Chapter 7

In the morning, Wally is telling jokes and making Dick laugh. He's perked up a lot more through the night, his breathing aid being reallocated to his nose rather than both nose and mouth with the mask, mostly just to supplement his oxygen as he's breathing ok on his own. He's been given the opportunity to have breakfast, it's hospital food, but hey, it's the first meal he's had since… Whenever he last had a meal… He's been fed liquid through a tube when he was unconscious. There's a knock on the door however, and the officers step in.

"Have you guys even slept?" Wally asks.

"Yes, we have, thank you." One officer states.

"Mr. Grayson, if you're up for it, we have some questions regarding the attack." The other says.

"Yea, of course…" Dick says, though quietly. He's still trying to get his strength back.

"If everyone could leave the room so we could talk privately." One officer says. Bruce is reluctant but agrees. Clark, who has remained at the hospital, follows Bruce out, rolling Roy out as well. Bruce is about to take Wally when Dick grabs the arm of Wally's wheelchair.

"Can he stay with me?" Dick asks.

"It shouldn't hurt anything." The other Officer agrees. Bruce nods and leaves Wally with Dick and leaves the room. The officer sets the recording device down and presses record. "December twenty-seventh, nine-seventeen. Officers Jacob and Linus, CPS investigation of Bruce Wayne following severe injuries to his adopted child Richard Grayson. State your name for the record."

"Dick Grayson…" Dick answers.

"Full name, please." The officer asks.

"Uh, Richard John Grayson…?" Dick asks, wondering if that's good.

"Ok. Well, Richard-"

"You can call me Dick… That's my preferred name… Richard sounds like a snobby rich man's name…" Dick explains, laughing a little. He's on some good pain meds… Wally smirks.

"Oh yes, Richard, could you pass the tea and crumpets?" Wally teases in a fake British accent.

"Why yes, Wallace, I would be most pleased to share my crumpets…" Dick plays along. "But not my tea, that's mine…" Speaking normally for the last part, pantomiming like he has a tea cup in his hand. Both laugh at each other. "Oh Alfred would be glaring at me…"

"Who's Alfred?" The officer asks.

"Our butler…" Dick answers. "Nice man, makes good tea… and… good everything… Except cucumber sandwiches, but we never tell him that…"

"Why not?" The other officer asks, more out of curiosity.

"You do not want to tell Alfred something he made doesn't taste good, you just don't…" Dick explains. "It could break the old man's heart…"

"Ok?" The officer looks confused. "Ok… uh, Dick, how would you describe your bond with Mr. Wayne?"

"Good… pretty good… We play basketball sometimes when he has free time, or watch tv together… He'll sometimes watch me play video games…" Dick explains.

"Has he ever hurt you or threatened to hurt you?" The officer asks. Dick's brows knit in confusion.

"No… Never. I mean, once I snuck up on him to scare him… He nearly whacked me in the head, thankfully I'm short…" Dick says. "But no. He's never hurt me intentionally…"

"Alright, where'd those bruises come from?" The officer asks. He noticeably tenses up, heart rate increasing.

"That man… whoever he is… He pinned me against the wall, just… choking me… I just barely got out of it and got out…" Dick explains.

"Have you seen this man before?" The officer asks. Unable to tell him he was away on a mission, Dick shakes his head.

"No… But he said he was my great grandfather. H-How is that even possible…?" Dick questions.

"Maybe he's some superhuman?" The Officer suggests.

"He did say something about the power he has would prevent him from being hurt like I was…" Dick says. "But evidently I don't have that power…" He says. Dick closes his eyes, Wally can feel him shaking, his heart is racing. "I thought I was gonna die…" Wally stands up, sitting down beside Dick and wraps his arms around him.

"You need to leave." Wally states, a bit coldly.

"I don't wanna die…" Dick starts crying, panicking. "Th-They'll keep coming for me… and everyone I love will be hurt…!"

"Shh…" Wally tries to sooth. Dick clings to him.

"We still have questions." The officer states.

"Get out!" Wally snaps. A couple of nurses come in and try to subdue him, but he refuses to let go of Wally.

"No!" Dick screams, freaking out, using all his currently available strength to keep Wally by his side. Bruce and Clark enter the room. Wally holds Dick closer as well.

"It's ok… It's ok… You're safe…" Wally sooths. One of the nurses injects medicine into his IV and he immediately starts calming down.

"No…" He's still a bit panicky, remembering what happened at the circus, his body growing numb, but he can't fight against it. Wally takes a chance and lays beside him, wrapping an arm across him. Clark grabs Roy and wheels him back in.

"I'll stay right here, Dick. I promise, I won't leave your side." Wally says. Dick closes his eyes, the sedative doing its job. Wally closes his eyes, curling up a bit. "I'm so sorry you feel unsafe… I should have gotten there sooner…"

"You couldn't have known, Wally." Clark reasons.

"No… but I should have…" Wally says, pulling Dick closer to him. "Now he's hurting… He almost died…"

"So did you…" Clark mentions. The nurses leave once they feel confident that Dick will be alright.

"I'm not the one who's heart stopped…" He argues. After some silence, Wally brings a hand up to Dick's face, placing the back of his fingers gently on his cheek, just to see how warm he is.

"Wally, just how much do you care about Dick?" Bruce asks. Wally tenses up a bit, retracting his hand.

"He's my best friend…" Wally answers.

"I know that, but the way you interact with him would suggest something more than just friendship." Bruce says. Wally thinks a moment, looking at Dick, the way he looks so peaceful and adorable when he's asleep. The feeling he has whenever he sees Dick, being just so joyful and excited. He loves to make him laugh and smile.

"I dunno… I just… I enjoy him, just being around him, hearing him laugh, seeing his smile, it makes me happy. I don't know if that necessarily means anything more than just being friends though." Wally says. "Don't friends usually want to be side by side constantly? To see the other smile?"

"I wouldn't really know." Bruce says. "I don't really bond well with people."

"Are you kidding? You're my best friend." Clark speaks up. Bruce glares at him, making Clark laugh. "Aww, who's a grumpy face."

"… I have a vault full of kryptonite." Bruce warns.

"Yea, but you won't use it unless necessary." Clark states. Bruce crosses his arms and turns away, causing Clark to laugh again. Wally smiles at their interaction. He rests his head down next to Dick's, sort of watching him sleep. He presses his forehead to the side of the boy's face. Bruce looks over at the two.

"However you feel about my boy, know you have my support and appreciation." Bruce says. "Ever since you came into his life, he's been happier." Wally smiles up at Bruce and then snuggles Dick a bit more, falling asleep with him. "I mean… Friends don't caress their friend's cheeks, right?"

"I dunno, do they?" Clark questions, reaching a hand up and brushing his fingers against Bruce's cheek. Bruce smacks his hand away, making Clark smile widely and laugh.

"Idiot…" Bruce mutters, re-crossing his arms and looking away.

"You two are ridiculous…" Roy comments.

After some time, Dick's breakfast arrives. Bruce shakes Dick awake. He wearily opens his eyes, looking at him.

"Hey, your breakfast is here." Bruce says. Dick nods, he feels extra warmth beside him and turns, seeing Wally asleep. Dick places a hand on his shoulder and tries to shake him awake.

"Wally…" Dick says softly. He mumbles something incoherent in his sleep. "Food arrived." Wally's eyes snap open.

"Huh?" He questions, perking his head up. Dick laughs softly.

"Always works." Dick teases.

"Shut up…" Wally mutters and sits up, starting to get off the bed, but Dick grabs his sleeve. "Dick?"

"S-Sorry…" He mumbles and lets go.

"No, no, it's fine. I was just confused. Are you ok?" Wally asks.

"Yea, I'm… fine…" Dick tries to say. "Sorry…"

"You don't have to apologize. Just tell me what's on your mind." Wally says.

"I just… don't want you to leave…" Dick says. "But… I-I realized that's selfish… I'm scared… and you make me feel safe… But you shouldn't spend all your time fretting about me… You're hurt too…" Wally exhales through his nose, smiling, sitting back down.

"I'll stay right here, by your side. You're stuck with me for the rest of forever, anyway." Wally says playfully, ruffling his hair. Dick smiles a bit. "I'll always fret about you." Instinctively, purely instinctively, Wally kisses his cheek. Wally realizes what he did, freezing up. Dick turns and looks at him, kind of shocked. Wally gets up. "Bathroom…" He walks over to the built in bathroom that's in the room and shuts the door. Dick watches him enter and once the door shuts, he looks down, reaching up and placing a hand on his cheek. His brows knit a bit, going back to normal in a split second. Surely that was nothing. Friends do that. They're affectionate with each other. Even guys. It's not as often with guys, but it should be normalized. But then, why is his heart beating so much…?

"Dude." Roy speaks up, breaking the silence. Dick looks up at him.

"Are you ok?" Bruce asks. Dick nods.

"Yea… um… can I have my food now?" Dick asks. Bruce nods and stands up, moving the table over so he has access, lowering it down and pressing the button on his bed so he can sit up more. Dick adjusts and then takes the lid off his food, it's an omelet with turkey bacon and a fruit cup. There's a knock on the door.

"Yes?" Bruce asks. The door opens and the team peeks in.

"Can we come in?" Zatanna asks.

"I'm eating, but if you don't mind, then sure." Dick says. Everyone comes in. Conner leans against the wall next to Roy, crossing his arms. Zatanna and M'gann go to his bedside. Artemis stands in the middle of the room and Kaldur stands on the other side of Dick's bed from the girls, next to Bruce.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Zatanna asks, sitting down beside him.

"Well, even though I died three times, I feel pretty good. Tired, but good…" Dick says, taking a bite of the omelet. He sticks his tongue out at its blandness. "Scratch that… I think I'm spoiled on Alfred's cooking." He takes another bite, coking it down. "But I need to eat." He stops with the omelet and opens the fruit cup, with very soft pear pearls, grapes, and slimy mango pieces. He eats that rather quickly, finding the texture's weird, but food. "I can't wait until I'm out of here…"

"I bet." Kaldur comments.

"Where's Wally?" Artemis asks.

"In the bathroom." Dick answers, gesturing to it.

"So, who's Alfred?" M'gann asks.

"He's our butler." Dick answers. Artemis raises an eyebrow.

"Wait, you're a rich kid?" Artemis asks.

"Well, technically I just live with a rich man. If I want money, I have to ask, but it's usually no problem. So long as I'm not stupid with it." Dick explains.

"Huh…" Artemis hums, "You just don't act like a rich kid. A lot of the kids at my school are snobby and entitled."

"Yea, they can be pretty bad…" Dick agrees. "There's a few good eggs though. Not these, these eggs are pretty bad." Pointing to the omelet with a fork, he takes another bite, gagging a bit. "Not whelming at all." He takes a break from the omelet again and takes a bite of the turkey bacon, it's not half-bad, not half-good either… but it's more palatable than the omelet. M'gann giggles. Everyone looks at her a bit confused.

"Sorry, I just find it funny. I always wondered what the boy behind Robin was like, I never expected that he was the exact same person without the mask or sunglasses." M'gann mentions.

"Oh yea, why the name Robin, anyway?" Zatanna asks. "I've always been curious." Dick smiles a bit.

"My mother used to call me her little Robin." Dick explains, smiling a bit wider. "When I was on the trapeze, she was reminded of a little robin flying through the sky."

"Trapeze? You were in the circus?" M'gann asks. Dick nods.

"Haly's Circus." He answers. The revelation on most of their faces, M'gann, Conner and Artemis all look at each other. "Yea, the same place we were at a few days ago in Europe."

"That's why you wanted to prove Jack Haly was innocent." M'gann says. Dick nods. "Why you wanted to save Haly's circus."

"That was kind of reckless, Dick." Roy says. "What would you have done if Haly was dirty?"

"I knew for a fact he wasn't, he never would be." Dick states.

"How? How do you know?" Roy asks. Dick looks away, lowering his head.

"I just knew, ok…?" Dick says. The room falls silent. He pushes the table away, done eating.

"That's not good enough." Roy mutters.

"Roy…" Artemis warns.

"It is for now…" Dick states, he looks up at Roy. "Got it…?" The look in Dick's eyes is kind of scary as he looks at the redhead. Roy is taken back a bit, mouth slightly gaping. Zatanna places a hand on Dick's shoulder, Kaldur on the other shoulder.

"Easy." Kaldur says softly. "Relax, your heart rate is spiking." Realizing this, Dick takes a deep breath, laying back, closing his eyes.

"Sorry… it's just… a touchy subject for me… It has to do with the death of my family…" Dick explains at least that much. Most everyone's mouth gaps a bit, looking at Roy, expecting him to apologize. Roy's features have noticeably softened.

"I'm sorry… I didn't know…" Roy says.

"It's fine…" Dick mutters, opening his eyes, but turns his head again. Roy opens his mouth to say something, but he thinks better of it and just closes his mouth, sighing through his nose. Artemis thinks a moment, then turns, looking at the bathroom door, knocking on it a bit harshly.

"Wally, will you get out of there already? Your best friend needs you." Artemis snaps. There's no answer. "Wally." Artemis tries to open the door, but there's weight against it. She forces the door open, looking behind it to see Wally standing there. "What are you doing? Get out here." Wally reluctantly steps out of the bathroom, he stops once he sees Dick, staring. Dick looks up at him. Wally's face turns red and he steps back, about to shut the door to the bathroom, but Artemis stops him and grabs his arm, pulling him out and over to Dick's side. "What is with you?" Dick grabs the container that has his left over omelet.

"Here… I'm not hungry anymore. And you'll eat anything, so…" Dick offers. Wally takes it and looks at it.

"Are you sure…?" Wally asks.

"Yea, the omelet's awful, but you ate burnt cookies, soo…" Dick mentions. Wally shrugs and takes the fork, starts eating, scarfing it down with no problem. Dick shakes his head and lays back. There's a soft knock on the door and a nurse comes in.

"Hello!" She says. "How're you feeling, Mr. Grayson?" She asks.

"Like I wanna go home…" Dick answers.

"I know, but it shouldn't be too much longer. Maybe after the new year." She says softly. She takes his chart and looks it over. "How's your pain?"

"I feel ok… no pain really right now." Dick answers.

"Good! And how much food did you eat?" The nurse asks.

"I ate all but the cheese omelet, I took a couple bites of it, but I couldn't tolerate it…" Dick explains.

"Ok…" She trails off, writing on the chart. "Ok, I just need to take your blood pressure." She says, hooking the chart back to the front of the bed, then walks toward the back of his bed, a bucket-shelf on the wall holds a pressure cuff. "Stick your arm out for me." He does as ordered and she wraps it around his arm, starts squeezing the pump and placing a stethoscope under it, listening to his heartbeat and letting the pressure cuff do its thing, tightening around his arm. It does become a bit uncomfortable, but it's over quickly thankfully. She puts the pressure cuff back and walks toward the front. "Your heart is very strong for being damaged. But we need to keep any activity to a minimum. Your doctor should be in at some point to over that with you."

"Ok…" He says quietly.

"Is there anything I can get for you? Water? Apple juice?" She asks.

"Um… Do you have pineapple juice?" Dick asks. "I like pineapple."

"Sadly that's not an option, but we have orange juice." She says.

"I guess I'll take that." Dick says softly.

"Of course! I'll get that in for you. Well, if there's nothing else, I'll be by later." The nurse says and sets the board down, leaving the room.

"She seems nice… Unlike that one nurse." Wally comments.

"Yea…" Roy agrees.

"What happened?" Dick asks.

"Well, there was a nurse being really pushy, trying to get us to leave." Roy explains.

"I think I remember that…" Dick says quietly. "I remember I was scared Wally was going to leave my side…"

"I've noticed you've been kind of clingy." Wally comments. "But I don't mind. You're my best friend, there's nothing I wouldn't do for you." Dick smiles softly, there's been a slight increase in his heart rate.

"Thanks, Wall." Dick says softly.