Always Welcome

Dick hurried down the street towards Wayne Manor having told Alfred not to pick him up after school, coming up with the terrible lie that he had extra work to do. He kept his head low, fingers gripping the straps of his backpack tightly. He practically flew over the steps leading to the door and rang the bell, Alfred appearing in the doorway mere seconds later.

"Ah, welcome home Master Richard," the trusty butler began. "How was your day at sch-"

"Fine, thank you Alfred," Dick replied in a rushed tone, gliding past the slightly startled butler.

"Master Richard?" The dark-haired teen ignored his name and continued on his pathway to his room.

"I thought you'd like to know-"

As Dick climbed the stairs, almost reaching his solitude and not paying attention to anything else, a familiar voice reached out to him and he froze.

"Hey Dick!" the new voice said cheerfully.

"-that someone's here to see you," Alfred finished too late, facepalming discreetly. The young teen knew who the voice belonged to without even having to turn around and look.

No no no not now not now not now!

The tall figure of his boyfriend Wally West entered his left peripheral vision and he cursed inwardly. He turned his head away slightly, attempting to hide the right side of his pale face.

"What's up?"

". . ."

Wally arched a questioning eyebrow.

"Dude, you okay? You're not speaking or anything."

"I'm fine," Dick replied a tad too harshly, resuming his journey towards his room. He sped down the hallway, throwing open his large wooden door and casting aside his school supplies and attire. He wasted no further time and tried to make his way to his bathroom but a small wind brushed against his body, a blur whisked across his floor, and in less than a second the red-headed teen was blocking his path. In reflex he whipped a hand up, covering up his face.

"You are so not fine." The speedster noticed the awkward positioning of the other's hand. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, now move." Dick really wasn't ready to talk about this right now. But he knew he wouldn't get his way by the concerned look that settled onto the other's face.

"You're hiding something. Move your hand."

"No, I'm not." he continued to argue. "Why don't you just move yourself?" The dark-haired boy tried to force his way past but was stopped by a firm pair of hands latching onto his shoulders; a face leaning down to level with his.

"Dick." The intensity in Wally's eyes made his defiance weaker. "Show me." He didn't move his hand an inch but as the ginger reached up and and attempted to move it gently, he didn't protest at all. He winced slightly as the air hit against the area and braced himself for his boyfriend's reaction.

Wally let out a gasp, jaw dropping and eyes widening at the sight before him. Dick's right eye was blackened and swollen, the skin beside it broken from the sheer force of impact. He could almost see the wound pulse with pain. He didn't know what to be more surprised about: the wound itself or the fact that someone had had the gall to punch his little bird that freaking hard.

"How did this happen?" he asked, body vibrating more than usual from anger. The wounded teen hesitated before answering, having lost the will to fight.

"Some of the bullies at school were picking on this girl and with the heroic instinct and all, I got between her and them. They spat taunts and called me all sorts of things but I ignored it...until one of them hit me." He swallowed. "I was kinda shocked at first but then he hit me again and again again. It's not like I could have fought back either...there I'm Dick Grayson, not Robin, and I can't blow my cover. Before he could hit me a fifth time the bell rang and him and his gang ran off for home." His voiced cracked a bit at the last sentence, the pain getting to him.  "I...I thought I'd get home and make it look at least a little better before you or Bruce saw it but that didn't work out so well..."

Wally saw that he was trying to blink back tears and it only broke his heart more.

"Who was it?" Dick finallly looked back at him.

"What?"

"Who was the guy that hit you? I need to find him and kill him."

"Wally-"

"I'm serious, Dick. What's his name? What does he look like? He's a dead man walking."

Dick had hardly seen the older teen this upset before. It wasn't normal, almost unnatural, for him to act like this and he was dangerous when he did. A part of him wanted to let him go off and beat the shit out of the lowlife but the rest of him knew that wasn't the way to do this.

"Wally, let it go." The ginger gaped at him. "Really. The last thing I want you to do is to go off and get into a fight. That guy isn't worth it."

"But I can't sit around just do nothing!" his partner shouted. He took his hand in his small one and looked him in the eye with his one uninjured one.

"Then don't." He leaned forward and rested his forhead on taller boy's chest. "Just stay and hold me for a little while, okay? That's not doing nothing, right?"

Wally's temper simmered down gradually as he encircled his lover with his arms with a sad sigh, pulling him tightly against him.

"Fine. I won't kill the guy since you asked so nicely," he replied, murmuring against Dick's midnight locks with a playful smirk. The younger teen let out a laugh.

"Thanks," he replied wrapping his own arms around his back, the word having more meaning than he could have ever said. He smiled as Wally kissed the top of his head softly.

"You're welcome," Wally whispered as he closed his eyes. "Always welcome."