Chapter Seven: Explanations
Wally kept his eyes on the road ahead when Iris blew up.
"What the hell was that?" she shrieked, nearly missing a stop sign. Wally gasped as he nearly felled face-first into the dashboard.
"Um," Wally slide down in his seat, wincing at the confrontation. Maybe he should have handled it differently. Well, honestly, other than putting on his costume, he didn't see how he could have handled it. "I saved you from getting hurt?"
Iris sighed then winced, putting a hand on the wound to her side. "I thought that it would hurt more," she confessed. "What did you inject me with?"
'Oh you know, just a super-healing factor that we use on normal people like cops so they can get healed a lot faster and get back on track so our cities won't fall into a pit of despair.'
Wisely, he just said "Just morphine that Doctor Gupta gave me. I think it must be a strong dose or something. And I'm sorry about the way I acted. Living in Blüdhaven all these years gave me a, um, reflex."
Thank-fully, she bought it. "I can't believe that Dick and Zee would let you out on the streets if you have to learn that as first aid to help your friends."
"Well, I mean, it's not just hanging out on the streets," Wally admitted "Some of my friends' lives aren't that great, so they come to our house. We patch them up as best as we can."
"Why don't you call social services?"
Wally snorted. "Social Services in Blüdhaven sucks. Dick should know, 'because he's a cop. Any kid that ends up in the care system usually ends up in jail or dead later on. It's rare to find a foster kid who ends up alive and happy."
"Sounds like a tough place," Iris commented. "But wait, I thought Dick worked in Wayne Technology?"
"Not really, I mean he's more of a consultant and a representative of Bruce and Thomas if neither of them can get to a certain meeting." Wally told her, knowing that that piece of information was public anyway. "He was supposed to come to this party that Luthor's hosting in Central, but he had work that day, so they sent Tim instead."
"Ah," She put her hand on the wound again. "It just stings now."
"It was a really shallow wound," Wally offered. And then he remembered "Ah crud, I left my skateboard there."
"I'm sorry Wally, but it's gone," Iris said firmly. In a softer tone, she added "But if you'd like, I'll buy you a new one tomorrow? We're planning on going to the mall anyway."
"Um, you don't have to," Wally said. "I saved up enough to buy another one, so it's cool. Besides, my parents will understand."
Her eyes widened slightly when he called Dick and Zee his parents, but he ignored it. "I insist," Iris persisted "You saved my life Wally, it's the least I can do."
"Well, uh, thanks then, I guess."
'Nothing like saving a life to bond,' He thought.
"And, one more thing," her voice sounded cautious, her hands tightening on the steering wheel. She stayed silent for a moment.
"Yeah," Wally prompted.
"…nothing. Just….how about we not tell them what happened," Iris suggested. "I don't want Barry to worry about it."
There was something more to the story, he realized. He briefly made eye-contact with Iris as she glanced at him. 'And she knows that I know that there's something else. I've seen that look before. She trusts me to keep quiet.'
"Sure," Wally gave her a small smile. "Uh, we could just say that someone stole my skateboard."
"You lost it," Iris said "And we couldn't find it."
"Works for me," Wally shrugged. He turned to look out the window, watching the houses fly by. 'What exactly are you keeping hidden, Iris? What's going on?
There was more to the story then he knew, and Wally was damned if he didn't find out.
No one really said anything when they came back. No one even looked at him when they came back. Barry gave him a small, pained smile, which he returned. Dinner, mainly left-over's and pizza, was eaten in silence. The next hour before they went to bed, Wally managed to find that he was alone in the living room. The others were still in the kitchen, while Barry and Iris took Bella upstairs. He could faintly hear whispers coming from the kitchen, but ignored them. He sent a report to Tim, telling him everything mission-related, on his phone. He later texted Dick and Zee, telling them that he was fine.
The next thing he knew, he was getting a call from the Zatara-Grayson household. "Hey, what's wrong?" Dick immediately asked.
"Nothing, everything's swell" Wally told him, mindful of the fact that there were Supers in the other room. The whispers seemed to die down a little. "I had to take my medicine today."
"Ah," Dick's tone told him that his foster-father received the message. "So, how're you feeling?"
"Peachy," he said. "Some of Barry's friends are staying over for part of the week, so it's a crowded house. I don't mind though. Uh, did you tell them that I'm claustrophobic?"
"I'm sure Zee or I mentioned it," Wally could see Dick slightly frowning. "I'll ask her though."
"No biggie," Wally yawned. "Anyway, I'll see you in a few days. Oh, by the way, Tim seemed kind of nervous this morning. I think Jason must have teased him about this whole party thing."
"Tim's fine," Dick laughed a little "Besides, he can handle Luthor on his own."
"About that," Wally sat up in the couch, and lowered his voice, even though it was futile. He didn't want the others figuring him out. "Luthor met us when Tim and I got down the plane. Does he expect me to be there?"
There was a pause, before "No. But we'll talk more about this when you come home, alright?"
"Sure. Are Zee and Maria there?"
"Right here," Zee's voice came through "Wally, have you been good?"
"Yes, Santa," Wally said sarcastically. "I even helped out in the kitchen!"
"And you never help when I asked you to," Zee pointed out.
"Dick doesn't either! Uh sometimes,"
"Dick's my husband. I'm his wife. He listens to me."
"…you scare me."
"Good," she sounded a little smug, but Wally could tell that she was a little worried. "You just missed Maria by the way. She fell asleep five minutes ago."
"Tell her I said hello," Wally said "And don't worry about me. I'm fine. Tell mother hen to chill?"
"You're fine?" her voice sounded skeptical. "Then what's this I hear about taking your medicine?"
"I'm fine," he insisted "Honest. Anyway I got to go now. I'll see you guys in a few days."
"Alright," her voice softened "love you Wally. Just be careful."
"I will," Wally promised "Love you too, Zee."
"See ya, Wall-man!" he heard Dick's voice a little far off.
"See ya!" Wally raised his voice a little, and hung up.
He sighed.
Well, mission was going great. He mentally reviewed everything he learned so far.
He's staying in a house where most of the people hate him, even though most of them don't live there. Iris and Barry seemed to have a perfectly normal, if slightly distant relationship, while Bart doesn't like his step-mother, or his little half-sister. He seemed to be the only one to notice that Iris was acting a little odd at dinner. But Barry seemed to be preoccupied, namely in asking Wally more about himself and what he likes. The one redeeming quality in Barry, Wally found, was the fact that the man was willing to listen to his science theories. Of course, he never let himself be seen as more than a really smart high school student with potential.
On the other hand, other than Cassie, Jamie, and even Karen to an extent, none of the leaguers like or even wanted him to be there.
And it was only day one.
'This is a complete bust,' he thought, feeling that the mission would go horribly wrong. 'Well, still got a few more days. We'll see how it goes.'
(Third Person POV)
"So, Falcon was right, you did want a threesome," Stephanie commented, peering over a half-Kryptonian's body. Said Kryptonian was still sleeping, and slightly snoring. Both Tim and Steph found it adorable.
"Well, not exactly," Tim said, sitting up, letting the covers fall down to reveal his muscled, bare torso. "Besides last night wasn't a threesome, it was just..."
"Intense cuddling," Steph too sat up, the covers falling to reveal her near-naked torso.
"Let's go with that," Tim smirked, getting out of bed.
"Anyone ever tell you that you're a psychopath?" Steph asked, smiling at her boyfriend.
"Highly-functioning sociopath, do your research," Tim replied, looking around for his shirt "Did you see my shirt anywhere?"
"It's mine now," Steph leaned over to pick up his white-dress shirt, and put it on. "And I did my research, two years of it. You're a psychopath Tim."
"Fair enough," he sighed, putting on Connor's shirt instead "Want some pancakes?"
A few minutes later, Connor woke up to the smell of pancakes. Groggily, he sat up, the events of last night rushing into his head. 'Definitely not what I expected,' he thought, getting out of bed. He frowned when he couldn't find his shirt, so he stuck to just wearing his jeans. He followed the smell of pancakes to the apartment's kitchen. At the stove was Tim, wearing his shirt, though Connor had to admit that even though it was oversized, it fit him. At the kitchen table wolfing down the pancakes was Steph, wearing Tim's shirt. She too, he admitted, looked good.
When Steph saw him, she motioned him to sit down next to her, her mouth to full of pancake to talk. "So," Connor began, shuffling his feet towards the chair. It didn't squeak as he pulled it back, making him feel all the more awkward when, as he scooted in, the legs scraped against the kitchen floor and squeaked. "Uh, about last night-"
"Yes, it was almost a threesome," Tim interrupted, walking over with a pile of pancakes. He set the plate down in the middle, before taking a seat himself and serving Connor, then himself. "And yes, that was the conclusion of the unexpected date I took you on earlier that day."
"I warn you that we're stuck with a psychopath," Steph pointed her fork at Connor "And I also warn you that Tim's got away with manipulating people, but is absolutely clueless on manipulating how people feel. So he likes you, I like you, and I know you like the two of us. So that's that."
"Um, okay," Connor cut a piece of pancake, but put the fork down half-way to his mouth. "I-I'm not complaining about last night, I guess. But I thought I was here for a mission?"
"You are," Tim said, taking a sip of orange juice "Steph?"
"Long story short I found out that the Terror Twins are going to make an appearance today at the mall," Steph said "We have information that League Junior's in town. But who knows if they'll get there in time. Your job is to hang out in the mall, play expensive rich boy, and stop the Terror Twins."
"Both of them?" Connor exclaimed.
"Yep," Tim said, smiling at Connor "If you pass this test, then you'll get a chance to take the actual test to becoming a Bat."
Connor stared at Tim for a moment, looking at someone who looked amazingly good in his own shirt, and someone who's possible crazy. "Steph's right," Connor said slowly "You're crazy."
"Finally, I have someone else to help me control Tim!"Steph giggled "Connor, I think you'd be a perfect bodyguard for Tim. Just make sure he doesn't get hit on by anyone, alright?"
Connor looked back and forth between the two, who were calmly eating their pancakes, and wondered what he got himself into "You're both crazy," Connor declared, and resumed eating his pancakes. He wondered if he'd become as crazy as they are.
