Wally had that socially anxious dog in him.

He flew to Gotham on Wednesday night instead of running. He knew it would have been more eco-conscious to use his speed, but Dick was adamant about picking him up from the airport. It had something to do with taking him back to his place, which—first of all... Wow! They were really getting somewhere.

As the plane descended into Gotham, Wally peered out the window. The city was shrouded in a thick layer of smog, its skyline a mix of gothic spires and modern skyscrapers. The urban scene below seemed to stretch on endlessly into darkness. The airport itself was bustling, filled with travelers hurrying to their gates, the intercom crackling with flight announcements, and the constant hum of conversations blending into a cacophony.

Exiting the plane was smooth enough, and Wally made his way through the terminal, scanning the crowd for Dick. Descending the escalator, his eyes darted around until he finally spotted him. Their eyes met—green locking onto blue—and a wave of relief washed over him.

He met Dick in a tight embrace.

"Hi," Wally said, feeling like a part of himself was whole again. He wrapped his arms around the shorter man, savoring the closeness.

Dick pressed himself closer, squeezing tighter. "I missed you."

One night. Two weeks. Three weeks. One month and a week. Two months. Two and a half months. Coming up on three months. Has it really been three months since their relationship started?

"I took a car and parked illegally, so we're going to have to race over," Dick said, pulling back just enough to look at Wally.

"Dick," Wally hissed. "You are in law enforcement."

"Some cops abuse their power for ego trips. I abuse it to get out of traffic," Dick shrugged, sheepishly. "And if I get a ticket, I'm willing to pay for it, now come on." He grabbed Wally's roller bag despite the silent protests.

"I feel like I don't even know you."

"Oh shut it," Dick laughed, playfully. He then paused for a moment, grabbing Wally's shoulders and staring at him intently. "Quick question. Are you allergic to dogs?"

Wally tilted his head, puzzled.

The drive through Gotham to Bludhaven was filled with the city's nighttime atmosphere—neon lights reflecting off wet streets, the distant sound of sirens, and the ever-present hum of traffic. Their commute was filled with small talk and the occasional hum along with the radio. Wally could see the tension in his partner's shoulders, likely from work or other activities—Wally hoped it wasn't about their anticipated talk on honesty. When they arrived, Wally noticed that Dick's apartment was in a humble neighborhood, characterized by narrow streets and old brick buildings. It took three tries to open the door that got stuck in the frame; Dick's full-body slam finally did the trick.

Wally entered and took in the interior. It wasn't messy like he'd expected. He'd assumed that a messy apartment would be one of the reasons why Dick was so reluctant to invite him over. The living room was cozy, with a comfortable-looking couch, a coffee table cluttered with books and trinkets, and walls adorned with photos and memorabilia. A small kitchen area was visible, with clean countertops and neatly arranged utensils.

Before he could take in more, there was a knock at the door. Dick set all of his stuff down and rushed to the door. He cracked it open with a strong yank and covered the opening with his body. Wally, having been surrounded by enough police officers to recognize the action, watched curiously. He heard Dick say several hushed "thank yous" before closing the door.

Wally wasn't really going to ask, but once Dick turned around with a small puppy in his arms, he couldn't hold back the words falling from his mouth.

"What the fuck?"

Dick approached him with that handsome smile that always made him fold. His boyfriend holding a cute dog was a picture that he never wanted to leave his mind. The puppy squirmed in Dick's arms, tail wagging furiously.

"What. The. Fuck," Wally repeated, softer this time.

"This is my baby," Dick announced proudly. "She barks at the ice machine in the fridge and steals my socks." Wally melted as Dick set her down and let her run up to Wally. She jumped, placing her front paws on Wally's leg. "I'm going to start dinner. She likes being picked up, by the way. She's literally just a baby."

Wally looked up, suspiciously blanking on what to say. "Dick," he breathed out. Wally wasted no time meeting the dog on the floor, watching the pup hop as she chased her tail. She soon walked over to him, leaning into him. "I hate you. I literally hate you," Wally repeated, calling out to Dick as he cradled the three-legged pitbull in his arms. "This is the worst secret you could ever keep from me."

He saw the flash and looked up to see Dick Grayson smirking from behind his phone.

"I hope that's a Live Photo and every time you watch back, you can hear me cursing you out," Wally responded, too lost in awe to care too much. Dick played it back to prove Wally right.

The dog was actually the cutest animal Wally had ever seen, and the betrayal felt real. He looked around the apartment as the dog was transfixed on his hand, lightly gnawing on it with her puppy teeth. He saw photos lined up on the mantle and books sitting on a shelf. It was a pretty normal living situation, despite parts of it appearing to look like it was out of an interior decorating catalog. It didn't even look like anyone lived here.

"She likes you," Dick grinned, scratching the dog's chin. He then looked up at Wally, taking the dog back and setting her back onto the floor where she could run around in a circle. "Her name is Haley, by the way."

"She looks like a Haley," Wally nodded, trying to keep his hand just out of reach from the dog.

"I kinda named her after the circus I was in when I was younger."

Wally looked over at Dick with wide eyes. "You were in a circus?"

"Yeah, I uhm," Dick sighed, leaning back. "Are you fine if we order pizza?" He asked, abruptly switching the topic. "I overcooked the chicken, and I literally have no other food in here besides Haley's kibble and my cereal."

Wally gave him a pointed look and let Haley off his lap once she started to squirm again. "Pizza is fine. Are you avoiding talking about yourself?"

Dick cringed. "I'm sorry."

Wally sighed, combing a hand through his own red curls. "It's fine—. I understand, Dick," he assured.

"It's not, really. You are always upfront with me and I never reciprocate it."

"I couldn't ask you to share anything if you weren't comfortable," Wally said, more outrightly declaring. "You said you wanted our relationship to be taken more seriously and less casual. I'm showing you that I'm ready for that by being here." Wally took a deep breath, suddenly choosing that he'd rather stare at the intricate designs on the living room rug than meet Dick's eyes. "What are you doing to show me that you're ready for this?"

The darker haired man shifted in his spot, slightly fidgeting with the clasp of his watch. "I was raised in a traveling circus," Dick frowned, "and Bruce Wayne, basically my adoptive dad, took me in after my parents passed." He moved an inch, looking for Wally to glance up. "Wally, I have a lot of secrets and I know that you do as well," (Wally's stomach did a flip flop.) "but I don't want to ruin this thing I have with you."

"You won't ruin this," Wally assured.

"I always ruin it," Dick countered. "I just need you to be okay with the fact that I do have secrets that even my family doesn't know about. If not, then I'll understand if you don't want this to continue."

Wally leaned forward, he cupped Dick's face in his hand, offering him a chance to lean on him. "I will still unabashedly admire you no matter what. Nothing will change the way I feel about you, Dick." He smiled softly. "Our relationship is still so new, I need you to understand that I don't expect to know every single thing about you. Being adopted by a billionaire thing seemed like something I should have known sooner, but that's in the past now. I am happy to figure the rest out alongside you."

Dick gave him a watery smile, eyes glistening. "Thank you, Wally."

"Anytime," Wally replied, pulling Dick into a gentle kiss. "Now, let's order that pizza and enjoy the evening."

***

Several phone lines light up in the bullpen. A woman with short blonde hair strutted towards the nearest phone. She huffed at the absence of all the officers and answered. "Detective Rohrbach, Bludhaven Police Department," she rolled her eyes.

She listened, the tapping of her foot faltering slightly. "What'd he do this time?" She asked after a moment.

One of the rookie officers entered the room and she stared him down like a hawk. "There's always something with him, like the fact he neglected to mention he was working with Gordon on this case."

"Peters," she snapped, beckoning him over as she continued to split her attention to the phone. "Yes, yes, I'll tell him to stop by tomorrow." She nodded, almost bored. She hung up after a moment, muttering, "I'm not his damn secretary," under her breath. She then brought her attention to the rookie. "Peters, I need you to open up the file on the city wide blackouts and off world technologies. There's been seven casualties in Gotham and Starling City combined."

"Seven?" The rookie questioned, almost confused. "They're power outages, how were those people affected?"

"No clue, but GCPD wants Grayson to verify their findings," she coughed, walking back over to her desk. "Glad I'm not working that one. Sounds like actual hell."

***

The next morning, Wally woke up to the alarm clock blaring with Dick half laying on top of him and half falling off the bed. He attempted to nudge the dark haired detective but he was dead to the world.

"Hey," he whispered, when nudging and borderline pushing wasn't enough. He'd reach for the alarm clock if he could but he was pinned. "Dick," he said now at a normal volume. He swiveled his head around, finding Haley curled up at the edge of the bed, almost identical to the shape her dad was in. "Haley?" Wally tried but ultimately failed.

(Should he be worried?)

He sighed, phasing his arm out enough to free himself and smacked that alarm button. When the sweet relief came and he was gifted with silence, he let his head fall back onto the pillow and relax again. He glanced at the dog, that ridiculously cute dog. He then looks at Dick, reaching his one free arm to brush through his hair. He paused for a brief moment, seeing a red spot just below Dick's eye. He tilted his head before realizing that it wasn't just below his eye but around both of his eyes and held the pattern of irritation on his skin or a minor rash.

His hand came close to just brushing the edge before Dick's eyes snapped wide open and he was met with striking blue staring right back at him.

"Have you been awake this whole time?" Wally asked, (Top Ten Least Suspicious Things to Say).

Dick blinked slowly, Haley following by trotting further up the bed. He pushed himself back onto his own side, rubbing at his eyes and glancing back at Wally. "Huh?" He finally said.

"You were sleeping through your alarm clock," Wally said, as Dick started to reach out and drag Wally closer to him.

"Hm," Dick responded.

"So did you need to get up at," Wally squinted at the time. "Six am? Or is that just a suggestion."

"Mhm," Dick responded.

Wally gave up trying to resist and found himself trapped in his boyfriend's arms once again, not that he's complaining. He tried to fall back asleep, but there was something oddly sinister with the way Haley had found the spot where Wally was just laying and she stretched across it. Eventually she rolled on her back and flopped over to be face to face with Wally, then proceeded to sneeze on his face and look giddy about it.

But it was a damn cute dog.

He wiped the remnants of the sneeze off his face and tilted his head away from the pup. He looked over at the window with cracked blinds from across the room. The sun was just barely out, calling for another smog filled gray sky. He closed his eyes, finding it hard to the keep them open with the warm weight around his chest, and finally fell back asleep.

Zzz.

Until he was met with a nudge and Dick's hushed voice. He stared ahead to see his partner fully dressed and the clock now reading 8:54 am.

"We need to leave soon," Dick said, head slightly angled away from his phone that he was holding. Why was Dick on the phone at 8:54 am? "We'll get breakfast on the road," he added before leaving the room.

Wally got up and made a beeline straight to his suitcase. He noticed the business casual Dick had already dressed himself in, shuffling around urgently. He picked out a button up that he knew he couldn't go wrong with. Glancing through the door frame to see Dick's back turned from him. He quickly changed, using a bit of assistance from his abilities, and then fled to the bathroom to brush his teeth and freshen up.

He roughly knew the game plan for the day. They'd wake up, maybe share a kiss or two, then take the car to drive down to Gotham. There Dick would introduce him to a couple members of his family and they would get ready for the gala there. Then, depending on how tired they were, they would drive back down to Bludhaven and pick up Haley from Dick's neighbor.

A really simple plan. Wally can handle a simple plan.

Just as Wally spat out a mouthful of toothpaste into the sink, Dick slipped back into the doorway, arm leaning on the frame.

"So we have a change of plans," Dick said.

Now why did he jinx that in his head?

"You know..." He leaned back, having Dick meet his cheek with a soft kiss. "I prefer a good morning instead," Wally said.

Dick shook his head with a smile. "Good morning, Wally." He stepped deeper into the bathroom, slipping behind Wally to wrap his arms around him and rest his chin on his shoulder. "You know that alien technology case that I've been working on these past few months?" He asked.

Wally hummed in response, staring at his partner's reflection in the mirror. Webster's Dictionary definition of; "Whatever you say, beautiful."

"Well, there's been some recent developments and I'll need to stop at the P.D. when we get to Gotham," Dick explained. He also sighed, tapping Wally's shoulder as a soft sign that they should probably hurry soon. "I should also mention that one of the side effects of exposure to these devices is like a temporary mute on meta abilities."

Wally raised a brow. He knew that. He was well aware of that, he had told Cisco and Nightwing about that little effect that the tech had on him. How Dick or any source of law enforcement had gained that information, he's not sure. Of course, he's not the only meta in the world so there's probably varying resources and data Dick could have to support that claim.

Wally side eyed him slightly. "I never said I was a metahuman."

"True, but you also never denied it," Dick shrugged and held up his hands in defense. "Sue me for covering all my bases." But he stepped back, looking oddly small in his run down apartment's bathroom. "But if you allegedly had meta abilities, you wouldn't be in any harm if exposed to the tech, right?"

"Allegedly, my abilities would have no harm to me if they were gone," Wally confirmed. He even added an additional, "allegedly," as if Dick hadn't already figured it out.

Dick smiled, patting Wally on the back. "Thanks for easing my mind," he said. "Grab your suit and maybe your pajamas. We leave after I take Haley next door."

Dick left shortly afterwards, making Haley say goodbye to Wally by holding her up and mimicking a wave with her paw. Wally was mentally punching a wall over how cute it was. He was a sucker! He got over himself fairly quickly, checking his phone and communicator notifications, finding a message from Nightwing. He grimaced at the 4 am sent time. He responded four hours late and hoped that wherever Nightwing was, he was actually able to go to sleep and get a full eight hours.

NW: [FILE023.pdf] Updated. Anything new on your side?

KF: Nothing new. Currently working on finding more factors to identify these technologies and frequencies.

***

As they drove through the city, Wally nodded his head to the music, a part of himself still a bit tired from waking up at 6 am. The streets were crowded with people, each seemingly in a hurry, the honking of cars and the distant wail of sirens forming a constant background noise.

"Are you ready for tonight?" Dick asked, glancing over at Wally. He was trying to hide his nerves, but Wally could sense the tension.

"As ready as I can be. I sort of feel like I'm going in blind," Wally admitted, looking out the window at the bustling streets.

"You're not. I'll be there to guide you, alright?" Dick reassured him, his voice steady despite the anxiety in his eyes.

"Yeah..." Wally nodded, then turned to Dick with a curious expression. "Why couldn't Haley come with us?" he asked, gradually starting to miss the dog's presence.

"Too much commotion at the manor. Plus it would be a pain to get her out of my youngest brother's grasp," Dick explained, glancing over at him and shrugging. "Damian likes animals."

"How old is he?" Wally inquired, his curiosity piqued.

"He turns fourteen next month. Second youngest is Duke, he's eighteen. Tim is nineteen, Cass is twenty-one, and then Jay is twenty-three," Dick listed, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Only five siblings? Are you missing anyone?" Wally half-joked, to which Dick responded with a shrug.

"There's a couple more but I doubt you'll meet them today," Dick replied, a small smile tugging at his lips.

After a while on the road, Dick found a drive-thru and got them a couple of coffees and snacks. He promised a more filling breakfast later, after he met with Gordon. They pulled up to the parking lot, the same place where they had first met each other all those months ago, still focused on this case. Dick turned off the engine and looked over at Wally, offering a small smile.

"It'll be five minutes at most. Do you need me to keep the AC on or crack the window?" Dick asked, his tone teasing.

Wally laughed at the insinuation. "I think I'll survive without either, thanks," he said, shaking his head with a grin. He waved as Dick left him behind. As he watched his partner close the doors behind him, Wally let out a long sigh of relief.

Internally he was freaking out, anxiety eating away at his nerves, his heart rate spiked high (more than average for a speedster). It had set in that he was meeting Dick's family and that he was meeting them that day of all days. It felt fast, even for Wally, but what did he know about a normal relationship pace? It had been lowkey and casual for months and it had worked perfectly fine. Wally rubbed his tired eyes to try and clear out the doubts in his head. It's just nerves, everything will work out.

His brief spiral was luckily cut short as he heard a knock on his window. He looked up to see Dick looking down at him with furrowed eyebrows. He rolled it down to be met with Dick lowering down to face him, his back was arched and Wally had to fight the urges that begged him to look at his ass.

"Are you doing okay?" Dick asked, searching for something.

Wally nodded, feeling a little better now that Dick was back, still facing an onslaught of doubts in his mind. "Did you finish up already?" he asked, noticing who he thought might be Commissioner Gordon standing a few paces away.

"Not quite," Dick grimaced. "We need a mechanic to check out that generator again. Not as intense as last time, we just need to find something."

Wally narrowed his eyes, picking up the request. "Detective, are you trying to get me to work on my day off?" he asked, already unlocking his door.

"I will reward you generously for your services," Dick grinned, opening the door for him. "It won't be monetary." Wally matched his grin, knowing full well that these comments would not be going to HR, if they had one.

He followed Dick and Gordon into the garage, getting led into the back where the generator still sat. Shadows seemed to dance at the edges of his vision, almost taunting him. He stared at it, not really sure what he was supposed to do with the lack of information he had been supplied with. "What's the situation?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

Gordon handed him a folder of files and photos. "We've been investigating reports of alien technology appearing in the city. Last week, we sent a team to a warehouse where we had intel suggesting there was tech being stored. They were exposed and came back... different."

"Different how?" Wally asked, flipping through the photos. He glanced over at Dick who held his mouth in a grim frown.

"Officers who entered the warehouse reported feeling disoriented, hearing voices, seeing things that weren't there. They've all since taken medical leave, citing severe paranoia and hallucinations. Some of them are too unwell to even leave their homes," Gordon explained, his voice heavy with concern. "Detective Grayson mentioned you bounced from Keystone and Central City. Is there anything there with their own cases of alien technologies that could match those descriptions?"

Wally was not the Flash at that moment, therefore Wally knew very little about this case in general. Why was his heart beating so fast?

He cleared his throat, shaking his head. "No, the most I'm aware of is from my visit here a few months ago. I had taken notes on a theory about the tech emitting this specific frequency. Now I'm not a neurologist but maybe it'd be worth looking into to see if that is the cause of the paranoia or hallucinations." He inspected the technology where it was, plates and cells had been pried off, revealing another mess of mystery beneath it.

As Wally stepped closer to the generator, the sense of unease grew stronger, making it difficult to focus.

"We'll look into it," Gordon said, staring with the same distaste as Wally.

He looked at Dick, who was watching him with concern. "Are you sure you're okay?" Dick asked again, his voice more urgent this time. Wally snapped back to reality for a moment, not focusing on anything but how uncomfortable he was to be next to the generator.

"Sorry, yeah, is there anything else that you need from me?" Wally asked, once receiving the shaking of heads, the nonverbal confirmation of letting him leave.

Dick seemed to have picked up enough cues from him to take the file, that Wally seemed to have forgotten he was holding, and hand it back to Gordon. "I'll see you soon commissioner," Dick nodded. "And tell Babs I said hi."

"You can tell her yourself. She mentioned surprising you at the event tonight," he smirked.

"I think you lost the point of a surprise, Gordon." Dick mused, gesturing to Wally to head out as he finished his conversation. "Keep me updated on any new developments, but not this weekend," he pointed. "I have this weekend off."

Wally stood outside the garage waiting for Dick to wrap it up. Something was off and he was freaking out internally. He phased his hand just to be sure that his abilities were still present. Realistically, he had nothing to worry about. Out of all the weekends he spends in Gotham, his nerves wanted to act out during the one where he meets Dick's family? How rude.

Dick came up behind him, keeping his distance and stepping loud enough to be heard, a huge contrast to when Dick accidentally sneaks behind him. He walks right in front of him, still holding that nervous look.

"What's going on?" He asked.

Wally wasn't sure how to explain it, how everything felt off. How since the moment they arrived in Gotham the reality of the event had actually set in. How his maroon-burgundy suit was going to look awful on him. How he was so nervous that he's going to embarrass Dick at the gala. How Dick's family wasn't going to like him.

"Wally?" Dick spoke, head tilted.

Wally reached out for Dick's hand, squeezing tightly as his partner met him halfway. Surely he was just overreacting. He offered Dick a reassuring smile, pulling the man closer to him and wrapping him in an embrace.

"Everything's good," he sighed, relaxing as he pressed against Dick. "I just psyched myself out a bit."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Wally shook his head, smiling softly. "Not at the moment. I think I'm ready to get out of here if you are."

Dick hesitated and then pulled back. "Yeah, alright. Let's get going."

They walked to the car, Wally's hand lingering on Dick's arm as they made their way. The drive was mostly quiet, the city's skyline reflecting in the car windows. Wally's nerves began to settle as they left the scene behind, the warmth of Dick's presence reassuring him more than words could.

As they pulled up to the manor, Wally took a deep breath. A long gravel road led them up to the front of a large building. Even with the amount of siblings Dick had mentioned, he couldn't imagine them being enough to even warrant a home of that size. "Ready?" Dick asked, giving his hand a comforting squeeze. Wally nodded, still taking in the large amount of property that was decorated with topiaries and trees. Dick raced up the manor steps. Reaching for the door handle. The door opened wide, causing him to lose balance and fall through the frame.

"Master Dick, I do recall teaching you how to knock," a posh older man said, looking down at the Bludhaven detective.

Dick picked himself up and brushed off his pants. "I'll never understand how you always beat me to the door. We even got here early," Dick huffed, then eyes brightening, he waved WAlly forward. "Speaking of: Wally, Alfred. Alfred, Wally."

And at the mention of "we" the elderly man shifted his soft gaze on Wally. He beamed, offering a stretched out hand. "Mr. West, we are all quite pleased you could make it to the event tonight. Dick has spoken very highly of you."

"I'm happy to be here," Wally responded, albeit shaky. "And please just call me Wally."

"Your room has been tidied for your guest," Alfred then spoke to Dick. "I hope you remember enough of your manners to show him the way."

"Of course, Alfie," Dick nodded, then guiding Wally deeper into the manor. As soon as they were out of earshot, Dick pulled Wally closer, bringing his mouth to his ear. "He will probably call you Mr. West till the day that you die so I would not fight too hard on that."

Wally scoffed and looked around the grand hallways. There were expensive and intricate paintings decorating the walls, old lamps that hung from mounts. Wally's best description of the place was like comparing it to a haunted mansion... Before it turned haunted of course.

"This place is huge," he commented as they headed up a set of stairs to enter another hallway.

"Yeah, it works for Bruce's uncontrollable desire to adopt every kid he sees." Dick checked his watch. "It's quieter than it usually is during the summer..." he trailed off, looking around, swiveling his head from side to side. "Duke?" he asked aloud.

A voice popped up from behind him. "This is Wally?" they said brightly.

Wally may have flinched violently and jumped twenty feet in the air when he saw the teen so close behind him.Wally reached out his hand, still feeling his heart violently thumping against his chest. "Is the ability to sneak up on me a family trait or am I just that unaware."

"Well," Dick and Duke shared a look before nodding at the same time, "yes."

"I'm Duke!" he said with a smile. "Everyone is pretty excited to meet you. It's not often Dick brings someone home."

"That's assuring," Wally said, looking over at Dick whose smile was strained.

"Speaking of the others..." Dick spoke. "Duke, you would tell me if they're planning anything, right?"

Duke held his hands up in defense. "Hey, Tim had all the blackmail he needed to swear me to secrecy."

"You just answered his question, Thomas," a hiss came from above them.

Wally's gaze snapped up to where the walls met the ceilings, there was a chain dangling down as if it used to hold a chandelier once. A kid was holding onto the chain, staring down at them with a glare. Wally looked over at Dick, as if to receive an explanation, but all he saw was his partner with his head in his hands.

"Grayson," the kid nodded, "I see the presence of your romantic partner, but no Haley. You deserve what is coming to you."

"Damian," Dick sighed. Ah so this is Damian. "You're calling me Grayson again?"

"Haley," Damian glared. He dropped in front of them, then looked at Wally. "What is your use if you couldn't convince him to bring the dog?"

"Damian, you're going to have to have a better response to that or else you're going to look homophobic," a new voice popped in, this time from a man opening a door and peering into the hallway. He had dark hair just like everyone else that was standing in the hallway, except for a white streak that hung over his eyes.

Dick sighed, dragging a tired hand down his face. "Damian is not homophobic, Jay." Dick looked around, still wary. "Is there anyone else that will be popping in or can I finally introduce all of you guys?" he asked.

"Drake got stuck in the vents," Damian reported.

Duke nodded, "Steph is getting him out now but it may be a while. And Cass' flight got delayed."

Dick rolled his eyes like this was an everyday occurance. "Right, well, everyone this is Wally," He smiled looking over at him, "my boyfriend. And Wally, that's Duke, Damian, and," he pointed at the man with the white streak, "that's Jason."

Wally didn't have a photographic memory, but from when he looked up his boyfriend on the internet, he recalled Jason being...

"Yes, the dead one," Jason said, confirming his thoughts.

"But also not currently dead—," Dick cringed, looking like he didn't want to explain it, "please don't look into that."

Damian tsked, turning to look at the redhead. "Tell me, West. If I sent a hoard of assassins your way. What would you do?"

Should Wally be concerned or is this a kid thing. Why does he feel out of touch? He looked at Dick, lost. "Uhm, is this a Fortnite thing?" he asked, hopeful because he thinks he had played Fortnite once.

Duke smiled, nodding. "Yes, it's a Fortnite thing. He's a fan of all the Gen Alpha things, like skibbidi, rizz, Ohio."

Damian remained unphased by the words, then looking up at Dick, puzzled. "What is he talking about?"

"Don't worry about it," he waved off with a smile. He picked Wally's luggage back up and cocked his head. "Walls, this way." Wally waved goodbye as he followed Dick through the halls. Leaving just in time before he heard Jason say something to Damian which caused the kid to launch his body at him in an attack, being held back by a panicked Duke.

Dick approached a door, opening it, gesturing Wally inside. There, once the door was closed, Wally breathed. Everything was fine. Dick's family didn't seem to hate him. The most Wally thought about it, most of his intense doubts were stemming from when he was close to the tech earlier that day. For future note, he opted to keep his distance from that.

He watched Dick put his luggage in the corner of the room, he then turned, grabbing Wally's shoulders and then throwing him onto the bed. "We have four hours until we should start getting ready for the gala," he said as he kicked off his shoes and pulled up a blanket. "I propose that I need a nap."

And Wally couldn't find any reason to protest, so he pulled the blanket over Dick and got more comfortable. He closed his eyes, filling his thoughts more on the man that was next to him than the anticipated gala that was later that day. Everything would be fine as long as Dick Grayson was right beside him.