GSOG Chapter 30
"I remember it being dark."
"We walked up from the front door, we were visiting Central to talk to Barry."
"Mr. Allen, great to see you." Bruce says, offering a hand to the young scientist. Barry took his hand firmly, but friendlily, as if they knew each other well.
"Great seeing you too, sir. I hope you don't mind, but I brought my nephew with me. I'm babysitting him for the day and I wasn't sure how long this might take." Barry explains. Dick looks up at Wally, head tilting slightly as he studies him. A little shy, somewhat tense, and super bored…
"That's alright, I brought my ward with me as well, perhaps they can keep each other company." Bruce suggests. They walk over to an elevator and Barry presses a button. Dick glances at Wally, seeing him a little nervous being in the elevator, minor claustrophobia? They go up quite a ways and then the door opens, Barry steps out first, leading Bruce off. Wally and Dick follow. "You two stay out here while Mr. Allen and I talk, alright?"
"Yes, sir." Dick says, nodding. The two adults enter a room and shut the door. Dick relaxes his shoulders a bit, then looks at Wally. "Hey." Wally looks over, still looking very bored.
"Hey." Wally says.
"How old are you?" Dick asks.
"Thirteen, you?" Wally answers, asking back.
"Eleven." Dick answers. "So… Uh, do you play video games?"
"Oh, yea, tons. What do you play?"
"I like a lot of different ones, I like action, but also some spooky. I'm looking forward to the next Silent Hill game!" Dick says excitedly, smiling widely.
"You're allowed to play Silent Hill?" Wally asks.
"Nope! Which is why I sneak to play it. Buut I think Bruce already knows." Dick says.
"I did know, which is why those games slowly went missing."
"I knew it was you…"
"Doesn't help it gives me nightmares…" Dick says.
"Then why do you play it?" Wally asks, brows knitting, very confused.
"For the thrill! Speaking of… You seem bored, wanna explore?" Dick asks, smiling a little mischievously.
"You're more high strung than me… Do you have ADHD too?" Wally asks.
"No idea!" Dick states, smiling even wider. "Come on!" He starts walking off, a little fast. Wally follows after him, they take the stairs as Dick kind of pieced that Wally doesn't really like elevators. Dick slides down the railing, grabbing the next, stopping his momentum and jumping onto the other. Wally runs after him.
"Dude! Wait up!" Wally shouts, running down the stairs. They go through a door together and they look around, walking through the offices. "Remember, don't take anything, we're not even supposed to be here."
"I know, I don't need anything really, I just wanna see. I know every inch of the Gotham branch, but nothing about this one." Dick states. They step out into a hallway where there's bathrooms, Dick can see there's supposed to be a badge reader, so they're sort of locked in, but there's always a way out. There's a door at the end of the hall and they decide to go through. "By the way, what video games do you play?"
"Oh, I play whatever, usually Halo or something." Wally says. "It can get pretty boring though."
"Halo is one of those games that it's better with more people." Dick mentions. "Maybe we can co-op sometime!"
"Oh sure! What's your gamertag?" Wally asks.
"It's uh… kinda silly…" Dick says softly.
"Mine is WallMan94, so give me your best shot." Wally states, smiling playfully.
"DGray96…" Dick answers. "I actually um… got it from this anime I've been watching. It's called D Gray-Man. I read some of its manga and saw they made it into an anime. I mean, I'm Dick Grayson so…" He trails off, rubbing the back of his head.
"I'm such a nerd…"
"You are, but you're my nerd~!"
"Oh, wow. That's kinda cool actually!" Wally says, his smile widening, which gives Dick the go ahead to keep talking about it.
"The main character is a boy named Allen Walker, and he grew up in the circus, he lost his adoptive father and was taken in by a man named Cross who trained him to become an Exorcist because he has a special power, a thing called Innocence that's bound to his hand." Dick explains. "He actually has a red-headed best friend named Lavi, who I kinda ship together…" Dick mumbles that last part.
"Dude…" Wally trails off, Dick braces himself for bullying and name calling. "That's really cool! Maybe I can be your red-head best friend!" It's clear he didn't hear the last part of what Dick said, much to Dick's relief. He smiles happily, eyes brightening up.
"Ok! Best friends!" Dick agrees, they fist bump each other.
"At least your gamer tag is interesting!" Wally says.
"I think yours is funny, and easy to remember, Wall Man." Dick says, giggling.
"Hey! If you put it together, you get D Gray man!" Wally comments.
"Oh wow, yea, you're right! Guess it's fate we became besties!" Dick says, his smile growing wider.
"Heck yea!" Wally agrees. "Hey, they have snacks in the breakroom!" Wally mentions and the two take off. The better snacks are locked behind a vending machine, but the others are free, so they take those, munching away on spicy Cheetos and small juice boxes, sitting on the counter. "So, what's it like being rich?"
"Eh, it's ok. I'm still not exactly used to it, it's only been a little over two years now since Bruce took me in. I might never get used to it…" Dick mentions. "But, I'm making an effort not to be like those spoiled rich kids, I don't want to be."
"That's good, I don't know how well I'd get along with you if you were." Wally says, he shoves half the small bag of hot Cheetos in his mouth.
"That's fair. I don't get along well with the snobby kids at my elementary school… But next year I'm starting 7th grade at Gotham Academy. Half the students are part of the Wayne Foundation Scholarship, so maybe there won't be so many snooty idiots."
"Hopefully not." Wally agrees. "God, I'd hate that. I hate school already, but, to act like you're all high and mighty cuz your daddy's got money?" Wally shakes his head, rolling his eyes.
"I know! It's ridiculous!" Dick agrees. "Literally I heard this one girl in my class say she doesn't have to work hard cuz her step-dad will just buy everything for her, like girl, that's not how this works." Wally laughs.
"Dang! Bless 'er heart, man!" Wally says with a giggle. He crumples up the bag and tries to throw it in the garbage, but it barely sails in the air before fluttering to the ground. "Dang it…" He hops off the counter and grabs it up, throwing it in the garbage, but as he slams it down, it flutters just right to brush the edge and fall to the floor. He groans in annoyance and picks it back up, placing it in again, making sure it stays. Meanwhile, Dick sticks his now empty juice box into the empty bag and tosses it, it lands perfectly. "Dude!"
"What?" Dick asks, smirking knowingly.
An announcement comes on the intercom.
"Would Wallace West and Richard Grayson come to the main lobby, Bruce Wayne and Barry Allen are waiting for them. Again, would Wallace West and Richard come to the main lobby."
Dick curses under his breath.
"Dang, Bruce's gonna be so mad…" He mumbles.
"We better go…" Wally says, and they start heading out of the main break room, out into the hall. Wally looks back and forth down the hall. "Uh, do you remember which way we came?"
"Nope." Dick says.
"I did know, but I wanted to be lost. It was more fun!"
"Not to me!"
"Oh great…" Wally mutters. "We're so dead."
"Let's try this way!" Dick says, pointing in a direction. It led to a set of stairs going up and or down, so they went down in hopes of getting closer to the main lobby, and ended up in a very creepy, dark, hallway.
"Oh I do not like this…" Wally says softly.
"It's ok! The dark isn't bad. It's what's in the dark that's bad!" Dick says happily, smiling widely. "Come on!" They start walking down the hall. Wally is gripping the sleeve of Dick's jacket as they walk. There's a loud clang sound that makes Wally startle and grip tighter. "Easy does it. We're halfway there!" Dick assures and they get to the end and find a door there, but it's locked. A passkey card is needed. "Wayne Tech override, RG4." The light glows and there's a click, allowing them through. It's now a normal hallway with lots of light and windows looking down at a parking lot. "Look, Wall, the lobby is over that way!" He points toward the front door. "We'll get there!"
"Ok… So long as we don't have to go down that creepy hallway again!" Wally remarks, the two start running down the hall to another cube-farm, but this door is locked too, Dick uses the same code as before to get it unlocked and they walk through this office as well. They find another flight of stairs and Wally is relieved to find it's just another normal hallway. So they start running down it.
"How are you not tired!" Dick asks, starting to get huffy as they run, having to stop to catch his breath.
"I'm a good runner, I do track at school. Can run the entire mile in seven minutes." Wally says, taking smaller breaths.
"Dude… that's crazy…" Dick states between breaths.
"Here, get on my back, I'll carry you." Wally offers.
"No, no I'll be ok." Dick rejects. He stretches back, his back lighting up from pain, causing him to wince.
"Hey, you ok?" The ginger asks.
"Yea, I just did something stupid and hit my back on the railing. Don't swing on chandeliers." Dick states.
"I thought it was don't go chasing waterfalls?" Wally teases. Dick looks up at him with narrowed eyes, but his lips are curled in a way to indicate he's trying not to laugh. "Come on." He kneels down in front of him, grabbing his arms and having him climb onto his back. Wally then starts running again, a bit slower, but not by much since Dick is pretty lightweight.
"You're putting me down before we get to the lobby." Dick says.
"Yea, yea!"
The two do eventually make it there, from a totally opposite side from the elevator is. As stated, Dick climbs off Wally's back and they both run into the lobby together.
"There you two are! We were about to send a search party out for you!" Barry says, walking up to them.
"Sorry, Uncle Barry…" Wally says.
"So, whose idea was it to go wandering off on your own?" Bruce asks, arms crossed, voice deep and demanding. He was not happy…
"It was mine!" Wally says.
"No, it was mine." Dick answers. "I've never been in this building, so I wanted to look around."
"No, I suggested we explore!" Wally argues. "Anyone who knows me knows I don't like to stay put! I gotta have something to do."
"Dude, stop trying to cover for me, it was my idea." Dick states.
"I want the truth, now." Bruce demands.
"It was me!" Both say in unison.
"Dude! Shut up!" Wally shouts.
"No! You shut up!" Dick shouts back.
"Quiet!" Bruce snaps. Both fall silent, standing at attention like soldiers. "Regardless, you're both in trouble. I just wanted to know who had the inane thought to wander off without supervision in a facility with heavy machinery and chemicals that could kill you. You do realize you both could have been killed, right?"
"We mostly stuck to the cube-farms." Dick says.
"And got some free snacks from the break room downstairs." Wally mentions. "Though there was this really creepy hallway that needs way better lighting."
"Maybe stay where you were told to, you wouldn't have to come across the ghost hallway." Barry states.
"Ghost hallway?" Dick asks.
"It's haunted?!" Wally questions. "I thought ghosts didn't exist!
"Why do you think it's so underdeveloped, no one goes in there. The ghosts don't like trespassers." Barry states. "Now we have to appease them." Barry looks at Bruce. "So, which one shall we sacrifice to the ghosts?"
"Hmm… Well, perhaps whichever one suggested they go off should be the one who gets sacrificed." Bruce states. Wally and Dick at each other, wide-eyed, then look at the adults. "Well?"
"I did." Both say once again in unison. They look at each other again.
"Dude!" Dick shouts again.
"I'm not letting you be sacrificed to ghosts!" Wally states.
"But I'm the one who suggested it! I don't want you to be sacrificed for my mistakes!" Dick argues.
"But you're my best friend! If you get sacrificed, I may as well get sacrificed too so we can be ghost besties!" Wally argues back.
"Neither of you are being sacrificed." Barry says. "I was kidding."
"I thought so." Dick mentions.
"Oh yea, sure, is that why your nose is twitching?" Wally comments. Dick crosses his eyes to look at his nose, covering it.
"Oh, shut up." Dick mutters, lightly punching Wally's arm. Wally giggles. The adults try to hide their smiles, trying to continue their angry demeanor.
"Come on, we should go to our hotel for the night." Bruce says, walking over to Dick, placing his hand on his back. Dick's hand lowers from his nose and he waves at Wally.
"Bye, Wally." Dick says as he and Bruce starts to walk away.
"Bye, Dick!" Wally shouts after them.
"Bye Wally!" Dick shouts louder.
"Bye DICK!" Wally shouts even louder.
"BYE WALLY!" Dick shouts at the top of his lungs
"Enough!" Bruce orders.
"Add me on Xbox!" Wally shouts again.
"Duh!" Dick shouts back.
"And that's the story."
"Wow." Selina says, sitting at the restaurant table as they wait for their food. "You two are crazy."
"Yep!" Wally agrees, smiling widely.
"Probably why we get along so well!" Dick states, having a smile on his face as well. "Didn't know at the time that he'd end up being the best boyfriend ever."
"Nah, you're the best boyfriend ever." Wally argues.
"Oh, God, please don't do that cringy couple thing." Melinda pleads.
"Don't worry, I don't have the energy to do that." Dick admits. The server comes out with the trays of food and sets everything down for them to ogle while they load the table. Wally can barely hold back as he looks at all the food.
"Enjoy!" The server says and walks away. Wally minds his manors when he digs in, not shoving his face full of food in front of his boyfriend's family, though Bruce already knows how he eats… Dick kind of stares at his food, munching on some fries, but doesn't really eat. Bruce looks concerned at Dick, and Dick looks up at him, glances back down at his food a moment before looking back up at Bruce. Bruce gives a rather undeterminable face to most, but Dick understands. He bows his head a little and starts taking more bites.
"Oh, come on, you know we don't understand your telepathy speak thing." Wally comments.
"That's the point." Bruce says.
"What?" Melinda questions.
"Oh, Dick and Bruce have a way of communicating wordlessly with each other." Selina explains. "It's actually quite fascinating to watch. They can have full on conversations without even speaking."
"That is really impressive. I've always wanted a bond like that. Telepathic communication and whatever." Melinda remarks. There's a sudden slam nearby, making most startle and then this woman swipes all the stuff off the table and gets up in a server's face.
"You will give me the bill with that dish taken off! Or I will be calling corporate!" She snaps.
"Ma'am, as I told you, since you finished the dish, there's nothing I can do about it." The server states. The lady takes a drink off another person's table and splashes it in the server's face.
"You're a thief! You're stealing from me!" She snaps. Wally turns and looks at Dick, but he's disappeared.
"Oh no…" He mumbles.
"Whoa, wait, where is he…?" Melinda questions in a loud whisper. Bruce pinches the bridge of his nose, and Selina just smirks.
"Ma'am, you need to pay your bill and leave." The server says.
"Or what?!" She snaps. "I want to speak to your manager! Now!"
"Sure." The server says and starts to walk away. The lady starts to follow, but she suddenly falls down, landing in the mess she created. Dick giggles, covering his mouth to muffle it, back in the spot where he was before. Everyone at the table turns to look at him.
"Dude, what did you do?" Wally asks.
"Tied her shoe laces." Dick answers, smirking.
"Dick…" Bruce lightly reprimands. He shrugs a bit.
"I won't apologize for taking justice into my hands…" Dick mumbles.
"Who are you, Batman?" Wally teases.
"Ha!" Dick laughs out.
"Nah, you're too scrawny for that." Wally teases.
"I'm not scrawny, I'm svelte." Dick remarks back, smirking at the old reference to a kid show he and Wally watched a lot as little kids and learned they're both fans of.
"Now you're Della Robbia? Dude, make up your mind."
"Nah." Dick protests and takes bites of his food, more substantial than before. He tries thinking of other things though, trying to stay out of his head, more or less just trying to block out that memory…
"Who's Della Robbia?" Melinda asks.
"His name is Odd Della Robbia, from a show called Code Lyoko. He's the comedic relief, you know, like him." Dick says, gesturing to Wally with that last part.
"Hey, you're just admitting I'm funny." Wally retorts.
"That's the point. What, you thought it was an insult?" Dick teases, smirking.
"I'm honestly not sure with you…" Wally admits. Dick just smiles adorably. Wally sighs. "Dang it… Why are you so cute…?"
"Genetics." He says, then looks down at his plate, he's eaten probably about a quarter of his fries and a few bites of chicken tenders, but he's just not that hungry. He pushes his plate a little. "I have no appetite… I'm just going through the motions of happiness… I know Bruce isn't fooled… but it just happened… He's not going to expect me to just be normal a few hours after it happened, right…? I can feel him staring at me… Is he annoyed with me…?" Dick takes a quick, deep breath in.
"Hey…" Wally says softly.
"What if… Bruce thinks I'm weak for not fighting back… I mean, he understands I couldn't break my cover, but… And what about Slade? Isn't he supposed to protect me? Did he not even know…? He may have realized with all the cops and paramedics around… But… What if my grandfather comes at a time like this? Where I feel just… vulnerable… I can't go back!" Dick grabs the sides of his head, curling in. "How many nightmares am I going to have over all this…?"
"Dick…?" Bruce calls, placing a hand on his shoulder. His whole body is trembling.
"I can't keep sharing a bed with Bruce every night, or Wally… I gotta sleep on my own, I'm not a little kid! But… I'm so scared… What if they release Cat? What if she never gets convicted?! The Courthouses aren't that great here… the Judges can be bought off, so can the jury… What if she walks free and comes after me and she actually finishes the job!?"
"Dick." Bruce states, turning his chair and pulling him closer, he places his hands over Dick's hands on his head, causing Dick to look up, he catches himself hyperventilating. "With me, ok?" Bruce takes a deep breath in and lets it out, repeating the process until Dick calms down. "There you go… It's going to be alright. She can't hurt you, alright?" Dick nods a little.
"It's not just her… What if William comes back while I'm like this… It's bad enough my wrist is broken, but I-I feel so vulnerable and scared and like I'm losing my mind…" Dick explains, he bows his head, closing his eyes tight to keep from crying. "Please don't be mad… I-I'm sorry… I'm sorry for being weak…"
"Dick, you're not weak. Everyone has moments of weakness, even me, even Batman, hell I'm pretty sure even Superman has a weakness." Bruce says. "But you are not weak. You never have been. You're just going through a rough patch right now. But you know I'm here to help you through it, but I can only help so much. The rest is up to you, but I have all faith in you. You're a strong young man and you make me proud." Dick leaps up and hugs Bruce tight, unable to keep from crying any longer. "Shh… It's ok… It's ok, I've got you." He holds him tight, not caring that they're in a restaurant. Wally closes his eyes, turning his head away.
"This shit needs to stop… I'm going to make it stop…" Wally thinks. "No matter what it takes…"