runningstart | MASK OR MENACE IC INBOX

[Wally throws open Dick's bedroom door a few minutes later. He'd been out of the house for the call, but he'd raced back and shoved a few things into the backpack slung over one shoulder.

He grabs Robin's jacket from the back of his desk chair and tosses it in his direction.]

We're going for a run, c'mon.

[ Dick's in the middle of packing an emergency escape kit — not because he's going to use it, but because he might need to, and being prepared helps calm him down (or at least that's what he's telling himself).

He catches the jacket on instinct, but looks wide-eyed at Wally. His face is a little puffy around the edges, but if neither of them says anything, it didn't happen, right? ]

... okay.

[ He doesn't even ask where to. ]

[Wally slips on the other strap of his backpack as Dick puts on his jacket and the second it's zipped up Wally's scooping Robin into his arms. Robin usually rides piggy-back, has told Wally numerous times that he hates being carried like this but Wally's got his backpack on and he's in a hurry.

They're out the door and down the street in a matter of seconds.

The world blurs by and Wally's brain speeds up accordingly, and the unfortunate side-effect of that is that he also thinks about things faster so he goes through the fight he'd had with Artemis, remembers Superboy's overturned bedroom, running on water, Dick's evasion on the ship, spotting Bruce Wayne and meeting Alfred Pennyworth, Shade's interest in him, Power Girl coming back, the past month and a half being away from home and the look on his Aunt Iris's face when he was in the hospital years ago-

Dick's bloodshot eyes behind his sunglasses as he shoves a toothbrush still in its packaging in a little duffel bag.

It's only been twenty minutes but they're already in Georgia. Wally slows down as the road curves up into the mountains. Way too fast with a passenger.]

Sorry. Hey, are you okay? [Meaning he didn't give Robin severe motion sickness or anything.]

[ Dick thinks about protesting when Wally scoops him up, but of all the things to rail against, the indignity of being carried like a damsel in distress doesn't even make his list today. He wonders where Wally's taking him, or if it even matters. Whether Wally's just worried about him, or if maybe he needs to pretend he's running away for a while, too.

The wind whips through his hair and chills his skin, and his ears are too cold and the whole world's streaking by too fast and everything's too much, and he's just — he's overwhelmed, and that's him admitting it, at least to himself, for the first time. So he shuts his eyes tight and turns his cheek against Wally's shoulder and counts his ridiculous hummingbird pulse until Bruce and the circus and his broken team and everything else on his mind fades into a distant background hum.

He's either half-dozing or just meditative when Wally's words jolt him out of it, and he feels them slow down. He opens his eyes to hills he doesn't recognize, and then a little bit of the nausea hits him. He turns his face up to Wally's. ]

... Where are we?

Just passed through Ashburn, Georgia. [Wally keeps his pace around sixty miles per hour. They're in hilly country, just a few more miles north and they'll hit mountains which would be a nice change from the sticky hot humidity of central Florida or the salt of the beaches.]

[ Sixty is manageable. Eyes on the horizon, Dick takes a few deep breaths, motion sickness fading. ]

Georgia. Okay.

... You were serious about that run.

Yeah, I guess so. [The road slopes up gently into the hills, then further. It's more mountains than Kansas ever had, and the same with Florida, so it's a welcome change for Wally. Even though he's run so many places since getting his powers, mountains never get old.]

Don't run off. Not without me. Okay? [...didn't mean to say that but okay, it's out there now.]

[ Dick's arm tightens where it's slung around Wally's neck, and he ducks his head so there's no chance his friend can see the way his brow furrows.

It's been nagging at him for a while, like all of his other insecurities that he pretends not to have when he's Robin, the Boy Wonder, but it's taken this weekend to really bring it to the forefront of his mind. Family has to love you, but no one else does. If Bruce can forget about him, then the team is all he has, and — and he doesn't even have that right now. What happens when he screws up, like Artemis did, and his friends — Wally — ditch him? Dick's the one who's selfish, not her.

Or — what happens when Wally outruns him? When he catches up to the Flash, and he finds a girl who thinks he's as awesome as Robin does, and he goes off to college and that two years suddenly makes too much difference?

He'd forgotten how fragile things could feel. ]

... Yeah. 'If you're going, I'm going.' I remember.

[Wally doesn't say anything more and speeds up a little so they can make it to the mountains before too late. He slows down around the sharp, curving roads and hugs the side of the mountain as they pass under giant crumbling shelves streaked with quartz and granite.

They reach an overlook barren of cars and Wally finally stops, a little out of breath as he sets Robin back down on his feet. The breeze is cool and Wally closes his eyes against it, walking right over to the railing to lean against the wooden fence. Moonlight spills over the dark firs blanketing the side of the mountain, highlighting a small river winding between the peaks in silver.]

It's weird. I wonder how many times we've actually been to this place? If we don't remember when we go back and sometimes we don't even remember when we come back here...

Edited 2014-07-07 22:37 (UTC)

[ Dick hops right up onto the railing, sitting, balanced, with his legs dangling over the edge, gravity tugging at his feet.

It's kind of comforting. There aren't any heights in Heropa. ]

You shouldn't think about that. It'll mess you up.

[Not many heights there, no. Not even the buildings get very tall.]

I can't turn off this machine, dude. [Wally taps the side of his head with a grin, but it fades pretty quick.] Besides, I know. Even if we don't remember it, it still matters.

[ Dick glances over out of the corner of his eye. ]

I don't want to forget. Any of it. Even the bad parts.

Can't remember it if you run away from it, [Wally points out quietly, looking out over the mountainside.]

Edited 2014-07-07 23:51 (UTC)

I don't really wanna run, dude. I'm just — lonely. [ That's not the right word, but there isn't a word that means 'homesick for somewhere that doesn't exist.' Not that he knows of. ]

Do you ever feel like... like maybe you should screw something up on purpose before it happens by accident? Like at least that way you're in control?

[Wally doesn't really have much to say about him being lonely. He misses his parents, yeah, more than he thought he would, but he's at least still got them.]

I dunno. [Wally leans forward against the fence, lacing his fingers together.] Sort of. Isn't that kind of what we did with Cadmus? Screwed it up ourselves? [no that is not at all what happened]

[ Dick lets out a short huff through his nose, almost a laugh. ]

Not exactly. I mean like hitting a self-destruct button, or something.

It's not the most logical course of action.

[ At least he sounds calm now. ]

Are you talking about with Bruce? [Because Wally doesn't like the idea of Dick self-destructing, but he does understand wanting to at least be in control of something. Hell, that's part of why he did what he did to get his powers in the first place.]

I'm talking about everyone.

[ Dick pulls himself up into a crouch, then a precarious, one-footed stand on the rail, staring out at the river winding below them — and then a backflip onto solid ground next to Wally. ]

I miss feeling like a team.

[ He's too tired to sound accusatory, and anyway, he's not angry. Just... exhausted. ]

[Wally's quiet for too long again. He's spent a lot of this conversation in thoughtful pauses, definitely not the norm.] Well, I mean...we're kind of missing half the team anyway. And SB just got here.

[ Dick shoots Wally a withering glare, offended, more than anything, that Wally's still doing his everything's fine let's not talk about it routine when it's just the two of them. ]

That's not what I mean, and you know it.

[Wally heaves a sigh and turns back to the fence, resting his arms on it and leaning forward again.] We didn't come out here to talk about Artemis.

[ Dick follows his movement, bracing one arm against the railing as he leans in closer. ]

Okay, yeah, but don't you think it's stupid that we can't? How long's it been?

[Two weeks exactly, but who's counting?] Why, what's your point? I'm supposed to put a time limit on this?

Yes! No— I don't know, maybe! It's stupid, you're both being so stubborn!

[ Gravel crunches under his feet as he whirls on his heel, needing to pace, needing to move. He's sick of this. Sick of keeping other people's secrets. If they'd just talk — if Artemis wasn't so hell-bent on keeping a secret he'd accepted months ago, if Wally could just trust someone without having all the facts laid out in front of him... ]

[Artemis's face from the ship flashes through his mind and Wally turns away too, shoving his hands into his pockets.]

I don't wanna talk about it.

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