Disclaimer: I don't own Justice League Unlimited or any of the characters in this fic.

Meeting New People

"Two beers, please."

"And some pretzels!" a voice rang out from behind him. Dick looked at the bartender.

"And some pretzels, too."

The bartender raised an eyebrow. "How much?"

Dick turned to his red haired friend, who was busy setting up the pool table. "Wally? How much?"

The out-of-costume speedster paused and looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then smiled. "A lot."

Dick sighed and turned to the bartender. "Just keep them coming, and he'll keep on eating them."

The bartender smiled and walked away to get their orders. In the space of a few seconds, he had returned with two beers and two bowls of pretzels. Dick paid him and walked over to the pool table. Putting the food down on a small table, Dick made his way to the pool table, taking a pool cue as he did so.

"You know, what's funny is that he thinks I'm joking," Dick said, gesturing to the bartender. "So when are these friends of yours getting here?" Dick asked, handing Wally his beer.

Wally grinned. "They'll be here."

"Who are they, anyway? League friends?"

Wally's face scrunched as he thought on the matter. "Well… sort of… but not really…" he shook his head. "You'll see."

"This isn't going to be like the last time you surprised me, is it? Because I saw all the guys a few days ago."

The speedster shook his head. "Just trust me, you'll like them," he said, winking at his friend as he took a sip of beer. He set the beer down on the edge of the table and took aim at the white ball. "So… how are things in the life Richard Grayson?"

"Well, Blockbuster's been-"

Wally shook his head, standing. "No, not business stuff. What's new in the life of Dick Grayson?" He grinned. "Like that haircut of yours."

Dick rubbed the back of his head where his ponytail once was. "Uh… yeah. It was grabbed during a… uh… struggle… so I thought I should get rid of it."

"What kind of dirty bad guy grabs your hair?" Wally joked. Dick didn't respond. The speedster looked up at his silent friend, an eyebrow raised. "It… was a bad guy… right?"

Dick's face reddened slightly, and Wally grinned.

"Oh, I see. You devil you," Wally said, winking. "How are things with you-know-who?"

Dick cleared his throat and sipped his beer. "They're good."

"How good?" Wally asked, raising an eyebrow exaggeratedly as he again aimed his shot.

Dick still avoided his friend's gaze. "Scary good."

The Fastest Man Alive whipped his head back in surprise and stood, again disregarding the game. "Wow. So you're planning on-?"

"God, Wally, I don't know. I've been wrestling with this for a while now. Can we talk about something else? I came here to take my mind off my worries."

The red haired superhero grinned and shrugged. "Sorry," he said, yet again taking aim at the white ball. He brought the cue back and was about to break…

A sly smile appeared on Dick's face. "So how's Fire?"

Wally's eyes widened and the cue slipped, sending the white ball ricocheting off the table and noisily onto the floor. He glared at his friend, who was doing a bad job of hiding his smirk. He waved a defensive hand.

"Sorry," he said, still snickering as he went to fetch the white ball. "Maybe I should break," he said, putting the white ball on the table.

"Yeah, maybe you should," Wally said irritably, snatching his beer from it's resting place on the edge of the pool table. Dick put his beer down in the same place and took aim, the smirk still on his face.

"So? How are things with Fire?"

Wally was silent as he sipped his beer. Dick stood, leaning forward on the edge of the table.

"Have you at least said more than five words to her yet?"

"Yeah," he said defensively, jutting out his jaw in annoyance. "I just… haven't talked to her… uh… much."

Dick sighed. "Right."

"What? It's not like you're an expert on it. How long did it take you to tell Starfire you liked her?"

Dick mumbled something unintelligible. Wally cupped a hand around his ear. "Sorry? What was that?"

The black haired man scowled, and was about to take his shot when the door to the bar opened. Through it stepped a black haired man of above average build, and another raven haired woman who bore a striking resemblance to Wonder Woman. The Scarlet Speedster grinned and opened his arms.

"Hey! They're here!"

The black haired man smiled. "Sorry. We got a little lost."

The woman nodded, a scowl on her face. "It's not like this place is easy to find."

Wally shrugged, and the woman's face softened. "It's good to see you, Wally."

Wally looked around the two. "Where's Oberon?"

"He isn't too fond of the cold," the man said, smiling apologetically.

"Well, it's good to see you guys." He gestured towards Dick. "This is Dick Grayson. Dick, this is Scott Miracle and Big Barda."

Dick raised an eyebrow. "Big Barda?"

"Big Barda."

"Big Barda. Nice to meet you," he said, extending his hand. She shook it firmly, and Dick tried not to wince at her super strength. He smiled and extended his hand to Mr Miracle, who was fortunately at a more human strength level.

"I don't think Wally's ever told me about the two of you."

The speedster shrugged. "Well, it's been a while since you've done intergalactic space stuff, so I thought… well, you've met them now. I'll get you some beers," Wally said, shooting off to the bar.

"So… what are you playing?" Scott asked, pointing at the table.

"Oh! This is called pool," Dick said, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. Explaining human customs to people unfamiliar with earth culture must be part of his job description somewhere.

"Pool?" Barda asked, slowly making her way over to the table. Dick couldn't tell if she was deliberately ignoring the stares of the men in the bar, but she seemed to be doing a good job of it. Scott leaned over and put a hand next to his mouth.

"If you think they're staring a lot now, you haven't seen her in her normal costume," he said, smiling slightly. Dick didn't need to know. He knew all too well how superheroine's costumes could be… distracting.

"What're the rules?" the woman asked, looking at the arranged balls with a cocked eyebrow.

Wally suddenly appeared at her side. "You take a cue," he said, handing his over to her. "And use it to hit the white ball against another one. You try and get the coloured balls into the pockets."

"How do you know who's won?"

"You either have a ball that's one solid colour, or has a stripe on it." To elaborate his point, he picked up two orange balls; one a solid orange, the other white with an orange stripe on it. "Whoever pots all of their balls first is the winner. The black one goes in last."

"What do the numbers mean?"

"We'll worry about that later."

Barda shrugged. "Fair enough." And with that, she brought back her cue and swung it, baseball style, at the table, attempting to hit the white ball. The cue shattered, sending splinters everywhere.

"Hmm…" she said. "It's an interesting game. You need a lot of skill to hit the white ball with those borders in the way."

Wally scratched the back of his neck. "Um… yeah."

Dick looked at the bartender apologetically. "Sorry. She's new in these parts. We'll pay for it. Won't we, Wally?"

He turned for confirmation, but his speedster friend was gone. He rubbed his eyes in frustration. He turned to Scott, who had a sympathetic smile on his face.

"Someday… when he's old and slow… I'll kill him. I really will."

Scott laughed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I know you will."

A few hours later, a few payments and explanations of rules later, the four were sat around a table enjoying their beers. Barda yawned.

"Well, it's getting late, and Oberon gets cranky when… actually, he's cranky all the time. But we'd better be going anyway."

Wally stretched and yawned. "Yeah… sounds like a good idea. I've got monitor duty in the morning as well."

The yawn was infectious, and Dick followed suit. "And I've… got nothing to do tomorrow. I just need some sleep."

They all laughed quietly and got up to leave. Scott extended his hand.

"It's been nice meeting you, Dick."

"Likewise. Maybe I'll see you again sometime."

And with that, they left. Dick and Wally remained behind, mostly because their drinks weren't yet finished. But another reason was that the two still weren't done talking to one another.

"So… 'scary good', huh?" Wally asked, tracing the outline of his bottle of beer.

Dick nodded, taking a sip of his drink. "'Scary good,'" he repeated. He laughed to himself. "Sounds like something Garfield would say, doesn't it?"

"I wasn't gonna say anything, but it kinda does, yeah." Wally paused. "So? Are you going to do anything about it?"

"I don't know," Dick said through a sigh. "I want to, and it seems the right thing to do… but…" he shook his head. "I don't know." He turned to look at his friend. "What about you? Are you going to anything about Fire?"

Wally frowned and shrugged. "Not sure. I mean, she's nice and all, but… I can't help but get this feeling… like something's coming around the corner."

A jet black eyebrow rose. "What? Like a destiny thing?"

Wally closed his eyes in mock disgust, a wry smile on his lips. "Don't say it like that. You make it sound like I'm Ken waiting for Barbie to come along."

Dick laughed, and so did Wally. "That sounded a bit too much like Raven."

Wally frowned slightly at the mention of the dark empath. "How, uh… is Raven? Is she okay?"

"When I saw her a few days ago, she seemed fine. She wasn't exactly wrapped up in Christmas cheer, but she was okay."

Wally nodded, a slight smile on his face. "Good, good."

"I still think you need to-"

"Talk to her, I know, I know."

The two old friends shared a comfortable silence, one of many they had shared in their lifetime. From being Kid Flash and Robin, to being the Flash and Nightwing, to simply being Wally West and Dick Grayson, they had always been able to help each other out and listen when the other had a problem. And both were grateful for it. Wally yawned again.

"Well… I'd better be going. The last time I fell asleep during monitor duty, Green Arrow drew a moustache on my face and put a sombrero on me," Wally said as they left, heading out into the snow.

Dick tried not to laugh. "I know. Roy showed me the picture."

"There was a picture! Aw, that's not fair…"

And Dick listened to his friend's complaints as they walked through the snow, smiling the whole time.

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(A/N: I hadn't written a Flash and Nightwing fic in a while, and I was missing the two best buds, so here they are. Aside from the snow, this (once again) isn't a particularly Christmassy fic. But then again, this story is also about the heroes taking a break, rather than everything having to be stereotypically 'jingle bells' and all that.

Anyway, reviews are a wonderful Christmas gift.)