I forgot to mention something very important in Chapter Eight. There, Robin thinks that you are only anorexic if you're skin and bones... and that's simply not true. That's just another false stereotype. Similarly, you don't have to be overweight to have compulsive overeating. I should have said that sooner, but I forgot. XP
Oh, yeah, and in "Prologue" I said that Dick's birthday is in April. That's wrong. He was born on the first day of spring, meaning he was born in March... whether the 20th or the 21st I have yet to figure out. What was the first day of spring in 1932? O.o
Broken Glass
Chapter Nine: Taking Steps
Wally got his first idea the next afternoon. He and some of the other Titans were just hanging around the Tower eating pizza. They clearly had nothing to do; basically, they were waiting for someone to call in and ask for their help. But so far, it looked like it was either unusually peaceful in the world or everyone was relying on the older, more experienced heroes to save the day. Wonderful.
Bored, Kid Flash had suggested they watch something on TV. They ended up putting in a DVD of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
About halfway through the movie, after finishing a couple slices of pizza, Robin piped up, "You guys can keep the movie going. I'll be right back."
"Where you going, Wonder Boy?" asked Kid Flash.
"Where does it look like I'm going?"
Kid Flash craned his neck to see. He finally decided that Robin was headed for the restrooms.
That was when Wally got his idea.
"Be right back, people."
Before anybody had time to ask what was going on, Kid Flash was out of the room.
Unless he missed his guess, Robin wasn't going to the restroom for the conventional purposes.
Stopping by the closed door, Kid Flash gently pressed his ear against the crack in the door and listened very carefully. He didn't like what he heard:
An odd choking noise, and then the distinct sound of someone retching.
Kid Flash felt sick himself as he went back to the rec room and sat down to watch the rest of movie. Or at least pretend to watch the rest of the movie.
"What were you doing?" Wonder Girl inquired.
"Nothing. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Oh. It's about that, then, is it?"
"Yes. I heard Robin throwing up in the bathroom."
"Really?" Wonder Girl said, cocking an eyebrow and looking concerned. Then she added, "Maybe he simply doesn't feel well, then? Maybe he ate too much?"
"No. I was watching him closely the whole time," argued Kid Flash with a surprising amount of patience. "He only had about two slices. Besides, he didn't look sick to you, did he?"
Wonder Girl reluctantly shook her head 'no'.
"Really, Kid Flash, I do believe you are overreacting," sighed Aqualad.
"I'm not so sure any more," Wonder Girl disagreed. "Maybe there is a possibility of Robin having an—"
Her words were cut off as Robin suddenly reappeared. He sat down without a word. Not bothering to touch any more of the food. Not even looking like he had just been puking his guts out.
Kid Flash just sighed.
This was going to be harder than he'd thought.
---
It was while he was working alone with Batman in the Watchtower that night when he finally saw an opportunity to ask.
"What's the matter with Robin lately, anyway?"
The Dark Knight turned to give Green Arrow a look.
"What?"
"Robin. You know—kinda skinny kid who generally tags along with you whenever there's trouble in Gotham City… remember him now?"
Batman returned to his work, not bothering to answer either question.
"Oh, c'mon, Bats, I'm not as stupid as you think I am," GA continued. "There's something wrong with that kid. Maybe you should—"
"Thank you for the concern. Now if you'd pay as much attention to your own sidekick, you might be qualified to make such an observation."
Green Arrow scowled at this remark and replied hotly, "Well at least I'd know if Speedy was sick enough to be throwing up!"
Without moving, Batman asked, "Who told you that?"
"I heard him earlier in the bathroom," Green Arrow explained, his voice somewhat calmer. "He said he was fine and asked me not to tell you. But when I mentioned it to the Flash, he said something about how his kid told him that Wonder Boy was sick in the Tower earlier, too, so I figured I'd better…"
The archer let his voice trail off as the Caped Crusader stood and left the room, undoubtedly going to search for his partner.
Ten minutes later, the Dark Knight returned, looking darker than ever.
"He says you must have been mistaken," was the blunt remark.
Green Arrow was visibly shocked, and he said so.
"But what about what Twinkletoes said? About—"
"He denied that, too."
"And you believe him?!"
Nobody needed to tell Green Arrow that that was a stupid question, although the message was reinforced when Batman turned to give him a look that would make any sensible crook stop dead in his tracks.
The pair returned to work without a word, but Green Arrow was clearly confused. He knew he had seen Robin vomiting earlier—it was right after he had seen the kid snacking in the cafeteria with Wonder Girl. In fact, Wonder Girl had had to all but force her fellow sidekick to eat. Robin had eaten, but then excused himself and…
There was obviously more to this than met the eye.
He'd have to ask Robin why he had lied.
Without Batman knowing, of course. Now that would be a challenge if he ever had one.
---
Robin was alone in the meeting room, pacing the length of the room and silently chastising himself with every step he took.
Why had he let Wonder Girl bully him into eating, anyway? He knew he shouldn't, but he'd let her push him into it anyway! Well, okay, the fact that she had threatened to kick him between the legs if he didn't might have had something to do with it… but still! Because of his weaknesses, he'd been discovered—again—and by Green Arrow, for crying out loud!
Well, maybe GA hadn't suspected anything. Maybe he'd just accidentally walked in and…
Oh, who was he kidding? He was slipping, losing his edge as a crime-fighter, no, he was downright failing as a crime-fighter—he'd managed to keep his secret identity from the world for years, but it only took Green Arrow about two seconds to find him puking in the bathroom. In fact, he'd probably spill the beans about the identity thing pretty soon, too…
Geez, no wonder Batman hated him. He'd probably hate him, too, if he were Batman. He hated himself anyway, come to think of it…
He'd have to do better.
First thing he'd have to do was be more careful about when and where he used his 'medicine'. And when he did have to use it at the Tower or the Watchtower, he'd be sure to lock the door, already.
Robin glanced up at the clock and hastily ran out the door. If he didn't get to the gym right now, he'd be late for his evening exercises. That was the last thing he wanted to do, especially after eating earlier that day. Besides, he was almost up to five hundred sit-ups and wanted to see if he could reach that goal tonight.
---
Finally, Batman and Green Arrow finished their work and went their separate ways. Although Green Arrow did leave the Watchtower via transporter, he hastily backtracked as soon as he figured that Batman would have gone home. He was going to find Robin, and then he was going to get an explanation out of him if it took all night!
After a quick search of the Watchtower, he soon realized that he had been mistaken—Batman had not gone home. Neither had Robin. They were both in the gymnasium and it looked like they were having a fight.
"Look, I'm just doing what you told me to do," Robin was saying in a defensive tone that sounded funny to Green Arrow. That kid was practically a saint; he never had an attitude. "The second I became your partner, you told me to work out regularly, remember? And now you yell at me for doing just that! I'm beginning to think you constantly criticize mejust because you like yelling."
"I also told you to eat and keep your grades up."
"I eat! I just had something to eat with Wonder Girl in the cafeteria! Go ask her if you don't believe me!"
"And your grades?"
Robin opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, unable to answer.
"That's what I thought."
"Come on, Batman! You don't honestly expect me to get straight A's in every subject all the time for the rest of my life, do you?"
The look on his mentor's face was more than enough of an answer for Robin. He was a little intimidated at first, but then he angrily retorted, "Well did it ever occur to you that some subjects might actually be hard for some people, Batman? Not everybody is a genius like you, remember? Some of us are normal and actually suffer setbacks every once in a while! Only when everybody else starts to have trouble, they have people who are a little more understanding!"
The stand-off lasted for nearly a minute. Green Arrow watched in anticipation, wondering who would win.
Batman did, of course. Even Robin was no match for the Dark Knight.
"You have five minutes. If you're not back at the Cave by then, I'm coming back for you."
And without giving the boy time to answer, Batman strode from the room, leaving an infuriated Boy Wonder behind.
Green Arrow stayed in the shadows of the door frame as Batman, luckily, headed in the opposite direction. When he felt it was safe to enter the gymnasium, he was greeted by the sight of Robin slamming his fists into the punching bag with all his strength. The bag swung violently back and forth as Robin stepped away from it and nearly crashed into Green Arrow.
"How long have you been here?"
"Hey, don't act as if you own this place—you're not even a member of the Justice League!" Green Arrow shot back, unable to control his temper. "And you're still skating on thin ice after getting me into trouble with your senior partner!"
"What are you talking—?"
"What did you mean by telling Bats that you weren't throwing up in the bathroom earlier?! I saw you!"
Robin crossed his arms and glared at the floor.
"Like I told Batman, you must have been mistaken."
"You and I both know that's not true, Wonder Boy."
"Oh, so anything you don't like is not true?" Robin challenged. Storming past the Emerald Archer, he added darkly, "You know, you're beginning to sound like Batman…"
Green Arrow scowled at Robin's back. Well, fine! If Robin wanted to throw up and then lie about it, that was just fine with him!
And with that, Green Arrow went back to the transporter and headed for home.
---
Step two of Kid Flash's plan was going to be even worse than the one about eavesdropping on Robin in the bathroom. He knew that, to determine if Dick had an eating disorder (or more than one), he'd have to observe the guy's eating habits outside of the Tower. And so, being the bright young crime-fighter that he was, Kid Flash decided he'd wangle a dinner invitation out of the Boy Wonder.
Getting permission to accept an invitation to dinner at Wayne Manor was easy.
Actually getting the invitation might be a bit harder.
After the other Titans had all gone home for the night, Kid Flash stuck around the Tower with Robin, pretending to help him clean up the place, but really looking for an opportunity to finagle an invitation to dinner out of him.
"Uncle Barry had a fight with Aunt Iris today," Kid Flash fibbed. Well, okay, 'fibbed' is a compliment. 'Lied through his teeth' would be more accurate.
"Really? I'm sorry to hear that," Robin said sympathetically. And Kid Flash could tell he meant it, too. Which wasn't surprising, really—Robin was always more concerned with other people than he was with himself. This was a pretty common thing to find among people with eating disorders, Kid Flash reluctantly noted.
Gee, how obsessive am I?
"Yeah," he continued. "You know, I hate eating dinner with them after they've had a fight. They either throw each other evil looks over my shoulders and act like I'm not there, or take it out on me. Loudly. Reminds me of my parents."
"Sounds terrible."
There was an awkward silence between the two teens, a silence which neither was inclined to fill. Kid Flash kept waiting for Robin to say something, but when the Boy Wonder stayed quiet, Kid Flash knew it was up to him to keep the conversation going.
"I already asked Speedy if I could eat dinner at his house, but he nixed it because he's grounded. Again," he hinted rather obviously.
"He must have been crushed," Robin observed dryly. It was no secret that Wally and Roy were not always on the best of terms, and Kid Flash couldn't help but grin at the sarcasm. At least Robin wasn't too far gone to crack jokes.
"Oh, you should have heard him. I thought he was going to burst into tears."
Robin chuckled slightly as he dumped some dirty dishes into the sink.
"Don't bother washing anything tonight, KF," the Boy Wonder instructed. "I've gotta get back home to start training."
"Training? For what?"
"Just training—you know, working on my acrobatic stuff, fighting techniques… basically just keeping myself in shape, really."
"Can I come watch?" Kid Flash eagerly requested. If he went over to the Manor and stayed there late enough, he could count on a dinner invitation from Alfred!
But the unusual request had already made the Boy Wonder suspicious.
"What for?" he asked, eyebrows raised beneath the mask.
"Well maybe if I watch the way you train, then it'll help me become just as good a crime-fighter as you are!"
Well, it sounded like something he might say. Besides, compliments could only help in this situation.
"Well, I… I'd rather you didn't…"
Kid Flash blinked in surprise.
"Why not? Have I got BO or somethin'?"
"No, it's just that… well, I'm not used to working with an audience," Dick insisted, taking another armload of dishes over to the sink.
Well, that was a lie and they both knew it. Dick himself had told Wally that he had been born in a circus. If that didn't get you used to working with an audience, nothing did.
"I won't get in your way—honest!" Kid Flash insisted, pretending not to notice the little fib. "I'll just stay in the corner and observe, just the way you taught me!"
The red-head shaped his hands into little circles and placed them over his eyes to simulate binoculars, and then began scanning the room as if searching for an unseen enemy. When he noticed that Robin was not smiling back, Kid Flash lowered his arms and pleaded, "C'mon, Robby, please? Just this once?"
"Well…"
"Pleeeeeaaaaase…?"
---
Fifteen minutes later, Wally was sitting on one of the mats in the corner of the Wayne Manor gymnasium, watching Dick do his thing. The Titans' leader was currently working on the horizontal bar, and even Wally had to admit that it was a joy to watch. He had, of course, known about Dick's athletic prowess, but it wasn't often in their crime-fighting careers that they really felt a need for these kinds of stunts.
Now he understood why Dick loved it so much.
But as Dick's routines became longer and more complicated, the smile began to fade from Wally's face. He was finally beginning to realize something—
Dick was pushing too hard.
Upon checking the clock, Wally noticed that he'd been sitting there for well over an hour and a half, and his friend hadn't even paused for a break. Not to rest, not for water… nothing. He just kept on going.
And he was tiring quickly.
Wally let fifteen minutes pass before finally calling out to his friend, startling him into falling off the bar with a muted thump and an "Oof!" Luckily, he escaped serious injury, thanks to the mats below him.
"You promised you'd keep quiet!" Dick almost snapped at him.
"I just thought you might be thirsty right about now. Those routines sure looked draining," Wally replied.
"That shows what you know," Dick grumbled, wiping his face with a towel that had been unceremoniously dumped on a mat under the horizontal bar. "Those happened to be some of the easy ones."
"Still, you've been doing them a long time. You should take a break."
"Wally, I appreciate the concern, but I think I know a little more about gymnastics than you do."
"A sport is a sport, and you need water when you play sports."
"Who's playing?"
Dick slung the damp towel over his shoulder, lightly punched Wally on the arm, and said with a smirk, "If you're that worried about it, I think Alfred made some lemonade earlier. Gimme fifteen more minutes and we'll get some."
Wally grinned triumphantly and, fifteen minutes later, was more than glad to follow Dick through the winding corridors of Wayne Manor to the kitchen, where Alfred was preparing dinner.
"Hey, Alfred. You wouldn't happen to have any of that lemonade left, would you?" Dick inquired in his classic charmer/conniver voice. Alfred recognized it and raised an eyebrow at the boys, smiling all the while.
"It's in the refrigerator, Master Dick."
"Thanks."
Dick poured them both glasses of the sweet yellow liquid and handed one to Wally.
"Bottom's up!" the black-haired boy said, somewhat sarcastically. Wally grinned back and downed the lemonade in three large gulps.
"Hey, Dick, you having a birthday party this year?"
Dick gave him a funny look.
"Since when do I throw birthday parties?"
"You threw one for Garth."
"No."
"Aw, c'mon, Dickie—"
"Don't call me that."
"—why don't you have a party?" Wally asked, ignoring Dick's commentary. "You could invite me and all of the Titans, plus that chick Barbara and all your friends from school… hey, your guardian will let you have one, won't he?"
"I dunno. I never asked him."
"So ask him!" Wally urged, giving his friend a light push.
"Why don't you ask him? He's right behind you."
Wally whirled around to see that Bruce had just walked into the kitchen and was leaning against the doorframe. The look on his face indicated that he had overheard the entire conversation, which wasn't surprising.
"Yes, Wally, why don't you?" Bruce said sarcastically, knowing full-well what the response would be. And he was right:
"Uh…"
"Dick can have a party if he wants to," the man answered. "He just never expressed any interest before."
"And I still don't," Dick said pointedly.
"Why not?" Wally asked him. He was clearly getting excited about the idea. "I'll bet you could have one heckuva party in this place!"
"I'll bet," Alfred remarked.
"Parties aren't really my thing, Wally," Dick explained, looking uncomfortable. He took another sip of lemonade and went on, "I've been to a lot of Bruce's society things and I never really liked them. Besides, I wouldn't even know how to act at a party, let alone how to host one."
"What's the matter? Haven't you ever been to a kids' party before? Besides the one we threw for Garth, I mean."
Much to Wally's surprise, Dick shook his head 'no'.
"What…? You mean none of your friends from school have ever invited you to one of their parties?"
With another sarcastic grin, Dick shot back, "Who ever said I had friends at school?"
But before the conversation could be continued, Alfred interrupted once again, this time to tell them that dinner would be ready in fifteen minutes.
"Will you be staying for dinner, Master Wallace?"
"Could I?"
"If you would like."
"Gee, thanks!"
Only Wally saw the look on Dick's face as the invitation was eagerly accepted.
And it was not a happy look.
Clearly, Dick didn't want anybody watching him while he ate—maybe he had planned on skipping the meal altogether. But now, with his friend staying for dinner, he would have no choice but to sit down and eat.
As quickly as that look came, it vanished under a big smile and a "Happy to have you, pal."
---
It wasn't often that something could make Wally West feel uncomfortable. However, it quickly became apparent that dinner at Wayne Manor was to be one of those few things.
First of all, eating at the same table as Bruce Wayne was just weird. The guy barely said two words throughout dinner. Come to think of it, he didn't even say that much. Wally knew he should be used to that by now, seeing as how he spent so much time at the Watchtower with the Justice League, which naturally included spending time with the Dark Knight. But still, it was pretty unnerving.
And Bruce wasn't the only one who didn't speak at the table; Dick was surprisingly quiet, just slowly chewing his food and pushing what he didn't eat around the plate. He'd occasionally glance up at his legal guardian, and Bruce would sometimes sneak a glance at Dick when he thought nobody was looking, but neither said a word. All of Wally's attempts at conversation fell flatter than a pancake.
If he never had to eat dinner here again, it would be all too soon. But at least he accomplished what he had come for—to observe Dick's eating habits.
For an hour he sat there, dutifully eating his meal and watching as Dick did everything in his power to avoid swallowing the food before him. He didn't seem to have a problem with most of the vegetables, but the chicken and rice was a different story. Sometimes he'd put a bit in his mouth, chew it for a while, and then discreetly spit it out into his napkin. But for the most part, Wally noticed, Dick just poked at the food before him, not lifting a single forkful to his lips.
He did, however, drink an abnormally large amount of water.
Definitely anorexic behaviors.
Although, of course, the excessive water consumption could have been because of all the exercising…
"Not hungry again, Dick?"
Wally's head jerked up at the unexpected sound of Bruce Wayne's voice. So the man could speak!
"No," his ward answered shortly.
"I thought you liked chicken and rice."
"I had a lot to eat at the Tower today."
Then Dick shot his red-haired friend a sideways glance, as if defying him to tell Bruce anything different.
Wally took a sip of water and remained perfectly silent.
No, he wouldn't tell anyone.
Not yet.
---
Well, Wally just barely managed to make it through dinner (or so it seemed to him). And by the time he got home, he was beginning to realize what he was doing, and that finding out he was right would not be a good thing.
He had known that eating disorders were very serious illnesses, and that gymnasts were at an especially high risk of developing them—heck, Christy Henrich had even died from it before her 23rd birthday—but… Dick?
And truth be told, Wally was still in denial about it. No matter how much evidence he piled up against Dick, there was always this little part of him that kept saying 'It's not true, it can't be true, please don't let it be true'. And Wally was reluctant to silence that part of him. It meant he was giving up hope. It would mean accepting Dick as a real eating-disordered teenager, and maybe even forcing him into treatment.
Something like the old 'saying it out loud makes it seem more real' thing.
Something like that.
Nevertheless, Wally wrote down his dinnertime observations and stored them in a shoe box under his bed. He'd been using it to store the evidence for this latest Titans 'case'.
And then he tried to go to sleep.
The next day was a Monday, and it turned out to be a snow day. Wally was spending it at his aunt and uncle's house. First thing in the morning, though, he was up and over at the Tower, doing more research on Dick Grayson.
While writing his report, Wally had learned that people often developed eating disorders more easily if they had a family history of the disease, or of depression. So the next thing he had to do was look up Dick's family history and see if the Graysons were 'genetically predisposed' (as the report said) to developing the destructive mental illnesses.
But where to start searching? Wally already knew that Dick had been part of a trapeze act in a circus before his parents' deaths. Too bad he hadn't asked Dick which circus he was from.
Well, that's where the internet came in handy.
Plugging the words 'Dick+Grayson' into a search engine, Kid Flash actually groaned aloud when he saw the number of responses he had come up with.
Oh, well. Good thing he had his super speed!
It took the boy a matter of seconds to wade through the thousands of useless responses and find the one he needed—an article from an online newsletter, advertising the circus's arrival on the coast of New Jersey. The only reason Kid Flash was sure that this was the right circus was because the article made brief mention of the Flying Graysons' murder.
But he wasn't really too concerned with that part.
"Haly's Circus…" he murmured.
So focused on his work was he that he nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the phone ringing. He promptly went over to answer it, leaving the article up on the screen.
"Titans' Tower. Kid Flash here."
"I was hoping to catch you in."
Kid Flash grinned. He had easily recognized the voice as Uncle Barry's.
"Listen, I need you back here in Central City for a bit. Apparently, Mirror Master has gotten the brilliant idea to start trapping prominent government figures and holding them for ransom. You aren't busy with anything else, are you?"
"Um, no. Just let me close up here, 'kay, Uncle Barry?"
"Sure thing. I'll see you in a minute."
Kid Flash groaned a little as he hung up the phone. If Flash needed him in Central City, who was left to check out Robin's family history?
Aqualad, of course.
Kid Flash pressed a button on his communicator and was soon talking to his fellow Titan.
"Hey, Aqualad? Kid Flash. Get your butt out of Atlantis and over to the Tower. I have something important for you to do."
"This would not be connected with your 'eating disorder' theory, would it?" were his first words.
Kid Flash sighed in exasperation, thinking Aqualad wouldn't notice. He was wrong.
"I thought so. Kid Flash, I know as well as you do that something has been distressing Robin greatly over the course of the past few months, but I doubt that it is an eating disorder. Besides, I thought Robin was the only one who gave orders."
"Consider it a personal favor, then."
This time, it was Aqualad who sighed. Quite audibly.
"Alright. What would you like?"
"Great, thanks. Listen, I've already checked it out—apparently, Dick was born in a traveling show called Haly's Circus. They're at a little Louisiana town near the Gulf coast right now. Your job is to talk to the circus owner—some 'Pop Haly' guy—and see if you can find out if Dick's family has a history of anorexia and/or depression."
"Fine, I will do it. But, as Speedy says, you'll owe me for this."
"Whatever. Just do it."
Aqualad sighed again.
"I'm on my way. Aqualad out."
There's a nice long chapter for you. Oh, and Christy Henrich didn't technically die of anorexia, it was multiple organ failure brought on by anorexia. Okay, you really didn't need to know that but I just wanted to make sure nobody went all technical on me :) I don't really think this is my best chapter, but I'll leave that up to you... anywho...
Reviewer Replies
JLAfan-Thank you! Batman will find out... eventually... (cough) You know how he is.
SarahC4321-Thanks! I'll remember. ;-) I know, they really should be listening to KF right about now. But he has a history of practical jokes, so I guess I can't blame the Titans too much...
Boleyn-I don't really know what Dick's fate is going to be at this point. I've been playing around with several ideas and am not sure which to pick. We'll see!
kokomocalifornia-Wally does have a good heart. It's the rest of him we have to worry about, lol.
SparklesPlenty-Dickie is definitely in it deep here. As for rock bottom... well, not quite yet, I'm afraid. And Clark will be playing a key part later in the story. MUCH later, but we'll get there.
caltha-Wow. Gee. Not much I can say to those kind of compliments... but know that I appreciate them very, very much!! And as for the League, yes, they will be quite involved soon...
ShockMePeter-I admit it. I'm mashing continuity but good with this fic. I'm not crazy about what DC has done with these characters anyway, so I guess this is my idea of revenge.
Queen Caroline-Muchisimas gracias! 8)
BatThing-And I'm glad you're glad! And that you review, of course.
kuramagal-Excellent point, and I don't mind input at all! On the contrary, I really appreciate it. I'll go through the story and see what I can do in future chapters. Thanks!