"Hey, uh, West, how exactly are we going to get to Gotham?" Gardner asks, raising a brow. He leans against the counter of his kitchen area. He's only wearing a t-shirt and boxers since he's alone in the apartment.
Cue the awkward pause. "Uh..."
Gardner smirks and his blue eyes light up victoriously. He finally has the perfect moment to corner the speedster. "You weren't thinking of carrying me there bridal style, were you, Romeo?" He pauses. "Or rather, Kid Flash."
Wally sputters out a few nonsensical words before he's able to calm himself. "Me?" he says in the most incredulous voice he can muster. "Kid Flash? Me? You think that someone so cool can be someone so me?"
"Only Kid Flash would say he's cool, West," Gardner replies after letting out a snort. "If anything, the coolest protégé would be Robin. Of course, I hear he's retired for undisclosed reasons."
"I... okay, fine, yes. I, Wally West, am totally Kid Flash."
Obviously, Wally is on the brink of panicking and trying to use sarcasm to ward off the accusation. Deep down, on one hand, Gardner feels bad for making the poor boy suffer. On the other hand, however, he's very pleased that he won't have to pretend to not know anymore. Though, he supposes it's not everyday that a superhero's identity gets busted.
Sighing, Gardner puts his phone on speaker and opens up his text messages. He clicks on Jason's name and begins to tap out a message.
"West, I recommend that you stop playing ignorant because it won't be getting you anywhere," he says. "Your appetite is a dead giveaway, obviously, and there aren't that many teens in the area with your hair color—trust me, I'm a people-watcher so I'd know. And your reflexes when I threw you the water bottle? Just a touch too fast, I must say."
Wally's end stays silent for a few seconds. Then, a sigh. "Okay, you got me. You, uh... you aren't going to tell anyone, right? This could put you and I in some serious danger. I don't want to risk it with you being a civilian and all."
And done, Gardner thinks as he shoots off a text asking Jason if it's possible to reprogram a zeta tube without getting caught. He exits the texting app and opens up a word scramble game that he has set to a language that definitely isn't English. He doesn't bother to reply for what feels like hours to Wally (even though it's more like thirty seconds) and it definitely raises the awkward levels.
"Hey, uh, Gardner? Do you mind saying something? I'm starting to get really freaked out."
"You underestimate my capabilities of keeping a secret," Gardner says. "And my capabilities of protecting myself. I'm not just a civilian and I'm mildly offended that you think that."
"If you're not just a civilian, then what are you?"
Gardner smiles. "You'll figure it out someday, West," he says cryptically. "I'll see you in Gotham, all right? It's only then that I'll talk."
•••
It took a while but Gardner managed to hack into a zeta tube. He hid evidence of slight tampering but did nothing about hiding the fact that someone had used the tube to go from Keystone to Gotham.
He's currently sitting in a coffee shop, stirring a styrofoam cup of black coffee that he was forced to order unless he wanted to get kicked out of the shop. He blows on it and then sips on the liquid. It's bitter and burns the back of his throat and his tongue. He gags, setting the cup back down swiftly. Coffee splashes onto his hand and it burns.
Gardner's wearing a black jacket over a blue t-shirt he dug up in the back of his closet. He's wearing black skinny jeans that are uncomfortable and suffocating. There's a black baseball cap on his head and dark sunglasses that are tinted enough to hide his eyes. And he had decided to forego the cast that Wally suggested he wear.
It's weird being in Gotham City. It's different from Keystone, that's for sure.
Blue eyes wander around the interior of the building. He's looking for a clock so that he can know the time without pulling out his phone. The model he has isn't out in stores yet and anyone who keeps up with the times would know that. He really didn't need or want anyone to ask questions.
As he looks around, he finds a person hunched over his or her (or their) table, poring over something laid out in front of him with a steaming cup of coffee right next to him and a buttered croissant. The person seems to sense watching eyes as he or she (or they) look up and then around before locking eyes with Gardner.
Gardner freezes, not knowing what to do since he's been caught. He recognizes this person and the other person seems to have an idea of who Gardner is.
Or rather, who Gardner is pretending to be.
This person, Gardner thinks to himself, is Timothy Drake. He's an adopted son of Bruce Wayne and one of Dick Grayson's surrogate brothers. And this is a very dangerous situation.
Any normal person wouldn't bother to look past the poor disguise Gardner is wearing. The disguise itself does a terrible job hiding the striking similarity between him and Grayson. Anyone trained like Drake can easily see what Gardner is trying to hide.
Gardner had expected to run into the Bat himself with his family—eventually, at least. He had not, however, expected to run into anyone out in public so soon. He's surprised that Drake isn't being swarmed with the press. Then again, this three-star coffee shop is a little out of the way and seems to have no respect for the press if the signs forbidding them from entering on the window were any indication.
Drake looks like he's about to walk over to Gardner. The younger male won't allow it so he breaks eye contact, picks up his coffee, and gets up so he can throw away the drink and then find somewhere he can call safe.
"Hey, wait!"
Obviously, Gardner doesn't listen. No, it's much too soon to risk getting a game over now.
He exits fast, looking both ways. He realizes now that Drake's position gave him the perfect view of the alley with the zeta tube Gardner had used. Is it possible that the zeta log had already been noticed? He hopes not and he doesn't have time to think.
Gardner runs into an alley, easily working his way through. When he thinks the danger has passed, he pulls out his phone a few minutes later just to be sure.
"West?" he hisses, trying to keep his voice low. "I'm in Gotham. Where are you?"
"Sorry, man. Remember how I told you it took a while for my parents to agree to let me skip school? Well, they're making me stay at home doing chores and studying even though school let out already." A sigh. "I knew there was a catch..."
Gardner's eye twitches beneath the shades. He pokes his head out from behind the side of the dumpster he's shielding himself with and makes sure no one is there. Once the place was secure in his mind, he pinches the bridge of his nose and exhales slowly.
"Are you serious?" he asks, trying to keep his voice low just in case. "Okay. I can do this on my own. Besides, it's better this way if I get caught, right?"
"I'm so sorry. I'll try to convince my parents."
"Don't bother," Gardner says dryly. "I'm sure they're a force to be reckoned with. Look, I have to go."
A pause. "Good luck. Try not to get caught."
He hangs up and darts out of the alley. He hopes that the scent of garbage hasn't latched itself onto his clothes. Trying to appear inconspicuous, he ambles toward the library so that he can kill some time.
•••
Tim Drake gets himself to the Batcave as soon as he can. He all but throws himself into the chair, ignoring the questioning looks of Damian and Terry who are both sparring. He doesn't concern himself with where Jason is hiding in the house.
"Something wrong?" Terry asks.
"Remember how Bruce told us that there was an unauthorized user coming from Keystone to Gotham via zeta tube?" Tim asks, logging onto the computer. "He asked me to check it out because he's going to be too busy trying to get things at Wayne Tech settled so he can definitely make it to the show."
Damian raises a brow. "You think you know who did it," he ventures to guess. "Well?"
Tim nods, focusing his attention on checking the zeta logs. Then, he switches to finding a security feed of the coffee shop he had been in minutes ago. "I thought I saw him," he says in a breathless proclamation.
"Who?" Terry asks, confused.
The blood son watches Tim. It clicks in his head seconds later. "Grayson," he says. "You think you saw Grayson."
"You're kidding," Terry murmurs. "And on the day of the performance. This can't be a coincidence."
"I'd suggest a fake," Damian says. "Although, one would have to be an idiot to pretend to be Grayson. There's no way anyone could fool the old man into believing that he's Grayson. Besides, there's no prize if Grayson shows."
"We locked eyes, Damian," Tim informs. "He was wearing shades and a baseball cap but even under all that I could tell he looked like Dick. Then, he ran away when I was about to approach him. Why would he do that? I gathered my things and came here because I want to be sure before trying to find him."
Everyone goes silent as Tim manages to pull up a feed from the low-quality security camera. The footage is a bit grainy and it's from much earlier than what the logs recorded as the zeta usage time. He speeds it up, watching as random civilians walk down the street.
Then, he gets stops, letting the video roll by at normal speed. Tim's on the edge of the seat as he puts all of his attention on watching the screen.
A minute later, in the video, a person dressed in black (black jeans, black shoes, black jacket, black glasses, and black hat) emerges from the alleyway that the zeta tube is in. This person seems to look both ways before crossing the street and entering the coffee shop.
Before the person (who's most likely male) does, however, he looks up and straight into the camera.
Tim pauses the video and gestures for Terry and Damian to come closer.
"I... suppose he does bear resemblance to Grayson," Damian mumbles, his eyes narrowing at the image. In his mind, he's taking off the hat and glasses. If he's correct, he can clearly see a resemblance.
Still, something inside of him stirs with unease.
"I guess we should keep our eyes peeled at the performance tonight," Terry says. "If it's him, we're bringing him home."
Gardner hacking the zeta tubes was a decision made on a whim because I forgot to think about how Gardner and Wally would get to Gotham. *shrugs* Although, it seems like Wally will be a no-show after all. That, my friends, I had planned. :3
If you think the whole reveal was OOC, my defense is that Wally's subconscious is telling him he can trust Gardner. Like, a lot. A hell lot.
Oo! I had an idea... would y'all be interested in a short story that takes place in this universe? Like, before Dick disappears? And maybe even leading up to his disappearance? I feel like it'll force me to make final decisions for this story and it'll give y'all hints and stuff. :0 It'll be a few chapters long I guess? :P