Drink Part 12

Dick managed to stay balanced on his bike through his ride even though he felt he probably couldn't walk a straight line.

The drinks continued to run through his system as he passed state borders and making it to Rhode Island.

…

Wally, Artemis, and M'gann were sitting in the kitchen area of the cave, talking and eating while Kaldur and Conner were on a covert mission. From the garage, they could hear the rumble of a motorcycle and the announcement from the security system, announcing the impromptu arrival of their young teammate. Shocked that Rob was there, the girls and Wally went to the garage to find Robin trying to get off his bike unsuccessfully.

"Rob?" Wally questioned, surprised at how much trouble the gymnast was having simply trying to get off his bike.

Robin was caught off guard by Wally, causing him to get his leg caught on the bike and toppling over. M'gann quickly moved the bike off of Robin as Robin and Artemis pi ked him up from the ground.

"What are you doing here? Batman told us you were grounded." Artemis inquired. Robin giggled as he leaned against Artemis.

"Ah can't get groundeedddd. I'm invissib- inins-invissible!" Robin slurred as he stumbled from person to person.

"Rob, are you drunk?!" Wally yelled as Robin stumbled on to him. Robin smirked, trying to fight back his smile.

"Nooooo. I'm ffiinnee. And so is she. And she. And youuu." Robin burst out laughing before slipping off of Wally and back down to the ground. Wally held his head with his hands as he watched his best friend roll on the floor and continue to laugh.

"Oh God. How did you get drunk again?! Did you go to another party?" Wally interrogated. Robin shook his head like a little kid hiding a secret.

"Again? When did he get drunk the first time?" Artemis questioned. Wally sighed as he lifted Robin off the floor once again.

"I had a party at my house about a month back. Someone spiked the punch and Dick didn't know when he got a drink." Wally looked over to Robin when he heard the boy wonder giggle like he had a secret.

"Is there something you wanna tell me?" Wally asked sarcastically.

"IIII knew it had ssttuff in it at the paartyyy." Robin slurred.

"What?! You knew the punch was spiked and you decided to just bet drunk?!" Wally yelled. Robin stopped laughing and frowned at Wally.

"I don't get it! Why would you willingly get drunk at my party and why are you drunk right now?" Wally interrogated Robin.

"It's fuun." Robin whined. Wally sighed angrily.

"Rob, you can't get drunk because 'it's fuun'! You're not legal yet, I'm not even legal yet!" Wally continued to yell. Wally went on yelling until Artemis hit his arm.

"What?" Artemis ignored Wally's ignorance before walking over to Robin, who was sitting on the ground and softly moaning.

"You okay Robin?" Artemis asked as she lightly rubbed his back. He shook his head lightly from side to side.

"Gonnn-gonnaaa throw up." Robin mumbled. Artemis flashed a look to Wally, telling him to go find a bucket.

Understanding her look, Wally zipped through the mountain before arriving back shortly with a large bucket. He handed the bucket to Robin just in time for him to empty his stomach. Once his stomach slowed, M'gann noticed something.

"Robin, you weren't actually sick last month, were you?" M'gann accused him. Wally and Artemis looked up at M'gann with confused eyes as Robin just gripped the bucket tighter.

"M'gann, what are you talking about?" Artemis asked.

"Last time he was here, he was throwing up when everyone went to go see Artemis. He told me he was fine and that we should just keep it our little secret."

Robin ducked his head in the bucket as waves of nausea started swirling in his stomach. Wally glared at Robin as soon as he lifted his head.

"How long have you been drinking?" Wally demanded. Robin continued to hide his face in the bucket until Wally pulled him up.

"Robin, answer me right now!"

"4 or 5." Robin mumbled, not daring to look into the eyes of his older brother.

"4 or 5 what? Weeks?" Wally guessed. Robin shook his head lightly, keeping his eyes averted to the ground as he mumbled an incoherent thought.

"What?" Wally questioned Rob.

"Months." Robin admitted slightly louder before slouching and sliding down the side of the wall. Wally gaped at  his friend. How the little bird was keeping this away from the bat was beyond him, but Wally should have known his little brother better than anyone.

"So at the party, you willingly got drunk?" Wally interrogated Robin. The boy nodded his head from the floor.

"And you weren't really sick. You were just hung over?" M'gann asked with a slight venom dripping from her words. Robin nodded again, not bothering to open his eyes or get up.

Wally paced away from Robin before pivoting back with anger flaring. "How could you have been this stupid! You, of all people, know the effects and problems associated with every drug known to man, and what do you do? You go and start abusing booze!  I can't believe you would do something this dumb! I can see myself doing something like this. Maybe another member of the team, but you are supposed to be smarter than this! Why did you have to be so stupid!"

Wally was fuming and not even looking at his friend anymore. By the time he finally calmed enough to look at his friend, he saw Robin curled up, his body shaking like he was crying. Wally walked over to his friend and heard the small sobs coming from the small heap in the form of Rob's body. Wally sighed, knowing he caused his friend to go into a hysteria of crying.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you Rob," Wally started before sitting down and gently rubbing Robin's back. "but it's just that you should know how dangerous and addictive alcohol can be. This isn't something that you can just ignore and pretend you never did. I don't want you getting hurt or dying because of this. We need to tell someone and make sure you get help through this. I'm sorry Rob, but I need to tell Batman about this."

Wally got a moan from the boy wonder at the mention of his mentor.

"You can't tell him about this." Robin mumbled as he pushed himself into a sitting position against the wall. "He'll make it worse."

Wally looked down towards his friend. "I know the Bat isn't the nicest of guys, but he's not going to just tell you the wrongs of drinking and ground you. He cares about you. He'll make sure you get help and he will help you through the times that we won't be able to." Wally reminded the young bird.

Robin sniffed back his tears. "Please don't. He's not gonna help. He'll just make it worse."

Rob leaned into Wally, wrapping his arms around his big brother's arm.

"Please. Promise me you won't tell him." Robin looked up at Wally. The speedster looked down, getting a glimpse of those baby blue eyes that always managed to pierce his will power.

"Okay, I promise." Wally quietly surrendered. Robin let a small, relieved smile creep across his lips before passing out next Wally.

Noticing Rob had finally fallen into an alcohol induced sleep, Wally carried the young boy up from the garage and laid him on the couch in the living room area.

"Wally, if you're not gonna tell Batman about this, then what are we going to do?" Artemis whispered to Wally. The ginger set his elbow down on the table and rested his head on his hand.

"I don't really know. Even with the five of us checking on him, I don't think we would be able to stop him from drinking, or be there to watch his every move. And I'm pretty sure none of us have the experience to help him through the hardest times he's gonna go through."

M'gann and Artemis sighed, wishing they knew how to help their youngest member. Artemis looked over to Wally when she heard the clicking of phone tiles.

"Who are you calling?" She asked her boyfriend as she tried to see the name on the phone.

"Red Arrow. I think he might know what to do in this situation more than we would."