The Knight and Knave (BirdFlash)

5. Alone

Wally walked through the halls of the apartment complex, reminiscing on all the memories of his love. He came to a halt at the door marked '109'.

Rattling keys echoed through the halls as he tried to find the correct one. He slid the key into the lock and twisted the door open revealing darkness.

He entered the apartment feeling the emptiness finally sink in. Alone. He was all alone in the world now. His comfort was gone; his safe place was taken and it was his fault. Their love wasn't enough to bridge the gap. The division of their worlds was getting farther.

Wally threw himself onto the couch. His attention was fighting between his thoughts and reality. He became lost in his mind. Wondering what he should do next. Wondering if their love still lived. Wondering if he should have chosen Dick over the world. It was a terrible feeling. The guilt and greed for the villain's love concurring everything else he knew. It was like an addiction he needed to feed. He didn't even realize how dependent he was on the other until he felt tears escape his eyes.

The hero was pulled from his thoughts by a knock against the window. He slowly pulled himself from the couch. He stared at the window, waiting for anything to show that he wasn't imagining it. Another knock emulated through the apartment.

Wally curiously approached the window and slowly opened the curtains. The moonlight lit the figure on the other side of the glass. Wally stared at him in disbelief. Dick grinned at the hero and tapped on the glass, gesturing for him to unlock it. Snapping back to reality Wally quickly opened the window, allowing the villain to enter.

"How did you-" Wally tried to ask but was cut off by Dick placing a finger on his lips.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, darling." The villain said. Wally smiled at those words. His previous thoughts slowly lost hold of his mind. Dick did love him; he did care. The hero grabbed his boyfriend's waist pulling him into a hug. Dick stood there for a moment, processing what was happening before giving in to the embrace.

"Are you alright my love?" The villain asked after hearing sniffles coming from the other.

"Don't do that again." The hero muttered, squeezing the villain tighter.

"Do what?" Dick asked.

"Leave me." That was all the hero needed to say for Dick to realize what was happening.

Wally was a man who rarely showed his true emotions to others. Living as a hero groomed him to never show any weakness to the ones he wasn't close to. Dick knew Wally bottled them all up; his lover was a ticking time bomb of emotion just waiting to crack.

"I'm sorry." Dick pulled him closer to his chest. "But if you wouldn't have interrupted, I wouldn't have been forced away." Wally pushed himself off the villain's chest at hearing that.

"Maybe if you would just give up crime I wouldn't have to chase you down." Wally snapped back. Dick took a deep breath shaking his head annoyed and gave a fake laugh.

"We're not doing this right now," Dick insisted, pushing past the hero and walking towards the bedroom.

"No!" Wally yelled, grabbing Dick's wrist and pulling him back. "I'm done with you ignoring this, we are talking about it now." The hero spun the villain so they were face to face.

"What is there to talk about Wally? If you insist that one of us needs to quit our job so that we can be together, why does it have to be me?" Dick asked.

The hero went silent, the thought of giving up his life as a hero never crossed his mind, nor did he want it to. Being a hero is what made him matter to the world. Giving people hope was what he wanted.

"I can't do that." The hero said looking Dick in the eyes.

"Then don't expect it from me. I'm not willing to make a sacrifice that you won't take with me." Dick responded, placing a hand on Wally's shoulder.

"I'm just tired of being stuck in a cycle of making decisions without knowing. Should I be the one to do something? I see others ahead of me. What if I'm the only one who's left behind? I say I'm different from others, but only greed fills my empty glass. The greed of wanting to save you from the world. The greed to keep you to myself. I'm selfish! How can I call myself a hero when I'm in love with you? How can a hero love a villain?" Wally confessed what had been lurking in his mind. "Maybe in another life, we could have done this differently where we could just love instead of fight. Maybe we could just be two fools in love." He looked at his boyfriend with tears staining a trail down his face

Dick saw tears on Wally's face, he sighed. "The fight is what keeps us both alive. The fight is what brought our love. In another world with no fight, would we even know our love? How do we know if we'd still have love? I wish we could be together without sacrifice, I do but that's what makes us who we are." He forced the hero into another hug. Squeezing tightly trying to show Wally he cares. "Now please, let's just go to bed," Dick said, looking down and moving hair away from the hero's face.

Wally didn't respond, he just let the villain lead him to their bedroom. They changed from their costumes into comfortable clothes and snuggled into bed. After a while, they lost the battle with exhaustion and drifted to sleep.