"Pop, hey, Pop! Look! Look at what I can do!"
A small boy cartwheels forward. When he lands perfectly, he falls into a back bend and kicks himself up into a handstand and begins to walk on his hands. He twists his body and lands in a crouch where he somehow musters the strength to propel himself into a flip and he lands with a smile.
"That was beautiful," an aging man says, his smile making his face wrinkle up just a bit more in the best way.
The little boy laughs, his eyes glittering. "Mum says that soon I'll fly! Like a robin!"
"A robin?" the old man repeats with a knowing smile. "Why a robin?"
Proudly, the boy puffs up his chest. "It's a family name."
•••
His name is Wallace Rudolph West and he is so done with being held prisoner inside his own home. Like, seriously. It's draining.
Two hours ago, he finished his chores. Thirty minutes ago, he finished his homework for the next two days and an essay. Five minutes ago, he started dinner.
"When dinner's over, can I please go to Gotham?" he asks, scooping some mashed potatoes onto his spoon. He glances over at his parents and they're both giving him twin looks of apologies and exasperation because it's probably the hundredth time he's asked.
He remembers very well that Gardner had told him to drop it and to not ask his parents. Of course, he didn't listen. He doesn't want to listen because he wants to be there with Gardner and he wants to know what the dead ringer meant during their conversation on the phone. Wally has a feeling that once Gardner gets back to Keystone, he won't even elaborate on his odd words.
Speaking of which, how exactly did Gardner get to Gotham? There's no way he made it over to the city on foot or by car or anything. It's possible that—
No, Wally tells himself. Rob said so himself. No one can hack a zeta tube aside from the Bat Family.
"No," Rudy says sharply. "You're staying here unless you get your uncle to accompany you."
Immediately, Wally slumps in his seat. He doesn't want to ask Barry to join him because it could potentially compromise the entire thing. Besides, even if he can get Barry to come along, his dad will probably find some reason to keep him cooped up in the house.
Most likely some excuse about how they should all spend time together as a lovely, nice, tight-knit family.
He silently continues to eat his dinner. The silence is disconcerting and somewhere in the back of his mind, Wally can hear Dick's voice telling him to make it more concerting. He proceeds to choke on some food, earning concerned looks.
Wally waves off the concern quickly.
•••
Artemis drops her empty can of soda on the ground when her companion suddenly wraps a hand around her wrist. She moves her head to cast a glare at Bette but she sees that the blue-eyed blonde is pointing into the distance. She follows a manicured finger and sees a group of men that can easily be recognized as Bruce Wayne and his sons.
"Look, it's Bruce Wayne and his sons!" Bette exclaims in a loud whisper. She tugs on Artemis' wrist, trying to pull them both forward. "Let's go tell him about seeing Richard."
Because she's much stronger than the other girl, Artemis stands her ground and takes a step back, making Bette stumble. Before the Kane girl can reply, the archer says, "I don't know." She finagles her wrist out of smooth hands. Then, she bends down to pick up the dropped can. "What if it was it was just a coincidence?"
"A coincidence?" Bette echoes, furrowing her brows. "Wait a minute, why did you even think that it was Richard anyway?"
"He said something to me after taking that picture," Artemis replies, her eyes clouding over a little at the memory. Even after all this time, she wonders what he meant by his words. "Then that boy said something that sounded almost exactly like it."
"It must've been pretty weird if you remember it after two years," Bette remarks. Then, she snorts. "Richard was a pretty weird kid though. Then again, I suppose that his family is pretty weird."
Artemis raises a brow. "How weird are we talking?" she asks. "Family-wise, I mean."
Shrugging, Bette pulls on a brief bemused frown. "Well, rumor has it that Jason Todd died and was resurrected," she says. "In case you didn't know, around seven or so years ago, Jason supposedly died in an explosion and, you know, he had a funeral that was a pretty big deal since it was Bruce Wayne's youngest son. A few days later, Richard comes into the picture. Fast forward to just a few weeks after Richard's thirteenth birthday and Jason is magically back to life. Story is that he didn't actually die."
The longer-haired blonde with steel eyes suppresses a shudder. Honestly, if Jason Todd actually did die and was somehow resurrected, she wouldn't be surprised. After all, much weirder things have happened in her time in Gotham and on the Team.
Then, there's a hand on her shoulder and she immediately spins around on instinct. Before she can yell at the person to keep his or her (or their) hands away from her, any vicious words die down on her tongue. Standing in front of her are Bruce Wayne and his boys. When she glances back at Bette, she sees that the other girl is just as surprised as she is.
"M-Mr. Wayne!" Bette exclaims, lighting up. She nods her head with a bob in acknowledgment. "Good evening, sir."
"Miss. Crock and Miss. Kane, correct?" Bruce says with a warm smile. He gestures towards Timothy Drake. "Tim here noticed that you were staring at us. Is there something you'd like to discuss?"
While Artemis gave a negative response, Bette says, "Yes!" Immediately, both girls look at each other and then back to the billionaire and his boys.
The blood son offers a charming smile that Artemis thinks he's using as a means to get some information out of them. "I believe that, if Miss. Kane says so, there must be something you're hiding."
Artemis gives Bette a side glare before heaving a sigh. She shuffles uncomfortably. In the two years she's been attending Gotham Academy, she had never once encountered the philanthropist in person. She's not entirely too sure of how to deal with the richer crowd outside of her small friend circle.
"This is going to sound crazy but I think I might've seen your, er, youngest son—ward?—earlier. In fact, I thought I recognized him from behind so I approached him and he said something to me that Richard did two years ago," she admits, trying to look Bruce Wayne in the eyes. Honestly, she's just as intimidated by him as she is by Batman and it's pretty unsettling.
The reaction is immediate but it isn't the one Artemis had expected. Bruce shares a wary and knowing look with his sons (except that Jason Todd fellow seems to be avoiding eye contact at all costs by glaring off to the side) and then Tim clasps both of her hands and smiles.
"Thank you, Miss. Crock," he says. "Are you sure you think it's him?"
"Wait, you believe us?" Bette asks. She turns a little crimson. "Well, Artemis, at least."
Terry McGinnis laughs and nods. "Don't tell anyone but we're pretty sure he's back," he says in a quiet voice. "Timmy here thinks that he saw him earlier and we have reason to believe that it is him."
Knowing that the males believe her, Artemis feels slightly more comfortable about discussing it. She manages to keep her eyes off the ground. "I told him that he looked familiar and he said that he got that a lot. After introducing myself, he said that if he had his way, we'd laugh about this someday—whatever this is. And, well, two years ago Richard took a picture with me on my first day at Gotham Academy and told me that we'd laugh about it someday."
"Was he wearing black, by any chance?" Tim asks, stepping closer.
Artemis nods. Then, Damian turns to look at Bette with raised brows. "And were you there when Grayson supposedly approached her?"
The student liaison shakes her head, feeling a little flustered. "I was getting popcorn and soda. When I came back, Artemis was just staring into the crowd."
Before anymore can be said, Bruce claps a hand on Artemis' shoulder again and thanks her. Then, he and his company are headed off in the opposite direction. Artemis and Bette exchange looks before the latter shrugs and nods off in the direction of where they'll be picked up by one of Bette's relatives.
"See? It wasn't that bad."
Artemis just nods mutely. Now that she thinks about it, she isn't too sure about why she felt as though she recognized Richard. She never really hung out with him and while he was in a few of her classes, she never spoke a word.
For some reason, something had pulled her into talking to him. When he had turned around, she was struck with a sense of déjà vu.
Maybe it was the glasses, she thinks almost jokingly; however, she can't help but think the dark color scheme and tinted sunglasses to be familiar.
•••
Gardner leans against the side of the trailer, relying on the shadows to aid him. His hood is pulled up, hiding his face completely if one were to look at his profile. Those dark-tinted sunglasses are still perched on his nose despite the distinct lack of sunlight.
He enjoyed the show tonight. It's a pity, he thinks, that Haly will be disbanding the circus. Hopefully that will all change when Dick Grayson decides to make a reappearance.
Then, he crumples to the ground because his legs are suddenly far too weak. He wonders when Haly will finally make his way back to the trailer (this is his trailer, right?) but then he's hit with a wave of nausea. He thinks that the lies are finally starting to catch up to him. Ever since the entire debacle began with Wallace West arriving at the café, he's been... conflicted.
The memories in his head aren't Gardner LaRou's. They don't belong to him. And, yet, here they are, playing over and over in his head on repeat. Even in the dead of night when he's awake in bed or working the night shift.
He just wants it all to be over. He wants to go back to the life he lived before the whole mess started. And the life he lived ended when—
"Ah, Mr. Haly, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
Bruce Wayne, he thinks as his heart begins to hammer in his chest.
"Yeah? We can do it inside," says Haly in a tired voice. "Dick didn't show up. I... I should've known."
A pause. "Actually, we wanted to talk to you about Dick."
Timothy Drake, he notes as he begins to stand. If Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake are here, then—
"Wait a minute," he hears the voice of Damian Wayne say. "I hear someone."
Silently, Gardner curses the exceptional hearing of the blood son. He inhales slowly and quietly, wondering if he should just bolt. Maybe he shouldn't go through with the plan and just explain to Wally that it's all too much.
"Come out at once," Damian barks. Then, there are flashlights shining and the dead ringer is pretty sure they must be from their phones. He takes a step closer to the darkness, hoping the beams of light won't catch him.
Blue eyes are wide behind the glasses as he stares downwards. He steels himself, biting his lip. All right, he thinks. It's time for the greatest show of my life.
So, with his head held high, he walks out into the light.
He doesn't look at Jason out of shame, fear, and absolute nervousness.
Okie, honestly, I'm not that satisfied with this chapter. I've been working on it since the last update and I scrapped every single draft. Realizing that today is my last day of vacation, I managed to put this together. :) Updates will begin to dwindle. :(
So, the Artemis and Bette bit? Please excuse Bette, I don't know her character well. And besides, it was mostly to just explain the whole Jason Todd thing. Obviously, Jason was killed by the Joker and resurrected (like how it happened in the movie) and I just wanted to clear up why Jason can just walk around all willy-nilly without someone questioning him. Plus, Gardner's been getting the spotlight for the past chapters sooooo... yeah.
I had so much trouble writing this chapter. Gardner's time to shine in this fic? Mostly just to confuzzle y'all. And, with Wally's parents, they're just a normal family that lacks the closeness that many families have.
So, I'm kind of alluding to the fact that Artemis may find out that Robin was Dick Grayson. :0 And, the memories in Gardner's aren't his... couldn't that mean that they're Dick's? ;)
Drop any questions and suggestions in the review box. Believe me when I say that by doing that, you guys really help me know what to write. I really appreciate it. :P
Also, yes, I start my high school career tomorrow. I'm extremely nervous (social anxiety and anxiety in general and whatnot) so any words of advice or encouragement are very welcome.
Anywho, have a nice day! :)