At Least Fifteen Years (Young Justice/Batman Beyond Fanfic)

At Least Fifteen Years

"I'm alive!" Kid Flash lifted both of his fists into the air as he yelled to the world that... "I'm alive!"

A few minutes before, Kid Flash lay on his back, the breath knocked from his lungs, the fact he'd survived helping to take out the magnetic field disruptor at the North Pole slowly sinking in. Finding out he was alive honestly proved quite invigorating. After a bit of cheering, the young superhero started calming down, realizing he was alone.

On top of being alone, "I'm hungry."

Which in truth wasn't surprising, given the fact using his super-speed always made him hungry, yet finding himself in what appeared to be Gotham instead of the North Pole honestly felt – strange. The fact the rift's energies sent him to a different part of the world didn't bother him in the slightest, because the mere notion made logical sense. "If I survived the rift, then it makes sense that something else would happen."

He swallowed, mentally taking in the fact everyone likely thought him dead but rushing in to say the apartment he shared with Artemis would cause more problems than he wanted to go for at the moment. Plus, in the back of his mind, Wayne Manor was closer than the apartment he shared with her, let alone the home of his parents. In the back of his head, that was the best place to go as Batman, let alone his best friend Nightwing would handle things in a cool, collected manner.

Alfred wouldn't mind the raid on the fridge either.

It hurt, running on a rather empty stomach to the manor, nor did he pay much attention to what went on around him despite the fact mentally he picked up on the fact certain things were different. The hurt lessoned upon getting the first piece of food into his stomach, meaning he'd go into a food comatose rather than a speed comatose, nor did he hesitate in packing his cheeks full of food.

Lots and lots of lovely food.

Of course, after chugging some of the lemonade in the fridge down he realized that the growling in the kitchen was not his stomach, but it was enough for him to stop stuffing his mouth full of food. He stood up straight, his blue eyes going directly to the growling sound, knowing full well Bruce Wayne did not have a dog. He especially didn't have a Doberman pincher who was being held back by someone he couldn't quite see. "Nice doggy?"

"His name is Ace." the person said, pulling the dog away and shoving him out of the kitchen before coming back and slamming the refrigerator door shut. The familiar pair of robin blue eyes glared at him, obviously irritated at seeing him.

"Seriously. Why are you being such a dick head, Dick?" Kid Flash stated, knowing full well his best friend indeed had good reason to be upset given the fact he likely thought him dead, yet in the same regard, Dick as Nightwing orchestrated faking Artemis death so she could go undercover without him, Kid Flash, her boyfriend, knowing what she was alive.

He didn't expect his best friend to sock him one, otherwise – as he found himself knocked back into the counter, he said, "I could have dodged that." He reached a hand up, wiping his mouth carefully, watching his friend carefully. "Look, I get..."

"I don't know who you are," his best friend stated, still glaring at him. "And what are you doing intruding in Mr. Wayne's home?"

One of Kid Flash's eyebrows lifted, slightly confused regarding why his best friend didn't recognize him let alone the fact his friend was referring to Bruce Wayne in such a manner. He swallowed. "Are you out of sorts with Batman again? What happened this time?"

"I'm always out of sorts with him, but he's not Batman."

"Okay. I get it. For some reason I'm some sort of stranger to you now, so I shouldn't know he's Batman, but..."

"First off. Slow down. I can't understand a word you're saying. Second, who the hell do you think I am?"

"Like, Dick Grayson."

"I'm not Dick Grayson, but for the life of me I can't figure out why you would think that."

"Uh, do you have like really, really bad amnesia or something, because you look like him?"

"I look like Dick Grayson, the first Robin, and Nightwing?" his friend who in Kid Flash's mind suffered from very bad amnesia seemed to be having some sort of train of thought, yet there was the fact this person couldn't follow him when he spoke superfast.

The door of the kitchen opened at this moment and the dog bounded in, growling when someone gave a firm command. "Ace, sit." Then, his friend flinched as if someone poked him in the back. "What's taking so long Terry?"

"Hey! Don't poke me with your cane like that Br... Mr. Wayne," his friend stated, yet Kid Flash knew that Bruce Wayne didn't have a cane. Meaning...

"About time you showed up!" The person in question stepped into view, glaring at him, looking far older than he remembered. "Fifteen years too late, at least."

"Nice to see you too," Kid Flash felt his mouth twist, crumbs still on his face. He glanced at the young man named Terry, who looked like Dick Grayson. "I could have sworn you were him."

Terry's mouth was twisted slightly. "Him. As in the original Robin."

Bruce looked at Terry then, then back at Kid Flash, grumbling as he did so. "Why did you have to go and tell him that?"

"What's wrong with him telling me? It's not as if we're related or anything like that," Terry piped up.

Except... "How old are you?"

"None of your business," Bruce piped up.

"Sixteen."

He remembered Bruce saying, "fifteen years too late, at least," which in turn meant it had been over fifteen years since he disappeared, which meant it was completely likely that this Terry was related to Dick Grayson. The way Bruce glared at him said he didn't want Terry to know, yet there was also no telling where Dick was now, let alone what caused whatever latest estrangement between him and Bruce. He did, though, not think Dick would walk out on his kid.

He opened his mouth, only to snap it shut when Bruce glared at him.