"Dude..Dick... your backpack is heavy! What do you have in here? Bricks?" Wally complained in a joking manner glancing over to the newly acquainted Dick Grayson. He was pretty silent the entire walk..and the pace they were going made wally want to kill himself..going human speed was bad enough..staying behind to support someone as a crutch was even more excruciatingly painful.
"Well there are these magical bricks in there called 'books'. They have words on the inside of them that has various amounts of knowledge held within them." Dick stated sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "They are just large textbooks because I am taking college courses and I needed some extra reading materials."
Wally let out a low whistle. "Man..you must really be smart huh? Getting a scholarship to such a fancy school, college classes..why do you do it?"
"Because I need to." Dick shrugged. "The only reason I am allowed out of the detention center is because of that scholarship, there are less eyes on you if you are not a trouble maker. Besides, it's not like I will be there forever, I have a future to plan for." A warm smile appeared on Dick's face, The second he reached eighteen, he was out of that place and would never look back.
"Dude. I still can't believe you live in a place like that though... It is so not fair! Did your parents dup you there or something? I just do not understand how you would even end up there!" Wally frowned.
"Life's not fair, Wallace." Dick sighed and stopped walking. "I think I need to take a breather."
"Uh..yeah..sure thing." Wally helped Dick walk over to a nearby bench and sit down. "Wait..does this have to do with the whole 'circus freak' thing?"
"A little bit of hit. I was raised in the circus."
"Dude, no way! That is so cool!" Wally grinned but stopped when he he saw the other giving him an amused look. "What?"
"Well, most people hearing that I am from the circus... well you met my three favorite people earlier." Dick laughed sarcastically.
Wally froze slightly at the laugh, he felt like he heard it before, but he could not put his finger on it. He quickly shook away the feeling, getting to the point at hand. "I take it..the circus..something happened." Wally paused before realizing that what he said must have sounded completely insensitive to the matter. "Wait, you do not have to tell me...I'm sorry. I know people tell me I have no filter all the time. I am so sorry I didn't--" Wally rambled on , words getting quicker and quicker.
"Whoa, calm down there Walls." Dick held up his hands. "It's fine..sharing my parents' memory is something I am honored to do." He gave a sad smile. "Honestly, it has been about six years...It hurts still, but not as bad." Dick stared up to the sky, watching a few clouds lazily drift past. "I was part of the Flying Graysons...We are...were...well known for doing such gravity defying stunts on the trapeze..and without a net none the less."
"Without a net?!" Wally gawked "That's insane!"
Dick chuckled at that. "Yeah, the crowd thought so too. But, the Graysons..my parents... were so graceful..like they were flying..hence the name." Dick shook his head. " The night they fell to their deaths, was supposed to be my debut, but my parents said it was not safe for me quite yet...I did convince them to let me join them..however, I froze up there during my performance..I froze when I saw that the ropes had been tampered with-- and before I knew it..they were both on the ground, crowd screaming.." Dick shivered shaking his head.
"Wait...you said tampered, someone intentionally--"
"His name was Zucco..A local gangster here in Gotham.." Dick's face twisted into a look of rage for a brief moment before relaxing once again. "He threatened the circus for money, and when the owner refused..he as well as his gang made the message clear..using my family as the example."
Wally scowled at that. That was completely messed up! However, that still did not explain why Dick was in the Juvenile Detention Center, even if he had no family there was always orphanages-- "Did you do something..you know..to get back at Zucco?" Wally questioned hesitantly.
Dick scoffed. "I was eight, What was I going to to? Throw a tantrum?" Dick rolled his eyes a bit at the comment. "No I did nothing to Zucco...Though a certain vigilante put him into a body cast for me--" Dick grinned at that.
Wally rose an eyebrow. "I take it you are a Batman fan then?" Wally smiled slightly at the nod Dick gave, a childish and enthusiastic one.
"Of course I do! He is all about justice, he brought my parent's killer to justice..Sure, It was on a completely different charge than that..but I am still beyond grateful to him." Dick shakily stood up, wally soon following afterward to help support him. "I really need to get going back before they send someone searching for me."
"So if not getting back at Zucco, why are you at that place?" Wally asked, confused.
"Oh that is a simple answer. Not enough room in the orphanages here..so they dumped me in the only place they had left. So here we are, to the present."
"That is just messed up, you did nothing wrong!"
"Well, that's Gotham. It is a dark city filled with tragedies just like mine." Dick glanced over to the Speedster. How long could he keep up this charade with the other? Wally did not know it, but they have met before. It was a stupid idea to tell him his life story..if the other pieced it together. He needed to keep a bit of distance, he knew that, but actually talking to someone felt nice...It had been so long since someone talked to him without calling him a freak or threatening him..even on his 'patrol' the thanks he gets is minimal, though he was not in it for the praise. He wanted the small people, people that are overlooked at the night because there are huge super villains out there, to be protected. He wanted to be there for people, so they would not turn out like him. Even if it was only a handful of people he could save. He was no Batman, but he could still help the city be safer. "Well." Dick stopped and looked up at the building in front of them. "This is where we part ways."
Wally pouted a bit but nodded. "See you at school tomorrow? I would like to chat again..I mean if that is okay...."
"Yeah.." Dick smiled and limped toward the door. "See you later Walls."
