and I am back! Summer is here and I am on a roll with this story and the others!
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! LOVE YOU BIG TIME! Also big props to roy23 for making the connection between Dick and his Jason cosplay! I modeled his outfit after Jays Red Hood. Hope i did it justice! Anyways here is the next chapter, and there will be a bit more light shed on what went down two years ago. Not just from Dick's side, cuz I want to keep most of that saved for later, but from the other kids as well.
Oh and roy23, you asked about Jay and Timmy...Well I had thought about them and I am REALLLLLLLLLLY sorry, but Jay was living in the Narrows and Tim was with his dad and... I'm sorry to say that neither shall take place in this story... Blame Joker... Not me I'm just the writer. So sorry but this story focuses around the original six (and Roy) and the mentors. Hate me if you must but if it went any other way than Jay and Timmy would be here... Big confessions from Wally though. Hope that makes up for it.
Sooooooo...next chapter...yaaaaaaayyy... 9_9
Barry found Wally sitting on a moth eaten bed on the first floor. The young man was staring at the wall and Barry could tell he was lost in his own head.
"Hey Kid. What's up?"
Wally looked at him, realizing that his uncle had been there for a while. "Nothing. Nothing is up. Barry why am I even talking to you? I should hate your guts right now."
"Yeah but that's where the genes kick in. We're not much of a family of haters. Grudges, sure. But I know I couldn't hate anyone I was related to. Even if they did screw up big time and I had every reason to hate them, I still couldn't bring myself to it. At least not forever."
Don't push it Allen, Barry thought. You really don't want to scare him away forever. He's hurting and you need to help him.
Wally was now the one starring. Barry had that distant look in his eye that told Wally he was talking to himself. Same old Barry...
"I don't hate you. I'm just... Upset that after three years, all of a sudden, BAM! Here you are again. Like you never disappeared in the first place."
Barry sat down beside his nephew, God when did Wally get so tall? "I don't know how much it helps but, we really are sorry that we disappeared. If we could go back and start over we would."
"Too bad time machines haven't been invented yet, huh?"
Barry laughed, same old Wally. "Yeah. That would be nice."
They sat there for a minute, enjoying each others company, when Barry decided to test just how mad Wally really was.
"So... You and Artemis, huh?"
"Excuse me?"
"I saw you two in your cozy little apartment. Nice place for a couple who have settled down already."
"Hey we are not that serious-"
"Of course you aren't! I'm just saying that, you know, she has a photo album, there's only one bed room, your over eighteen now right?"
"Barry!"
"So you are over eighteen! That's good as long as you've let your mother know. You've had the talk right? When a man loves a woman and they are very attracted to one another-"
"Would you shut up! Jeez I forgot how annoying you are!"
"You're not denying it! Please tell me you're not going to propose any time soon."
"AH! Would you stop! It's not like that!"
Barry laughed out loud, and Wally joined him. It was nice having his goofy uncle back. He'd nearly forgotten what a great man Barry was...
"Uncle Barry? Can I ask you something?"
"Kid, you're nineteen years old. You don't have to ask me."
"I know. Old habits die hard and all that. Seriously though."
"Wally, you can ask me anything. I'm here for you."
The younger speedster was quiet for a moment. "Have you ever done something so horrible without even knowing it until you realize that it's too late to apologise? And then you see that person again, you have no idea what to say because you're so scared that they might hate you?"
Barry had no idea what to say. Was Wally taking about him? Or someone else? How could Wally ever do something horrible? He was the nicest kid Barry knew. But something was bothering hid nephew, and Barry was going to help him.
"Kid, what are you trying to tell me?"
Wally looked at the floor. "Damn. I forgot how easy it was to talk to you. Alright. I'm talking about Dick. Barry for two years I thought he was dead and now he's walking around one floor above me. How am I supposed to handle that after what we did to him? He didn't even look me in the eye, he flipped me onto my back without a second thought."
"Wally, what are you talking about? What did you do to him?"
Wally wouldn't meet his eyes. "We walked out. After you, you know, the team started falling apart. Kaldur kept tooning out like when we fought Clayface, M'gann just wasn't as cheerful, she was always going ahead on her own, Kon just kept getting angry with everything that had to do with the League and Artemis and I just got tired. Tired of all the crap the League was giving us and what the others were doing. We all just stared falling away. Getting distant and not paying attention until it was too late. Biyalia was our last mission as a group. We got back and were told that Gotham was in ruins. Nobody told us why Dick hadn't come on the mission. We didn't even question because by then it was normal since he had to be Robin in Gotham twenty four-seven.
We got to Gotham, M'gann did a mind sweep and we found nothing. Two million people had died and the Justice League had done nothing. They told us they hadn't found out until it was too late. We didn't believe that. So we went solo. Broke away from the people who allowed our friend to die. We had a funeral, Gotham had a funeral for Jim Gordon and Richard Grayson who was reported to have died in the Mansion explosion. Nothing went right from there. We never caught Joker, we found Selina but she wouldn't talk. I wouldn't have talked to us either. She knew what we did to Robin. We left him alone in the world. Without a Batman, Robin had to take care of Gotham himself. He told me what Gotham villain were like to him. Hell, we faced Joker back with the Injustice League and it was bad enough. Those creeps love to use him to get to Batman, but with no Batman to get to where does that put Robin?
I got to help him one time with Bane. It didn't go as planned and I nearly got squashed. Bane had Robin by the cape and started talking about how Robin wasn't good enough, how he couldn't do anything without Batman, how he was going to enjoy listening to Robin scream... We got out of it at the last second but I never really forgot that night. Dick looked mad, madder than I've ever seen him before. He looked like he was ready to kill Bane. He nearly had too. Something changed in Dick after you disappeared. Maybe it's my fault. I wasn't there for him like I should have been..."
Barry looked at him. Wally had tears falling from his eyes from when he started talking about Bane. He had never seen the kid so worried, so scared. No wonder he looked guilty when he saw Dick. Wally thought that Dick's 'death' had been his fault. He'd been blaming himself for something that was out of his hands, that he had no control of. Barry pushed all those negative thoughts aside and put his arms around Wally, holding the younger's head to his chest. Wally didn't fight it, in fact he enjoyed the comfort his uncle was giving him. Barry had been the one person he could always talk to without worrying.
"Don't blame yourself, Kid. Selina told us what happened with her and Robin that night. If anyone's to blame it's us or Joker. Joker is the one who nearly took Robin, who killed all those people. But we're the one who left you in the first place. It's not your fault you got tired, you were just growing up. Just starting to be an adult. You weren't ready to leave yet. You grew up too fast. But you found a way to help yourself right? You still had Artemis and your parents to help. You helped Artemis and you supported each other. Don't beat yourself up about things you had no control over Wally. It will only get you killed."
Wally looked at his uncle. "Thanks Uncle B." Then laid his head back on his uncles broad chest. Barry smiled and held Wally closer. It felt like years since he had last held him.
A/N: Short breather because that was a long feels moment... lets just take a breather before moving one. *breath in* *breath out* *breath in* *breath out* There! All better! Now back to the story!
Roy really didn't need this shit. What he needed to do was go home and see Jade and Lian, kiss his wife then go to bed. Dick was fine, which was all he really cared about and the only reason he was staying around and not booking it like Jade had was because neither him nor Barbra wanted Bruce anywhere near Dick. Everyone seemed to have forgotten that the girl was still here. She hadn't said anything to Dick when she had seen him, too shocked to even talk. But he had noticed her and had actually given her a small smile, before she stared beating the crap out of him.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me! Where have you been!? Do you know how worried I was about you!? I thought you were dead for God's sake! Why didn't you trust me?"
Dick easily blocked Barbra's attack, "Calm down Barbra! I didn't tell you not because I didn't want to, but because I couldn't! You have no idea what I've been through! So shut up and let me explain!"
She stopped punching and settled down, catching her breath. Roy was standing in the doorway, watching the two kids and making sure nothing too serious happened. When Dick snapped at Bruce and flipped Wally onto his back and pointed a gun at Batman, Roy knew the kid was very unstable. He had seen it before. Hell, he himself had been like that for a while. So he wanted to make sure that Dick had it under control and wouldn't do anything drastic.
Dick sat on the floor cross legged and waiting for Barbra to do the same. He knew he couldn't tell her the whole story, he couldn't tell anyone that, but he felt like he did owe her something. He had nothing against her, unlike the others...
"What do you want to know first?"
"Where were you?"
"In a warehouse with Catwoman being electrocuted by Joker."
"Not what I meant. Where were you after that? Who got you out of there because I know you didn't get yourself out."
"One question at a time.'
"Where were you after March?"
"Can't tell you."
"Why not?"
"Just can't. Simple as that. Next question."
"Who got you out of there?"
"Someone you don't want to know about. Next question."
"That isn't an answer. Who saved you Dick?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Fine." She knew he wouldn't answer. She just wanted to see the face he made when he talked about it. "What have you been doing these past three years?"
"Training."
"With a gun?"
Dick was silent.
"Dick I know Bruce taught us to know how to handle guns. But I also know he made us swear to never use on. So who was teaching you to use that weapon?"
"Someone who knows how to survive. That's all I'm going to tell you."
Barbra sighed. She wasn't going to get any straight answers from him. "Okay then, why didn't you tell me you were still alive?"
"Too risky. Sorry but I didn't want to put you in danger because of me."
"And why would telling me put me in danger?"
Dick was silent. "Let's just say I got into a tangle with some very nasty people and leave it at that, okay?"
"Let's say, no. Dick, please open up to me. I know that you're mad, upset, confused, even distraught about seeing Bruce again, but please. I want to help you but I can't do that if you're not going to-"
"Help me? Help me? Barbra, I've been through hell and back again these three years! You have no idea what I've had to go through! You can't help me! So stop acting like Canary because it isn't going to work!"
"I'm only trying to help! Why are you getting so defensive? What happened to you to make you so angry about everything?"
Dick stood up, anger on his face. "What happened!? Gotham happened! Joker happened! Two million deaths happened! All because I couldn't match up to Batman! I'm angry, because Robin wasn't good enough for Gotham! I wasn't good enough! Gotham paid the price because I couldn't stop Joker just like he said I couldn't! I'm upset because just when thing started getting better, when I was- When Gotham was- Was just start- When-"
Dick suddenly fell to the ground, Barbra caught him and Roy raced to his side. Barbra was holding him and they settled the boy onto his knees. Dick was holding his head and streams of tears were falling from his shaded eyes. He was shaking badly and whimpering and muttering. Barbra caught words like 'Gotham' and 'Joker' and 'stop it'. Roy looked at his friend, Dick was having a panic attack.
"Dick. Dick look at me. It's okay. Everything is okay right now. Barbra, go get some blankets and cold water and a cloth. Richard, come on man." Roy held his friend. It was worse than he thought. The poor kid was so scarred from that night that just talking about Gotham made him panic. Roy had never really handled a panic attack victim, so all he really could do was hold Dick close and talk to him. He pressed the smaller boy to his chest and rubbed soothing circles on his back. Dick was shaking like he had a cold and the tears wouldn't stop.
"Hey Dickie bird. It's fine. I got ya." Barbra returned with a blanket and water and held Dick while Roy threw the blanket over him. Dick clung to Barbra like a child to his mother, crying into her chest and weeping. Babs held him gently and rubbed his back.
"I'm here Dick. I'm sorry I made you upset. But you're okay right now. Roy and I are here with you. Wally is in the other room and Artemis is just across the hall. We're here for you Dickie. You're okay."
His breathing softened and he slowly stopped shaking. He felt like an idiot for freaking out, but he couldn't help it. Just being in Barbra and Roy's arms was so comforting, he had forgotten what it was like to hug someone. He clung to Babs tighter, not wanting to let her go again.
Roy breathed in relief. At least now he was better. Still traumatized and unstable, but better. He looked at Barbra and they made a silent agreement to not mention this to anyone else. It was no wonder to them why Dick had been so freaked when he saw Batman. They had no way of know exactly what Joker and Gotham had done to Dick, but they sure as Hell were not going to let it happen again.
oh my glob this was soooooo long! But I was in such a good writing mood I didn't want it to end! NOw you understand what happened a bit better! Hope I wrote Robin's panic attack okay. I don't really know how one would write about it but I gave it my best shot and wrote down what was in my head. Oh well. Please correct me if I'm wrong but I won't make any changes, I like it just the way it is! And you got TWO feely/touchies for the price of ONE chapter! HAHAA! and now I'm going to bed!
Please Review because I love feedback! It's nice knowing that you are still loving this story! I can't believe I almost forgot Babs in the last chapter! 9-9 what is wrong with me!? oh well...
BYEBYE! Goodnight everybody!