He doubts his skills as the World's Greatest Detective. A voice in the back of him is taunting and uncaring, telling him he doesn't deserve the title if he can't find his own partner. It only fuels the fire and makes him look harder.
A few minutes later, he's standing on the low ground. He stares down at a puddle and then he looks off into the distance, following a trail. It's blood, he notes. And it's fresh.
Taking a sample, he calls in to the Batcave. He's crouching over the puddle, hovering and staring at the spilled body fluid.
"Robin's missing," he says. "I found blood. Send his brothers."
There's a taste of fear, which he shouldn't be experiencing because he's the god damn Batman. He stares at the trail of blood because it looks like a body was dragged. The thought makes him stand and continue his search.
He follows the blood to a dead end and no body.
•••
Wally walks at a fast pace while trying not to break out into a full-on run. He takes his time to observe the apartment complex. He wonders how many tenants there are and how high the rent must be. After all, the night shift can't pay that much if there's almost no patrons when it's past midnight and a little café can't pay that much.
He then chuckles. What if he moved in one of the apartments after graduation? He's legally old enough to move out with or without consent from either parents. That idea makes him take half a second to pause before he continues on his merry way out.
Gardner's sixteen. Gardner is sixteen, living on his own, and graduated high school early. This revelation makes Wally wince as he thinks about his own life. Gardner LaRou (an ordinary teen) makes Wally West (a super-powered teen) look bad. And he's the one who's supposed to be a role model.
Without another thought, Wally continues on to get to the nearest zeta beam in Keystone.
•••
Recognized: Kid Flash, B03.
He thinks it's ironic that his superhero moniker is Kid Flash when he's eighteen. He should consider changing his name to something much cooler. Definitely cooler. And maturer. Cool and mature. Right.
In a flash, he arrives at the mission room. He takes note of who is and isn't there. The Team is there minus one Robin and, surprisingly, Red Wonder is standing there before them. The older Bat Brother pulls up a screen and enlarges is for the Team.
Artemis is the first to greet Wally. "Look at who's finally arrived," she says in a snarky voice that's all bark and no bite because by now they both know their spats are purely for entertainment purposes. "Where have you been?"
Thinking an argument will erupt, Kaldur places a hand on the archer's shoulder. "Artemis, I am sure Wally has a reason for being late."
"And I'd like to hear it," she says, brandishing her bow. Wally takes that moment to realize everyone's in his or her own uniform aside from him. He gives a short and awkward laugh, using super speed to change into his own. With a small gesture using his hand, he comes up with a brief explanation.
"I was at a friend's," he says, choosing not to elaborate on all the little details. "We were studying."
"All I can say is I'm impressed that you care about your education," Red Wonder says, adopting a rather dry and unimpressed voice. "All right, Team, we have a mission for you."
Connor allows his face to twist into a mask of confusion. "We? You're the only one here with the ability to give us missions."
"I'm talking about Batman and the Flash," responds the former Boy Wonder. He gestures to the screen and the Dark Knight of Gotham appears with a grim line in place of the smile he never seems to have. "I'm here because this mission will be taking place in my city."
M'gann hovers above the floor by an inch or two. She looks curious. After all, the former protégés of Batman never allow the Team to take missions in their claimed cities or areas. Red Wonder never approved of having the Team set foot in Jump City.
"Your city is Jump City, right?" she asks. "Hello Megan! You have a team there! Why aren't they taking care of it?"
"This is a covert operation," Red Wonder says in a matter-of-factly voice. "While my team is taking care of the villains, you will be taking care of watching a transaction."
Batman takes over the briefing for now. "An anonymous tip has been sent in," he says to them. "The Flash has been given the task of looking over the blueprints."
Wally doesn't like the feeling that's swirling in his stomach. He feels like there's a little more to the whole affair and the three older heroes know it. "A transaction? That's it?"
"Wally, you know what this is, right?" Flash says as he holds up a blueprint. He has on a very serious face as he stands next to Batman.
The teenage speedster leans forward a bit to get a better look at the blueprint. His eyes scan it, trying to figure out what exactly the blueprint is for. It hits him like a ton of bricks and he widens his eyes. "Holy sh"—he glances at Batman's hardening glare—"iitake mushrooms. That's an IED, right?"
"What's that?" M'gann asks, leaning forward with her head tilted like a confused puppy. She looks a little worried when she notices Wally's pursed lips.
The speedster in question places a hand on his chin. "An Improvised Explosive Device," he informs them. "Or a bomb, whatever you wanna call it—either way, it goes boom."
"The blueprints were sent with a piece of paper that held two words," Batman says in a low voice. "C-4 and Xenothium," said the joined voices of Batman and Red Wonder.
"C-4 and Xenothium... C-4... and..." Wally gapes, looking between Batman and Red Wonder. "You don't think—?"
"It's written in the blueprints," Flash calls from off-screen. "Right here: C-4 as the explosive and Xenothium for the power source."
Kaldur has no idea of the severity but he senses the concern and slight panic. "How dangerous would this bomb be?"
"C-4 is an explosive material typically used in demolitions and whatnot," Wally says in a voice that's a little too fast. "And Xenothium is a very dangerous and very unstable power source. It's a compound that's very hard for even the League to obtain legally."
The Atlantean frowns a little. "I'm not asking you what C-4 and Xenothium is."
"Very dangerous," Red Wonder says. "It's very dangerous. From what we've gathered, someone plans to make multiple bombs. Your mission is to stop this transaction from happening if it happens."
"If," Connor repeats with a frown. "You're handing us this mission because you don't want to waste your time if it's a false lead."
Like with a bomb, Red Wonder tries to defuse the slight frustration the clone is experiencing. There's a brief moment where he's reminded of the times when he had to deal with Red Hood's temper or Robin's stubbornness. "That's not it," he says in a rigid yet gentle voice. "We're giving you this mission because we trust you. I trust you."
Connor says nothing and it's Artemis who speaks this time. "Yeah, definitely believable. It's an honor, really. So, where in Jump City is it?"
"The Harbor," Batman says as he ignores the sarcastic undertones of Artemis' words. "Aqualad will be monitoring the waters and Kid Flash will take the Xenothium and run it over to the Cave should the transaction actually occur. The rest of you will be tasked with apprehending the persons involved if they do appear."
"Are you... you want me to steal the Xenothium?" Wally asks, looking confused. "It sure sounds like you're saying that."
"Of course not," Red Wonder says quickly. "You'll run it to the Cave so a League member can return it to the proper handlers."
Kaldur nods and looks up at the screen. "Shall we leave now?" he asks. Batman gives an affirmation and logs off. Red Wonder nods his head and they all head off to the bioship.
•••
Taking over the mission as leader, Red Wonder gives the orders. He tells M'gann to camouflage the bioship and instructs Kaldur to dive into the waters to patrol. For the rest of them, he tells them to split up and watch for each other's cues. The Titans member tells them not to use their mental link so they could be completely focused on the surroundings.
The gentle waves of the waters beneath them are the only sounds aside from the distant city noises. It's kind of calming and refreshing to not use the link to communicate. It lets Wally worry about Gardner without risking anyone hearing his thoughts.
He's only half-focused on the mission. It's dangerous when there's a chance that the threat is real and someone actually is making bombs. He can't help it though.
After all, Gardner has garnered all of his attention.
Wally is thankful for his gloves. Gloves make it harder to bite one's nails. It's a nervous habit he has and he's a little more than nervous. He's nervous about a lot of things. Gardner had been right when he implied that Wally had done little to no thinking about his ploy.
What if Haly didn't buy the act? The old man will probably force Gardner onto a trapeze just to prove it because one can take the boy out of the circus but one cannot take the circus out of the boy. No one can perform like a Grayson without being a Grayson themselves.
And a Grayson is what Gardner isn't.
Or is he?
No, no, Wally thinks, shaking his head out of frustration. Gardner can't be Dick. He wouldn't... I would... he isn't.
Gardner can't be Dick. It would be wishful thinking on Wally's part to hope the black-haired fellow is his long lost best friend. And it would be a damn miracle if Wally ever sees his best friend again.
Straying away from the wishful thinking, Wally mulls over the fact that he'll have to find an excuse Gardner can use so he can avoid pulling off any fancy acrobatics to convince the old man. Hopefully he knows his friend well enough to turn a total stranger into a convincing fake.
And, hopefully, he won't feel so guilty once Haly decides to keep the circus working.
Focus, he tells himself as he watches his teammates. He can worry later when he's back with Gardner at that barely lived-in apartment of his. He can worry later when he's not in the middle of a mission.
He sees nothing out of the ordinary but he knows better than to let his guard down. There's a chance the tip's fake and there's a chance it's more real than cheddar cheese (and cheddar cheese is pretty real to him).
More sudden than a striking snake, Wally sees Artemis give a rather deliberate and violent jerk as she nods toward something. They've locked eyes by now and he looks to where she seems to be gesturing to.
Oh my, this was really hard for me to write. Sigh. I hope y'all enjoyed it anyway. I probably rewrote this three times. :/ Anywho, so, the whole Xenothium bit is just me taking some creative liberty of sorts.
Anywho, thank you for all your words! I enjoyed looking at all your theories and ideas. :) Y'all came up with roughly the same ideas (although some elaborated more) but there's one idea y'all haven't considered.
And I'm glad at you guys don't seem to be hating Gardner. For now, he's technically an OC who bears a resemblance to an actual character. Fun Fact: Gardner LaRou is the name for an actual OC of mine. Bahaha.
So, um, Olivia Penn, I'm afraid you'll have to elaborate on your story idea before I consider taking it.
Questions: What role do you think these bombs will play in the story if they are made? Should Gardner end up being Dick or nah? Do you think he is? Is firefly the opposite of waterfall? Who's behind the transaction?