Robin first met Kid Flash in Gotham City. Although "meet" wasn't the right word.
It was during a fight with a criminal called False Face. At one point he pulled a gun and fired at Robin, but before the boy could even try to dodge, a blur raced by and snatched the bullet out of the air.
Robin did some research later. He discovered that during the previous few days, there were several reports of mysterious events that could be explained by someone with super speed doing good deeds. But it couldn't have been the Flash - he would have stayed to introduce himself, instead of hiding.
Batman told Robin that he would look into it, and that Robin shouldn't interfere. Batman knew several secrets about the rest of the Justice League that Robin wasn't allowed to pry about.
A few weeks later, Kid Flash made his official debut in Central City.
Working theory: Kid Flash wasn't allowed to be a superhero in Central, so he ran away to Gotham to secretly do it anyway. Then Flash changed his mind and let him be an official hero in Central.
Dick knew he probably shouldn't snoop. But he was excited to hear about another hero his own age. He was curious, and he was training to be a detective, so... He decided to find out who this new kid hero was.
Dick already knew the Flash's secret identity. He was a forensic scientist in Central City named Barry Allen. It might seem strange that an eleven-year-old was able to figure out a secret that so many others were unable to, but Dick was being trained by the World's Greatest Detective. And being so close to another Justice League member let him recognize certain clues that other people wouldn't notice.
Also, he knew the passwords to all the files in Batman's computer (Don't tell Bruce!).
So, Dick knew the Flash's real name. Now he just had to find Kid Flash's. A quick background check on Barry Allen revealed that he had no children, but he had a nephew named Wally West. That was easy.
Some time later, Batman got a lead that the Royal Flush Gang would resurface in Central City. He suggested that he and Robin would go there to help Flash and Kid Flash stop them. Batman said the sting would be a good opportunity for the two sidekicks to train together. It would be a learning experience.
Batman tried to make it sound professional, but Robin could tell he was really just setting them up for a play date. It amused him and got him a little embarrassed at the same time.
Bruce would never make a big show of it, but deep down he worried about Dick sometimes. He was worried Dick didn't have enough friends. This vigilante lifestyle didn't give him many chances to get close to people. (Of course, Dick wasn't good at getting close to people back in the circus either. He never even thought of trying until he became stuck in one place.)
A while ago, Batman similarly introduced Robin to Speedy, Green Arrow's partner. Speedy was nice, and Robin considered them friends, but they weren't very close either. Speedy was much older than Robin, and he only ever focused on work. The teenager didn't seem very eager to make friends.
Dick couldn't tell his schoolmates that he was Robin. And he couldn't tell Speedy that he was Dick Grayson. It's hard to get close to someone when you can't tell them anything about yourself.
And so, the day before the big meet up, Dick decided to learn a little more about Kid Flash-slash-Wally West.
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Wally wasn't on social media. This struck Dick as a little weird - only because everyone in his school told him how weird it was back when Dick wasn't on social media.
He did a basic background check. Born in Central City, moved away, moved back, blah blah blah. He lived with both his parents - who were still alive.
That also surprised Dick a little. Dick lost his parents. Bruce lost his. Speedy lost his birth parents before Green Arrow became his guardian. He was pretty sure the Flash lost someone too. He figured it was a trend for superheroes. It was usually the motivation that made them want to become heroes in the first place.
Dick dug a little bit deeper. This Wally guy never had any siblings. The Flash's mother - who would be Wally's great aunt - was murdered, but that was before Wally was even born. A friend then? Dick wasn't about to look up the death reports of everyone in Central City, but a quick look made it seem like Wally hadn't lost any close friends either.
Dick stayed Robin because he liked it, but he first became Robin to avenge his family - to stop Tony Zucco from ever hurting anyone else's family. That was the trigger that made Dick want to be a hero.
But it seemed like Wally didn't have any particular tragedy in his life. So what was his trigger? Then again, he had superpowers. Maybe it was more natural for him to become a superhero, even without a specific motivation.
That raised the question: How did he get his powers?
Dick knew about the Flash's powers. He thought they were pretty cool. Back in the circus, traveling across counties and continents was a slow process. Imagine, just going ZAP and there you were in a new place. Kid Flash decided to do his early crime fighting in Gotham because traveling that far was no big deal at all.
Could Kid Flash vibrate his molecules through matter, the same as Flash senior? That would be an awesome power to have. Even now, Dick still had trouble getting out of handcuffs. And don't get him started on strait jackets. He was way behind Bruce in his level of escape artistry. But a speedster could simply phase through those restraints. That'd make Dick's life easier.
Okay, he admitted it. He was a little jealous.
The world of superheroes meant the world of superpowers. Batman and Green Arrow were exceptions to the rule. It was very interesting to Dick now that he was being exposed to this stuff.
In the circus, everyone had special talents. The Flying Graysons could do things that were impossible for the knife-throwers, but then the knife-throwers would do things that were impossible for the Graysons. And Dick wasn't allowed to even go near the lion tamers as they worked. Even the clowns had tricks that worked best after many hours of training. Each performer in the circus had something that could be considered a "superpower." It was possible for Dick to have more than one, but it would require long training.
Every human had time they could spend on something - it was simply a question on what you chose to do with it.
But superheroes threw the curve right out the window. They could do things that other humans would never be able to do, no matter how long they trained. And sometimes those powers appeared overnight. It was fascinating to Dick.
Dick wanted to know more about Wally's powers. But he wouldn't get the answers by Google.
It was the night before they would go to Central City to fight the Royal Flush Gang and meet Kid Flash. And so, as carefully as he could, Dick snuck onto Batman's computer down in the Batcave.
Batman's security was one of the most powerful in the world. But once you knew a few of his passwords, it was surprisingly easy to get past. Of course, Dick and Alfred were the only ones close enough to have a chance at that.
He got onto the Bat-Computer. Batman had a file on most heroes and villains. He was obsessive like that. There was a file on the Flash... and a small file on Kid Flash.
Dick knew looking up info on Wally like this wasn't exactly right. But, he figured... Well, what's the harm?
He opened the file.
Real name: Wallace Rudolph West. Date of birth, blah blah blah. Dick didn't care about that. There was some info about his powers... Estimated max speed... Nothing about whether or not he could phase. That annoyed Dick. That's the part he was really curious about. Well, Wally was young. His powers were new. Maybe nobody knew all the answers yet.
Oh! This got Dick's attention. It said here that Wally obtained super speed by recreating the same experiment that gave the previous Flashes their powers. He did it to himself?!
This told Dick two things. One: He probably learned about the experiment from his uncle. Maybe he dug around in his notes (not unlike what Dick was doing right now). But even if he had detailed instructions, Wally had to be some kind of savant in chemistry in order to actually do it at his age.
Two: Getting his powers was not an accident. Wally was deliberately trying to become a superhero. He didn't have anyone to avenge, so why go so far? Why did he try so hard to save people? Was he just... really nice? That was kind of cool.
Okay, Dick definitely wanted to be this guy's friend now.
He did some more searching on the computer. There was something there about Wally receiving treatment at a hospital. It was one of the specialized clinics the Justice League uses when they get hurt, the one closest to Central City. Bruce had this info because he discreetly supplied some funding to it. That got Dick a little interested. Maybe it had more info about how his powers affected his body. Let's see... Medical History... It was sealed.
Wally's medical history had more protection than the rest of his info, which sort of made sense. But Dick hardly wanted to stop now. Getting past the security wasn't hard. He was really good at hacking (and, yeah, he still had all Batman's passwords, so that made it easier). Dick read through Wally's medical records. The word "epilepsy" came up a lot.
'...Severe imbalance of neural activity in the brain, presumed to be related to hyper-accelerated metabolism...'
'...theorize that so-called 'Super Speed' causes extreme stimulation of nerve cell activity that cannot be regulated by other centers of the brain... epilepsy-like symptoms... loss of consciousness...'
'...Recurrent and unprovoked tonic-clonic seizures... varies between tremors and intense thrashing... No identifiable pattern... subject should not be restrained due to risk of bone dislocation...'
'...Conventional medication ineffective due to hyper-accelerated metabolism... with mild effectiveness. Further testing with concentrated medication required for...'
Wally's super speed had side effects. The Flash didn't have anything like that.
Super speed-induced epilepsy. In layman terms, his body couldn't handle the energy he was producing. He could fall unconscious at any time without warning. The attacks were completely random. There was information about forged prescriptions and experimental medicine used to try and keep it under control, with varying effectiveness.
Wally worked hard to give himself superpowers, and the result made his body start breaking down.
Dick somberly closed all the files on the computer.
I feel like I looked at something I shouldn't have...
.
On the rooftop in Central City, Wally spoke up. "Whoa, wait... Did you say Batman has a file on me? And you read it?"
"Don't freak out. He has a file on everyone," Dick replied nonchalantly.
Regardless, Wally seemed nervous. "...What did it say?"
Dick smirked. "If you ever turn evil, I'm supposed to use Bat-Super-Weapon Number Eleven on you. Number Twelve is for Wonder Woman."
"I'm serious," he snapped. "What did it say?!"
Dick blinked. "Sorry. Just... basic stuff. It had your name. Your address. Your max speed - estimated, at least. It didn't mention if you could phase or not. Just basic stuff."
Wally stared at him. "That it? Not... anything else?"
"Like what?" Dick seemed innocently confused.
"Like... something private."
He shrugged. "I dunno. Define 'private'."
He hesitated. Then Wally waved his hand in a dismissive way. "You know, just forget it. Forget I asked."
Dick didn't mind playing dumb. This was one day he didn't Wally to get angry at him.
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Author's Notes: (3/15/2017) This is the chapter that confirms this story is in the same continuity as my other story, "Fate Plays Favorites." Next chapter will be their first introduction from Robin's POV. Please review.