Robin and Finch

Intro

                      [ Mentions of abuse]

   In Gotham, nobody spares you a glance. Tall buildings crowd the gray sky as it seems to drown you and say, "You are no one. Give up." Many did, which led to the bountiful population of homeless people. It's also the place to go if you want to disappear. And so the fateful connection was made between two young boys, and little do they know it would shape the rest of their lives.

   Richard Grayson had run away shortly after his parent's deaths; he couldn't stand the idea of being adopted. Replacing the people that had raised him, it didn't feel right! So another joined the dreary streets of Gotham.

   Wallace West had disappeared from Central City, but that's just what he wanted. His life has been going downhill for some time. His mother had left, he didn't know why, but he was left alone with his father. He didn't like it, the endless yelling and hitting. He never saw his uncle anymore, but that didn't stop him from finding Barry Allen's journal, notes, and equipment in the attic. Wally had always liked science! What's the worst that could happen? In the end, it was outing himself as a newly made metahuman to his father. The yelling was louder, and the hits wouldn't stop! So Wally ran. Faster then he ever had before, promising himself he'd never go back!

   Wally only stopped when the smell of burning rubber hit his nose. He screeched to a halt in a dingy alleyway in a city of perpetual twilight. Not at all the the bright Central City. But he was scared out of his thoughts by a small sneeze. "Hello?" He called nervously from his standpoint in the middle of the narrow alley. He heard a sniffle, sounding like it came from a little farther in the alleyway. He hesitantly creeped closer to where the sound came from, but all thoughts of danger flew out of his mind when Wally saw him.
  
   He looked about eight, but was so small he could've been taken for six. His onyx black hair was matted and full of dirt and Gotham City grime. His blue eyes looked pleadingly at him as they rolled with tears on his small, red face. His shirt was ripped in places and so we're the knees of his pants. Wally dropped to his knees in front of the huddled boy and slowly extended his hand, palm up. "Hey," he said softly, " My name is Wally. Wally West. What's yours? " The small boy sniffed and looked at Wally's freckled face, examining it for something that said the emerald eyed boy could be trusted. He put his dirty hand into Wally's and slightly unfurled from his hunched posistion.

   "Dick. Dick Grayson."

   " That's a cool name. Why are you out here? " Wally asked, hoping it wouldn't tip the boy over the edge. Wally may have been a very mature eleven, but he still counted himself as a kid. Well, maybe not anymore. How could anyone still be a kid after something like that? Dick sniffled and his grip on Wally's hand tightened.

   "We are-were acrobats. We used to travel everywhere and then they said I could go on the trapeze with them! B-but they fell! And there was blood everywhere, and-and." He sobbed into his knees which were pulled by his chest. Wally felt his chest tighten. Guess Dick wasn't really a kid either. Wally couldn't take it anymore. With Dick's hand still in his he crawled over and pulled him into a tight hug. Dick sobbed into Wally's chest as he rocked back and forth. After several minutes, ( and Wally definitely wasn't used to staying still for that long) Dick pulled away from the boy but still stayed in Wally's lap. "The people that took me away from the circus wanted me to replace them! I didn't wanna replace my parents! So I ran away. I stayed out here where they couldn't find me. What about you? W-why are you out here?" Wally hesitated. What should be tell him? Dick seemed rather smart for someone of his age, but what about his powers? Dick might hate him, just like his dad! But Dick didn't seem like that kind of person...

   "My dad was a bad guy. He yelled a lot and hit me sometimes too. Then I told him something about me that he didn't like and got really angry, so I ran away. Now I'm here." Dick nodded in thought.
 
   " Did you tell him you liked boy's too? Because my parents said that sometimes adults get mad at people for liking people with the same parts as you. That just seems dumb, but some people didn't like that I came from a circus either, and circuses are the coolest! So liking boys must be cool too. " Dick nodded to himself and Wally filed that little tidbit away for later. Dick was gay too. But...