The moment she had changed out of her Robin outfit and had a shower she picked up her phone to call Wally, still feeling frustrated. Unfortunately, before she could select Wally's name on her contact list, her phone started ringing, Ashton's name flashing on screen. After a moment of surprise she answered the phone.

"Hello."

"Hey, so you're done with your guardian's thing?" Ashton's voice drifted through the phone, sounding much more confident then Riley's which was filled with exhaustion and annoyance.

"My dad had actually been telling me of a friend who was in trouble. He's been going through a bit of a difficult time and Wally and I have been trying to remind him we're still his friends." She sighed, sitting on her bed and trying not to think over the events of the night. The only one she wanted to repeat it to was Wally.

"So how did that go?" Ashton asked after a pause.

"Not well," Riley said shortly, trying to convey how little she wished to talk about it. When such a thing occurred, even her best friends had trouble making her talk.

"What happened?"

She tried not to groan at the fact that he failed to realize what her tone meant. "I don't really want to talk about it." There was a knock on her door. "Hang on, Ashton." She covered the mouthpiece of the phone. "Yeah?"

There was a click of the door handle before the door was pushed open, her father's frame revealing itself. He gave her an even look before opening his mouth. "How was it?"

She held up a finger, telling him silently to wait. Putting the phone back to her ear, she looked away from her father. "Ashton, that's my dad, I have to go."

"Why? Does your guardian want to know what happened? Cause if you don't want to tell him you should tell him to leave."

His tone confused her, since it seemed to have an underlying aggression, though that could have been jealousy due to her father getting answers and him not.

"No, it's fine. Bye."

"Bye."

She pressed the end button, dropping her hands into her lap before looking at her father who was leaning against the doorframe casually. Riley always liked when he did such things, for it was only in the privacy of their home that he did. In the files in her mind that she had made labeled Dad, Bruce Wayne, and Batman, these little quirks always came under dad. "We took down some thieves and then got into an argument. Not in front of the thieves though. It's just frustrating having him act so out of character and treat us so badly. I never thought he looked down upon me because of my age but apparently he does."

Bruce sighed and moved into the room, crouching in front of her, covering her hands with his. "Roy is just trying to be independent and valued, without realizing he could have that whilst still having his friends. I know we can be overprotective, but we've been doing this a lot longer, and we've seen a lot of bad things that we don't want you all to deal with." He looked down at their hands, giving hers a slight squeeze. "When I told the others I was training a child to be my sidekick, they thought I was being irresponsible, but when Wally nearly blew himself up turning himself into a speedster, and Oliver realized he could either throw Roy in gaol one day or train him to be a hero, they started to understand that having you around reminded me why I became a hero."

Riley tried to fight her smile, though she failed, and instead looked down to hide it. When her father squeezed her hand again, she raised her eyes to his.

"I want you to patrol with me on Monday."

"The bad guys giving you trouble?" Riley joked. "Knew I was the talent in the team."

"You may have natural talent but I'm still number one," Bruce retorted with a cheeky smirk, rising to his full height.

"We'll see. I have plans in the afternoon but I'll be back just after dinner." Riley picked her phone back up as her father walked towards the door. "Night, Daddy."

"Good night, Riley, don't stay on the phone with Wally for too long." He closed the door behind him with a soft click before Riley pressed the call button, putting the phone to her ear.

It took Wally longer than usual to answer, making Riley figure he didn't hear it at first. She laid down on her side, the ear her mobile was pressed to facing up.

"Hey, what's going on?" Wally asked once he had answered.

"Saw Roy and he's horrible." She could feel her anger growing again. "He thinks he's so much better than us simply because he's gone solo, but I had to save his ass from some thieves. THIEVES!"

"Riley, calm down."

It was uncommon for Wally to say her first name, since Bruce still didn't know Riley had told him her identity. The use of it seemed to stun her enough to make her take a deep, calming breath.

"He'll come around eventually, and until then, the League will keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't get himself killed. In the mean time, we can continue to be an awesome team; learning to do exactly what the League does, and proving to them that we can do it." Wally spoke with such confidence that Riley had no trouble believing him.

"I suppose you're right," she said with a tired sigh, her eyes growing heavy. She yawned loudly, alerting her friend to her state.

"You should get some sleep."

"I don't want to," Riley admitted, her pillow seeming to become softer, more welcoming. "I'm still annoyed!"

"I'll keep talking to you until you calm down," assured the man on the other line. "Didn't you say something about the movies today? What did you go see?"

"That new romance. Ashton wanted to see it. it was pretty funny, though I don't think it was meant to be a comedy."

Wally gave a laugh. "Doesn't he know that you will only laugh at movies like that?"

"He does now." Riley chuckled before remembering something that confused her. "For some reason Ashton keeps referring to my dad as my guardian. That's technically true, since we don't share blood, but his my dad still."

There was a pause as though Wally was contemplating his answer. "Maybe he's met other adopted kids who hate their guardians being referred to as their dad, so he's gotten into the habit of saying it."

"Maybe," she agreed with doubt. "It just seems weird that after I say 'dad', he says 'guardian'."

"I'm sure it's nothing. And at least you know he's not dating you because of who your father is."

"Hmm," Riley muttered, her eyes closed.

"Goodnight, Riley." Wally didn't receive any reply, making it clear that she had calmed down and fallen asleep. He hung up the phone after a pause, assuring himself that she really was sleeping peacefully.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her phone rang loudly, waking her with a jolt. After realizing she was lying on her bed and the noise was coming from her phone that sat next to her, she was able to calm her heartbeat. She spared a glare at the caller ID before answering.

"What?" she grumbled.

"Good morning to you too," replied an unhappy voice. "I thought you'd be happy to get a wake up call from me."

Riley rolled over to look at her bedside clock. "Ashton, it's six-thirty in the morning. No one can be happy this earlier in the morning, even if Santa, the tooth fairy and every other mythical creature called them to tell them they were real."

"Well I figured since your day was free that we could hang out," he explained, ignoring her hostility and using a voice that clearly stated that he thought his idea was great.

"What makes you think I have nothing on today?" Riley muttered, throwing herself back onto her pillow.

"I asked Barbara last night. She said you didn't work with your guardian on the weekends. It's handy having her number, I'm glad I asked for it."

Riley frowned, feeling uncomfortable with the conversation. "Well she's mistaken. I have homework, the gym and work with my daddy." She failed to mention that the 'gym' was being trained by Black Canary with other super heroes and 'work' with her father was secret missions. "Why do you keep asking my friend anyway? You should ask me."

"You're not always reachable," Ashton grumbled, obviously not pleased.

"Sorry but you knew I was a busy person before we started dating." She sighed. "Now, I'm going to get a bit more sleep before I have to do all the stuff I told you. Bye, Ashton."

"Whatever. I'll talk to you later." He hung up, making Riley frown at the phone in confusion before dropping it heavily on her bed side table.

Half and hour later she woke up, ate breakfast and finished her homework before changing into her Robin outfit and taking the zetatube to the Mountain, making sure her phone was off before she went. Training with Black Canary covered most of the same things as usual, such as using your oponants strength against them, except that they were in pairs this time.

It quickly became apparent to everyone that Kid Flash and Robin were used to working together, for they covered each others weaknesses and didn't need to communicate about their strategies. By the time Batman radioed in with a mission they had taken down the other teams and Black Canary, who said she was going to separate them next time, something they groaned about.

The mission turned out to be nothing faulty wiring in a computer system, meaning they returned to the mountain rather quickly and disheartened.

"Boring!" whined Kid Flash, receiving a glare from Artemis. He put his hand on Robin's shoulder, stopping her from walking away. "Aqualad and I want to talk to you."

The three waited for everyone else to leave before the Atlantian spoke in his usual deep tone. "Wally informed me that you spoke with Roy. Any luck?"

Robin sighed, running her fingers through her messy hair. "The exact opposite. We got into an argument after I had to help him take down some thieves. He's going to get himself killed the way his going but he doesn't seem to care and he doesn't want to take my advise because I'm just a child to him. Like help I am!" The anger she had felt the night before was returning, turning her voice into a growl.

"I know how you feel," Aqualad assured. "You know how he sometimes contacts me for information. It feels as though he sees us as his sidekicks as well, but we get respect off our mentors at least."

"Fir now, we hope he comes to his senses, and if the opertunity arises, we talk to him about it," instructed Aqualad before walking off.

"Good luck," Robin scoffed as she pulled out her civillian phone, turning it on. Around the eighteenth of every month, Dean would message her, to check how she was going and to tell her how he was, so she wanted to see if he had yet. When she turned on her phone it instantly started buzzing, alerting her to waiting messages. What she didn't expect, however, was twenty three messages. One was from Dean, two are from Barbara and the other twenty were from Ashton. "What the?"

"What's wrong?" Kid Flash asked, peaking over her shoulder.

"I have twenty messages off my boyfriend even though he knew I was busy all day. He messages and calls me alot and its making me a bit uncomfortable. I can't handle this on top of the crap going on with dad." She sniffled, trying not to think of the strain that had appeared on her and her dads relationship.

Instantly, Kid Flash pushed her hair out of her face with one hand, resting it on the back of her head, the other on the small of her back. She looked up, used to him doing this to her. When she raised her head, he ran the tip of his nose down the length of hers, stopping when the two tips were touching. Robin smiled softly, starting to feel happier. She couldn't explain it, but her Kid Flash had first done that to her, she had laughed, finding it odd. Since then, it had always cheered her up when upset.

"Feeling better?" Kid Flash whispered, his forehead against hers, their noses still touching and his and his breath brushing her lips. When Robin nodded slightly he smiled. "Good. Talk to your boyfriend about giving you some space, and your dad will come around, I promise. You don't need to be a detective to know your dad loves you and would do anything for you."

"You're right," she sighed. "I might go and see if dad's gone on patrol already. Thanks, KF."

Kid Flash hugged her to him, putting his chin on top of her head. "What are friends for?"

Robin moved out of his hold, giving him a small smile. "I'll see you later." She went through the zetatubes, appearing in the Batcave. Looking around, she was able to see that her father was gone, since the Batmobile was also gone. With a sigh, she changed and walked towards the exit, figuring she would read a book or see what Alfred was up to.

Entering into the rest of the house, she smelt baked goods. Following the smell into the kitchen, she found Alfred, in his regular outfit, minus his jacket and plus a white apron. Sitting on a baking tray were freshly made white chocolate chip cookies. She took one off the tray, ignoring the heat it sent up her arm, before turning to the man.

"How long do you think dad will be out for?"

"Commissioner Gordon called him away, so he will probably not be back in the morning." Alfred gave her a look about stealing one of the cookies before turning back to spooning the next lot onto a greased tray.

"Well I might train a bit before dinner," informed Riley, finishing off the cookie. "I promise to have a shower." She knew how much he hated it when Bruce and Riley showed up to dinner covered in sweat.

"Good, but you might want to call Ashton," advised Alfred, looking at Riley as he put the baking tray into the oven. "He has called a number of times. I informed him that you had finished your homework and were either at the gym or working with your father. Why does he call Master Bruce your guardian?"

"I have no idea but he calls way too much." Riley sighed and walked out of the kitchen, heading to the training room.

An hour and a half later, she was stepping out of the bathroom, dressed for dinner. Her father had still not returned, meaning that dinner was just for Alfred and herself. As always when Alfred cooked, dinner was delicious but was interrupted by the phone ringing. Riley went to get up to answer it, so Alfred wouldn't have to, but the dedicated butler wouldn't allow her to. Instead, he rose and answered.

"Hello, Wayne Manor, Alfred Pennyworth speaking." He paused, the man on the other end speaking. "Yes, Miss Riley is here, but she is in the middle of dinner, please call back later. Goodbye." He hung up, coming back to the table and sitting down. "Miss Riley, that was Ashton again. Perhaps you should call him back after dinner."

"I will. He's being a little odd, though I've never had a boyfriend, so it might be normal." She ate some of her mash potato before talking again. "I have a date with him on Monday, why does he need to call me so much when he knows I'm busy."

"I don't know what to tell you, Miss Riley, teenage boys are not my area of expertise and it has been a long time since I was so young myself."

Riley sniggered at the thought of Alfred as a boy. "Thanks anyway, Alfred."

After dinner, she called Ashton, figuring she should talk to him about calling so much. When he answered, he gave her a cheerful greeting. Instead of dealing with small talk first, Riley figured she would confront the problem. "Ashton, you need to stop calling so much. You knew I was busy today and yet you called the house multiple times and sent me numerous messages."

"I just like spending time with you and talking to you, is that so bad?" Ashton snapped.

"No, but I had stuff to do and we already have plans to spend Monday together."

"I bet you don't even realize what Monday is!"

"It's a school say, it's the first working day of the week and it's the 20th," she rattled off, starting to get annoyed.

"Exactly. We would have been dating for a month on Monday."

"And we're spending it together, so can you stop bothering Alfred?"

Ashton sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'll talk to you on Monday." Without saying goodbye or waiting for a reply, he hung up.

Riley decided not to think about it and instead relax from a long day by reading a book. She went down to the Batcave, like she used to when she was younger, and curled up in her father's large chair, a blanket wrapped around her, and read.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The penguin doll sat securely under her arm as they walked out of the restaurant. It was later then she had anticipated, meaning she had to leave soon if she wanted to go patrolling with her father. Admittedly, Riley was excited to be back with the Dynamic Duo, hoping that her father would snap out of the way he was behaving. She knew it may not work, but she could still hope.

"I still can't get over how good your aim is," Ashton spoke as they walked down the street. "I would have been able to win you that if I had known."

"I play a lot of video games," explained Riley with a careless shrug.

"Yeah, when you're not being paraded around," grumbled the brunette.

"What?" Riley was so surprised that she almost dropped her penguin onto the damp concrete. Luckily she caught it with easy, something she hoped Ashton didn't notice.

"Never mind."

"Alright," Riley agreed, deciding to dismiss it for now. "Well I have to get going. Dad wants to watch some movies with me." She tried to restrain the bounce she felt like doing.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to spend time with him? He's not your real father; he's just some guy who saw an opportunity to look like the good guy." Ashton's voice took on a dark tone as he glared at Riley.

"What are you on about? My daddy loves me."

"Your daddy is dead! Bruce Wayne is just a guy smart enough to realize that adopting an orphan girl would get him popularity. You're not his daughter; you're just a charity case for him to put his name on. He doesn't really care about you, he only spends time with you so that you'll say nice things about him and convince others that he loves you, but when he has his own kids, or when everyone is sick of you, he'll drop you. Why do you want to ditch him for me?"

Riley was stunned, and couldn't seem to react at first. Finally, she took a shaky breath, tears in her eyes. "You don't know him, and I want nothing to do with you." She took a deep breath to prevent herself from crying, and then she narrowed her eyes, glaring at the boy in front of her. "Don't ever speak to me again."

She turned sharply and walked away, heading to only one direction: the zetatubes. Luckily, Riley still had a clear head enough to make sure no one saw her go through them in her civilian clothing. She dug her glasses out of her handbag, putting them on as she walked through Central City. Wally may have known who she was but she was hesitant for him to see her face completely. She always worried that if he got to know Riley Grayson-Wayne, he wouldn't like her as he did Robin.

By the time she was sneaking into the window of the house she wished, tears were running down her face. Although she was distraught, she was still quiet, making Wally jump when she finally spoke.

"Wally," she said, her voice cracking.

He took one look at her before getting off his desk chair and walking over to his friend. Putting his hands on her shoulders, he guided her to his bed, making her sit. He let her cry for some time, sitting next to her and rubbing her back soothingly. Finally, she started settling down, though she was shivering, the room being too cold for her tank-top and skirt.

Wally got up and grabbed one of his jackets, draping it over Robin's shoulders as she started to speak.

"My date didn't go to well," she admitted, looking at the floor. "Instead of enjoying our one month anniversary, we broke up."

"What happened?" Wally asked in a soft voice, leaning against his dresser.

"I broke up with him because he wanted to know where I was all the time. He even got Barb's number so he could call her when I said I was at a friend's. He knew you and her are my best friends. He was making me uncomfortable, I told you that."

"I know you aren't upset like this over breaking up with that guy." When Robin turned her head to avoid his expression, Wally smiled sadly and crouched so he was at her level. "Riley, I know you."

She sighed, pausing a moment before finally opening her mouth. "When I said I was going to spend time with my dad, he got annoyed. He said things like 'why do you want to hang out with him? He's not even your dad. You're just'," Riley choked on her tears before pushing through, "'you're just a charity case for him to put his name on!'" She covered her mouth to try to silence the noise the strain of crying created. "I'm not a charity case, am I?"

Wally couldn't stop the short laugh that erupted from his mouth. When Robin looked at him, tears streaming down from behind her glasses, he hugged her. "Riley, you are one of the only people in the world, and perhaps only teenage I know who could kick the butts of Gotham villains and Superman himself whilst laughing and cracking jokes."

Robin gave a wet laugh, whipping at her water stained cheeks with the back of her hand. "I can't kick Superman's butt."

"Does Batman have kryptonite in his cave?" Wally asked, knowing Batman did to keep it out of the public and encase the Man of Steel was ever put under mind control. Once Robin nodded and mumbled about a vault, he went on. "I bet you know how to break into that vault, therefore, you can kick Superman's butt." He pulled away from her and cupped her face. "Riley, look at me." When she stopped fighting his embrace and instead looked at him, he smiled. "You are not a charity case. Your father doesn't see you as one. You are his pride and joy. Everyone can see he loves you."

"But his been using his Batman voice on me!"

"Maybe there's a reason for that," contemplated the red-head. "Maybe his trying to protect you, or he doesn't realise his doing it. You won't know until you talk to him."

"What if he tells me Ashton was right, that he doesn't love me?" Robin's fear of such an outcome was apparent, making Wally sit next to her again, hugging her to him tightly.

"Then I will kill the Batman," he said, imitating the Joker.

Seemingly not being able to control it, she started giggling, burring her face into his chest, making him fall backwards, lying sideways on the bed.

"How is it you know what to say when I need you to?"

Wally leant over Robin, grabbing the top of his blankets and folding them over Robin, draping his arm over her blanketed waist. "I know you, and it's my job to make sure you're not hurt."

Robin simply hugged him tighter, enjoying his warmth, the smell of popcorn that always followed Wally and his steady heartbeat. It lulled her into a comfortable state, making her drowsy after her crying.

The rumble from Wally's chest as he spoke broke her from her daze. "Are you going to stay the night? I know Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris won't mind."

"No, I should go home. Dad's probably already furious that I bailed on patrol tonight. I'm just going to use your bathroom to wash my face. My make-up has probably gone everywhere." She sat up, the blanket and Wally's jacket falling away.

"You're wearing make-up?" Wally looked at her face, noticing the tell tale signs of light make-up.

"Yes, Kid Idiot, I am a girl, or are you going to say I'm too young, cause that sounds like something dad would say." Although her eyes were covered, it was obvious she was rolling her eyes.

"No," Wally said calmly, "I was going to say, you don't need it."

Robin smiled, biting her lip to try and prevent it from growing before she hugged Wally around the neck. "Have I ever told you how thankful I am that you are my friend?"

The red-head thought for a moment as he wrapped his arms around the girl's small waist. "No, I don't think you have."

"Well I am," she assured before letting go and walking out of the room.

Wally waited for a moment after Robin left the room before getting her phone out of her handbag. By the time she returned he had done what he needed to do and was lying on his bed, waiting for her. When she walked in, he stood up, moving towards her. He didn't need her to say anything to know that she was still upset over what her ex-boyfriend said to her. It wouldn't have been so bad if her father and she hadn't been having problems.

He pushed her hair back with one hand like he had done on the weekend and put his other hand on the small of her back, pulling her closer. He ran the tip of his nose down the bridge of hers, ignoring the bump from the bridge of her glasses. He felt her sigh, the air rushing past his lips as she did.

"Everything will be fine, I promise you." He moved back, handing her his jacket as he did. "Return that later."

"Thanks." Robin put it on before giving him a tight hug and climbing back out the window.

For ten minutes Wally waited in his room, at his uncle and aunts place, which was not easy for a speedster, before walking out into the rest of the house, heading straight for the front door. He didn't bother mentioning to his aunt and uncle that he was leaving, he wasn't particularly in the mood to talk.

He used his speed to get to Gotham city, locating the address he wanted. He slowed down as he drew close, not wanting anyone to notice he was moving faster than human speed. Once facing the door, he knocked hard, waiting for an answer for only a second before knocking again. After the third time, the door finally opened, revealing a boy close to his own age with dark, curly brown hair, and green eyes much like his own.

"Ashton?" he asked simply, fairly certain he knew the answer but wanting to be clear.

"Yes, who are you?"

"Wally, Riley's friend." Without another word, Wally drew back his arm and threw a punch directly into the other teens face, not holding back his strength.

Ashton fell to the floor with a sickening thud but that did not lessen Wally's dark look, even when the boy's father appeared at the door, looking surprised.

"What the hell did you do?" he snapped at Wally, crouching down next to his unconscious son.

"Excuse me, sir," someone spoke from behind Wally. The red head turned to find his uncle standing there with a kind smile on his face. "My nephew is not normally a violent boy but your son caused his best friend some pain today. She came to my house in tears and told Wally the things your son had said to her. They were not pleasant. I would much appreciate it if you didn't press charges on my nephew because then we would have to bring Riley into it and she's been through enough."

"What did he say?" Ashton's father asked, looking worried.

"That her father didn't love her and that she was a charity case," Wally hissed. "He should be glad I only punched him."

"I won't press charges, but get off my property," the father snapped, realising that Wally had every reason to do as he did.

Without any complains, the speedster turned and marched off, his anger not fully released. He knew his uncle was following him, but decided to not be the first one to speak.

"Do you think Riley will be happy you hit her boyfriend?" Barry calmly asked.

"Ex," Wally reminded in a dark voice.

"Right. But do you think she would want you to do what you did?"

He turned, facing his unclear with a serious but somewhat satisfied expression. "I don't think she would have cared. She's too kind to have done it herself or ask me to do it, but if I told her I was going to do it, she wouldn't have stopped me. She would have just told me not to do it on her account."

Barry sighed, running his fingers through his short blond hair. "Can I trust you to return home on your own?"

"Yeah," Wally shrugged. "I did what I wanted, I'm happy to go home and text Riley, make sure she got home safe."

"Alright, tell Iris I'll be home later." With that, Barry walked away, heading in the opposite direction as Wally.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He took a cap once Wally was out of sight, not wanting to run all the way to his destination in civilian clothing. Pressing the buzzer at the gate, he suddenly realised there was a chance that he wouldn't be allowed in. Thankfully, once he said his name to the butler, the gates opened and he was able to walk up the drive to the front door.

He had never actually been to the Wayne Manor before and felt overwhelmed by its sheer stature. Oliver was also a wealth billionaire but his place was a studio apartment, rich on the inside but understated on the outside. Bruce's home was different. The house was old, well designed, but clearly expensive.

Squaring his shoulders, Barry knocked on the hard wood, listening as the noise echoed. The door opened quickly, seeing as they knew he was there by his announcement at the gate. He came face to face with 'Agent A', also known as Alfred.

"Mr. Allen, what can I do for you at this hour?" the man asked politely, moving aside so that the speedster could enter.

"I was hoping to speak with Bruce," he admitted, looking around at the large foyer. "It's about Riley."

"Miss Riley is in bed, though I believe she is texting Master Wallace." He ignored Barry's sniggers when he used Wally's full name. "Master Bruce is in his study. I will take you to him."

Barry followed the butler up the stairs and down a hallway. When they reached the study, he was made to wait outside whilst Alfred announced his presence. Once he had done that, the British man left them alone in the room. Bruce was sitting at his desk, a stack of paperwork in front of him. He was looking at Barry though, his hands clasped in front of him on the desk.

"Alfred said you wanted to talk about Riley. Is everything alright?" He was barely hiding the worry he felt. "She came home late tonight, upset and wearing Wally's jacket. I'm guessing she went to your house when something happened with her, from what I understand, now ex-boyfriend."

"I overheard her talking to Wally about how you were pushing her away. She's worried that you no longer care about her.

"That's not true," Bruce assured tightly.

Until then, Barry had been having trouble associating this man with this fearsome dark knight he knew so well, but now he could see how they could be the same man. "Bruce, what are you doing?"

The wealthy man's jaw tightened, clearly thinking about throwing the other man out of the house. Finally, he gave up and admitted his actions. "I have to distance myself, otherwise I'll want to interfere with her missions and she will get mad at me. I know it's difficult for you too, and Aquaman but it's different. She's my daughter, I worry about her on an average day, worse when she's on missions with me and now I'm not even there. I know Wally would die before letting her get hurt, but his young. So I have to pull away or I won't be able to help myself."

"What would you rather: her mad because you love her, or heartbroken because she thinks you don't?"

"What did the boy do to her? I know you know."

"From what I overheard and from what Wally said after he punched the kid square off his feet, which I'm actually quite proud about, he called Riley a charity case and that was reason you adopted her."

Bruce sighed before standing up. "Come on, I'll drive you home." He led the other hero down to the garage, ignoring the man's gasp of awe.

"Can I have your life?" he asked as he scanned the numerous expensive cars and bikes.

"Not a chance," Bruce retorted, smirking, surprising Barry by his casual behaviour. He unlocked the Ferrari, chuckling at the way his friend started drooling. They drove to Central City in relative silence but as they drew closer to Barry's house, Bruce finally spoke. "How do you do it? Not worry yourself sick about Wally?"

"Well," Barry started, "I know Riley has his back, that they work well together, but I do worry. I keep thinking that I should have trained him better when I had the chance. You were right, though, it's different for you. I could never imagine what I'd do if Wally was my son. I've looked after him for three days a week since he was a baby but it's not the same. Wally looks at me like I'm his idol, but Riley looks at you like you're a god and you chose her to me your daughter. She knows she's adopted, she never forgets, but she knows that means you made a conscious decision for her to be your daughter. You don't need to distance yourself from her to assure she doesn't get angry at you, just be honest."

Bruce pulled up outside the Allen house, not bothering to put the car in park. "You're right. I'll talk to her." He smiled and looked at Barry, who was undoing his seatbelt. "Tell Wally I said thanks."

With a bark of laughter, the blond got out of the car. "Will do. See ya, Bruce."

I managed to get another chapter done. Although that was because I had most of it written from the moment I introduced Ashton. Told you it wasn't going to be clique where Wally gets jealous over Ashton, and I gave what many of you wanted, Ashton and Wally met... sort of. I do not have any of the next chapter written so it probably won't be up till after prac unless I get mass amounts of inspiration. Hope you enjoy and R and R.