What? Another Christmas story? Don't worry, this one is yet another fluff trip (though I fail at fluff).

Ownership disclaimed.

Mt. Justice December 24

The Cave was deathly quiet when the transmission signal went off. The seven teens sitting around Mt. Justice jumped at the
echoing ping before Wally bolted to the supercomputer at superhuman speed. His fingers flew across the keys as he started decrypting the message.

"It's Nightwing!" he exclaimed. "It's a Bat transmission. Should be able to get through—"

"Hey guys," Nightwing said, flashing onscreen. The rest of his teammates had gathered around the screen, smiling giddily up at their friend's smiling face. His uniform was slightly stained with a suspicious dark liquid, but his face was as bright as always. "Oh, don't worry, it's not mine! See, I had to save a civilian—"

"We get it!" Artemis interrupted. "You get to play superhero in space while we're lounging about the mountain as usual. Shut up, special snowflake." She smiled, letting him know that the exasperation was affectionate.

"It's not that big a deal," he said dismissively. "It's just like on Earth, only the Tamaranean civilians aren't nearly as helpless as they are at home. Almost makes me feel useless." He smiled sadly. "You guys still doing the Team Christmas?"

"You bet!" M'gann piped in excitedly. "Ohmigosh, I'm so excited! We got all the decorations up yesterday, and I started making tomorrow's dinner earlier today and—you aren't gonna be back in time, are you?"

Nightwing shook his head. "Wish I could, but business here isn't even close to being finished. I might be back for New Year's Day though."

The teens looked utterly disheartened, but Wally's face absolutely crushed Dick's soul. His face fell for a fraction of a second, long enough for Artemis to catch the looks the two boys were sending each other. She cleared her throat. "I'm gonna go…do stuff…yeah. See ya, NW." With that ever-so-smooth line, she slinked away. The others seemed to catch the hint and bid their farewells to Nightwing, leaving him alone with Wally.

Wally looked mortified. "Oh God, that was awkward. Do they know?"

Dick laughed lightly. "Dude, I think they knew before you did."

"I resent that!" The two laughed, only slightly managing to mask the pain they both felt in their hearts. "So, no first Christmas together?"

"Tamaran's still in shambles, and Bats wants us to supervise some of the reconstruction. Even if we left now, there's nearly a week's worth of interstellar travel ahead of us. Wish I could be there."

Wally blinked back tears. "No problem, dude. I'll just…hang with the Team for Christmas. Mom and Dad seemed cool when I asked them."

"Dude, don't be like that," Dick said comfortingly. "It's not the first time I wasn't there for a holiday. I missed my sixteenth with you guys." He paused thoughtfully. "Not my fault that Batman keeps nabbing me for these missions."

"I know, it's just—"

"Hold on, wait a sec." Dick looked away from the camera, fiddling with a few buttons on the Batship.

"What are you do—"

"Just wait!" Musical bars started playing over the intercom on the Batship. "Skip ahead, skip ahead. There!" A chord played. "Christmas Eve will find you/ Where the love light gleams—"

"Oh, are you for real?"

"I'll be home for Christmas—"

"Dick, stop that!"

"If only in my dreams~" He held the note cleanly, indulging in Wally's look of exasperation. "Merry Christmas, Wally."

"I hate that song, you know that." Wally crossed his arms and frowned, pouting slightly.

"I'm serious though, Walls," Dick said, smile dimming in intensity. He looked serious, seriously in love. "I love you." He placed his hand against the camera, as if reaching out to Wally. Wally in turn tried to make his hand align with Dick's, but it was massive on the screen.

"Just come back, idiot," Wally choked out. He felt tears prick the corners of his eyes. Everything he could say, and those three special words caught in his throat.

Dick's face looked hurt, but the look disappeared. He terminated the signal, and the screen went black. Wally stood by the control panel, alone and on the brink of tears. He set his jaw and forced back the urge to sob. He and Dick didn't spend every Christmas together, but this year he wouldn't be safe at home. He was in outer space, defending the rights of aliens like a Justice Leaguer. He knew it was selfish, but he just wanted his Dickie-bird home.

Later that evening, the Team was gathered around the table at Mount Justice. It was a glorious spread: turkey, ham, potatoes, macaroni, three types of casserole, and so much more; best part was that nothing was burnt this year. M'gann looked absolutely thrilled at the turnout, nitpicking over fine details and presentation. She was shaping up to be a true little chef.

It was like a typical family meal; they yelled across the table, flung food, and got scolded by an exhausted cook. Despite his longing for his other half, Wally found himself enjoying the meal. He ate nearly five servings of everything and three helpings of desserts. His metabolism burned through his food as it reached his stomach, but by the end of the meal, he felt reasonably satisfied.

For all the conversation they had, nobody acknowledged the elephant in the room—or rather, the empty seat. Wally was uncharacteristically silent as Artemis and Zatanna debated about who had the worst exes and Raquel and Kaldur made gentle passes at each other under the table. After his third serving of every pie on the table (strawberry, cherry, blueberry, and peach), he excused himself, heading upstairs and locking himself in his room without another word.

Finally in the solitude of his private room, he cried. Dick had left for a mission over a month ago; at that time, Wally didn't cry. He didn't cry as each day eked by, moving slower than days usually passed. He didn't despair though, because he knew Dick would come back. The days turned into weeks, though, and now it was Christmas Eve, the day when families and lovers came together and shared that little piece of their heart wrapped in their gifts. It would have been his first Christmas with Dick, his boyfriend, his best friend, his true love.

The thought finally crossed him: What if Dick never came back? What if he died in that civil war? What if he never saw him again,
and "Just come back, you idiot" were the last words they shared? He didn't even tell Dick he loved him. Stupid, stupid, STUPID! he berated himself. The thought of losing Dick burned into his heart, twisting it into knots, wringing out his fear of the four-lettered word that would seal his fate. L-O-V-E. It's not that hard to say. So why couldn't he? "Worst Christmas ever," he told the ceiling through broken sobbing. He fell asleep curled into fetal position, clutching onto a pillow in place of his beloved.

It was the first time in years that Wally wasn't the first one awake on Christmas morning. By the time he got downstairs, the rest of the Team was milling about, getting ready for breakfast and the such as a Christmas radio station played. Wally sighed heavily; he wasn't nearly as pumped up about the holidays as he usually was. Regardless, he slapped on a smile as he walked towards his friends.

"Hope you didn't open presents without me!" His face hurt from the facade.

By the way they traded looks, nobody seemed fooled, but they went along with it. Christmas wasn't a good day for sadness, not with all the well-wishes and "Happy Holidays!" and bright music. "Just getting started," Artemis said. She tossed a shoebox towards Wally. "Merry Christmas, Kid Mouth," she smirked.

"For me? Missy, you shouldn't have," Wally replied, matching her sarcasm. It was a game; the two of them gave the most sarcastic, passive-aggressive gifts to each other. Out of platonic team love, of course. Last year, they traded pink stationary (Artemis hated the color pink) and a six-month membership to Weight Watchers (Wally hated diet programs equally). This year, he was honestly expecting some gay joke or another to be wrapped up by the garish candy cane wrapping paper.

He ripped through the paper, careful to make the biggest mess possible, even though he would have to clean it up alongside the Team, as was agreed beforehand. Inside was yet another box—"How thoughtful, protecting my gift"—which was filled with tissue paper—"Because you know how much I love the color lime green." Artemis smirked as he shifted through all the paper and pulled out…

…a Nightwing plushie?

"Oh." He was torn between giddiness, sarcasm, and tears. He appreciated having an adorable likeness of his boyfriend, but it depressed the hell out of him. Seriously, did he need a reminder that Dick wasn't with him? Even though they were past their original animosity, he couldn't help but suspect that she did this on purpose to screw him over. Yeah, it was a game, but this was borderline not-okay. "It's…cute," he finally said, blinking away the tears pricking at the corner of his eyes.

"Thought you might want a little something to remember Boy Wonder dearest," she said, voice devoid of sarcasm or ill-will. "Do you know how hard it is to find a Nightwing plushie? I had to get that custom made."

"Thanks," he told her hollowly. "It's maybe halfway as cute as NW," he added with a slight smile. He wasn't all that happy, but faking it felt better than wallowing on Christmas.

"That's a joke, right?" A familiar laugh. I'm imagining it. "Cuz that isn't exactly a flattering rendition." He froze, eyes widening as his brain rushed at light speed, trying to find an explanation. There's no way it could be—

He whipped around, dropping the plushie in pure shock. The jeans that hugged legs perfectly. The black jacket over the blue sweater that. The familiar black mop top. The ten-billion watt smile, undaunted by black shades.

Dick Grayson.

Both stepped forward tentatively, neither willing to break the atmosphere that settled in the main room. The music muted, probably M'gann's doing. Wally was afraid that it was a dream, that he would wake up alone in bed, clutching a pillow as an unsatisfactory placeholder for the boy in front of him. Slowly—minutes? hours later?—they closed the gap, leaving mere inches between them. Wally held his breath, loathe to break the illusion, as if Dick would shatter at any contact from him and dissipate like mist.

Neither boy could take it any longer. As if on some silent agreement, they leaned forward, meeting each other's lips with unprecedented passion. Wally threw his arms around Dick, lacing his fingers in the soft locks, and Dick's arms slid around his waist, holding the redhead steadily. The rest of the Team politely left the room, but the two were too caught up in their perfect love to care. Wally felt tears stream down his face, and it took a moment to realize that they weren't just his.

Dick finally broke the kiss, keeping their foreheads pressed together. "Hi," he said simply.

"Hi," Wally replied weakly. His voice caught in his throat, cracking slightly as he looked Dick into the eye. The brunette had grown since the Team was first formed, now nearing Wally's height. He could almost see Dick's sparkling cerulean eyes through the glasses. Both pulled back
slightly, wiping away their tears.

"I missed you."

A realization finally hit Wally. "But you were in space…"

"Little white lie," Dick replied dismissively. Wally made an irritated sound. "I wanted to surprise you. Plus, I needed to pick up a gift." Dick spoke as he fished through his jacket pockets.

"I know that I'm only sixteen," he started. "We're young, and we have our lives ahead of us. Heck, we don't know whether we'll come home every time we go on a mission. But being on Tamaran—in the middle of all-out war—away from you—really made me take a hard look at my priorities." He finally found what he was looking for: a black velvet box. Wally's hand flew to his mouth as Dick dropped to one knee.

"I realized that I don't want to ever be without you. We're heroes; who says we're gonna live long enough to be over the hill? However long that time is, I want it to be with you. Wally, you really are my other half, and I feel like this really is love. From the moment we first met, I knew you were something special. Here we are, seven years later, and I'm so sure that I was right."

Dick popped open the box, revealing a simple golden band. "I'm only sixteen, and you're eighteen. I can't ask you to marry me, but I ask you to wait for me. Wait 'til I'm old enough to truly be with you. Promise me that it's you and me all the way." Dick was trembling now, voice starting to shake from pure emotion. Tears leaked from the corner of his eyes. "I know it's meant for two years from now, but this is the biggest Christmas gift I can offer: myself. Wally, will you wait for me?"

"Yes." The answer was automatic, albeit weak. Dick gently took his hand, slipping on the golden ring. Tears sprung hot and fresh, and Wally crouched down to kiss Dick softly but fervently. Dick leaned into the kiss, gently easing them back to standing position.

The radio rose back to full volume just as a familiar bar of music led into lyrics. The lovers broke contact, staring each other. "I'll be home for Christmas/ You can count on me/ Please have snow and mistletoe/ And presents under the tree."

"I hate this song," Wally said, smiling through the tears at Dick, his best friend, his boyfriend, his true love, his other half.

"I love it though," Dick said,
grabbing the redhead's waist and hand. He started leading him in an awkward
slow dance.

"Christmas eve will find me/ Where the love light gleams—"

"I'll be home for Christmas," Dick started singing along in his clear tenor, "If only in my dreams~" Dick smiled as the song tapered into a musical break. Wally pressed his head into the crook of Dick's neck, nuzzling against the soft, clean-smelling skin. "I love you," he heard Dick say.

"I love you too," he replied without missing a beat. He felt Dick smile, bringing the redhead closer against his body. It was the first time Wally ever said those words so seriously. He couldn't have asked for more that Christmas.

Feedback is appreciated~ Please, because this felt terrible to write for some reason.