Wally froze, processing the names.

Red Robin- league hacker. He didn't do as much of the physical aspects of the league, but his mind was one of the greatest reasons other gangs couldn't keep pace with their success. Raquel he wasn't as sure about- she probably handled base operations if she was acting as a 'trainer', but for now he was mentally putting her down as a wild variable. It just equals more trouble for me.

Roy shoved him, apparently not appreciating the face he was making. "This is Wally. He's a runner candidate for our group, and a pretty good pick pocket."

"Ah, good." Red Robin's tone again gave off the telling smirk. "Why don't you join our group over here, and we can start introductions."

He really, really didn't want to. But His attempt to push back behind Roy only spurred the elder to frog march him over to the group. He finally shook off the hand and hurried the rest of the way, ears blazing as the other 'candidates' watched him.

One boy- the one who had grabbed on to Megan earlier, quickly waved him over. "Hey! My sister said you're new! I'm Gar, it's going to be my first year trying out for the recruitment too."

Wally blinked in surprise. "Megan's your sister?" They did look pretty similar, now that he knew to look. Gar couldn't be more than a few years older than him- how could people like him and his sister be involved with the League? "What do you mean first year?"

"Oh, well, lots of initiates don't make it their first time. Megan and her boyfriend-" BOYFRIEND? "had to go twice before making it. But I've been practicing- I'm ready for this!"

"He's- that tank is your sister's boyfriend?"

Gar paused, confused at the line of questioning. "Uh, yeah, they've been together for about a year now… why?"

Wally purposefully glowered off to the side. "No reason, I guess." I can still win her over; this is a minor setback.

"You know, you're pretty young to be part of this initiative. Or at least, you look young. You're like…" Gar waited a few beats, but realized the boy wasn't going to answer. "… twelve?"

"Yep." Len always said if people assume you to be older, let the assumption lie. He'd made the mistake of being glib with Nightwing during their first meeting, but it wasn't going to happen again.

"Jeeze." Gar shook his head, suddenly not looking as sure. "I'm fourteen in three months, and I thought I was joining early. I guess it must just mean you have a pretty good chance?"

Before Wally could voice that he didn't want to be there at all and drag the first reasonable person he met into his (slightly edited and biased) tale of woe, the instructors finally stepped forward. Raquel waved for silence, and an immediate hush fell over the group.

"Sorry for the delay, some of our materials appear to be missing, but we'll make due." Raquel's voice at once held the crowd's attention, many of the faces around Wally looking almost hungry in their eagerness. "You made it this far because either someone had vouched for you, or we sought you out seeing what you are capable of. We like to know that we're investing in potential, and so far you've all shown promise." She held up five silver Christmas bells, and Wally perked up with interest. "There's supposed to be eight, unfortunately, that means there's less a chance for you to succeed, but more opportunity to prove yourself. Each of these will be distributed to random members about the room, to hide on their person at their discretion. The goal is to pocket the most by the end of the day. No out right stealing- subtlety is key. If by some miracle someone gathers them all, report to me, and you get the rest of training off." A murmur ran through the group, and Wally felt himself straighten at the challenge. Everyone already noticed that eight bells was less than half of the group of initiates- meaning some would be disqualified. Part of him instantly wanted to lose out of spite. But the other part of him- the one that had been living for a year with the Central City Rogues- was thrilled with the challenge. All he had to do was gather the other bells? He could hear Lenard laughing at his competition.

"Pick pocketing isn't just about blatant theft from random citizens." Red Robin added in. "It's about your ability to gather information, obtaining necessary intel for the Justice Gang while remaining anonymous. We could be petty thugs and mug those that need a message sent. Or we can place a greater fear; the fear of not knowing. When a trafficker makes bad on a payment or shipment, it will mean more to them to get home and find a warning in their pocket with our symbol far more than any posturing attempts- especially by people of your appearance." Wally snorted at some of the protests in the group from that statement. "We work where the law isn't good enough, and you work for us. You can't just be petty thieves, you need to show you're the best."

"What happens to the people who don't get a bell?" Wally called out, not impressed that no one else had the guts to ask.

Red Robin's smirk, however, gave him a rather unsettling answer to that.

"Best of luck, newbies!" Raquel gave an exaggerated thumbs up, starting an old stop watch in her right hand.

They had one hour. Everyone was to mingle, talk, and try not to appear like they were going through pockets. Some were already caving under the pressure; a few even seemed to have given up. The fun part was that no one was required to announce whether or not they had a bell, so the object could change hands two or three times without the original person knowing, leaving a path of confused holders behind it. Wally decided to just tag along with Gar. The young teen was amazingly optimistic for someone who- as far as Wally could tell- was not pick pocket material. He had gone back to talk to Megan's other friends (Though they can't compare to her riveting beauty.), said hello to a few of the other initiates, and in general just cheerfully wandered, hoping for a sign from someone that they had the bell. They did that for almost the first half hour, and still he didn't seem to lose positivity.

"Don't worry kid, we'll find one for you and me both. Just keep your eyes peeled!"

Wally felt a bit uncomfortable by his comradery zeal, and ended up mumbling something about splitting up to cover more ground. Barely dodging by a rather angry looking teen, he ended up wandering to the table where the instructors were sitting. On principal, he didn't want to be anywhere near them- but he had noticed Red Robin had something worth interest.

"What's that for?"

Red Robin glanced up, apparently having been lost in his work, and fumbled a bit to make sure his glasses were still snugly on. "MATH 3334- it's like a fun version of hell." At Wally's blank stare, the teen shrugged. "Advanced Multivariable Calculus."

"Oh." Nice. Wally looked closer at the calculations the dark clad boy had made so far, watching as he continued with the current problem set. The ten-year-old frowned slightly at the third problem. "Wouldn't the effective mass be zero, two, seven?"

The child couldn't see Robin's eyes through the dark lenses, but he did see the eyebrows rise. The student looked down in bemusement. "Which problem?"

"The third one." Wally pointed for emphasis. "If the uniform density is in the X plane and attracts a point mass at zero, seven, six- wouldn't that equation eventually come out to two, not three?"

The trainer stared down at the paper for a moment longer before reaching out and erasing, replacing the previous answer with Wally's suggestion. "I should have noticed that, must have been distracted." He grinned up at Wally, impressed. "How do you feel about linear algebra?"

"Excuse me."

Both boys looked up to Raquel, who was staring at Wally like his ears had tripled in size. She gestured to the smaller boy, then back to the teen. "Did he just, and did you…? Isn't that stuff advanced for you, Red?"

"Well, it certainly is more entertaining, and since it's three levels above my classmates work… yes."

"And you." She looked back at Wally, who noticed they were now gathering attention from the crowd. "You understood that, you recognized how to solve that. You."

Wally wondered if he should bluff- his quickthoughts were what helped him learn science and mathematics so fast, though he had always been a good learner even before then. If he lied and said he didn't know, maybe they'd fall for it. He didn't want them wondering how he could know that, how it was possible someone his age could do that. But as he cast a glance at Robin, he realized the boy didn't seem shocked, merely curious to his answer. He didn't think it was weird, so… "Well, I- uh, I guess I like to learn?"

Raquel stared at him a few moments more before abruptly sitting opposite of them, holding her hands out imploringly. "Kid, I will pay you whatever you want if you do my math labs for me."

The ten year old gaped, not expecting that. His brain raced for a few moments. "Fifty." Red Robin cleared his throat meaningfully. "Uh, no, eighty. Per assignment."

"Done!" Raquel struck her fists into the air, bursting with excitement. "You, child, are an answer to my twisted prayers. I can pass this stupid class and gradate!" She jumped up. "Wait right there, my backpacks in my car and they need to be done by Thursday." Hurrying away, the rest of the investments watched dubiously between the short boy and their excited instructor.

The dark haired boy quirked another eyebrow at him. "You could have charged more, you know."

"More than that?" Wally couldn't help but stare wide-eyed. "But that's… that's a lot of money already!"

"Huh. He wasn't kidding when he said you were green."

The quickfast kid furrowed his eyebrows. "Who said that?"

Red leaned away, shrugging. "You really are a contradiction of information. I'm not surprised Grayson took an interest in you."

Wally folded his arms across his chest defensively. "He didn't even know me when I saved his sorry butt." Tim snorted at that comment, but Wally was struck by inspiration and missed it. "Wait, you know Grayson? Do you," Wally hesitated, quieting his voice around the still present crowd. "Do you know how I can contact him? I need to talk to him- it's urgent."

The teen paused, setting down his pencil. "We're supposed to send our intel through Nightwing if something needs to get to Grayson."

The small hope Wally had been allowing himself to feel was quickly dashed. Of course, it was stupid of me to ask, now he'll probably tell Nightwing. "Whatever." He grouched, turning away and hoping he didn't look as hurt as he felt. Stupid Nightwing, stupid Justice Gang. If only I could convince Grayson!

Red Robin assessed his reaction, considering. "I… might be able to let him know what it is you needed to ask him, depending."

Wally stopped in his walk away, not wanting to squash this opportunity. "You…" He lowered his voice carefully. "You wouldn't have to tell Nightwing?"

Robin paused again. "I would not have to, but that may not stop Grayson from talking to Nightwing."

He considered this for a few moments, before going back, leaning over the math problems. "It… it's just that there's been a mistake. Mr. Grayson apparently thought doing this would help me, but it's really really not and I need to leave; if they sent Sportsmaster, they'll send others soon, and I need to move away to-" to finish my project "to-" to stop them from ever hurting someone like my family again "to keep a low profile."

The elder boy heaved out a breath, running a hand through his hair slowly. "Well… I'll try to get that information to him soon. But, have you thought of why he would have thought this was the right place for you?"

Because he's stupid. "Ugh, Nightjerk said it was because I wouldn't stick to the right side of the law."

Red Robin's cough didn't quite cover up his laugh at that. "Well, that has it's merits. I think it's because Grayson's been doing some digging." The dark glasses seemed to bear down on him. "And they make it seem like the right side of the law can't help you with the problem you're facing."

Wally's heart started to beat toofast at Red Robin's words. Nightwing insinuated they knew- and they'd throw him at the feet of the person he wanted to get away from most if he didn't cooperate; but hearing that the Justice Gang might know more about what was going on than they let on… it would just make his end goal harder, if they were trying to interfere more than just holding him there through blackmail.

Out of his peripheral vision he saw Gar start to look edgy, and gladly took the excuse. "I- uh, need to check on… that guy." He paused just before fully turning, leaning again over the table. "Thank you for trying; to tell Mr. Grayson, I mean." He hurried away after that, not wanting to linger.

Gar was starting to look green around the edges. "Kid, I think I over estimated myself. We only have fifteen minutes left, and I have no leads for us." He heaved a great sigh, falling heavily onto one of the platform steps. "I had told Megan I was going to make it in, I was so sure…"

Wally couldn't help but feel some sympathy for him. "Hey, your sister seems really nice, I'm sure she'll understand. And like you said, you can take it again the following year or something, right?"

He sighed again, downcast. "I know. Connor said I wouldn't be able to, but I just really wanted to prove him wrong."

Wally's interest in the matter sharpened. "Tank guy? He said you couldn't do it?"

"It's not like that! He meant well, he was just trying to keep me from getting my hopes dashed," he gestured helplessly, "like this."

Wally put his hands in his pockets, mind going quick-fast in it's deviancy. He hadn't planned to make a scene, but if it helped his… friend… and messed with this training thing, AND proved muscle man wrong (so Megan could see he wasn't all that). He didn't see many downsides. "Gar, follow me." Grabbing the older boy's hand, he hurried them onto the platform. It gave them a view from above. "Don't leave my side, trust me on this."

The crowd below them wasn't paying much attention, they too were aware of the dwindling time, and they're covert attempt were less and less subtle.

"Are you good at acting?" Wally asked quickly, fighting back a smile at the memories this trick brought up.

"Me? Uh, yeah- yeah, me and my sister both did theater, we love-"

"Great. Make a sound to grab their attention, and then yell 'there is a bell' once they turn towards you."

"W-What? But-"

"Gar! Do it!"

Gasping, Gar recoiled, and Wally almost turned and apologized for the sharpness of his tone, but instead he watched as the crowd turned at the commotion he started, and observed raptly as Gar yelled, with great accusation, "There's a bell!"

Letting his heart dive toofast, Wally's eyes scanned over the room, watching every person's movements. Within moments time came back to him. Grabbing Gar's hand, he pointed dramatically at the now enraptured crowd. "There! The man with the grey bandanna and ugly pants! He has a bell!" The crowd around said individual started to roil, and he pointed towards the other end at a girl edging away. "That lady with the blue shirt and heels has a bell too! Those are the last bells!"

The hall erupted into chaos within moments. Everyone seemed to have forgotten that they were to take their prize subtlety, and were instead hell bent on grabbing what they could to make it past the round. Punches and hits were being thrown, voices raising in a crescendo of chaos. Gar stayed rooted where he was; apparently not needing Wally to anchor him since the scene held him motionless.

Red Robin and Raquel quickly came from the back, grabbing other members of the gang on the way and doing their best to break apart the hysteria. Wally couldn't help the small giggles he was emitting. All these adults, these hard-core gangsters losing it over a couple jingly bells.

The mirth was short-lived, though.

Roy, who had been by the other members towards the far end, appeared to be making a bee-line for him. Megan and Connor seemed to be following suit. "Uh oh." Blatantly using Gar as a shield, he peaked out from behind to watch their impending approach. "Gar, protect me from- uh- my cousin."

Gar, who followed Wally's line of sight and saw where it connected, paled. "R-Roy Harper is your cousin?"

"Don't let that stop you from protecting me!"

"Uh, uh…"

Roy leapt onto the platform, not even bothering with he steps, and loomed over the two.

"H-hey Roy!" Gar's voice squeaked horribly, and Wally felt a little bad for making him a shield. "I just met Wally- your cousin- um…"

Roy reached around Gar, pulling the squirming red head out with a indignant squawk. "What the hell short stuff; you trying to get in trouble?"

"Urgh!" Wally did his best to keep his balance, trying not to move too much. "Hey- your recruits are the ones losing their cool, not me!"

"He's right." Connor said next to Megan, surprising the group. He had a rare smirk on his face. "Red Robin's got it handled, though."

It was true- after grabbing some of the other members, he had managed to get the initiates to separate and calm down (though the group was more battered and the bells were now with completely different people).

"TIME!" Raquel called out, making most of them freeze from their last ditch efforts to claim a bell. "That was… terrible. Anyone who has a bell, please step forward, everyone else, back up."

The vast majority of the group backed away, down trodden and defeated in their appearance. Two beat up members approached, one's smile of victory missing a tooth.

Raquel watched their approach, looking at the two bells in their hands, then back over the beaten crowd with some bemusement. "We have an even bigger conundrum, here. It appears there are only two bells left."

"There's four!" Wally called, lifting his and Gar's hand up, which didn't really add much to his attempt for them to be seen. "Me and Gar have bells too!"

Gar looked to him, horrified. "Kid," he whispered so his sister and the other men couldn't hear, "we can't lie to the instructors, that's not-"

"Check your back pocket." He murmured under his breath, fishing out his own.

Gar did, instinctively, and his face melted with shock as his hands wrapped around the small silver bell in his left pocket.

"Gar!" Megan looked positively delighted. "You actually did it! I can't believe it!" She bolted over and hugged him tightly, both of them exchanging quiet words.

"Well…" Raquel said, eyeing the whole exchange. "That still leaves us with a bit of a mystery. No one else wants to progress forward?" A few sad individuals felt about their pockets, as if perhaps they had misplaced something they never had. "Alright, we'll adjourn after lunch with some tasks better suited to… this group."

The mass- including one bemused Gar- left with an air of dismay, mumbles and baffled murmurs echoing about the room.

"Lunch?" Wally perked up. After a job well done destroying everyone else's day, he thinks he deserves some food. Moving to leap off the platform and follow the crowd (Maybe it's buffet style for trainiees. Maybe they'll lead me to a way out!)- he was stopped abruptly by Roy hoisting him up by the back of his shirt. "What the-" Before Wally could stop him, the elder began digging through his pockets. "Hey! Hands off, thief! I'll have you arrested! You can't treat me like this!" His wiggling held no deterrence, and before long Roy had dropped two wallets, a pack of gum, a pen knife, and four silver bells in front of the remaining members. All his effort waisted, Wally slumped in his grasp, sullen.

Red Robin starred down at the pieces, that smirk playing across his face as he turned to Raquel. "Didn't we start with five because we were missing three of the eight of the bells?"

All eyes turned back to the kid hanging from Roy's grip, who remained silent.

"I only saw you take the one from Zatanna and me." Red Robin added, his voice slightly miffed. "How did I miss that?"

"How did Nightwing's recommendation fail to mention the kid has ghost hands?" Roy sounded as annoyed as he did impressed (good, he should be).

"You were going to take them all." Connor added. "Why didn't you?"

Megan gasped, and Wally felt himself coloring under her sweet gaze. "Oh my gosh- Gar said he didn't know how he got that bell! You helped him- is that why you ended up not claiming them all?"

"I- I- " Wally looked between the different faces, suddenly feeling very vulnerable and panicked at all their interest and focus. "I wanna eat! I played your stupid game, now let me eat!"

"Kid, you did more than play." Raquel couldn't hide how impressed she was. "Sure, the goal is for trainees to demonstrate their skills, but it was more than that. We wanted to see who could keep cool under the pressure of an impending deadline, who could blend with a crowd and not be obvious in their actions. And what lengths people would take to ensure success. Only a handful of these teens kept it together- and then you added that last minute panic." She shook her head in awe. "You were winning before you even knew the directions!"

"So let me eat then." He demanded mulishly, still coloring under the praise. Len had been sparse in his compliments to his work and having so much of it at once was alarming. "I want a cheeseburger. No, three cheeseburgers."

Roy, with some reluctance, let him down so his feet could touch again, thought the grip on his shirt remained. "Fine. Megan, Connor, why don't you join me so Willy-"

"Wally!"

"- doesn't escape."

The three once again corralled the youngest into the middle, keeping pace as he moved to follow the others to the promised food.

Red Robin and Raquel watched them leave. "So," Raquel glanced at the youngest member of the bat clan. "Seriously, you didn't see him take them?"

He shook his head minutely. "Wally obviously claimed some of the bells before he even reached the cavern- he's a natural klepto. I'm trying to figure out how he knew where the last two were. I was watching him- he was looking for tells in the crowd, but it was a mere moment. How did he figure it out that quick?"

Raquel shrugged good naturedly. "Kid said himself he likes to learn; he must have had one hell of a teacher. Wait!" She looked back to their table frantically. "I forgot to give him my homework to do! Dang it- I'll be back Red, I need these done!"

Robin watched her hurry after them before bringing out his phone, making sure no one else was around. "Hey, it's me. We need to talk about your little investment."

I have given up on fixing the beginning of this story, so we're just going until it burns into the ground with some sort of conclusion. Enjoy. Also sorry, and hiii, I know it's been awhile. That's, that's on me...