Summer Nights (Young Justice/X-Men Evo Crossover)

Summer Nights

"How many times are you going to run away?"

Lance let out a deep sigh, arms spread out across the back of the park bench. "How did you find me this time?"

"I have my ways, the person said, staying hidden in the shadows despite Lance knowing full well who that person was. He didn't turn to look at said person, not because he wasn't happy to see the person hiding in the shadows, but because they'd done this song and dance before."

Lance looked up at the sky, wishing he could see the stars. Only, the lights of the park got in the way. One of the lights flickered as fireflies floated around nearby. The summer months were passing by and school would start up again, not that Lance really cared.

"Lance?"

"I'm actually okay," Lance said. "And there's no point staying where I'm not wanted. You still didn't answer my question. And should you be out here, kid?"

"Not a kid. Not unless you are as well." There came the familiar laughter and Lance couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah. Neither one of us are kids," Lance said. "Still, your foster dad's going to be worried about you, isn't he."

"Not really. And no, it's not that he doesn't care. He knows I can take care of myself."

"And I'm guessing you used your resources to find me?"

The person came out of the shadows and sat down on the bench. The person was a younger teen, one he 'd met while in the juvi facility where kids in Gotham were placed as there weren't enough homes. As the other person sat there, their fingers wiggled, the conversation obviously becoming a bit uncomfortable.

"Look. You're rich now. Got a rich foster daddy."

"Don't."

"You're lucky."

"Don't refer to Bruce as a sugar daddy. Please."

Lance paused, then looked at the younger boy. "Are the kids at school giving you trouble?"

"Of course they are," Dick sighed, this time being the one to look up at the flickering lights as he jammed his hands into jeans, which unlike Lance's were brand new. Bruce could certainly afford good clothes for his foster kid. "Circus brat. Gypsy trash."

"Gypsy trash? Where did that one come from?"

Dick startled. Then stared. He turned his head. "I am Romani. Or at least I am on my dad's side. Mom was gajo . And for your information Romani is what we call ourselves. Not Gypsy. " Dick sighed. "Not Gypsy at all."

"That—didn't know."

"Most people don't," Dick looked down at his lap. "And you're right that because of Bruce I have connections. And the kids like to call him my sugar daddy, which he's not." He pulled out one of his hands, holding a paper. "I know you don't want to go back to the juvi center, but you do need a place to live."

"I don't have any options, Dick," Lance said, rolling his eyes at the kid's name.

"You do. Because I used the connections I have with Bruce. Albeit it's out in Illinois."

"I can get there," Lance snatched the paper, frowning as he did so.

"Are you sure, because," Dick started.

"This is enough. Albeit your foster dad did it for me because of you."

"Yes and no," Dick said. "It's more apt to say he did it because he saw what the system did to me, but he knows you were there for me. I told him. And my phone number's there. Don't lose contact like you have been."

"Not as if you'd let me," Lance said. "Though chances are I'll get kicked out yet again."

"The foster mom—she comes highly recommended by the Kents."

"The Kents?"

"They're the parents of that new reporter from Metropolis. Clark's a friend of Bruce's and if something happens to Bruce, it's been arranged for me to go to his parents farm."

"Foster kids don't normally have the luxury of knowing what their next place is going to be."

"Most foster kids don't have a trust fund set up for them by their foster parents either," Dick said. "Nor are they set to inherit an entire company if something should happen to their foster parent."

"But he hasn't adopted you?"

"My uncle's still alive. In a comma to be precise." Dick frowned. "A coma he's not expected to wake up from, but if he does he's not going—we're not going to be able to go back to what we did before. And I don't know how he could look at me if he did, what with how I'm not John, my cousin."

The lights at the park flickered again. Lance suddenly reached out, pulling Dick close. "We're family. Even if your uncle wakes up and doesn't accept you, we're family. And this Bruce of yours is family. And we're there for you." Lance held up the paper. "Like you were her for me today."

"Well, you were there for me at the juvi center until Bruce got me out of there." Dick stood up. "Hope to hear from you, Lance."

"Hope to hear from you ask well." Lance said. A thought crossed his mind. "Outside of the bullies, is school going alright? I ask, because it's not for me."

Dick brightened up. "I learn lots of stuff." And then came that laugh of his. "Though I think one of the reasons the other kids don't like me is I've skipped a grade. Technically it's a couple of grades, as I was actually behind as there was a limit to what I could learn in the circus school. And I'm taking advanced classes. I'm not getting into fights, albeit there are some kids who want to."

"Why don't you? Sounds like you want to?"

"Bruce has a policy of being the better man, of not letting them get to me. Plus," Dick cracked his fingers, pushing them out. "He's made sure I know self-defense, given the fact there are people who would target me as his ward."

"And you're out here? In Gotham?"

"Alfred's nearby. He's former British agent and makes sure I eat healthy."

"Shouldn't Bruce be taking care of you?"

"Alfred is the one who took care of Bruce when Bruce's parents died. But yeah, it's weird being the rich foster kid. It's entirely weird. More than I can ever tell anyone," Dick said. And then he said, "Be sure to shake things up when you get to Illinois."

Lance nodded his head, glancing at the paper. But then he froze, realizing exactly what Dick had said. He turned his head, only to see Dick had disappeared, leaving him with the piece of paper. "Nah. He can't possibly know about your abilities. That you can shake the earth."

Letting out a sigh, he watched the shadows dance across the park, the summer night in Gotham city suddenly seeing much better for a homeless kid who now had a home to go to.