[Fic] Somewhere Only We Know (2/3)

[kingburu]

I woke up strapped to a heart monitor with an IV jabbed up my arm. Looking around, my eyes still felt crusty with tears and raw from salt. Someone had found me, apparently, and put me in a large room that looked like the infirmary back on Mount Justice. My uniform sat right next to me, shredded and tattered which left me-in a hospital gown.

The room was empty.

Other than the mechanical equipment that you expected to find in a hospital and then some (stuff you would only find in the league), it felt like a normal hospital room with no windows, no nurses, and no doctors. I wasn’t restrained to the chair and being probed, apparently, and the over bed table was filled with a large plate of cookies.

One of the things both Uncle Barry and I did shared was our hyper accelerated healing, and even though I felt weak from burning so much fuel, I didn’t have much of an appetite, either. I yanked the IV out of my arm, knowing that I’d get crap about it from Batman later, but it was the least of my worries.

When my feet touched the ground, gravity pelted me with my stomach digging into my kidney and blood circulating like they hadn’t in over twenty years. I looked around the room, taking note of all the machinery without really caring for it, and walked toward the other end. On the wall was just a door and a long glass mirror, but they wouldn’t budge.

It crossed my mind, actually, that if I was awake, then someone should have come and gotten me. If I was in a hospital gown, then that meant something bad must have happened. That, I muttered to myself, or I’d finally lost it.

The door wouldn’t open. I jiggled it four times between my hands, noting how much my body ached from overuse and the high-pitched humming in my head before turning back around and fetching my costume.

Who was locked outside? Or…was I locked in?

Suddenly the mission returned to mind and I shed all other thoughts, redressing in my Kid Flash costume at lightspeed and zipping toward the door again. Non-superpowered idiots in Gotham shouldn’t have been a problem for the team. It was something nitty-gritty Robin dealt with all the time--singlehandedly and having a team back him up should have made it easy cake.

Unless you were the idiot who didn’t grab the right syringes, tanks, and tanks that were actually filled with something.

Idiot.

I pressed my hands to the cold glass of the wall, forehead freezing against its touch.

Suddenly I looked back up, tracing the lightning bolt that was patched onto the suit, then to me, myself. Green eyes stared straight at me. I remember once, going to the store with Uncle Barry and grabbing some groceries to make Aunt Iris a birthday dinner. We grabbed everything we could, took note of the recipe, and I accidentally put a can in someone else’s basket. At first they laughed-I was only twelve. Then they gestured to Uncle Barry, who was trying to figure out the difference between all-purpose flour and barley flour, and told me to meet up with my father. I looked at her funny; told her he was my uncle. She patted my head, looking directly in my eyes and chuckled.

Still, the family resemblance is there, she insisted. Isn’t it?

The tears were collecting in my eyes again. Suddenly the door whooshed open, someone humming the unmistakable tune of Lady Gaga, and I felt my hands drop from the wall.

Flash only looked at me, goofy smile across his face before he looked back to the over bed table. Suddenly he frowned and tsk’d slightly. “So…I take it we don’t share the same appetite, mini-me?”

It was him. It had to be him.

I must have stared at Flash for a really long time, just-just looking over him. My heart pounded harshly against my chest but the rest of me remained dead still in shock. Flash looked back, eyes behind his optic lenses widening and confused (how did he manage to do that?), then put a hand on my shoulder when I didn’t say anything. It tingled. The good tingling, though. Not…not what I’ve been feeling. His touch felt as though it was lifting every negative thought-every doubt I had in myself.

I could be Kid Flash. I could still be his sidekick, he could still be the Flash-I didn’t have to outrun him. Aunt Iris could be happy. I could listen to every stupid, every corny joke he said, rag on him, and all he would do is laugh.

I could have my uncle back.

“Um, mini-me--Wally-” Flash smiled fervently and held something up that looked like an iced mocha. They were my favorite. “You gave us quite a scare, you know. Supes was bent out of shape trying to catch up on you, Bats has been monitoring you. Your vitals are okay and stuff-and your wounds have healed. Hey, was it that one time that Robin and you went to fend off against the alligator? You know, the radioactive one? God, that was so cool-”

Flash zipped across the room, then returned with the batch of cookies in his hand. I only stared at him, mouth having gone dry. What did I say? What was I supposed to do? He handed me a cookie and I slowly wrapped it between my fingers.

“-Hmm, or maybe it was that one time where Speedy and I dressed up as prostitutes-you know, Dick’s got a lithe form? Man, he made an awesome girl-”

I needed to say something. I couldn’t just stand there looking stupid. Stupidity and I had been going hand-in-hand ever since the death. The…the supposed death. Throat tightening, I watched as Flash stuffed four cookies in his mouth (and I had to laugh, because Uncle Barry always got onto my case for eating so much), and tugged on his hand. I felt like a little kid again-the ten-year-old boy who got to meet his hero for the first time because his Aunt Iris let him visit Central City, and got a smile back.

Flash stopped his conversation with a cheerful chirp and after I blinked, I could feel the hard tear running down my face. I hugged him.
I hugged him so tightly that I promised myself never to let go. I didn’t even know what I was saying anymore--don’t you ever run away again or you’re grounded, mister; don’t you dare use those boots and stop by in Japan; if you think you’re so fast you can run to Timbuktu, then I’ll kick your ass-

“I missed you,” I said instead, voice tiny in my throat. It hurt to talk. Burying my head into his chest, Flash stood there, and another story came to head. Once I tried hugging Superman when he saved my pet turtle from the sewers-but Superman wasn’t the Flash. He was hard and he was a jerk and he-he didn’t act like a father. “Uncle Barry, I-I missed you s-so m-much…”

Tears exploded from my face like the stupid Niagra, and I felt like an idiot with snot dribbling down my nose, b-but I couldn’t help it.

“Uncle Barry, I-I’ve tried so hard…coping…you, gone…o-oh, god…” None of my thoughts made sense. I hugged him tighter-probably so tight that he couldn’t breathe anymore, but the beauty was-I didn’t care. If Uncle Barry ever died again I was grounding him until he was a hundred-and-two. “E-Every night, I just-I c-couldn’t cope with it, o-oh my god…I-I kept…I kept smelling your blood, a-and…I-I couldn’t be Kid Flash-I f-felt too…I felt lost, and I couldn’t remember any of the rules you taught me and…”

“Wait, wait, wait…mini-me…Wally--” Without much reaction time, Uncle Barry backed away, his lenses wilted with surprise, mouth agape, and he stared at me with stun. We must have stood like that for ages, no one blinking. I-I had to tell myself to stop crying; to choke on my sniffles and wipe the snot on my glove. Slowly, he raised his hand, fingers tucking under his cowl and-and pulled it off.

Red hair. Green eyes. An undoubted array of freckles I always hated having blinded me and the saddest look spread across his demeanor. O-Oh, God…

He only looked at me, expression strained. “I’m not Uncle Barry.”

N-No. No, no, no--nonononono--

“Wally, wait!”

I ran. Out the room and through the hallway, I had no clue where the hell I was going, but I knew that so long as I was away from that room, I could actually breathe. Running down the hall, dry tears taking the impact of adrenaline against my face, I couldn’t believe what I just saw. Every time I blinked…e-every time I closed my eyes, all I saw was him with his green eyes, his red hair-me with my green eyes, my red hair-in that fucking uniform. It wasn’t mine-it was sinned with blood and there was only one person who should ever be given the honor of wearing it.

The one who was dead.

Everything smelled like metal. The odor was faint with insecurities, sweat, and a hard day’s work, and the more I tried to breathe the less oxygen actually got to my head. Blinking made my head ache, breathing made my lungs choke and running-I didn’t want to stop running until my legs gave out and left me footless.

Needed to contact the team. Needed to contact the league-I halted.

My feet hit the ground and I felt the ungraceful bend of my ankle from not skidding to a proper, momentumless stop and ended up in a corridor. I’d pass at least four other people I couldn’t identify, and slowly I began a trek. He couldn’t find me. Hopefully.

My stomach twisted in a chokehold, ready to puke the lack of sustenance I hadn’t eaten since this morning when Roy-fucking Roy--forced me on his bike and forced me on the stupid mission. My throat tickled, mind dizzy with horrid thoughts. The next room I entered looked like a cafeteria and-

Black Canary. Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman-

He hadn’t just become the Flash, he…he had taken Uncle Barry’s place in the league.

No. No, this wasn’t possible-I-I wasn’t good enough, he shouldn’t have been good enough and-and I was attracting everyone’s attention. A loud screech resonated through the room, some leaguers clutching their ears, then an unmistakable voice announced itself on speakers.

“We have a security breach. Attention: we have a security breach. If anyone finds Kid Flash, please return him to the medical bay immediately.”

Oh shit.

All eyes immediately plastered to my form. My body trembled, head still whirring with all the thoughts I’d rather not have, and with a swivel I sprinted out of the room at top speed. This time instead of other people ignoring me, they were after me. I looked over my shoulder, gasp escaping my lips as Black Canary and Green Arrow and Manhunter and everyone else were on my freaking trail.

Needed to run. Needed to get out get out, and I swirved up the many flight of stairs with my heart pounding against my chest. I didn’t want to be here. I would have given anything to forget seeing his his face in Uncle Barry’s suit-anything. Maybe…

Maybe to the point of Uncle Barry staying dead. Just so I didn’t end up like him.

As the thought crossed my mind, I felt the tickle at my throat again, tears fresh against my face. I wanted him back. I wanted Uncle Barry back so badly that I’d go up to God and ask to kill me instead. Let Uncle Barry live and let me die so everyone would be happy. Stupid thought…right?

I’ve already told myself how stupid it was six hundred times.

I dodged the arrow that was launched at my foot, hearing a hiss that sounded a little bit like Black Canary, then ran higher. The higher I ran-the faster they ran, they couldn’t keep up with me. Suddenly my feet were lifted off the ground with a hard yank, and I dangled high in midair. No. Nonono, I needed to run, I-I needed to get out of here…

A red blur zipped right by me, his flurry of red hair and green eyes gleaming with concern.

I looked to my captor, noticing that I’d been put in a green sphere, and felt my chest ache. “Uncle John?”

John Stewart; one of the two Green Lanterns that I grew up with. A small smile quirked across his lips, somewhat cheerful and also bitter. “Forgot how much I missed that costume, Wally.”

He wasn’t talking to me. He was talking to the other me, who laughed with rawness to his voice. He looked to me, small smile twisting across his lips, but it was a struggle. “We should talk, mini-me.”

Uncle John dropped me to the ground from the bubble gently. My knees touched the ground with a thud, fingers twisting into soft metal. I…I felt like puking.

So I did. All over Flash’s good boots.
--x--
“So, uh…my name’s Wally. What’s yours?”

I stared at my lap, sitting in a chair at the end of what was apparently the founding members’ conference room. My stomach felt empty; chest even emptier and every time I breathed, a hollow cold would brush against the back of my throat and caused the nausea to stir again. Superman was staring at me. Batman looked at me up and down, Uncle John hadn’t kept his eyes off me since we got to the room, almost looking affectionate as he stared me in the face. Wonder Woman looked more sly-more gentle and less of the Amazon-y thing. I hadn’t even seen Martian Manhunter, but maybe that was a good thing. If I saw Manhunter I would probably start asking questions about Megan. Most that normally wouldn’t leave my mouth. And-

Flash zipped to my side, pulling the cowl down yet again and hunched his shoulders like he was an adorable little kid. He pitched his voice. “My name’s Wally, too! I like iced mochas and-”

“You’re really annoying,” I snapped. For half a second I wondered if it was really a good idea to talk like that to the Flash that way, but all my life I’d idolized the Flash--the right one--and he…I wasn’t it. Suddenly the anger coiled in my stomach, creating a stiff knot as I stood up and glared at him angrily. He was a good four inches taller than me. “You’re annoying, you’re unfit, and your head is always in the fucking clouds thinking about girls.”

He stared at me in surprise, eyes widening like stupid golden retriever. I could see it, even, as if his tail was drooping when a frown contorted across his face. “Aw, that’s not very nice.”

Hawkgirl (at least I assumed it was her) chuckled softly. “Your own self thinks you’re annoying, Wally. The irony.”

I tossed a glare her way. Somehow she reminded me a little bit of Artemis. Cunning, irritating, and too many secrets to keep track of. I stared for a moment, eyes checking her from top to bottom before pressing back in my seat. The anger in my stomach still hurt-and I felt like puking again. Looking down to Flash’s feet, I found him wiggling his toes. He flashed a goofy smile.

“I wasn’t that bad as a kid. Kinda dashing, if I do say so myself.” His smile widened and I watched him zip around me as a red blur, cowl still down and green eyes flashing with good nature. “Yup, I was a cute kid.”

I didn’t want to hear that while he looked at me, in that costume. Instead I stood to my feet and glared at him. “Stop.”

Oddly enough he obliged, standing directly in front of me with another of his smiles. Is that how I look like to everyone else? Is that how everyone saw me? Some goofy dork that was never going to grow up? “Alright. Let’s talk. How’d you get here?”

My jaw loosened, glare disappearing with it. I looked to my gauntlets, silent as my fingers traced against the padding. The Flash suit had none of that. Robin and Batman were packed with Kevlar, but ours were meant to be slick, frictionless, and maintain momentum. My Kid Flash suit was rugged from the padding and weight had to be added to the soles of my boots so I didn’t trip every time I skidded to a halt. The Flash suit-the actual one that he was wearing, maintained the friction that Uncle Barry did.

“Can you erase my memory as soon as I get back?” I blurted instead of answering the question. My eyes fluttered over to Batman, who hadn’t taken his eyes off me since getting into the room. Not a surprise. Part of me wondered if I’d become the Flash, if Dick ever became Batman. The thought seemed ridiculous but-so was inheriting the…the legacy, I guess.

Superman flashed me a look of surprise. He was probably a jerk in this dimension, too. “No doubt we’ll have to do that but-”

“Wha-at? Hold up a moment, Supes.” Flash zipped my way and put a hand on my shoulder I pushed it away and glared at him. He was unfazed. “Wally, you get the chance to retain everything that you know from this future, and you’re going to give it all up? I mean, you’re me, and if I had the chance to go the future, I’d want to know everything. You know. What kinda girls you’re gonna date, what kind of investments I could make-”

Are you kidding me? “How dare you? We are not the same person!”

I pushed him off of me, again to my feet and feeling my chest clench with anger. I forced a finger to his chest, scowl wide and he only stared back. Superman and the rest of them looked ready to intervene.

“How dare you,” I continued, hand aching to just…justslap him, “say we’re the same person? We’re not! You’re not fast enough, and you’re not strong enough and you’re not-” I choked on my words and suddenly I realized he was staring at me nervously, surprise and fear running across his expression. I was crying again. Damn it. “You’re not…you’re not Uncle Barry.”

I wanted to say that it was just a couple tears-that I was able to blink them away and say that I was just kidding. But I was bawling. Tears were coming down my face and I felt like a baby-and…and I really missed my uncle and…

I-I wanted to say I hated him. That I hated him so badly for taking up the mantle that should have never been up for grabs, but I couldn’t. I think I hated myself more for shelving myself and forcing everyone to see me in one light.

“You’re not Uncle Barry,” I said again, and I felt like I was suffocating. “I-I…we’re not Uncle B-Barry…c-could never live up to him, and…” And I miss him. I really, really, really missed him. I wasn’t just some kid trying to get over the death of that third cousin twice removed. Uncle Barry had taught me how to become a man--how to make good decisions. He taught me how to separate chemicals, and how to steal batarangs from Robin and Batman’s utility belts when they weren’t looking and told me icky gross stuff like Aunt Iris was ticklish.

Suddenly a hand made it around my shoulder and pulled me in-tight and strong with his nose buried in my hair. I-It was one of Uncle Barry’s hugs-and then…he…I…Wally patted me on the head. Just like Uncle Barry.

“Sorry, Kid,” he said softly. He pulled away, sad smile on his face. G-God, did he ever stop s-smiling? “Didn’t realize you were at that part of your life.”

“Wally-” We both looked to Wonder Woman, whose expression morphed sympathetically. “Shall we send him back?”
Oddly enough it was Batman who spoke up next. “Not yet.”

“Not yet?” Wally and I shared looks of confusion. I wiped the snot running down my nose and ignored the way I was shaking.
Wally zipped over to his side, then returned with a bat-shaped canister. A stupid grin spread across his lips. “Bat tissue?”
I stared at it slowly, then took it out of his hands.

“Now,” Wally announced, eyes darting back to Batman with a casual chirp. “What’cha mean, Bats? Sure, time travel will probably take like a day or two for you to build, but normally you’re babbling about getting this done ASAP.”

Bats. And…Supes. I looked to all of them, quietly blowing my nose as they stared back, and crumpled the used tissue in my hand. Wally kept a firm grasp of my shoulder. He was as well-acquainted with the league as Uncle Barry was.

“I’m giving you permission to spend time with the boy because you were going to ask anyway.” Batman’s expression grew grim-strict, and somehow different to the Batman back in my time. He was staring at me now. At least-I think he was staring at me. “It will take me a couple days to get an operating time machine, but-yes. Look after him and make sure he’s emotionally stable.”

I glared. How the fuck was I not emotionally stable? And…looking from the corner of my eye, I stared at Wally carefully.

He only jumped with glee. “Soo. This gets me out of monitor duty this week. Right?~”

He was joking. I could actually tell he was joking while he zipped by Batman’s side with a cheerful smile. My lips started to twitch.

“No. Finish up monitor duty, then spend time with the boy.”

“Aw.”

I laughed.
--x--
“Stay here. And-whoop.” Wally zipped out of the room then came back with a plate of hoagies; stopping abruptly and with perfect balance. For a moment all I did was stare at him, expression blank while he grinned. Passing through the halls he hadn’t bothered to put the cowl back over his face. Every hero knew him; every hero greeted him before he had the chance to greet them back, but the fact remained: he always said hi, never missed a name, and if a person so much as got two feet away he would swivel in front of them and give them a big bear hug. Which, I added in my head as he gave me a hoagie, was funny when dealing with men as big as Batman.

“Thanks,” I said softly. It hurt to talk after all the yelling I did, and my head felt so light you could probably make it pop with a needle.

“Welcome.” He stared at me, eyes glittering with…with something. Jay had given me the same expression at the funeral-something expectant, but also pitiful and unsure what to say. He plopped into the seat parallel to mine and watched as I nibbled on the hoagie.
Nibbled. The concept should have been beyond me-barely eating something. Free food, I’d always jibe if I was around the gang. But it was too much to soak in and he wouldn’t stop staring. “Shouldn’t you be on monitor duty?”

“Monitor duty’s an excuse to bond with whoever’s in the room.” He shrugged and rested his feet over the keyboard. “’Cept, you know. When there’s a giant T-Rex invading Metropolis or something.”

I stared at him. “You’re serious.”

“Sort of.” Deciding it was too casual of a position, Wally swung his legs and began to spin in his chair, this time humming something that sounded suspiciously like Kesha. I couldn’t end up acting like him. Not…enthusiastic, and happy-and singing girl songs in a disturbingly well-practiced falsetto. “Alright. Let’s talk.”

“How could you replace Uncle Barry in the league?” The question left my mouth before I had the chance to think-something that got me in a lot of trouble, but the moment it left my mouth, my brain racked with other things that had been nagging me. “Why would you? How could you take up the mantle of the Flash when-when it was Uncle Barry’s duty, and how can you be so casual? Don’t you ever regret it? Why give up being Kid Flash when-when…” When I’m totally not good enough to inherit the title?

The question left a bitter taste in my mouth. Wally seemed patient, keeping that fervent smile across his face while I looked down to the hoagie.
Suddenly it didn’t seem so appetizing. “Sorry.”

“Nah, s’fine, mini-me.” His lips were graced with a grin and he crossed his legs, eyes gently hardening. “If I was in your position, then I’d think the same thing. And I guess you kinda confirm Bats’s suspicion.”

I peered back. “What do you mean?”

“In this universe…” Wally’s expression suddenly melted, sadder and weary. In the ghost of space he actually made me think of Uncle Barry. I shoved the thought away, squeezing the hoagie between my hands while he was swept in a silence. “In this universe, I am a founding member of the JLA, mini-me.”

“That’s not right though,” I said, and I knew I was running my mouth was running faster than my mind could process the thought. “It can’t be right.”

“Parallel universes. Duh.” He snorted, talking about the issue as if he read it in the newspaper or if he was just keeping conversation with a friend. Eyes narrowing, Wally looked to me, expression calculative before he continued again. “Bats is pretty paranoid about these things. We pretty much frisked you in the non-creepiest way possible, found your state ID and well-same year, mini-me. The thing is, in this universe when the JLA had formed, Uncle Barry has been dead for at least a year.”

My chest tightened. Uncle Barry’s death-I didn’t like the way he was speaking of it so casually. He must have realized where this was going because he put his hands up in the air in surrender.

“Uncle Barry…his death was devastating, just like in your universe.” Wally crossed his arms, smile slowly fading as he entered another state of thinking. I wonder if that was how I looked whenever I thought about Uncle Barry too. “It was hard to cope with. Incredibly hard. Central City’s villains pretty much sucked, and as Kid Flash I wasn’t taken seriously. They lost their greatest hero and at the time it seemed like the best choice of action.”

“But you regret it,” I said simply.

“Never,” he said without missing a beat. Wally stared at me, eyes as glass before he closed them and smiled. “The circumstances given, I wish he didn’t have to die for me to inherit the mantle, but being the Flash…there were big shoes to fill, Wally. I couldn’t be Kid Flash forever-the same way Dick couldn’t always be Robin-”

I blinked and opened my mouth to speak. He beat me to it.

“-Ooh, just make sure he doesn’t go through a phase where he thinks disco is amazing.” He batted his hand dismissively and continued. “Don’t get me wrong, mini-me. Inheriting the title as the Flash the way Uncle Barry inherited it from Jay-it’d crossed my mind a few times over the years growing up, but the thing was, I wasn’t a kid anymore. I was eighteen when he died-a kid getting ready to go into college and figure out his life, but I wanted nothing more than to fight crime and save people all my life.”

That sounded more like me. Staring back at my hoagie I squeezed it until grease coated my fingers and cheese oozed onto my palms. It’d crossed my mind after Roy had left, yeah that one day it may be me throwing my goggles to the ground and leaving Uncle Barry, but the thought frightened me so badly that I shoved it to the back of my mind and cherished what I had.

Roy came from a broken family and-yeah, sometimes Mom, Dad, and I don’t get along, but our family wasn’t broken. Then came Uncle Barry-a guy who had nothing to do with our situation, who was orphaned as a child and seemed to glue our pieces back together with his smile. I couldn’t leave Uncle Barry-not unless something forced me to. And up until his death it didn’t occur to me that I might not be the one who ended up leaving.

“You get it now?” Wally placed a hand over mine, eyebrows furrowed guiltily. “I mean, I get you, mini-me. When I was your age I was just enjoying life, and Uncle Barry was who introduced me to it. But after his death…the world needed a Flash. A speedster.”

“What if I don’t want to become the Flash?” I stared at him hard and felt myself shaking. “What if…I-”

“What if you make mistakes-and tarnish Uncle Barry’s reputation?” Wally silenced. “…I dunno about your Uncle Barry, but mine would always say, ‘Keep running, but-’”

“‘Never run away,’” I finished. My eyes darted to a monitor where some hero was rescuing a kitten from a tree. Chest tightening once more, the hollowness in my chest seemed to alleviate; replaced with something better. Warmer. “he told me that after my first screw-up as Kid Flash.”

“Chasing after Captain Boomerang and getting ripped by a banana peel and marbles?” I nodded. Wally laughed-maybe even giggled, but the warmth and mirth seeped through with nostalgia. He shook his head just as dismissively and took a large bite of his hoagie. “he used to make everything look so easy. Making decisions, saving people-saving the bad guy when they totally didn’t deserve it.”

“That was Uncle Barry though,” I whispered quietly. “He thought everyone deserved a second chance and never went back on a promise.”
“Sounds like your uncle and my uncle were two peas in a pod.”

I would have gotten on his case for being so incredibly dorky, but somehow it felt fitting. “Was it hard?”

Wally smiled kindly. “Which part?”

“Everything.”

“It came with plenty difficulties, yes,” he waved his hand again. Suddenly he stopped fidgeting and squeezed my shoulder firmly. “I second-guessed myself a lot the first month and a half, mini-me. But after a while, I realized that I didn’t need to. Uncle Barry taught us all of his morals, all of his achievements, and honestly he’s still my hero. We’re not the same as our uncle, buddy. Not even damn close.”

“But…?”

“No buts,” he concluded. Wally folded his arms and scrutinized me to the very last freckle. “I never ended up like Uncle Barry, mini-me. I don’t think I ever will-but I will use what he’s taught me. He left behind a legacy.”
“Do you think you’re doing a good job?” That we’re doing a good job?

He picked up on my message without even much as batting an eyelash. Wally stared me in the eye and began to teeter the hoagie back and forth in his hand. “I think…that that’s something you’re gonna have to find out for yourself.”

“But what if I don’t want to become the Flash?” This time I stood up. Everyone had been giving me the look-Batman, Superman, Aunt Iris and Jay and Captain Boomerang and Captain Freeze-I hated it. “What if I don’t want to be someone that everyone expects me to be?”

“You don’t.” A smile curtsied across his lips and he tangled his fingers together over his belly, hoagie long forgotten. “Be yourself.”

“You don’t have to be what everyone expects you to be. Be who you expect yourself to be.” Just like what Robin said. My throat went dry and I stared at him. There he was-my future self (or at least, a version of my future self) and of all people despite how things had turned out, he was giving me a choice. To…to pick up the legacy Uncle Barry had left behind or to stay where I’m at. To be the hero that was my hero or to…to be myself-whoever that was. When Aunt Iris and Jay gave me that look, it made me feel uncomfortable, and when Batman talked to me it was as if he wasn’t expecting anything at all. But the Flash--me was giving me a look.

“This is like, the fourth time you’ve left me speechless since I met you,” I mumbled.

“Really? Guess it takes one to know one. Haha, literally.” Wally grinned and patted me on the head just like my uncle. He telling me that I had a choice was as flippant as the weather-like he was just telling a kindergartner what was two-plus-two. “C’mon. I want some ice cream.”

“What about monitor duty?”

“Oh please, like you haven’t shrugged off a Bat before.” Rolling his eyes playfully, Wally pulled the cowl over his face. “By the way, I like the goggles.”

“Um…” A smile curled across my lips. “Thanks.”

He typed something into the computer that made me think a bit of Rob when he hacked the JLA computers nearly a year ago, then latched an arm to mine. “Hold on tight, mini-me.”

(3/3)