A/N: Alright, we're closing in on the final chapters. I think there'll be one more official chapter and then a brief epilogue. So here's the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any associated characters.
"I feel like jelly," laughed Wally, scraggly hair hanging across his forehead. He'd been maintained for the past few months, but he still looked ragged at best. "Really, my whole body is basically dead. But I can talk, so no big deal, right?" A grin crept across his features, broad and smug.
"The rest of us sort of liked it better when you were quiet, West," remarked Roy, only to be hit by both Gothamites in the room. "Ouch. Guys, come on, that was unnec-" He was hit a second (fourth?) time and went silent with a smirk.
"Don't listen to him," muttered Artemis, shooting her fellow archer the dirtiest look imaginable.
"We're glad you're awake, dude," breathed Dick, sitting at his best friend's bedside with a deeply seeded concern still glistening in his pristine azure orbs. "We were all really worried about you for a while. I was afraid you wouldn't-"
"Wouldn't wake up?" finished Wally, something dark clouding his vision while he forced a smile to lighten the mood as best he could. "You never needed to worry about me. Speedster, remember? Speed-healing and whatnot. I was always going to wake up, Rob." This time, his grin was genuine. "Besides, I can't just leave you alone with these two knuckleheads, can I?"
Artemis concurred, "Okay, maybe I did like him better when he was quiet."
Something all too similar to a Batglare pierced her skin and she straightened up right away, her attitude checking itself, and she knew to watch her mouth. Once Dick's eyes were averted, she gave Roy a terribly apologetic look for the earlier diss.
"They take care of me," said Dick in all honesty; his voice was soft and sincere. "It's not ideal, but it's doable. And I get to stay in Gotham."
"Well, that was the plan, wasn't it?" Self-satisfaction overwhelmed Wally's features, turning him into the cocky ginger they'd all come to love. "Keep you in Gotham, where it's safe and sound for baby birds. Have the hawks keep an eye on you until you're ready to fly again." He gave a chuckle when Dick paled. "Dude, I can just tell you've put on the cape again. Don't even try it with me." Weakly, he pointed a finger at Artemis and Roy, who had broken out into satisfied smirks as well. "Their poker faces suck."
Humor caught Dick's eyes. "I know. I got about thirty bucks from Roy last week."
"You don't have to remind me, birdbrain." Calloused fingers pressed to his temple, he calculated how much work he'd have to do to earn that cash back...
Wally continued like there had never been a tangent to the conversation. "You're relaxed and calm. Less tension in your shoulders and that vein in your neck is receding for the most part. Your hair isn't as messy as you used to keep it. Oh, and you look less like a lost puppy and more like an over-worked, over-tired kid."
"When did he get observant?" asked Roy, which Artemis could only respond to with a shrug.
"Funny how none of the League have noticed yet," remarked Dick, pretending like he hadn't heard Roy and Artemis's side conversation. "But I'm grateful. They could be turning a blind eye for all I know, I'm just glad to be back at it." A content sigh passed his lips along with a look of sheer satisfaction. "Life has purpose again, you know?"
Wally flailed one arm what little he could before loosing a hoarse laugh. "Kind of. Because being conscious is better than months and months of being a vegetable."
Dick smiled and picked up Wally's mostly limp arm by the wrist. "Barry said you should be back up again in about a month as long as your muscles repair themselves fast. Running again in two months, probably back on the job in three. Under the conditions that you behave and whatnot," he added with a sly grin, which the speedster returned without missing a beat.
"Which leaves you stuck here while we work out wherever this one's going," noted Roy, withdrawing the will from his pocket. He gently tossed the slip of paper in Dick's lap. "You should take a look at that. Check it verbatim. Because really, I'm not sure I believe it myself."
Artemis really wanted to hit him for bringing it along, but on the other hand, Wally's reaction was a mixed, both concern and excitement sweeping across his jade visage.
"You actually looked at it?" asked Grayson somberly with a disappointed glance at the auburn archer.
"If you don't like what it says, we'll put it back and no one ever saw it." One corner of his mouth then quirked up, his sucky poker face coming out again. "Trust me though, I think you'll be alright with what he planned for you."
"As long as Canary doesn't have control-"
"Not even mentioned."
Reluctantly, Richard gave Roy one last wary look before checking to see KF's encouraging smile. He then proceeded to unfold it in the slowest possible fashion.
His eyes scanned the document until he saw his name. 'Richard John Grayson' wasn't too hard to spot over the years, especially when skimming newspaper articles or teen magazine snippets.
I leave my ward, Richard John Grayson, in his own hands. He is capable of choosing his own path, and I leave it to him to decide where he spends the rest of his childhood and/or teenage years. If should so choose to find a home with his circus family once more, it is his decision and I leave his life in his own hands this time.
"That was..." Disbelief hazed his perception. "...anticlimactic."
Artemis's lips were pursed, waves of frustration coming off of her. "I agree."
"What are you complaining about?" asked Roy, sharing a cynical (but very satisfied) look with West. "You've got a choice. You can stay with us, Dick. You can keep a room in the Watchtower if you want to. Hell, you could even move back in with Wally! Bruce gave you options, be grateful!" He'd been in the system before and he was glad Dick wasn't going to be put back through child services. The orphanage had hurt him once and no way was Harper letting him go back in there, not even if the world depended on it.
"Roy, you're missing the point. Bruce didn't do this to give me options," breathed Dick, neatly folding the paper up along the same creases he'd opened it to. "Bruce did this to tell me he trusted me, that he raised me right. It's not telling me what to do or that he wants me to live a certain life. He gave me my freedom."
Upon its offering, Roy reached out and took the paper back, slipping it back in his pocket. "Still, you've got options. Show this to Dinah and explain it to her, you're home free."
For a long time. He wasn't quite sure what to think. He was blessed, yes, to have Bruce give him a choice. But maybe he anticipated this, death in the line of duty, and could sense that the League, his family, would be protective of their precious bird. Dick wanted to believe that Bruce had done this so he could remain Robin. But he couldn't be sure. He'd never be sure because there was no way for him to go and ask Bruce if he was saving his ward from himself once again.
"You'll stay in Gotham, right?" asked Wally, jade eyes obviously hopeful. Gotham was better than the Watchtower and was easily better than Clark Kent's apartment. The only other true options were Mount Justice or with the Allens again.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, slipping on his familiar shades, and standing up, he gave a resigned look to the archers and then to the speedster. "I need to think about things." His lips were pursed as he headed for the door, shoulder slumped forward with his hair in his eyes. "I'll get back to you guys on that."
And he was gone.
"He left you with a choice?" asked the magician's daughter, her head tilted to the side slightly. Her expectant eyes left the passing cars to look at her friend; he was clearly distraught, and it troubled her more than anything else in the world. In the few months that she'd known him, he'd been living in a form of absolute Hell for a child like him. And right now, Dick Grayson was more torn up inside than she'd ever seen him in his purgatory.
"He trusts me enough to decide on my future," breathed the bird, fingers running through his hair as he anxiously tried to spit out coherent words. "I don't know what I want to do with my life. I'm fifteen, I'm a junior in high school, I shouldn't have to make these decisions, Zee."
Her heart went out to him, and she truly wanted to just hold him and tell him it would be alright. But she couldn't promise such things.
"In the past two years, I've been left behind, kicked out, stranded, and finally dragged away to a home that I thought could be permanent. Artemis and Roy finally seemed to be getting along and then they went and found the will..." He sighed and tilted his head back, looking up at the big blue sky with sheep-like clouds drifting across the massive meadow of the atmosphere. "I love it there," he said softly, "but I feel like a burden. Mrs. Crock shouldn't have to take care of me. She works two jobs just to make ends meet and Roy's barely making enough to support himself along with minimal help from Ollie. It's like we're barely afloat."
His voice was breaking slightly; she could feel her heart doing the same.
"Bruce left me money, but I still feel like I'd be undermining all of their hard work by taking the easy route. I just don't want to put any of them through this misery of working their butts off when there's an easier way, and yet the easier way would hurt their pride. And you know how Artemis is with her pride." He finally looked to her with the faint traces of a grin lingering on his face and could see diamond-like tears in her sapphire blue eyes. "Zatanna, are you o-"
Her arms wrapped around his neck as she pulled him in for a tight, loving hug. "Dick," she said with a heartbreaking smile, those tears slipping down her face, "you are one of the strongest, smartest, most incredible people I've ever met." The magician's daughter pulled out of the hug, but her arms still encircled his neck to keep him close. "If Bruce is trusting you with your own life and your own money, you should trust yourself too." After he'd brushed away a tear with a careful finger, she gave a shied laugh and continued softly, "You should do what makes you happy. Don't worry about other people right now. Just be happy. That's all anybody's ever wanted for you."
He smiled and wiped away another tear, which gave her a reason to hug him again. Dick could merely thank her for her words and return the gesture. And he felt happy.
A/N: In my head, this whole concept sounded so much better, but I feel exactly like Dick says. I'm sorry if it doesn't live up to what you were expecting, but hey, it's what I've had in mind the entire time and I feel like it's exactly what would happen.
Also, I'd like to say that I tried to play the platonic card there in the end, but I haven't been shipping much lately, so I'm sorry if my Chalant side came through. Alright, anyways, please leave a review and thank you guys for still sticking with this story.
~Sky
