A/N: The good new - my plan worked, the writers block I had on this is now officially gone. The bad - I have run out of old parts I had written and you all will now be subjected to longer waits as I have to write whole new chapters for you instead of sprinkling old ones out over time.
When Wally runs away Conner wants to tear the world apart. He wants to tear the world apart to find Wally. He wants to tear the world apart to find the person responsible for him being gone. He wants to tear the world apart because it's broken, and it mocks him by pretending everything is fine.
In those first few days it's only the steady pressure of Black Canary's hand that stops him from trying.
Instead Conner tries to help. He isn't smart, and he isn't good at finding things, but what he is good at is listening. Conner listens for news, for some overlooked connection in the reports. He listens for hints, and clues, and for Wally's heart beat in the night.
Eventually life seems to go back to normal. The worry everyone feels for Wally seems to fade to the back of minds more, and more. Sometimes they even manage to carry on as if Wally was never there in the first place, as if he had never existed. The moments always gain a surreal edge to them when he recalls them later, an anomaly in an otherwise cohesive story.
Conner still listens, though he has less to listen to every day. He listens on and on, and one day, with just over six months past since Wally ran away, he realizes that he's spent more than half his life listening for Wally.
A typical night in Gotham - dreary, dark, and dismal.
A set of feet alight soundlessly next to Batman where he crouches next to one of the cities many gargoyles. "You know I think I might be developing a weakness for redheads. A month ago I had Ivy crashing on my couch, and now I've managed to find myself a stray Kid."
And, of course, full of surprises.
Bruce takes a moment to gather his thoughts, checking that the shipment Falcone's men are waiting for still hasn't arrived. Selina waits patiently enough off to the side, draping herself sinuously over the gargoyle.
"Kid Flash."
"Well he certainly isn't a goat."
Bruce can feel Selina eying him critically, and he wonders briefly what it is she's looking for. "How is he?"
"About as well as you can expect a metahuman living on the streets to be," she says, voice biting. "Hungry, tired, lonely. Seems to be under the impression everything is his fault."
Batman's hands flex against his binoculars in an attempt to ease the tension building in his body. "It wasn't. No one is blaming him for the situation." He takes a few tight breaths through his clenched teeth, and forces his muscles to relax one by one. "How long has he been staying with you?"
She sighs, pushing herself up and beginning to pace back and forth behind him. "Not long; a few days. And believe me getting him to stay for just that long was hard enough. Not sure how kindly he's going to take to all of this either, he seems pretty determined to keep away from all you capes." Suddenly she changes direction, coming to sit down on the ledge to his right. "Look, I want to help the kid, I do, but I can't do much of anything with what I know right now. He could be on the run for any number of reasons, and I am as sure as hell not going to hand him over to someone like he's a common crook."
Batman watches a truck pull up to the loading area, Falcone's men become alert and scrutinize it for authenticity. "He was involved in an altercation at his school. Extenuating circumstances then led to the intervention of a social worker concerning his behavior. It was made clear that she intended to remove him from his home for other placement, and when the situation proved difficult to resolve Kid Flash removed himself from it."
The sound of her hand coming up to cover her eyes where she rubs at them wearily is bright in the silence, but the men below carry on unaware. "Straight answers; it's like squeezing water out of a stone." Selina sighs, and straightens up. "Alright then, I'll see what I can do. Any messages you want to send?"
Batman turns to face her for the first time in the conversation. "Let him know that right now we just want to talk to him. We aren't going to do anything that he doesn't agree to."
They exchange a heavy gaze, both of them imagining a scared, flighty young man in their heads, both of them knowing that the slightest misstep could cause him to disappear. Selina nods, and turns around to leave.
"Selina, you need to gain his trust." She stops, and looks over her shoulder at him, a smudge against the smoggy Gotham night even at such a short distance. "His name is Wally"
She licks her lips, weighing the new information in her mind, wondering how many people's secrets are tied to the single name. "That could backfire you know. How much does he trust you?"
Enough, hopefully. "We'll find out."
Selina leaves, and he turns his attention back to Falcone's men, now unloading their shipment of illegal arms. He pulls out a batarang, and soon he's descending upon the frightened henchmen.
A typical night in Gotham where there's always something for Batman to do.
Conner is doing his homework in the dining area with M'gann when he hears the Flash begin to yell at Batman. For a moment he thinks of going back to his homework and ignoring them. It isn't the first time he has heard the Flash start yelling, and chances are it's more of the same. He doesn't know that he wants to hear more of the same anymore. Still, between listening and economics homework…
Staring blankly at his textbook Conner focuses in on their voices. The Flash is still speaking when the voices become clear. "- when it comes to Wally. Damn it Bruce, I'm not just going to sit here, not if someone has really found him!"
Conner's back stiffens in surprise, his heart attempting some odd contorting movement in his chest. He focuses on listening even harder until he can hear even the minute rustling of Batman's cape as he shifts. "We have to be careful how we approach this. Right now he's with someone we can trust to –"
"Trust? Just because you want to sleep with her doesn't mean we can trust her! For God's sake she's part of your Rogue Gallery."
"You should know better than most that not all criminals are the same. She's not like the others."
"The same way Harvey wasn't like the others?"
For a while all Conner hears is the Flash breathing heavily, and the small sounds of shifting bodies. "I'm sorry. That – that was out of line." The Flash takes in a steadying breath. "I'm supposed to look out for him, you know? He's my nephew, my partner. And now," the Flash laughs bitterly, "and now apparently one of your villains is out there doing a better job of it than I can, and I'm damaging every relationship I have in the mean time."
Conner hears Batman shift forward, and what he thinks may be Batman resting a hand on the Flash's shoulder. "Keep it as quiet as possible for the time being." Batman pauses. "We will get him back."
And with that it seems their conversation is over, the older superheroes moving on to speak of something else. Conner sits in silent for a few minutes more going over everything he has heard. This is what he has listening for those long months, this is the hints and the clues needed, and Conner can't make heads or tails of it. He isn't smart, and he isn't good at finding things; he doesn't know who Wally is with, or where they are.
But then, that's why he has a team.
"M'gann," he says, pulling her away from her own homework.
"When are the others going to get here?"
The entire team is abuzz with the new news about Wally. Dick easily identifies the woman Wally is staying with as Catwoman, and the team begins to search for her right away.
Finding information on her is hard. Catwoman is good at covering her tracks, and the security on her files is too good for Robin to get them unobserved. It doesn't take them long to figure out they need help, especially if they want to keep their self assigned mission a secret.
What they need is a specialist.
Barbra spins around in her computer chair so that she faces Dick were he sits on the edge of her bed. "You want me to hack into a security firm? What even makes you think that I could help you with this?"
"Come on Babs, you really think I wouldn't recognize your work on the whole 'Oracle' thing? No one else breaks code like you do."
Barbra rolls her eyes. "Flattery -"
"- will get me everywhere." Dick smiles at her, but it's tinged with just a bit of the desperation he's feeling. He's putting a lot on the line in asking for her help, and he doesn't know what he'll do if she doesn't, or can't, help him. "Please. I can't get the information myself, not without leaving a big neon sign, and I need to not leave any trace."
Barbra raises an eyebrow. "And if you do leave a trace you need it not to lead back to you."
Dick winces. "Yeah."
"Is this about your friend, the one who went missing?"
"I hope so."
It's not the first time that Barbra has heard Dick talk about his mysterious friend. She almost asks why he doesn't just go to the police with his suspicions, but while her father may be a good cop she's familiar enough with the bad ones to know his reasoning. Barbra sighs and starts to boot up her computer. "Well then, I guess it's time to get to work."
It takes a surprisingly small amount of time for Barbra to get the file they need, and pin point a few possible locations for the woman mentioned inside.
"This is great Babs. And you didn't leave behind any traces?" Dick takes the flash drive with the information on it from her hand, and gives her the kind of smile she hasn't seen on his face in weeks, at the least.
"Do I look stupid to you?" She does know what she's doing.
He laughs as he leaves, the awkward creepy laugh he gets when he's over excited.
Barbra rolls her eyes once he's out of sight. She didn't leave behind anything besides her usual notes explaining the weaknesses she had exploited to the firm. Nothing that would lead back to Dick at any rate.