chapter eleven - terrors
-> sorry for the seven month wait, im mentally ill and also Apparently bisexual

•

DOWNTOWN GOTHAM
SEPTEMBER 12th — 17:13 EST

getting into a hostage situation with a gang of bank robbers wasn't on dick's to-do list. after the whole scarecrow-fear-toxin situation, dick was supposed to be taking it easy. he barely even knew how he ended up blindfolded and tied up in a random gotham bank along with wally and about twenty scared citizens.

whoops!

"are you still there?" wally whispered.

dick almost laughed, but figured that the four-or-so men pointing guns at them wouldn't approve of that. "i wouldn't just leave."

"sometimes during missions you disappear."

"i'm working on that."

"well-"

"who's talking?" a loud voice interrupted their conversation. "one more word and you get a bullet in your head."

they needed a plan. once they got out of their bonds, dick could fight blindfolded no problem and he and wally could communicate in morse code with ease, but that plan had many flaws. 1) dick's identity could be compromised, 2) they had no weapons, 3) blindly fighting the gunmen who were holding children hostage didn't seem like the brightest idea.

so then what?

something in another room beeped, then what sounded like a large metal door opened. dick swore under his breath, it was the safe.

wally leaned over to his boyfriend, dropping his voice low. "i think that's the safe-"

"shut up!" a gunman yelled. "shut up or i'll shoot you and your emo little boyfriend."

emo?

dick shook his sleeve, letting a little box-knife fall into his hand. they were tied up with zip-ties, which weren't the easiest thing in the world to cut through. he began to slowly saw at the tie.

"smithers!" a different, higher, voice yelled. "come here."

"but- the hostages..." the gunman that kept threatening wally—smithers—called back.

"leave them!" someone with a thick quebecois accent argued. "they are tied and blind, what can they do?"

smithers shuffled out of the room just as dick finally broke through the zip-tie. he pulled off his blindfold, surveying their situation, before untying wally too.

"took you long enough," wally whispered, grinning. "you got a plan?"

"not really." dick shrugged. "all i have is a box-knife. we should knock them out in the other room so that nobody is accidentally shot at."

"i hope i don't burn through my date shoes."

"your date shoes?"

wally pointed to his white converse.

"ah, i see." dick nodded. he reached into the utility belt he was wearing underneath his clothes (never leave home without it) and pulled out two masks, tossing one to wally.

"am i robin? oh my god. best date ever."

"debatable." dick laughed. "you ready?"

-

it turns out that dick had counted wrong. (unusual, right?) there was a secret fifth gunman, one who was deaf and sneaky and incredible at melee fighting and absolutely fantastic at gymnastics.

they scared the hell out of dick.

Deaf and Sneaky™️ ran towards the duo, holding not a gun but a sword. they sliced at dick, forcing him to fall into a back handspring to maneuver away. wally sped toward the swordfighter, kicking the sword out of their hands.

shots rang out as the other gunmen saw what they were doing. wally ran toward them, kicking the guns so that they couldn't shoot at dick, who was in an increasingly violent punch-out with the other.

dick ignored the few shots still coming his way, hoping that wally would stop any that got near him, and focused solely on fighting the ninja. he blocked just as many hits as he took, throwing only a few.

"aH!!" wally yelled, knocking into dick. they both hit the wall. the ninja ran toward them. a gun shot rang out. someone screamed.

the ninja dropped to the floor, blood shooting out of their jugular.

it reminded dick of his parents.

the fight seemed to pause for a moment; everyone was transfixed on the death. dick pulled his eyes off of the pool of blood and picked up the ninja's sword.

it was time to end this.

dick turned toward a slender man with large features. the man backed up, throwing his hands in surrender, but dick kicked him to the ground and hit him over the head with the sword before he had a chance to say anything.

"it's my mom's birthday on saturday," wally said, punching smithers in the face, then recoiling and hugging his fist to his chest.

a women holding two pistols ran at dick. he knocked one of the guns out of her hands, earning himself a punch in the gut. half-panting, half-groaning, he glanced at wally. "the big four-five?"

"mhm- aUGWJHAI." wally was knocked to the ground by the canadien. he scrambled to get back up, speeding over to the other side of the room. "my whole family's gonna be there."

"mhm?" dick kicked the woman in her face, watching her crumple to the ground. maybe that was a little too hard.

"i want you to be there. i'm gonna tell them that we're dating."

"you're gonna what?"

"i've thought a lot about it, babe." wally swept the quebecois out from under his feet. "i'm gonna do it."

"okay."

"okay?"

"i'm gonna deal with this stupid shit-" dick gestured to the remaining robbers—"before i deal with your stupid shit, yeah?"

KEYSTONE CITY, KA
SEPTEMBER 17th — 15:26 CST

the walk from the zeta tube to wally's house wasn't nearly as beautiful or peaceful as it had been in times past. dick had his earbuds in, system of a down on full blast, yet he could barely enjoy the melody.

it was stressful.

dick rubbed at his arms, which were holding a bouquet of roses, before changing the song to one of his favourite foster the people songs, "best friend". it didn't unwind the knot in his stomach or stop the worrying thoughts racing through his brain. what the fuck, mark foster?

wally's whole family was going to be there. cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents—the whole shebang. why was it now that they were doing this?

wally's house came into view—a two-story home made out of brick and wood. it was a quaint road, only ten or so houses, with a playground nearby. corn fields were lush across the street and the air smelled of freshly-cut grass.

it was so beautiful. it was so kansas. it was so wally.

-

"ding dong," dick mumbled, knocking on wally's door. his doorbell was broken, it had been for years.

he paced awkwardly, waiting for someone to open the door. dick pulled at his fingers and did his best to stay. he did his best to avoid running back to the zeta tube, changing his name, and fleeing the country.

wally's mother, marilyn, opened the door. "hi, sweetie, come on in!"

she was a petite woman with sunken eyes and light hair tied into a ponytail. her breath was potent, it smelled like cigarettes. other than her abundance of freckles, her and wally barely looked alike.

dick stepped in, brandishing the roses toward marilyn. "these are, uhm, for you. happy birthday."

she took them earnestly, gushing over how beautiful they were. dick had gotten wally's favourite flower—pink roses—and just hoped that marilyn liked them too. apparently, that was another trait they shared.

"who's here?" a voice called from upstairs and, seconds later, wally was visible, leaning over the stairway banner. "you're early."

"hi, walls." dick glanced at his watch. "i'm a bit late, actually. you said to come at 3:30."

"and it is..?"

"3:42." dick smiled, finally feeling like he could relax. it was just him and wally. him and the dorky redhead with absolutely no concept of time.

"who's here?" a brash voice called from down the hallway. dick's stomach dropped and his hands started to shake because this was happening and it was happening now.

wally's father, rudy, appeared from the great beyond (also known as the west's living room). he had a beer in one hand and a remote in the other, yet he and wally still looked so eerily similar. "is my sister finally on time for something?"

"no, uhm-" wally jumped down the last few steps of the stairs, standing near—not too near—his boyfriend. "this is richard grayson, remember him?"

"the, uh." rudy gestured toward dick with his beer can. "the star labs boy?"

"no, uh, well, kinda. wayne tech, but they're a prime investor in star labs so... i mean, you're not wro-"

"i'm in kansas for a tech fair." dick cut off wally's rambling. "wally invited me for dinner, if that's alright?"

it wasn't a lie. dick was in kansas. there was a tech fair this weekend in central city. wally invited him for dinner. it wasn't quite alright.

"of course it's alright!" marilyn smiled. "why don't you boys go get ready? everyone else should be here soon."

—

it was not even an hour later when a loud knock sounded through the house. it was followed by several quieter knocks, and then the sound of a child being told off.

"my cousins," wally said, shaking his hands. it almost looked like he was trying—and failing—to do jazz hands.

dick hopped up from where he was sitting on the floor, an almost-finished 1000 piece puzzle beneath his feet. "your cousins! let's go meet them."

"i've met them befor-"

it was too late for wally to object, as dick had already grabbed wally's jazziest hand and began pulling him out of the bedroom and toward the foyer.

in walked the west extended family, looking slightly disheveled and like they had too many bags and not enough hands. the husband was tall and handsome, his eyes were gentle, and identical to marilyn's. his wife was equally as pretty, with long dark hair and tan skin. they had four children, two girls and two boys, probably all somewhere between 16 and 4.

"take off your shoes for god's sake!" the wife scolded. she spoke as if there was an accent on the tip of her tongue, barely noticeable, but enough to make her voice stand out. "your doorbell doesn't work, you know?"

"oh, wally!" the husband smiled. "will you grab these for us?"

wally nodded, grabbing the family's relentless amount of bags. he handed a few to dick, leading them down to a spare bedroom where the bags full of who-knows-what were set on the bed. by the time they got back to the foyer, it seemed like the family was situated, talking with rudy and marilyn.

"this is my uncle thomas and aunt sofía," wally introduced, gesturing to the parents of the four kids. "and these are antonella, luis, asla, and luna."

the three oldests looked similar, they all had dark brown hair and tan skin, which was a stark contrast against the youngest, luna. she had the same intense eyebrows as her mother, but her hair was blonde and tied up into pigtails.

"this is my b-best friend, richard." wally almost laughed, calling his dickie his best friend was laughable. not because it wasn't true—for, it was—but because this was the first time in seven months that he'd have to introduce their relationship this way.

"nice to meet you!"

-

a little bit later, dick was laying on wally's bed. he was sprawled out on his stomach, typing feverishly on his laptop. he was trying to find the gotham mayor, hamilton hill. it sounded random, sure, but he had gone missing a few days prior after travelling to india and dick found that suspicious.

wally had gone to help his mom with dinner and so, like the good samaritain he was, dick had focused his efforts on tracking down the guy. he was even wearing his reading glasses, which proved how serious the situation was.

"hi."

dick turned toward the voice, seeing one of wally's cousins—luis?—standing there. he was 13, dick remembered, but looked like he had already given—or taken—his fair share of beatings.

"hi." dick sat up so that he was cross-legged.

"are you wally's... boyfriend."

dick broke into a smile, pausing for a few moments before deciding on his answer. "we hang out. why do you think he's my boyfriend?"

"you're laying in his bed."

"yeah, because-"

"do you love him?" luis cut off. the boy seemed... genuine. perhaps he was more similar to wally than dick first assumed.

"i like the way he smells."

the sound of wally walking down the hallway stopped luis from replying any more. "luis? what are you doing in my room?"

"just talking to your friend," luis said, a smug grin on his face.

wally met dick's eyes, raising an eyebrow. "okay... well, your mom asked for you downstairs."

luis shot dick one last look, before taking off downstairs. wally watched him run for a few seconds, before sitting down beside his boyfriend. "sorry about him."

"don't be," dick said, turning back to his laptop. "he's nice."

"we're talking about the same luis right? one time he punched out a kid for eating grilled cheese with monterey jack instead of chedder."

"who the fuck puts monterey jack on a grilled cheese?" dick looked up at wally. his expression of absolute offense gave him the answer. "oh."

"it was one time!"

-

"wallace, come set the table," an elderly woman said, standing in the doorway. she had been so silent walking over that neither dick nor wally had noticed, which was only slightly terrifying. it was a good thing that they had stopped making out about ten minutes ago.

"nana! when did you get here?" wally asked, standing up from where he was hunched over a map of india.

"you would've known if you hadn't been hiding out in your room all day," wally's grandmother—rose—scolded, her face severely unimpressed.

"sorry, homework." wally pointed to the map, laughing awkwardly. "we'll be right down to set the table."

rose nodded, offering dick a quick wave. "nice to meet you."

"you too," dick said, though she was already heading back downstairs, her stride ever-so silent. "gregarious, yeah?"

"she's a, uhm... traditionalist." wally raised his eyebrows dramatically. "you know how to set proper tables, right? like, with all the spoons."

"bitch, have you met alfred?"

-

marilyn was quite the popular lady. not only were her parents, brother, sister-in-law, husband, son, nieces, and nephews here to celebrate her birthday, but also a few of her friends and their husbands.

personally, dick liked marilyn. (as a person, not as a mother.) she was pleasant to talk to and always told good stories. what he didn't like were her karen-coded friends and their burly, definitely-homophobic husbands.

this, along with the fact that wally's family were all good ol' kansas-flavoured traditionalist christians was not a good sign for him and wally. especially when wally kept playing footsies with him under the table.

and, better yet, iris and barry were going to be an hour late!

"so, richard. where are you from?" fred, wally's grandfather, struck up conversation.

dick squished his rice around with his fork, too nervous to just take a bite. "uh, new jersey. gotham city."

"that's not a new jersey accent though." fred laughed, it wasn't genuine. "you're not from mexico, right?"

dick did not like the implications of that!

"i was born in europe. in romania, but i, uh, travelled a lot as a kid."

fred nodded for a bit, getting dick's excitement up that the conversation was over, until he spoke again. "you know, when i heard that wallace was bringing someone to dinner, i expected it to be a girl."

"mhm?" dick just nodded. wally stopped their little footsies game, obviously tuning in to the coming conversation.

"i guess you're better than a mexican girl though!" fred laughed, glaring at sofía. "wallace needs to meet a girl soon, before people start to believe that he's a queer. like his aunt charlotte, notice how she wasn't invited? she's going to hell as a fa-"

wally abruptly stood up, slapping his hands down on either side of his plate. "i have an announcement!" he yelled and slowly, but surely, chatter stopped as everyone looked at him.

dick's heart stopped. wally had planned to do this way after dessert, not in the middle of everyone eating. with one shaking hand to hold his own head, dick slid his other one to interlock wally's hand as he continued. "i just want everyone to know that i'm fucking gay. just a big ol' homo. also in love with richard here."

for a minute, nobody spoke. the table was silent except for the sounds of wally's youngest cousins going on with their supper, none the wiser.

"and also, fredrick, it's uncle charlie."

rudy finally gathered his senses, yelling loudly and jumping up, throwing his half-eaten plate to the floor. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" he yelled, heading straight for wally.

rudy placed one hand on wally's shoulder, using the other to give him a swift punch in the face. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" he yelled.

wally, with almost a smirk tugging at his lips, grabbed an empty beer bottle from the counter behind him and smashed it clean over rudy's head.

"GOD, FUCKER!" rudy yelled out, grabbing wally and throwing him down to the floor.

"you aren't sorry for shit," mary said. she took a step forward as john handed her a dagger. "you're not worth our time, boy. you're not worth anything."

"excuse me," dick shook his head, smiling apologetically. he stood up from the table and headed over to help his boyfriend.

wally had landed on his back, struggling to get up as rudy kneeled on him, pushing away wally's flailing arms and continuously punching wally square in the face.

"i've been wanting to do this forever!" dick grabbed rudy's shoulders, knocking their heads together powerfully.

dick pushed rudy down to the floor, giving him two solid punches when a horrible sting spread across his back. dick crumpled to the floor, holding his back in one hand and staring up at fred, who was snarling and holding a chair in his old hands.

"and i'm DONE with all your comments about sofía, dad," wally's uncle thomas yelled, standing up violently and pushing fred to the ground.

"kids, go to the guest room!" sofía yelled, ushering the four children out of the dining room and rolling up her sleeves. "mami's just going to... talk with grandpa."

dick dragged himself up, holding up his fists as the burly husbands joined the fight. soon it was an all-out brawl—wally, dick, sofía, and thomas against fred, rudy, and the husbands. rose and marilyn's friends took to yelling fun things (homophobic remarks) from the sidelines, and marilyn herself disappeared long ago in a cloud of cigarette smoke.

-

"don't hit the cops, rudy!" rose yelled, following the officers as they dragged rudy outside and pinned him on their car, handcuffing him. "they'll pin you for this shit if you hit 'em! let 'em pin the fags!"

dick sat handcuffed, watching as the many officers escorted everyone involved in the fight from wally's house. his nose was bleeding a lot, probably broken, but other than that, the homophobes hadn't caused much more physical damage. they could talk the talk, but not fight the fight, or however the expression went.

a couple more cops pulled wally from the house, pinning him on the car right near rudy. (this was not ideal!)

"fucking faggot!" rudy yelled, squirming as the cops cuffed him. "don't ever come back to my house, you disrespectful queer!"

"sounds good to me, bitch!" wally yelled back, that usual, endearing, shit-eating grin on his face. "i've been staying with richard for years to put up with your pussy-ass attitude!"

"fuck you!"

"and guess what, dad? we're fucking! and i love it! and i love him!" wally laughed as the cops pulled rudy up, dragging him to the police car door. "and now everyone knows that you. raised. a. fag!!"

"you put shame on your fucking last name, you fucker!" rudy yelled as the cops pushed him into the car and slammed the door.

"fuck," the cop muttered, walking over to wally and picking him up off the car. he grabbed wally's cuffed hands tightly, walking him over to where dick was still sitting.

"and as for you two," the cop began, unlocking wally's cuffs. "you're free to go."

"what?" wally used his now-free hand to wipe at his bloody face, but it seemed to just make the cuts and bruises worse.

the cop kneeled down to free dick. "it'll be a lot of useless paperwork if i bring you guys in. i'd much rather get home to my husband." he walked away without another word, signalling to the other officers that it was time to leave.

-

wally groaned as he sat down beside dick, a bottle of vodka in one hand. they were silent, sitting on the porch stairs and watching as the last bit of sunset seemed to disappear. wally took a swig of the vodka, his face still beat up horribly, before handing it to dick.

"i think i broke half a fucking tooth," wally said, holding his cheek tenderly.

dick took a sip, passing the bottle back. "yeah," he gently pressed on his own torso. "i think those guys hurt my ribs more than the fucking bank robbers."

they both broke out into laughter, but the laughs quickly turned into grunts and whispered swears. wally took another swig of vodka, leaning his head on dick's shoulder. dick wrapped his good arm around wally, kissing his forehead.

"still think i'm stupid for doing this?"

dick pulled the bottle from wally's grasp, putting the lid back on and setting it to the side. "i thought that the plan was stupid, not you. i think you're inspiring."

"inspiring?" a laugh on the tip of his tongue.

"yeah." dick gently pulled wally's head up to look at him in the eyes. "inspiring."

wally closed his eyes, pulling dick in for a slow kiss. unfortunately, their moment was interrupted by the sound of a car pulling up. dick pulled away, watching as barry got out of the (now parked) car, glance at the two bloody teenagers sitting on the porch steps, freeze, then run over, dropping on his knees directly in front of them.

"WALLY? DICK? WHAT HAPPENED?" barry yelled, bringing his shaking—or, rather, vibrating—hands to cover his gaping mouth.

iris walked over, a wrapped box in her hands, but the second that she saw them the box fell dramatically to the ground. "was. it. rudolph?" she seethed.

barry pulled the boys into a hug, tears welling at his eyes. "i'msosorrythatiwasn'there.igotcaughtupwithcaptaincoldandiwaslatethenweforgotthepresentandhadtorunhometograbitand! ugh! i'm so, so sorry."

wally nodded in understanding. dick wasn't too sure what barry had said but he knew that it was from a place of love regardless.

"it's fine, uncle barry!" wally pulled the sobbing man away, smiling with bloody teeth. "dickie and were in the mood to beat some bitches up anyway!"

"where's marilyn?" iris asked. she looked the angriest that dick had ever seen her. "and where is my sorry excuse for a brother?"

"dad was arrested. mom is, uhm," wally looked around. "well, i dunno. i haven't seen her since. thomas and sofía are cleaning up inside."

iris nodded angrily, storming past them to walk up the stairs. she stopped at the very top step, though, walking back down, and brining dick and wally into a hug. "i'm sorry this happened," she whispered. "i love you and i'm proud of you for who you are."

one moment longer, and then she was storming right back up those stairs.

"let's get you boys cleaned up, okay?" barry stood up, helping pull up the two. "and wally, you can move in with iris and i. imean,ifyouwantto.don'tfeelpressured.but,like,wedohavearoomforyoualready.and,ofcourse,youcaneitherrunorzetatoschooleverydaysothatyoudon'thavetotransfer.unlessyouwanttotransfer!andobviouslydickcancomeoverwhenever!ofcourse,onlyifyouchoosetomovein.notthatdickcan'tcomeoverevenifyoudon't!i'mjust-"

"uncle barry!" wally cut off his uncle's rambling. "i'd love to live with you and iris."

a huge grin spread across the man's face. "wait till iris hears!!! she's gonna be so excited!!! but let's clean you two up first, okay?"

dick nodded, grabbing wally's hand. "okay."