It was hard being the new kid in school. It was harder when everyone at school knew you as 'Bruce Wayne's little circus freak.' Dick was a friendly kid, but as much as he tried, that reputation seemed to follow him around.
Sure he had Barbara and loved hanging out with her, but he wanted other friends too. But until he had some, he was stuck following Bruce to a meeting in Central City.
"Ah, Bruce, glad you could make it." The man in the expensive-looking suit smiled as he shook Bruce's hand. "My pleasure Tudor." Bruce returned the gesture. "I hope it's alright that I brought my son along."
"Quite alright. Family is the most important thing." Tudor assured him. There was a knock on the door, and a secretary ushered a boy around Dick's age intot eh office. "Speaking of family, allow me to introduce my boy, Duncan. Duncan say hello to Mr. Wayne and his son Richard."
The eight-year-old smiled politely, and Dick waved back. "Bruce, it's a lovely day out. Why don't the boys play in the park while we handle business?" Tudor suggested, to which Bruce pulled Dick closer to him. Dropping his boy off at school was one thing, but letting him run around a playground unsupervised?
"Oh come now." Tudor laughed. "The park is just down the street. It's perfectly safe." Dick looked up at his Daddy with pleading eyes, and Bruce sighed. "Alright, but be careful. And if anything happens to my boy Tudor Blois, you will pay dearly."
Duncan led Dick to the park, but instead of going to play on any of the equipment, he mearly sat on top of the elephant statue. "Don't you wanna do something?" Dick asked, a bit confused.
"Oh Richard," Duncan chuckled haughtily. "You are new to this social status, so I'll explain this to you. We do not mix with peasants." Dick pouted. He just wanted to play. Why did how much money these kids have matter.
He thought of going off by himself, but he didn't know anyone else for miles, and he didn't want to play by himself. As he slouched at the elephant's feet, a red-headed kid raced up to them. "Hey, you guys wanna play tag?" He asked, grinning.
Dick jumped up, but Duncan stuck his hand out. "No, we don't want to play tag with the likes of you. I am the heir to the Blois fortune. I won't be seen socializing with your kind." The kid looked past Duncan and over to Dick. "You wanna ditch this clown?" He smirked.
"Think carefully about who you want to be associated with Richard." Duncan muttered. Dick smiled and headed off with the redhead. "Nice friend ya got there, Richard." The kid grinned as they headed across the playground. "He's not my friend." Dick muttered, then tried to smile. "My friends call me Dick."
"Hey Dick. I'm Wally." The kid smiled back and ran off. Dick laughed and chased after him.
III
Dick was panting heavily by the time their game of tag was over. Every time he had gotten close to Wally, the kid had somehow sped up.
Dick collapsed under a tree to catch his breath. Wally sat down next to him and pulled out a chocolate bar. He was about to cram the whole thing down his throat when he stopped, broke it in half, and offer it to his new friend.
"You're really fast." Dick laughed as he bit off a square of his sweet. "It was like playing with The Flash."
"Don't tell!" Wally begged frantically, his eyes wide and pleading. "I'm not supposed to do that stuff outside." Dick's eyes widened. He had just been kidding. "I won't." He promised quickly, and Wally relaxed a bit. "Wanna see something cool?" Dick asked, getting to his feet.
Wally nodded, and Dick dragged him to the monkey bars. While it wasn't a trapeze, Dick still managed to pull off some pretty neat tricks that had Wally in awe. At least they did before a water balloon flew out of nowhere, hitting Dick in the face and knocking him to the ground.
Wally ran to see if he was ok but got hit too and sprawled in the dirt next to his friend. Dick looked to where the projectile had come from and saw Duncan coming over laughing. "See what happens when you play with peasants Richard? You end up in the dirt with them."
"I'd rather be in the dirt than play with a mean jerk like you." Dick spat as he stood up and offered a hand to Wally. "I don't know why I expected different." Duncan fumed. "We may be the same in title, but it's clear you will always be gypsy circus trash at heart."
"You'd better take that back ya little turd." Wally threatened. He tried to shove the boy backward to show he meant business, but Duncan held his ground. "Don't think you're any better peasant trash." He sneered. "My father could buy you, and he would if I asked. He would-"
"Duncan Blois!" Someone snapped. The boys all whipped around to find Bruce and Mr. Tudor looming over them. Mr. Blois started laying into his son, who suddenly lost all confidence and authority.
After several minutes of perfuse apologizing (Tudor was not as well off as he seemed and could not afford to lose Bruce's partnership), the Blois' took their leave. Bruce gave the red-headed boy a once over. "Thank you for standing up for my son." He smiled.
Before Wally could say it was no big deal, a blond haired man joined them. "There you are kiddo. Ready to go?" He asked Wally before noticing he wasn't alone. "Bruce? What are you doing out of Gotham? And in daylight no less."
Bruce tried not to roll his eye. Barry Allen was not as funny as he thought he was. "Business meeting. And you?"
"Picking up my favorite nephew." Barry winked, placing a hand on Wally's shoulders. "Uncle Barry, can Dick come over and play? Pleeease?" Wally begged, jumping up and down. "Can I Daddy?" Dick joined in, pouting cutely for good measurer.
Bruce suppressed a sigh. Barry was hard enough to put up with in League meetings where he at least had to pretend to be serious. But his nephew had stood up for his son, and Dick was hard to say no to with those puppy dog eyes. "I suppose a few hours wouldn't hurt." He relented.
The boys cheered and took off down the block. "Daddy, huh?" Barry smirked once the kids were out of earshot. This time Bruce did roll his eyes.
Of all the kids in the world, Dick's new best friend had to be The Flash's nephew.
