Work Text:
There's too much work to do.
He sighs, rubbing his sore eyes. There's always too much work to do nowadays. He needs a break - not just from his work but just everything. The team is now under his command and he honestly hadn't known just how much work that entailed until he was dealing with it along with some stuff Batman had told him to look into while he was away.
Oh, maybe he could call Wally. That always cheered him up, and at the very least it'd give his mind a break so when he got back to work - maybe with Wally's help - he'd have a fresh mind and he'd work even better. Yeah, perfect.
He got out his phone only to freeze with his hand halfway to his pocket. No, he couldn't call Wally. Wally was busy, away with Artemis after they'd left the team. He had his own life now, his own things to do, his own work to do for college. Dick couldn't disturb him. His boredom wasn't a good enough reason to annoy and/or distract Wally.
Back to the computer then.
The clicks of the keys were quiet in the vastness of the Cave. He wouldn't even have been there had it not been for the fact that the case files that he needed for the case Batman himself had asked him to look into were only on the Batcomputer. He supposed it was convenient, seeing as he was staying in the manor anyway. Bruce was off-world so Dick was taking over Gotham patrols alongside this case.
He groaned when he remembered that he had some reports he was supposed to write up for a recent mission he'd gone on with the Team last week too. He laid his head down on the table, intending to just take a few minutes break before finishing up what he was doing now then moving onto the reports.
"Dude, you look terrible! You should go get some sleep, Rob."
Dick looked up and froze, staring.
"What, I got something in my teeth? You finally realised that I am actually way more handsome than you?"
"Wally?" Dick asked faintly, taking in his best friend's stupid grin.
"The one and only!"
"What are you doing here?"
"What, not happy to see me?" Wally's smile fell the slightest bit but it was enough to make Dick's heart ache.
"No, no," he hurried to explain. "No, I was just thinking about calling you actually but I thought you were busy or something."
"Nah, I'll always have time for you bro."
A grin grew on Dick's face as he got up and moved towards the redhead, wrapping his arms around the speedster, who barely hesitated in returning the embrace.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
They separated, and Dick laughed softly. "Nothing. I just missed you."
Wally's gaze softened as he met Dick's tired eyes. That was one of the things Dick missed most about his best friend. He didn't have to explain anything because Wally already knew. Wally could always just tell that something was wrong and not only that but exactly what was wrong. He always asked anyway so Dick could have a chance to answer but if he didn't then Wally knew to just be there instead of try to talk it out. He knew Dick well enough to know what to do, knew Dick well enough to know exactly what Dick's insecurities were and what made him tick. No one else knew him the way Wally did.
"You know you can always just call me, right, Dick? I'll always pick up and if I can't then I'll call you back the second I'm free. And it never bothers me, you calling me. I'll always want to talk to you."
"I know," Dick smiles.
Wally regarded him for a few seconds before nodding and offering his own smile. "Okay. Good." The smile grew to his usual grin. "So, you have full reign of the Batcave and the Manor and you spend the time holed up here, working? What'cha working on that's so important?"
Dick told him, but halfway through, Wally sighed a long and exasperated sigh. "That's so boring!" he moaned dramatically.
"I know!" Dick groaned.
"Why don't you just take a break then? It's been a while since we've caught up," Wally proposed, leaning against the console as Dick slouched on the chair. "Got your eye on anyone lately?"
For the next five-ten minutes or so, they just sat and talked and laughed, as if they still hung out every day and nothing had changed. Dick tried to ignore that voice that reminded him of that as he laughed at Wally's description of his least favourite professor, tried to just lose himself in the moment and not waste it by mourning for it while it was still happening. Tried to cover up the bitterness and tears that threatened to spill with snickers.
Eventually, the conversation naturally became silence, and Wally looked at Dick with sad eyes. He didn't say anything, but Dick knew. Knowing each other too well was sometimes a curse. It was too hard to ignore the elephant in the room sometimes.
"You don't have to go," Dick pleaded, at the same time Wally said "You should get some rest."
"I'm not tired," Dick replied almost immediately. "We can keep talking - "
"Dick," Wally interrupted softly, and Dick found himself with a lump in his throat and hot tears in his eyes at the look his friend gave him. "You're exhausted. You still have a lot of work to do, and I'd love to stay, if only to make sure you sleep, but I have to go."
"You don't," Dick protested weakly, voice breaking. "Please stay. Don't leave me, Wally. Not again."
"I… have you even looked at yourself in a mirror lately? Dick… Don't say you're fine. We both know you're not." Dick closed his mouth as Wally sighed. "Just go to bed, Dick. Get some sleep. I'll see you around."
And before Dick could do or say anything more, Wally was gone. Didn't speed out, didn't walk out, just one second he was there, the next he was gone.
Dick woke with a start.
"Wally?" He breathed, frantically looking up, around the Cave only to see nothing.
Nothing, but a reminder that Wally was gone. That his dreams were the only way to see his best friend anymore, because the speedster Kid Flash, Wally West, his best friend, was dead. Because of him. Because of his stupid plans and his stupid selfishness that made him bring Artemis back into the game when she and Wally had retired already and were living fine without him.
One tear finally made its way onto his cheek, and he stopped searching the room.
"You know you can always just call me, right, Dick? I'll always pick up and if I can't then I'll call you back the second I'm free."
"You've reached Wally West. Seems I'm busy right now but I'll catch you when I'm not. You know what to do at the beep. Beeep."
He didn't even realise he'd gotten his phone out let alone dialled Wally's number, but it's not the first time he's done it, and each time he hopes it'll be the last but he knows it won't be. Sometimes he does it on purpose, just to hear Wally's voice one more time. Sometimes it's to leave a voicemail that he knows Wally will never hear but it makes it easier to pretend Wally's still there and he's really talking to his best friend. Other times, he doesn't even know he did it. Each time, on purpose or not, it only ever ends one way. Today was no exception.
He just curls up in his chair as best he can, not bothering to wipe the tears away when they start. He knows they'll be replaced almost immediately. And when someone comes in later to check on him and asks what's wrong, all Dick can think about is how Wally would know - would have known - exactly what was happening and what to do already.
It only makes him cry harder.