MASK OR MENACE IC INBOX

[runningstart]

WALLY WEST
"You've reached the personal voice mail of the Wall-man. The honor is yours! Leave your deets, I'll holla back atcha."
[ BEEP. ]

KID FLASH
"This is the contact for Kid Flash. If it's an emergency, call Robin; he'll know where I am. Otherwise, leave your info and I'll get you back ASAP."
[ BEEP. ]


[ voice | text | email | action ]

( Please specify in tag subject line if the contact is for Wally West or Kid Flash! )

Comments

[performance]

[ There's a mole on the team, and he sent his friends to their deaths in a simulated alien mothership, and Zatanna's dad is Doctor Fate now, maybe forever, and Kid Flash singlehandedly saved Vlatava, and who knows what's going on with Miss M anymore, and Wally and Artemis haven't said a non-hostile word to each other in three weeks, and he's just come off of going home again— his first home, the one only a handful of people really know about— and it was supposed to be Christmas Eve. ]

... I got two birthday kisses.

[runningstart]

Really? At the breakneck pace we've been doing stuff, just two kisses is all you can report?

[Wally knows there's more, but he keeps his tone casual because he knows there's no need to pry. Dick will probably tell him anything relevant eventually.]

Who from?

[performance]

I'll tell you the rest when you're awake. Four months is kind of like forever in superhero years.

[ He rolls his shoulders. His birthday already feels like a long, long time ago. ]

I don't kiss and tell, dude.

... But thanks in advance.

[runningstart]

Don't know why you're thanking me, unless I kissed you. Uh, you're welcome then, I guess. [Wally pulls off his boots and gloves and grabs the suitcase under his bed that he usually stores his uniform in. He'll have to get it cleaned again.]

[performance]

That's not— [ Dick's cheeks heat up, and he shoves off the dresser to punch Wally playfully in the shoulder. ]

... pff. Jerk.

[runningstart]

[Wally rolls his shoulder before reaching for the zipper of his costume. He pauses, and half-turns to regard Dick out of the corner of his eye.]

...hey. Artemis said something to me a while ago, and seemed kind of surprised I didn't know. And then dodgy about it. She mentioned something about a mole.

Do you...know what she meant by that?

[performance]

[ Oh. Great. This. ]

Do you want to know?

[runningstart]

Well when you say it like that then no, not really, but I probably should anyway. Right?

[performance]

Probably.

[ Robin sighs and turns his gaze out the window, all his frustration with Wally gone. He'd missed him, he really had, even just for the few days they'd been in Europe, and even if Wally doesn't know— he still has to make up for leaving him behind. And anyway, he has a right to know, even if it makes Robin the bearer of bad news. ]

We have intel that suggests there's a double agent on our team. It's only a possibility— I don't know who, I don't think any of us would... but the fact is that the way things stand right now, there's reason to believe that someone's leaking inside information.

[runningstart]

What? [Wally pauses in pulling off his costume.] There's someone ratting us out? To the bad guys?

[performance]

That's the popular theory. Kaldur's not sure, but Roy believes it. So does Batman.

[ He doesn't like it, and it shows, but who's he to argue with something Batman is sure about? ]

[runningstart]

[Wally groans again.]

Okay, no, you were right. You should tell me more after I sleep. [He rubs his eyes, glancing over at Robin. Seeming to make up his mind, he crosses the distance between them and yanks Robin into a brief one-armed hug.] Glad you weren't kidnapped. For like, the hundredth time. [never a dull moment when you're batman's sidekick eh]

[performance]

[ Robin hugs back for a second longer than Wally does, and immediately feels foolish for it. He'll tell him about the circus later, if he wants to hear. If it matters, after the rest of it. ]

Me too.

And... I'm sorry for freaking you out.

[runningstart]

Nah. [When Robin holds on too long Wally just slings his arm around him again and pats him on the back. He knows how it is.] Not like you could do anything about it. This stuff happens.

[performance]

[ That simple little pat on the back is more reassuring than Wally can possibly know. Even so, he pulls back after only a few seconds longer, skimming his hands down the edges of his cape anxiously. ]

I'd really like for it to be done happening, though.

[runningstart]

You won't hear any arguments outta me. [Wally finishes stripping off his uniform and pulls on a pair of sleep pants. He'll shower tomorrow. Too tired now.] I'd go out on patrol with you now dude, but...

[performance]

Go to bed, KF. I'm gonna.

[runningstart]

[Wally hesitates.]

Would you uh...can I just throw some blankets down on the floor in your room? I mean, mine's just kind of cluttered and I don't want to clean it up, makes me feel claustrophobic or something.

[performance]

[ He laughs, soft and short and surprisingly relieved. ]

Of course. Mi carpet es su carpet.

[ this is what you missed, wally ]

[runningstart]

Well then yo dormir en su carpet. [stop that. at least conjugate the verb you punk.

Wally grabs his blankets and a pillow off his bed and traipses over to Dick's room behind him, throwing his things on the ground and only vaguely arranging them in some semblance of a shape before throwing himself down and pulling out his comm to fire off a text or two.]

Huh. Now that I think about it we haven't had a sleepover for a while, have we?

[performance]

[ It takes him a minute — time travel is disorienting — but either way, here or back home, it's true. ]

It's been forever. Which is really dumb, circumstances considered.

[ Robin unlatches the clasp on his cape, tossing it over the back of his chair as he starts removing his uniform and getting into his pajamas. Mask comes off last, as always. ]

[runningstart]

Unless passing out on the couch counts. ...does that count when you live in the same house? [wally is pretty sure it doesn't

Either way he's tired and now that he's horizontal on his blankets he's fading fast. He falls asleep like a puppy. Or an infant. Within seconds.]

Glad you're not kidnapped or dead, [he mumbles sleepily into his pillow, hugging it.]

[performance]

You and me both, dude.

[ Dick crawls into bed, stepping over Wally's nest of blankets in the dark. He shifts a few times, trying to get comfortable, and finally settles with his arm dangling off the side of the bed next to Wally's shoulder. He's not sure whether Wally's out or not, but he half-whispers into the dark anyway: ]

... Thanks for missing me.