A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! It means so much to me when people take the time to let me know they've enjoyed reading one of my stories! Thank you!

And to answer YJFanYeah's question, yes, Wally and Dick are 13 and 11 respectively :o)

Happy reading!

It was the familiar scent of firewood mixed with fabric softener – of home – that slowly expelled the clinging darkness.

Home. He was home. But…that didn't make sense. He frowned, his eyes still closed, trying to think past the cotton stuffed between his ears. He remembered…he remembered — pain. Excruciating pain. And the world ending. Darkness and then- lights and voices and—

"Dick?"

He started when fingertips brushed his forehead, smoothing his bangs from his closed eyes.

"Brs?" he garbled. Whoa, he was really going to have to do better than that. He scraped his throat and swallowed. "Bruce?"

"Hey, kiddo," Bruce said, his voice soft and a little gravelly. "Can you open your eyes for me?"

It took some effort, but he managed to peel his eyes open and squinted up at his guardian, who was sitting beside the bed. Dick discovered he was in his own room, the curtains half-closed to keep the bright sunlight from shining directly onto his bed without plunging the room into total darkness.

"How do you feel?"

Dick put some thought into that, but he really just felt pleasantly numb. "Um. Not too bad." He couldn't help but notice the bruises beneath his guardian's eyes. "How do you feel?"

The corners of Bruce's mouth quirked up briefly before he shook his head and his expression grew serious again. "I'm not the one laid up in bed, kiddo."

Dick studied the creases in Bruce's forehead and the lines around his eyes and mouth that he didn't remember being there before. He also had a busted lip and a swollen and purple left cheekbone. "No offense, Bruce, but you kinda look like you should be."

Bruce didn't answer. Instead, he picked up a glass from the nightstand and held the straw to Dick's lips. Dick automatically tried to raise his arm to take the glass from him, but the movement immediately stabbed his shoulder, and he hissed. What the heck?

He looked down at his arm, which turned out to be in a sling and draped across his stomach. His other arm was heavily bandaged and trapped between his body and a mound of pillows, keeping it effectively immobilized.

Oh.

That's when everything finally came flooding back, the cotton that had been lodged in his brain dissolving.

"KF!" he exclaimed, jerking almost completely upright and bumping his chin against the glass his guardian was still holding out for him, water spilling down his front. He ignored the discomfort and the pain the sudden movement shot through his body and looked to Bruce for answers. "Bruce! KF! Is- is he-?"

Bruce firmly eased him back down and set the glass aside. He plucked some tissues from the dispenser on the nightstand and dabbed at the damp splotches on Dick's pajama top. "Kid Flash is fine. Better than you, actually."

Dick sagged in relief. Oh god, if his friend had been killed…he never, ever would've forgiven himself. It would've been all his fault.

"What- what happened? I mean, I know we- we almost got blown up, but-"

"Kid Flash got you out and away from the initial blast, but you were both knocked out by the shockwave," Bruce replied, his shoulders suddenly stiff. "When Flash, Superman and Batman arrived, Kid Flash was already showing signs of regaining consciousness but you were unresponsive, so I took you to Dr. Thompkins' clinic."

Dr. Thompkins… An image of her concerned frown hovering over him suddenly presented itself in his mind.

Bruce's eyes bored into him. "By the time we got to the clinic you were starting to come around, but you scared the crap out of me, Dick."

"I'm sorry," Dick said, turning his gaze to the injured arm supported by the sling. He was sorry for a lot of things. A headache was starting to gather behind his eyes. "Is- is my arm okay? I mean, the dislocated one? I know it was pretty messed up."

"Dr. Thompkins performed surgery on it. There were some complications, and you'll need to keep it immobilized for a few weeks, but she believes it will be fine."

Dick breathed a small sigh of relief. At the same time, he felt his energy drain away as the various aches and pains in his body were starting to make themselves known.

"The cut on your other arm was fairly shallow and only needed a few stitches, but it developed an infection so you will still need to keep it immobilized for a few days as well."

Dick scowled. Great. He wouldn't even be able to go to the bathroom by himself. "So…how long has it been? And why can I barely remember anything from being in the clinic?"

"Dr. Thompkins kept you pretty heavily sedated because your injuries, and especially your shoulder, were causing you quite a bit of pain. You woke up a few times but were pretty out of it. Alfred and I brought you home last night and we've been weaning you off the heaviest painkillers. You had the surgery the night before."

Two days. He'd lost two days.

He sank a little deeper into the pillows and shifted uncomfortably. His head was really pounding now and his shoulder was throbbing. The dull ache in his side wasn't helping matters. Dick swallowed and forced himself to look at his guardian. "Bruce, I- I'm really sorry-"

Bruce shook his head. "We'll talk about it later, kiddo. When you're feeling better and your mind's a little clearer."

"I'm fine."

"Dick, you're tired and I know you're hurting, no matter how much you try to hide it. You also have a concussion and you should get some rest. We'll talk later."

Dick nodded before jerking his head up to look at his guardian as a thought occurred to him. "What about the androids? Tell me you guys kicked butt."

The corners of Bruce's mouth twitched and there was a satisfied glint in his eye, which told Dick all he needed to know.

There was a sudden, polite knock on his door before it swung open. "Master Dick," Alfred said as he swept into the room bearing a tray loaded with what looked like broth and a bottle of painkillers. "It is a pleasure to see you awake. How are you feeling, young sir?"

"I'm okay, Alfred."

"Indeed? Then I'm sure you wouldn't mind some soup to fill you up a bit before your next round of painkillers?"

Despite his exhaustion, Dick's stomach growled and he licked his lips. "Soup actually sounds pretty good, Alfred," he said, summoning a smile.

He knew there would be consequences to disobeying Bruce's orders and he didn't like that he was going to have to wonder and worry about what those consequences might be for a while, but he was kind of relieved, too, that Bruce seemed unwilling to give him a lecture when he was still drugged up and, well, vulnerable.

For now, with both his arms out of commission, the humiliation of needing Alfred to spoon-feed him his soup was punishment enough.

oOo

A week later found Dick Grayson sitting on a rooftop on a sunny but nippy afternoon in Central City. He'd made sure to sit far enough from the ledge to avoid being seen by the people below. It wouldn't do to have someone spot him and cause a racket because they thought he was a jumper. Jumpers were common enough in Gotham, so nobody would've been really surprised or startled to see a kid sitting on a ledge; things in Central City, however, were different. Central City was a bright, sunny place where the colors were still vivid – not airbrushed with a grey hue like Gotham – and the people friendly and optimistic. A kid sitting on the roof of a five-storey building would've caused a major uproar and Dick really didn't want to draw attention to himself.

He huddled a little deeper into his coat, the arm still immobilized in the sling warm against his belly. His other arm had thankfully healed up enough for Alfred to remove the stitches, allowing Dick to use it properly. Glancing at his watch, his lips curved into a grin. In the four months he'd known Kid Flash, he'd learned that being a speedster wasn't synonymous to being punctual.

Dick had asked his friend to meet him here, on the rooftop where they'd met as Robin and Kid Flash. They had been accompanied by their mentors then; Flash and Batman both had thought it a good idea for him and Kid Flash to get acquainted and had taken them on a patrol of Central City together. They'd hit it off right away and Dick was delighted to finally have someone his own age to share his experiences with. Being a kid sidekick was cool and he wouldn't trade it for the world, but it was also kind of lonely when there wasn't anyone he could really talk to about it. Kid Flash was still very new to the superhero life, but they understood each other – even if their first team-up hadn't exactly gone off without a hitch.

Now, Dick was here in his civvies but with his shades in place and his hair messy.

A familiar blast of air heralded the sudden arrival of Kid Flash and Dick looked up at the boy standing beside him, not bothering to stand up.

"Hey," Kid Flash said.

Dick smiled at the bright red baseball cap his friend was wearing and the dark sunglasses obscuring his eyes. "Hi, KF."

"How uh…how are you?"

"I'm good. You?"

"Yeah…uh, fine."

Dick fought the wince at the unexpected awkwardness between them. Kid Flash seemed embarrassed, shy almost, though Dick had no idea why. He himself was feeling uncharacteristically self-conscious , not to mention nervous as heck about what he was planning to do, about why he had asked his friend to meet him here in the first place. But if he was going to do this, he needed to take control of both his nerves and the situation. He smiled back up at his friend, who was still standing in front of him, no doubt wondering what to do with himself.

"Are you gonna keep standing? 'Cause having to look up at you is kinda giving me neck cramp."

"Oh! Sorry, yeah, I uh…" Kid Flash said, looking around for a place to sit.

Dick rolled his eyes behind his shades. "You can come sit next to me, you know. I promise I won't hurt you."

Kid Flash chuckled nervously at that but did finally sit down beside him, drawing his knees halfway to his chest and leaning back against the ventilator unit, mirroring Dick's pose.

Dick's stomach suddenly began to tie itself into knots as he tried to remember how he was going to broach the subject of his secret identity. He'd played out the intended conversation a hundred times in his mind while on his way to Central, but now that the moment suprême had arrived, his carefully constructed cues had all gone out the window.

He clamped down on his doubts and cleared his throat. "KF, I-"

"Dude, I'm sorry!" Kid Flash suddenly blurted.

Dick blinked, his thoughts instantly derailed. "…What?"

"You're mad at me, aren't you? And you have every right to be! I totally screwed up the entire mission, hitting you in the head like that and freaking out and-"

Dick frowned, turning to his friend. "Wait, wait, wait. KF, what the heck are you talking about?"

"Dude! I know I screwed up! I almost got us both killed! And I'm sorry!"

Dick stared at him. "Are you serious? KF, you saved my life! You thought I was mad at you? You idiot, I asked you to meet with me because I wanted to thank you."

Kid Flash's mouth fell open. "Huh?"

"Dude, KF, you were awesome. We were about to get blown up and you could've gotten out, saved yourself, but you didn't! You- you wouldn't leave me behind and that- that means a lot. So I… I wanted to thank you by- by showing you how much I trust you."

He took a deep breath and reached for his shades with his good hand.

Beside him, Kid Flash made a distressed sound. "Dude! No way! Are you- you're not gonna- are you?"

Dick laughed and he felt the tight hold his nerves had on his stomach ease a bit. "Yeah, I am." Just as his fingers closed around the frame of his shades, Kid Flash's warm hand wrapped around his wrist.

"Dude…Rob, are you sure? You don't have to—"

"I want to."

"Are you sure you're sure? You won't be able to undo this, Rob… I can't unsee it! And I mean, do- do you really trust me that much?"

Dick smiled and felt his stomach calm even more. "Yes, KF, I'm sure. I didn't just suddenly decide this overnight, you know. I put a lot of thought into it, and yeah, I talked myself out of it, like, a hundred times, but I just kept coming back to- well, to the fact that you risked your own life to save me when you could've walked away. And I just figure that if- if I can trust you with my life, I can trust you with my identity. Just- promise me you'll never tell anyone. Ever. 'Cause if people found out, things could get pretty bad for me and Batman."

"Okay. Yeah, dude," Kid Flash said, letting go of his wrist. "I promise."

Dick took a deep breath, pulled his sunglasses off and waited.

And waited.

His friend was just staring at him.

He doesn't recognize me, Dick suddenly realized.

Then the older boy tipped his head sideways a little and slowly reached a hand out towards him. Dick had no idea what he was going to do and had to squash his instinct to pull away. Fingers brushed his bangs back from his face and he squirmed a little as his friend studied him intently.

"Dude, no way… You're-you're Richard Grayson, aren't you?"

Dick grinned. "Call me Dick."

Kid Flash blinked. "Dick? Uh…okaaaay. But- wait- oh my god, if you're Richard Grayson, then does that mean Bruce Wayne is Batman?!"

"KF! Shhh! Not all of Central needs to know that!"

"Right, sorry, sorry!" Kid Flash said, immediately lowering his voice to a whisper. "Oh my god, I can't believe it! Bruce Wayne and Richard Grayson are Batman and Robin…who'd've ever thought it?"

Dick chuckled.

"And- oh my god, that means you're rich, doesn't it? Dude!"

Dick's smile faded a little. "Well, it's not really my money…"

Kid Flash looked over at him and whatever he saw in Dick's face made him sober instantly. "Richard Grayson…the Flying Graysons…your- your family…"

Dick drew his knees further up to his chest and wrapped his one functioning arm around them. "Yeah."

"Dude…I'm-I'm so sorry."

Dick shrugged his good shoulder, the hurt suddenly sharp in his chest.

They were both silent for a moment before Kid Flash spoke up again. "No one's- no one's ever trusted me with something like this before," he said, sounding hushed, awed, almost reverend. "Not even- not even Flash. I mean, I know who he is obviously, but he's never trusted me with anything this important."

Dick looked at him and smiled at the expression on his friend's face.

Kid Flash turned to him suddenly and reached up to take off his hat and his own sunglasses.

It was Dick's turn to stop his friend. "Wait, KF, I don't want you to feel like you should tell me your identity just because I told you mine. Don't do it till you trust me. Like, really trust me."

Wally stared at him. "Dude, you're Robin! What kid doesn't trust you? And anyway, that's not why I want to do it. You saved my life first."

"Huh?"

"Dude, when those guys back in that warehouse were- were beating me up, I saw the look on their faces. They were grinning like loons, like they were on happy drugs or something. It-scared me. I don't- I don't think they would've stopped. If you hadn't jumped in when you did…"

Dick felt guilt twist his stomach. "I'm sorry, KF, I should've warned you about Gotham thugs. They're not like goons in Central, who actually have a conscience some of the time. Gotham criminals are vicious, and they won't hesitate to kill. Not even kids."

His friend nodded. "Yeah, I got that. But dude, that just makes me admire you even more."

Dick's eyebrows shot up. "Uh…'even more'?"

Kid Flash turned red and raised his hand to rub at the back of his neck. "Uh…well, yeah. I mean, like, every kid wants to be Robin, because, well, 'cuz you're cool. And, you know, you get to work with Batman and sometimes even with Superman! But- now that I know what you're up against and how you can take down three thugs four times your size in three seconds flat…I dunno, I just- you kick butt, dude."

Dick was pretty sure he was turning as red as his friend now. "KF, that still doesn't mean you should-"

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I do trust you. A lot," Kid Flash interrupted. "Just- let me show you, okay?"

Dick relented. "Okay."

Kid Flash pulled off his baseball cap to reveal his flattened red hair. He scrubbed a hand through it before proceeding to remove his shades. He turned his green eyes to Dick. "I'm Wally W-"

"West, I know," Dick finished for him, and then grinned at the look on his friend's face.

Wally blinked. "What?"

"I've known who you are for a while, Wally."

"What?!" Wally squeaked. "But- but- how?!

"Protégé of the World's Greatest Detective, remember?"

Wally sputtered. "Well, why didn't you say something?! I feel like an idiot being all secretive and stuff!"

"Wally, I didn't say anything because it wasn't my place. Whether you wanted me to know your secret identity was up to you. The fact that I already knew it doesn't change that." He took the baseball cap from Wally's hands and pulled it low over his own eyes. "Besides, I kinda liked your cool-guy-slash-jock look."

"You thought it looked cool?" Wally questioned, then paused, raising a eyebrow. "Wait. You're making fun of me, aren't you?"

Dick laughed, ducking the swat Wally took at him.

"Dude! Not cool," Wally said, but there was a smile behind his eyes. "Anyway, I guess it wouldn't be such a shock if people found out my secret identity. I'm just a kid nobody knows. I'd imagine the world would go pretty crazy if they found out about yours and Batman's."

Dick nodded. "Things could get pretty bad."

Wally paused mid-nod. "Wait. Does Bruce know you were going to tell me who you are?"

"Um. No."

"What?!" Wally stared at him, eyes wide, looking horrified. "Dude! Is- is he gonna kill me if he finds out I know his secret identity?"

Dick grinned at him. "Better make sure he doesn't find out, Wally."

Wally dropped his face in his hands and groaned. "Duuuuuuude! Not. Cool!"

- End -