A Dark Secret

Chapter 3

Eyes wide in shock and confusion, Black Canary looked around the room.

"Wally?" She called.

Robin frowned, "I'll find him." He said. His voice implied that this wasn't a question or reassurance, it was a fact, and Robin did not want to be bothered.

As he walked through the long hallway of Mount Justice, Robin pondered what was wrong with his friend. He had been acting strange all morning. To come to think of it, he'd been acting weird all week. Was it something I said? No, Wally would have told me by now. Then what was wrong? Wally hadn't eaten this morning, Robin had joked about it, but really, he was worried about his friend. It wasn't like him not to eat. Maybe he should talk to Barry. No, Wally seemed very distant and nervous when it came to the scarlet speedster. Had they gotten into a fight? No, that wasn't like them.

Robin walked up to Wally's door and knocked quietly. He heard a faint, "Go away." from inside.

"Wally, let me in," Robin said. There was no answer.

"Wally." Still no answer.

"You leave me no choice." He muttered, breaking out his wrist computer, and quickly hacking into the door. It quietly slid open. Wally was sitting in a dark corner of his room, his back to Robin. Robin stepped in, curious, but also worried about his friend. Wally turned his tear-streaked face toward Robin.

"I said go away." he whispered.

"Walls! What's wrong?" Robin exclaimed, running over and placing a gentle hand on Wally's shoulder. Wally didn't answer. The two sat there quietly, Robin thinking Wally just didn't want to talk, Wally trying to think of a good excuse to cover up the fact he had been crying. Then he found one, a crappy one, but it would have to do.

Robin's POV

Wally suddenly burst into new tears burring his head into my arm. I hugged him, and he didn't let go.

"I'll never be the hero Flash is. I always mess up. I'm not worthy of-"

"Shut up." I hissed. His head jerked up, and I was sure I detected fear in his wide green eyes, but it quickly faded. I wasn't mad at him, just kind of shocked that he would think so low of himself. "No. You won't be Flash. Yes, you will mess up. But that's ok Walls. You're your own person. You're unique, and you have friends that care about you. Remember that, ok?" I asked. Wally nodded. "Is that all that's bothering you?" I asked.

The thing is, I knew he was hiding something. I knew he wasn't telling the truth. I knew he had made up the whole outburst. Hey, I'm the ward of the greatest detective. But if Wally wasn't going to tell me straight on, I wouldn't push him. I'd figure out what was wrong my own way.

"Yeah." Wally murmured. Pushing himself onto his feet. I noticed how he wasn't using his right arm much. I noticed how he grimaced whenever he put wait on it. I noticed how he was trying to hide it from me. Wally must have caught me staring because he quickly said,

"I'm tired, I think I might go home. I didn't sleep well last night."

"Okay." I murmured and quietly exited his door. Artemis was there. She raised an eyebrow and muttered,

"He's lying."

I nodded. "His wrist is broken too." Artemis gasped, but before she could say anything, I stopped her.

"If Wally doesn't want to tell me what's going on, I'll just figure it out on my own."