gigifecci suggested a soulmate AU which I've never done nor do I really read so bear with me if I didn't do the trope justice

also are platonic soulmates a thing in these AUs? for my aroace friends? and multiple for the poly bros? if not then they are here 

Soulmates were a weird and complicated thing that got covered vaguely in class one day before never being spoken about again. It was a subject you figured out through your own firsthand experience or through people sharing their stories. The rules of it were complicated at best and downright annoying at worst. From the stories Dick's parents told him, everyone had a soulmate but not everyone had a romantic soulmate. Some had platonic soulmates and some had multiple soulmates. The process was pretty much the same though. You have a mark on your arm and when you meet someone with the same mark, that's your soulmate. 

For Dick, he was looking for someone with three dots above their collarbone. He wished it was somewhere more visible so he didn't have to feel like a creep whenever someone's collarbones were out. He didn't know who would be his soulmate either. Everyone was his type so he couldn't even narrow it down to a specific gender. All he knew was three dots. Did they mean anything? Who knows. Theories about it all were vague and most people chose the ones that felt the best for them. Dick liked to think they were highlighting a feature your last soulmate loved about you but when applied to himself he didn't quite see the appeal. He also thought his past soulmate was a bit of a dick for liking a body part that was covered all the time. For all he knew, his soulmate could be walking down the street and he wouldn't know a thing. Maybe he'd be one of those people who didn't believe in soulmates and settled down with someone they weren't meant for. There were billions of people out there after all so it was very likely you wouldn't see your soulmate in this lifetime. As nice as it sounded that there was someone out there perfect for you, Dick assumed he'd miss out on it from a young age but you know what they say about assuming. 

When Dick met Wally, he felt like his world lit up and he was finally seeing it for all its beauty. He loved everything about the speedster. His laugh, his eyes, his stupid jokes. Everything about him was perfect. If anyone was his soulmate, he knew it'd be Wally. They got along like a house on fire and their friendship only grew throughout the years. He suspected others had picked up on their bromance losing its B on his side but no one ever said anything to him. When they joined the team, Dick was secretly wishing for an opportunity to see his chest to make sure they were made for each other even though he was very confident that they were. No one could be this perfect for him without being his soulmate right? All he needed was the opportunity to see Wally's collarbone to confirm it which was surprisingly hard given all the time they spent together he'd never seen him shirtless. A severe lack of beaches in both Gotham and Central City was to blame. So when a beach day came up, he was more than excited to get things started with the person who was meant to love him forever. He even had the opportunity to leave time for a surprise for the rest of the team as Wally would be turning up late. He let everyone go ahead and waited by the Zetatubes for the speedster. 

There was an announcement followed by a flash of light and Dick held his breath as the figure stepped out. All he could see were three dots above the collarbone in the exact same place he had. Wally grinned as he stepped out before his eyes fell to Dick's collarbone to find the same mark. It slid off his face as he realised what it meant and he dropped the water toys he'd brought for everyone. "We have the same mark," Dick concluded with a relieved smile. All this time he'd had feelings for his friend and it was all worth it. They were meant to be together. 

"Artemis can't know about this," Wally said immediately. The acrobat's smile dropped and he tilted his head in confusion. They shared the same mark! Only one person, unless you had multiple which Dick didn't feel like he had, was out there with the same mark and they were already together this whole time. No wonder they were such good friends. They were meant to be together. 

"What do you mean? We're soulmates."

"We're friends," the ginger clarified. "I like Artemis. I don't want to be with you." Those words felt like a dagger through the heart and he was frozen in place. His soulmate was standing in front of him saying that he didn't want to be with him. The one person in the world who was supposed to want him didn't. "What's going to happen is you're going to grab the foundation you use to cover your bruises and put it over those dots. Not a word of this gets out, got that?" 

"You're going to take that tone with me, really? I'm your soulmate."

"And I don't care about that!"

"Clearly not," Dick responded. He couldn't go out there after having this conversation. He was amazing at hiding his feelings but this was life-changing. He'd have to spend his whole life knowing his soulmate was a person that didn't want him and there wasn't another person out there, he knew that. 

"I don't want to upset you."

"You can't have your cake and eat it too. I'm going to be upset when the only person who's supposed to love me doesn't love me."

"But you'll keep this quiet, right?" Wally didn't even attempt to correct his statement. The universe truly was cruel to him. Maybe he simply wasn't meant to be loved and this was his sign. He didn't have the energy to argue or kick up a fuss about how unfair it all was.

"Stays between us," he answered reluctantly. This was it. Resigned to the sidelines as anyone of Wally's choosing got to take his place. 

"Thanks, dude. No hard feelings right? You're like my best friend and I'd hate to ruin that." 

"You're unbelievable," he tutted. "You're supposed to love me and you don't. You want to go chase someone else's soulmate when I'm standing in front of you and we've been friends for years." The ginger looked away and the fight that Dick had regained died. There was no point. If his soulmate wanted to chase a girl then that's what was happening. "You have no respect for me and you've made that clear. Tell the team whatever story you want but I'm out of here."

"Off the team out of here?"

"Not going to the beach out of here. I'm a Bat, I can hide my emotion but I need a minute. You can give me that at least." Wally nodded and if the acrobat cared to consider the expression on his face, he would've seen the guilt. He didn't have to though so he didn't. "Have fun wooing Arty with the wrong fucking soul mark."

That conversation stayed between them for years. No one knew why for a whole month they wouldn't spend any time together without being in a bigger group or being forced to. Everyone knew something had happened but no one had the guts to bring it up or push the subject past the regular emotional check-ins. Dick hated that he was missing Wally and he hated even more that he decided to forgive the guy for what he did. As much as he wished to cut the ginger out of his life, that stupid ginger was his soulmate. There was no separating them so their relationship somehow got back to the point before that dreaded beach day. 

He really did try to date other people since he didn't want to sit around like a lovesick teenager in some terrible teen romance. Barbara was wonderful. She was a childhood friend that was happy to be with him on the term that if either of their soulmates wanted them then they'd break up. Dick knew that would never happen for him but when she found her soulmate she, rightfully, left him. He missed their midnight chats and how she always understood him. He hoped her soulmate appreciated those too.

Then there was Starfire who didn't have a soul mark. Apparently, it was just a human thing and he wondered for a moment if he could make it work. Maybe it was all bullshit and soulmates were some made-up evolutionary trait. It would make him feel a lot better about being unloved like he was. When he informed her how things worked on Earth, she felt bad that she was taking someone's perfect match but was put at ease when he explained the situation. 

"That is rather sad," she'd told him. "I love you but it is sad that he does not. I'm glad you belong to me now although it is under unfortunate circumstances." He'd smiled at her and relished being wanted. Who wouldn't? "I know that in your custom he is the one who owns your heart so if he ever wises up to what he is missing out on, you have my permission to pursue it."

"You'd do that for me?"

"I would do anything for you."

The relationship fell apart but not on bad terms. She never was comfortable with owning a heart that didn't belong to her and it didn't help that he was so obviously smitten with his best friend. He loved her, of course, but she wasn't Wally and she knew that. 

When Dick went to the Watchtower to go over a mission, he didn't expect anything interesting. Bruce would go over something anyone with two brain cells could figure it out but he'd say it like he was the only one who was smart in the room. Safe to say he didn't miss the days when he was the sidekick having to listen to that tone every day. The most excitement he expected at this meeting was an argument between his hard-headed ex-mentor and the blue boy scout he was 90% sure was either Bruce's soulmate or worse enemy. So he sat down and strapped in for a boring hour of his life he could've spent doing anything else. What he didn't expect was Artemis to storm into the meeting with Wally trailing behind her. "Nightwing, a minute please?" she announced. 

"I'm in the middle of a meeting," he pointed out. 

"Batman, can he be excused?" 

"What're the grounds?"

"That if I don't see him outside in the next five minutes, everyone else in this room is going to bare witness to a very awkward conversation." He held her gaze for a moment before nodding to his ward to go with her. "Thank you." She stared at Dick, who was still amazed all it took was the threat of some emotional distress to get him out of the meeting, hesitantly got up and followed her out of the room. He had no idea what it was about but he had a feeling he wasn't going to like it.

After walking to one of the empty meeting rooms and, worryingly, locking the door, Artemis turned to the baffled acrobat with a sympathetic expression. He had no idea why given that he hadn't done anything considerably pathetic in the recent months. Aside from that time he sent a picture of a newly cleaned bedroom to a group chat only for everyone to question him on the pile of medicine beside his bed which he had to quickly explain was due to him forgetting how much he had and stockpiling not because of any other reason. "Wally told me everything and I want to say before anything else happens that you're a good person for keeping this quiet for him. I'm not angry with you in any way," Artemis explained. Oh. That's what this was about. At least he wasn't wrongly blamed for keeping this secret. "Tell him everything," she ordered her boyfriend. Although that status might be on rocky ground right now. 

"So Artemis and I always knew we weren't soulmates but we were gonna give it a shot. Then I saw you were my soulmate and I'd always had feelings for you, I just didn't want to come out. You know how people can be about that sorta thing," Wally began. "I didn't tell Artemis about us until she saw you shirtless and then me shirtless. She put two and two together so I told her the conversation she had and well-"

"I broke up with him on the spot," Artemis butt in. "I might not have found my soulmate but I was under the impression that he didn't know his either. I wouldn't have dated him if I knew."

"What are you guys saying here?" Dick asked. 

"We're saying that I'm ready to come out and be with you. I'm sorry for making you think I didn't love you and not being straight, ironically, with you."

"We're not going to date right away," the acrobat clarified. He folded his arms over his chest to show there was no dissuading him. Not that many would attempt in the first place. "You need to make up for the years of hurt you put me through. Fuck dude, you had all this time to just tell me you weren't ready to come out and you never said a word. I would've completely understood."

"But I didn't want to make you feel like my dirty little secret."

"Oh, but making me keep quiet on us being soulmates wasn't the same thing?" The ginger opened his mouth to retaliate but he didn't have a good argument. "You can't escape from the fact you told me when we were kids that I'd be alone because you wanted to be with her! Even if you didn't want to come out, you still chose her over me. You made me think the only person meant for me didn't want me. How fucked is that?"

"It's incredibly fucked, there's no denying that. If you could give me time to make it up to you, I'd love the opportunity. I feel awful about what I did and I was just scared. I should've given you the full story not just that I wanted to be with Artemis." 

"Yeah, you should have." He sighed to himself after getting an eyefull of Wally's puppy dog eyes. "Whoever genetically engineered your eyes needs a pay rise. I can't stay mad even if I wanted to."

"So, we'll make it work?"

"We will. Hope you've got one hell of a first date planned."