Walking Dead

Aloysha: Yawns. Collapses onto the floor. I'm sleeeeeeeeeepy.

Dimitri: Nudges Losha with toe. You're useless.

Losha: Blow me sparky.

Dimitri: …ugh. Perv. Just start the goddamn story.

Losha: We don't even own ourselves, his mother and my grandparents have that honor, so no da we don't own anything. We promise to wash and disinfect the characters before returning them to their rightful owners.

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Chapter Two

Bright Lights are Enough To Keep You

Matchbox Twenty "Bright Lights"

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Dakota

Foley House

It was getting very easy to lie to his parents. Richie wasn't sure what to make of that exactly, but he knew it was getting a lot easier than it had once been. When he'd first started helping Static as Gear he'd stuttered through lies and had a hard time getting anything out. He'd been a terrible liar and the excuses he came up with had been so lame it hurt to even think of them anymore.

Still when he pretended to be shocked and/or surprised at the letter he got from Wayne Tech, saying he'd been accepted to a summer program for 'science prodigies' he'd done a very convincing job. So convincing that the moment his father learned it was free the man had practically been packing his bags. Can't afford to pass up a chance like this, oh no.

He had to make something of himself and he'd never manage to do that around here, around Virgil and whoever else he was hanging out with these days.

Sometimes Richie wondered what his father would say if he ever told him that there was pretty much nothing he wanted more than to be around Virgil. Or, better yet, with Virgil. He almost smiled at the image of his father passing out from shock drifted through his mind.

Nonetheless the bus left tomorrow morning ("The letter must have gotten stopped up in the mail." He'd said when his father commented on the suddenness.) and he had to be on it and ready for a trip to Gotham City.

Oddly enough that part was actually true. Donnie and Jayce Catalina were celebrating Donnie's eighteenth birthday in Gotham. And New York. And Chicago, LA, Paris, London, Milan, Tokyo, and wherever else they felt like going. Oddly enough Donnie wasn't turning eighteen until the beginning of July and it was still June.

Richie really wished he was that rich…and not just in the 'I'm pretending to be rich, pampered, and not completely human' kind of way. He doubted Lantern was going to let him go running off with Donnie's credit card or anything like that.

Unless he made something up about keeping up appearances. It would, after all, look weird if two guys who spent thousands of dollars a day suddenly stopped doing so, right? It might draw some attention from people and that would be bad.

So bad in fact that whoever was stalking the Catalina brother's might start to get suspicious and back off of their targets, thus making all of this for nothing. They couldn't risk something like that happening. It was just unthinkable.

That made complete sense.

All he had to do was run it by Green Lantern and hope he didn't burst out laughing at him. Not that Green Lantern was the type to bust out laughing at much of anything. He had that whole stoic, honorable, and professional hero thing down pat.

Hell, Richie believed it. He couldn't really picture Lantern as anything except Lantern. Certainly not as bodyguard to some rich snot, which was the role he'd be taking on. While Virgil watched him Lantern would watch whoever would be playing his brother.

It occurred to Richie right about then that he had no idea who else Lantern had drafted. He knew a little bit about Jayce, but not enough to guess whom Lantern may have chosen. There were so many League members now and he'd never seen the vast majority out of costume and had no idea if they'd make a good impersonator or not.

Riche raked his hands through his hair and sighed. Not that he had time to be worrying about any of that stuff anyway. He had twenty-four hours to learn how to fake a New York accent being faked by a European. Or, failing that, a European accent in general.

Either one would probably be okay.

Besides, anything that made him stop thinking of all of the perverted connotations of Virgil guarding his body had to be a good thing.

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Gotham City

Some Hotel (no, really, that's the name…)

John was sitting at a desk and looking through the pile of information the Catalina security force had been kind enough to part with. Most of it was basic information on the brothers and their father, some financial stuff, basic 'plans' for the next few weeks. List of people they associated with, venues Jayce's band planned on playing, girls (and boys) Donnie was avoiding like the plague…

He groaned and rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

He was suddenly wishing there was an easier way to go about this. How had he come up with this foolishly complex plan anyway? He was spending too much time around Wally.

That was pretty much his general explanation for all overwhelming stupid behavior on his part. Not that this was stupid, exactly, so much as kind of pushing his luck. He was sure the actual Catalina boys would get away safely, as he didn't suspect his fellow Lanterns of being traitors (though he'd handpicked the ones involved just in case) It was more his end of things that had him worried.

Kyle would be taking over things in the League and Coast City for him for the time being and the official story would be that he was off world to handle some kind of business. Kid Flash would look after Central City, with help from some of Wally's friends. Dakota would fall under the care of the rest of Young Justice for the time being.

That was all under control.

It was Virgil and Richie he was concerned about. They were kids after all, even if they were very powerful kids with a lot resting on their shoulders. He'd never been a fan of making kids do the jobs of adults. He knew he didn't have to worry about Wally, though he'd do it anyway, because Wally had been doing this for longer than a lot of other people could boast.

If he got hurt then it was just part of what he did. They all sported scars under their costumes, and not just the kind that made it hard to get a date with anyone 'normal'. Though they all had quite a few of those as well.

But Static and Gear…

He blamed his stupid sense of morality. He'd promised Virgil's father he'd take care of them and, while he fully intended to do just that, it'd been a stupid thing to do. Now if something went wrong it would rest solely on his head because he'd taken the responsibility on. He'd promised that man, swore on his honor, that everything would be okay and…well, he couldn't really promise that.

He didn't know what he was up against. These could be run of the mill racist assholes or they could be…more than that. He really didn't know what kind of danger he'd put them in.

And thus overwhelmingly stupid behavior.

Oh well. There was nothing to do about it now. The boys' father had already 'hired' him as bodyguard and trusted him to keep his boys safe. He kind of felt bad about that too. He hadn't let the man in on the plan and, for all he would know, his boys would be safe and sound on Earth, not heading towards their mother's planet.

Still, he couldn't afford to let more people than absolutely necessary in on this little plan. The last thing he needed was to let too many people know and risk a leak of information. This whole thing hinged on secrecy and no one knowing about the switch.

"John."

He managed to not jump at the low gravelly voice. Rather he turned and looked at the shadowed figure of Batman standing on the balcony of his hotel room. He knew he shouldn't have left that damn thing open. It was practically a neon sign proclaiming 'Hey, Bruce, Look! I'm invading your turf and have the nerve to leave my door open where you can walk in. Please smack me with one of your overly expensive and complex gadgets'.

He sighed to cover up his amusement at his own thoughts. "Batman."

"I know why you're in Gotham."

"Should I look surprised now or later?"

"Later." Batman smiled slightly. They got along fairly well. At least as well as two amazingly anti-social people could get alone with each other. Either way John wasn't really worried about getting into anything. The verbal sparring was usually reserved for Clark or Wally, respectively, and he knew Bruce didn't want to get in a fight with him.

He didn't have years of martial arts training, but Bruce was short. Compared to him at least.

"Next time you decide to run things in my town inform me."

He rolled his eyes. "You know I had to-"

"Keep it quite. I know." He didn't even blink. "I'm good with secrets John. There are never leaks."

"Fine. I apologize. It won't happen again. Please, forgive me."

Batman nodded, apparently satisfied with his slightly sarcastic apology. He walked over towards him, casting a long almost sinister shadow across the floor. John offered him one of the files, more than willing to hear Batman's opinion.

He was, after all, the king of undercover operations. Nothing in Gotham was half of what it seemed to be and everyone was playing a role. In all honesty Batman should have been the first person he went to. Not he regretted going to J'onn and Wally first, just the principal of the matter.

"Wally must be throwing a fit."

John smirked. "Most likely."

"Try to be less obvious about how much you enjoy upsetting him." John just blinked at him, wondering if he had the presence of mind to try to feign ignorance. Decided he didn't and just shrugged. Batman turned a page before commenting. "He and Richie were good choices. Virgil as well. He'll be able to pick up taps, cameras, and surveillance of that nature as well as put up a decent defense against anyone after Richie."

"A decent defense?" John snorted. "Even you have to admit he's going to be one of the most powerful forces when he finally comes into his full power." Batman didn't say anything to that so he continued. "And you know just as well as I do that he'll put up more than a decent defense. Anyone who tries to hurt Richie may just have to kill him first."

Batman nodded slowly then stared at him. "Have you considered that such strong feelings may be a liability?"

"Of course. The potential value is greater than the potential risk."

"Is that your reasoning for choosing Wally?"

John smiled wryly. "My reasoning is selfish, but thanks for the vote of confidence."

Not that he'd gone completely into left field to decide upon Flash. He, like Gear, shared body type, build, eye color, and age. Beyond that he did actually look like Jayce, almost uncannily so. However there were one or two others that John could have decided on who could have played the part jut as well.

But Wally was the only person he wanted along with him for this. He was one of the few people John could actually work with and not want to strangle within a few hours and yeah, the younger man could be annoying but he usually did it on purpose. The rest of the League was so serious and it probably could have done with a few more people with Wally's sense of humor. Plus they worked well together and John didn't play nice with a lot of people.

Not that he was telling anyone any of that. He had a reputation to maintain after all and Wally sure as hell didn't need any kind of ego stroking.

"I know the Catalina brothers. Very annoying. Wally and Richie have the look but personality wise you'll run into a few problems. That aside you know about the rumors that circulate around Donnie?" Batman tossed the file back onto the bed and crossed his arms over his chest. "They're completely true. He'd sleep with anything on two legs. Anything. Probably a few things on four legs if he thought he could get away with it."

John smirked at the slightly bitter tone to Batman's voice. "Did he hit on you?"

"Dick. And Tim once or twice. Barbara a few times." He made a vague gesture. "I'm too old for him. Thank god. I shudder to think where that boy has been. The point is a lot of people will be throwing themselves in Richie's path and he's…"

"Socially inept?" John guessed, smiling slightly. He didn't mean it of course. …Well, maybe a little bit. That kid made people like him and Bruce look a lot better. At least they chose to be anti-social; Gear just kind of came by it naturally.

"I was going to say shy. Just be careful about how he reacts to people, Wally as well. Jayce doesn't date much. The rumor is that he prefers men, period, but doesn't want anyone to know about it. Not that Wally would have any trouble playing that role," It took a concentrated effort on John's part not to laugh. "Jayce shies away from people, crowds, and being touched so keep a leash on Wally. …Not in the literal sense so stop smirking."

"You have a sick mind Bruce, sick." He said shaking his head. "Any other useful information for me?"

"Beware those hiding cameras. And don't let Gear do his own shopping. Donnie has a very…defined sense of style and Richie is…well." A small smile. John wondered if the world was starting to end. "Richie. About the switch-"

"It'll be done here. Jayce and Donnie are in the Royal Suit on the top floor with two Lanterns, Wally's bringing Richie and Virgil here, and in theory everything will go smoothly."

"In theory."

"Which means it will all go to hell pretty fast." John smiled thinly. "But that's to be expected."

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The bus ride to Gotham was pretty uneventful, a rarity for the two of them. And so they did what any self-respecting heroes would do when presented with a break from life and death situations.

They slept. Most of the trip was spent slumped in their seats and dead to the world around them. Oddly enough it was probably the first interrupted sleep either had gotten all week. Richie awoke first and started to stretch in an attempt to return awareness to his body. However there was a large warm weight on his side that only shifted closer when he attempted to move. He turned, brain doing a temporary shut down, and blinked in confusion.

Virgil had, apparently, slid over in his slip and was lying against him. His head was pillowed on his shoulder and the length of his upper body was pressed against his side. It seemed he'd gotten tired of lying against the window and decided his friend was more comfortable.

Richie swallowed then peered around anxiously to see if anyone was watching him. The bus was pretty much full and, judging by the height of the sun and the passing scenery they were about five or ten minutes from the edge of Gotham City. Oh, yeah, and Virgil was sleeping on him, practically cuddled up against his side.

"Oh man." He muttered, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them he found the man in front of him had twisted around slightly. Richie couldn't fight the blush flaming across his face as the man looked on him. The look of disgust made his heart thud loudly in his chest and the sneer had him looking at the ground, almost ashamed even though he hadn't done anything.

He knew what the man was thinking. It was the same thing a lot of people did if they saw two men or two women too closer or 'intimate for their liking. He couldn't lie and say he was unaware of what people said about people like him.

Like him.

Gay Richie. They call is gay

Yeah. That.

He was sorely tempted to wake Virgil up or at least try to nudge him in the other direction. Only he didn't really want him to move. He kind of liked the contact. Maybe because he was a very hands on person. He could visualize a great many things but they all seemed to lack meaning until he actually made them real and was able to touch them. It helped him separate what went on in his head from what really was.

Then again he'd always been that was, even before Gear. He liked being able to touch things and, he'd learned after years of friendship with Virgil, he apparently liked to be touched as well.

There was a flash of light to his right and he craned his neck in time to see a person shoving a camera into a duffle bad. They seemed normal enough in worn jeans and a blue-hooded sweatshirt, though the hood did stop him from seeing the person's face.

"What are you-"

"Blackmail." He could hear the smile in the voice. "Years from now, when you're all big and well known, I'll have pictures of you two cuddling."

Richie knew that voice and wasn't sure if he was surprised to hear it or not. On the one hand Flash and Lantern had always seemed like pretty good friends, so why shouldn't he be involved? But, on the flip side of that, what was he doing on a bus from Dakota when he could run anywhere he wanted and be there faster than any possible mode of transportation.

And didn't live in Dakota, to Richie's knowledge at least.

"You aren't really going to show those to anyone are you?" Richie asked finally, frowning just slightly. Flash chuckled and shrugged.

"Depends."

"On?"

"The potential blackmail material this little assignment is going to bring."

Before Richie could ask what he meant by that the bus lurched to a stop and the hissing of the doors being opened roused most of the bus from their stupors. Including Virgil. Brown eyes blinked up at Richie, who stared down nervously.

Any minute now Virgil was going to start freaking out about all of this closeness. Not that Richie could blame him, if he was in Virgil's position he'd freak out too. But probably more for fear he'd done something embarrassing in his sleep, like confessing strange lust type feelings for his best friend, than because it was a strange and suggestive position.

Virgil yawned and put one hand on his chest, using him as leverage to push himself up. "Man, that was great. I haven't slept that good in a while."

Richie let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, before slipping back into the 'best friend' role. He stood up and shoved Virgil playfully.

"Yeah, right. What about when I tried to wake you up the other night to see who was in the Station?"

Virgil snorted dismissively. "Only because I didn't get into bed until really late; like two o'clock. And it wasn't a big deal, it was GL."

"But if it hadn't been and I'd gotten my ass kicked you would have felt bad."

Virgil, who'd been walking down the aisle, looked at him over his shoulder smile dropping into a very serious look. Richie swallowed and tried to keep himself from blushing under that strangely focused gaze. He didn't think he'd ever seen Virgil look so intense.

"I wouldn't let anything happen to you Rich."

He nodded, mouth suddenly too dry to even consider speaking. Virgil nodded as well then turned and continued on his way. Richie shivered. That…had been strange.

"That was interesting." Richie jumped, completely forgetting about the older hero hovering behind him. Flash laughed again then put a hand on the back of his shoulder, pushing him forward. "C'mon, GL's waiting for us and it's my job to get you there on time."

"So you're our what, escort?" Richie smiled faintly. Something about Flash, official goof off of the Justice League, making sure they got somewhere on time, started to force away his unease. It was just hard to be anything except amused in the Flash's presence.

"Is that skepticism?" Flash sounded a touch on the offended side. "I swear, there is a serious lack of respect among people these days. I've only saved the world half-a-dozen times over the years, and that's just as Flash."

They wove their way through the bus station, both falling silent as they walked through the crowds of people. Richie was looking around for Virgil, wondering where the other teen had wandered off to after getting off of the bus. He got his answer when they emerged from the station and found Virgil, with a taxi, waiting for them.

The taxi ride was silent as well. Richie was used to such lulls in conversation. The only thing worth talking about was what they were about to be doing and they couldn't talk about that sort of thing in front of other people and so there was just…silence. Not uncomfortable or uncommon.

Just silence.

It gave Richie some time to notice that Flash was very pointedly keeping the hood up over his face, seemingly hiding something. What exactly Richie had no idea but he figured he'd know soon enough. He couldn't very well plan to wear that hoodie forever after all.

Richie spent most of his time staring at the skyline. The sun was going down and against the tall, jagged stone buildings and twisted gargoyles and the orange-purple sky seemed almost ethereal. Gotham truly lived up to its name, with its eerie buildings and their twisted shadows.

He couldn't help but wonder what Batman and Robin must have been up to.

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Wally was still kind of annoyed. Not so annoyed that he hadn't done what he had to, but still…annoyed. He was kind of thinking he could get away with wearing various sweatshirts for however long this lasted. He could start a new fashion or something.

He was also a little troubled about the fact Jayce had a band. Wally didn't sing. At all. It was in the best interest of mankind that he didn't. He was thinking of the people here.

They got out of the taxi, after he paid the driver, and headed into the hotel. He knew they had to be drawing looks, as this place was pretty ritzy and only people like Bruce and Ollie could afford to stay here whereas they…well, they looked like two (or perhaps three. He couldn't be sure what people thought when they saw him.) blue-collar teenagers.

John's room was on the third floor, number 311. He'd talked to the other man briefly before heading to Dakota to keep an eye on the two teens on the bus ride to Gotham. Speaking of the bus ride it had been some of the most wasted hours of his life. Other than some idiot giving Richie dirty looks nothing had happened and he'd been quite successfully bored out of his mind.

A guy could only read the Star Wars books so many times before risking dropping into a coma.

He rapped on the door lightly then stood back. A second later it opened and there was John looking very…bodyguard like. A dark suit, sunglasses, and a half smirk that seemed to scream 'I can and will kick your ass because I'm bigger, stronger, and just better in general'.

Wally didn't move for a long moment, silently cursing those stupid hormones that he was pretty sure were supposed to stop kicking his ass around twenty. Twenty had been a few years back but he still had this annoying tendency to go dry-mouthed, sweaty palmed, and in general stupid when certain people were around.

Namely John.

"…" His brain gave up the ghost and abandoned him. Thankfully John was used to these temporary lapses and pushed him back out of the room.

"Back in the elevator. We have to be quick, you two have a public appearance to make."

Wally wondered if everyone saw how pale he became at the thought. Then he glanced at Richie, who seemed almost green, and realized he probably wasn't so badly off.

"Yeah. About that sort of thing." He found his voice again and, as he was prone to do, began rambling. "I don't sing."

"Neither does Jayce." John smiled crookedly. "He just has enough money that no one notices."

Oh. Well that was promising.

They got back onto the elevator and John withdrew a keycard. He opened up the small panel on the wall and held up the card. There was a moment of silence then the car jerked to life and began to go up. Richie and Virgil stood off to one side and he stayed next to John, for lack of an actual reason to go to the other side of the elevator.

Somehow 'you make me really nervous' wasn't going to work.

"What's with the hood?" John asked, voice low but teasing. Wally glared at him from the corner of his eye, knowing fully well that he already knew what was up. Still he reached up and pushed the hood down, ignoring the twin intakes of breath from the two teens.

To be fair, it wasn't that shocking. …Or maybe it was. His hair was a mixture of black and a kind of dark neon blue, mostly black (thank god) with the blue placed at seemingly random spots throughout. He wasn't sure what to think of it and couldn't imagine what would possess someone to do this.

But there it was.

John blinked at him slowly then reached out and touched his hair, knuckles rasping over his skin. Wally's mind went blank again. Well there was: Ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit.

But that didn't count.

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Lotus: Aww…you're making me blush. And it was the hair. Wally isn't a fan of the outrageously pointless coloring I suppose. Neither are we though. And 'Losha has burgundy hair so when he says it's pointless…it's pointless.

Leev: Eventually we'll get to see what's in V's head. It's just that Richie and Wally are so damn fun to write. John's fun, if not slightly difficult, and Virgil…well, we aren't sure what's going on in his head just yet.

Sche: Yeah, Rich is doing a very bad job of convincing himself he doesn't like Virgil. Poor boy. Losha gets full credit for Richie/Gear parts though, because I just sit back and let him write all of that. He's good at it.

Mechante: Well you know…new stories always make me feel better. And so I wrote this. The serial manwhore thing…well, we were trying but it didn't work so well. I mean, do you really think Virgil's going to allow anyone to touch him, fate of the world or not? He got all creepy possessive.

Ghene: Thank you. We're glad you like it so much. Makes us all warm and fuzzy inside.

Snake: You summed up the chapter very nicely I'd have to say. Wally's neighbor seems to be a favorite…I wonder if it's the cookies or the matchmaker tendencies.

Aryah: Thank you thank you. Constructive things are nice, though we've never turned down just plain compliments. We're easy that way.

Kuu: Steps aside to let Losha get tackled. Heh.

Losha: Oh yeah, real funny…