Work Text:
Barry had mostly been going out on a limb when he suggested introducing their sidekicks. Wally had been restless and increasingly hard to wrangle. Really, he'd expected a quick dismissal. Instead, Bats had actually brought Robin. The little tyke looked around the same age as Wally and behaved like absolute chaos barely contained in one 5'1 teenager.
Predictably, Robin and Wally got on like a house on fire, but there's also no denying that they were a good team. Mornings, midday, and evenings, Barry couldn't get away from 'Rob did this' and 'Rob thinks that.' It was annoying but cute.
"Flash," Batman called him to the side after one meeting a bit over a year later. Being called to the side by Batman had only lately stopped feeling like being called into the principal's office since it more often than not was about Robin and Wally.
"There will be a summer camp for science-minded kids. Two weeks, including hikes, workshops, and other activities in Virginia this summer break. For boys and girls between twelve and fifteen," for a moment Barry was completely taken aback. What was this conversation? "Why are you telling me this?" "Because I think you should send Kid Flash there. Make him have a real break away from the action, and- " Batman held up a hand to pause any question from Barry. "He might just meet a friend." Batman's mouth was flat in that almost smile. It took Barry all of two seconds until it clicked. "You mean Robin is going to be there?" In response, Batman finally broke out into his little smug smirk. "It's a bit expensive, I have to admit. But I'm sure it will be worth it." With that, Batman produced a flyer from his belt and handed it to Barry. "Let me know what you decide."
Running there would have taken ten minutes even with the luggage, but no. Barry had insisted they had to be extremely low-key, so Wally been cooped up in the thrice damned car for hours. Literal hours. He would've preferred electroshock torture to the boredom of crawling through slow traffic. Finally there, the first thing he did was run ten laps around the parking lot at human speeds, sadly.
The collection point for the camp was in the parking lot on the other side of the road. Multiple buses waited for children to arrive with their parents in the noon sun. Surprisingly, they weren't even late. Barry carried his suitcase while Wally couldn't stop scanning the crowd for someone who might be Rob. His uncle was trying to play cool, but he caught him also scanning the crowd. Probably trying to spot Batman. The thought alone made him snort. The sunny, warm space infested with loud children, surrounded by lush forest and blue skies, were completely at odds with the idea of Batman. Wally still wasn't entirely sure Batman wouldn't disintegrate in direct sun.
Barry steered him through the crowd of too well-dressed middle schoolers to a little standing table where they checked off his name on a list, put a band with his name on it on his suitcase, and told him what bus to take. He hugged Barry before he was hustled inside the last of the three buses.
With a bit of elbow, he snatched a window seat near the front where he could surveil the crowd outside. Stragglers arrived in expensive German and Italian cars or fat American SUVs, releasing perfectly bleach-blond and tanned moms hurrying their kids along. Most of the other kids he had seen were dressed in expensive brand-name wear. Wally almost felt shabby among so many private school kids. A girl with almost obnoxiously perfect hair swept into the seat beside him. Alas, he didn't spot anyone who bore more than a passing resemblance to Rob, and the entire bus ride to the compound, Wally was vibrating in his seat with barely contained excitement.
He talked some with the girl to distract himself from wondering if Rob had seen him. Wally wasn't exactly hard to miss since he was the only ginger kid he'd spotted, and Rob had actually seen his face before.
Finally at the camp, the boys and girls were split up to move into the dorms. And with dorms they meant the fanciest wood cabins he had ever seen in real life. The boys from the other buses had arrived a few minutes earlier, and Wally really, really couldn't take it anymore. Because it had occurred to him that he wouldn't at all put it past Rob to pretend not to know him and make him find out who he was, that bastard. The rooms were assigned by last name, so it was not likely that he and Rob would end up sharing. And even if they did, most rooms had four kids so they wouldn't be able to talk freely.
It took him a hot second to find the second-story room that had his and only two other names on the door. The list read: Richard G. Wayne, Wally West and James Zar. When he peeked inside, it looked like no one was there yet. The room had two bunk beds but no occupant. Except when he stepped inside, one of the top bunks had a backpack on it and an expensive-looking suitcase at the foot.
He had just quickly tossed his own backpack on the other top bunk when he sensed movement, and someone covered his eyes with their hands from behind. On instinct, Wally spun, ready to kick out. Instead of taking his assailant off their feet, legs clamped around his waist, and he barely prevented himself from falling over from the sudden weight. "Guess who?" Rob's voice spoke in his ear, grin audible. Wally couldn't help but respond in kind. "Dude!" He exclaimed excitedly, trying to pry Rob's hands off his face. "I totally jumped you," Rob crowed, and Wally couldn't let that stand. With a burst of superspeed, he turned in Rob's grip until they were eye to actual eye. His breath caught when he met slightly startled cerulean blue eyes instead of white lenses. Rob's expression crinkled in amusement as he hopped off Wally back to the ground. Wally had thought before that Robin had a pretty face, but seeing his complementary arched brows and bright eyes made it worse.
"Dude," he exclaimed again. The excitement bubbling in his chest made him pick Rob up and spin him around in revenge for the little scare. Rob didn't even sway when Wally set him down again. Instead, his grin became broader and annoyingly perfect as he extended his hand like they were businesspeople meeting for the first time. "Nice to meet you. I'm Dick Grayson." Wally did a hard double take before he remembered that "Dick" was an old-timey nickname for Richard. Right. Wally inflated his chest and spoke with the gravitas of a businessman who found himself important. "You too. I'm Wally West." They shook twice with the utmost solemnity, then Rob let out a little familiar cackle that broke the bit.
" You seriously go by Dick??" He couldn't help but ask. Dick just shrugged "yeah"
They proceeded to have an awesome time. Wally learned a lot about Rob since they could finally talk freely. Dick used to be an acrobat in an actual circus with his parents, which was the reason he was so bendy. It was super cool. Wally didn't miss that Dick spoke of them in the past tense, and eventually he got the story of what had happened to them. Pretty depressing. But not astounding for Gotham, he thought privately but didn't say. Dick wouldn't say much about Batman, only got a faintly amused expression like he knew something funny Wally didn't and evaded his needling.
"Oh," Dick perked up one evening when they were talking in their room after a day of canoeing that had wiped the other kids out. "Wait, I need to show you this." He promptly produced a brand-new Wayne Tech smartphone he wasn't supposed to have to show him a picture. To be precise, it was a selfie of himself and "Is that Artemis?" Dick cackled, "We go to the same school. She hates me." That was objectively hilarious.
Wally also learned that Dick now lived with a woman named Edith who was very rich and had a very big house and a British butler named Alfred. Upon asking if Edith was a couple with Batman, Dick again got that expression that meant he thought what Wally said was hilarious but remained annoyingly tight-lipped.
When the final day of the camp arrived, Wally was both pumped to return to heroing and sad that his time with Dick was over. When they had fewer secrets, they could talk for hours about nothing, and Wally would really miss him. Dick had already said that his guardian would be inviting them, but that wouldn't be the same. Apparently this had been, among other things, a ploy to have a reason for Dick and Wally, two kids from different tax brackets and states, to know each other. Typical Batman.
"Want to meet my guardian?" Dick asked when the bus veered into the same parking lot in which they had been collected. Wally agreed, of course. Dick had told so little about the woman he lived with that it had developed into a mystery in Wally's mind. Barry, of course, wasn't there yet, so no one stood in Dick's way as he weaved them through the crowd. Towards one woman leaning against a shiny black car parked half in shadow. She was tall, almost Wonder Woman tall, dressed in a modest summer dress in acquiescence to the 95° weather. A wide-brimmed hat shadowed her face. She didn't look at all plump or awkward like many women that were brought and tall did. Dick leapt forward and gave her a quick hug around the waist before jumping back and pushing Wally forward. Wally was by no means a short kid, but Edith Wayne towered above him anyway. Her eyes were blue too, but more grey than Dick's color pencil blue. For a moment it felt a bit like being observed by a glacier. Then she smiled at him kindly, and he remembered to breathe.
Edith was actually nice, intimidating at first but nice. He still burned to know if Edith was Batman's girlfriend or sister or something. Because he couldn't imagine a more fitting partner for tall, dark, and brooding than this buff, Morticia Addams vibe having woman. Would that make Batman Gomez?
Barry finally showed twenty minutes later. "Uncle Barry!" He waved him over before he could wander off in the wrong direction. Wally pulled him the last few steps. "Uncle Barry, this is Dick." Barry looked confused and mortified for a second, then seemed to register Dick's little wave. "Richard Grayson," Dick introduced himself. Wally watched as the lightbulb went off and Barry identified Dick as Robin "My friends call me Dick" he elaborated. And yeah actually Wally could see why Dick continued to go by that name. The reactions were kind of funny.
Edith had just gone off to retrieve Dick's suitcase and sign the release form, and Wally could see Barry looking around surreptitiously. Too bad he would be disappointed in the Batman department. "How was summer camp?" Barry inquired. Dick and he exchanged a look and launched into some stories.
"You must be Wally's uncle." Barry startled comically as a woman's voice sounded close behind him. He whipped around only slightly too fast, then looked up a bit to meet the woman's eyes under the wide-brimmed sun hat. She was about his age with shiny black hair and blue eyes, just like Robin. Oh. Ooh." That's me," Barry answered hastily before catching himself and collecting his wits. "Barry Allen, nice to meet you." He held out a hand as he trailed off. The woman's red-painted lips stretched into a smile. It was a nice smile.
" Edith Wayne." Her eyes twinkled with something like amusement. The name Wayne tickled something in his hindbrain while they shook hands briefly but he couldn't quite put a finger on it. In contrast to Barry's warm and slightly damp hand, hers was dry and even a tad cool. And also surprisingly muscular. As was the rest of her under her wide-sleeved maxi dress. It was cream white with different yellow and orange flowers tastefully patterned on it. Everything from her fancy sun hat to her fancy sunglasses tucked in her collar, fancy wristwatch, and perfect hair whispered wealth. Differently than all the other wealthy women he had seen today, she lacked the sporty tan.
"I'm Dick's guardian." Guardian, not mother. Barry wondered about that. Though now he got a second look, Richard Rob Dick had some features that looked not quite European. It didn't mean she couldn't be his mother. But Barry, for one, couldn't imagine Robin ever surpassing six feet. The real question was, who was she in all this? Maybe she was Batman's sister. Barry tried to imagine a male version of Mrs. Wayne: grey-blue eyes and that jawline. And if Batman turned out to have any other hair color but black, Barry would be very surprised. Batman was pretty pale too, and the shape of the mouth was kind of similar.
So maybe Batman had his sister raise Robin so he could focus on being Batman. Edith had handed the kids water bottles from the backseat of her car. Barry fired himself to stop theorizing and held a short conversation in which they exchanged phone numbers and made intentions to organize a get-together in the future.
Perhaps it was impolite to Google people, but Wally hadn't known much of anything about Edith either. It turned out there was a reason the name had rung familiar. Edith Wayne was that Wayne. The Wayne Enterprises Wayne. The company that supplied a lot of Star Labs equipment was owned by Edith, who was also the majority shareholder. Barry bawked at the fact that Edith Wayne had an estimated net worth well over a billion. It made his mental conspiracy board swing back to the financial backer real fast. As did the fact that Edith was very solidly an only child.