Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Wally wouldn’t have been her first choice for the dance, but she needed someone to talk to. M’gann and Conner had their own school dance to attend, Kaldur’ahm was catching up on sleep after having pulled several all-nighters for a mission, and Robin was helping Batman in Gotham. So that left her with Wally, both of them walking in stride as they approached the doors of the school. Artemis was wearing a dark green dress with tights underneath. Wally looked funny as he dramatically bowed, opening the door, in his suit and chuck taylors.

“You first, m’lady” 

Artemis rolled her eyes and scoffed at Wally’s antics, “Very funny Wally” she smirked and flicked Wally’s forehead as she passed him.

If Wally reacted, she didn’t hear it. She was already getting a headache from the lights in the gym and blaring music. Seeing Artemis’ hatred of the noise, Wally helped drag her off to a corner. They just stood in silence for a bit. She blames herself for getting distracted and entranced in watching Wally fidget at an inhuman speed. She got snapped back to her senses by seeing a pair of shoes from the corner of her eyes approaching her and the clearing of a throat.

Looking up, Artemis saw the two people who annoyed her the most at the school, “Ah, hello Barbara and Richard”

“Nice to see you, Artemis. And you can call me Dick” Barbara greeted them as Wally tried to not chuckle at Dick’s nickname before it clicked.

“Wait- are you Bruce Wayne’s son?!”

The outburst from Wally made Dick blush and he awkwardly admitted who he was, “W-well, not his ‘son’, but yes. I am Bruce Wayne’s ward”

Wally turned to Artemis energetically, “You didn’t tell me Dick Grayson attended your school?!”  Wally’s fanboying tone peaking through.

“Didn’t think it was cool enough to mention” she responded bitterly. She remembered the first interaction she’d had with Dick. He’d run up to her and taken a picture as though he’d known her without so much as asking permission. She’d then found out he was the richest and most desired boy in the school. While Barbara hadn’t done anything to annoy Artemis personally, she was guilty by association. Artemis was only 16 - she was allowed to be petty.

Wally didn’t seem to notice the malice in Artemis’ voice as he excitedly started shooting off questions at Dick, “I’m sorry if this is weird, but I’ve been following you on Instagram and the videos you post of you performing gymnastics are beautiful. Do you compete? Are you on a team? Because you should-” 

Artemis started tuning out Wally’s rambling. She glared at the amused look on Dick’s face. Before hearing a throat clear and looking over at Barbara. She sighed before softening her glare at the kind looking girl, her red hair put up in a bun. 

“It looks like those two have hit it off” Barbara chuckled as she attempted to start a conversation with Artemis.

“Yeah” she responded curtly.

Barbara fidgeted awkwardly. She didn’t know how to continue talking with her, but it felt too awkward to fall into silence, so she trudged forward with a conversation, “So…how did you two meet?”

“Who? What?” Artemis was confused by Barbara’s insistence to continue talking and was caught off guard by the question.

“Your date? How-” 

Babs was caught off by Artemis’ sputtering and gasps at the question. When she had collected herself she responded, “He’s not my date” her tone had a slight laugh to it.

“Oh…I’m sorry. I just assumed you’d brought a date of some sort to the dance?”

“Is that why you brought Dick?”

Barbara made a similar noise to what Artemis had made seconds earlier, “No?!”

“Right, cause you two are just good friends and you didn’t wanna be bored” Artemis teased.

“Okay, okay. I see your point” Barbara paused for a minute before quietly asking another question, “Maybe I’m making assumptions again and I’m wrong, but…do you hate Dick and I?” Barbara caught Artemis stiffening at the question and she sighed, looking out towards the two boys who had crossed the room towards the snack bar, “Why…why do you hate us?”

“I- I don’t hate you …I don’t even know if I hate Richar- Dick. I just-” Artemis didn’t know how to phrase what made her feel such strong emotions towards the two. However, seeing Barbara’s eyes flicker back to her, she tried to put it into words, “He interacts with me like he knows more about me than I want him to…his eyes seem to bare into me and I can’t stand it. I guess I just found him annoying at first, but to everyone else he has no faults. He’s rich…so why would he? So I guess…I think I just started looking at the faults…nothing else” She was looking down at the ground now, not knowing how Barbara, Dick’s best friend, was going to react. 

Artemis’ attention instantly snapped up at Barbara’s laugh, “Guess you haven’t talked to the right people then. Because I can tell you a million and one ways he’s an annoying brat” Babs bumped playfully against Artemis. 

“Wh- wait…aren’t you like his best friend? Is this a ploy to get me to talk shit about him so you can tell him about it later?”

Barbara rolled her eyes and scoffed, “No, I love him like a brother. We’ve been practically raised together since he came to Gotham, but like a sister I can bitch about my brother all day”

Artemis looked surprised at Barbara’s admission before chuckling a bit, “I think I’m starting to like you a lot more Barbara”

“Call me Babs” she nudged Artemis’ shoulder as they fell into a fun conversation that included people watching and talking shit about passerbys.

_ _ _

On the other side of the room, Dick was left giggling from Wally’s rambling. He couldn’t admit he’d been heartbroken to see Wally come as Artemis’ date. He felt guilty now keeping Wally away from her, but a selfish part of him felt fortunate that his civilian identity had Wally so intrigued. 

As Wally took a breath Dick took it as a time to fortify that he was ignorant of, but interested in, who was talking with, “I don’t believe I’ve seen you around. I’m assuming you don’t attend Gotham Academy, so, what school are you from? Aquinas?” 

“O-Oh uhm…I’m not from Gotham” Wally responded nervously.

“Oh? Where are you from?”

“Keystone City…Kansas” 

“Kansas? You’re a long way from home” Dick had a smirk that made Wally’s heart flutter, but that went unnoticed as Wally tried to cover up why he was in a completely different state and the blush came across as more embarrassment then admiration for the .

“Oh yeah, I’m on a school break so my family took me on vacation”

“And you decided to go to a school while on a school break…in Gotham ?” Dick teased the speedster who was doing horribly, in the Bat’s opinion, making a cover story for his civilian identity. 

However, an opportunity to escape the conversation came up as the music turned from fun pop-y music to a slower, more romantic song. Wally and Dick were already on the dance floor as they had started moving across it mid-conversation. That’s when Wally paused in his response and a dorky grin shone brightly, “What, got an issue with that?” he joked as he held out a hand for Dick.

Dick paused, surprised for a minute, before returning a smile and taking Wally’s hand as the dance started, “No. I don’t think I do”

As the two danced to the song it looked more like two pals trying, and failing, to dance in harmony. By the end, Dick was breathless from how much he laughed throughout the dance. He had no idea how bad Wally was at dancing. His own feet screamed at the amount of times Wally had stepped on them throughout the dance. Wally was also laughing as the two gathered their breaths to the side of the dance floor. 

Wally wiped away a few tears that had pricked his eyes as he laughed so hard. He eventually was able to get a few words through the laughs, “We- we should probably- head back- to the girls”

“You sure you’re good to walk there, Mister Two Left Feet?” Dick teased which sent the two into another round of laughs. When the two had calmed down enough, Wally had turned to start heading in the direction of the girls when a hand tugged lightly on his sleeve, “Hey uhm…” Dick looked nervous as he spoke to Wally, which made the other curious as to what would have the other so nervous, “wait a second” Dick turned to one of the tables that were set up off the dance floor and grabbed a napkin and a pen he had stashed in his suit. He scribbled something onto the napkin before turning and handing it to Wally, “For- for when you return to Kansas” He knew giving the phone number was unnecessary. He knew Robin would see Wally tomorrow, but that was Robin. He wanted to make sure Dick Grayson could also see Wally in the future. 

Wally gasped at what was scrawled on the napkin, “Is this your number?”

“No, it’s the number of a dance tutor” Dick teased, but as Wally deflated he realized his tone went over the others head and confirmed it was his number.

“Why’re you giving it to me?” 

“Because…I’d hate for this to be the last time we could talk to each other” He smiled before continuing, “Come on, I think the girls are waiting for us” Wally tucked the napkin safely into his jacket’s pocket knowing he was going to text it as soon as he got home.

Chapter Text

Robin could see Wally from across the living space in the mountain, glued to his phone. The reason wasn’t a surprise to Robin however, because he was glued to his own phone for the same reason.

Dorothy 🌻: any plans this weekend???

Money Bags 💰: Homework 🙄

Dorothy 🌻: BOOOORING

Money Bags 💰: What, you got something better you’re doing?

And don’t just say you’re taking a run.

Cuz that sounds just as boring as my english essay

Dorothy 🌻: oh BOOOOO you. running is fun!!

Money Bags 💰: If you say so ☠️

Dorothy 🌻: 🖕

Money Bags 💰: 🖕

Robin could look up and see Wally kicking his legs like a speedster at the text exchange - or at least he hoped he was the one bringing Wally that joy. He smiled fondly, but that quickly faded as Aqualad got their attention.

“Everyone, Batman just sent me mission details. Apologies, but it looks like our team hangout will have to be postponed for a later date” Aqualad paused for everyone to groan and complain a bit before he continued, “It looks as though there’s been some suspicious activity at a former STAR Labs branch. The League wants us to get in, gather as much intel as possible, and leave. That is all”

Everyone suited up and off in the Bioship they went. Dick checked his phone when it buzzed to see a message from Wally that gave an excuse for not responding and said he’d be away from his phone. Robin sent off a quick goodbye and made sure his phone was tucked away, getting into mission mode. 

When they arrived the plan was simple, Robin would gather intel by hacking into their systems while the rest of the team investigated for any files that might be of use to the League. Robin quickly and expertly headed down to the server room, the blueprints of the building already displayed on his holographic computer. It made him uneasy how he hadn’t spotted a single person as he made his way through the halls and it seemed to be the same for everyone as they reported over the mind link. 

As Robin entered the server room he surveyed the room for any sign of movement. As soon as he believed the room to be clear he got set up to work. When the data started downloading he heard a soft shifting noise and he moved right in time to avoid the blunt end of a knife to the back of the head. At first he was confused, confident he had secured the area before attempting to hack the system, but as he dodged he saw the grate for the vent was now only hanging from a single bolt. 

He sighed as he dodged another hit and retrieved a bat-a-rang from his belt, “Not so fond of visitors I assume?” he started up his usual banter. He threw his weapon, hoping to disarm the attacker, but they were able to dodge the brunt of it and the small scrap from the bat-a-rang didn’t prevent them from taking another swing at Robin. Robin barely managed to dodge without getting nicked, the machines surrounding him and the proximity of his attacker made maneuvering challenging. Without getting a response from the other person he spoke up again to try to keep them distracted as he pulled out an eskrima stick, which he doesn’t like using as often as his bat-a-rangs, “What, not a talkative one?”

He was luckily able to deflect the next attack, the blade even coming loose in the person’s hand and falling to the ground. Robin grinned at the failed attack and even let out a little chuckle. His attacker seemed to have done this on purpose however. As the knife dropped the attacker grabbed it midair and dug it deep above Robin’s hip. He let out a hiss of pain, but had to dodge the second attack as the other person had grabbed a second they had stashed on them and slashed across Robin’s face. 

As Robin crumbled to the ground he heard shuffling as the attacker seemed to grab something and run. Confident he’d been abandoned to bleed out, Robin sat himself up to check everything over. He was lucky the blade stayed buried above his hip bone. He checked it over quickly, sure nothing internally had been hit, he looked over at where he was sure the person had messed with stuff. He saw his flash drive he had been downloading data on was missing. He internally cursed before he felt his face mask fall to the floor. 

He looked down and saw that the final blow he had been dealt had cut the mask in two and it had given way and fallen to the floor. He slowly moved himself to bring the mask to the computer he had been working on previously. As he grabbed a backup flash drive he heard his team through the mind link.

“Somebody’s ran past me and is heading towards the front door” Artemis alerted them all. 

“Artemis, continue your rounds. Superboy and Kid Flash should be near the exits and able to intercept them” Aqualad responded.

“Yep, we see them heading this way” Kid Flash reported.

Robin sighed gratefully that the data he had already downloaded wouldn’t be completely lost and after he restarted the download process he considered his options. He was injured pretty badly, luckily the blade hadn’t shifted and he wasn’t actively bleeding a lot. He considered telling the team of his condition, but decided against it because if a team member rushed to his aid his identity would be compromised, he also knew that the data still needed to be collected and if the team knew he’d been injured then they’d probably forget the mission and take him to the Bioship. 

Taking a look around the room he noticed a tape dispenser and sighed as he reached for it and started taping his mask together. While he’d like to think he wasn’t alerting the team for the mission, his mind kept imagining Wally’s potential anger if he found out who was behind the mask. The download seemed to be 30% complete when he heard more noise across the mind link.

“Hey guys? Still fighting this person with Superboy, but the person has blood on them. It’s not theirs though. Is someone injured?” Kid Flash asked frantically over the link.

“Shit- everyone, check in? Is anybody injured” Aqualad commanded. 

Robin started panicking a bit when everyone started confirming that they were alright. So much so that it would’ve been hard for M’gann to ignore over the mind link, “Robin? Are you alright?” she asked tentatively.

“Yep Miss M. Feeling the aster” he lied as he finished fixing up his mask and turned to check on the flash drive - 42%.

“Rob?” Wally started.

“I’m fine ” 

Robin sighed however as he heard the familiar sound of the speedster running up behind him. He closed his eyes as he heard Kid Flash gasp as he saw the blood on the floor. Robin refused to turn around and meet Wally’s eyes when the speedster finally spoke up, “Robin-”

Full name. No Rob, Robbie, or any of the other fun nicknames Wally had come up for the Boy Wonder. Robin grit his teeth as he lashed out, “It’s nothing KF. I- I promise” He tapped away at the keyboard, trying to fill the silence that followed with something. He was too weak, he couldn’t resist when Kid Flash put a hand on his shoulder and turned him around. His skin was paler than usual and he staggered a bit and needed to lean on Kid Flash. Wally’s face dropped when he saw the blade sticking out of him. 

“Guys, Rob’s hurt” KF reported over the link before turning a bit more to Robin, “Why the hell did you tell us you were fine?! This isn’t fine Robin!” Wally studied Robin more. He saw a shallow cut, nothing a bandaid couldn’t fix, peeking out from beneath Robin’s mask which was patched together with tape. He tried to usher Robin to sit down, but Robin shrugged him off and he glared at his friend, “Robin. You need to sit”

“No Kid Flash. We need this data” he kept his face neutral to try and hide how much pain he was in. The flash drive had only just hit 51%. He couldn’t stop now.

“Rob, your health isn’t a debate. You should be sitting down at the least”

“I can’t rest until the mission is over KF” 

“No, this mission is over for you. Let me take over”

“I’m fine KF! I don’t need you to babysit me. I’ve been doing this much longer than you have, or did you forget” he snapped, but his glare wavered as he saw the hurt in Kid Flash’s eyes. 

His guilt dissipated after Kid Flash responded, equally anger in turn, “Well maybe you should be watched over when you’re getting injured on a simple mission and not tell anyone”

Silence fell over the room, only being broken by Superboy confirming he’d been able to subdue the attacker. Wally knew he’d overstepped. He’d been the only one Robin had confided in his biggest insecurity to - he was just a kid to the Team and Batman, not a true member of the group. As the soft hum of the bioship rose to the window and Aqualad helped maneuver the ship so Robin could get on without aggravating his wound too much. Seeing an exit Robin started marching off to the sip, nearly stumbling from pain. When Wally put a hand on his shoulder to steady him he shrugged him off aggressively, even if it made him stumble slightly. 

Wally sighed and followed onto the ship, defeated. He needed a distraction. One from the sounds of Robin patching himself up with Artemis’ help (a job that usually was only his) and from the lack of post mission chatter. It made him feel all the worse which is why he texted Dick.

Dorothy 🌻: back from what i needed to do btw

Sent 23:43

_ _ _

Being a speedster the time it took to arrive back at the mountain was agonizing without anything from Robin or Dick. The rest of the team seemed to pick up on the tension between the two and were clearly discussing it on a mind link. Wally usually wouldn’t notice or care, but he couldn’t help it getting on his nerves more than usual this time. He was relieved he didn’t have to attend the debrief at the end of the mission. He just stomped his way back to his room. 

He sighed and sent a follow up message when Dick hadn’t responded to his previous one.

Dorothy 🌻: sorry if ur asleep. i know there’s a time difference

Sent 1:27

He eventually set his phone on his bed stand in his room in the mountain. He just felt too exhausted to zeta back to Keystone. In the morning he checked his phone again hoping the Gothamite had responded. He was met with no response outside of the phone’s automatic indicator that the message had been read. His heart filled with excitement that maybe Dick had been too tired or rushing this morning to respond.

Dorothy 🌻: back from what i needed to do btw

Sent 23:43

Dorothy 🌻: sorry if ur asleep. i know there’s a time difference

Sent 1:27

Read

Dorothy 🌻: how’s hw? 

if u ever need help with chem i’m available ;D

don’t mean to brag

but i’m like a genius…if you don’t bring up any other subjects

*sends a shushing GIF*

Sent 6:13

He tried to write it off as Dick doing homework, but the thought of not being good enough to be Dick’s friend started to nip in the back of his head. Dick was a rich and talented boy, son of the Bruce Wayne. The more he thought about it the worse he felt. A single word, followed by the lack of a bubble writing back, made his thoughts grow strong - Read .

_ _ _

Artemis had been shown all the texts by Wally. He had come to cry to her the week following Robin’s injury. She hated seeing the clear ghosting occurring in Richard and Wally’s conversations. While Kid Mouth wasn’t her favorite on the team, he was still a part of the team. Even if she was taking Robin’s side in the feud that seemed to be happening between the two friends, deferring to the more experienced member’s judgement and believing he’d know enough about his own health to know when to call for backup. It angered her to see the effect their text conversation, or lack thereof, had on Wally as she had watched Richard walk around school without a care in the world.

She was taking the bus to school. So used to the route she had to take to attend the school she kept her head down, looking at her phone. She smiled softly at a notification she got from Babs. Attached to the text was a picture of Barbara receiving a black belt in Taekwondo - her test for the belt had been that weekend. Artemis hearted the image before turning on her music so she could ignore the sounds of the Gotham city bus.

She got off at her stop, struggling through the push of people entering the bus despite her attempts to exit. Eventually she got off and brushed out her uniform a bit. She’d gotten used to walking up to the school building as the sports cars and limos dropping off the my fortunate students drove past her. 

She usually never had a reaction to students exiting their expensive vehicles, but today something snapped. Seeing Richard Grayson exit a limo with a smile to rival the sun pissed her off. She raced forward and plastered a huge fake smile as she grabbed his arm roughly, “Hey, Dick . I’ve been waiting to talk to you”

Dick, to her slight admiration, didn’t show any pain from her grip. Not even a winced as she dug her nails in while they walked to a quiet hallway. He even kept up a merry attitude when they started their conversation, “Hello Artemis! What’d you want to talk about?”

“Oh cut the bull shit Richard”

“Dick-”

“I don’t give a flying sh- crap” Artemis changed her words as she saw a teacher poke their head out of a classroom at her raised voice. She waves and smiles at the teacher to avoid suspicion before lowering her voice as she turned to Dick again, “Why’re you ghosting Wally?”

Dick looked confused at first before he sighed lightly, “Oh yeah, Wally…I didn’t mean to ghost him. I just had a lot of homework to get done” Artemis continued to glare at him as he let out an awkward chuckle.

“For a week?”

“Yeah, I was really struggling with getting this English paper done”

“So you left him on read?” Dick seemed to look guilty, ‘good’ Artemis thought. He should feel guilty.

“Again, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to”

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to. He’s been worried sick he fucked up or is too poor to be your friend! So apologize to him and if you do something like that again?! It’s not hard to find you” Artemis didn’t know how Dick would react to her threats, but his laughter that had a familiar ring to it, was unexpected. Artemis’ confusion was interrupted by a hand put on her shoulder. She jumped a bit and turned around quickly. Seeing Babs behind her however, she instantly calmed down and smiled. “Hey Babs”

“Hey Arty and Dick” Babs smiled at the two of them. “You two going to class without me?”

“Wouldn’t think of that in a million years” Dick smirked and had been let go of by Artemis who was now awkwardly fidgeting with a light blush spreading across her face. She was partially embarrassed by her being caught by Babs while threatening Dick and by the burning sensation that Babs' brief touch had left on her shoulder. 

“Yeah, don’t worry. You’d be the last person I’d abandon” Artemis tried to play it off smoothly, but she could catch Dick trying not to snicker at Artemis’ response.

“Awww you’re being sweet” Babs nudged Artemis playfully, which made the blush worse before she started heading off in the direction of class, “Yous coming with or will you two be late for class?”

“We’re coming, we’re coming” Dick followed Babs with Artemis in tow, the three heading to class.

_ _ _

During lunch Dick had gone into the library to get some alone time for some reflection. He realized he’d let Robin’s anger with Kid Flash leak into Dick. He knew he couldn’t let this continue in case Wally eventually put two and two together. So he reached into his pocket for his phone and sent a quick message to Wally.

Money Bags 💰: I’m so sorry Wally for ignoring your texts. I got swamped with homework and didn’t mean to leave you on read. 

I still have some hw to get done tonight

But maybe we could call so at least my math hw won’t be so boring?

His heart started pounding as he saw three dots dance in a bubble on the screen.

Dorothy 🌻: ur good

i’d love to call tonight if ur up to it 😀

Dick’s heart ached for his best friend. He missed the simple nature of their relationship. He’d have to apologize as Robin, but maybe at a later date so Wally wouldn’t put two and two together. For now, he had a cute redhead to distract himself with.

Money Bags 💰: Then it’s a date!

*hearted by Dorothy 🌻*

Chapter Text

As the tune of FaceTime trying to connect them played, Wally tapped his fingers eagerly. He had been elated to receive a response from Dick after a week of being left on read. Now he was going to be able to call with him! And Dick even said it was a date, if only the other knew how much that made his heart flutter. Though Dick had picked up in a reasonable amount of time, being a speedster made Wally panic a bit as he thought the other had forgotten about their plan to call tonight.

All his worries dissipated as he saw Dick’s face pop up on his screen. His blue eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled at Wally, “Hey Wally! Sorry again for not responding to your texts for a while”

“It’s fine. It’s fine. I understand you were busy” Wally then looked at the Dick’s background and gasped, “Wow you got a lot of Justice League merch!” He felt a sense of pride seeing quite a few images of Kid Flash, even if they were from when he was the Flash’s sidekick. 

Dick’s face instantly turned red in embarrassment, “Ack- that’s from when I was younger-” he tried to cover for the amount of superhero stuff he had on his walls. Wally laughed a bit, not knowing that Dick’s main source of embarrassment was from the fact that if his camera was turned towards his bed a little bit more there would be even more Kid Flash merchandise.

“Don’t worry about it. I also got a bunch of action figures” Wally grabbed a Flash and Batman figure that his Uncle had gifted him after a year of hero work, “Do you got a favorite hero? Wait- let me guess. Batman. You seem like a Batman kid”

“Oh,” Dick straightened his posture a bit at the question and responded in a whisper, “D-don’t know what gave you that impression, but uh…I’m more of a Superman fan”

“What’s the whispering for? Scared the Bats is gonna hear you being a bigger fan of Superman while living in his city”

Dick chuckled and joked back, “Maybe it’s something like that. Hey, you never know when he might just appear from the shadows behind you”

Wally exaggerated a shiver which made Dick laugh harder. That’s when Wally noticed one simple fact - his laugh was his favorite sound, and he wanted to hear more. He opened his mouth to start talking, but was interrupted by Dick.

“I think we should probably get started on our homework before we get distracted by heroes because I could probably go on about them”

Wally pouted, “Fine, but I definitely wanna hear your rant on superheroes later”

“Maybe when we take a break from studying”

“Or…maybe we’ll need to schedule another time to hang out to talk further?” Wally asked nervously. He hoped he didn’t sound too eager. 

Dick was caught off guard, but smiled widely, “We can talk about times before we hang up” 

Wally had to stop himself from jumping up and cheering that he could hang out with Dick more, but stopped himself. “So what type of homework do you have”

“Calculus”

“Aren’t you a Freshman?”

“Technically, but the other math classes weren’t challenging enough. This one isn’t either, but there’s just a lot of homework involved with it. They’re going to have me take classes at the local college starting next semester so I can take something more on my level. I’m considering a programming course, sticking with more traditional math courses, or something science related to physics. Thoughts?”

Wally couldn’t help, but feel a strong pull to Dick. God he loved how much of a nerd Grayson was, “W-well I’m partial to physics, much more of a science guy than a math guy” Dick nodded and seemed to take his opinion to heart. So he continued, “But I also think programming might be fun. I like experimenting and creating which is why I hate my math class”

Dick looked thoughtfully at Wally, “What math class are you currently taking?”

“Algebra II”

“Oh yeah, that’s a rough one” Dick laughed, “Are you working on stuff from that class?”

“Uh..I actually brought my History homework to this study session. Missed the math related memo” Wally teased, loving how it made Dick’s smile last longer.

“You’re fine. What history class are you taking?”

“Government. We actually just finished talking about the founding of the League and we’re being asked to write a paper about a chosen governing body. I think I’m going to write on the,” now Wally hated to call it this, but he wasn’t aware that Dick knew his identity already and needed to keep up the facade that he was just a regular citizen, “ Junior Justice League. We talked about the ethical issues and child labor laws regarding its foundation in class and I wanted to expand on that”

Robin wanted to laugh at Wally calling the team anything other than that, but he kept his composure and leaned a little closer to the camera, “Oh are you talking about the team made up of teenagers?”

“Yeah, that’s the one” Wally did finger guns to try and keep himself acting casual as he panicked that Dick’s thoughtful eyes could see right through him.

“What’s your thesis?”

“Oh…I haven’t gotten that far into the writing process”

“Do you not start with one?” Dick turned his head to the side as he looked at Wally curiously.

“N- not always. Well…I usually just struggle to find the words for a thesis until I’m like, halfway through my paper” He chuckled awkwardly under Dick’s gaze. He still felt like he was being read like a book and it made him start to feel uneasy with the fact he had a secret identity to uphold with Dick Grayson.

“Then if you had to describe it in layman’s terms, what’s your thesis?”

“That…that we don’t have the evidence to say it’s either or”

“That’s kind of weak”

Wally froze a bit at Dick’s point, “Weak?”

“Well,” Dick fiddled a bit, “I’ve found if you’re writing a paper for a class they’re usually looking for you to pick a definitive side and argue it with evidence and just counter the arguments for the opposing side, even if that isn’t how you completely feel. So, which side do you feel the evidence best supports?” Dick could feel his anxiety crawling at his throat. This was actually a question, now that it was proposed, he desperately wanted Wally, Kid Flash’s thoughts on it. 

“I- I think it’s…” Wally pulled his knees up to his chest in the chair he sat. He looked at Dick nervously. He didn’t know how much Dick would understand his nervousness. His answer feeling like treason, “I think it’s unethical to have kids working in such a dangerous field, but…I don’t think there’s enough evidence for a child labor case to be made due to the fact we don’t know anything about what that team is doing”

Both of them held their breaths until Dick finally responded, his stomach turning a little at Wally’s answer, but he understood the ethical dilemma that Wally was considering, “Good. That’s a much stronger stance to take” He smiled at Wally through the screen, Wally found it comforting.

“Thanks. Maybe this paper of mine will get higher than a C”

“Wait, a C? Do you know where you’re getting points off? You seem too smart for anything less than an A” Dick was genuinely shocked. He knew Wally struggled a bit with subjects outside of science, but he still knew that Wally was one of the smartest on the team and a C just didn’t seem to fit his friend in the slightest.

“Yeah, it’s my spelling” Wally chuckled, “Dyslexia’s my friend” Wally jokes.

Robin realized he had forgotten Wally’s biggest academic challenge, the inability of his teachers to forgive his continuous spelling mistakes. While Wally’s texting was usually more coherent, thanks to his autocorrect catching some of his most common errors, Wally didn’t seem to have as much luck with his essays. 

“If you need it, I could help you edit your paper” Dick mumbled a bit as he offered his help.

“Wait really? You’d be willing to help me?”

“Well, you did promise to help me with chem homework. So consider the gesture returned” he smiled at Wally’s enthusiasm.

“Oh man that’s going to really help me so much dude. You have no idea”

After talking for a bit longer they had quickly fallen into a good rhythm of conversation and homework. Dick had gotten distracted by a particularly lengthy problem, not noticing the silence on the other side of the line. His focus was broken by a soft knock on his door. Bruce Wayne peeked his head in, “Dick?”

“Yeah B?” Dick looked up from his work to look at Bruce.

“Just got back from pa-” Bruce was going to discuss his patrol before noticing Dick’s phone and that Dick was on a call, “from a work party. I’m heading to bed. Please keep it down” Dick nodded at Bruce and gave a thumbs up, “Alright, night kid”

“Night, Bruce”

Bruce left from the door, but didn’t shut it as another figure came into view of the entrance, “Please have lights off before 4 this morning Master Dick” Alfred came to wish the younger boy a good night.

“Will do Alfie. Night to you too” he smiled and yawned a bit as his body realized how tired he was now that he wasn’t laser focused on his homework.

“Good night to you too, young sir” Alfred nodded a bit before closing the door behind him.

Dick stretched a bit as his body ached from being hunched over a desk. He looked back at his phone to see Wally had fallen asleep while researching for his paper. He sighed a bit at the sight. Wally’s hair was now covering his face slightly. The light from a desk lamp that had been turned on when it had gotten darker over there was now illuminating all of Wally’s freckles. As Dick soaked in Wally’s image he mourned the loss of seeing the other’s sparkling green eyes as he slept peacefully. 

Dick enjoyed the image for another minute before a door creaked. Dick immediately looked at his own door, expecting to see Alfred coming to demand he go to bed, but was shocked to see no movement near his door. When he looked at his phone again however, he saw a figure enter Wally’s room. Panic initially set in as Robin knew how many enemies the team had acquired throughout the years, but he became more relaxed as he recognized the figure as Wally’s Aunt Iris.

There was some mumbling over the phone as Iris spoke quietly near the door. She then navigated the room to Wally, “Oh, he fell asleep doing homework” Iris kept talking to herself before realizing she wasn’t completely alone in the room, “Ope, sorry. Didn’t know he was on call with anyone” She apologized and waved at Dick, “I’m his Aunt. My name is Iris. I’m going to get him to bed if you want to hang up”

Dick awkwardly greeted her, “Well, good night Mrs. Iris. I’m going to head to bed as well then. Tell Wally I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help him stay awake to finish his work when he wakes up” 

Aunt Iris agreed to do just that and hung up. Dick didn’t question why Wally was at his Aunt and Uncle’s house in Central City as opposed to his parent’s in Keystone. He knew he’d likely not get the answer as either Dick or Robin. So he didn’t keep himself too preoccupied with the question as he drifted to sleep, the image of Wally sleeping peacefully quickly becoming a part of his dream.

_ _ _

When Wally woke up sprawled across his bed he was curious how he’d gotten there. He remembered the call from last night. How he had decided against running back to his parent’s house after his patrol with Uncle Barry. Instead, he opted to text his parents that he would be back after school the following day and crashed at his Aunt and Uncle’s. He had wanted to get on call with Dick as soon as possible.

As he dragged himself out of bed, exhausted, he made his way down to the kitchen. He found his Uncle leaning against his Aunt as she nursed a cup of coffee on the couch in the living room. They both looked up and smiled as Wally stumbled past them into the next room.

“There’s a plate of food on the counter that’s free game, but the big tupperware in the fridge is reserved for me” Barry had chirped up, knowing if he kept his silence his lunch would likely be devoured without a second thought - curse of having two speedsters under the same roof, if only for a short period of time.

Wally grunted as he opened the fridge and grabbed the orange juice. He prepared to have breakfast at the dinner table as his aunt followed him into the kitchen. She walked over to the coffee maker, pouring a second cup, as she started a conversation.

“So, who were you up late calling last night?” her tone was light, but laced with burning curiosity.

“Oh uh…a new friend. I met him when I went to the dance with Art” he said between heaping mouthfuls of food.

Used to the way Wally had taken up eating after her husband she was unbothered by the sight, “Does this friend have a name?”

“Uhm…Dick Grayson?”

Iris’ face went through many emotions. First happy with a direct answer, then confusion, before the current shock she had written on her face, “Wait, do you mean Dick Grayson as in…Richard Grayson? Like Bruce Wayne’s son?”

“Oh..yeah” 

That was when Barry entered the kitchen, “Friends with a celebrity now are we?” Wally’s uncle had gotten ready for work and was grabbing his lunch from the fridge. After giving his wife a quick kiss he spoke up, “Hope you know that doesn’t make you too good for school. Get ready, even with your speed you’re starting to cut it close”

Wally laughed as he set his dishes in the sink, washing them quickly, “Don’t worry. I’m not letting it get to my head. If saving the world on weekends can’t get me out of school I know my new friend can’t either”

Barry rolled his eyes and he waved them goodbye and left for work. Wally quickly got ready for school and rolled his eyes as his aunt mothered him and only let him leave when he had enough food for a small army stashed in his book bag. That’s when he was finally able to leave and he ran across state lines, back to Keystone.

Chapter Text

It was Thursday, only a few days since he’d fallen asleep on call with Dick. He still couldn’t escape talking with his Uncle about it every time they’d go on patrol together. “So, are you just friends?” or “Your Aunt would love to have him over” were common phrases thrown about between punching villains of the week. Luckily the mask on his suit hid the blush the questions inspired, unlucky for him, his uncle knew him too well for that to matter.

“You know I can always help you make an excuse to get over there? Although I’d prefer to have you avoid staying in Gotham for too long. The Bats doesn’t approve of metas in his city”

“Is there a reason my new friend is your new hyperfixation?” Maybe his voice was a bit too harsh. He instantly apologized as the Flash slowed down, only enough for Kid to notice as he ran beside him.

“I just…I think you need more friends who aren’t also, y’know, risking their lives every week?” Uncle Barry’s concern for his nephew was evident. He knew how much Robin’s injury the previous week had shaken up KF. He’d argued with Batman, for what felt like the millionth time, over the young boy being a hero. That ended with Batman bringing up Wally, in which the usual discussion over the boy’s speed healing and overall meta abilities, was promptly ignored. While the Flash knew him and the Bats were able to keep it professional after that, he was also aware that it’d been difficult for Kid Flash and Robin. As Wally’s uncle, he was just happy that the kid now had a friend whose life was being risked for the world. Someone Wally wouldn’t have nightmares about losing.

However the thought left Wally in silence. It took a while for him to speak up, “You don’t have to be worried. Me and the team…we’re fine” Kid Flash shot the Flash one of his iconic Wall-man smiles before he tripped over something and came tumbling down. 

The Flash had the fortunate reaction time to jump over the sudden blockade of ice that’d appeared on the road ahead of him. He’d turned around to spot Captain Cold stepping out from an alley he’d been tucked away in. Kid Flash was quick to get back onto his feet and beside his uncle. The two stared down the villain.

“Was Belle Reve just a bit too boring for you Cap?” Flash quipped.

“Didn’t have the luxuries you were hoping for?” Kid added on with a smirk.

Captain Cold grumbled at the comments from the speedsters and kept moving his gun between the two, “Can’t say I missed those mouths” As the speedsters lunged forward and ungodly speed the villain steadied his gun at a different location, “Or that speed” he was agitated at the difficulty to hit his moving targets so he aimed at another one that was moving slower.

Kid Flash chuckled a bit as he thought he’d just successfully dodged a shot from Captain Cold, but was cut off as he heard a car now swerving across the road. It came crashing into a gas station’s pump. An immediate explosion occurred that had sent the Flash, who’d run forward to try and use his momentum to divert the car away from the flammable pump, flying backwards into Kid. 

The two tumbled for a bit until the wall of a building slowed them down. Wally looked forward at the building up in flames in horror. The Flash spoke up quickly and calmly though, trained for moments like this, “Kid, evacuate the gas station and surrounding buildings. I’ll deal with Cold”

With that Wally ran towards the burning car knowing that time was of the essence if the driver had any chances of surviving. When he got to the car however, he found the odd sight of the car door open wide and no driver. He shrugged it off, hoping the driver had jumped out of the vehicle before it’d crashed. Knowing he didn’t have time to ponder on what’d happened he ran towards the sound of a station attendant calling out for help as the store was engulfed in flames. 

Kid Flash navigated the crumbling building. The smoke made it hard to see, but he followed the sound of the attendant calling out to him, “Please, get low to the ground if you can. Help is here” Wally heard the rustling of clothing and finally noticed movement as a middle aged man brought his body closer to the ground. Wally rushed forward to the man and whisked him away, across the road from the building. 

The man looked confused and sick as his body caught up with the rush of being carried around using super speed, “Wha-?” the man started.

“Sir, the fire department is on their way. They will treat you for any burns you may have received as well as smoke you probably inhaled. However, I need to know, was anybody else in the store before the crash?”

The man stayed looking confused before his brain caught up and he reacted to Wally’s words, “Ah- ah yes..there was a man in the beer cave” the man was able to get the sentence out before the nausea from the speed got to him.

Kid Flash instantly turned to run back inside, but was met with a woman dropping from the sky, dazed, “Hello?”

The woman's eyes darted around before she started apologizing, “I-I’m sorry i-it was my car. I- I don’t know how I got out of there so fast…wait, you’re Kid Flash? Was it you? Oh god- thank you for saving me” The speed in which she spoke nearly rivaled Wally’s speed talk. He awkwardly walked past her.

“I’m just happy you’re alright, miss. I- I’m sorry, but I need to go back inside. A fire truck has been called and there will be people here shortly to check you for injuries” Kid Flash turned instantly and started heading back inside. He caught a glimpse of the battle continuing between the Flash and Captain Cold. His uncle was trying his best to keep the ice beams from the gun as far away from civilians as possible, but the explosion had made it hard as heads poked out of buildings to watch the fight. Kid Flash mumbled about people’s lack of survival instincts as he ran back into the crumbling building.

Navigating had become much more difficult as the roof had started to cave in, but a falling ‘Beer Cave’ sign, that Wally had barely missed hitting him on the head, led him to a still standing section of the building. When he pressed his ear up to the door he heard some muffled noises on the other side. He jostled the door knob, but to no avail. He put more of his weight into opening the door. 

As the door gave way to his weight he saw that the room hadn’t been left unaffected by the blast outside. The door had been blocked by a series of towels wedged underneath the door and by boxes of beer that had fallen in the way of the door. Wally looked at the mess, but was called to by the urgent voice of a woman. Looking in the direction he could see a young man holding a phone. The man didn’t seem to be conscious and the phone seemed to have been on the line with a 911 operator who was urgently trying to get a response from the man.

“Sir? Officers and a fire engine are on their way to your location. Please, hold on just a little longer”

Wally walked over and kneeled down to inspect the man in front of him. He looked to have been hit on the head, presumably by one of the 12-packs of beer that’d fallen off the shelves. He also had several shallow lacerations that could be explained by the broken glass littering the room. Hearing the calm, but urgent voice of the operator on the line Wally responded, “Hello. This is Kid Flash. I’ve located the young man. I’m going to take him to the safe point, across the road” After informing the operator of the man’s condition he hung up the phone and put it into the guy’s pocket. He scooped up the man and ran him towards the safe point.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw an ambulance, fire truck, and several police vehicles pull up to the scene. He sat the man down and rubbed the guy’s arms really fast trying to generate up the heat that he’d lost sitting in the beer cave. He was eventually approached by the EMTs who took over from there.

Seeing his job was done here, he turned back towards the fight that his uncle was engaged in, just in time to see his uncle getting himself blown back down a side street. Kid Flash sped off towards Captain Cold. He was aiming another blast at the downed Flash. As Wally approached he’d planned on knocking the focused weapon out of Captain Cold’s grasp when a strange object flew by and knocked it away. Seeing an opportunity to suppress the villain, Kid Flash changed his trajectory and slammed into Captain Cold, tackling him to the ground. 

He smirked proudly as Cold’s weapon spun down the road, coming to a stop at the recovered Flash’s boot, “Hey, hope this was a nice outing for you. Because you’re going to be behind bars for a long time again”

He shifted so that the Flash could put handcuffs on him before getting up so the Flash could bring him to the cops who were waiting for him. Kid Flash turned around and looked at the surrounding area. He sighed seeing the damage that’d been caused, but paused when he saw a familiar weapon laying on the ground. He bent down and picked up the bat-a-rang before looking up at the street light he caught movement on top of out of the corner of his eye. 

He saw the familiar shape of Robin wave at him and he waved back, “So, when’d you get here?”

“Since the start of the fight” Robin back flipped off of the light and landed next to Kid Flash, “Helped with the driver back there”

Wally didn’t know how to feel. He thought when he’d seen Robin he’d feel the same anger he’d been holding since their fight earlier, but he was just happy to see him, he’d missed him, “Thank you, but why’d you come?”

Robin rocked back and forth on his feet, “I- I was coming to apologize, just got…caught up in stuff” 

Wally smiled, relieved because he knew that Robin wouldn’t have apologized if he hadn’t also missed their friendship. Robin had learned the bad habit from Batman to never apologize unless he believed himself 100% wrong, but he’d been slowly unlearning that through being friends with the team. Wally handed the bat-a-rang he’d picked up to Robin, “You’re forgiven Rob” he let his hand linger with Robin’s as the item exchanged hands, “and, for the record, I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have said that, it’s not true Rob. You sometimes shine brighter on solo missions. So it was wrong to say you needed to be watched all the time. Just…I don’t like seeing you injured, oranybodyelseontheteamforthatmatter” Wally speed talked his cover up for his fluttering heart. 

Robin tried to cover his blush he felt from hearing Wally’s concern for his health. Wally caught a bit of it, but assumed it was from the act of apologizing and the embarrassment he believed it may have caused, damn the Bats and their pride. That’s when Robin spoke up, “Hey so uhm…the team was considering having a movie night tonight. If you and Flash are done here we could, y’know, head over there?”

Wally’s head perked up at the invitation, “One moment” he told Robin before he rushed over to his uncle’s side, “sounc,theteamishavingamovienighttonightandRobinjustinvitedme. DoyouthinkpatrolisoveranddoyouthinkImightbeabletogo?” He sped talked to Flash about getting permission knowing the speed of his speech wouldn’t matter much since his Uncle Barry would be able to easily understand.

Uncle Barry nodded, glancing away from the officer for a brief moment, “Sure, just tell your parents I’m keeping you a bit late. Still, make sure to be home by your curfew”

Wally didn’t even wait to see Flash turn back to the cops before he sped back to Robin, “I’m game. Let’s go”

“Good. Let’s sneak over to the Zeta-Tube”

_ _ _

The familiar sound of their designations being called out filled the mountain as both Wally and Robin entered in. The team held their breath to see how the two were getting along. Aqualad had taken a gamble when he sent Robin to Central City to retrieve Wally for a movie night. He’d hoped that doing so would smack some sense into the acrobat and his bet seemed to pay off. The two heroes were laughing about something as they crossed the room - the tension leaving the remaining team’s shoulders.

“Finally we can get started” Artemis acted annoyed, but she had a relieved smile on her face.

M’gann gently grabbed the remote from her boyfriend who was flipping through channels of different static. She was the only one who could do so without Connor checking to see if his laser vision would kick in while looking at them, “What movie were we thinking today?” M’gann asked as she switched the tv over to their streaming services that Batman provided.

“No horror this time” Connor stated firmly. He hated seeing how affected M’gann could get after watching those types of movies.

“What about-” Robin started, but was interrupted by Artemis.

“No musicals”

“Hey you didn’t even let me finish!”

“Were you going to suggest a musical?”

“Depends on how you classify Moana” He laughed at the glare Artemis sent his way. Kaldur seemed disappointed that Moana got shot down with a simple look, he too had fallen in love with the movie.

Wally then spoke up, suggesting different movies, “What about Legally Blonde or Mean Girls?” His suggestions got a chuckle from Robin, which made his heart do flips.

“Man, do you love those movies” Robin teased Wally affectionately.

Wally was about to respond when M’gann said something he hadn’t expected, “Oh, I haven’t watched either of those”

Wally turned to her as fast as he could, “You haven’t watched them?! I know you aren’t from this planet, but you’re so well versed in pop culture I assumed you’d have watched them before!” M’gann shrunk back slightly, not having expected Wally’s reaction.

“Well I-”

“We need to show M’gann the movies” Wally exclaimed to the rest of the team.

Artemis rolled her eyes and mumbled, “fine”

“Well it looks like we’ve finally agreed to two movies for the night” Kaldur leaned back into his chair and then took the remote when M’gann handed it to him, quickly selecting Mean Girls to start.

Wally was able to recite the movie by heart, but he did so under his breath as to not bother the rest of his team. Watching the movie with the comfort of his friends gave him time to think about what his uncle had said earlier. He considered if he needed to start branching out a bit more from his hero friends. While it was nice to be friends with people who understood his schedule, he didn’t like knowing that this peace could disappear with one mission gone wrong. It was these thoughts that had him, during the break they took between movies, shooting a text message to Dick.

Dorothy 🌻: uncle’s work is tking me to Gotham this wekeend 

wuld love to see you if you’re available

His texts were more incoherent as his nerves raced with his thumbs and he speedily typed the words out. He was excited as he saw a response pop up quickly.

Money Bags 💰: Would love to meet up with you! Want to meet up at a cafe and take it from there?

Dorothy 🌻: sounds good

Dick then sent an address to a small coffee shop in Gotham and Wally gave it a thumbs up. When the second movie started up Wally found it hard to focus. He was getting very excited for this weekend.

_ _ _

He lied to Dick and said his plane had landed as he still sat on his bed in Keystone. The plan was that he was coming in the day before and staying at a hotel before meeting up with Dick at the cafe at noon the following day. Little to Dick’s knowledge, but much to Robin’s, Wally was going to Zeta in, day of.

Wally got ready for bed after texting Dick a good night message. He was practically vibrating with excitement and nearly couldn’t fall asleep. Eventually he realized he must’ve dozed off at some point because his alarm was now going off since it was 10:30. 

He practically jumped out of bed and ran into his closet looking for something to wear. He didn’t want to look weird next to Dick, but his closet was largely filled with graphic tees that he worried would clash with a rich person’s style. That’s when he got an idea on who would be able to help. He quickly shot Robin a text.

Flash Jr.: hey rob. you live in Gotham. you familiar with dick grayson? 

Bird Brains: yep

why?

Flash Jr.: need help with outfits

Bird Brains: you going on a date?

Flash Jr.: noooo?

more like a hangout

but i still wanna look nice

Bird Brain: alright. send me pictures of outfits

i’ll help you

Flash Jr.: thx man

ur the best

Bird Brain: *sends a cocky GIF*

i know

With Robin’s help he was able to narrow it down to two outfits before settling on a Flash logo t-shirt and black jeans. His worries about being judged for wearing a graphic tee were helped by Robin saying that Dick might not want to be more casual in hopes to not alert the press so that paparazzi didn’t harass them. Wally hadn’t even considered that the paparazzi might be there, just like he hadn’t considered how much showing what outfit he was wearing to Robin had helped Dick plan his own outfit.

Dick now had to decide. Was he going to show up wearing an ‘accidental’ matching outfit or was he going to wear what he’d initially been planning which was an oversized hoodie, sweats, and glasses. His heart won as he imagined the smile that would be plastered on Wally’s face if they were wearing matching outfits. So he threw on his own Flash t-shirt, the one Wally had bought him as a gag gift for Christmas, but opted to still wear his sweat so he wasn’t completely matching with his black jeans. 

When he made it to the cafe he wasn’t all that shocked that Wally was there first. He’d purposefully chosen a location that was close to a Zeta-Tube so Wally wouldn’t have to walk far. He knew the distance wouldn’t matter much to the speedster, but he didn’t want Wally to workout too much just to meet with him. He still feigned surprise when he saw that they were both wearing the same shirt.

“You’ve got good fashion tastes” he teased as he sat across the booth from Wally.

“Wow, first you say Superman is your favorite and now you’re wearing the Flash’s merch? Batman’s probably has a target on your back now”

“Don’t worry. I’m safe from him since Bruce practically funds the whole League” he joked. Wally admired the way Dick’s eyes shone as he laughed. He hadn’t even noticed he’d zoned out a bit until Dick was waving a hand in his face, “Earth to Wally?”

“Ope! Sorry, got distracted”

“Ope?” Dick was trying to hide his laughter at the exclamation, “What’s that?”

“What’s what?” Wally was confused. He’d never been called out for the way he spoke.

“You said ‘ope’? I’ve never heard anything like that before. Is that something they say in Kansas?”

“I’m not sure…I’ve never noticed I say it” he chuckled awkwardly.

“You’re fine. I’m not trying to make fun of you. I just thought it was…adorable?”

Wally’s face instantly turned red at a simple word he probably used everyday being deemed adorable by the pretty boy sitting across from him. He tried to keep his voice calm as he responded, “Not as adorable as you- your accent”

Wally noticed a blush spreading across Dick’s face, score. 

“Oh, sh-shut up” Dick replied and turned away slightly.

Wally snickered and leaned back into the seating, changing the subject so he didn’t overstep any boundaries, “Think this would be the perfect time to talk about superheroes? We said we’d plan a time for me to hear you rant about them in the future”

The smile Wally gave Dick felt welcoming for Dick to open up, “Sure, but I’m not gonna just be ranting. You’re the one doing research on the teenage group, so interrupt me to put in your two cents too” Wally promised to do just that and Dick started on his rant.

They’d gotten distracted. Talking about theories on who Batman and Boy Wonder were (Dick had convinced Wally that the Boy Wonder was being homeschooled by Batman, but couldn’t keep Wally from believing Bruce and Batman were in a relationship of some sorts), what type of snacks the heroes probably preferred, and on ways the two believed the organization could be improved. Wally was genuinely surprised by how knowledgeable Dick was on the subject of the League. So much so he was making a mental note of a lot of the suggestions that Dick was making. 

Eventually they realized they’d probably been spending a lot of time here and Wally was never known at being good at being stationary. Somehow, it’d been made bearable by Dick. The two eventually made their way down the sidewalk. Just talking and joking. 

They stopped and entered a comic store. Dick pulled them to the back of it and showed Wally an array of Young Justice merchandise on display, “The teenage team has finally started getting attention outside of the former sidekicks”

“Wow” as Wally stood in awe seeing an action figure of himself he let his hand drift to Dick’s. When he let his fingers brush against the back of Dick’s hand he slowly let his hand lace their fingers together. Dick seemed to notice, but not pull back. The brilliant blush he’d been hoping to see on Dick’s face again was back in full force and he decided, now that they were in the back of a store with a little privacy, to talk about it to Dick, “I- I think…I think you look really pretty”

Dick stayed silent for a bit before whispering, “I think you do too”

Wally’s heart soared at the words and turned to Dick, “I think I like you” Dick’s face betrayed his shock.

“Like as a friend?”

“N-no…I mean yes? I like you as a friend, but as more…I know we’ve only been talking for about a month, but I think I started to have feelings for you”

Dick visibly blue screened at this information. Wally waited for what felt like forever for a response, “You can’t like me. You’re straight” Dick just blurted out.

Wally seemed confused and put off by Dick’s assumption about his sexuality and responded, “Well, since I like you, it doesn’t seem I am” he chuckled light heartedly, “I actually identify as bisexual”

“Wait, but Artemis, isn’t she your girlfriend?”

“Art- girl- what?!” Wally’s thoughts raced wildly as he tried to figure out why Dick would’ve come to that conclusion, “N-no! Artemis and I are just friends. Nothing romantic between us”

Dick looked embarrassed as he realized him and Robin had been assuming that Wally and Artemis had been dating, “O-oh wow…I- look…” he sighed, “Thank you for telling me, but…I think I’m going to need time to think”

Wally deflated at his words.

“I’m not saying no. I- I think I’ve been having the same feelings, but I’ve been operating under the assumption that you’re straight and dating a girl from my school. So I just…I need to have a moment to think” Dick held one of Wally’s hands with both of his, massaging the back of it with both of his thumbs, “I like you too. Don’t get me wrong. I really like you Wally”

Wally smiled sadly. He knew this wasn’t a rejection, but it still felt that way, “Okay…well I’m sorry for making this awkward” He chuckled.

“No, it’s fine. It’s not your fault” Dick smiled back to try and reassure him, “Do you want to still hang out? I don’t want to keep you though if you’re uncomfortable”

“I think I’d like to continue hanging out” Wally returned Dick’s warm smile.

“That’s good”

_ _ _

As they parted ways Dick got into a car his butler, Alfred, was driving while Wally walked towards the Zeta-Tube. Wally’s thoughts lingered on the confession he’d made earlier and Dick’s reaction. When he’d nearly made it to the Zeta-Tube he remembered that Artemis had lived close to it and decided to take a detour.

He’d found her address and in his stupid thought process he sneaked in through her window. That’s how he ended up, upside down on Artemis’ floor, with a bow and arrow pointed directly between his eyes.

“Hey Arty! Man do I have something I want to tell you”

Chapter Text

Alfred could immediately sense that something had happened during the hang out between Master Dick and Master Wallace. He had looked through his rearview mirror to see the young sir in the back of the Rolls-Royce that Alfred preferred to drive. Upon Dick’s entry into the car Alfred asked a basic question.

“Did you have fun, Master Dick?” He asked as he saw Dick buckle. Immediately the teen tried to hide his face in his hands and let out a muffled string of curses. Alfred let the teen release his anger before chastising him, “Language, Master Dick”

“Sorry Alfie” Dick replied as he stayed curled up in the back.

Alfred slowly pulled away from the curb and started driving back to the manor. At the traffic light he took another peak at the young boy to see he’d relaxed a bit and was now staring off into the distance, “Do you have any requests for dinner, Master Dick?”

Dick hummed a bit before making a request, “Would we be able to have some more of that soup you made last week?”

“Of course Master Dick” Alfred responded before picking back up the previous topic, “How was your day with Master Wallace?”

It took a bit before he got any response from Dick, he’d half expected the boy in the back of the car had ignored the question, “It was…good. I guess” Dick could see Alfred raise an eyebrow at that, “H- he said he liked me” Alfred let out a breath in time with Dick to continue, “I don’t know what to do Alfred”

“Well, Master Dick, do you like him back?” He asked as they turned onto the last road before the manor.

“I do Alfred, I like him a lot, but Bruce…” he didn’t have to finish his sentence for Alfred to know what he was going to bring up.

“I’ll make some tea for us to talk over” Alfred parked the car before looking back at Dick who still seemed a bit sad, “and some hot chocolate for you”

Dick’s lips curled in a small smile. Alfred always knew when he needed to be comforted, “Thank you Alfie…you’re the best”

When Alfred exited the car, getting out so he could open the door for Dick, he let himself smile as the boy he considered to be his grandson’s words. He took a breath and let his face fall back into its usual professional look and opened the door for Dick. Dick stepped out onto the gravel and thanked Alfred again before heading into the manor. 

Eventually Alfred made his way too into the manor. He headed straight to the kitchen to get started on dinner and make some tea and hot chocolate. He found his peace in his craft and it only felt like seconds before he was informing both Master Bruce and Dick that dinner was prepared and the two headed down into the dining room.

It didn’t take long for Bruce to realize that there was a conversation that needed to be had as Alfred put tea in place of the usual wine he’d have at dinner. He looked over at Alfred before directing attention to his son. Dick was more or less playing with his food as he knew they’d have to talk soon. 

As Bruce cleared his throat, Dick looked up at him, “Yeah B?”

“Is there anything you wanted to talk about?”

Before Dick could deny that he needed to talk about something, Alfred interrupted, “In fact, Master Dick met up with Master Wallace today to hang out at a local cafe”

Dick looked back down at his food as though the ripples in his soup were the most interesting thing in the room now. Bruce seemed confused as to why this was what they needed to talk about. He’d known Dick had gone to hang out with Wally. He’d been reassured by Dick that Wally didn’t know of his secret identity and that they were just hanging out as civilians. So why was this something Alfred was breaking out tea over?

“Did anything happen while hanging out?” He was trying to not go into detective mode. He took a sip of the tea to ground himself, reminding himself that Dick needed his father now and not Batman.

“N-nothing bad” Dick started to eat his food so he wouldn’t have to talk more, but Bruce was great at playing the waiting game and eventually he had to divulge more information, “He just…he asked me out”

Bruce bit the inside of his lip at this information. He’d had previous tea talks with Dick when he came out as gay, confessed he had a crush on his teammate, and when he’d begged to be able to tell Wally about his secret identity. He started to worry where this was going, because the last few times Dick had brought up wanting to reveal his identity to his friends it’d ended with yelling, stomping, and door slamming. He eventually took a long sip of his tea as he thought about how to respond.

“Well, Dick, what’d you say?”

Dick’s hands went under the table and into his lap as he fidgeted with his fingers, “I- I told him I needed to think about it. H- he’s only known Dick for about a month”

Bruce hummed, agreeing with how Dick reacted, but decided now was time to ask the question he actually wanted the answer to, “And…how do you feel about him admitting his feelings?”

When Bruce noticed the tears beginning to form he immediately set down his tea, a bit too fast, it left some of the liquid spilled, but he didn’t care. He came up to Dick and kneeled next to him, putting a hand on his back.

“Hey, hey. You’re alright Dick” he embraced Dick gently as he started sobbing.

“I- I still love him, Dad” 

Bruce tried to not get too choked up on Dick calling him Dad. A word that barely came from the kid’s mouth unless he was speaking about his biological father. Bruce kept rubbing Dick’s back as he cried against his shoulder. 

“I know…I know son” he left a small kiss against Dick’s temple. 

“I hate lying to him”

Bruce closed his eyes. He knew the pains of having to lie to those you love around you. It’s part of the reason he’d considered not letting Robin join him, but he had eventually decided that Robin would be better off fighting crime with Batman instead of without him. Instead of going over with Dick all the reasons it wasn’t safe to tell Wally again he just stayed in supportive silence. 

“I don’t want to hurt him,” Dick cried out.

Bruce quietly asked Dick, “How are you afraid you’ll hurt him?”

“I- How else would he feel other than hurt if he realized who I was?” Dick started panicking a bit as he let his thoughts run wild, “H- he’d probably feel betrayed. Like I’m using him. Like I don’t trust him. So why should he trust me?”

Bruce pulled Dick in closer when he’d started hyperventilating. He started taking big, exaggerated breaths hoping that Dick would follow suit, get distracted, or whatever to break him out of his thoughts. He brought Dick’s hand over to his chest as he did this.

“Dick? I- I need you to breathe with me” he takes in big breaths, holding them, before breathing out. He saw Dick nod and follow along, his breathing starting to regulate itself after a bit. Bruce relaxed a bit before continuing, “Dick…if you want to stop talking about this I can stop, but I just think you’re forgetting that Wally’s already fine with Robin not revealing his secret identity. He also understands why” Bruce gently moved hair out of Dick’s eyes, “I’m sure he’d understand. Even if it’d take time for him”

Dick nodded slowly, “but it feels different. Like dating him…I shouldn’t keep such big secrets”

“Dick, we don’t keep big secrets like this away from family . If Wally starts becoming family. We can…we can revisit the issue about your identity”

Dick’s eyes widened in shock. He’d thought that he’d have to keep his identity a secret forever. Maybe it just felt that way since he’d been having to do it for 5 years now. He didn’t know what to say besides surging forward and hugging his dad (he felt like he wouldn’t need to correct Wally anymore when he slipped up and called him Bruce’s son instead of his ward).

“Thank you” he whispered into Bruce’s ear.

“It’s nothing Dick. Now, I think we should resume eating before Alfred’s cooking becomes cold” He didn’t need to tell Dick twice. With a renewed passion, Dick continued eating his dinner.

After they’d finished eating, Dick excused himself and headed upstairs. In his room he opened his phone to text Wally.

Money Bags 💰: Hope your flight back to Kansas isn’t bad tomorrow. 

I’d love to hang out again some other time

He sighed happily, assuming Wally was probably sleeping and he set his phone aside to do the same.

_ _ _

“Wait, he said what ?!” Artemis’ jaw dropped at what Wally had said.

“Yeah, he thought we were a thing”

“First, ewww. Second, why?”

“Well…I was your plus one to the dance”

“Yeah, but-” Artemis cut herself off as she sighed. She’d just thought that maybe Barbara had told Richard about how they’d started hanging out more. It also wasn’t like Artemis was completely subtle about her crush on Dick’s friend when they hung out around school.

“I cleared it up with him. Don’t worry” Wally lounged back on Jade’s old bed.

Artemis sat down on her bed, “But you told him how you felt? How…how did he take it?”

“Well, he first thought I was straight. So at first he was confused, but then told me…he said he returned my feelings” He saw Artemis wave him on, expecting a ‘but’, and behold, she got one, “But he said he wanted to wait until we’ve known each other for longer than a month”

“Well, that sounds like a good answer,” she shrugged slightly.

“Yeah, but that’s the thing Arty. I feel like I’ve known him for a lot longer than one month. We just…we just click” he made a motion with his hands to emphasize how much he thought that they’d clicked. 

She sighed at her idiotic friend, “Yeah, but just because you clicked doesn’t mean you’ve known each other longer than a month” she stood up and moved to sit on the same bed as him, “Look, have you checked the news surrounding him often?”

“Yeah, well sometimes, not like in a creepy stalk-”

Artemis interrupted him, “Well then, you’ll know how many times he's been kidnapped before”

Wally could remember some of the headlines that detailed Dick Grayson needing to be rescued by Batman or the GCPD. He just didn’t understand how that was relevant, “Yeah, I’m aware of it, but what’s that got to do with me?”

“He’s probably paranoid” she said, getting up, “We’re the targets of villains too. Aren’t you sometimes suspicious of those who talk with you?” 

Wally stared blankly at her, clearly not having the same anxieties as her. Artemis rolled her eyes and started to leave her room, “Hey, where are you going?” He called out after her.

“Mom’s gone. I got something that might keep your head off your boy troubles” When Artemis returned she had a bottle of whiskey she’d snagged from her mom’s alcohol cabinet. 

At first Wally thought it’d be a bad idea, but seeing as though it’d go through his system faster than a regular human also, it wasn’t as though he’d be driving back home. He grabbed one of the glasses that Artemis handed him and downed the shot.

_ _ _

After about an hour, they were both a giggly mess as they gushed about their respective crushes. Artemis leaned against Wally and talked about how she never thought she’d find somebody nerding out so attractive, especially after having to hear Wally and Robin nerd out about so many things. She also talked about how accomplished Barbara was, but how she felt it was just a distant dream and that Commissioner Gordon wouldn’t ever let his daughter date someone who had her family history.

Wally listened to her whining and pining, he thought it was only fair since she had to listen to him. He also made sure to tease her in revenge for all the times she’d teased him. He was in the middle of talking about how brilliant Dick was, slurring over his words, when the door swung open.

“Artemis Lian Crock!” The two heroes separated and stood, as best they could, for Artemis’ mom.

Paula rolled into her daughters room and instantly knew what they’d been doing. Only if looks could kill would these two be six feet under. A few seconds passed, only a small hiccup from Artemis was heard between the three.

Wally was the first to speak up, “Th-thanks for having me Ms. Crock, but I- I should probably head home now” Wally tried stumbling towards the door, but Paula’s wheelchair blocked the exit.

“And where do you think you’re going, Speedy?”

“My name’s actually-” Artemis knew enough to bring a hand up and over Wally’s mouth before he talked back to her mom.

“I’m sorry, mẹ” Artemis mumbled, but her mom’s glare didn’t let up.

“As you should be. I’m calling Barry so he can contact your parents Wallace, but unless he’s picking you up, you’re staying here until morning”

The two teens looked at each other and inwardly cursed, knowing they were in massive trouble. Especially since with Barry knowing, they were probably in trouble with the League as well as their parents.

They sat on opposite sides of the room as they heard Paula’s call with Barry. Wally would have assumed they might be let off the hook if he didn’t see Artemis’ reaction. Wally just wasn’t used to quiet anger, but the longer they heard Ms. Crock speak in a calm voice, the more Artemis buried into herself. 

“What do you think she’s gonna do with us?”

“Us?” Artemis asked.

“Well you weren’t the only person drinking”

“Yeah, but you’re not her daughter…she’s probably not going to do anything. Not even to me, but…I just know she’s disappointed. Oh I fucked up” Artemis curled in on herself and Wally walked over to comfort her.

“She’s probably not too disappointed in you, Arty. I mean…you’re Artemis, the super hero!” He nudged her light heartedly, “She’s probably so proud of you for breaking out of the cycle and probably relieved you’re doing normal teenage things like breaking into her alcohol instead of…other things”

Artemis wiped the tears she’d let fall off her cheeks, “Yeah, but…I still don’t like hurting her”

“I know,” Wally replied carefully before they heard his phone go off. Wally took it out of his pocket and saw Dick had texted him. He started writing out a response when his phone was suddenly taken from his hands, “What?”

Paula had confiscated his phone, “Your uncle doesn’t think it wise to have you run while under the influence because your reaction time would still be impaired and you might run into things. So” she took a deep breath in, “We’re going to lay some ground rules. Rule number one, no texting or using the internet while under the influence. Rule number two, you two are going to be sleeping in separate beds. Rule number three, you’re not to leave here until you get my explicit permission. This isn’t like your hometown, this is Gotham” She waited until she got a verbal agreement from both of them.

As Artemis handed over her phone and laptop to Paula, Wally asked her a question they both had, “Are we in trouble with the League?”

“That’s up to the League as to how they want to deal with this” she started to roll out when Artemis had another question.

Confused by the level tone of her mom, who she knew was usually level headed, but come on. She’d just been caught drinking and she expected more of a reaction, “Are we not going to talk about it?” She asked quietly.

Her mom looked back at her with love in her eyes, “We’ll…we’ll talk in the morning, sóc” she then took on more of a joking tone with her daughter, “besides, it’s more impactful if I tell you off while you’re hungover”

Chapter Text

The team was confused as they were called into a meeting. They were even more confused to see Green Arrow, Flash, Black Canary, Red Tornado, and Batman standing in front of them. They all shuffled in, and if anybody noticed how Wally and Artemis’ heads hung low, nobody said anything. The glare from Batman made it clear that it was better to stay silent.

However, the psychic link was silent enough, right? “Does anybody know what this is about?” M’gann asked as she created a psychic link between the teenagers.

“I have no clue” the team’s leader responded. 

“Whatever it is, B isn’t happy. He also doesn’t usually give missions in person”

“Maybe he’s changing it up”

“Doubt it”

“Wally-” Artemis responded harshly after Wally’s doubt, anxiety pouring through the mind link from the both of them.

“Wally, Artemis, do you two have an idea about what we’ve been called here for?”

“...maybe” they both replied to M’gann in unison.

If the teens thought they were being slick it was laughable to the detective. Batman watched their eyes flit between each other as they were clearly trying to piece together why they were being called here. He didn’t need to be a part of the mind link to feel the nervousness radiating off of the team. He let them sit in it for a bit before he called them to attention with the tiniest adjustment in posture.

“We are here to discuss some basic rules regarding substance use on the team” most of the teams looked confused, but the two Batman was talking about knew exactly what was coming. So he continued, “Under no circumstances will any of you partake in the consumption of alcohol, marijuana, or any other hard substance while on this team. Even if you are off the clock because, even when ‘off the clock’ there are times we may need to call you in for emergencies and we do not want to have impaired heroes on missions,” Batman took a breath, let that sink in, “Additionally, this is a team that the world had come to understand to be the teenage version of the Justice League. We have already faced scrutiny for having you engage in the work you do at your age. We will not be creating more of a reason for the public to second guess the existence of this team. Do you understand?” Batman’s eyes narrowed as he finished his speech.

The team looked around and nodded. Most of them were still confused as to why they needed to go over this. They started looking between each other. That’s when Batman stepped back and Flash and Green Arrow stepped forward.

“With that out of the way,” Oliver started, but Flash, impatient as ever, finished his sentence.

“Artemis and Kid Flash will be benched for this week”

And with that, the rest of the team broke out into shouts and questions aimed at the heroes, “Wait, what?! Benched?” Robin asked.

“With all due respect, they’re integral parts of our team. Benching them may affect our performance” Kaldur added.

Connor had left to go punch something and M’gann was trying to reason with anybody who would listen. The only two who weren’t mad or fighting the situation were Artemis and Wally who stood side by side in the chaos. That’s when Batman put a hand up, quieting the team.

Batman motioned for Green Arrow to continue, “Along with being benched for the week they are being sent home for the next two days. We have decided that since it is a first offense that this will be an adequate punishment”

“But,” Batman stepped back in, “If we find anybody else breaking the rule we just discussed, the consequences will be much harsher” he stared across the team before taking his leave, “Artemis, Kid Flash, you two have 30 minutes to grab what you need before Red Tornado will kick you out”

All they heard was the call from the Zeta-Tube announcing Batman, Green Arrow, and Flash’s departures. They stood in silence for a minute more before Aqualad whipped around to face Wally and Artemis, “What did you two do?” the leader asked.

“We uhm…” Wally started, but couldn’t find himself able to finish as he looked over at his friend, the golden boy, whose face was unreadable and felt shame flare up inside of him. ‘Oh god what is Robin thinking’ flashed over his mind before an even worse thought surfaced, ‘what will Dick think if he finds out?’ 

Artemis picked up where Wally had left off, “We drank some of my mom’s whiskey last night” she tried to laugh it off, but her laugh petered out from the look that her teammates gave her, “What? Wally was having boy troubles, and I was having girl troubles. We wanted to be normal teenagers!”

At her words Connor and M’gann’s faces softened as they sympathised with wanting to be normal teens. If Robin or Kaldur felt the same, their faces hid it well. That’s when Robin spoke up, his tone not angry, but calm, “Your actions were reckless. The team is now short staffed and it could’ve been much worse if there’d been an emergency while you two were drinking”

“I agree with Robin,” Kaldur’ahm spoke with authority as he stepped back into his role as leader, “While I can sympathise with your plights I do hope that there will be no repeats of this again” Wally and Artemis knew better than to speak up and just nodded under Kaldur’s watchful gaze, “Now, I believe you two have a limited time to grab what you need. We won’t keep you any longer, but I do hope we can have a conversation when you two come back about your…troubles”

With Kaldur’s phrasing, Artemis knew that the leader wanted to be let in on the drama, especially when he knew he could lend some helpful words of advice. So at his dismissal Artemis took on a more casual demeanor and saluted the team with a smirk on her face, “Aye aye captain” and she went off to grab her personal belongings she had left in the living room.

Wally however, stayed nervous as he trudged past the team. He glanced up at Robin, not knowing what to respect from his rule-following bestie. He was grateful though to see Robin giving a sympathetic smile his way. It was enough for him to relax as he went down the halls to his room. Unlike Artemis who had packed a bag prior, predicting the situation, Wally had been sulking in his room at the mountain, dreading the Justice League’s ruling. That left him with an unpacked bag and decisions to make on what to even bring.

He had started shoving in clothes he’d kept at the mountain, in case of a slumber party or late night mission, at random. He didn’t care how they fit, just that they did, into his bag. That’s when he heard the door opening up behind him. Wally turned to see Robin standing in the door frame. The younger hero sighed and slid his glasses back up so they sat higher up on the bridge of his nose.

Robin chuckled breathlessly, “Have you never packed a bag before?” he looked at the clothes drooping out of the bag, they’d been neatly folded before, but you’d only be able to tell that now if you’d been in Wally’s room prior like Robin had.

Wally pouted slightly at Robin, “Well I have packed a bag before, but not on this short of a time crunch!” Wally liked the way Robin smirked at his complaints.

“What, never fought with your parents so bad you threatened to run away before? Only to come back because you realized you had no other way to watch Invader Zim?” Robin laughed and Wally tilted his head curiously.

“I’m assuming you have? Because that was way too specific”

“Yep” Robin replied, popping the ‘p’, “B was furious with me the first few times, but then he quickly realized I’d always return within 4-8 hours”

Wally snickered at the images of a young Robin running off only to come trudging back for a cartoon show. That’s when he looked at the clock and realized he had only 15 minutes left, “Shit” he cursed, making Robin’s smile grow a tiny bit. He turned to Robin, “Please Rob, can you help me?” He made sure to flash his best puppy dog eyes and it seemed to win Robin over.

Robin rolled his eyes as he approached Wally. He picked up a book Wally hadn’t even noticed was sitting on his desk, “First, I think you should pack school work” Robin lightly tossed the book and chuckled when Wally fumbled it, “You’re gonna want anything you’re gonna need for school. Second, is there anything you find yourself texting for one of us to bring to you when you forget it here?”

“Uhm…” Wally thought for a second before he ran off and came back with a charging cord, extra sneakers, and a jacket, “I think that’s about it” he mumbled.

Robin helped Wally stuff everything in a compact way. Wally was mesmerized as the dedicated look Robin had was the same as whenever he restocked his utility belt. Robin was analyzing the usefulness of everything was packing and made sure he knew how it could fit to make the bag seem like the one from Mary Poppins. 

Wally caught a scent in the air as Robin proclaimed, “Done!” They both looked at each other and smiled as they recognized the smell as M’gann’s cooking. Robin tossed the bag at Wally with enough force to make him stumble, “Race ya!” 

“Cheater!” Wally called out as he slung his bag over his shoulders. He shoved down the fluttering in his heart as he heard Robin cackle back at him.

The two idiots finally made their way down, but both were a bit bruised as they’d tripped, pulled, and shoved their way to the finish line. M’gann giggled lightly as Wally burst past Robin and into the kitchen. Before he could throw back any taunts M’gann lifted up the tray of cookies that she’d finished and stood between the two, “Would you like me to pack up some of these to go for you?”

Wally looked at her like she was an angel with the way those cookies smelled, he knew they’d taste heavenly. His day was made a bit better when Robin spoke up, “That’s perfect. I think I made enough room for those in his backpack” and sure enough, the space Robin had saved was the right size for the tupperware container the cookies were shoved into to fit. 

That’s when Red Tornado interrupted, “Kid Flash, Artemis. I believe it is time to leave now” the two said their last goodbyes and promised to text before leaving the mountain.

_ _ _

When Wally’s parents found out about everything they took away his phone for a week. That meant a week of no contact with the team and no contact with Dick. At least until he saw a familiar napkin tumble out of his suit jacket when he was hanging it up. He picked it off the ground and read the numbers on it. His face lit up, he hadn’t bothered memorizing his friend’s phone numbers - why would he, they were all in his phone? So, now with Dick’s number in his fist, he finished hanging up his laundry and grabbed the landline. He typed in the number and let it ring. He nearly jumped for joy when he heard the sweet, but strangely too familiar voice on the other side. 

“Hello? Who’s this?” Dick asked.

“Hey Dick! It’s Wally!”

“Hey Walls…what’s with the new number? I didn’t recognize this one”

“Oh it’s uh…I may have gotten in trouble with my parents and they took away my phone” he admitted over the phone. The sound of calling Dick again was fun, it felt exactly like when he and Robin would mess with the comms after successful missions.

“You got in trouble? What’d you do?” Dick sounded a little concerned.

Wally walked away from the wall where the landline was connected and remembered why his phone was superior as he couldn’t move too far. His voice sounded a bit strained as he tried to hook his foot on a chair and pull it closer, “I- I might’ve…I might’ve gone drinking with a friend” he let out a sigh of relief as he sat down in the chair and could now comfortably continue the conversation, “Why’d I’d say ‘friend’ like you wouldn’t know her. I was having drinks with Arty”

“Arty…?” Dick took a minute to pretend to be confused by the nickname before pretending it clicked, “Oh! Artemis and you went drinking? Please tell me you’re alright! I know you two are a bit older, please tell me nobody was driving”

“What? N-no! We’re not stupid enough to drive. We were smart enough to stay at her house and drink”

“Not smart enough to not get caught?” Dick teased over the line.

Wally gasped in mock shock, “Well…hey! Can’t you just be on my side?” he pouted over the line and hoped Dick could pick up that he wasn’t actually mad and just playing. His anxiety of being misunderstood was relieved when Dick’s laugh rang through.

“Okay, okay. You’re smart enough to not be in an unsafe location while under the influence”

“Why thank you very much”

“So, how long are you in trouble for?” Wally heard shifting over the line, he assumed that Dick was sitting down or moving somewhat.

“A week. Might’ve been longer, but my uncle sweet talked them down from a month”

“Sounds like you gotta thank your uncle for that one. A month would’ve been too long. I’m probably gonna get bored without you spamming me with GIFs over here in just a week. Can’t imagine what a month would feel like without your chaos”

Wally had to pull the phone away from him as he squealed and kicked his legs a tiny bit at Dick saying how much he’ll miss him. He brought the phone back up to his ear to reply, “Hey, I’ll be back annoying you soo-”

He was interrupted by a strange clicking noise before the familiar voice of his mom came over the line, “Wallace Rudolph West, who are you talking to?” 

Wally held his breath as he didn’t know how to respond, but he silently cursed as Dick spoke, “Hello Mrs. West. I’m Dick, me and Wally were just calling about homework help”

Wally thought ‘good one’ before he chimed in, “I’m sorry mom, if this breaks your no phones rules I didn’t know. I just really needed to talk to someone about my paper” 

“And why have I never heard of this ‘Dick’ friend of yours?” his mom started interrogating him over the phone and Wally’s face burned with embarrassment, just glad Dick wasn’t here in person to see him.

“Sorry ma’am that’s because I asked him to not tell you. I’m sorry, but-”

“Don’t ‘ma’am’ me, why would you tell my son not to tell me who you are. Wally, if he’s the reason you-”

“Mom!” Wally interrupted and he could hear a soft giggle that sounded like Dick’s on the line.

“Sorry Mrs. West, but my full name is Richard Grayson-Wayne. For privacy sake I just wanted to hang out and help Wally with homework without my name being an issue”

The two heard a click and Wally spoke softly, “Mom?” he waited a second, “Dick, I think she hung up”

“I think she did too” Dick responded before Wally heard his door fling open and he turned around.

“You’re friends with Richard Wayne?! Like Bruce Wayne’s son?!”

Wally nodded, “We uh… we met at the dance I went to with Artemis” he put the phone to his chest so that way he could hopefully muffle his conversation with his mom, not wanting to be embarrassed further.

“Oh honey! Is he as sweet as they say in the news? Because he seems like an angel . Did you see that he-”

“Mom?” Wally stated sternly. She focused her attention back on Wally, “Am I allowed to continue talking with my friend?”

“Oh- oh of course sweetie! Just let him know he’s invited if he’s ever in our neck of the woods!” She cooed over him, “Oh I’m so glad you’re getting more friends”

It seemed to Wally that his mom shared the same sentiments as his uncle. He shrugged it off however as she left. He picked up the phone to keep talking, “So, what are you doing now?”

There was a pause as Wally heard some muffled talks before Dick responded, “I’m sorry Wally, but Bruce wants me to help him with something. So I gotta go…talk later?”

“Yeah, talk later” he tried not to sound sad, but it was near impossible as he hung up the phone. He lay back further in his chair, taking in his room. He was just trying to see what he should do now that he was bored. The more he thought, the further in the chair he pushed back, until he eventually fell back in the chair with a yelp.