fastest kid alive

“If I didn’t like you I wouldn’t keep coming to see your sad ass.” And Harper likes helping people when she could - something she was in a better position to do than she had been in awhile. Besides, it’s not like she got absolutely nothing in return. “Uh, yeah. What is it?” The answer to a question like that was always going to be yes.

“I mean a vacation, Wally. Not permanently. Maybe it would give you a change of perspective…” Kara paused and bit her lip. “I could get you out. You know I could.” The power of flight gave her certain advantages, though she knew NOVA was aware that there were metahumans and mutants who might attempt that type of route out of town. She wasn’t sure what safeguards they could have put in place to prevent it. 

“No, no, you take care of yourself,” he said, raising a hand and patting his chest over his sternum. “I’ll be okay. I’ll get over it, I’m just whining now because it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to complain about something petty. Doesn’t it suck when all of your complaints are serious?” Wally was always the one to lighten the mood—he got that from Barry. Only a second to be sad and then he moved on quickly, like he always did.

Mera knew that counting on anyone was a mistake. Even though she was trying to rebuild the Justice League, she had a contingency plan in place if a member decided to leave. She raised her eyebrows at Wally’s proclamation, folding her hands on top of the table. “All right,” she stated coolly. “I apologize if you were expecting me to get on my hands and knees and beg you to stay. You see, Wally, things are about to get hard. Very hard. And there is no room on the league for anyone who isn’t prepared for that - who isn’t willing to face it head on.” She had spent far too much time on reluctant heroes. In the meantime, she’d forgotten to nurture those who had chosen to remain. “You know where to find me if you change your mind.”

Wally sighed. This wasn’t who he was. He bristled at everything these days, especially mention of Barry, and he couldn’t stop himself from snapping. He hated it. This was not the person. “Shit, I’m not this bitter, I swear,” he said, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “It’s just that I don’t know what I’m doing and I wanted to come to you for advice but I’m going about it all wrong.” Sometimes he just needed the advice of someone who had it all together, who wasn’t going to pity Wally or sugarcoat anything. He knew he could trust Mera to be direct. 

@wcllyswest

“How well does your speed translate to the water?” Namor hadn’t bothered to have real conversations with several of the Justice League members. He stayed focused mostly on what he could do, and knowing them on a personal level seemed pointless. But spending the morning in the sea and the recent decision to move forward with the wedding had him in an uncharacteristically amiable mood. He leaned back in his chair and steepled his hands together, watching Wally with a vague curiosity. He was certainly not the first speedster he’d encountered.

“Couldn’t I just be stopping by to say hi?” he asked quietly, a small smile on his face, he hadn’t seen Wally in a long time, but his visit did come with a purpose, “I’m helping a friend with something, do you have any engine parts lying about? Preferably the smaller the better?” he asked, before leaning against a counter and watching Wally for a moment, “How are you? It’s been a little while.”  

“I doubt it. Highly.” Wally raised an eyebrow at Tim. “What kind of parts are you talking?” he asked, gesturing vaguely towards the bins near the back wall. “I have all my disassembled parts in bins over there. If you find something useful, feel free to grab it, I guess.” Wally had tried selling spare parts for a while but he hated the haggling. At least when he was selling an invention, he could leverage the fact that it was his intellectual property. What could he leverage with an extra valve?

“Yeah, just as soon as he showed up in town, he disappeared again,” Wally said. He was obviously bristling, his arms folded tightly over his chest as he fidgeted where he stood. “I don’t know where Barry ended up and I don’t care. He’s flaking out on all of us again.” Wally sighed, dropping his head for a moment. “And I am too. I’m done. I’m too tired to deal with any of this shit on top of my personal shit.” 

Wally was on his knees, his fingertips just barely interlaced on top of his head as he looked up with a baleful glare at the officers who were searching him. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a familiar coat, and he had to stop himself from groaning loudly. The last thing he wanted was to be around too many people who recognized the old version of him more than this new one. “Hi, Mr. Gordon,” he said, sounding like a bored teenager all over again. That was the last time he had seen Jim, anyway.

Wally was hard at work on the new piece of Diana’s costume that he was fabricating, but it was slow goings. He specifically was going slowly—he wanted all the excuses he could get to stay out of the field as much as possible. Wally didn’t want to be the Flash now, not when everything was making it impossible to be a hero and Barry had dipped out of his life again. He wasn’t sure that was the person he wanted to emulate. Wally lifted his welding mask from his features and looked up at Diana. “Listen, you guys are fine without me anyway. There’s only so much use a speedy guy can be.” 

Wally lifted his goggles off of his face as Tim walked into the makeshift lab. “What do you need?” he asked, snapping his gum lightly in his mouth. “Spare parts or work?” Wally knew that Tim was perfectly capable of most things Wally was capable of, so there had to be something more specific here that Tim needed. Wally just hoped he wasn’t looking for the Flash. 

Barry was quiet for a while, waiting for Wally to speak. Once he had said what he needed to, the man walked over and lightly put a hand on Wally’s shoulder. “I know it’s hard, Wally…” Barry spoke quietly. “Clark can literally move mountains; Bruce broods with his boys; Diana provides voices of reason to everyone. You and I, though? We’re the ones that always come off like we have everything figured out – always joking around, keeping things lighthearted. We don’t know what to do when the world turns on us. You fell into petty crimes; I ran into the one place the world couldn’t get to me.” Barry spoke, trying to provide any sort of comfort he could muster for the other.

“I don’t know what you’ve been through, but I know it had to have been horrible for someone like you to lose your way. Listen to me though, really listen,” Barry stated and moved to stand in front of Wally – placing hands on both his shoulders now. “I swear to you; swear on my mother’s grave; that I will never abandon you like that, ever again. You are my family and running from my family is the worst mistake I’ll ever make.” He stated with a quiet frown.

He suddenly dropped his hands and took several steps back from him. “So, hit me. Let out all of your pent up frustration and anger. I’ll recover and maybe it’ll help you to take it out on someone that’s wronged you, before it eats you up and sends you spiraling somewhere worse than car jacking.”

Wally shifted his jaw behind closed lips. It was true—the two of them had always been the heroes to bring levity to a situation. Instead of acting with the seriousness that most issues probably deserved, they made jokes. They made it seem like it wasn’t the end of the world—even if it was. That kind of optimism was difficult to maintain for a long period of time, especially when in the face of that optimism, things only seemed to be getting worse, not better. He took a slight step back, just enough to shake Barry’s hands from his shoulders, but he had obviously calmed somewhat. Barry still wasn’t getting it. “I didn’t become a criminal to run away,” he replied. “I didn’t have another choice. That’s the difference here, Barry.” 

“You can swear all you want, but the fact is still there that you disappeared on purpose. I’m not just going to be able to forgive you for that. I need time.” Wally sighed heavily. “But I don’t want to fight you anymore. I’m tired of it and I need you around.” He had never been afraid to admit that he needed other people, but it seemed especially painful to say that to Barry. Maybe it was because he was realizing now that without Barry around, everything had gotten exponentially worse. He was still just a kid. 

“You think I came all the way over here just to bring you pizza? I do have a life.” She unzipped her bag and slid it toward him. Harper grabbed a piece for herself and pulled over something big enough to work for a stool. “No luck on the car. Guess you figured that already.” They were pretty far out of the time window where it felt like there was at least a minuscule chance of tracking it down.

Kara knew better than anyone how it felt when relationships didn’t turn out the way you wanted them to. She sighed and turned to face him, letting one of his feet rest in her lap as she propped her head against her hand. “Wally, you’re not the kind of guy who stays single for long. Just make sure you don’t jump into another relationship before you’re over this one, even though I know it has to be tempting. That wouldn’t be fair.” She paused, thoughtful. “Maybe you should take a trip, get out of the city for a while. It might help…”

Wally groaned and dropped his head. “I’m not the kind of guy who stays in a relationship for long, either!” He shook his head and looked back up, mirroring Kara’s position as he propped his head against the back of the sofa. “Where would I go? It’s not like anywhere else is much better than here. Besides, I don’t know any of the secret ways out of the city, and they’re not going to let me go.” He didn’t sound angry or upset, just matter of fact. This was the new way of the world. 

Barry saw Wally start to move, but he did nothing to retaliate as the other shoved into him. The Scarlet Speedster soared backwards a few yards before landing hard on his back with a groan, listening to Wally tear into him. Barry sat up, slowly climbing to his feet and shaking his head.

“Are you really solely mad at me leaving, Wallace, or are you taking out your anger at what you’ve resorted to on me?” Barry asked him quietly – tone neither angry nor leering. “Let me ask you this… did you ever once stop to think about looking for me? You’re a Speedster, Wally. We have some of the most unrestricted access to the world - past, present, and future.” Barry said. “I’m not defending myself in the slightest, but I am trying to make this right.”

“I am sorry about your parents. I’m sorry about your job and that you’re being ridiculed and outcast by your abilities. I may not have been there for you then, but I am here now and nothing is going to take me away from you ever again, Wallace.” Barry stated, pointing his finger to the ground as if to make the point more firmly.

“I’m mad at everything, but I’m especially mad at you.” Wally pointed an accusing finger in his face. “You cannot put this on me. You know that the last time I got lost in the speed force, I got fucked up. It’s not my fault you were a fucking coward.” 

Wally threw his hands up in the air, unable to find the words to articulate everything that he was feeling and everything he wanted to say to Barry. He slowly felt his anger start to dissipate, as it was wont to do, as it always did. He wasn’t done sorting through everything, but he knew he couldn’t keep pushing Barry away out of his own petty anger and hurt feelings. He pressed his lips into a tight line and took a couple of steps back. He was quiet for too long.

“Hello to you too,” Harper chimed in. She sat down two things - an enormous pizza box and a bag that made a distinctly metallic sound when it hit the table. “You look like you need vitamins. That probably has some of them,” she pointed at the pizza, which technically did have vegetables on it.

Barry was quiet as Wally shot down his offer to give him money, watching him work on the car and pop its lock. He shook his head slowly, letting the other speak before doing so in turn. “No, you’re not Kid Flash. You’re not my sidekick anymore, you’re right.” He agreed, but raised his gaze to the other. 

“But you’re starting to remind me of Thawne, honestly. The less-than-noble acts, the anger with me…” He shook his head.

“I get you’re mad; but it’s like you aren’t even trying these days. I’ve tried to offer you money so you can stop this breaking-and-entering thing you have going on; so I don’t have to stop you myself like we do other criminals. I don’t know what to do with us Wally. You don’t think I beat myself up enough about leaving in the first place as it is?” He asked. 

“No one was on any list of priorities. I was selfish and only thought of myself – but if I didn’t care about you or anyone, why the Hell would I have come back here? Why would I have left the timeline intact while I was in the Speed Force? I love you guys, that never changed. And I want to make up for leaving.”

Wally stood up and paused for just a split second as he looked at Barry before he used his speed to zoom forward and shove him hard in the chest with both hands. “How dare you judge me like this? You have no right. This is just what we went through, Barry, I don’t care what you think of me, not anymore.” 

He shifted his jaw with a deep frown on his features, taking a deep breath and letting out in a sharp exhale. 

Blinking a few times, he tried not to take Barry’s words too personally, but he couldn’t help but get angry. “Well, it’s not enough,” he spat. “It’s not enough, okay? You were gone and you don’t get to fucking come back and pretend like nothing happened. I—I relied on you and you were gone.” 

Barry wasn’t sure what to do when it came to Wally. He wanted to give the speedster space, but at the same time he wanted to beg him to tell him how to fix their relationship. Barry hated being on the outs with Wally. As Barry walked up onto the scene, he let out a quiet sigh as he saw Wally had fallen back onto ripping off cars. “Did I… not leave enough money for you…?” He asked quietly, but kept his gaze off the other. “I’ll put some more into your account.”