubbing the nape of his neck. Hal was in full ranting mood. "What if you were abducted by aliens—you know those things are after me! What if you somehow got a ring and were pulled off into space? What if you got lost in Narnia?!"
He froze, eyes straight ahead. The terrible thought Hal denied having had broken the chains. His hands shook. Slowly he made eye contact with his son. "W-What if—Hydra came back."
"Uncle Hal, I'd take care of him!" Billy piped up.
"What if I never saw you again, what if Hydra took you and—and hurt you?" His voice was thin. "Oh I'm a terrible father! Have I been perfect? No." The boys exchanged glances in the back. "Should I have picked up a book on kids or something? Yes, definitely yes." Hal shook his head, finally pulling into the driveway, he got out of the car. Billy unclipped his seat belt and Dick followed suit—the two trouble makers getting out.
Hal was rambling about how Barned and Noble was close, but the books just cost too much and whenever he went he somehow ended up with a muffin and he really needed to watch his weight….
"Where was I going with this? I had a point."
Both boys looked at their muck covered sneakers. "Sorry."
"It's alright, Billy do you want to stay the night?"
"Yeah!"
"Get cleaned off, we'll get a pizza."
Dickie dragged Billy into the house, Hal sighing as he ran a hand through his hair. There was shouting from inside the house. Muddy shoes were kicked off at the door. The TV was on, a bright cartoon blasting on the screen—uhm…Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, yeah that was it. Billy had a cookie in his mouth a Dick was grabbing one himself as his guest jumped over the couch. Before he joined him though, Dick wrapped his arms around Hal.
"I'm sorry Daddy."
"It's okay kiddo. I don't even want to know how you found thirteen chickens and got them in Roy's bathtub."
"Don't forget the gravy!" Billy shouted.
"That's what's on your shoes?"
"Yeah."
Breakline
Two sleeping bags were laid out, two boys sat atop them. A tent set up in one of their bedrooms. The glow in the dark stars shining merrily at them, flashlights hitting the walls as they made shadow puppets. Candy wrappers covered the floor. They laughed, putting on shadow shows with puppets, until they could stay awake no more.
"Wait—one last show." Billy grabbed a new puppet. One Wally had helped in make. "My name's Kid Flash, and I run into walls! Derp derp derp!"
Dick threw his head back in laughter, sliding a puppet of Red Arrow on his hand. And so they teased their older brothers, dissolving into fits of giggles—Dick cackling as Billy tried to tease Green Lantern, with Daddy standing in the doorway. That's when they had to go to bed.
"Good night Billy."
"G'night Dickie, I love you."
"Love you too." Billy rolled over, Dick sleeping on his back.
Richard was then awake. He groaned slightly, sore from sleeping on the ground. He slid out of his blanket, wincing as the pop of his knees echoed in the silent room as he stood. Venturing through the dimly lit room, he pulled off his pajama shirt. It was baggy, an older shirt. He liked how big it was—it made him feel safe. But he exchanged its comfort for his day clothes. Pulling out his outfit for the day.
He always got up early. He had too—if he wanted time to get ready, and too think. Thinking time was hard to come by, it was exactly approved of. But thinking was fun. He liked to think about his dreams, what could have happened if—
No. He needed to get ready, it wasn't thinking time yet. Richard reached up to the top of the dresser, breaking off a little more of his bread ration. He might be getting more soon—it took all his might to not devour what little was left, but he might not be getting more. Better safe than sorry.
Cupping his hands under the murky water he let it fill up, before downing it. It didn't taste very good, but it was cool—it was water. He let the sink run for a while longer. Delight coursing through him, he pulled the plug letting the bathroom sink fill up after he had splashed some across his face and wild hair. It wasn't every day the taps worked, so when they did he save it. He always was thirsty in the morning.
Now—it was thinking time. Richard knelt next to his hiding spot. He knew it was wrong to hide things, but he couldn't help it. He saved the relics, the relics of the heroes that were to be destroyed. A thin strip of golden rope, a broken arrow head, a tiny golden lightning bolt, and another red. There was a small bat like knife, a piece of red cloth with a yellow 'S' on it. Two strips of fabric like an 'X'. A tarnished metal 'A'. And Richard's favorite, a cracked ring. He sat with his back to the wall, his treasures sitting around him.
Richard made stories about his treasures. The rope belonged to a beautiful woman, she was caring and kind. She kissed his forehead. The bolts belonged to a man and his nephew. They both joked around and gave Richard candy and high fives. The arrow head belonged to a man, this man had a son and a girl like a niece who used arrows too—but his wife didn't. He was silly too, but very strong. The bat knife belonged to a scary man and his four sons. They worked well together and scared everyone, but they were really nice. The red cloth was a man's as well. He was strong and kind, he could fly too!
The 'X' like fabric was an aliens. He was green, he could read minds—but he wasn't a mean telepath. He gave people good memories and spoke nice words to them, he had a niece too, and she was green as well— and just as kind and helpful. The ring, he knew belonged to a man.
The ring's owner had brown hair. He was young looking, but used magic with his ring. Richard had seen it! He had watched the ring man yell, he heard the ring man trying to speak reason. He watched solid object appear from his ring.
Ring Man had seen him, he had screamed had flown over to him, bringing a big hammer down on Master.
"He's a kid, an actual kid! Let him go! Why do you even have him? Who'd you steal him from? This war isn't his—kid get out of here!"
But like all the others, the ring man had died. It was a shame too—he seemed nice. He had tried to separate Richard from Master, took some brutal blows to do so. Richard had been there in the man's final minutes, before Master slammed Richard's head into the ground and threatened to whip him if he didn't get to work. It was Richard's job to get rid of the bodies, he had down so—but Master had whipped him anyway. But as the man had laid bleeding he reached out to Richard, his strange glowing ring flickering out.
"S-son…" He gently brushed the hair away from Richard's face. His torn mask letting the boy see the tired, sad tear filled brown eyes as they locked onto his black eyes, Richard's bruised neck and scarred cheek. "Kiddo….you didn't deserve any of this. Nev—Never. The League's down…..I'm sorry….s-so sorry…."
So Richard dreamed about 'the League'. He made them good people, people who loved him. He named the ring man Hal, calling him the Green Lantern, because his suit and ring were green—and his ring glowed like a lantern. Hal wanted to adopt him, Hal gave him the words of praise Master never would. Hal hugged him, kissed his forehead and tucked him into a big, soft bed. He wanted Hal, Richard wanted someone to love him.
He was nothing. He did have a higher place than most, but that meant more beatings and loneliness. He was simply a cog in Master's empire. A tiny little nothing, but when he dreamed—when Richard dreamed, he was someone. All the people he made—Diana, Ollie, Barry, Wally, Arthur, Roy, John, Megan, Artemis, Connor, Kaldur, Bruce, Terry, Jason, Damian, Tim, Dinah and Billy—they all loved in cared for him.
He began to hide the relics again, holding onto the ring for last. He wanted to know, if these people would really love him—or if it all really was a dream. A dream where they came in and saved him, where they taught him to laugh and smile. He was free. A wonderful dream, but with all dreams, one must wake from them.
I'm so mean! So, Dick was never rescued! The whole story was a dream! The League is dead, but he was relics of them…and to cope with Slade's training and abuse he makes stories and dreams about them!
APPRENTICE HAS ONE MORE CHAPTER! I'm working on the last chapter now….so are you excited? I might put out a sequel, if you guys want….
PEACE!