Chapter Text
One
When the members of the Justice League decided to add Kid Flash to their roster, they expected that he might be nervous and spend most of his time in the beginning around the Flash, his uncle. Barry had told them all how outgoing his nephew was, however, so they wouldn't have been surprised if he jumped right in and started making friends either.
What they did not expect was for Kid Flash to immediately strike up some sort of bond with their most elusive member: the Batman.
It started out small. After the first meeting Kid Flash attended, he spoke briefly with a few members of the League before he gravitated over to Batman. The young speedster immediately started to ramble at the man in the hurried way that speedsters often did.
Noticing where his nephew had gone, Barry was about to head over and casually redirect Wally before the Bat could get annoyed and tell him to get lost or simply walk off like he would for anyone else.
Barry paused, however, when he noticed that Batman didn't seem to be annoyed at all. The Bat was stoic as ever, but he seemed to be listening and grunted at Wally every now and then. Wally didn't seem to be bothered by the lack of a verbal response and responded to the older hero's grunts as if they had been actual words.
"Is your nephew having a one-sided conversation with Batman?" Green Lantern asked the older speedster, "And Spooky's just letting him?"
"I think so," Barry replied, slightly dazed.
Two
Things only got weirder from there. People spotted Wally rambling away at Batman a few more times after that. Then came the Monitor Room Incident.
Kid Flash was scheduled for monitor room duty after a League meeting one day when, just as the meeting wrapped up, he looked down at a message on his phone. "Shit. Um, I forgot about something I'm supposed to do for work this evening. Can anyone cover my monitor room shift?"
Superman was about to volunteer, shooting a quick glance at Batman, knowing his fellow founder would have something to say about the last minute change in plans. Batman wouldn't stop someone from changing plans, but a situation like this would normally lead to a lecture on courtesy and properly managing one's schedule.
To everyone's surprise, when Batman spoke up, it was only to say, "I'll cover it."
No reprimand, not even a 'next time, pay closer attention to your schedule.' No lecturing at all, and actually offering to cover for Wally himself. It was weird, but no one was going to bring that up, so they all just exchanged surprised glances and eventually let it go.
Three
That wasn't the only time Batman was more lenient with Wally than he would be with others in the League, and then there was the physical closeness that the others began to notice between them.
A few times, Wally playfully elbowed Batman, and instead of getting told off or glared at, Batman just accepted it. Batman would initiate contact too, occasionally gripping the speedster's shoulder. Once, Hal swore he even saw Wally reach into a pouch on Batman's utility belt and the Bat didn't blink an eye.
It was odd to everyone. Even Superman and Wonder Woman, the two Leaguers who had always been closest to Batman, were rarely allowed to invade his personal space like that.
The weirdest instance, however, occurred when a group of heroes returning from a space mission stumbled across Batman and Kid Flash in the Watchtower's lounge. Batman was sitting on one side of a sofa and Wally's head rested on the other, the rest of the speedster sprawled across the sofa with his feet in Batman's lap.
His feet. In Batman's lap. And neither of them seemed to think anything of it. Wally was idly scrolling on his phone and Batman was reading something on a tablet.
The returning Leaguers stared in shock, but neither hero looked up or acknowledged them beyond a quick glance and a "welcome back" from Wally.
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It was after this that Green Lantern proposed the theory that Wally and Batman were dating.
"No, no. Absolutely not," Barry protested. "Batman is far too old for Wally, and they make absolutely no sense together!"
"Didn't you say he has a boyfriend you haven't been introduced to yet?" Hal pointed out. "They say that opposites attract. And maybe this is why he's taking so long. He's trying to figure out how to tell you he's dating an older teammate."
"I don't think Batman is that old," Black Canary shrugged, "and Wally did mention he had a date in Gotham the other day."
Green Arrow nodded, "Why else would he go for a date in Gotham?"
"No," Barry denied. "I refuse to believe my precious nephew is dating Batman."
Hal shook his head, "You're in denial, man."
"You could just ask Wally," Dinah suggested.
Four
Barry did not ask Wally. He was too afraid of the answer he might get.
The strange interactions continued. Evidence of Kid Flash and Batman's comfort with one another just kept piling up.
Then, there was the first time Wally got hurt on a League mission. It wasn't anything he couldn't easily recover from with his speed healing, but Batman actually seemed concerned. He hovered over Wally like a giant shadow in the medbay, refusing to leave until his leg was bandaged and he was told just to rest for a bit until it healed.
No one in the League had ever seen Batman react like that when one of them had been hurt before, and it wasn't even a serious injury.
Hal used the instance as further proof of his dating theory and Barry was starting to believe him, which was slowly leading the speedster towards a meltdown.
Wally couldn't really be dating Batman, could he?
Five
The next incident was the Donuts and Coffee Incident.
Aquaman and Green Arrow were just switching out with Batman and Kid Flash for monitor duty when Kid Flash ran in with a box of donuts and two coffees.
Aquaman and Green Arrow were about to warn him that snacks weren't allowed in the monitor room when Batman arrived. To their shock, instead of reprimanding Wally, he simply sat down in a chair and turned to the monitors.
To their even greater shock, Wally held out one of the coffees to Batman, and Batman took it! And actually drank it.
Batman never ate or drank anything other people tried to give to him. The closest he'd come was accepting some baked goods Superman's mother had made, and even though he told Clark to thank his mother, no one knew if he'd actually eaten them since he took the treats back to Gotham and refused to eat them on the Watchtower. Plus, Superman had to try for years to get Batman to accept his mother's baking before the darker hero agreed.
News of the incident quickly spread to the other heroes, and the rumors only grew.