Chapter 13: The Pig-Like Metabolism
Wally West freezes in fear before he resumes his incomprehensible rambling.
"Oh, so can I talk now?"
Allison scowls. "Look, Harper, are you going to explain or not?"
She tries to tune out the barely understandable '-not Kid–wait, Harper? Roy who is this–'
Roy hums in mock consideration. "Well, I don't think so."
"Harper–"
Roy continued. "I sincerely apologize for this interruption, but I called to warn you of this idiot's arrival."
'-why is she sitting here, Roy, and how does she know–'
"But because he's already there, I guess I was too late. Whatever, this is not my problem. I reserve the right to no longer care."
'-she's glaring at me, Roy. Roy? Roy?-'
Allison points at Kid Flash. "You," he jumps, "shut up. Roy, look–"
"I'll gladly shut up and leave in a second. Good luck with him. Who knows, maybe this will be good for you. Or hilarious for me. Tell Wally I say hi and that Batman is definitely going to kill him. But, again, not my problem."
Before she could get another word in, Roy hangs up. Allison helplessly stares at her phone before raising her head to stare at Kid Flash. He stares right back at her.
At least he stopped talking.
Allison simply says, "Roy says hi. He also said that Batman is going to kill you and that it isn't his problem."
Out of all of the possible reactions, she did not expect Kid Flash to pale dramatically and loudly exclaim, "YOU KNOW BATMAN?!"
Her face blanks. "...You know Batman?"
She sounded far more doubtful than he did.
"I mean, the connection between Flash and Batman exists, but it seems really irresponsible for Mr. Allen to reveal Batman's identity to a kid. Hmm, are you a personified get-well-soon card from Mr. Allen?"
West paled dramatically and stuttered, "Uh, who?"
"You know," Allison rolled her eyes, "Barry Allen. The Flash? Your uncle?"
The boy let out a sudden screech and his incomprehensible ramblings resumed. She watched him for a few minutes, her passive expression gradually tensing with every jumbled sentence.
"Okay, okay, stop! I literally cannot understand you."
Fortunately, West did shut up and had the grace to look somewhat repentant. Allison asked, "Why are you in Gotham?"
West looked like he wanted to argue, probably to demand why he should answer her question. However, he set his shoulders as an unbreakable sense of determination filled his eyes.
"Everyone knows something happened to him. It's all over the internet. Look, I'm his best friend and nobody would tell me anything and I just knew it had to be really, really bad–"
"Hold up, you're his best friend?"
"Yeah?"
"No, you are not."
"But I am."
Allison scoffs. "I would have heard about you if you were his best friend."
"And who do you think you are?"
"His actual best friend."
He laughs. "There is no way some elementary kid is Dick's best friend."
"I don't even look that young, addlepate," she ignored West's whispered, 'Addlepate?' "But that reminds me, how do you even know Robin's identity?"
"YOU KNOW DICK IS ROBIN?"
"I think the question is how do you know that Robin is Dick?"
"How does an eight-year-old child–"
"-I'm ten-"
"-know the identities of four superheroes? This does not make any sense. You do not make any sense. Are you Alfred's long-lost grandkid or something?"
"Dude, I wish. My turn. Why are you here?"
"What do you mean my turn?"
"An answer for an answer. Now give me my answer."
West grumbles but plays along. "Like I said, nobody was telling me anything. I called Roy, he said that it was pretty bad but that it will be fine. But then he eventually said that he didn't know if Dick would even wake up. I had to see Dick for myself."
Allison pauses for a moment. "He's gonna wake up."
West looks down at Dick and quietly says, "Yeah. He'll wake up."
Although some of the cuts and bruises have faded, this is the first time West has been able to see Dick after the incident.
Allison recognizes that. However, that doesn't excuse him from trying to claim that he's Dick's best friend. Liars deserve to be called out, after all.
Oh, and also the fact that he's a meta who showed up in Gotham unannounced. And that he somehow knows the identity of Batman and Robin which is a major red-flag. That's probably a better excuse.
"Regardless," West looks back up at her once she breaks the silence, "you are not who you say you are, and you need to leave. No metas in Gotham. If you prefer, I will call Batman to escort you personally. If you refuse, we throw you into the dungeon."
"You do not have a dungeon."
"And you would know that how?"
"...you don't have a dungeon, right?"
"I will personally escort you there. You will have plenty of time to familiarize yourself with it."
West shakes that thought away. "It's my turn, so who even are you? And how do you know that Robin is Dick and Barry is Flash and I'm Kid Flash and–wait, are you a stalker? Ew, gross."
"What! I'm not–"
"You totally–"
"WHY DO MORONIC ASININE BOYS KEEP INTERRUPTING ME?!"
"Mister Wallace, I certainly was not expecting you today."
Both Allison and West freeze and look towards the doorway. Alfred stood with his hands placed behind his back in a picture of tranquility.
West recovered first. "Alfred! I'm so happy to see you. Can you tell this rando to leave, she's bothering Dick."
Her blond hair whipping around, Allison swirled her head to glare at the boy. She stared him down, making his wild grin strain ever so slightly. She waited until she could see him deeply gulp.
Hm, that's better.
"Hmp," a hint of a smirk danced across her lips. She slowly turned back to Alfred. "Alfie, if you would like me to remove this intruder from the premises personally, it would be my pleasure."
West surprised her by mockingly laughing. "Ah, do you hear this girl? Tiny first-grader–"
"-I'm ten–"
"-thinks she can beat the Kid Flash. Really, it's cute."
"Shall we see how cute it will be when I defenestrate you?"
She was so close to doing so.
West's eyes flew open wide. "When you what?!" His voice rose at the end of the question, making a very amusing squeak.
She rolled her eyes. "Honestly, cockalorums like you are incredibly puerile."
"As creative as your insults are, Miss Allison," Alfred interrupted before the conversation escalated into violence, "I would ask you to hold off on them for another time. After all, Mister Wallace will need his wits when he explains to Master Bruce why he decided to make a day trip to Gotham."
She chuckled when West visibly paled.
Alfred continued. "In the meanwhile, I assume you are famished, Mister Wallace. I can prepare food in the kitchen for you."
The change in West's mood is truly hilarious.
Alfred and the intruder leave the room right away, although not without a glare full of suspicion shared between Allison and the boy. When the door closes and West's gleeful exclamations about Alfred's food echoes outside, Allison looks back to Dick.
Only then does she begin to wonder how Alfred and Wally seem to know each other.
OoO
Apparently, Dick and West are best friends. It should have stopped with Robin and Kid Flash being BFFs, but Dick's big mouth spilled the secret. So, Dick and Wally West are best friends.
This is fine.
Allison wasn't at the manor when Bruce returned home so she didn't see how he reacted to the surprise guest from Central City. But considering how pale West looked the next day when he was in the same room as Bruce, it must have been hilarious.
"Soooo, you're Blue Bird?"
Her fingers froze on her keyboard. Allison's body tensed as she quietly but tensely hummed her frustration, annoyance already building inside of her.
"Not that I don't believe it, I'm sure you are great. Bad guys probably don't see you coming. You know, seeing how you don't reach their waist. It's a smart strategy, really."
Her tense hum evolved into a slight growl.
Allison is on a balcony overlooking the manor's backyard. Her computer lays on her lap as she sits criss-crossed on the patio couch. She technically shouldn't do official vigilante work outside of the cave, but if Allison had to work this case one more minute down there with all of the distractions, she was going to do a very not moral thing. Particularly to the distraction.
And it was such a beautiful day outside! Who wouldn't want to delve through data of the criminal underworld and rationalize potential theories about who are connected to who due to debts, intimidation, blackmail, or other equally likely corrupt reasons under the bright and optimistic sunlight with the cheery breeze and fresh air?
Then the distraction decided to join her.
A notification appeared on the top corner of her screen, drawing her attention away from the distraction. Allison's eyebrows quirked up in slight surprise and curiosity.
GCPD updated their files on the Dearborn robbery from two days ago.
She considered it for a moment before opening the updated file. It shouldn't be too shocking that there are updates to the case since it still is very fresh, but she thought that the police had finished the interrogations from the robbers. Any updates to the files should mean a development in the case, big or small.
"Ooh! Is that the Gotham Police database?" Allison jumped at the voice which appeared right next to her ear. "How'd you get access to that?" She glanced to see West's face inches from her own, although his attention was fixed on the screen sitting on her lap.
She immediately snapped the screen down. "You are not allowed to see that."
West straightened back up with his hands on his hips. "Technically, you aren't either. Isn't hacking into police files illegal?"
Allison picked up her computer, crossed the balcony, and went through the open doors.
Back to the cave she goes.
OoO
"You are disgusting."
Lunch was served promptly at noon, and seeing that Bruce still had to maintain a civilian persona at work, the only two available to eat lunch in the manor were Allison and West. Unfortunately, Alfred doesn't count since he prefers to eat separately on his own time.
This situation would have been bearable if Alfred didn't force them both to eat together in the kitchen.
Allison was initially confused when she noticed an abnormally large amount of plates prepared on the table. However, she remembered when West began to shovel the food boorishly down his throat the information in his file about his insane metabolism.
His metabolism does not excuse the fact that his eating habits make her want to puke.
Miraculously, he stopped storing food into his mouth at her words.
"Yer gus geawous 'oo rn't e all an."
She could literally see the mush that was once food sitting in his mouth.
Allison blinked. She blinked again. She slowly set her cup down onto the table.
"You should try speaking with food in your mouth again. Maybe you will choke next time."
West swallowed his mush. Because that is what it is. It is no longer actual food. It is mush. It has been in his mouth for so long that it has now transformed into mush.
His mouth opened wide in a giant smirk with his green eyes sparkling in cocky pleasure. "Don't tell me that you were worried for me? Don't worry, kid, I won't choke. The Wall Man just eats like this because of the crazy metabolism of a speedster. Because of my speed, my metabolism–"
Ugh.
"I'm not stupid. I know that your hyper-accelerated metabolism requires you to consume at least 10,000 calories per day for you to maintain proper energy levels that can act as a supply for your speed. Conversely, your metabolism does not require you to eat like a pig."
That cocky smirk quickly vanished. A smirk of her own appeared on her face as she said, "And I was not worried about you. I sincerely desired you to resume talking. It would be entertaining to watch you choke on the mush you keep stored in your mouth. Hmm," she tilted her head, "it is like you are a little orange chipmunk."
He glared at her. She smirked at him.
He ate the rest of his food faster than he did previously. She intently watched him, waiting for the moment when he would choke on his food.
They sat at that table for a long time.
OoO
Allison spent the remainder of that afternoon writing on a legal pad. Her eyes needed the break from looking at the computer screen.
She first began with everything she knew about the Dearborn robbery.
There were fourteen robbers consisting of ten men and four women. Each robber had some type of firearm along with a knife at the least. They stormed the bank at 11:20 AM, and it wasn't until 11:34 that she and Batman arrived at the scene.
The interrogations the police had conducted revealed the connection between the fourteen robbers. Each robber knew at least one other robber from some random encounter and kept in contact. Some knew each other for two or so years, others for mere months. A group of them came up with the idea to rob Dearborn bank, and it eventually spread to include all of them.
Their motivation was desperation. All of the robbers barely live at the level of subsistence, and the job market in Gotham often is capricious. They were all afraid of the very likely changes in the labor market, especially in consideration of the rising market prices.
At 11 AM on the morning of the robbery, they met at Mr. Quill's apartment on Larne Road, which was six blocks from Dearborn Bank. From there, they walked to the bank.
Nine of the robbers have one or two relatives, the rest have no relatives. Over half of the robbers revealed that their bosses had fired them, but were allowing them to work for a few more weeks so they could have time to plan what is next.
Unfortunately, because they thought they literally had nothing to lose, they decided thievery was the best solution.
The plans for the robbery were found in Mr. Quill's apartment, along with all of their phones. However, the notification Allison had received earlier that day was regarding the discovery of another phone in the apartment of a Ms. Monroe. The police took the phone as evidence, but have not accessed the device due to privacy laws. There's no need to access the phone since the case appears to be open and shut.
It's annoyingly ethical.
Allison still isn't sure how the group attained their weapons. While the equipment they had isn't anywhere close to military grade, firearms are still expensive to acquire. The criminals gave vague responses on how they acquired the weapons, and the GCPD interrogator apparently decided it was an avenue of investigation that was unimportant.
So how they got their equipment remains a mystery.
On a whim, Allison decided to look into the relatives of the nine robbers. Funnily enough, every relative that was connected to the nine robbers are in the hospital. A bit of digging into the hospital's system revealed that those loved ones either couldn't afford the medical dues for treatment they desperately need or they couldn't afford life saving surgery.
This connection adds another layer into the reason why so many strangers decided to team up. And while the case appears to be simple…
"Dangit, why does it feel like I'm missing something obvious?"
"You're confused about your homework assignment, I'm confused about how a midget works for Batman, the world is a mysterious place."
Allison's head snapped up to glare at the nuisance who was standing a few feet away.
"I am not working on a homework assignment, carrot top. Besides, my height is not unusual for a girl my age."
"You are getting uncreative with your insults, munchkin."
"I don't–" there was a rush of wind and Allison suddenly realized her legal pad was no longer in her hands. Instead, Wally West was flipping through the pages and reading the notes that she had written.
"Oooh, this is interesting!" West exclaims.
Allison jumps out of her chair and runs towards the nuisance. "Give it back! You are not allowed to look at this."
He uses his speed to dodge her attempts in regaining her legal pad. "Who says?"
"I say."
"You say? That's not very convincing, shrimp. Maybe my brains can help you with this confusing homework assignment."
"It is not a homework assignment. Give it back!"
"Huh, I guess it definitely isn't a homework assignment," West mumbles under his breath as he examines the pages. Fortunately, he was preoccupied by the information on the page so Allison was able to snatch it back.
She clutches the legal pad tightly and pulls out a Batarang. "I will not hesitate to use this."
West snorted. "Don't hurt yourself with that thing, shrimp."
Allison is ready for the gust of wind this time.
West stopped a foot away from Allison, hand held out to snatch the legal pad back from her. However, the Batarang held at his neck stops him from moving at all.
"It won't be me who's hurt."
West stiffens before tensely laughing it off. He moves back a few steps with his hands held out defensively.
"I get it, I get it. Baby is protective of her toy. It checks out."
She glares at that statement but lets it go. She walks back to her chair, throwing over her shoulder, "And if I can't figure it out, there is absolutely no possibility in which you could."
"Oh sure, like you're smarter than me. I'm literally eight years older than you."
"It's five, actually. And I am smarter than you. I didn't need to be told that Dick is Robin."
West paused but shook his head adamantly in disbelief. "That is so not true. Nice try, I don't believe you."
She looked at West with a corner of her lips perked up. "It is. I figured it out when I was nine. When were you told?" She asked innocently.
He glowered at her. He then crossed his arms and stated, "I'm still smarter."
She scoffed.
Allison collected her belongings and set them all into her bag, including the legal pad. While she normally leaves this kind of stuff at the cave, it will be safer in her room and away from the slimy hands of the nuisance.
"Where are you going?" West asked when he saw her make her way towards the cave's exit.
"Home," she replied without turning around to face him. "It's a place where blighters won't bother me."
"Blighter?" Allison heard West question. "What does that even mean?"
"In two words?" She replied right as she walked into the elevator. She turned around to see West's reaction as she said, "Wallace West."
The doors closed just as she saw West's face redden in irritation and indignance.
OoO
When her alarm goes off the next morning, Allison immediately wants to go back to bed. She groans as she rolls onto her stomach, reaching over to the bedside table and fumbling around for her phone and the screeching alarm.
Allison groans in irritation. She knows she has to get up, but her bed…
She sits up before her eyes close and she sleeps for another two hours. She stayed up way too late last night diving way too deep in mindless rabbit holes of conspiracy theories. Well, it's more like she found a conspiracy theory and dug around enough computer systems to see if she has the skill to hack her way to the truth.
She saved the actual solving of the conspiracy theories for another time.
She would have gone to sleep if she could, but the facts of the Dearborn case kept swirling around inside her head every time she tried.
Allison got ready for the day and went downstairs, deciding to get something from her kitchen before she went to Wayne Manor. She was on the stairs when her phone rang, signaling a call from Wallace West.
Allison narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She debated letting the call go to voicemail or simply answering it and allowing West to talk to nobody while she ate breakfast. However, she decided that if he wanted to annoy her this early in the morning, then she is going to have a wonderful and satisfactory sparring session with him later for her revenge.
"What, West?"
She didn't get a response. She waited a few seconds before she demanded, "Are you there, or are you trying to annoy me?"
Once again, there was no response.
Resigning herself to the fact that she will have a sparring session that afternoon, she said, "Well, you are the worse and goodbye–"
"Wait!"
Allison paused when West spoke. He didn't sound like himself. He wasn't the annoyingly loud, chipper, demeaning child that he is. His exclamation was urgent and almost earnest.
Her scowl softened as she took her time processing his emotive response.
After a moment, she murmured facilely, "What's wrong, West?"
Her question remained unanswered, but she kept her patience. The boy on the phone didn't sound like an annoying child prank-calling somebody.
While Allison waited, she purposefully composed herself. She softened her furrowed brows and released the lip which her teeth were biting. And while she relaxed everything from her stiff posture to her breathing, she was unable to ease the tight grip on her phone.
She heard a sniffle, and it became infinitely harder to maintain her strict composure as the implications behind this phone call raced around her brain. But really, there were only two reasons behind this call, and both had to do with the health of her best friend.
Allison clutched at her nonchalant composure desperately even though it steadily began to slip through her fingers.
"West, how is he?" Allison asked in a fragile, soft tone.
He sniffled again.
Tears were beginning to prick at her eyes and panic pushed at her heart. She took it for the warning that it was. The brittle self-control she hastily built was teetering on the edge of destruction, she knew it. And while she wants to scream at West to just tell her so she could know how to handle the panic…
She almost wants to beg him not to tell her.
Between sniffles, he spoke, "I'm outside. In the front."
It wasn't a confirmation like she wanted, but he gave her an offer to get to the Manor fast which was good enough for now.
She bolted down the stairs, barely remembering to put on her shoes before she flung the front door open and sprinted outside. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she gave up trying to sustain any form of composure.
West was there with his phone still up to his ear as he looked at the ground. When he saw her approach, his head slowly lifted until his stare was fixed on her. The hand holding his phone dropped and so did the tears in his eyes.
Before she could fear the worst, West gave her a broken smile. She has seen him obnoxiously laugh multiple times in the past few days, but never before had she seen such light in his eyes.
"He woke up," the boy in front of her choked out. "Dick's awake."
Ugh, I wanted to write more on this chapter but after some time, I figured this was a fine way to end it. This arc is genuinely so much longer than I expected it, like oh my goodness.
Either way, I had so much fun writing Wally's character. This has been something I've been looking forward to. I expect only one, two tops, chapter before this arc is over. And guess what is after that...
Random thought, but I have been hooked on Twilight recently. Like it came out of nowhere, and now it is quite literally my biggest current obsession. Color me surprised. If I didn't have like five fic ideas in my head, I would look into writing a Twilight story. But unfortunately, my life and poor time management skills cannot afford that.
Devastating.