Protecting our leader.

Chapter Twenty.

P.O.V of Wally.

"Do I look nice enough?" I asked as I stood in front of the Wayne manor doorway.
"You look fine Wally." Artemis reassured me, "I mean, a tad overdressed but it show's you're putting in an effort."
And compared to her shirt and jeans, my makeshift suit was overdressed. I sighed, I still didn't really want to be here, but I just had to show him I was okay. Then I knocked on the door and the sound on the Oak echoed through the large manor. A few moments later it was opened by an older man.
"Yes, hello there master West," He greeted with a British accent, "Mistress Crock. What is the occasion?"
"Umm, who are you?" I asked before I could stop myself.
"The name's Alfred." He answered, "But you probably know me better as Agent A."
Of course, he was the Wayne family butler. Artemis gave me an elbow to my side from where our arm's are linked and I recovered myself.
"Is Richard in?"
"He's out at the moment." He replied, "If you want I can say you called."
"No, no." I said as relief coursed through my veins, "We'll just come back another time."
"Are you sure?" Alfred asked.
"Yes." I replied, "It's fine."
"Alright then." He said, "Is that all?"
"Yes." I said again.
"Have a nice day." He said and politely closed the door.
"Will you come back again?" Arty asked as we walked down the gravel pathway.
"Maybe one day." I admitted, "But not anytime soon."
"Alright then." She chirped, "Let's get these handed out, get ourselves a life."
"You know, Bruce would just give you a job that you don't have to do." I said as she waved out CV's in front of my face.
"But I want a job, away from this." She said, "I- I want to give up being the green archer."
"You don't want to be a hero anymore?" I asked.
"No." She admitted, "As soon as I get a job I'm moving away from that carrer. The only good thing it ever brought me was my freindships and you."
I could see where she was coming from. Some people could go on to continue a life like this forever, but to do that you have to have it as your top prioity, and risk your life in everyfight. I enjoyed that when I was young and thought I was immortal, but I've been doing it for so long now. I've saved countless lives, done more for the country then most other people have or ever will. Maybe it was time for me to give up the act as well. Maybe a normal life would make a nice change.
"I think I'm going to leave it behind as well." I said, "We've served our time."
"You don't have to." She said, "I'm not going to force you to do anything."
"No, I want to." I smiled at her, "A normal life, a job. The most perfect girlfreind. And no more risking my life just by being me."
"Thank you." She whispered and leant her head on my shoulder as we walked to our new life in the early morning mist.

P.O.V of Dick.

It was a crisp, cold morning. I could tell as my breath clouded in front of me, ice lined the edges of the path and most people were bundeled up in scarfs, gloves and coats. I was sat on a bench with Damian. He had brought out a basket of snacks, namley Jason's bread collection, for us to munch on if we got hungry. He was currently getting through a loaf of pumpkin seeded bread.
"Thank you." I broke the silence.
"What for?" He asked, looking over to me.
"For bringing me out here." I said, "It's nice to feel the breeze on my face again."
"I thought it would be." He smiled.
We settled back into silence but as a man came running over the hill, a slim dark brindle coulored Greyhound beside him, Damian waved him over. The man started when he saw him but the dog came over in great bounding leaps and stuck it's head on Damian's leg where he gave it a strach behind the ear. The man jogged over a tad slower and sat on the space Damian offered him.
"Nice to see you keeping to your old ways." Damian greeted him, "We never did get to have a complete conversation last time."
"No," The man panted, "No we did not. But you should be in school."
"I'm privately tutored by my mother," Damian replied, "But that is not important. My name's Damien and this is my brother Dick."
"Jacob. And that's Pixe" The man replied, "And thank you again for what you did. If you hadn't of acted I know I wouldn't be able to have this conversation with you right now."
Pixie had given up on getting a fuss from Damian and padded over to me. I absent mindedly stroked her behind the ear as I stared off into space.
"Dick." I was brought back to my thoughts as Damian turned to me.
I looked over to him, having missed the entire conversation I had no idea what was going on. Both he and Jacob were looking at me pityingly, which I think I hated. But I couldn't bring myself to feel anything.
"You still okay?" Damian asked.
"Fine." I replied.
"Want to go for a race?" He asked, "Jacob wants to see who's better."
"We all know that you will be." I whispered.
"That may be what you think," Jacob said from the side, "But running can increase your mood, and it looks like you need a mood lifter."
"What do you know about how I'm feeling?" I bit much harsher than intended but he didn't seem to notice.
"I know you better than you think Dick." He gave a sad smile, "And I say you need movement, just to see how much stamina you have."
I should have been worried about that first part, but he was right. Moving around may just help, so I got up and Damian followed.
"Around the perimeter once, then up the hill, over the bench, down the other side of the hill and halfway around again and back up the hill to the bench." Damian said as we walked down the slope and to where we would be starting, "And don't hold back. Jacob said he'd shout for us to start."
I nodded to show I had heard and a few seconds later we heard a bellowed "Go!" and we sprinted off the make-shift start line.
And my mood was instantly lifted. I had started off much faster than Damian and was leaving him far behind. I loved the feel of the wind in my hair and the sound of it whistling past my ears. I was grinning wildly halfway around the first lap and it stayed on my face for the rest of the race. I sprinted up the hill, not slowing my pace, leaped over the bench to the shocked face of Jacob and hurtled down the other side of the hill. I could hear Damian's heavy footfalls behind me as he landed over the bench and got straight back into a run. I pushed myself harder to put more distance between as I went around the base again, but his footfalls didn't get any further behind and I could hear his laboured breathing. I was back up the hill in the space of the next couple of seconds and had just sat down on the bench, breathing slightly heavier than before, as Damian got up the hill and collapsed onto the bench next to me.
"Never have I run so fast in my life." He got out between breaths.
And never had I felt so free. I looked over to him, a wide smile plastered on my face and he returned it.
"Well, that was over much faster than expected." Jacob said I turned my head to look at him and now that I was closer I could see something I hadn't seen on him before. A slight raising in the skin which indicated a scar was there, but it was shaped into words.
"You were taken by them as well." I said.
"Long before you were." He said, "I was there for 20 years, but after I reached 20 they just kept me as a slave. I was the one that had to clean your cell whenever they moved you."
Damian looked over at this, "You mean Crowder?"
"Unfortunatly so." Jacob said, "He wasn't a pleasant person."
"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Damian said, sounding sincere for once in his life.
"So are most people I speak to about it." He said, "But I've learnt to live with it, as one day you will, and I have decided that I need to make sure everyone becomes the best they can. That's why I began to work as a consular for people who've gone through similar situations as I myself have. So if you ever need to talk about it Dick, here's my card."
He handed me a card with an adress and phone number on and I put it into my hoodie pocket with a word of thanks.
"Anyway, I should get back to my home now." He said, standing up and calling his dog back over, "It was nice meeting you. And I thank you again for saving my life Damian."
"Nice metting you to." Damian said and Jacob started back into a jog away from us, "So Dick, what so you say to visiting the mountain?"
"I think I need to." I said.
I felt more myself then I had for a while, though I still wasn't entirly normal, but I needed to see Wally and Arty. I still needed to see that they were both okay with my own eyes.