Hey guys. This was a little longer than I thought. I really wanted to do a holiday one, esp. since this one is on family.
It's a bit rushed and there's a few things unexplained. I want to cover that in future chapters though!
Rating: K+ ("hella good ham and gravy". I dunno. I'm so bad at rating this stuff.)
Timeline: Alt. tangent (Failsafe never happened), but otherwise with the series; Read this with a little slash in mind.
Standard Disclaimer/still have no beta...
Wally pops out this questions after a successful mission. "Hey, so Thanksgiving is in a week and my aunt makes hella good ham and gravy. Any of you guys want to come?"
It's kind of any awkward question. It's easy to invite someone to a party or a sleepover or something like that, but Thanksgiving is usually a family tradition. Everyone knows that if they accept, they may just be the odd one out for the entire evening.
Artemis talks first. "Gotta check my calendar. You can take a number though." By this snarky comment, she means she has to clear it with Green Arrow and Wally relaxes a little bit. GA is a pretty chill man. Even if this is Artemis...
Superboy shrugs. He wonders if Superman will be eating with his family on Thanksgiving. Cadmus taught him about the history of Thanksgiving and customs, but since he joined the team, he had began to see the other side of things... the emotional bits.
M'gann looks sorry. "I'm sorry, Wally, but J'onn and I will be busy on that day." Wally's face drops a little but it's okay.
Aqualad declines the invitation as well. He will be eating with his King and friends back in Atlantis for that weekend.
Wally looks hopefully at Robin. Robin is his lifeline. He knows that Barry is the Flash, and that if he goes, he will be with other Leaguers anyways. However, his identity is still an issue. He never meets any of the team outside of missions, outside of Mount Justice. Well, Wally was the occasional exception, but Robin never met anyone outside of costume.
If Robin ever talked or met anyone, they wouldn't have known. Period. Batman was seriously paranoid about Robin's identity and his own. If anyone figured out one, it wouldn't be hard to figure out the other. And Batman took his identity seriously. As a non-meta, it wasn't like he could be on the same playing ground at all times. If his identity got out, he would have to quick being Dick Grayson half the time and switch to Robin full time.
In a city like Gotham, trying to be on your toes all the time would drain you and you'd trip up and then you'd die. It was simply logic. To be exposed would basically mean the end of everything for the Dynamic Duo. Thus, a simple invite for Thanksgiving would probably be rejected. Especially since it wasn't limited to Wally and his aunt and uncle.
Robin shrugged. The only other alternative he could think of would be to go in his outfit, but he figured that would be a little rude, if not weird.
"You know how Batman gets, but I'll ask." He finally says and Wally looks a little sad, but the speedster understands. They're like, the world's poster boys for best friends, but Batman has made sure that Kid Flash would not be able to find out Robin's real identity any time soon.
Wally takes the compromise and says, "Awesome!" But both he and Robin know that he doesn't really mean it.
-o-
"Kid Flash invited me to Thanksgiving dinner, Bruce." Dick Gray is dressed casually, out of his school uniform.
Bruce Wayne looks at his adopted son. "I'm sure you know my answer." He says, deadpanned.
Dick sighs. He expected it and he won't pursue it. Arguing with Batman is futile. He's the master of rhetoric. Dick has one trick up his sleeve, though.
"I'll message Wally then, dad." It's subtle, but it's also a bit blatant. Dick gave up calling Bruce 'dad' after they started being the Dynamic Duo. However, sometimes when Dick was really sick or tired, he slipped up. Other times, he was just being a little mean.
Bruce freezes. That one word tugs at his heartstrings more than it should. Richard really his like his own son and he regrets sometimes ever brining in "Robin" into this picture. As a family of three (Him, Richard, and Alfred), Thanksgiving consisted of whatever Alfred could cook up after patrolling. If there's no rest for the wicked, it means even on a holiday such as Thanksgiving, superheroes had no rest either. It wasn't a big thing unless Bruce was hosting a charity party or a famous-guests-only sort of dinner as he a few years back, and then he was Bruce the whole night.
The older Wayne lets his composure slip a little and sighs. This was the Wally West and well, if anything went wrong, Batman would most definitely grill Barry about it. Maybe it would be a good thing too… And well, there could be measures taken to protect Robin's identity anyways… Bruce looks at Richard and gives a rare smile and a curt nod, okaying whatever. Dick's entire face lights up. He'd been hoping for this but this was awesome! It's like knowing that blueberry maple syrup looks good but then actually tasting it. Awesome.
Bruce feels a little lost as he watches Robin run up the main stairs. They grow up too fast. He wondered how fast it would be until Richard would be coming down those stairs with his things for college and then when he would decide to retire the "Robin" title and take on a life of his own. Bruce definitely hoped for never, but he knew he couldn't do that. Everything he'd been teaching Robin thus far was to prepare for his future.
-o-
"Hey, hey! Wally! I can go!" Robin is nearly shouting as he comes through the zeta beam.
Kid Flash stands up from sitting on the couch, proceeds to jump the couch and then take Robin in a huge hug. They then proceed to do a little spazzy moment of jumping and flailing and have joyous moment together, because Batman letting him go to something like this is crazy with a subtext 'cray'.
M'gann comes appears from the hallway. "Is something happening today?" She asks. She's a little worried she may have missed an Earth tradition.
Robin shakes his head and smiles. "Not really. We're just super bros." He and Wally fist bump and then they talk over some morning toast and eggs about how Thanksgiving is going to go down. M'gann just smiles. Those two are just too precious. Perhaps "super bros" was a term used by lovers?
-o-
Robin looks over himself. He looks casually formal? He has a pair of slacks, a nice, solid colored t-shirt under a nice jacket, and then casual shoes. Okay, so maybe moreso casual, but KF had been really adamant about wearing clothes that weren't going to be restricting because he really wanted to win the ultimate Frisbee game this year. Robin also had to make sure that Artemis wouldn't recognize him. So he dressed more casual and made sure his hair was not gelled so she wouldn't draw the connection between Dick Grayson, schoolboy, to this Dick Grayson here.
Of course, he'd still be introduced as Robin.
He took his shades off and looked at his eyes. 'Different… but hey. If it's gonna let me go then I'll take it…' He slips them back on and runs downstairs. He yells to no one in particular, hoping either Alfred or Bruce will hear. "Hey, I'm leaving now! Everyone have a good Thanksgiving!" In a matter of moments, he's on his cycle and out.
Alfred is in the kitchen, shining the silverware. He sighs. He remembers when that used to be Master Bruce. He thinks this will be a nice Thanksgiving, despite their missing Dick Grayson. It has been a while since both he and Master Bruce had been able to enjoy a holiday like this.
Robin gets to Central City pretty quickly, maybe through the use of breaking the speed limit and not taking a lot of legal roads, but he gets there and he's still a little late.
Wally greets him at the door and he's just ecstatic. Inside there's Artemis and Connor as well. Neither of them are formally dressed up so Robin feels good that he didn't get all uppity-doo'd either. There's two chairs right next to Artemis and so it seems a portion of Young Justice has taken up the dinner table (or tables. It looked like at least three had been set next to each other). Robin takes a look at the food that's being brought out of the kitchen and it looks delicious.
Maybe it's also the fact he's sitting with real family that it looks so good, but he gets this giddy feeling. He's so happy or something. It's a little hard to explain, really.
As everyone settles down, that's when conflict happens. A rather elderly lady is looking, actually glaring, at Robin from across the table.
"You there!" Her voice croaks out. Barry is there first. "Hey, Grams, what's up?"
She swats at him. "I didn't mean you! I meant him!" He points at Robin and Robin doesn't really know how to react. "This is Thanksgiving and you still have your silly glasses on? We are indoors, son!" She reprimands.
Barry to the rescue. "Sorry grams, but that's hero protocol. He's got this-"
"No, sorry. I apologize. This is rude…" Robin slips his glasses off, much to Barry's, Wally's and Artemis's shock. Connor kind of gets it but then again, he doesn't get out much to realize that this is pretty important.
Robin has big brown, deer eyes. Like chocolate brown eyes. He blinks a few times. "I'm sorry, again." He says sweetly and Great-Grandma Caroline is totally okay with that. Suddenly Robin goes from shady kid with sunglasses to some little kid with the brownest eyes ever. Wally looks at Robin a little strange, but looks away. There's first prayer and then everyone starts eating.
It's more like, you have to get what you want on your plate before the speedsters at the table consume everything. To Robin and Wally, it's almost a race to who can get the most food. Artemis is laughing at them and Connor looks a little annoyed if anything, but it sort of turns into a fond smile. He likes this a lot. Sitting with these people. A little boy who is sitting to his right looks at him.
"Hey, so do you like Pokémon?" The little kid is trying to make small talk. Unfortunately, Superboy has never heard of this. Little Carl is more than happy to tell him about it. By the end of the dinner, Connor knows most of the generations and at least all the Pokémon in the first two. So there was some very important things that Cadmus didn't teach him: Eevee can only evolve with the use of special stones.
Robin and Artemis are stuffed. Wally hadn't lied. His aunt's ham and gravy was amazing.
However, they were more amused by his family. To say that Wally was the hyperactive, silly one was keeping out all the other weird, sometimes annoying, just plain laughable relatives that he had. Ol' granny Caroline is a hoot. She is quick to reprimand the improper; in fact, Robin thinks that she has the observant eye of Batman. It's a little unnerving, if anything.
Little cousin Carl, the one obsessed about Pokémon, asks Connor if he'll ever think about being a Steelix. Wally has to explain to Connor to say no. Cousin Callie immediately sees Artemis and starts talking. For once, Artemis feels like a normal girl. By the end of the dinner, she's next to Callie, chatting about Justin Bieber and if he's got a girl preggo "for realz". They giggle and laugh. Artemis used to think such gossip was stupid, but this indulging is really... fun.
Robin meets Wally's parents. They are quiet, a little too quiet for seeing their son for the first time in a few months. Robin notices how Wally doesn't even make a lot of eye contact with them. He's curious as to why, but he thinks that the most obvious is probably the reason. It doesn't take much to see that Wally lives with his mentor and uncle, Barry aka the Flash. And with the other time he spends at the mountain, he doesn't have a home relationship with his parents. So Wally has parent issues.
Well, so did Robin, but his issues were more on the fact they didn't exist anymore. The pumpkin pie goes down a little sour at the thought. He wonders how different Thanksgiving would've turned out had they lived or had they never even gone up for that act.
He looks up and around the table and sees everyone. No one here is his blood family, but they are, in a sense his family. He sees Barry and his wife touch each other's arms softly and Barry compliments his wife on the fantastic cooking. Connor, at the end of the table, is being taught what attacks a Steelix learns at which level. Artemis and Callie are gone. Probably to hang out and chat about their thoughts in private. Wally elbows him.
"Hey, let's go to my room. It'll be way quieter and maybe we can get out dishes then." Amidst the chatter of family, it's not hard to escape.
The moment Wally closes his doors; his facial features turn sharp and accusing. He looks at Robin. "Contacts, really?"
Robin is taken aback. He didn't think anyone would notice. Wally continues. "I can see the faint outline of the clear part. And I was looking for them, so I guess…"
Robin looks at his best friend. "You were looking for them?"
Wally shrugged. "There was no way the Bats was going to let you reveal your identity to my entire family, he wouldn't let you tell me. When you said you'd be okay with taking your glasses off, then it was kind of obvious you had another trick so no one would know."
Robin tries to plead. Maybe it's just the tone of Wally's voice but Robin knows he's stepped on a line, hurt something. "Seriously, it was the only way Bats would let me go… I'm really sorry…" Wally shrugs again.
"Man, forget it. I'm just being a douche. Thanksgiving is about giving and you've already given me a whole lot more than I would've asked for. You are here!" He puts a small smile on his face.
Robin won't let it go though. He knows that the whole not-actually-revealing-hidden-identity has struck a chord. "No really. I wish-you have no idea how bad I want you to know. I don't know if… I don't think it would, but Batman just really cares about our entire identity thing…" He argument doesn't really work, and it falters off course. Wally puts a hand on his shoulder.
"No really, Robs. It's fine." He puts a genuine smile on this time and Robin relaxes. Wally continues. "So, yeah, this is my room. The man cave. The room of a genius. Yes, you may take a souvenir." Wally laughs.
Robin takes the time to actually take a look around. It's a little small. Wally's bed is a bunk bed, but the bottom bunk is cut out. Instead in that area is a small desk and a desk lamp and all these papers. There's a small coffee table next to that which holds a laptop. On the other side, there's a storage and bookshelf thing. On that, there are books raging from Harry Potter to Relativity to Calvin and Hobbs.
Robin makes a side note that this bookshelf seems to accurately represent Wally. Silly, but serious, and ultimately awesome. The storage bit has small knick-knacks.
Wally walks over and starts holding things up and explaining them. "This mini-rubix is from one of my friends in middle school. He bet me I couldn't solve it in a school day. I won ten bucks." He holds it proudly and Robin laughs.
There's other stuff, a paper crane made from this cool origami paper, a broken CD that has some autograph on it, a My Little Pony figurine ("You don't understand if you're not a brony!").
On the walls are posters. Some are bands, like Weezer or Red Hot Chili Peppers. Others are drawings or chemical equations that Wally has tacked up to come back too. Mostly, Wally has are pictures. There was photos he's taken with the souvenirs from their mountain base, at concerts, with his uncle and aunt, at school, with friends when he's in civvie clothing, and with the Young Justice.
He points at the one with him and Wally making silly faces. They both look like they're eight even though this was only taken about a month ago. "I like this one."
Wally laughs. "Me too." They spend the next hour point out pictures and retelling the stories behind them, even if they already know it.
From down the hallways, they hear, "Boys!" Wally groans. "I hate cleaning up after dinner…"
Robin chuckles and follows Wally out, but as Wally twists his doorknob Robin says, "Blue."
Wally start asking, "Wha-?" But then he gets it. Robin is looking at him intently.
"Yeah, I could see that…" Wally says. Robin smiles. "Thanks."
The speedster's heart is going so fast. Even though he sounds nonchalant and cool with his 'thanks', he's really ecstatic. Robin didn't have to tell him what his real eye color was, but Wally was one of the only trusted. Man. He would've never pegged Robin with blue eyes.
R&R as always. Man, I'm getting so much motivation to do this! I love you guys! Tell me what I should write next. I love getting so many ideas!
xoxo, Stamps