3batgirlbi-unicorn on tumblr requested: #18: "I have never hated someone as much as I hate you right now." and #20: "I wish I could say I hate you." from pleasepromptme's angsty dialogue prompts on tumblr.
Dick is running as fast as he can with Wally, who's running slow enough to match his pace, right next to him. They need to stay together and get out of here. Wherever "here" is.
Dick jogs to a stop, doing his best to remain upright. "Think we—" Dick pauses to catch his breath, "—lost 'em?"
"Don't know." Wally turns around, checking for any sign of followers. "We need to get back to the Team. They don't have any idea what happened to us."
"I know. Working on it," Dick says through gritted teeth, fingers already typing on his holo-computer. "Ugh! I can't get a signal."
"Here, get on my back and I'll get us out of here," Wally suggests, bending his knees and holding his arms out.
"Pass. I can walk on my own." And he does. Despite his best efforts to not move, his feet move him towards Wally's back anyway. "What-what's happening?"
"It looks like you're listening to a good idea," Wally says offhandedly, standing upright when Dick latches onto his back. But then he feels how tense he is. "What's wrong?"
"I didn't control that," Dick whispers. "I didn't move on my own—something made me do it."
"It's probably just the magicians catching up to us," Wally reasons, hoping to calm Dick's nerves. It doesn't work and Dick continues to try to wiggle off of Wally, but he can't let go. He does, however, almost throw Wally off balance. "We'll figure this out when we get back to the Team, okay? For now, just stay still and hold on tight; we'll be out of here in a flash."
"Shut up and go already," Dick moans at the pun and presses himself closer against Wally, this time seemingly out of his own free will.
Wally listens to Dick's instructions and he doesn't say another word as he makes his way out of the lair. They're moving too fast for Dick to really catch a glimpse of anything useful, so he holds on to the hope that Wally is smart enough to take it in without being asked.
The lair must not be that big—or Wally's just that fast—because soon Dick is squinting at a sudden blast of sunlight. They're in the same kind of woody area they landed in with the Bio-ship earlier, and Dick is hoping that soon they'll be back in M'gann's range and they can get out of here. Preferably with the magical self-proclaimed pranksters captured, but he'll take what he can get at this point.
The ground suddenly gets closer and wind whooshes past his ears as some part of his brain tells him he's falling. He tries not to scream, but he does; he tries to let go of Wally to lessen injury from the upcoming impact, but he can't. Wally is quiet the whole time as they roll down the hill together, managing to hit what seems like every rock and tree root along the way. Neither of them can seem to stop the fall, but at some point, he feels the familiar touch of M'gann in his mind.
"Robin, Kid Flash!" M'gann cheers.
The fall stops shortly after that, but when Wally sits up, it causes Dick to topple backward (into the mud, he might add) with Wally landing on top of him with a thud. Great.
Dick is sore all over, and he allows himself to let out a single groan as a pounding starts up behind his skull. "Just for the record, I have never hated someone as much as I hate you right now, Kid Klutz."
"Yeah? Well, I wish I could say I hate you," Wally says, noticeably through the mind link and not out loud.
"What is going on?" Kaldur asks, voice sounding ready to switch into discipline mode at a moment's notice.
"And I guess our discussion is moving to the mind link," Dick says.
"Uh, yeah, because I can't talk," Wally says, voice hostile.
"What are you talking about?" Dick asks. He didn't think Wally had been seriously injured in the fall, or maybe this is another spell from The Pranksters. Dick had really thought they would've been out of their range by now . . .
"I mean, I haven't been able to talk since you told me to "shut up" in the lair," Wally hisses.
Dick pauses, everything suddenly clicking into place.
"Will one of you please tell us what's going on?" Artemis asks, attempting to hide her worry with impatience and annoyance.
"We were grabbed by The Pranksters. I think they cast some kind of spell on us when we were escaping that forces us to follower each other's commands, even if they aren't meant to be taken literally. So KF has to "shut up" and I have to "stay still," and you know, whatever else slips," Dick explains, a lump forming in his throat as panic tries to set in.
"Think it's limited to just following each other's orders?" Wally asks, but really, Dick has no idea what this spell's limits are. For all he knows, the spell is progressive and soon his heart will be "staying still" as (technically) ordered. (He tries not to think about how real of a possibility that is considering he used to be able to shift more of his body in the lair than he can now. He tries not to think about what else "being still" involves.)
"Let us avoid testing that theory," Kaldur decides. "How long ago did this occur?"
"Five minutes ago, maybe?" Dick says, not exactly sure how much time has passed. "Or maybe sooner. But that was when I first noticed something was up."
"Way to share, Rob. If you knew, why didn't you say something?" Wally asks angrily. "Better yet, why did you tell me to shut up if you knew what was going on?"
"Hey, you were the first one to trigger the spell," Dick points out with a huff. "And I didn't know what was happening, just that there was something going on."
"Please, could the two of you stop arguing?" Kaldur asks, choosing his words carefully to prevent him from ordering them to do as told. As much as he wants them to listen to him, he wants to make sure they retain their free will more. Dick appreciates it, but even with the offered free will, he knows getting along isn't really a choice.
"Fine," Dick and Wally both say begrudgingly.
"We need to locate you both and get you back to the Cave as soon as possible," Kaldur continues. "We have already alerted Red Tornado to the current situation, and he has further requested Zatara's presence to assist with the reversal of the spell."
"Alright, I'm tracking your location," M'gann announces. "Stay put, the Bio-ship should be at your location in five minutes."
"Or I could just run and meet you guys where you are," Wally offers. "It would be faster."
He's kidding, right? Was he not in the same fall as Dick? "I am not doing that again."
"Stop whining, I just tripped."
"And almost got us killed!"
"Well, maybe if I wasn't busy panicking because I couldn't talk and if you weren't holding on to me so tightly, I would've seen—"
"Are you seriously blaming me for this? You told me to hold on tight!"
"Enough," Kaldur tells them, and Dick can so easily picture him massaging his temples in annoyance. "I do not know why the two of you are behaving this way, but you need to put your feelings aside until we have this sorted out. Understood?"
"Yes," they both mumble.
"Can you get off of me now?" Dick says out loud, not wanting to be lectured in the mind link any longer.
Wally follows his lead and doesn't reply mentally, but he does nod and sit up, removing his hands from under Dick's knees to make them more comfortable. They sit there in thick silence; Dick not knowing what Wally is thinking, only that he himself wants to stop fighting with him. But he also can't bring himself to apologize for snapping just yet.
So instead, he goes back to something easier and less emotionally charged: figuring out their current situation. "Do you think we can undo orders? Like, maybe you could talk if I told you to?" He would have to be careful with his wording though; instead of permanent silence, he might be stuck with permanent speech.
Wally shrugs, rubs his ankle absently.
"Wanna try?"
He shrugs again.
"Okay. Um, talk whenever you want," Dick orders. He waits a few seconds, but Wally doesn't say anything. Dick slumps a bit. "Guess that's not working, huh?"
Wally nods in agreement, landing them back into their awkward silence. After another minute, Dick finally asks, "You okay?"
Wally nods, then tilts his head up and back to indicate a return in the question.
"I think so," Dick says, but honestly, he's not sure. Not being able to brace himself during the fall left him vulnerable. It doesn't help that he had a Wally-sized weight on top of him for half of it. "Sore."
Wally pats his knee; he doesn't want to fight anymore either. Dick rests his head on Wally's shoulder, and Wally drops his cheek to rest against it. They don't say anything, but the atmosphere gets less tense.
By the time the Bio-ship lands, Dick is feeling tired and dizzy. He thinks—knows—that that's a bad sign, but he pushes the thought away to deal with later.
"Finally!" he calls when he sees M'gann walk out. His voice is cheerful and he's smiling, but he doesn't pick his head up from Wally's shoulder. Too tired. Too comfortable.
"Sorry it took so long," M'gann apologies.
"No worries, Sugar," Wally says, and Dick can practically hear the flirtatious smirk.
Dick takes his head off of Wally's shoulder and the anger returns.
"Zatara has already arrived at the Cave and is waiting for us. He is looking over the possible spells that could have caused this and the techniques to reverse them. He is very hopeful that he can undo its effects," Kaldur explains.
"Cool. Can we go already?" Dick asks, not able to keep his eagerness out of his voice.
"Right with you. I think I twisted my ankle, though. Can someone help me up?" Wally asks. He'd probably be able to limp on his own under normal conditions, but with Dick glued to his back, that's not happening.
"Superboy, can you get a stretcher and the first aid kit?" Kaldur requests, and without a word, Conner is heading back to the ship. "Robin, can you let go of Kid so we can examine the two of you before departure?"
Dick can't budge, so he explains, "KF told me to hold on to him, and I can't let go now. Apparently, orders can't be undone either."
"Hmm," Kaldur ponders. "That is an inconvenience, but we will find a way to work around it."
"Robin, you're bleeding," Artemis says. When did she get behind him?
"You said you were fine?" Wally accuses.
"So did you," Dick points out. "And I am fine."
"I couldn't talk. And bleeding isn't synonymous with fine," Wally points out in an almost-hiss.
Dick hums but doesn't say anything. Doesn't want to.
Conner comes back with the supplies, and Artemis takes a few pieces of gauze from the kit before prodding the back of Dick's head. "Do you feel dizzy? Nauseous?"
"Dizzy," Dick says quietly. So dizzy.
"Dude!"
"Now is not the time, Kid," Kaldur says calmly, briefly resting his hand on Wally's shoulder where Dick's head used to be. "Are either of you injured anywhere else?"
"Just my ankle," Wally assures.
Dick takes an inventory of himself, which only makes him realizes how bad he actually feels. He just can't pinpoint anything specific; his head is too fuzzy. "Don't know. Don't feel good." He drops his head down against Wally's back, not able to resist putting it down any longer.
Wally squeezes his knee again, something Dick would normally appreciate, but now he hates it. The spell might allow for head movement, but it's not cutting him any slack in the knee department, otherwise he would move it away.
Kaldur squeezes Dick's shoulder but he can't bring himself to look up. "We will be back at the Cave shortly."
Artemis finishes bandaging his head, and then they're being maneuvered onto the stretcher before being brought into the ship. M'gann manages to create a type of seat belt to keep them secure, but other than that, they just stay on the stretcher. Dick does his best to stay awake, but he doesn't think he succeeds.
oOo
Dick comes to in a lightly-lit room—no Wally pressing against his stomach. The soreness has been pushed into background noise by a pleasant numb feeling, too. He's not wearing his uniform anymore either, and someone has their hand held tightly between his. Dick opens his eyes, squinting at the lights. He blinks a few times, allowing Bruce's face to come into full view. "Hi."
The left corners of Bruce's lips twitch upwards for a millisecond—his version of a smile. "Hi," he repeats. "You banged yourself up pretty good back there." The words are soft, the fingers running over the back of his hand gentle.
"Mmm," Dick moans in agreement. Now that he's more awake, the numbness is leaking away and he can feel that his head is pounding. "We got out?"
"You sure did."
"I fell?"
"So I hear."
"I'm going to puke." The warning is said more as an offhand comment than anything else, but Bruce manages to pull out a pink bowl for Dick to spill his guts into just in time anyway. When he finishes retching, Bruce is basically the only thing keeping him upright. "M' head hurts. Tired."
"You have a concussion," Bruce says, and even though it's not a question Dick hums in agreement.
Dick closes his eyes and presses closer against Bruce. "I wanna go home."
Bruce rubs his hand up and down Dick's left arm. "Soon. They want to keep you here for a few more hours to make sure the spell doesn't restart itself."
The spell brings back all of the details. Fuzzy details sure, but details all the same. His body being forced to move, his body not being able to move, resting his head on Wally's shoulder, Artemis telling him he was bleeding, Wally, Wally, Wally. "Wally okay?" he asks, opening his eyes again.
"Fine. His ankle will need a few days to fully heal, but it's wrapped and the swelling is already going down. His jaw is a little sore from being clenched for an hour, but he'll be okay. Neither of you should suffer any long-term effects," Bruce explains, noticeably leaving out details.
"Good." He doesn't understand the jaw soreness thing, but he thinks he's too tired to retain anything, so he doesn't ask for an explanation just yet. After a nap maybe.
It's weird, he knows he didn't cast the spell, but he still feels responsible for what it caused. Even if Wally is okay, he could be better if Dick hadn't said anything. Add that with the poor way they handled the situation, and it isn't a stretch to think the speedster might be a little ticked off. "Did he seem mad?"
"I didn't speak with him. From briefly observing him, however, he seemed worried about you if anything," Bruce tells him. Then, "Robin, you are not at fault for today's events. You were not aware that you had been hexed, nor what that entailed. And neither of you intentionally used the knowledge of the spell to harm each other, correct?"
"Yeah."
"So neither of you are responsible."
"Right," Dick agrees, but the guilt doesn't really go away.
Bruce grunts, as if that settles it.
Dick doesn't say anything else. He wants to go home and not think about anything.
"Are you asleep?" Bruce asks after a few minutes of silence.
Dick cracks one eye half-way open (when did they close?) to look at Bruce. Dick realizes he is actually half-asleep, but sadly, not asleep yet. "Yes."
"Hn. We need to check on the spell, then you can rest some more. Promise."
"Sure thing, Boss," Dick says, rubbing his eye as he pushes himself away from Bruce to sit up on his own.
Bruce pulls his cowl back on and hands Dick some shades. When they're secured on his face, Bruce says, "Enter."
Flash, Zatara, and Wally walk in, and Dick wonders how long they were standing in the hall waiting for Batman's okay.
"Dude, thank god you're okay," Wally says the second his eyes land on Dick. His eyes shift to the bandage wrapped tightly around Dick's head. "You are, aren't you?"
"Dandy. You?"
Wally gives a soft laugh. "Never better." Wally turns to Zatara. "So, how are we doing this?"
"Try giving each other commands and see if you can ignore them," Zatara explains. "Kid Flash, you can start."
"Wait, hold on. How do we know we won't just be following your orders to not follow each other's orders?" Dick asks.
"We already tested to make sure that couldn't happen when you first arrived at the Cave," Zatara explains quickly. "I can guarantee that the spell is limited to the two of you."
"Gotcha," Dick says, making a note to ask questions about his arrival later because right now he's getting nothing.
"If there's nothing else?" Zatara says, and when no one says anything, he signals for Wally to start.
They take turns giving each other commands, and both of them are able to suppress them. Dick still feels a pull to obey, but he's in control. When they've finished, Bruce tells him that he needs to speak with Kaldur about the mission details (none of which Dick can seem to remember) and makes his leave. Zatara and Flash file out, but Wally stays behind. He's fidgeting a little. Nervous.
"So, uh, you still mad at me?" Wally asks.
Dick wants to sigh. Wally is referring to their argument (if you can call Dick's silent treatment and huffiness towards Wally an argument) before the mission even started, and Dick really, really doesn't want to deal with it right now. He slides down on the bed. "Do we have to talk about that now?"
"I'll take that as a yes then," Wally says, running a hand through his hair. "Look, I'm sorry, okay?"
"You're just saying that so I'll stop being mad at you."
"But isn't that kind of the point of apologies?"
"You don't even know why I'm upset," Dick says, turning his head to glare at him.
"Don't be like that," Wally almost whines. "And for the record, I do know why you're upset, I just don't think it makes sense."
"And that's part of the problem!"
Wally let's out a breath and sinks into the chair. "Look, I like you okay? I do."
"So you've claimed." They've never really sat down and said it, but they've both made their interest in the other pretty clear. It just hasn't gone anywhere (official) yet. The topic merely hangs in the air and circles them as they go on with their lives. And Dick's fine with that. He can be patient and let the relationship develop naturally, he could even enjoy watching as it does. He just wished Wally could stop flirting with anything that has a pulse in the meantime.
"Come on, you know I'm just—"
"Trying to protect a representation of lies?" Dick crosses his arms. "You know, it's really confusing for you to say you like me when we're alone, and then see you flirting with M'gann or whoever first chance you get. Not to mention hurtful. And I know we're technically not dating or anything, but still."
Wally sits there for a second, quiet. Thinking over what Dick has said. "I'm sorry I hurt you, I didn't mean for it to be taken that way. I thought you knew I—"
"Look, Wally, if you want to keep us on the down-low for a bit, fine. I can wait. But you don't have to flirt with other people," Dick reasons.
Wally swallows. "You're right." They're both quiet; Wally stuck in his head thinking, Dick confused because he's still hurting but he's also wanting to forgive Wally. Then Wally says, completely serious and without a teasing undertone, "So, you want an us?"
Dick smiles a little. "Dude, I've wanted an us way before you kissed me in the closet on your birthday."
"Oh, you had a crush on the Wall-man, eh?"
"Shut up." Dick rolls his eyes.
Wally doesn't shut up. "Is that why you always got annoyed when I would try to hang out with M'gann alone? Is that why you ruined our camping trip?" he teases.
"Like you didn't know." Dick rolls his eyes again. "Besides, I have a suspicion you were only flirting with her to make me jealous."
"Oh, is that so? Isn't it possible that I can have more than one crush at a time? I am young you know. And handsome. I think it would be a crime to the human race if I didn't have a little fun."
"You're such a dork."
"But I could be your dork."
Dick wants that. So badly.
"Really, say the word," Wally grabs his hand. "I don't want to mess around with a bunch of people; I want you. And if you want me to stop flirting with people I have no interest in anymore, I will."
"Really?"
"Course. I mean, flirting, even meaningless flirting, can be fun," Wally admits, "but being with you is more fun. And it's not even a trade-off, more like an upgrade if you ask me."
Dick doesn't even hesitate. "Okay, let's do it then. Us."
"Us," Wally agrees. Then he climbs up on the bed next to Dick. "Um, but, I would like to keep this on the down-low. Just for a little bit."
"Whatever you need," Dick says, leaning into Wally. They lapse into silence, but it's not tense or awkward. Just comfortable, beautiful silence.
Dick thinks he's drifting off again, body feeling numb and warm. But then he's pulled back when Wally murmurs, "You really scared me, you know? I thought I—thought I—"
"Hey," Dick says, voice tired as he forces his eyes open once more. "You didn't do anything. And I'm fine. We're both fine."
"But you almost weren't," Wally chokes. And, god, Wally's really upset.
Dick pushes himself up and tilts his head towards Wally, covering the white-knuckled fist with his own IV-ridden hand. "It's a concussion. I'll be fine."
Wally shakes his head. "The spell was progressive. I told you to be still, and you were in a coma by the time we got back here."
Wally's sore jaw.
"A coma?" He's going to kill Bruce; that definitely falls into the "information you tell Dick immediately" pile. At least that explains why he was out so long. His body was moving slower, maybe that made the reversal spell take longer to do its magic.
"Yeah," Wally's shaky voice lets out. "I thought I was going to kill you."
"Don't say that. Even if something had happened, it wouldn't've been your fault. It was The Pranksters. And the fact that we're blaming ourselves is just another part of their prank."
"Right, I know. I mean, logically, duh," Wally word vomits.
Dick squeezes the hand below his. "How's your jaw? I guess that was my doing, huh?" He can picture Wally's mouth slowly shutting more and more, he can picture the panic on Wally's face growing.
Wally nods, smirking a little. "Yeah, but it's fine. A little sore. Barry got me some ice, though, and it's pretty much back to normal now."
"Good. It would kind of suck to have your broken jaw on my conscience."
"After what you put me through? You kind of deserve it," Wally decides.
"I'll make it up to you later," Dick promises. And he does mean later. Right now, he's too tired. He relaxes back against Wally. "Tired."
"I should probably go. Let you get some sleep," Wally says, pushing himself upright and up from under Dick's form.
"Hmm." Dick is already back in a horizontal position, eyes closing slowly. "Miss you."
Wally gives this small puff of air, almost like a content laugh. "You too. Hey."
Dick opens his eyes. "Huh?"
"I'm glad you're not mad at me anymore."
"Me too. I don't like fighting."
"Me neither. Promise to never fight again and have a perfect Instagram relationship?"
Dick laughs a little and Wally joins in. "Definitely," he gets out.
Wally bends down and twirls some hair out of Dick's face. "Night. Dream of me."
"You wish," Dick retorts, closing his eyes again. It's at this point he realizes how hard he's been fighting to stay awake. He can't hear what else Wally says, if anything, but he does hear the door click shut. It's dark now, too. He's warm and happy as he falls asleep. And maybe Wally gets his wish.
Not as angsty as I originally wanted, and it got a little cheesy toward the end, but oh well. I hope you liked it! If you want, leave a review below and tell me what you thought. Have a nice day :)