Work Text:
7 Years Ago
Uncle Barry covered my eyes as it happened. I couldn't believe that I was witnessing it. The death of two acrobats. It was horrible. I felt like I was going to cry, even though I didn't know them. I couldn't imagine how their son felt, watching as his parents fall to their deaths. That poor kid.
Uncle Barry removed his hand from my eyes and rushed me out of there. I managed to catch a glimpse of the little kid at the top of the ropes, crying and screaming as two men attempted to get him down. We walked outside where the cops were. Uncle Barry began talking to them, and pulled out his CCPD badge. They examined it and nodded.
"Okay, kiddo, I'm going back in there. The GCPD officers are letting me join them investigate, so I need you to stay right here while I help, okay?" Uncle Barry put his hand on my shoulder. I nodded and sat down on the curb. I waited for about ten minutes until I heard a scream behind me. A man was carrying the acrobat boy out of the building.
It looked like a hard job, as the kid was squirming everywhere, attempting to get free. The man set the screaming kid down on the curb, a couple feet away from where I was. The kid hugged his knees and hid his face, crying even harder. I starred at him for a moment, then scooted closer. He looked up at me with tear stained eyes, droplets continuing to roll down silently.
I sighed and put my hand on his shoulder. He turned his head and looked at the ground as tears continued to stream down his cheeks. The only thing I wanted to do in the moment was give him a hug. I know, it would be weird to be hugged by a stranger, but he was hurting, and I couldn't just sit there.
I pulled him into my chest and rubbed his back. He burried his head into my shirt and gripped it tightly with his hands. His sobs grew louder, but luckily my shirt muffled them. I just sat there, wondering what I should do next. I decided the best thing to do was find a way to distract him. As I pulled away, I looked into his ocean blue eyes. I cleared my throat as he looked at me.
"Its gonna be okay, I promise, everything is going to be fine. Life is full of pain and suffering, but you need to be strong. You need to accept what happens and push through it. I'm not asking you to forget about it. I'm not asking you to ignore it. I'm asking you to man up, and know that its what God intended to happen. And know that all that God intends is for the best. Can you do that for me?"
He starred at me for a second, then nodded. I smiled at him, realizing he stopped crying. "I'm Wally, Wally West," I held out my hand. He forced a small smile and shook my hand. "I-Im Dick-k Gray-Grays-son," he replied, shakily. I nodded and pulled my hand away.
"So, Dick, what school do you go to?" I asked, attempting to begin my distraction method. "H-home schooled," he explained, starring at the ground. "Oh, cool... Got any hobbies? Besides doing all that cool acrobat stuff, of course,"
He shrugged, "I like reading, and videogames." My smile grew at this. "No way, dude! I LOVE videogames!" He made a small chuckle and whipped the tears from his cheeks. It was working! Score! "So, uh... What's your favorite color?" I tried to continue my brilliance. "R-red," he paused for a second and took a deep breath, "or green..." I chuckled to myself.
"Green's a pretty color, its the color of grass and leaves, and vomit and bugers," I said, dreamily. He giggled. "Not that green, I like bright green..." He looked at me, then looked at the ground and continued, "like your eyes kinda green." I smiled triumphantly. "I like green too, but I gotta admit, my absolute favorite color has got to be yellow." He raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
We sat there for a little, him slightly leaning against me. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "Excuse me," I heard the voice of a man. I opened my eyes to see none other that Bruce Wayne. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. He gave me a small smile. "May I speak with Mister Grayson, please?" He asked. I nodded and got up. "See ya, Dick," I gave him my signature Wally smile and walked off.
To be honest, I was pretty darn proud of myself. Uncle Barry walked up to me and smiled. "Nice of you to talk to him," he ruffled my hair. My smile widened. He chuckled and put an arm over my shoulder. "Let's go home, kid, if we're any later your aunt is going to slaughter me."
Present Day
I ran my fingers through his hair as he cried on my lap. "It's going to be okay, baby," I reassured my boyfriend. He looked up at me with those all-too-familiar blue, tear stained eyes. "I-I know, I just," he paused and began to sob, "I miss them so much!" He cried louder and burried his head in my lap. A tear rolled down my cheek.
I hated seeing him like this. Every year, on the anniversary of his parents death, he sits in my lap all day and cries. It was heartbreaking. Almost as bad as the day it actually happened. I wish I knew how to save my poor little birdy from this pain. "I know, I know, baby. Calm down, its okay, clam down, sweetie," I cooed and lifted him off my lap.
This was the first year that we were dating, so now I could comfort him in a different way. A way with more contact, resulting in more comfort. I dragged him closer so that he was sitting on my lap. Tears streamed down his sweet cheeks. I wiped the tears off of his face and gingerly gave him a kiss on his lips.
He wrapped his arms arms around my shoulders and cried as we kissed. I pulled away, and he hid his face in the nape of my neck. "You don't have to come if youy don't want to," I suggested. He shook his head.
"I want to come, it'll be a good distraction. Plus, I haven't seen the team since last week," he bit his lip and got up. I sighed and got up with him, guiding him out the door.
We headed for nearest zeta beam. I opened the door to the old telephone booth to let him in. He took a deep breath and stepped in, while putting his shades on.
There was a blinding yellow light, and before we knew it, we were at our team's base. "Hey Wally! Robin! Artemis and I made cookies! They're not even burnt!" M'Gann squealed, pulling us into a hug. "Cool, thanks, beautiful," I gave her a wink, which resulted in an elbow to my ribs from Dick. I giggled and kissed his forehead. "Sorry, babe, just can't help myself," I explained, then dashed to the kitchen.
"Ya, no, get out Kid Pig. The cookies are cooling," Artemis stopped me at the entrance. I whined and slumped my shoulders. She rolled her eyes and pushed me into the living room where everyone else was. Dick and M'Gann were chatting, while Conner, Kaldur, and Zatanna were watching TV on the couch.
Conner flipped it to the news. Immediately, Dick and I turned our attention to it. It was showing the tape of Dick's parents falling. My eyes widened. "CHANGE THE CHANNEL. NOW." I yelled at Conner who starred in confusion. But it was too late. I looked over at Dick, who had tears dripping off his chin.
I zipped over to him and blocked his veiw of the TV. Everyone starred in confusion as I picked him up and sped into my room. As soon as I closed the door behind me, I set him down. He collapsed onto me and began to sob. I sighed and decided to pick him up again. The sobs didn't cease as I plopped myself onto my bed, keeping him on my lap.
I took his sunglasses off and tilted his in up so he would look at me. "What's your favorite color?" I asked, sternly. He starred in confusion. "Red. And green," he replied. I smiled. "Green is a pretty color. It's the color of grass and trees, and vomit and bugers," I reminded him with a smirk. He giggled and hugged me.
"Thank you, Wally, you're the best," he whispered. "Ya, I know," I replied.