Chapter Text
At twenty-three, Dick Grayson had been fairly certain puberty had long since packed up and left. Realistically, he’d known that for a while, but some small, stubborn part of him had clung to the ever-dwindling hope that he was just a late bloomer. A really late bloomer, considering most people developed their soul markings in their mid-teens, and almost always before puberty ended.
His voice had changed. He’d filled out, gotten taller, hairier, hornier, moodier. His body had done all the things it was supposed to, and when it was finished, the only things left permanently etched into his skin were scars.
So, all things considered, Dick was very much not expecting to wake up one random summer morning, closer to twenty-four than twenty-three, with a vibrant burst of color sprawled across the skin above his heart.
His first reaction was stunned elation.
He had a soulmate.
Growing up, he’d dreamed of the moment his mark would appear. His parents had been soulmates. He’d wanted nothing more than to find his other half and have a love like theirs. It hadn’t mattered to him that not everyone got one. His parents reminded him of that often, gently but firmly.
"Even without a soul bond," they’d said, "you can still find someone to love. You can still have a full and happy life."
At the time, he’d thought they were just trying to prepare him for disappointment. And besides, he’d known he had a soulmate out there somewhere. Statistics be damned.
But each passing year had chipped away at that certainty. Between school, patrols, the Team, and everything else that came with being a teenage vigilante, his obsession with soulmarks had faded. Not completely, but it had been easier not to think about.
Until Wally got his.
MOUNT JUSTICE
~Nine Years Ago~
That day, Kid Flash strolled into the Mountain as casually as ever. He made a beeline for the common area, ripped off his shirt with zero fanfare, and turned what most people considered a sacred event into something you’d see in a locker room.
M’gann gasped. Conner and Kaldurh studied the mark in quiet curiosity. Wally grinned and flexed his still-not-that-impressive biceps, soaking in the attention.
It was Artemis who ended the show.
She cleared her throat from across the room, and Wally’s ears turned bright pink. He turned at super speed, facing her with a sheepish expression and a barely contained smile.
"Something you wanna tell me, honey?" she asked, one brow raised.
Wally just grinned. “Don’t worry, babe. You’re the only girl for me. Besides, you haven’t gotten one yet. We could still match. And even if we don’t, you know I’ve never cared about any of this soulmate stuff. I’m not gonna let some—granted, very cool looking—skin art tell me who to love. I don’t need it. Because I love you, Artemis Crock. Cosmic lightning feather be damned.”
Dick had thought it was sweet. Dumb, but sweet. He figured they'd grow out of it eventually. They were still teenagers, and it was unlikely either of them would meet their soulmate anytime soon. The relationship would run its course, like most did.
Except it didn’t.
Years passed. Artemis never got a mark, and Wally never left.
Eventually, when she hit twenty and the chances looked slim, they had The Conversation. A lot of them, actually. They went back and forth for months before reaching an agreement: she’d stay with him, but only if he promised not to look or expose his mark while they were together.
Dick didn’t blame her. Not really. It was a risk, staying with someone who had a soulmate out there. There were no guarantees, and no easy answers.
But Dick knew Wally. Maybe even better than Artemis did. And he knew—really knew—that once Wally made up his mind about something, nothing could shake it. The same unyielding, reckless determination that led him to barbecue himself in a garage just to become a speedster applied to love too.
So when Wally proposed three months ago and Artemis accepted, Dick knew it was done. Over. Written in stone.
If Wally ever ran into his soulmate, he’d ignore the mark. Shut it down. Probably wouldn’t even hesitate.
And that, more than anything, made Dick furious.
It wasn’t Artemis who had wasted the gift. It was Wally. Wally, who condemned someone to heartbreak before they even had the chance to meet him. Wally, who chose not to care.
He’d made his choice.
All Dick could do was support it, mistake or not.
Dick shook his head, trying to clear the memories. But it was too late. The thought had already landed.
And it landed hard.
He jolted upright, blinking rapidly to shake off the last remnants of sleep. His limbs ached from sleeping twisted around his sheets, but he didn’t care. He had to look.
He pulled back the blanket and stared down at his chest.
The world shifted.
What he’d missed earlier, in the blur of waking, now stood out in sharp, undeniable detail.
A lightning-struck feather. Beautiful. Delicate. Iridescent in the morning light.
And utterly devastating.
The same mark Wally had revealed all those years ago.
Dick’s lungs seized. The pit in his stomach bottomed out. Slowly, as if moving too fast might shatter him, he raised a trembling hand to his chest.
His fingertips brushed the mark, and something inside him cracked.
It wasn’t just disappointment. It was grief. Fury. Longing.
All twisted together in one unbearable knot of truth.
The thing he had dreamed of since he was a kid—the soulmate he had wanted so badly—had always been just out of reach. He’d spent years learning to live without it. To accept that he would never have it.
And now it was here. Now, when it was too late.
He squeezed his eyes shut, pressing the heel of his palm to the center of the mark as if he could erase it. His breath caught in his throat. He stayed that way for a long moment, frozen, until the tears started to fall.
He didn’t stop them.
Couldn’t.
Later, when he suited up for patrol, he pressed a thick, sterile bandage over his chest. Just in case. Soulmark exposure during a fight wasn’t something he was willing to risk.
But no matter how carefully he dressed, no matter how deep he buried it, one thought kept circling in his head.
Of course it was him.
Of course Wally was his soulmate.
He’d taken Dick’s heart years ago.
It only made sense that he’d take his soul too.