Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Obligation ❯ Obligation ( One-Shot )

His finger was a barely off the doorbell before the fastest man alive answered the door. Seeing his best friend, Dick smiled but before he could offer any sort of greeting, Wally was already a slapping his shoulder and ushering him inside.

 

"Man are you a sight for sore eyes," the redheaded man chuckled, closing the front door behind him. "And here I thought the most I'd see from you was if there was ever another apocalypse."

 

"I was in the neighborhood," Dick said with a shrug, looking around the small house the West family currently resided.

 

While both Linda and Wally found themselves accustomed to living the small quarters of an urban apartment, after the twins were born the family moved to the suburbs resting right outside Central City. In the many correspondence Dick had shared with Wally over the years, Wally had always mentioned that while he sometimes missed the liveness of Central City, the ability to play tag in the big backyard with his children made the move worthwhile.

 

"Well it's always great to see you, man," Wally said with a grin, "Crummy timing though, you just missed Linda. She had to go out on some business, so it's just me and the kids today. Do you want me to get you anything? Water? Soda?"

 

"I'll have some so-" Wally had already zipped to the refrigerator, gotten the drink, and placed the can Dick's hand before he finished speaking. "da...yeah thanks, man."

 

"Hey kids," Wally turned to the twins who were engrossed in some fighting video game flashing on the television int the living room. "Say hi to your uncle Dick."

 

Both Jai and Iris answered with a quick, "Hello Uncle Dick," before going back to their game.

 

"What are they playing anyway?" Dick asked as he watched two characters on the screen brutally punch, kick and blast energy beams at another.

 

"Road Battler IV,"  Wally said sitting on the sofa and offering his best friend a seat next to him. "It's a fighting game. You see that score on the top of the screen?"

 

"Yeah, it's a pretty high number. Is that the game's high score?"

 

"You betcha, and it was made by your's truly."

 

"That's um...impressive."

 

"What can I say?" Wally grinned as he casually flipped open the lid to his soda can. "I just beat the snot out of baddies in the real world and the virtual world."

 

"Looks like you're not the only one," Dick said, as he pointed to the television screen.

 

Sometime during their conversation, Iris's character had harnessed some sort of ridiculous large energy bomb made of dragons, lions and other violent looking animals. The bomb blasted at Jai's character, plummeting it to death in a wave of blood and gore. The attack seemed to unlock some sort of bonus of the game, because the score counter above Iris's character was increasing quickly, breaking the high score previously held by her father.

 

"NO FAIR!" Wally and Jai screamed in unison, turning to Iris in fury. "YOU CHEATED!"

 

"What can I say?" The girl grinned, flipping her red ponytail over her shoulder. "I just beat the snot out of baddies in the real world and the virtual world."

 

"Pssh...kids," Wally grumbled as he shook his head and noticed Dick's pensive face. He turned back to his children who were currently plunged deep into what seemed to be an epic rematch. "Hey, your uncle and me are gonna go outside for a few minutes. Will you two promise not to kill each other while we're gone?"

 

"Sure," the twins said in unison as they mashed various controller buttons.

 

Wally made his way off the coach, motioning Dick to follow him outside to the front porch of the house. He leaned over the banister leisurely as Dick shoved his hands into his jacket pockets.

 

"As much as I love seeing your handsome face, I have a feeling you didn't drop by today because you wanted to see mine."

 

Dick remained silent, suddenly finding his shoes to be quite interesting.

 

"I heard about what happened to Bruce," Wally began, hoping to break Dick's silence. "I'm sorry, Dick...we all are. "

 

"Thank you," Dick said softly, not knowing what else to say. He suddenly felt Wally's hand on his shoulder, quickly grabbing Dick's attention.

 

"Listen," his tone suddenly grew serious. "You've always lead the Titians to victory when we were younger, and were always there for all of us when we needed you. You were the best man at my wedding, and have always been the guy I could turn to if I was ever feeling weak.  You're my best friend, Dick. I know there's something deeper bothering you and I want you to know that you can trust me now, like I've always trusted you."

 

The two men stood in silence, though both were aware of the giant pink elephant joining them on the porch, it seemed that Dick had a harder time acknowledging its existence. Wally watched as his friend shuffled his feet like a child and gazed off into the distance.

 

"Wally," Dick gritted his teeth, swallowing hard as he looked at his best friend in the eyes. "Was it...was it easy for you to take on Barry's role after he died?"

 

"Duh, I just had to think about all the popularity, the fame, and the chicks I would get." Wally said with a smirk as Dick rolled his eyes.

 

"It's always a joke with you, isn't it?"

 

"To be honest," Wally said, ignoring the comment. "It was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. At first, I took it up because I wanted to grow up. There was no point in being Kid Flash if the older Flash wasn't around anymore. The more I did it though the more I began to doubt myself because it suddenly hit me that I was trying to fit my feet into some pretty large shoes. I had this mental block that ended up even effecting my speed. I was so freaked out about not only failing in comparison to Barry, but to even be better than him.

"It took a pretty brutal fight for me to overcome that fear. It was like a rock hitting me in the back of the head, and I realized something really important. If I didn't work to my full potential to be a better Flash, someone else could surpass me who I knew didn't deserve to wear the old red and yellow. I had to beat those people by being my best without the fear and the doubt. By doing that I was not only doing Barry's memory justice, I was also doing what was best for the entire world."

 

The silence returned again as Dick allowed his friend's words to sink in. It wasn't often that Wally made comments that weren't smart alecky.

 

"I just don't want to fail anybody, Wally," Dick sighed and looked towards the sleepy streets of suburbia. "It's as if Bruce left me this huge house of cards, and I'm afraid to touch any of it because it may collapse."

 

"Then it's time for you to look inside yourself and ask yourself a simple question," Wally said looking at his friend with a warm smile.

 

"What's that?"

 

"Are you afraid to knock down the house of cards because you don't want anyone to forget that Bruce built it, or are you afraid to knock down the house of cards because you don't think you can build it as high as Bruce did?"