Disclaimer: I don't own Justice League Unlimited.

Send Me on My Way

Chapter Six: Awkward

Dick sighed for what seemed the hundredth time as he looked around. It really did look quite idyllic here; birds singing, leaves rustling in the gentle summer wind, and not a cloud in the sky.

It didn't change the fact that he didn't want to be here.

"Would you stop whining?" Shayera asked irritably, waving a hoverfly away from her face.

"I'm not whining. I'm sighing."

"Same difference. I don't see what your problem is, anyway. You agreed to come."

"Yes, but that was because a certain someone told me we would be going straight to Jump City," Dick said, nodding in the direction of Wally, who was walking slightly ahead of them.

Wally didn't reply. A look was exchanged between the speedster's two friends. Dick tilted his head to the side slightly.

"Wally?"

No reply.

"Wally?"

"Mmm?"

"You okay?"

The speedster quickly shook his head, shaking himself out of his self-imposed stupor. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Fine." He flashed a quick smile their way before facing forward again.

Well, now… that was unusual.

Dick didn't know too much about Wally's parents, only that they had divorced for some reason that Wally wasn't willing to talk about, even to him. In fact, Wally had never really spoken about his parents at all to anyone, as far as Dick knew. A quick glance in Shayera's direction confirmed that she also knew as little about the West family history as he did.

They turned a corner and began walking up the driveway of a smallish yet perfectly comfortable looking house. Gradually, the trio made their way up to it.

In a manner slower than anything Dick had ever seen from the Scarlet Speedster, Wally reached up and knocked on the door three times, each knock seemingly draining energy from him.

After waiting for a few seconds, Dick could make out a figure coming towards them through the frosted glass.

A male figure.

And, judging by the puzzled look on Wally's face, it wasn't someone who was supposed to be there.

The door opened, and Dick tried not to guffaw at the walking stereotype that was stood before him. The man had skin much too tanned for the wrinkles that creased his features, and the pure white of his hair and clothes only served to amplify the effect. He was wearing a white polo shirt, with equally white shorts and trainers, his socks pulled up as far as they could go. Hell, all he needed was a sweater wrapped around his shoulders, and the image would have been complete.

Dick would have betted anything that the man had a yacht sitting in a harbour somewhere.

The man looked each of them up and down, his eyes lingering on Shayera the longest. Her lips lifted slightly in a silent snarl, and he quickly averted his eyes to look at Wally. Dick tried to hide his smile.

"Yes?"

Wally raised a hand in a half hearted wave. "Hi. Is, uh… Mary home?"

The man thinned his eyes. "Yes…"

"Oh. Ok. Uh… can we… come in?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

"…I'm Wally."

His only response was a blank stare.

"Mary's son."

That certainly got his attention. "Her son?"

"Uh, yeah. I mean, this is Mary West's house, right?"

The man opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out but some brief strangled noise. "Could you wait one minute, please?"

He closed the door before Wally could reply.

"That went well," Shayera muttered, her green eyes idly browsing the area.

Dick tilted his head to better look at his friend. "Who was that, Wally?"

He sighed and shrugged. "Damned if I know."

The three stopped their conversation as they heard the faint glimmerings of conversation inside the house.

"Mary, there's someone here who says he's your son."

"What?"

"Your son!"

"Wally's here?"

"You have a son! Why have I never heard about this?"

"…I'll go and let Wally in."

"Your son…"

Another figure came into view, this time much more appropriate for someone who could be Wally's mother. The door opened, and, for the first time, Dick Grayson and Shayera Hol saw some evidence of the West lineage.

There was certainly a resemblance to Wally, but it was most likely because they were stood next to one another, allowing an easy comparison. If Dick ran into her on the street, she would have seemed strangely familiar, but nothing more. She didn't have Wally's fiery red hair, having been replaced with a tan brown, but she did have his pale blue eyes. It was the eyes, Dick decided, that made her look so similar to Wally.

Said speedster pulled a hand from his jean pockets to offer a small wave. The hand went back into aforementioned pocket almost an instant later. "Uh… hi."

Mary West smiled, though it wasn't the kind of smile one would associate with a mother welcoming her son. Her pleasure seemed genuine, but it was more like she was expecting something bad to happen. Perhaps Wally reminded her of his father too much.

"I wasn't expecting you."

"Yeah… I left a message on your cell, but uh… I guess you didn't get it."

"Oh, I changed cell phones awhile ago."

Wally paused. "Oh."

The implications of what she had just said hit her, and she smiled embarrassedly. "Um… please come in."

"Can, uh…?" Wally said, nodding in Dick and Shayera's direction.

"Oh. Yes, of course, of course," she said, gesturing for them to come inside. The man stood behind her seemed less than pleased with the situation, not even moving aside for the trio as they tried to enter. Mary put her hand to her forehead.

"I don't know where my head is these days. This is Stanley. Stanley, this is my son, Wally."

Stanley nodded. "I gathered." A bronzed hand shot out to Wally, palm open. Slowly, Wally took his hand and shook it. Stanley seemed to be trying to squeeze Wally's hand in some attempt to establish his superiority. Dick smiled inwardly. If only he knew just whose hand he was trying to crush.

Wally, meanwhile, just seemed confused as to why Stanley wasn't letting go of his hand.

"Uh… nice to meet you."

Mary stepped forward. "Stanley. Could you show…" she paused as she looked at Dick and Shayera.

Dick shook himself out of his musings. "Oh. Dick Grayson." He cast a nervous glance in Shayera's direction, who seemed more than a little displeased with Mary's attitude towards her son.

"Shayera Hol," she said plainly.

Stanley let go of Wally's hand as he focused his attention on her. "Is that Spanish?"

"I…" she glanced over at her two companions, and seeing similar pleading looks on both faces, just sighed. "Yes. It's Spanish."

For whatever reason, Stanley seemed to like this little revelation. "Really? Which part?" he said, gesturing for her to enter. She paused for the briefest of moments before taking a deep breath and entering, Dick following close behind. Although he didn't know her that well, and had no doubt she could handle herself, he didn't like the idea of leaving her alone with such a sleaze. He looked over at Wally before entering the living room.

"Just tell us when you're ready to go, okay?"

The speedster nodded, and, satisfied with the response, Dick followed Shayera into the living room. Wally sighed and looked over at his mother.

"Uh… so…" he began, thankful that his hands were in his pockets and free of nervous gestures. "How about we make some coffee or something for the guys?"

Mary smiled. "Yes, okay."

"Great."

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"So. How do you know Mary?" Shayera asked, the constant questions about her Hispanic upbringing beginning to grate on her.

She really, really didn't like this man.

If she was honest, she was secretly grateful that Dick was here. While she could easily take care of anything Stanley could throw her way, she would prefer not to add broken bones to the obviously already awkward equation that was Wally and his mother.

"Oh, we're… just friends."

Dick leaned forward from where he was sat on the sofa. "You seemed pretty upset about Wally being Mary's son."

"Well… it was quite a shock."

Shayera cocked an eyebrow. "Hasn't she even mentioned him to you?"

He shook his head emphatically. "No. Not once." His features darkened almost imperceptibly. "Not once…"

"Maybe you're not as good friends as you thought."

"Mmm? Oh, no, we're… quite close." He smiled, and Shayera tried as hard as she could not to shudder. She wasn't sure if she did a good job of it. "We have a… 'No strings' arrangement," he said, looking over at Dick in such a manner as to suggest he should be impressed.

Seeing this look, Dick raised his eyebrows. He opened his mouth, but then decided to close it again, clearly finding it very difficult to contribute much to the conversation.

He took another breath.

"So… tell me, Stanley. Do you own a yacht, by any chance?"

Shayera frowned in confusion, and shot Dick a look. He shrugged in a 'how could I not ask?' way. She rolled her eyes. Dick and Wally had more in common than perhaps this former protégé of Batman was willing to admit.

"Why, yes I do," Stanley said. His gaze locked firmly on Shayera. "She's called 'The Mermaid's Tail'," he continued, raising his eyebrows slightly to emphasise how much Shayera should be all over him by now.

"Well, aren't you special," Shayera muttered.

A quick burst of laughter came from Dick's side of the sofa, but it quickly became a coughing fit. Shayera looked over at him. His hand was conveniently covering his entire mouth, masking his expression from Stanley.

Apparently oblivious to how much distaste Shayera held for him, he leant forward and took her hand in his. "You'll have to come and see it sometime," he said, putting on his best husky voice.

After fighting down the urge to break Stanley's face in seven different ways, Shayera glanced at the door to the kitchen, wishing Wally would hurry up so they could leave.

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"Where's the coffee?"

"The second cupboard on your right."

"Okay."

He put in the appropriate teaspoons of coffee granules in three mugs of boiling hot water, but paused on the forth.

"Uh… how does…" he grimaced slightly, "…Stanley take his coffee?"

"Black."

In the coffee went. On to the next mug. He paused again.

"… How do-"

"Milk, no s-"

"-no sugar, right, right…"

Slipping into speed mode, he quickly prepared everyone's coffees, pouring in milk and sugar where appropriate and stirring quickly but cautiously.

"Wally?"

"Uh… yeah?"

"How are things? With you?"

He placed the teaspoon on the tabletop. Some of the milky brown liquid left a small puddle beneath the spoon. Wally turned around and leant against the counter.

"They're good. The League's keeping me busy."

"How's that girl you were going out with? What was her name? Rebecca?"

Wally frowned. He hadn't seen Rebecca since before the fight with Dr Ivo's android.

"We uh… we broke up. I'm going out with a reporter now. Linda Park."

"Oh."

Silence descended upon them, the only noise the faint murmurings coming from the living room. Stanley laughed loudly at something, and Wally winced.

"And you?" he asked quickly, not allowing the laughter to linger for too long. "How's stuff with you?"

"They're nice. I… bought this lovely reclining chair the other week. Very comfortable."

"Right."

"Have you got one?"

"What? A reclining chair? Yeah."

Stanley's laughter once again filled the air.

Wally took a deep breath through his nose. "So, uh… how long have you, uh…" he glanced over at the living room.

"Oh. A few months now, I think."

He nodded slowly. "…Okay. And, uh…" he scratched the back of his neck. "… you never mentioned me?"

"…it… never came up."

Wally paused.

"'It never came up'? I'm you're son! I would think that kind of stuff would come up!"

"Oh. Okay."

A loud Thanagarian curse reverberated through the room, quickly followed by a resounding thump noise. Both Wally and his mother exchanged a look before making their way into the living room.

The coffee was left to go cold.

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"You didn't have to hit the guy."

"Yes, I did. You saw what he was reaching for."

"Actually, no. What was he reaching for?"

Shayera gave Dick a look. "You're an ass. I've been trying to decide what you are, and that's it. You're an ass."

"Is that your final decision? Because you can't go back on it. Once you've labelled me an ass, I'll forever be an ass."

"Why is Dick saying 'ass' so much?"

The two looked up from where they sat on the bench to see Wally approaching, three hot dogs entwined in his hands. Shayera looked over at Dick.

"Because that's what he is."

"Hey, now," Wally said, roughly forcing his way in-between the two. "You said I was an ass." He mock pouted. "We can't both be asses."

"Says who?"

"The… the rules."

"What rules?"

Wally glanced at Dick in a confused manner. "Uh… the rules about… calling people stuff."

Shayera stared at them. Just… stared.

"Right."

Sensing a certain amount of tension, Dick suddenly sprang to his feet. "I think I'll… go to the bathroom now."

The Fastest Man Alive let out a muffled noise of protest, his hot dog already half way into his mouth. He lifted Dick's hot dog so that it was under the protector of Bludhaven's nose.

"Wally. I'm going to the bathroom. I'm not taking a hot dog to the bathroom."

"But it'll go cold."

Dick clenched his teeth and looked desperately at the bathroom. He began hopping on one foot slightly. "That's… a risk I'll have to take." And with that, he took off at a speed usually reserved for the Flash.

After looking at Shayera and shrugging in a 'whatever' manner, Wally handed over her hot dog.

"So what did you and Stanley talk about?"

"Things…" Shayera said, idly taking the Gherkins off her hot dog.

Wally's eyes widened in horror. "What are you doing?" he almost yelled, sending bits of chewed hot dog everywhere.

"What? I don't like them."

"But they're… but they're…!" Wally panted, and Shayera was afraid he might start hyperventilating when he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay… okay. Just… hand over the Gherkins."

She sighed. "Wally, I…"

"Gherkins. Now."

The redheaded Thanagarian handed over the Gherkins. Wally cautiously took the green vegetable slices and placed them on his own hot dog. He brought the bread roll up and paused as he noticed Shayera looking at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Uh… yes?"

"Are things always like that?" she asked, the concern in her eyes and voice evident.

He shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much. I don't know why I've always liked Gherkins so much, but-"

"Not that, Wally, I…" she sighed and shook her head, going back to her hot dog. Silently, she began to munch on the mixture of meat, bread, and oh-so-many different sauces that Wally insisted on putting on hot dogs. The two sat on the bench and watched a train howl through the station. The people on the opposite platform popped in an out of Shayera's field of vision as the train roared past. Then, the train disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, vanishing around the corner, heading for places unknown.

"It, uh… it is, yeah."

Shayera stopped in mid-chew to look at her friend, who was concentrating on the food he held in his hands.

"I don't know why. We just never really… connected. I couldn't talk to her, she couldn't talk to me."

She nodded.

"And my Dad didn't exactly help either," Wally added almost inaudibly, with a trace of bitterness in his voice that she had only ever heard once before; during the Thanagarian invasion, in the Batcave.

"Ah, that's better!"

Dick sidled around the back of the bench and quickly sat down. A squelching noise made his eyes widen briefly before he realised what he had done. A small grin spread across Wally's face.

"Hope you brought a spare pair of pants."

Distraught, the former Boy Wonder just shook his head.

As Wally laughed and Dick began yelling about how it wasn't funny, Shayera sat back in the bench.

Well played, Wally West. Well played.

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(A/N: I watched Lost in Translation recently. Can you tell? That film really influenced how Wally's conversation with his mother went. Also, it's a fantastic film. If you ever get a chance to watch it, DO!

I don't know much about Wally's relationship with his mother (other than what I've read on the web), but the feeling I did get was distance. That while she did love Wally (in some way), there was just something not quite right in how they interacted with one another.

Stanley isn't based on anyone in the comics. Just think of a perverted Dick Van Dyke, and you're kind of there.

…

That sounded more twisted than I intended.

And for once I disagree with Wally on something; I absolutely hate Gherkins.

Review!)