[Mount Justice

March 22, 07:30 EST]

Dick spotted Wally in the kitchen. He was sitting at the island in front of a huge glass of orange juice, fiery red hair perfectly tousled, green eyes sparkling with energy, and a brilliant smile stretched across his face. Zatanna and Artemis were seated on either side of him, both grinning and laughing at something he'd said while M'gann whirled about the kitchen cooking eight different breakfast foods all at once. She really should be a chef for her secret identity if she ever decided to continue her alter ego of Megan Morse beyond high school.

Artemis was sitting a touch closer to Wally than was normal and had her legs crossed so that her knee brushed his. Over the last several weeks, Dick had noticed the blonde archer's necklines get progressively lower. Today was no exception.

Dick saw red.

He marched over to his teammates and promptly whacked Wally in the head with the melted ice pack that he'd woken up beside – the only thing he'd woken up beside.

The redhead stiffened on impact and whipped around to stare at him in shock and alarm. Zatanna leaned away from them both reflexively, her eyes going wide. Artemis had seen him coming, so she just watched with a smile as Dick hit him again.

"Agh! Why?!" Wally raised his arms to defend himself and planted one foot on Dick's stomach to push him away.

"Do you have any idea how badly I panicked when I woke up and you weren't there?!" Dick hurled the melted ice pack at Wally, and it smacked into his shield made of arms. "And all I could remember was you saying that you 'had to go'! Go where?!"

"Calm down!" Wally used both legs now to keep him back. "I couldn't sleep, so I went out with Roy to Utah for a few hours until I was tired again."

Dick was just tired enough, and just jealous enough to wonder if that was code for something.

The girls didn't miss a beat, and they all spoke at the same time.

M'gann moved over to the island, setting down two massive platters of pancakes and bacon. She looked at Wally with concern and bit her lip, "Wally, isn't it a little dangerous to leave Mt. Justice right now?"

"Um…why were you two sleeping together?" Zatanna looked between Wally and Dick quizzically, one delicate eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Zatanna and I would like to know why you two were sleeping together." Artemis grinned, tilting her head to the side. Dick frowned at the sly smile on her face. She thought she was just teasing them both to embarrass them. If only she knew… Zatanna, however, looked genuinely interested in the answer.

Dick opened his mouth to grudgingly respond when something unexpected happened.

Wally lied.

"Rob came over to help me unpack," Wally shrugged, throwing Artemis a withering look. "Then we played video games until he passed out – probably because he couldn't handle the virtual thrashing I gave him."

The girls rolled their eyes at him and went back to their breakfast at the disappointing explanation, but Dick couldn't take his eyes off Wally. The redhead refused to meet his gaze, but Dick continued to stare. He'd lied. None of that had happened. But, why did he lie? They hadn't done anything that warranted a lie to cover it up. They'd just talked, Wally had given him a perfectly innocent massage to help his arm, and then Dick had fallen asleep. Well, the massage had probably been innocent to Wally, but Dick had enjoyed it far too much.

That still didn't explain it though. Why would Wally have lied about it? He didn't have anything to hide, did he?

Dick didn't call him out. He went with it, "Pfft, you wish. I totally owned you while I was hopped up on painkillers."

The lie was effortless. He and Wally were already nearly in perfect sync with each other. That, coupled with the fact that Dick had been trained by the king of deception, meant that their story was seamless. It also helped that Wally's brain could sift through a thousand different thoughts a second to formulate the most believable scenario.

But why was it necessary?

Wally half turned to look at him in surprise. He'd probably expected Dick to question him on it or remain silent, not go along with the lie like it was natural. This time, Dick didn't look at him. He'd just revealed that he wanted to hide what had happened too.

Crap. Now they'd just made three different secrets…

"I didn't want to move him because I was afraid of hurting his arm, so I let him stay," Wally crafted his expression into a perfectly normal grin. Then he leaned towards Zatanna and cupped his hand by his mouth like he was about to tell her a secret, "He snores."

Dick shot Wally a dirty look right as M'gann flew up to him and touched his arm in concern, "Oh, that's right! Does it still hurt?"

It didn't. His arm actually felt fantastic, but that didn't stop him from pretending to test its range of motion and giving a fake wince, "Yeah, a bit, but I've had worse. It'll be fine."

He really hoped that was true. Kilowog was coming back today for the real training, and Dick really didn't want his shoulder to crap out on him in the middle of it. Wally had seemed like he knew what he was doing, though, so it would probably be fine.

Dick took a seat at the island across from Zatanna and snagged a pancake from the pile while M'gann levitated over a platter of scrambled eggs and toast. Zatanna rubbed at the back of her head gingerly and started filling her plate, "You may have had worse, but I'm still not used to it."

Zatanna fit in so well with the rest of them that it was easy to forget that she'd only been on the Team for a little over five months. And only three of those had been spent doing missions. She'd been sidelined as well after what happened to Wally, although she'd been in Metropolis when it happened. Once the New Year hit, Zatanna had gone into a bit of a depression over having to spend the holidays without her father. So, the League sent her to a magician ally in Metropolis, hoping that the close proximity to someone magical like herself would pull her out of her depression.

It looked like it had helped.

Never one to be outdone, Artemis abandoned the stack of pancakes that she'd been pouring syrup over to roll up her sleeve, revealing a long black and yellow bruise from where she'd been thrown across the floor. "That little bump on Boy Wonder's head has nothing on this, and you should see my legs – like sixty percent bruised."

Wally leaned forward to inspect the arm, grossly fascinated by the wound that Artemis was proudly displaying. Zatanna looked away quickly, probably just grossed out. Dick had to smile at that. She'd get used to it eventually.

M'gann looked appalled, and she clutched her turner in both fists, "Didn't you put any ice on that at all when you got home last night?!"

"You're kidding me, right?" Artemis rolled her sleeve back down and took a huge gulp of orange juice. "I took an ice bath."

"Recognize: Aqualad – B02"

Moments later, Kaldur came walking into the kitchen, fully dressed in his uniform and looking grim. He looked at them all in one quick scan, and frowned, "Good morning, my friends. Where is Conner?"

"Still in the shower, I think," Wally said around a mouthful of some awful-looking pancake, egg, and bacon sandwich he'd slapped together with two slices of toast. "He and I stayed up really late last night, so we figured we'd let him sleep in a little."

Kaldur nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer, and took his own seat at the island. M'gann offered him a plate, "If you're hungry, Kaldur, you're welcome to have as much as you want."

"I appreciate the offer," he smiled wearily and shook his head once. "But I have already eaten this morning. Thank you."

Dick really took a moment to look at his aquatic friend. He took in the bone-tired look in his pale blue eyes, the slump of his usually perfect posture, and his bleak expression. "How's Atlantis right now?"

That got everyone's attention, and they all looked at Kaldur curiously. He looked momentarily alarmed at being put on the spot, but just sighed and stared down at his hands worriedly, "All of Atlantis' city-states have mobilized their armies. King Orin has directed his generals to cooperate fully with the planetary defense."

Dick felt his stomach tighten into more knots. He'd known this was serious, but it was becoming more real every day.

"Are you going to have to fight as part of the Atlantean forces, or will you be fighting with us?" Artemis asked.

"With you," he assured them. "I completed my mandatory military service when I was fourteen."

Conner walked into the kitchen then and immediately looked right at Wally. Dick watched him watch Wally in concern, before he seemed satisfied that the speedster was alright. He went to the fridge and pulled out a water bottle quietly.

"Good morning, Conner!" M'gann said sunnily.

"Morning," he greeted mildly, taking a long drink. "Kilowog's on his way…"

Everyone but Wally tensed in fear and stared at him in thinly veiled panic.

"What? How can you tell?" Artemis gasped, taking one last bite of her breakfast and downing her juice.

"I can hear the zeta tubes firing up," Conner shrugged a little.

Less than a second later, Dick heard the mechanical whirring of the zeta tubes and the cave's security system announce an authorized guest. He jumped down from his stool, already in uniform, and moved to the side of the island to wait.

"Brag su rof elttab!" Zatanna said quickly. She and Artemis were magically in their costumes right in time for the towering Bolovaxian to come stomping into the room.

Kilowog gave them all a curt nod, snorted unhappily, and stalked out of the room again, "Training room. Sixty seconds."

The team all abandoned the kitchen and followed after him, save for Kaldur, who pulled Wally aside. Dick hung back from the others and lurked around the corner to eavesdrop on them.

"What's up?" he heard Wally ask cheerfully.

"Will you be joining us in training today?"

"Nah, sorry," Wally sounded a little disappointed. "I can stay for the briefing, but then I'm off to the gym for conditioning. I need to beef back up in a hurry."

He was joking, but Dick could almost imagine him flexing his muscles like a tool. He smiled. Wally had never been close to 'beefy' in the first place. Dick tried to imagine what Wally would look like if he was a bodybuilder. Ugh, no. God no!

"You look much healthier already," Kaldur's tone lightened. "You appear to be filling out more."

"Yeah, well, I'm not injured anymore, so I'm holding onto the weight again. My body doesn't have to burn it up immediately for energy."

"I am glad that you are recovering so quickly, but if you would like help, you need only ask. I would be more than willing to assist you with your extra training sessions."

"Aww, thanks Kal." Wally sounded happy, but Dick knew that his friend had no intention of accepting their leader's offer. He hadn't even let Dick watch his training, let alone help. "That's really cool of you. I'll let you know if I need help."

Dick heard Wally's distinct footsteps moving around the corner, and he ran to avoid being discovered. The others were just entering the training room when he caught up to them and forming a semi-circle around the two figures standing in the center of the room: Kilowog and-

"Black Canary!" M'gann cried excitedly, flying right up to their injured den mother and throwing her arms around the blonde in a hug. Black Canary smiled back and returned the embrace with one arm. Amazingly, she was in full costume and standing tall despite the bandages wrapped around her legs, torso, and left arm. Dick had heard what happened to her, but it looked like burns and fractured bones weren't enough to keep her down.

"It's good to see you all," Black Canary stepped back and looked around at the Team fondly. "And good to be back on my feet again. I knew I had to come see how you were all doing when they told me that you let a Green Lantern defeat you yesterday."

Kilowog gave a low chuckle, "Little poozers fought like hell though."

Dick made a face when he remembered the feeling of being tossed around like a rag doll. He wasn't accustomed to being so hilariously defeated and was eager to make sure it never happened again. So, he'd spent the better part of his shower last night devising ways to beat the Green Lantern if they had to go toe to toe with him again today.

"Alright, listen up maggots," Kilowog rumbled menacingly. He waved one massive hand in the air, and a holographic screen opened above them at his command. "Today, I'm teaching you about the enemy."

Centered in the screen was what looked like a freeze frame from a surveillance camera. It showed dozens of humanoid figures dressed in red and blue marching in formation. Each figure was huge, if the doors in the background were anything to go by, and carried a long silver staff of some kind. The image was a little distorted, but they all looked to have the same identical, metallic face.

Kilowog's voice carried over as they all stared up at the picture, "These are Manhunters. I'm sure your mentors told you all about them, so I'll keep it simple. Manhunters are the biggest mistake the Guardians of the Universe ever made. They're defective androids whose only purpose is to rid evil in the universe – by killing every single intelligent being in existence."

Wally came over to stand beside Dick, and he felt a slow burning need to protect the speedster. These were the things that were coming to kill them, and Wally's dad was somehow connected to them. Dick wasn't so naïve that he thought Rudy West wouldn't try anything again. In his mind, it was just a question of when.

And of how many people it would take to pry Dick's fingers from his worthless neck.

"The fact that they're moving around in big numbers like this is not good," Kilowog continued gravely. "The last we heard about the Manhunters was that they were near extinction. This means our information is severely out of date, but it's all we have to work with, so it'll have to be good enough."

The hulking Green Lantern picked up a staff from the table full of weapons that were laid out behind him. It very closely resembled the staffs that the Manhunters were armed with in the picture. He tossed it to Artemis, who caught it with some difficulty and struggled with its weight. "That's an energy baton. It's the primary weapon of a Manhunter. Now, that one's an antique; it was taken from a destroyed Manhunter when they first went rogue. We brought it with us from Oa to show the Justice League, and now that they're done with it, I want you all to get familiar with it."

Artemis finished looking over the 'antique' weapon that looked to be way more advanced than anything they had on Earth. Sometimes it really freaked Dick out how young the human race was.

Conner took the baton next, hefting it up without any trouble and turning it all around to examine it closely, "What does it do?"

"It fires off concentrated energy blasts that can melt steel," Kilowog crossed his arms over his massive chest and snorted. He nodded over at Black Canary, "And they hit with the force of a bullet, leaving you with broken bones and burned flesh…if you're lucky."

Everyone's eyes were reluctantly drawn to Black Canary's bandages. She stared back with her head held high, completely unfazed, and spoke in a dangerous voice, "Do not let yourselves get hit."

"The energy batons are made from the same metal as the Manhunters, so they can be broken, but you'll be wasting valuable resources if you target them. Go for the Manhunters themselves. If you can disarm one, take the baton and use it against them."

"And how are we supposed to fight them?" Artemis placed one hand on her hip and brandished her bow out to the side in frustration. "We couldn't even handle you!"

"Yeah," Zatanna passed the baton along, looking worried. "I heard that Black Canary and Wonder Woman couldn't even take one down."

Kilowog snorted again unhappily, "They both held back because they thought they were fighting living beings in suits, and they didn't want to give killing blows. Now, listen up. Manhunters are not alive. They are androids. If you hold back, you will die. They don't feel pain. They don't get tired. Their 'batteries' don't run out. They are made of armor, and they're strong enough to tear the wings off of your Earth aircraft. They are all connected to each other like a network, and they share information through it. That means if one sees you, they all know where you are. Any questions?"

"Yes," Artemis said sharply, annoyed. "How do we fight them?"

"Brute force," Kilowog answered simply and he turned around to face the table behind himself and Black Canary. "And strategy. Take a look at these."

Dick approached the table inquisitively. It held an array of weapons and curious odds and ends. He reached out and picked up one of the five arrows lying on the table. Each one had a different tip. Wally picked up one of the thick bracelet looking things and held it up to his eyes to examine it closely.

"What's this?" he asked, turning the metal loop over in his hands.

"Put it on and press the red button," Black Canary offered, walking over to Kaldur, who had ended up with the energy baton last.

"Okay…?" Wally tapped something on the side of the manacle and slipped the loop onto his wrist. He held it up to her questioningly, "Like this?"

"Perfect," she grabbed the baton from Kaldur, flipped it over to aim, and then fired three energy blasts right at Wally in one fluid motion.

The whole Team moved as one towards Wally, their faces showing varying degrees of horror. The energy blasts hit an invisible sphere in front of him and splashed harmlessly over the sides before fizzling out completely. Wally was standing still with his arms thrown out protectively in front of him and his eyes wide. He looked at them all in shock before glancing down at himself and seeing that he wasn't injured. Wally's face broke out into a huge smile, and he laughed excitedly at the band around his wrist, "This thing is awesome!"

"A shield?" Kaldur approached Wally and took the device from the speedster when he removed it, still grinning like a fool.

Black Canary placed the baton back on the table and smiled at Wally's reaction, "Each shield is good for about thirty hits before it's gone. Now, that's in terms of the energy blasts. You get hit by anything else, and that number's out the window, leaving you to guess the remaining strength of the shield. We tested them with arrows and bullets, and they last a little longer but could only hold up to one or two direct hits from Superman. So, be careful. It's better to assume that the shields only have one more hit left if you're not sure."

"The Justice League and your mentors made these just to combat the Manhunters," Kilowog picked up a small, cylindrical capsule and tossed it to Dick. "That one's my favorite. It's something called the Fog. It's-"

"The nanotech robots that Dr. Serling Roquette invented for the League of Shadows!" Dick looked down at the capsule with recognition. He brightened at the memories he had of the Fog eating through entire buildings when he was trying to stop it. It had been one of their first few missions.

His heart started beating a little faster in his chest, and the feeling of dread that had been a constant companion to him the last few days lifted a little. If they had a weapon like this on their side, it wouldn't matter how many Manhunters there were. They'd be on an even playing field.

"How did the League get her to make the Fog again? Wasn't she forced the first time?" Conner asked quietly, picking up what looked like the hilt of a sword without a blade attached. "I mean, she wasn't exactly cooperative the last time we saw her."

"I'm sure the threat of the world ending was enough to persuade her," M'gann said with a wry, matter of fact tone.

"Dr. Roquette was reluctant at first to recreate the Fog," Black Canary admitted with a shrug. "But the League gave her its word that the weapon would be returned to her when all this was over so that she could destroy it herself. After that, she was more than helpful."

"These weapons are very inspiring," Kaldur set down the odd throwing blades he'd been inspecting and looked up at Kilowog evenly. "But, most of us don't have the training to use them. Miss Martian, Superboy, Kid Flash, and Zatanna are more effective without weapons, so they have never had any reason to learn. I believe that sending them into battle armed with insufficient training with the weapons would put them in more danger."

"It's alright, Aqualad," Black Canary placed a hand on his arm. "Some of these gadgets, like the shields, are for everyone, but the rest are for Robin, Artemis, and yourself. They're upgrades on your current gear so that you can better stay in the fight. The arrows are obviously for Artemis, the throwing weapons will be Robin's, and these are yours."

She picked up the other bladeless sword hilt and handed it to Kaldur, "This is an improvement on your water-bearers. You can still use them to make any hard water shape you want and to direct water like usual, but the insides have been filled with an abrasive that allows you to create a high pressure waterjet capable of cutting through steel."

Kaldur looked at the handle in awe and nodded silently before changing them out with his current water-bearers.

Wally zipped over to Dick's side and elbowed him in the ribcage. He spoke in a low voice so the others wouldn't hear him, "Look at you, all excited over your new toys."

Dick discreetly kicked him in the shin and tried to suppress his grin, "Don't be jealous."

"Your mentors will go over the specifics of each weapon with you later," Kilowog's ring flared to life, and he created a detailed, life size construct of a Manhunter. "Right now, I'm gonna show you how to destroy the enemy. And you have Black Canary here too, who has more experience fighting Manhunters than anyone on your planet."

Black Canary made a face at that statement. She clearly didn't consider it much of an accomplishment but didn't correct him either, "I'm happy to answer any questions you have after Kilowog is finished."

The Green Lantern made the Manhunter construct walk forward with loud, clunking footsteps, "Manhunters are heavy, so you'll have the advantage of stealth. You can sneak up on them, but they can't sneak up on you. Not unless you're really not paying attention."

The bottom of the Manhunter's feet blazed with green fire suddenly, and it lifted into the air easily, "They can fly but need propulsion, so you'll still be able to hear them coming by air."

Kilowog set the construct back down to the floor, "The Manhunters are made of metals as strong as the ones on your planet, so you won't have any luck with regular attacks on center mass."

Several parts of the Manhunter glowed brightly at Kilowog's command, "Instead, you want to go for the weaknesses in their armor. Any of their joints make good targets, and the seams where two armor plates meet are what you want to be aiming for. They're tough, but not indestructible."

The collarbone of the Manhunter construct glowed suddenly, and Kilowog tapped at it with one finger, "Now, you can hack off the head, limbs, and reduce it to scrap metal, but the Manhunter is not completely destroyed until you take out its core. The core is their power source, and while it's not very hard to destroy, it's hard to get to. It's located right here beneath the chest plate – the thickest part of the armor. Don't waste your energy on anything but the weak points and the core, and always go for the kill shot. Anyone got any questions?"

The Team just stared back silently, waiting for him to continue. Black Canary exchanged a satisfied grin with Kilowog and grabbed one of the arrows to toss it to Artemis, "Let's get to it then. Artemis is up first. Everyone else, pay attention. I want you all to evaluate each other and find your mistakes."

They all nodded eagerly and moved to make room for Artemis. Black Canary walked behind them to Wally, who'd hung back. Dick looked over his shoulder at them and winced at the tight expression on his face.

"Wally…" she said quietly, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

He put on a huge, fake grin and dodged her hand, "Yeah, I know, I'm outta here. Big run tomorrow. Smash some Manhunters for me, Rob."

Dick nodded in agreement and watched his friend zoom out of the room towards the adjacent gym. He had his own task, Dick knew, but it didn't make it any easier on the speedster. At least Dick had been able to get Batman to convince Flash to let Wally stay at the cave. He spared one more second to stare after Wally, and then he had to put it to the back of his mind.

He needed to pay attention now and learn how to become a Manhunter killing machine. For Wally. Dick wanted this whole mess over with so he could focus on him one hundred percent. They were all doing their best, but things were slipping through the cracks – getting missed.

Dick and his teammates cycled through turns against the Manhunter. They practiced attacking a stationary, then a moving Manhunter; they watched Black Canary demonstrate her own mistakes and how she would fix them. Kilowog continuously barked out orders and changed the exercise. He had them split into groups of two or three and go after the Manhunter, then charge at it all together. He drilled them on how to disarm a Manhunter and how to fire an energy baton.

By the time they called it quits, ten hours had passed, and the Team was running on fumes. Kilowog and Black Canary released them from training for the day and left to check in with the League and the Green Lantern Corps occupying the Watchtower. Dick made himself disappear before anyone had recovered enough to look for him. He went to go check on Wally, but when he got to the gym, the Flash was already there working out with him, so he decided to leave them be and go home to Gotham.

Dick stepped out of the zeta tube in the Batcave, dragging his feet. Kilowog had run them mercilessly again, stopping only once for fifteen minutes to rehydrate. Every single muscle ached beyond words, especially his arms. He'd spent the majority of the practice throwing the new batarangs, and he'd managed to strain the arm that he'd dislocated yesterday. Dick had really wanted to ask for another massage, but there was no way that was happening – ever again.

He spotted Bruce sitting at the cave's supercomputer again and Alfred setting a platter of sandwiches on the console behind him. Dick's stomach growled voraciously, and he found himself stumbling towards the sandwiches like he was in a trance. He grabbed one off the top and stuffed half of it in his mouth without so much as a cursory sniff to try and see what was in it. It wasn't as though it mattered; Alfred's cooking was always magical.

"Good evening, Master Richard," Alfred said warmly before he spotted the ungodly amount of food that Dick was trying to chew at once. His smile disappeared.

Dick swallowed quickly, "Hey, Alfred."

"If anyone were to inquire about the origins of your table manners, young man, I would tell them you learned from a dog," Alfred said dryly before turning to leave. "Or perhaps from Master Bruce. His aren't much better."

Dick laughed and looked over at Bruce, who was rolling his eyes with a stoic, brooding expression on his face. He picked up a second sandwich and all but forced his mentor to take it. Sometimes Bruce would just decide that he didn't have time to eat and so he wouldn't. For days.

"I'm sorry I didn't come home last night," Dick said a little sheepishly. He took another bite of Alfred's glorious sandwich. "I kind of crashed after training yesterday."

"I figured out Robert West's connection to the Manhunters."

Dick abruptly choked on his food and struggled to force it down, "What?!"

Bruce pulled up his files on Wally's father, and Dick moved to look over his shoulder at the screen, "I couldn't find the link between them until I spoke to the Green Lanterns of our neighboring sectors. After hearing about the Manhunter attack from our Earth Lanterns, they did sweeps of their own sectors and found Manhunter cults on every single planet that housed intelligent life."

"Cults?" Dick had a bad feeling growing in his gut.

"The Manhunters have been establishing bases on every planet they find and recruiting the populace to their cause," Bruce sat back in his chair and stared at the monitor unhappily. He hooked one leg over the other and tented his fingers together.

"But, I thought all life was evil to them." Dick frowned in confusion. "Why would they want to enlist zealots instead of kill them?"

"To rebuild their numbers," Bruce answered simply. "I looked through West's life again and compared his shifts in personality to what I learned from the Green Lanterns. On all the other planets, the Manhunters were taking in young recruits under the pretense of working to enforce justice in the universe. I think that's what happened to West. He was recruited at age nineteen, and the Manhunter Cult fed him some propaganda about making a difference in the universe and being a part of something great. That's why his personality shifted at that age and caused him to get his life together. He had a channel for his aggression that gave him focus."

Dick's eyes darted over Rudy West's file as his brain connected the dots. It all made sense. "I bet all that really fed his ego, too."

"He likes being important," Bruce agreed quietly. "And becoming an acolyte of the Manhunter Cult is pretty big."

"Did you tell Flash about this yet?"

"I gave the founders of the League a full briefing," Bruce closed his files on Rudy West and the Manhunters and turned his chair to face his protégé. "Flash was on his way to tell Kid Flash when I left the Watchtower."

Dick felt his heart sink when he remembered seeing Wally and his uncle together in the gym. If he hadn't already been told…then he'd know by the end of the night. Dick glanced sideways to the cave's zeta transport and felt an invisible tug to go to it, but he stayed where he was.

"Dick, I want you to stay in Gotham tonight," Bruce spoke firmly, but kept his voice neutral. "Wally needs to be alone with his family right now. The Flash is on duty all day tomorrow, and I want him to have as much time as he needs to explain this to his nephew. Do you understand?"

"…Yes…" he nodded dejectedly, trying not to think about what Wally's reaction would be.

Bruce rose from his chair and placed a comforting hand on Dick's shoulder, gently steering him towards one of the elevators leading to the top level of the cave. "I have five hours of downtime tomorrow afternoon, and I want to show you how to use the upgrades on your gear as soon as possible."

"You can show me right now," Dick offered, eager for something to get his mind off of Wally. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep otherwise; he'd just be tossing and turning with worry.

"You're about to fall over," Bruce shook his head. "I want you to rest tonight and tomorrow. You need a day off."

"You never take a day off," Dick grumbled as they started up the stairs to the manor.

"You're not me, and I don't want you to end up like me," he said simply. "You might as well rest in Gotham. Your teammates will all be with their mentors tomorrow learning the specifics of their weapons and the League's plan of attack, and Wally will be out with Jay Garrick and Max Mercury the whole day working on his own powers."

Dick remembered his refusal to join Wally tomorrow and wished that he'd accepted instead. But, maybe it was better this way. He'd made the decision not to fully acknowledge his not-so-new-anymore feelings for his best friend until this was all settled, and maybe some distance would help him keep that promise to himself.

Wally would be fine without him for a day, right? He'd have Max and Jay with him if anything went wrong.