We Started from a Spark

A full week had passed since Wally last spoke a single word to Dick. And Dick was over it. He was tired of Wally ignoring him. He decided today was the day he got his best friend back.

Dick walked the halls searching for a certain redhead turning down the hall leading to the science room.

"Is Wally here?" Barry looked up from his many papers that needed grading, Seeing Dick standing in the doorway.

"Hey Barry, how are you? I'm fine, thanks for asking." Dick stopped glancing around the room turning towards Barry.

"Sorry I'm just in a hurry. I need to speak with him."

"Is he still not talking to you?" Barry thought Wally would have caved by now. Guess he should have given him more credit.

"No, he's still ignoring me." Dick huffed in an irritated tone.

"Well if I had to guess he's probably where he always goes after school hours."

"Thanks." Dick quickly made haste down the hallway heading towards the courtyard. He opened the doors feeling the breeze against his face looking around as headed to the one place he knew Wally would be. The track course.

The track course is where you could always find Wally. If he was in a bad mood he was there. If he was bored he was there. If he just wanted to have fun he was there. For Wally running was everything. There was no better Feeling than his heart hammering wildly in his chest, feeling the power of his legs as he pushed forward striving to go faster. The cold air against his face. His worries, his doubts all just disappear. It was just him and the road ahead.

No matter how many times Dick sees Wally running on that track course he can't help but smile. He loves watching Wally run. Watching as he strives forward, hearing the exhilarated laugh bubble out of his chest. Seeing the stupid grin form on his face.

"You're faster than I remember." Dick called breaking Wally out of his trance. He looked over seeing dick leaning against the bleachers, a smile spread across his face. He held out Wally's water bottle waving it to signal for him to come over.

Wally slowed down to a complete stop, not making a move towards him. He stared for a few seconds before deciding his need for hydration was more important than ignoring Dick.

Jogging over towards Dick he snatched the water bottle gulping down as much water as he could.

"Dude slow down the waters not going to vanish." Dick thought for a second before he decided to add on a quick "Actually no, at the speed you're chugging it's practically already vanished." Smirking as Wally glared at him. Wally finished taking a swig of his water, sighing before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Are you going to thank me or...?" Wally made no sign of speaking.

"Look I get you want to punish me but-" Dick was cut off as water squirted him in the face.

"Dude seriously!?" Dick brought his hands up trying to block off Wally's attack.

"It's just water, stop being dramatic." Wally stopped spraying Dick, rolling his eyes.

"You just- You just spoke to me! Ha!" Dick pointed towards Wally doing a little victory dance. Wally watched him with an unamused look before spraying him again.

"Hey stop!" Dick laughed reaching for the water bottle.

"How have you not run out of water!?" Wally shrugged while Dick snatched the water bottle from him.

"So does this mean you forgive me?"

"Yeah I guess it does." Wally smiled running back out on the field.

The next day Wally started talking to Donna and Roy again. Wally would say it went smoothly. He walked over to the table. Roy teased him about how he knew Wally would come crawling back. He told him to shut up, proceeding to steal some of Dick's fries. Dick smacked him telling him to back off while Donna said it was nice having him back. Everything was normal again. Until it wasn't.

Three weeks after everything went back to normal Jason got into a fight. A fight that resulted in a kid gaining a broken arm. Bruce wasn't too thrilled to find out about this particular incident or the consequences.

-

𝐵𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑦𝑛𝑒, 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦.

The intercoms rang out throughout the school. Bruce sighed, setting down his coffee mug. He really just wanted one day of peace. One day without having to see Clark. If he was lucky this was just something about the budget and not about Tim falling asleep in class again or Damian threatening another student. Or worse Dick being caught skipping class to spend time with his girlfriend again. That would be the fifth time this week.

Bruce made his way past the lady at the front desk as she gave him a concerned look. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑. Bruce thought, sighing. Taking a moment to prepare himself he grabbed the doorknob to Clark's office.

He entered the room seeing Jason seated across from Clark, arms crossed with a black eye and a scowl. He turned towards Bruce before looking down at the ground, clearly uncomfortable.

“What's the meaning of this?” Bruce demanded, his own scowl forming. What the hell happened that resulted in his son getting a black eye?

He looked at his son then at Clark, waiting for an explanation. Clark cleared his throat motioning for Bruce to take a seat. Bruce crossed his arms, raising a brow as he took a seat.

“Mr. Wayne,” Clark's voice came out restrained, “Jason has been expelled effective immediately.”

The world seemed to stop as the sentence replayed in Bruce's head.

Expelled.

Jason had been expelled. He was sitting here with a black eye and was just expelled.

Never in a million years did Bruce think this could happen. He's raised six kids, adopting five of them. Each with their own issues but he never expected this. Maybe he half expected it from Daimian but not Jason. He was a straight A student who every teacher adored. Sure he got into trouble at times but every kid got into trouble occasionally. And with the way he was brought up it was understandable.

When Bruce first met him he’d been a street kid stealing tires off of cars. That was actually how they met. Looking back at the time he'd laugh remembering how he caught Jason trying to take the tires of his car. And when everybody told him taking in another stray was a bad idea-especially one who was raised on the streets- he chose to ignore them. He could see the good in Jason, and he knew he just needed someone to be there for him. To help set him on the right path.

Bruce closed his eyes as he sighed, turning to look at Jason for an explanation. He was trying really hard not to lose his cool.

Jason scoffed, “It’s not my fault."

"Jason, you broke a kid's arm." Clark stated blandly, giving him a stern look.

"You what?" Bruce's eyes narrowed as he looked Jason dead in the eyes. Jason shifted in his seat.

"The kid deserved it! He was getting handsy with some girl even though she told him to stop!" Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Look, I get why you did it but how many times do I have to tell you not to get into fights?"

"I'm sorry ok?" Jason looked down at the ground again.

"I know you are Jason." Bruce looked over towards Clark.

"He doesn't deserve to be expelled."

"Mr. Wayne-"

"No. Jason may have gone about the situation the wrong way but he did it for a good reason." There was no way he was going to sit here as his son got expelled because some snot nose kid couldn't keep their hands to themselves.

"I understand where you're coming from but the kids' parents have threatened to sue if there aren't consequences." Bruce scoffed.

"So this is about you not wanting to be sued?"

"That's not-"

"No, that's exactly what's happening. Don't think I didn't notice how the kid who was sexually harassing another student isn't the one sitting here getting expelled. You don't want to be sued so you're going to expel my son and let the other kid off the hook." The room fell silent as the atmosphere grew heavy.

Clark cleared his throat again. "I wish there was more I could do but the parents aren't budging. They want to see some disciplinary action."

"What about suspension?"

"I suggested that but the parent's feel that's not enough."

"You're the principle. There has to be something else you can do."

"Mr- Bruce this isn't personal. I know we have our differences but believe me when I say this is the last thing I want. There's just no other options."

Bruce looked at Jason seeing how he seemed genuinely scared. It was obvious he realized the big mistake he'd made. He turned back towards Clark sighing.

"Just give me two weeks. Two weeks to figure this out. To talk to the parent's and try to come up with a compromise." Jason looked at Bruce like he wanted to say something but then decided against it. He didn't want to make things worse. And he definitely didn't want to get his hopes up.

Clark sighed. "I’ve already tried to reason-"

"Then let me reason with them."

"I don’t think you understand the situation. This is no longer about reasoning it's-” he hesitated contemplating his next words.

"The decision was mine, Bruce. They came asking for a solution and I gave them one. For years I've tried to get Jason to fall in line. Time after time again I've given him chances. I can't continue to turn a blind eye to this kind of behavior. It’s nothing personal, but tough decisions had to be made.”

"It sure seems personal." Bruce stood up. "I'm not going to let this slide. I'll find a compromise even if I have to burn this school down to the ground." Bruce walked over towards the door turning to Jason.

"Come on Jason, we're leaving." Jason stared at Bruce for a second before quickly grabbing his bag standing up.

"Bruce please-" Clark was cut off as his office door slammed shut.

"I'm sorry Bruce." Jason said as they walked towards the school exit.

"We can talk more once we get home." Bruce said pulling his phone out to text the family group chat he and Jason were heading home early and that Alfred would come to pick them up later.

Bruce was furious. Not at Jason but at Clark. He was already coming up with a PTA meeting for tomorrow. He didn't plan on giving up without a fight. Jason was a good kid. He knew that and Clark knew that. Jason's not some crazy lunatic who goes around picking fights for no reason.

He's the type of kid who teases Dick for being into redheads. The type who’s spent hours helping Cass learn English and who helps Tim study for all of his exams and makes sure he actually sleeps. The type who defends Damian when kids talk bad about him at school. He deserves another chance.

Bruce was going to make sure he got that chance.