Wally could not have felt less inclined to fight, to hit someone or hurt someone than he did that morning. An evening of making love to sweet Jinx left him still in a totally amorous frame of mind. He'd sprinted across the bay to the island and presented himself at the entrance. He remembered Cyborg's instructions to him and pronounced his name evenly into the square on the wall next to the door.
"Kid Flash"
A small red light on the wall next to the door started to blink and a square in the wall flipped around to reveal a retinal scanner. He stepped in front of it and kept his dazzling blue eye open as the light flashed across it. There was a small bell tone and the door opened as a female voice said "Kid Flash, recognized". He sprinted up the stairs to the 14th floor and caught sight of the clock. A couple minutes to spare. Pffew! Beast Boy passed by on the way to the elevators.
"Hey Gar!" he called out with a grin and then a pat on the shoulder, actually wanting to hug his teammate.
"Hey KF!"
He entered the great room and saw the two female Titans. He bowed to them with a huge smile. "Starfire! . . . Raven!"
Starfire, walking by with a now empty plate ran one hand through his hair. "Teammate K . F" she chirped then giggled before continuing on to the kitchen. Raven stared at him oddly. He couldn't quite place the nature of her expression. Something negative or disappointed in some way.
"You don't seem to have brought much stuff with you to move in"
KF laughed. "No, I'll be doing that later. I'm here for a martial arts lesson from Robin. Is he around?". She looked at him even more oddly. "From Robin? Now?" KF nodded.
"Hey" there was a tap at his shoulder and when he spun around, there was Robin. KF grinned and barely controlled the impulse to give Robin a hug. Robin met his smile wiith a look of grim determination. But Wally simply couldn't think that way. Not today. Not now. He just found out how connected he could be to a girl, how fantastic, on every possible level that connection to her could be. Fight? He wanted to kiss the whole world, to give the whole world a tiny sliver of this incredible feeling, this love. Fight? Hahahahahahaha! Luckily, this was only to be a martial arts lesson. He sort of imagined some Tai Chi and some kicks and talk about chakras and what not, just a get your feet wet first session. Was chakra a karate term? He couldn't remember. It didn't matter. Nothing else mattered. Jinx. Loving Jinx mattered. Beautiful Jinx. Sigh.
Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted. Robin was snapping his fingers in front of his face.
"Hello! Earth to Kid Flash. What the hell's the matter with you?"
"It's-it's nothing. I'll be fine"
Robin spun on his heels toward the elevators and Kid Flash followed. They took the elevator down to the combat simulations or "com sims" room silently the whole way. Kid Flash sighed dreamily and stared absentmindedly at the reflective stainless steel surfaces but really only saw Jinx. Robin ground his teeth and shook his head slowly looking at him with deep mistrust.
What a surprise. Technically on time but not ready, not prepared at all. That frigging uniform. Halfway between any of ours and ballet. He's not even in a day, not a full day and he's already not taking it seriously. Maybe he thinks he'll pose and joke through this. Hmmph. A chance to hit this guy?
"What fighting training did Flash give you?" asked Robin over his shoulder when the door opened and he started out into the hallway.
"Not really any in fighting technique. I think he felt that my greatest weapon was my speed and that I should concentrate on refining my control of my speed and how I used my speed first rather than how I punched or kicked or blocked."
Kid Flash followed Robin down the hall to a set of heavy doors. Robin took off his glove and was about to put his hand on the dermal detector pad before Kid Flash rushed forward and blocked him.
"Let me try. I haven't used one of these yet to confirm that I'm recognized"
Robin shrugged and gestured with his hand. Go to it. Kid Flash pulled off his red glove and put his hand down on the light gray, rectangular pad. "Kid Flash" he declared into the hidden wall microphone. Green lights flickered rapid fire beneath the pad, shooting to first his fingertips then over his whole hand in 2 seconds. The heavy doors released with a gust of air as a mechanical sort of female voice declared. "Kid Flash . . recognized".
"Cool" said Kid Flash and he followed Robin inside. The room was huge, a hundred fifty by a hundred fifty, he guessed, and at least 20 feet high, maybe more like 30. He rubbed at the walls. They and the floor were covered with a slightly tacky blue gray material, sort of a rubber, sort of a plastic and very resilient looking.
"What configuration do you want to play in?" asked Robin.
"Configuration?"
"The walls, the floors, the shape of the place. It can be shaped to simulate a street and alley city layout or more of a warehouse layout or a few different other ones, or we can just leave it wide open. For a first lesson, how 'bout wide open"
Kid Flash nodded. Sure.
"Before we start, we have to set some ground rules. No super speed. Agreed?"
"Agreed"
Robin gave him a funny look that Kid Flash couldn't quite decipher. Damn mask. "But you have to be aware" said Kid Flash, "that there's no definite line distinguishing a super speed punch from a regular speed punch. It's not an on/off switch. That's not how my power works. But I'm here to get better. I give you my word that I'll try not to do anything faster than you"
Robin nodded.
Kid Flash sniffed and smiled with a shake of his head.
"Yeah?"
"The night of the interview," said Kid Flash adopting a fighting stance, "after you told me 'don't call us, we'll call you', I wanted to beat the hell out of you so bad I could taste it, as much as I've ever wanted to beat up anyone." He meant it as an ironic admission. Robin understood that, didn't he?
Up in the great room, Cyborg, was turned to Raven. "You're sure you don't want a waffle? They're really good. New guy thinks so, too!"
"The new guy thinks everything tastes good. His appetite's some kind of cruel joke inverse ratio to his waist size"
"Where is KF? Has he been in yet?"
"He went down to the Comm Sims room with Robin"
"With Robin! I don't think that's such a good idea. Those two didn't exactly hit it off right away and I don't think things are completely fixed yet."
"Well, KF said it was just a lesson"
"A lesson! Robin's idea of a lesson is that he kicks your ass and you try and learn a lesson from how he did it. Come on, let's go to the observation booth just to be safe."
Robin took up a fighting stance. So, you wanted to beat the hell out of me, huh? Well, after being made to look like the bad guy, after my team turned against me to vote for you and pressured me into voting for you, I wanted to do . . thissss, thought Robin. He took one running step and leaped across the 20 foot divide between them, "Yah!" spinning in mid-air and kicking Kid Flash flush on the jaw sending him tumbling off to one side. He took up a controlled position three steps from Kid Flash with a hand on a smoke birdarang and a net birdarang at his belt waiting for a super speed attack but Kid Flash just got up at normal speed and took up a fighting stance again. Robin jumpedforward, spun and kicked. He was surprised that he got part of Kid Flash. He hadn't moved quickly enough to dodge the kick. Kid Flash swung at him and Robin blocked it easily. It was an undisciplined punch, it left Kid Flash open to an uppercut which Robin delivered with all the force he could muster to Kid Flash's ribs.
"Ooof!"
Robin went from low to high counting on instinctual reactions and getting just the movements he expected, opening up Kid Flash to the right cross to the nose with which Robin hit him. Kid Flash groaned and fell backward but Robin gave him no room. He advanced on fallen Kid Flash and kicked him across both shoulders then under his side, lifting Kid Flash off the floor to fall flat on his face 10 feet away.
"Pathetic, West. Pathetic. Where's your plan? How tall are you?"
"Five . . eight and a . . half" said Kid Flash between uncomfortable breaths.
"And how much do you weigh?"
"I was 127 at the physical"
"Jesus, West. That's a half inch and 5 pounds less than me. You shouldn't get the crap beat out of you by a guy only that much bigger than you"
Kid Flash stood up. He motioned with both hands. Come on! Robin smiled ever so slightly. He'll cheat at some point but before he does I'll make hotshot pay.
Robin advanced on Kid Flash slowly this time and took him down with no kicks at all, only punches. He smirked at how easy it was. Get outside of his front foot and hook him. He crashed three of them almost uncontested into Kid Flash's head. When he knocked him down he gave him a kick and shouted at him.
"Wrong! You CANNOT let your opponent outside of your point like that! That'll kill you every time"
He got to shout another seven sets of tactical pointers to Kid Flash. "Combinations, West! Combinations! You form your opponent's reaction with the first move, waiting to nail him with the second! You walked right into that left hand, West!" "If you don't show me that you respect that kick and can stop it, why should I stop planting my heel in your face, West! Develop a counter for god's sake, West!"
But even with these instructions, it was clear that this was a beating being administered more than a lesson being taught. It seemed that way to the other Titans watching in the observation room just below the ceiling of the two and a half story room. They'd been there from the start but Robin and then Kid Flash only realized it after the 5th of the 9 knockdowns meted out to Kid Flash.
Robin saw the looks on their faces. Ugh. He was the bad guy again. Hotshot was turning the team against him again! Wait till he wimps out and cheats and goes to super speed! They'll see what he's made of!
But he knocked him down a 6th time with a punch like a sword fight thrust and still, Kid Flash just took it. He knocked him down a 7th time with a wrestling style leg sweep and then a series of kicks. Kid Flash got back up. He knocked him down an 8th time with a series of spinning punches like a tornado with green gloved fists at its outer wall. And finally, he knocked a wobbly Kid Flash down with an elbow to his face after he'd blocked a punch. He kicked Kid Flash under the chest and gave the gasping for breath on all fours speedster a kick in the butt. Kid Flash was not only bloodied and bruised but tired. He hadn't used super speed but he also hadn't eaten since lunch the previous day. He was at least six meals behind his usual requirements and feeling it.
"Wrong again, West! Wrong! Never forget that an opponent has many more striking surfaces than just his fists and toes. The elbow is as good an impact point as any on the body"
Robin stood ready to try and fend off the expected super speed rush, both hands on special birdarangs. He might've guessed that Kid Flash felt that way after the interview. But Kid Flash didn't rush him, at any speed. He rose, uncertainly to his feet. "Let's go" he said to Robin.
Robin glanced up at the observation room. His teammates looked horrified. Damn! He's making me look bad again. He set his jaw and advanced before the sound system came on with a click.
"Robin! What're you doing?" pleaded Cyborg's voice. " He's done"
"Please teammates! Do not simulate a combat any further especially with beaten Kid Flash not using his only defense"
Robin stopped and bit his lip. Again! Again, he makes me out to be the bad guy. I don't believe it. I can't believe he never tried to cheat.
Robin was stationary but wobbly legged Kid Flash moved forward. He got to two feet from Robin and threw a roundhouse punch that Robin simply deflected with one elbow and Kid Flash fell to the floor again. He got up to all fours as Robin stood over him.
"I thought you were going to use super speed"
" . I . . agreed . . not to"
"But you said you were dying to beat the crap out of me"
"I did . . I was . . I am" said Kid Flash and he got to his feet again.
"But . .?"
"If the lesson's done, showers are that way, right?" he asked pointing to another set of heavy doors across the com sims room.
"Yeah" said Robin getting a good look at the damage to Kid Flash, two blackened eyes, a nose that might be broken, two split lips, a face full of bruises, and bruised kidneys to go with bruised or cracked ribs. Ugh. He'll look like crap for a week and the others'll never forgive me
"You okay?" asked Robin jogging a few steps to catch up to him.
"Yeah . . fine. Thanks for . . the uh lesson" he grunted and kept walking to the doors. Robin exhaled, wondering what was the best thing to do just as Beast Boy and Cyborg came running into the com sims room from the doors by the elevator.
"What are you doing man?" asked Cyborg. "Without super speed he's just a skinny kid. So, you take advantage of that and beat up on him?"
"You've got some serious damage to repair with Raven and Starfire" added Beast Boy.
"He-he asked for a lesson and he agreed not to use super speed. "
"You didn't have to do all you did" said Cyborg and Beast Boy nodded.
"But, he-he told me how much he'd wanted to beat me up before we started. I-I was sure he'd cheat and use super speed"
"Maybe he thought it wouldn't be effective against your power of being super over aggressive, Robin" said Beast Boy then he and Cyborg headed to the showers as well.
"I . . I didn't really want to hurt him" mumbled Robin but they were out of earshot.
Kid Flash was in the showers. His black eyes were almost back to normal. His split lips had nearly healed. The bruises on his face were just faint discolorations. He touched his fingers to his broken nose. Nearly fixed, too. His ribs and kidneys were still a bit sore as the pulsing jets of the massage shower hit him but not so badly as to have to turn it off or step out. He lathered his body and thought about what went on in there.
He thought I'd cheat. In fact, he was certain of it. He kept reaching for his utility belt after knocking me down as if he'd have to defend himself. Maybe he was even trying to provoke me into cheating. No matter what, this is way out of hand.
"Hey KF!" He heard Gar's voice echoing off the tile and squinted through the spray to see his green teammate there
"Are you . . um . . whoa! . . are you uh okay? Looked like you took a lot of punishment in there"
Kid Flash turned off the shower and caught the towel tossed to him by Beast Boy. "I'm okay"
"You're sure"
He nodded. "I heal really fast too"
Beast boy nodded and backed away around the corner of the wall to the hallway leading out to the Com Sims room. Cyborg went past him. "Is he there?"
Beast Boy morphed himself into a powerful green stallion and raised up on his back legs and swayed from side to side.
"What the hell's the matter with you?"
"Dude!" giggled Beast Boy and he pointed around the corner.
Cyborg advanced only a couple steps. Kid Flash was drying off at the nearest locker and catching his breath.
"You had us a bit worried watching upstairs with how much you were getting hit there, KF"
"I'm fine. See" he said pointing to his now almost unmarked face "almost gone already"
Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "Super fast healing too?"
"Something like that"
"Alright. Well you and Rob have gotta talk things out so that nobody's trying to break out a can of whupass on anybody else in the Com Sims room or anywhere else."
Kid Flash nodded. And he glanced around at the facilities. "God, this place is so cool. That shower! And it's so cool that it's only Titans here, no immature kids like in school"
Cyborg nodded. "Hey look" said Beast Boy over his shoulder and Cyborg looked around the wall corner to see a huge green bear apparently doing a chippendale's dancer routine the way it was standing on its back legs and swaying its hips. Cyborg swatted at it. Kid Flash was now in uniform and at his side. A second later, they were joined in walking out by a conspicuously whistling Beast Boy. They went up the elevator together but Kid Flash got out at level 1. He told them he was going to get his stuff and zipped out of the elevator and lounge, a red and yellow blur.
Cyborg and Beast Boy went up to 14 where they immediately ran into Raven and Starfire.
"Has he calmed down?" asked Cyborg of Starfire.
"Well, it didn't help the way she yelled at him" said Raven to Cyborg then turning to Starfire. "A torzorf blangthorp? Don't you think that's a little over the line?" she deadpanned, having no idea what those terms meant.
"If he will press his advantage against an opponent who bravely does not use his, then he is worse than a torzorf blangthorp. He-he is a male offspring of a female earth dog"
"Whoa! Whoa! Time out!" declared Cyborg with an emphatic hand gesture. "Robin is not a son of a bitch and he's not a torgor blangthorp"
"Oh, please, Cyborg. As mad as I was I didn't call him a torgor blangthorp. Give me a little credit for self control, teammate!"
"Sorry. I really should know some of these terms by now. But Kid Flash is fine. He heals about as fast as he runs. And he and Robin are gonna straighten things out"
"What if they can't?" asked Raven. "What if these two boys are just never gonna be able to work together?"
"That's silly. It won't come to that" declared Cyborg.
"Really?" said Raven. "When was the last time Robin did something undisciplined? And now he's going out of his way to kick a teammate's butt"
"But the teammate didn't give it back to him so we've got a good chance to fix things"
Two hours later, Kid Flash had carried all his books and clothes across the bay to Titans Tower and up to his room. He'd gotten a bite to eat, just a couple meals, and had reached Aunt Iris on her cell phone. She was ecstatic. He could feel how she would hug him even from a thousand miles away. And she vowed to be at the party the next day with Wally's Uncle Barry, too. He didn't realize anyone was watching him till he hung up the phone and turned and saw Starfire right there.
"Your eyes are watery, teammate"
Wally sighed and blinked a few times and he turned away from her.
"Do you find that embarrassing?"
"A-a little I suppose" he said turning away from her as she approached from the opposite side, wanting to walk away but not wanting to be rude.
"But you love this Aunt Iris don't you?"
"I . . um . . "
"Yes, you do. You were excited to call her. I saw the look on your face when you picked up the phone. And then when your news made her very happy, that, in turn, pleased you very much. Isn't that when you know that you love someone, that their joy gives you joy?"
Now KF really had to blink. He brought his thumb and index finger to the corners of his eyes.
"Are you ashamed of that? Is that somehow weakness to be ashamed of?"
Kid Flash took a long, deep breath. "No-no. It's not. I-I love Aunt Iris. She's very important to me. She . . made it possible for me to be here. I love Aunt Iris."
"She will be here at the party tomorrow?"
Wally nodded.
"You will both be made very happy"
He nodded again and smiled. "Thanks" he said then zoomed off to his room. He let out a deep sigh. So, maybe she's not such a ditz, huh? He'd wanted to go to Robin's room but not in that condition. He composed himself then went around the hall to Robin's room on the other side.
He knocked twice on the door. There was no immediate response. He knocked two more times. The dark navy door cracked open just a sliver. Robin looked out, first surprised then animated by some other emotion.
"I know, I know. Star then R. But I wanted to talk to you in person"
Kid Flash tried to decipher his expression. It was so much harder with the mask obscuring his eyes. It, at least, wasn't the expression with which he'd opened the door the day before.
"You don't want to kick my ass super speed style?" Robin smirked.
"Well, yeah, part of me does but that's not what I'm here for"
Robin threw the door open. "Come on in" he said and then closed the door behind KF. KF looked around. The room was in perfect order. It was immaculate. The furnishings were pretty basic. There were a couple extra bookcases to each side of the bed, a poster of Bruce Leeand on a small table were what looked like parts of a utility belt and some birdarangs as well as an extra mask, but all neatly in place, somehow. There was an extra chair on each side of the room and Robin took one and set it at the foot of the bed. Kid Flash took the other and they sat down a foot apart.
"This is stupid" began Kid Flash. "You and I . . " he pressed his one fist against his other.
"I agree. I-I don't know how I got caught up in this. I-"
"Well, I want to blast this out of the way now and not just paper it over with a handshake. You and I had a-a thing right from the start"
"Exactly. Instinctive"
"I-I got this extreme negative reaction in that first moment of my interview and that's stupid."
"I had the same thing. I wanted to kick your ass at the interview"
"Same here" admitted Kid Flash. "And especially afterward"
Robin chuckled.
"So, why don't we get everything out on the table and we'll sort through what's true and what's crap and see if we're really enemies or if we've both been idiots"
Robin mulled that over. "Okay"
"Hit me first. Don't be afraid. I'm an adult. Where's all the dislike coming from?"
Robin sighed. "To me, you give off this whole cocky pretty boy vibe I just can't stand. I mean, the uniform. Nobody else's uniform here is that tight. It's like you're trying to show off your ass to the girls. And, christ, Fed Ex doesn't make as big a deal about presenting apackage as you.The whole deal is just too over the top. But that's a side issue. You're cocky and arrogant and you goof around in the middle of fights. I've seen-we've got footage Cyborg ripped from the HIVE security cams and you're fighting them but pratically posing for pictures. You don't come across as all that bright. You don't seem focused. You're not serious. You're coasting. Where the hell was your head this morning? It-it drives me nuts to see guys like you who were given the most incredible gifts in the world but who don't work on 'em, who coast with 'em. So, um, I guess because you're cocky, vain, arrogant, complacent and lazy. You're not really dedicated to doing this right. You're a cocky, flaky, skinny, pretty boy jerk. That's why I don't like you"
There was a long pause between them.
"No really. Don't hold back"
Robin chuckled. "You asked!"
"I don't mind. Look. The uniform was given to me by Flash. And my whole game is speed. I have to have no friction. The suit's a special material that Flash came up with and it has to fit almost like a second skin. If I run a thousand miles, do you know how many running strides that is? I can't have my uniform bagging or shifting or moving on me. The friction would make what I do impossible. And usually I'm running so nobody really sees me. Yeah, it's a tighter suit than most everybody out there but it's tight for a reason"
"Alright, see, I didn't really appreciate that."
"And not all that bright? Jeez.You saw my grades and scores in my file"
"Yeah, I saw your grades and test scores. I was surprised how good they were"
"As for not dedicated. Aaarrrrggghhh! I've ruined my life to do this. I almost literally ruined my life for this. When this happened " he said gesturing to himself in his uniform. "I was 11 and a half and I had three or four really close friends and another dozen or so a little less close. Teachers thought I was great. By the end of school a few days back I have zero friends. None. I couldn't keep my commitments to anybody. I'd say I was going to be at my friend Aaron's house to work on our science project and a call would come in and I'd spend most of my night helping to track down Gorilla Grodd or some crook or helping to rescue people from an apartment building fire. I-I started to have a pretty clear choice after a couple years of this, have friends or do this. And I've been doing this. Not dedicated just . . just floors me!"
"I didn't-"
"The officer at the call desk at City police headquarters told me two months ago that I'd answered a hundred fifty seven calls. You know how many times they called me, how many times my ring zinged on my hand twice for a police call in that time?"
Robin shook his head.
"A hundred fifty seven. I answered every frigging call that came. They didn't know who I am or where I am. They couldn't make me come running if I didn't want to. But I came running every single time. Every single one. And that doesn't even count calls from Flash or the dozens and dozens of times I was already on the scene and that got radioed back to headquarters so they didn't bother to put out a call for me. And it doesn't count all my patrolling. I probably patrolled the city at least four nights a week, on average, probably starting out at a night or two when I was 11 up to most every night recently. I brought over two dozen books with me from my room at home. You know what they all are? They're all technical trade books and engineering textbooks and ballistics books. That's what I read. That's almost all I read. I'm trying to learn more to be able to solve cases. The Forensic Ballistics Handbook. The Abstract of Physical Security Systems. So, if you want to tell me I'm not dedicated when I did just about everything physically possible and destroyed every friendship I had and made my civilian life almost unbearable, well, then I want to know just what dedicated is"
"I . . I didn't know. I'm sorry. That was just the impression I had. You're so, I don't know, casual, sometimes"
"You know what this does to me?" KF asked, gesturing to his uniform.
Robin shook his head. "What do you mean?"
"Super speed. You know what it does to me? I mean, physically. I don't really know in any detail and that's pretty embarrassing to admit. But you know how it makes me feel? It makes me feel great! I feel great after running a hundred miles at super speed. I feel euphoric. It makes it a little difficult for me to concentrate sometimes. I feel terrific using my speed, so terrific that I have to combat it and make myself concentrate. I don't just choose to sometimes make jokes or not be 100 percent grim determination. I'm chemically pushed to it by my own body, by whatever it is that's going on in my body when I use super speed."
"I-I never thought of that, that using your power might affect you that way"
"Well, it does. I try to keep it in control but I don't always. And that-that footage you talked about from the HIVE is when I met Jinx. I-I wasn't ready to fight this morning because I was with her last night, not because I'm a space cadet or something. Being Kid Flash is my whole life now. Wally West is just a-a sort of backup identity or something. I wanted to join the Titans so that I could talk about this thing that I do that's become my whole life. It was driving me nuts not being able to talk to anyone about what really counted in my life"
Robin let out a long slow exhale. "Okay. Maybe-maybe I . . no" he sighed again. "I-I did misjudge you. So, um, what were you thinking that you immediately had an aversion to me?" Robin asked, wincing.
"Come on" laughed Kid Flash. "You have to take your medicine, too"
"Alright. Alright"
"Well, my first impression was that you were the power tripping highway cop who gives a ticket for going 66 in a 65 zone, that you don't know when to back off, that you enforce the rules even when that doesn't bring justice to the situation, that you like bossing people around because you're a control freak and that you think you're better than other people who aren't as uptight as you, that you're a nasty little jerk".
Robin's eyes were wide open. "Do-do people really perceive me that way, that I'm . . that I'm that bad?'.
Kid Flash nodded. "Look. I don't know you but, well, the same way you said it. That's the vibe you give off, at least to me, powertripping unreasonable insensitive control freak cop".
Kid Flash thought Robin might respond right away with denials but he was lost in thought for several moments absentmindedly running a hand through his spiky hair and staring open mouthed to one side as if in shock..
Hmmph. I don't believe this! I've become him. I've become him! H-how did things work around to this, wondered Robin? He remembered times of absolute fury at the insensitivity of his training. Not good enough. Try harder. Not good enough. Try harder. Notgoodenoughnotgoodenoughnotgoodenough!. I-I don't do that, do I? I'm not Batman. I'm not! I . . But he thought of himself in the Com Sims room berating Beast Boy and hectoring Starfire. He remembered being so quick to think they had screwed up and let Slade escape when Slade hadn't even been alive.
He turned to Kid Flash. "Um, look. There's there's some truth in that, just like there's some truth in you being a flake, but there's a reason for me just like there is for you. Around the same age as you became that, I became this. My-my parents were killed-"
"Oh man. I'm sorry"
Robin nodded. "I went to live with-with Batman. Never mind all the details. I got taken in by Batman and I wanted to be part of what he did. So, he trained me. And trained me. And yelled at me and beat the crap out of me almost as bad as I did you and yelled at me. And I-I got like . . like . . nothing, nothing in the way of comfort or affection or kindness"
"I know what that's like"
"Well it sucks. I don't wanna sound all touchy feely but it" he closed his eyes. "It really really sucked. But maybe that's the only leadership style I'd seen. I-I try not to be him but maybe sometimes I unconsciously follow that-that style. I know I shouldn't. I don't want to, but it's the model that I have and I suppose I slip into it at times and go overboard pushing. But there's another thing"
"What's that?"
"Can-can you go through that wall?" he asked pointing to the wall by the door.
Kid Flash nodded, with certainty.
"Do it. Please"
Kid Flash shrugged, ran toward the wall and vibrated his molecules to pass through, stopped out in the hallway then vibrated his molecules to pass back through the wall and took his seat again opposite Robin.
"God! Can you imagine how that looks to me? That's physically impossible! That's supposed to be physically impossible. My teammates can do things that are physically impossible. You can pass through walls and run impossibly fast. Starfire flies and throws bolts of energy. Raven casts supernatural spells and travels in spirit form. Cyborg's the closest other thing to normal and he's got two dozen different weapons built into his arms and legs. And then there's the bad guys, I won't even start cataloguing all the crap all of them can do. And I've got-I've got nothing on that scale. I run fast. I know, like a snail to you, but fast for everyone else. I jump well, I'm acrobatic. I know jeet kune do. Everybody else, KF, every single other person we encounter has me outgunned. You know what kind of pressure that puts on me? I can never let up. I can never exhale. If I do, someone souped up like you will take me out. If I seem like an uptight hardass, maybe it's because I have to be one. I have to be one because I don't have a power or an edge like everyone else does. Can you see that?"
Kid Flash nodded. "Okay. Maybe you deserve some slack. But, just one thing"
"Yeah?"
"You know my name but I don't know yours?"
Robin sighed. "It's Grayson. Dick Grayson"
"You go by Dick and not Rick or Rich or Richard?"
"I haven't gone by any of those in a long time, Wally, not since my parents died-"
"Again. I'm sorry"
It's alright. I'm-I'm stable about it. But they used to call me Dick"
Wally extended his red gloved hand and it was shaken by a green gloved hand. "Nice to meet you, Dick Grayson"
"Nice to meet you, Wally West"
"Wanna get a bit to eat? I'm starving" said Wally putting his chair back as Robin did likewise.
"You're always hungry, aren't you?"
"Pretty much, yeah. It's part of my deal"
"You know, you were wrong about one thing"
"What's that?"
"You said doing this was leaving you with no friends"
"Awfully quiet down there" said Raven from the couch in the great room.
"I think quiet's good" said Cyborg.
"Plenty of quiet ways they could be killing each other, too" she replied.
"I am quite certain that our Robin and our Kid Flash will be the best of friends" said Starfire.
Raven raised an eyebrow. "Best of friends? The betting line is bitter rivals with an over under of three knockdown drag out fights. I think I'll take the over"
"You do not understand young men, teammate Raven"
Her raised eyebrow coincided with the ding of the elevator doors opening. Kid Flash and Robin emerged from it deep in a friendly but serious conversation abouttheir respective additions of the Abstract of Physical Security Systemsand then both laughing at a joke of KF's.
Starfire turned to Raven. "Perhaps some day I will teach you my wisdom, teammate Raven."