Day at the Museum

Participants: Dick Grayson  Roy Harper  Wally West
Open/Closed: Closed
Location(s): The Flash Museum
Time of Day: Mid-Morning
Weather: Bright and sunny, a clear sky with no clouds in sight. 
Summary: The former Teen Titans hang out and reconnect (whilst also picking on Wally) 

It never ceased to amaze Dick Grayson just how night and day Gotham City and Bludhaven were in comparison to other cities where his friends operated in. 

All it took was an hour or two before a friendly cab driver wished him a good day or a waitress at a diner called him "sweetie" and Dick would realize that he wasn't home anymore. People were friendlier in general. They smiled at him and nodded their heads as he walked past them. They held doors open for him as he left the airport and recommended places to eat as if he hadn't been to Central City a thousand times before then. The sidewalks were cleaner, the scenery was greener with planted trees and box planters that sat on windowsills, and the air smelled free of gasoline, sulfur, and the other rank smells of Gotham. Even the architecture was friendly as the rooftops showed no signs of jagged angled, steeped roofs or stone gargoyles perched on the corners - those always interested him the most.

To Dick Grayson a roof wasn't just a roof. One of the first lessons he had learned from Bruce was to study his surroundings and think of them for their strategic and tactical purposes. Gargoyles allowed for coverage and steeped roofs made for tricky balancing for example. Central City buildings weren't as tall as Gotham buildings and the rooftops were flatter more often than not. It would make surveillance a miserable practice but, then again, Central City's protector didn't exactly need to hide in the shadows. In fact, the Flash had a whole museum dedicated to him. Batman wouldn't stand for something this gaudy but Bruce Wayne wasn't exactly the most fun-loving person in the world. 

Dick passed the statue of one of his best friends Wally West in his full Flash regalia and smiled. They really pulled off the likeness of his buddy right down to his smirk. It had been too long since he'd seen Wally and just seeing his stone sculpture was enough to lift his spirits. He'd spent too long in Gotham, even though he was spending it with Babs and things were improving with Jason and the others. He needed some sun and some lightness which Gotham didn't offer much of either. Dick took a seat on the marble stairs that led past the tall columns and the entrance to the world famous Flash Museum and waited for his friends to arrive. 

Roy Harper Wally West

"Linda, you gotta make sure Wally doesn't know we're here. -- Yes, I know we told you to tell him to make sure he was fr-... -- Well I don't know, but you're smart. You can come up with some reason he has to go to the museum. -- Yes- ... -- Yes I know this was very last minute. -- No... -- No you don't need to tell Oliver how much of a nuisance I'm being. He already knows. -- Okay, awesome. I'm actually just leaving the guest shop right now, and Dickie will be here soon I'm sure. I'm sure Wally will be pleasantly surprised with the surprise visit! Thank you again Linda!" Roy hung up his phone as he juggled in his hands far more gift shop junk than he could possibly need. Fumbling and bumbling his way to a quieter spot outside of the shop, Roy grunted as he pulled over his newly purchased FLASH t-shirt, laced up his new FLASH sneakers, and adjusted his awfully gawdy FLASH ballcap. Are we sure the Flash isn't related to Booster? So much merchandise what the heck If there was one thing Roy was good at, it was being as obnoxious as possible without saying a word. And that was the plan; lay on the tourist schtick THICK.

Roy and Dick themselves hadn't had much time to hang out recently, nor had either really had time to hang out with their other best friend Wally. Figuring a surprise trip was in order, the two had worked with Linda to make sure Wally had some free time, but without telling him why he needed the free time. The former Teen Titan teammates deserved some time off and some time together.

Making sure he still had his full day ALL ACCESS PASS so he could get back in, Roy hurried outside with his bags upon bags of gifts. It didn't take long after bursting through the doors that he spotted a familiar backside taking a seat by the entrance. "Dickie boy, over here!" Roy called out, waving his metallic arm that was carrying more bags than he needed to be carrying of gift store junk. Roy quickly jogged over to the other former Titan and dropped the bags. "Quickquickquick. Grab some shirts and junk. We have to look like the biggest tourist dweebs before Wally shows up"

Wally sighed as he strolled down the sidewalk. Today was a weird day. It started off with waking up too early to go into work on a day he had specifically made certain he wasn't scheduled for. He had no idea why he had made sure he had the time off, but Linda had insisted and he had arranged for it months ago. He knew for a fact it was not his anniversary, something he was positive he'd never forget...well again anyway. The kids didn't have anything special going on as far as he knew, no school plays or baseball games he needed to attend. There hadn't been an official meeting of the League for a hot minute. Whatever it was he was sure he had forgotten something important. It was after all par for the course. He was The Flash, Fastest Man Alive, and that meant he was perpetually late and regularly forgetting things. Sure he had gotten better at it over the years, even if forcing himself to pay attention to things when the world moved at what felt like a snail's pace, but still things slipped past him now and then.

Before he could even start to wonder what it was he was forgetting, duty called. Someone had tried holding up a hotdog stand of all things and naturally being a city protected by a superhero they decided to do it in costume. Granted that costume looked like something bought on Wish.com and it turned out that the poor soul was a mentally disturbed teen from out of town who simply wanted to meet The Flash. It was a good thing he had too, because despite the Rogues having rules about not killing they still would have kicked the snot out of the kid for wearing a cheap knockoff of Captain Cold's gimmick while sporting a spray painted water gun. Unfortunately the encounter took a lot longer than it would have had the guy been an actual villain. It was simple enough to run in, punch a few bad guys in the face, toss out a few quips, and create the occasional mini-tornado, but talking down a guy who needed help and not a bruised jaw? That took something more than speed. So after an hour of merely talking the kid down, buying him a chilli cheese dog, and seeing him off with the authorities he still couldn't remember what it was he needed free time for.

Man do I miss actually having a reason to have time off. Back in the day it was for fun. Hit up the arcade with the guys, hang out at the mall or a local pizza place with the other Titans, or meticulously plan how to get Donna to realize I existed. Those were good days. Now? Time off means hoping there's time to get all the cruisers inspected when the next work week starts, worrying about the kids and their emerging powers, and praying that I'm not spending more time saving the world than I am with my family. I'd love to just be able to chill for a day... he thought before his phone ringing interrupted.

"Hey hon, what's up? Yeah, yeah that was me. I didn't stick around because I figured they'd call you in and since the kids are home today too I...what's going on with the museum? Doctor who? Doctor... Poison? Oh c'mon! That's one of Diana's! Are they importing evil now? Okay, okay I'll take care of it. Maybe the witness got it wrong, no need to call in WW yet. I'll be there..." he was saying as his suit formed around him.

Zipping away the crimson colored blur came to a stop just in front of the entrance. He took note of Dick and Roy, blinking in confusion as he finished his sentence, Linda's raucous laughter on the other end of the line catching him off guard, "Flash?"

"Dick? Roy? Whatareyou doing here? Are you tracking Doctor Poison?" he asked, words flowing together from the rate at which he spoke.  "Where's your suits? And Roy why are you wearing...what's going on?"

 Dick Grayson
 Roy Harper