Disclaimer: I do not own 'Young Justice'
'Wonderstruck'
Chapter Two
by Songsix
.*.*. Two Years Ago .*.*.
"Come on, Flash. I want to catch my own baddie! Why do we have to come here?" Wally groaned while he fidgeted with his uniform; still getting used to the sensation of spandex and padding. He almost felt naked, in the fun sort of way. However, the most frustrating part of the new suit was the tight elastic of the goggles he now had to wear at all times on his head. Sometimes it felt like it was cutting off his blood circulation, but he guessed it was the price he'd have to pay to be able to still show off his red hair. He didn't want to mess it up in case the ladies saw him…
…or that boy.
But, that didn't matter. He couldn't, shouldn't be thinking of that anymore, so as long as he was living under his parents' roof. They were a heavily Christian household. What would they think if he ever accepted the idea that quite possibly he was…
No. Forget it.
They were out in the middle of the night in the crime-ridden city known as Gotham – a total one eighty from Central City, and no way near as happy dowdy as Metropolis. It was full of constant excitement and danger, something Wally had come to enjoy with every adrenaline rush. "Trust me, Bud. Batman is a smart guy, he's going to want to check you out first. Make sure you're alright and stuff." Flash explained as he looked around keeping look out for the man in subject's appearance.
"But I am!" Kid Flash groaned with an irritated tone, sitting cross-legged on the ground crossing his arms defiantly. He finally met his hero while also finding out it was his Aunt Iris's snore-fest of a boyfriend. He succeeded in replicating the experiment that gave the original scarlet speedster his powers creating his own. He wanted to go out and use them. He wanted to get into brawl and own those suckers. He wanted to show off his newfound ability to run on water; which is totally stellar. He didn't understand what they were doing in Gotham for what sounded like a play date between the Batman and Flash.
Flash turned towards his nephew cocking his head to the side with his hands on his hips. "Really now? So, when you fainted out of nowhere in battle you were fine?" he challenged, his lips curling up in amusement when the young teen flinched.
Kid Flash momentarily cringed at the thought of falling victim to a criminal that way. It was his first time out, and everything was brand new to him. The fact that he fainted leaving himself vulnerable sounded incredibly terrifying, but what's life without a little death defying madness here and there? All that mattered to him now was that he was alive and wanted to go do it again. The feeling was too addicting, running head first into danger; like jumping off the high dive. "So we now know I have a fast metabolism. Why do we need Batman to tell us what we can figure out ourselves?" he countered in a huff.
Barry fought the urge to roll his eyes and instead ruffled his hair affectionately. "Because it's better we learn what could go wrong now than later at a critical moment," he explained as Wally fixed his red locks to how he wanted them.
"Uncle Bar-reeeeeeeee," Wally whined, cranking his voice up as he could. It would have been effective had it not cracked and left his Uncle giggling like a schoolgirl. Sometimes that man could be just oh so mature. When it was clear he was insulted, the young teen turned away mumbling in anger. Barry saw this was going to go nowhere if he kept teasing his nephew this way, so he kneeled down to his level and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Wally didn't shrug it off, that was a good sign.
"Wally, look. Being a hero takes a lot of responsibility, and if we have the opportunity to take full advantage of our gifts than we must…" the teen only glared harder at the small pebbles scattered at his feet, as if he was trying to make them burst into flames. Barry then turned his eyes to the sky, and as quickly as he could added in, "…annnd, being a superhero means checking in with the Batman."
Wally didn't know whether to laugh his ass off, or be even more insulted than he was before. The fact Batman was playing police or head or…or…control freak mother to the Justice League was simply criminal, "So what you're saying is: we have to go all the way to Gotham so Batman can study me like an amoeba in a Petri dish, because he's just that paranoid?" he questioned with as much spite as he could muster up.
In response, Barry gave him a congratulatory slap on the back, "Spot on, Kiddo!" Wally decided this was more insulting than funny.
Standing up as angry as he could, he jumped up and slammed his feet down. "This is so lame. Why do we have to listen to him?" he sneered, wiping his nose before snorting the snot back up. Barry looked at him as if the answer were so obvious that you shouldn't even have to ask.
"Because he can beat the crap out of us."
The teen blinked at him a few times before exploding into a red-faced fury, "He doesn't even have superpowers!"
"You want to go one-on-one with the Batman?" Barry suggested, entertained at the thought of his nephew trying to give the older man a 'taste of the Kid Flash rubber'. When Wally relaxed his arms and chuckled nervously, he felt accomplished, "thought so."
Wally placed his arms behind his head looking up at the twinkling stars sighing sadly, "Whatever…"
Not liking the sight of the young boy looking so down, he tried to think of something that would cheer him up. An idea than popped into his mind, how could he ever forget? "Hey, at least you can make a new friend! So buck up!"
Wally looked at him flabbergasted at the ridiculousness of his Uncle's idea of 'bucking up', "Why would I want to be friends with the epitome of all our darkest fears and nightmares?"
Now it was Barry's turn to decide whether or not he should find what he said hilarious, or insulting since he misunderstood, "Because, it's good to make friends you can fight alongside with; I also doubt that Robin is that scary."
There was a spark in his green eyes that lit up at the idea as if it were Christmas morning, "I get to meet the first ever sidekick…in like ever?" he wondered with great interest. Barry smiled happy to have managed to make his once gloomy and cranky nephew bright as day.
"You sure do."
"Awesome! This is cooler than I thought!"
Barry ruffled his hair once more, which Wally quickly fixed grumbling, "Glad you changed your attitude."
Once he managed to comb his hair out just the way he wanted, he couldn't help but make a snarky observation, "By the way, Uncle Barry, didn't you say Robin gave you the creeps?" It was too easy.
Barry was speechless. At first he opened his mouth to retort, but all that came out was babbles, "You don't understand! That kid…that little laugh of his, or when he does that ninja thing. Nightmares. Seriously!"
Wally laughed at him eating it up, "You're such a baby, Uncle Barry. Scared of the Boy Wonder of all things." He'd seen the kid on television before. There was absolutely nothing frightening about him in his opinion. At least, when he traded in the pixie shoes and green underwear for combat boots and actual pants, he wasn't scary. In fact, he was pretty entertaining to watch over the Batman. The kid would actually let reporters get good shots him every once in awhile, sometimes they'd be funny faces just for the heck of it. He could respect that.
"When you get to know him, you'll get it." Barry mumbled, kicking the pebbles at his feet. Wally decided to leave him alone about the subject for now. He had even more years to come for easy shots.
After another ten minutes past, Flash was still looking around for the Dynamic Duo. He wondered to himself if he should have brought his own bat signal. Kid Flash on the other hand settled for pacing back and forth before leaning on the giant neon sign attached to the front of the building. "So, what? We just wait here? On a dark eerie rooftop?" He snarkily asked.
Flash shrugged his shoulders, scratching his head. "It's his favorite hangout, asides from dark eerie alleyways and basements, of course," he replied nonchalantly. It wasn't even a joke.
"Figures." Kid Flash muttered looking back up to the stars.
"You figure what?"
"Holy crap!" he almost fell over his feet as he was caught off guard by a domino mask in his face hanging upside down from the giant 'M' he had been leaning on. He did however managed to trip over an abandoned pipe running away frantically almost rolling himself off the building. Luckily, Flash caught him just in time. Great, he just humiliated himself in front of the Dynamic Duo. The boy didn't even have any shame in cackling his little ass off pointing at him. What a brat!
Good thing for him, Batman ceased the boy's giggles. "Robin," reprimanded Batman, with a low raspy voice that gave the young speedster goose bumps. Getting a good look at what he once saw as 'cat ears', he now saw the whole dark vampire bat thing going on. No way did he want to bump into this guy in a dark alley. Good thing his Uncle scored them a rooftop meeting instead!
"Sorry, Batman." The ward apologized, before releasing his grapple and landing on the ground effortlessly. He did it all in one swift movement as if he were weightless. Well, he was pretty small. Then again, he was rumored to be eleven this year. Not that Wally kept up with that kind of news or anything.
"Hey there! Long time no see huh?" Flash greeted cheerfully, but Batman only grimace in response.
"Where's the kid?"
"Oh! He's…Kid Flash! Where'd you…" Flash spun around on one foot looking for him. He then spotted the un-mistakable yellow hidden nearby the door to the roof. Marching over, he did his best to keep a strong front for Batman, dragging Kid Flash out by his arm, "…Get out here."
"Uncle Barry, you're right. That guy is scary!" Wally told him in a harsh whisper as he dug his boots into the ground not wanting to come any closer to the younger sidekick.
"Quit being a chicken."
Robin frowned when Kid Flash flinched as he approached him, "Golly. I didn't mean to frighten you that bad, dude."
"I wasn't scared!" the speedster insisted, but when Robin extended his hand he jumped back, "Maybe a little…"
Robin cackled lightly at the reaction. He then took Kid Flash's hand forcefully giving a firm handshake. Quickly, the fear Wally had drained from his body and he felt familiar, "It's alright. Happens to everyone, including Flash."
"Robin."
"Sorry, Batman." He then backed away and went to his mentor's side obediently. Barry pondered how much brain washing he would have to do to get Wally to do that. On cue, Kid Flash started vibrating in his spot before scurrying around the building excitedly. Nice.
Batman observed the young teen without moving. Since his powers kicked in, Wally had more heightened energy, similar to a preschooler that watched Pokémon for the first time having seizures and spasms of "happy-happy joy-joy fun." It was uncanny, "We'll take him back to the lab."
That made Kid Flash stop dead in his tracks by Flash's side, "We're going to his lair?"
"Don't worry, he won't kill you." Flash reassured, before kneeling down and warning in a low creepy voice, "Unless you peak underneath your blindfold."
Kid Flash gulped loudly, his Adam's apple bobbing in fear, "You're kidding right?"
"Man likes to keep his secrets." Was Flash's only reply, except for…"super paranoid to the max," earning himself a bat glare from Batman and a giggle from Robin.
As soon as they arrived to the cave, Kid Flash ripped the blindfold from his face and was pretty surprised to find that the Batman enjoyed keeping souvenirs – quite inspiring actually. He had an enormous Penny, a dinosaur, a giant playing card, and tons of strange gadgets and gizmos lying about. If it weren't for the oozing cave slime, stone walls, haunting darkness, cold clammy air, and angry bat it could be a fun house!
At first, it started with a few normal tests just like getting a physical. Batman checked his pulse, blood pressure, breathing levels, and even looked for ear infections. Then things got weird – fast. From having him run on a powered treadmill with wired suctions attached to his body - while in his freaking Green Lantern boxers - to running on a giant hamster wheel. As a great joke, Robin and Flash attached a carrot to the end of a fishing pole for him to chase. He ate it anyway. Speedy metabolism meant he had to eat. Somehow, that was still less awkward than explaining to his uncle and Batman why he had boxers with Hal Jordan's face printed on his butt. It wasn't long before Batman had him lying on an examining table stark naked as he probed him with a bunch of unusual tools he's never even seen on Grey's Anatomy with Nurse Flash at his side. Lucky for this portion, Batman said something about math homework to Robin, so he couldn't be here to watch his mentor poke at him.
After typing into his bat-computer for what felt like a million years, Batman faced Flash with a grave face, "He checks out alright. Although, his molecules seem to be more unstable than your own."
"What does this mean?" Flash asked in worry, Kid Flash didn't seem so concerned though as he changed back into his uniform. He knew the possibility of this kind of occurrence could happen in his experiment. He made sure to calculate in the risks and externalities. He knew being a hormonal teenager would change his body more drastically in comparison to what happened to Barry. Once again, it was diving head first – the only thing he knew to do anymore.
"I need to talk to you. Alone." Batman commanded, before walking away into the shadows. Flash was about to follow behind, but the younger speedster quickly tugged at his arm.
"Don't leave me alone!" Who knows what kind of freaky things they had crawling up in the batcave?
Flash shot him a thumbs up with a sheepish expression, "Sorry Bud, I'll be back soon. Robin can keep you company."
The teen buried his face in his hands in exasperation, "You're kidding me, right?"
"Buck up!" Ruffling his hair before running off.
"I hate when people say that!" Kid Flash grumbled as soon as he thought he was out of earshot, fixing his locks the third time that night.
"Why?" he didn't even bother to turn around. The Boy Wonder could be coming from anywhere at this point. It was a cave; there were echoes. Also, he was certain the kid probably knew how to throw his voice just to freak people out. "Would you rather hear: quit being a fun sucker?"
"Don't be such a fun sucker. Come on!"
Wally's heart skipped a beat. It was like déjà vu. "What did you say?" he asked, with a bit of awe tracing his words. For a moment, he could have sworn he saw some sort of reaction beneath that domino mask, but he could have been imagining things since Robin didn't even so as much lift a finger.
Instead, the boy raised a confused brow. But rather than giving the question any further thought, he shrugged it off and extended a gloved hand, "…I never really introduced myself. I'm Robin." His smile was warm, vibrant, and different from Batman's stoic expressions. He felt the tips of his own mouth curl up as he reached out…
"Wally. Wally West."
The speedster stared for a full second before taking his hand and giving a firm shake. "Kid Flash," he responded pointing to the red bolt adorned on his yellow uniform. There it was again, that strange familiar feeling he had spent forever searching for again. He thought he tucked these feelings away, but it would seem they were resurfacing again; at the worst possible time too. He swallowed a hard lump in his throat nervously.
"Otherwise known as Wallace Rudolph West?" But luckily, his thoughts were broken before he could delve into those thoughts again.
"Nice. You know my secret identity," he commented, not asked. His back proudly straight having regained his composure.
"I know everything. We know everything." That was expected of the dynamic duo at this point. However, because of how Wally was, he had to challenge that statement. You couldn't be a scientist or an engineer if you didn't question everything around you. It was in his nature.
"Try me." He smirked, standing as tall as he could showing no signs of bewilderment. The Boy Wonder wasn't going to shake him. There was all this need to argue with the other boy. There was something enticing about the idea. Robin made light steps circling him rubbing his chin in thought. It was hard to tell what kind of expression he held from the black and white mask, but he could tell this was an act. Robin already knew everything. He was just having fun with it, he could tell by that cocky smirk…
Cocky…
"Middle name came from your father. You're the captain of the Flash Fan club. Your best friends growing up were Linda Park and Tommy Elkin. You grew up in Blue Valley as a country bumpkin." He was good. But these were things that could easily be learned from social networks. Even his dad knew all these things about him, and he barely ever came home enough for the man to know he was failing geography.
"Hey! I resent the term 'bumpkin'. The correct term is country bum." Wally countered playfully; Robin waved him off and continued without missing a beat.
"You go by the following nicknames: Freckles, carrot top, but I think you look more like a Cornfield." Kid Flash narrowed his eyes at that last name, and brought a grin to Robin's own lips, "or would you prefer KF?"
"KF is fine." He replied, not without yawning unimpressed with half lidded eyes and a grin. This only provoked the Boy Wonder to push further. He liked seeing the boy a bit flustered. Not sure why, but it was fun. Even if he couldn't see his eyes, he could see it in the tenseness of his shoulders, and the tight balls of his hands he was concentrating on winning this little game they were playing.
Robin gave a knowing grin flashing those white set of teeth of his, "You love French fries, root beer, and comic books. You are in perfect physical condition…"
Kid Flash had to roll his eyes. None of these things were that hard to find out about him. All it took was one video or even one blog on the internet for information so simple to blow up. Wasn't this kid supposed to be known for his computer hacking skills? "Thanks. I do my best to keep in shape for the ladies."
"No prob. You have a pet turtle named Velocity, which is ironic since you are Kid Flash." The boy was very quick with his remarks, he liked that a lot.
"Hey, he's cool! You should know I got Velocity before I got these powers." Wally stated with pride, his hands on his hips as he puffed up his chest. Robin even chuckled at this to his satisfaction. "Besides, you gotta do better than that."
Robin than pointed an index finger to the air as if he had just gotten an epiphany. "You are highly intelligent in anything science, but when it comes to history you can't even name all seven continents without calling up your friend Linda asking for help."
"Dude!" Not even Uncle Barry knew about something like that. Did they have cameras around his house? Maybe they bugged his phone? Maybe he underestimated the Boy Wonder and his abilities. His mentor was the world's greatest detective. Although, this was getting borderline creepy…
"Sometimes, you spend most nights staying up until two in the morning wide awake." …borderline creepy to completely invasive anyways. Green eyes went wide in surprise as he tugged at his uniform self-consciously. How could he possibly know such an intimate fact of his life? Something he was actually a bit sensitive about, because it was true: he spent most nights up late pacing back and forth thinking…
…of him.
This was something he never revealed to anyone, because they would judge him. Of course he'd be awake at night, he had no one he could talk to about all these thoughts and feelings. His parents would probably kick him out of the house if he asked them. His best friends wouldn't treat him the same way anymore, as if he would some kind of freak. They would all probably sooner accept the fact he was a meta-human than the concept that maybe their buddy, son, nephew could be...forget it.
"How did you find that out?" Wally sputtered out, trying his best not to let the kid know he touched a nerve.
Robin stopped in his tracks, examining him with a careful eye with the slight nod of the head. The speedster vibrated in his spot with anticipation. He didn't like the way the kid was studying him as if he knew everything about him. What would this guy know anyways? Those thoughts rather pissed him off. "That's a secret." Robin answered matter-of-factly. Wally didn't like that answer. Not one bit. Suddenly, the air got serious.
"…and you can't even reveal the location of…wherever the heck this place is? Double standards huh?" He bit out through gritted teeth. The annoyance was clear by from the intense glare he was giving to Robin.
In response, the younger boy turned away flapping his cape. "It's for both our safety and yours." He stated flatly, all the fun drained from his voice.
"How did you even find out all those things about me?" The speedster demanded to know, following him as Robin walked away. There was no running away from him. He was Kid Flash: fastest teenager alive.
"That's confidential."
Robin refused to look at him. Wally wouldn't settle for this, it wasn't over and he was going to get answers here and now. "Dude, you know my life story; yet, you can't even tell me one thing?" he argued, getting angrier with each passing minute as the anxiety in his chest grew. Even just thinking about the anything related to those…feelings and strange thoughts sent him flying off the handle. If he didn't get straight answers now it was going to drive him crazy.
"Sorry, that's just how we are." Robin replied with fluster, shrugging his shoulders. The frustration was beginning to eat at the other boy as well it seemed.
The speedster didn't want to take this anymore and grabbed him by the shoulders fiercely, forcing the other sidekick to face him. Still, Robin wouldn't meet eye to eye with him, he could tell, mask or not. "I'd be more offended, but I'm kind of an open book kind of guy. I don't need secrets." He knew what he said was mean, but whatever it took to get this kid talking right?
"You don't get it, sometimes it's important. There's just some things better left unsaid or unknown." Why wouldn't he look at him? This guy was truly pissing him off. Who would have thought he was actually excited to meet the brat earlier? He was wrong to be happy about this meeting, he was really starting to hate this guy.
When Wally decided there was no use, he let go walking away stomping with each step dramatically. Not without having the last word of course, "whatever you say, Boy Blunder."
"Can it, Kid idiot." Wally froze as soon as he heard the words come out of Robin's mouth. He did not just go there.
Without batting an eyelash he quickly came up with a comeback. "Nice one, Boy 'Wonder if your balls have even dropped yet'." The twitch in Robin's eyebrow was totally worth it.
"You want to fight?" Robin asked, popping his neck with one fist.
"That even a question?" Kid Flash responded, popping his knuckles with an equally loud crunch.
The stood toe to toe, Robin standing only a few inches shorter than him. Each of them had their hands on their hips, noses flared, teeth gritting, and foreheads wrinkled. They stood there letting the tension in the atmosphere, a single clock ticking in the back.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
"TAKE THIS!" Boom.
Kid Flash got on his knees and did a round kick at Robin's legs, who leaped into the air while swinging his fist into the other's head as he came back up. The speedster quickly dodged his attack with his forearms capturing Robin's own arm and forcing him to the ground locking his legs around the boy's waist.
"You're a little brat y'know that?" Wally yelled at him as he continued to tighten his hold. However, Robin used his other arm to reach up and punch him squarely in the jaw with a hard smack. Since Wally wasn't use to taking hits quite yet he reflex and immediately rolled away grabbing his mouth. Robin got up to his feet, and he scrambled to his own two. They circled each other like sharks in a tank.
"Like you're a mature thirteen?" Robin bit back, getting into a stance. Technically, Wally just turned thirteen, but he didn't need to know that.
"Oh yeah! Being eleven makes you so cool!" Kid Flash charged at him running circles all around him in hopes of making the kid dizzy. Unfortunately, out of his utility belt Robin pulled out a hand full of marbles and tossed them on the ground. Wally slipped, he slid, and he tripped face first to the ground. His whole head ached with a loud ringing that wouldn't leave, but he wasn't giving up just yet.
"Been in the fighting business a lot longer than you have, yet I'm younger. Yeah! it's cool!" Robin charged at him ready to throw more punches, but with his speed Wally was able to capture his hands and twisted his body around slamming Robin back to the floor in a blur. His small body flopped on the ground, but he leapt up as quickly as he went down.
"Doesn't mean you're any good! You need Batman to babysit you." Wally taunted, throwing more kicks and more punches using his speed, but Robin kept dodging all of them. Kid Flash was fast, but Robin was trained in fighting even meta-humans.
"You need the Flash! I heard you fainted!" Robin cackled, as he dodged another one of Wally's kick doing a back flip, but when he landed on his hands he took his legs and caught the other boy's neck. The speedster pulled and yanked at his skinny appendages, but as soon as Robin got a good grip, he locked his legs and used them to send Kid Flash flying over him onto his backside.
"That wasn't my fault!" Wally heaved, grabbing his stomach actually feeling the effects of not eating before combat kicking in. There was sharp internal pain, and he silently hissed not wanting to show any weakness. But, Robin still saw.
"You should have gotten yourself checked out before jumping head first into danger." He commented, helping Wally to his feet placing an arm around his shoulders. The speedster grunted, not too happy being pitied on.
Wally spat at the ground, before glaring up at Robin, "What makes you the expert of being a sidekick?" his voice low and angry shoving the other boy away from him, but never backing down as he brought his face close enough to his for their foreheads to touch.
"First off, I was the first sidekick. You wouldn't even know half the stuff I've had to go through." He seethed, with their noses only inches apart. Robin's breath hot against Wally's face. "Second, trust me when I say I know a thing or two about not jumping in head first without a net!"
They shall be performing their infamous routines only…
"What's that supposed to mean?" he was breathless; his heart was pounding ferociously against his chest, his anxiety all gone replaced by something else. It was hope, rising higher and higher reaching green eyes that glittered like a child.
…without a net!
"Nevermind." Robin turned on his heel stepping back, his mouth in a firm line. There was something like fear in what Wally could see of his expression, but before he could look any further, the boy disappeared into the shadows of the cave. Wally reached out to stop him, but he was already long gone. Disappointment welled up inside of him. He scared him off, why did he have to be so stupid? But did it really matter to know?
"You know everything about me. Why can't you tell me this?" Yes. It did. It meant everything.
"Hey kiddo, what's going on?"
Flash was back, but he didn't want to leave yet. It was too soon; he had so much more left to say – to know. Not much was making sense, yet somehow it all clicked together.
"Nothing."
There were really only twothings that he was certain of tonight that was for sure…
"Alright, but we have to get going. Can't be out too late, or your Aunt will kill me."
Once again, he felt it again – Enchanted, by something magical, unexplained, familiar…
"Right…"
…and he liked boys.
Author's Note:Thankyou for reading, as always I'd love to hear what you thought so please shoot me a review and I'll always reply I love talking!
EDIT: Thanks to Foxfire Flamequeen I learned the name of the turtle is Velocity
THANKYOU Once again to Blackmarionette and TheWickedWizardofOz, thanks to them the amount of spelling errors and grammar problems I had is way less of an eyesore!