~000~
The Special Two
Chapter Fourteen
When I Fall I'm At Peace
~000~
It was the sun's rays that shined through my window that woke me up. I bitterly rubbed the sleep from my eyes and yawned. I still felt like I needed more sleep. I stretched my arms up over my head and turned onto my back, staring up at those glow in the dark star stickers that my Uncle Barry got me when I turned seven. Some of them were ripped off since daddy didn't want the stars chipping his paint work. I supposed I understood. My daddy did work really hard painting my room the color I wanted. My walls and ceiling were the color of my favorite hero's costume the Flash. He was my real hero. He was someone I wished I could meet.
Someone to take me and Mama out of here.
Stop! I scolded myself and took the covers off of my body. I shouldn't think of things like that. Daddy would be unhappy if he found out.
Speaking of unhappy,
"WHY IS WALLACE STILL IN BED!?"
I nearly jumped out of bed as shocks of pain shoot up my spine and sides. I wrapped my left arm around my torso and scrambled out of bed, pulling my pajama pants off with my right. I winced in pain but I knew I had to hurry. I had about a minute before daddy would be in my room. I had a minute before a possible beating.
I can hear heavy footsteps at the bottom of the stairs.
"Well, after he was sent home from school. He was complaining about pain. So I gave him some medicine. Rudy, leave the boy be."
There is the sound of a meaty thunk and a muffled cry of pain.
Panic bubbled in my tummy as I ripped my top off, flinging it across the room then pulled open my wardrobe door. I found my pair of jeans and leaned back onto the wooden flooring then lifted my legs up. I had one of my legs in one of my pant legs then stopped when I heard the footsteps bound up the stairs.
I could feel a cold sweat start to break across my skin as I grabbed hold of whatever shirt I had out and pulled it over my head. By the time I had one of my shirt sleeves on the door to my room burst opened.
I didn't even have a chance.
"NO!"
Coming back into reality still in the mindset of a seven year old was utterly horrifying for me. I was sweating and shaking and felt very out of it. The room that I was sleeping in swayed, and I quickly laid back down before the bile in my burning stomach had a chance to collect behind my throat.
Just breathe. I told myself, doing exactly what I was instructing myself to do, remembering what one of my councilors told me long ago as I had panicked in her office, just relax and breathe.
Too bad it wasn't happening at all.
"Wally? Wally, dear, you alright?"
Light peered into my room and I squinted, seeing the outline of my aunt.
"I-I'm fine." I told her, putting a hand to my scorching forehead. I can tell she had lingered at the door frame for a while until I felt her cool hand on mine.
"Here let me put this cloth on your forehead. You'll feel better."
I nodded then dragged my hand away from my forehead and felt immediate relief when the damp cloth touched my forehead. I felt her fingers dance across my cheek, the touch sent shivers and I knew right there that I was really sick. "I haven't heard you scream like that since you were a little boy."
"It was horrible." I mumbled and shifted on the bed I laid on.
"Would you like to talk about it?" She asked and I shook my head immediately making the cloth fall from my forehead. "It might help you, Wallace." She told me putting the cloth back on my forehead, rubbing her thumb on the apple of my cheek. I stared up at her green eyes and sighed.
"Where's Uncle Barry?" I asked.
"Down at the labs. He, uh, wanted to make sure there was nothing awful wrong with you." Her voice was dull and I could tell I had hurt her when I didn't tell her about the dream.
God why couldn't I just open my mouth up? Usually it's really easy for me to.
"So, I'm a lab rat again?" I asked, closing my eyes because I couldn't see her worried face anymore. It was so very painful.
"Wally." She said and I can hear the stern tone she used.
"I'm kidding." I assured and I felt her lean down and peck me on the cheek.
"Get some more sleep. Barry should be back soon." She told me and I nodded as she backed out of the room and the light faded away. I stared up at the ceiling almost wondering where those glow in the dark stickers are now. I wondered if they even made them anymore. I keep my mind on the good things from my past and clutched onto that stuffed rabbit and soon I went back to sleep.
Only to plunge right back into my nightmares.
~000~
There's a knock on my door that woke me from my slumber. I'm almost tempted to tell whoever is at the door (most likely Alfred) to go away. I was so mentally and physically tired from last night's activities. From the birthday party, getting my nose broken and carrying a deathly ill speedster half way down the street to Bruce and I having a spat about how I was getting too close to people again.
I so didn't want to see that Bat in the morning.
"I'm up, Alfred. I'll be down in a bit." I called, my voice probably sounded muffled by the blanket I pulled over my head. An act that was fruitless since I was already awake. I didn't think I could fall back to sleep anyhow.
The door opened quietly and I sighed out bitterly knowing that it wasn't Alfred doing his routine of getting the bat and his birds up in the morning for breakfast. It was the dark knight himself stationed at my door.
"Can I come in?" He asked, knowing I wouldn't tell him no.
I kept the blanket over my head and picked at the sheets I laid upon. I wanted to stay here buried like a baby robin protected by its mother from the storm outside, but alas I wasn't a child anymore. I didn't have a mother to protect me anymore. All I had left was the bat looming over me and I have to come out and bicker with him.
Regardless of what we fight about, I always felt horrible about it after. Even with not telling Wally about who I am, it's my fault that I don't tell Bruce why I really want to tell Walls.
Maybe it's time I should.
"You want to show me your nose, old sport?" He asked and I felt the side of my bed dip.
I cocked one of my eyebrows and peek through the covers to make eye contact with Bruce's blue orbs.
"Are you quoting Gatsby from, The Great Gatsby?" I asked, seeing Bruce smirk down at me.
He shrugged, "Maybe. Come on sit up."
I do so, grudgingly and stretched out my back, yawning, before rubbing my eyes.
"Nice bed hair." Bruce remarked and I looked over at him still working the tiredness out of my eyes.
"Huh?" I put a hand to my head to feel my hair sticking out in odd ways. "I was tired." I remarked back after a while smirking over at Bruce who gladly returned it.
He suddenly grabbed hold of my chin carefully and took a look at my nose. After a while of inspecting he said, "Well the swelling went down quite a bit. I think in the next three weeks you'll be good."
"Three weeks!?" I asked out in shock, backing away from his hold and carefully covered my nose. I gave him a look of utter astonishment.
"You broke your nose Dick." He said as if I didn't know that fact. "You think it would've been healed overnight like you're a speedster?"
"No." I answered, feeling quite small now. "I just have forgotten about how long things take to heal. It's been awhile since I've been injured, that's all."
We sat in silence until the bowl of fresh strawberries caught my eye, "You going to share that?" I asked pointing to the bowl.
Bruce raised an eyebrow looking down, seeming to have forgotten that he had the bowl of fruit and handed it over to me. "It's a peace offering."
I take it and stared down at the ripe fruit then back at my guardian. "A peace offering for what?"
I watched as he leaned back on my headboard and sighed, "I've been slightly, uh, harsh on you."
Was Bruce literally trying to apologize? I already knew it was rare to get one from Bruce. I also knew how hard it was for him to even do it.
"Apology accepted." I said, popping a strawberry in my mouth.
"You know you can tell me anything right? That's what I'm here for Richard."
I took another strawberry to my lips and stopped before taking a bite. As if the berries I consumed had suddenly turned sour.
He should be supportive. I tried to convince myself. No, he would be supportive. Just get this one thing off your chest. I told myself.
I took a deep breath, "Dad?"
"Yeah?" I heard him say, and I bit onto my bottom lip hard, trying to calculate the best wording. Everything that filtered throughout my head so far tasted bad on my tongue.
"You think Wally will be alright?"
"Yeah, he'll be just fine. Barry said he was going to take some samples to know exactly is wrong. So maybe you should stop worrying so much about him." Bruce told me and an unknown frustration breaks through me.
"Well, Walls is my best friend. I want to make sure he's alright."
I really like him Bruce.
"And I understand that." Bruce said, shifting a bit from the bed. "But at the moment I believe Wally needs to take time and talk to his aunt and uncle."
"Yeah but," I tried then stopped. Maybe he was right. "It's just hard sometimes to sit back and act like I have no clue who he is. That I have to act like I never knew Wally before."
"Why are you constantly bringing this up? You know why you can't tell him Richard." Bruce said with a groan, raking his fingers through his hair.
It made me furious.
"Because!" I cried, setting down the half empty bowl of fruit and looked up at the dark knight. "I like him!"
"I know he's your best friend but-"
"No Dad!" I cried, here he was again not listening to me. "I meant that I want to ask him out!" Did I just honestly say that out loud? I quickly looked away from Bruce's stunned expression and put my hands on my face. I couldn't believe I just said that.
Heh, well Babs isn't the only one that knows now. A part of me joked and I told it to be quiet. This was all just too much.
Until, strong arms wrapped themselves around my shoulders and tugged me close. It took me a minute to realize it was Bruce.
"Bruce?" I asked still a bit stunned from this action, it had been so long since he had done anything like it.
"It took you a great while to tell me this Dick." He admitted. I didn't think my eyes could get any wider.
"You knew?"
"Of course I knew. I am a detective." He joked.
I laughed then finally gave in, hugging him tightly back. We stay like that for awhile not saying anything yet, until I said,
"So, you're not going to. Oh, I don't know disown me or something?"
Bruce let me go and took hold of my shoulders, staring at me with concern. "Why on earth would you suggest that?"
Did we not just have a this conversation?
"I mean," I gulped, "because I just admitted that I was gay."
That's when Bruce started to laugh.
He was actually laughing at me.
I knew it. I knew this would happen. "Never mind. Forget we even had this conversation." I said appalled by my father's actions. I started to inch away, wanting nothing to do with him at the moment when Bruce took hold of my wrist and pulled me back.
"I'm sorry, but Dick you're wondering if I'm going to disown you? When I just told you I already knew."
That realization made me feel like a complete idiot, "Oh," is all I can say.
He chuckled and hugged me again, making me feel like a complete noob. "You're still my son, Richard. Nothing will change that."
"How come he gets to have food in bed and I don't?" Asked a small voice at the foot of my bed. I looked over my shoulder and rolled my eyes.
Of course little Jay wants attention too.
"Because I don't make messes." I told him and he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"Come here, Jason." Bruce said, patting a spot on the bed and the youngest bat does what is asked of him.
Which is surprising.
"Here have the rest." I told him handing the bowl to him and instead of taking it like a normal person, he stuck his dirty little fingers in the bowl and fished out a strawberry and popped it into his mouth.
"You're such a gentlemen." I said in disgust and he sticks out his tongue which I gladly return.
Bruce let out a sigh, taking hold of Jay and me then said sternly, "You think you can get along just once?"
Jay and I looked at each other coming to an agreement then up at our adoptive father's face and said in unison,
"Nope."
~000~
Standing in front of the mirror, my shirt is lifted up revealing the visible outlines of my ribs sticking out against my sickly pale skin. It was enough for me to want to throw up again.
Calm down. Don't think about it. I told myself, letting my shirt fall against my rather skinny form and walked out of my bathroom, and into the bedroom. My line of vision swayed and I have to grab hold of the wardrobe before I could topple over.
Just keep moving. I instructed, gotta keep moving.
I stood there for a while gaining all the strength I needed and bounded forward. Every damn step sent nausea through my system. I felt like I was going to pass out.
"Aunt Iris?" I called once I made it into the kitchen looking around for her.
"Over here, dear." I turned and leaned against the wall. There she was sitting on the dinner table, no that wasn't right. She was sitting on a chair next to the table, gently stirring a cup of coffee.
I was going insane.
"Wally, maybe you shouldn't go today. You still look clammy."
"I'm fine." I lied and went to go find my shoes.
"Wally, it's not like its school. This line of work is dangerous in general and extremely hazardous when you're sick." I heard her say, as I grabbed hold of my sneakers and came back to the table.
"No, I wouldn't even try to go to school like this." I joked as I pulled out a chair and sat for a while closing my eyes. I could just imagine the look on my Aunt's face at the moment.
"Very funny." She replied dryly, and I peeked open one of my eyes and the memory I revisited in my dreams came back into view.
"Aunt Iris" I called as I cradled my head in my hands, staring down to the dinner table.
"Yeah?" I heard her ask, and there is a slight clink of her spoon hitting the side of her coffee cup.
"You remember when I was seven and I called you a bitch?" I asked looking up to see her face. She looked at me with a shocked expression and cleared her throat.
"Vividly." She answered then smiled, "You had quite a potty mouth on you. Why do you ask?"
I shrugged and leaned back on my chair taking a deep breath, "Reminiscing the good ol' days."
I watched as my aunt gave me a long stare. She was almost begging me to open up with her eyes until she suddenly reached over taking hold of my hands then squeezed. I could feel the pulses of warmth from her hands shoot through mine. It was enough to get me to feel pressure behind my eyes.
"I never meant that." I told her, looking up at her worried expression and sniffed. I was holding back any tears that wanted to slip past my eyes.
She gave me a warm smile, shaking her head, "I know, Wally. You didn't even know what it meant. Even after Barry explained it to you. I think after five times explaining it you finally understood. I remember you coming into the kitchen wailing that you would never say that word to me ever again."
I laughed, "Yeah because my bottom hurt from all the spankings Uncle Barry gave me."
I watched as Aunt Iris shook her head and leaned back, "I want you to be safe. You hear me?"
Sometimes it was so hard to believe that my aunt wasn't affected by living with a monster like my father. She was so kind. So caring to me. It made me feel sick all over again.
"I hear you." I answered and got up, looking around for my partner, "Where's Barry?"
"He had to stop over at Star Labs something about talking too an old friend."
I furrowed my eyebrows, "In Star City? Who? About what?"
"Never you mind, Wallace." She shook her finger an inch from my nose and I rolled my eyes.
"Bye then." I told her.
"If all that happens tonight is training you come back home." She said, giving me her last instructions before I would leave.
"Yup." I pushed in the chair and started to head out.
"And put on a jacket it's getting cold outside."
"Mmhm." I hummed reaching into the coat closet and pulled out my red jacket.
"You should probably get some mittens and a hat from the-"
"Aunt Iris!" I cried cutting her off. I knew she was only doing this because of how I felt but seriously? I wasn't a child anymore.
"I'm sorry." She said, shrugging. "It's just because I don't want you to get any worse than what you are at the moment."
"I know." And I headed towards the door. "Bye."
"I love you, Wally."
I stopped and almost broke down right there. Why did she have to do that now? In her sweet mothering voice. Those three words were so hard for me, I couldn't even voice them aloud.
I turned and walked up to my aunt giving her a tight hug, smelling the perfume she always wears. "Me too." I paused, the words only bubbled behind my throat. I could never form the words. "You know."
"I do." She said and as I pulled back she kissed my cheek.
Recognized Kid Flash B-03
I stumbled into the cave and took some deep breaths. Today was going to be a long one, I thought bitterly.
"Hey, Baywatch!" I looked up and saw Artemis already in uniform. Her lips formed a smirk as she placed her hands on her hips, "You're late, and Batman already de-briefed us. You'll have to change and listen on the way."
I nodded feebly and let my head drop a bit as I leaned against the wall. The trip through the zeta-beam shook me up a bit.
"Wally?" she asked, her snarky attitude morphing into a concerned one as she rushed to my side. "You okay?"
"Uh, yeah I'm fine. Just sometimes I get motion sickness through the tubes." I shook her off gently. She looked at me, giving me an 'I'm not buying it' look then said,
"Well the only person we're waiting on is you, so hurry up."
"Just give me a second." I nodded and took off to my room, searching for my uniform. After literally tearing through the already messy room to find a clean uniform, I found one under my bed. I tugged it on with record timing and quickly made my way to the loading bay, where the rest of my team was boarding the Bio-ship.
"Oh, Wally, you missed out on the cookies I made." Came Megan's voice and I felt the queasiness take hold.
"Uh," I groaned taking hold of my stomach, "That's alright Miss M. I was with my aunt today." Which for the record wasn't a lie.
"But most importantly you missed out on the briefing." Aqualad told me, placing a hand upon my shoulder.
"'m sorry." I mumbled suddenly feeling way too hot.
"I don't think he should go." A small voice piped up.
A small part of me knew Robin was right. That I should just head back home and get some rest, but I was already here. I couldn't see myself turning back.
"Look," I said, my forehead furrowed with resolve, "We're wasting time. If Batman sent us on a mission then we should hop to it."
"Okay, he seriously is sick." Zatanna teased.
~000~
"So, Bat's got a lead over in that small town?" Kid Flash asked his breathing with deep and he leaned against his chair on the bio-ship.
"Yeah," I said, turning around and opened up the small heliographic computer, showing him the coordinates. "He believes their headquarters are here." I pointed at the blinking red dot.
"In those woods where we were at before? We didn't find anything. Is this a joke?" He complained. There's the Wally I know.
"Batman never jokes about the mission."
I got an eye roll as a response.
We sat in silence. It seemed like everyone was trying to get into the mindset of the mission. My nose was throbbing and I had to fight the urge to touch it, but I didn't want to ruin the hard work Babs did with making it seem like my nose was whole.
If anyone thought being a hero was easy they had another thing coming.
"We're approaching our destination." Miss M spoke up, taking me out of my thoughts.
I turned watching as my team members formed their pairs, waiting for the drop zone to search the forest for the headquarters.
"Who am I with?" Kid Flash asked, staggering up from his chair. He looked positively green now. He was sweating profusely and looked as if he needed to get a trash bin immediately.
"I think it would be beneficial if you would stay aboard the bio-ship." Aqualad advised.
"I could set up a bed in the back." Miss M suggested.
I rolled my eyes behind my mask and stood. "He can just come with me. He obviously wants to go and who are we to stop him." I looked up at the speedster, "He doesn't listen to anyone anyway."
He gave me look and opened his mouth, but before any words could form Superboy spoke,
"Are we doing this or what?"
I sat perched up in a tree with my computer open as I watched for any form of detection. At the moment there was nothing.
I sighed and looked over, "Why didn't you stay home dude?"
He shrugged and ran his fingers through his shaggy hair. "Why, don't you want me here?"
I stared back at the screen and shook my head, "I didn't say that."
"You're totally implying it."
I furrowed my eyebrows and stared at him in disbelief, is he that ill? "Dude, I just asked because you look like shit."
I heard a huff then, "Thanks a lot."
"Would you rather I lie to you?" I asked and felt a pang of guilt in the pit of my stomach. Of course I went there.
"No," was his simple reply and it was enough to make me feel like standing from the tree branch and stepping off the edge.
"Uh, Robin I think you should probably get your computer looked at."
I raised an eyebrow at the Archer's words inside my head then replied back, "My computer is fine. It's obvious-"
"We found an old warehouse. You guys should probably head over here." Zatanna chimed in and I looked down at my blank screen.
"Maybe it is broken?" Kid Flash suggested and started to make his way down from the tree.
~000~
Robin and I found the rest of our teammates just on the outskirts of the forest. It was beginning to get chilly and I had to bring my hands to together so I could blow some warm air into my palms. I looked around trying to find the suspected warehouse only to see bare greenery.
"Um, no offense but I don't see anything." I said to the group at large looking over at the magician and came to a realization, "Oh, is this a thing where you need to be a believer of magic?"
"Jeez, when you're sick you're a dick." Artemis said and I scowled at her. There was so many words I wanted to call her at the moment but I decided against it.
"Don't start you two." Robin suddenly snapped and I turned about to open my mouth to retort but he cut me off, "All you two do is bicker. We're not here for do that. Wally it's not magic the place is camouflaged."
"Robin is correct." Aqualad said coming between the two of us. I stared up at the Atlantean and I could almost see the wheels turning behind his pale green eyes. Kaldur might have been a reluctant leader, but that didn't stop him from considering every motive very carefully.
"Listen," He said to get the full attention of all members of the team, "We're here to search for the HQ, if for any reason you see any children or teens from files Batman showed us do not hesitate to get them out."
We all nodded in understanding.
"Zatanna and I already took down the guards that were on the perimeter." Artemis spoke and Zatanna nodded in agreement.
"Good." Aqualad's voice rang through my mind, "Let's go."
"Where exactly do we go in at?" Robin asked staring curiously at the empty space.
"I don't believe this." I said finally waltzing up to the so called hidden building and looked back at them, "There's nothing there." and just to prove my theory I kicked my leg out.
Pain erupted from my toe and fought the urge to swear. I started to hobble on my good foot, holding onto my foot and looked back at them, "Okay maybe there is something here."
"Good job, now we definitely can see it." Artemis replied a smirk tugging at her lips and I turned to see the warehouse wavering into view. "So, it's not magic?" She asked her hands on her hips and I frowned gingerly putting my foot on the ground before I answered her,
"It's like Miss M's Bio-ship" I corrected and she rolled her eyes.
We found a spot towards the back of the warehouse where a window was cracked from what looked like rocks being thrown.
"Heh, I used to be a kid like that." I thought before I remembered that my thoughts could be overheard.
"What?" Robin asked beside me and I shook my head as Miss M peered inside.
"I don't see anyone." She said and began to widen the crack so we could all get in.
"And I won't be able to get through the alarms this time. My computer is fried." Rob let us know still messing with his wrist device.
"I am hoping we won't have to worry about it." Aqualad said and hoisted himself up on the ledge of the open window after Miss M was finished.
The smell of musk entered my nostrils as we snuck into the place. Without the light from the moon we resorted to flash lights to navigate ourselves through the pitch-black factory. The interior of the warehouse was a bit unsettling. The beams cast erratic shadows, falling upon rotted stacks of logs and stationary equipment that had long since rusted over. Scattered wood chips crunched beneath our feet and oddly enough Superboy kept sneezing.
"This is disgusting." Zatanna quipped and I have to disagree with her. This honestly was nothing compared to some of the missions I had gone on with my uncle.
I shivered at the thought and felt Robin's hand on my shoulder. There's warmth in that touch and I looked down at his dimly lit face, "You okay?" He mouthed and I nodded figuring it was best to not have him worry.
Just then his computer lit up as if it had been rebooted. Robin's hand left my shoulder, making me feel alone. I shook myself out of it as I watched his fingers dance along the pad.
"Guys there's something here." He said moving away from me and down the hall where the darkness swallowed him up. I shivered as it reminded me of my dream about Rich.
"Hey wait up." I called after him and sped towards him. My foot hooked itself around something and I was falling. I landed hard on my side and cursed as the lights around the warehouse start to light up and the security alarms rang through my ears.
~000~
I ran as fast as I possibly could, following the path to where my computer was directing me until I found myself staring at a large wooden door.
I don't waste any time as I kicked open the door. The hinges break off immediately and I am faced with at least half a dozen teenagers. All looking under fed and each lying on a dirty mattress.
"Che cosa sta succedendo?" A girl asked. Her face looked as if someone had kicked her. It was swollen and it looked as if she had only recently stopped crying.
"E 'un eroe Americano. Sei venuto a salvarci?" (*Is that an american hero? Are you here to save us?*)
"Ci"(*Yes*) I addressed them all. Their faces swayed with relief. "Ma prima c'è da qualche parte in questa stanza che sta emettendo segnali. C'è forse un computer testa da qualche parte? Qualcuno di voi sa dove che forse? " (*But first there's somewhere in this room that's giving off signals. Is there possibly a head computer somewhere? Do any of you know where that is maybe - *)
But I was cut off by the sounds of bullets ringing just down the hall.
~000~
I swerved, missing a bullet by mere inches and swiped the gun, just in the nick of time as Superboy took the opportunity to punch the guy square in the jaw and the lackey fell to the ground unconscious.
"Good one." I praised and Conner merely grinned. Then he quickly took off to fight the rest of the attackers.
I looked around the room. It seemed like we were winning, but there was no sign of the boy wonder. I took my leave to finally follow him, careful not to slip on anything. It was easier since I could see where I was going this time. There was two long corridors and I felt like smacking that bird the next time I see him. Why did he have to go running off like that? I thought and played the, which hallway would boy blunder go through game.
I decided to go down the first one and after one step I felt something hard and heavy connect with the back of my head. My thoughts were instantly scrambled and I fell again tonight yet this time my mind was fogging over. I fought against losing consciousness as I hit the ground, a groan escaping my mouth, and I struggled to move my hand to head.
I heard laughter around me and thick accented words that I can barely make out.
"Uh, I knew I should've listened more carefully in Italian." I thought as the world around me whirled around and I felt myself getting sick. I shut my eyes and reopened them just as one of the thugs took hold of me and lifted me up a bit.
"Little American hero." He said, yanking my head backwards. I couldn't even register what the man looked like, "Why don't you try this on for size."
My mouth and nose is covered in a cloth and I immediately tried to wrench my head away, but it's a fruitless attempt. The foggy sensation intensifies and all too soon I was falling backwards into oblivion.
I don't know where I am.
And I'm terrified.
Moments later, or was it hours? I wasn't quite sure, but I finally regained consciousness. My eyes fluttered open and the small light illuminating the room told me I'm not in Italy anymore.
"Oh good you're awake." I heard a voice by the foot of this bed I was on and I turned my head slightly thinking I'd see Richard since it sounded so much like his voice, but found Robin instead, mask and all.
I groaned as I felt him sit next to me on the bed, laying a wet cloth on top of my head. "What happened? I feel worse than what I did before."
"You were drugged by the Interlocks." Robin explained and I put a hand to my face only to realize that I didn't have my costume on anymore. In fact the only thing I was wearing was my briefs.
"You're home, by the way." Robin said, explaining the part that I was missing.
"Oh, so what happened? Is it over?"
I felt Robin shift on my bed then said, "For the most part kind of. There was about six teenagers there that we got out. I looked up the database on their computer," and Robin opened up his wrist device to show me, "The rest seemed to have been sold to brothels and black market slavery." He looked at my facial expression and quickly said, "Don't worry we'll find them. We've got the list of the ring leaders, which the league has asked us to look into, but I'm afraid at the moment our missions will include researching and document work."
"Oh, I can't wait." I murmured sarcastically and Robin chuckled.
"Me too." He said with the same fake enthusiasm.
"Probably the best thing about being just a partner is that you don't have to do paperwork. That was always Uncle Barry's job."
Robin scoffed, "Maybe for you but Bat's always has me reading documents and doing paperwork."
"But you're a detective. I'm merely a speedster." I grinned up at him and I suspected there is an eye roll behind that mask of his.
"Speaking of you being a speedster." He said and I yelped as a sharp attack of his index and thumb took a glob of my skin and twisted it painfully. "Don't you ever run off like that again without telling someone. What the heck were you thinking?"
"Ow! Sick person here. You could've been a bit nicer with that." I complained rubbing the sore spot. "And I don't think. I'm impulsive remember?"
"Yeah," Robin agreed, "I think we should start calling you Impulse."
"Hm," I said, after thinking a while about the name. "I think the next speedster should take that name. I'm quite fond of my own."
~000~
"So what did you tell Iris to say to Wally, if he asked where you gone?" asked the man in front of me.
"That I was visiting Adam Strange at Star Labs. You?" I asked, adding a cream to my coffee.
"Everyone at my home always thinks I'm going out on special date." He replied and my cheeks suddenly grew red.
"It's always a pleasure to see you out of work, Bruce, but what exactly did you call this get together for? Because I'm guessing you haven't suddenly turned bent." I said, looking through the menu at the diner Iris and I would usually get breakfast together at, after she would be finished with her morning show.
Bruce gave a sigh and leaned back against the booth, "It's about Wallace." He explained.
I nodded, "I don't know what I'm going to do with-" I stopped when Bruce held his hand up.
"And Richard."
I put my menu down and stared up at the playboy with great interest waiting for him to continue.
"I know they are best friends and I, by all means, couldn't wish a better friend for my son than what Wally is for Dick." He took a breath, "but just recently it's come to my attention that there may be more than just a friendship."
"What do you mean?" I asked taking a sip of my coffee.
"I mean I believe my son wants to ask Wally out on a date."
I choked on my coffee the hot liquid burned down my throat as I coughed out, "I beg your pardon?"
I stared at Bruce who, for once, looked ready to share his findings.
Happy Friday! Thank you to everyone you all are so sweet sending me a happy birthday. Please take the time to review!
With love and always stay asterous,
~Bodyinthegarden~