Chapter Text
She may not have been as fast as her uncle, but that didn’t mean much because she was still pretty dang fast anyway. She had zipped into each smoking building and each time she emerged there was someone on her shoulder or under her arm. She patted their backs, and she set them down a while away, apologizing for the rough treatment though they didn’t hear her as they vomited whatever they had eaten for lunch that day.
She wouldn’t say it was pandemonium.
She wouldn’t.
That way lay jinxes that no doubt would lead to worse things coming about.
She re-checked each building, making sure there was no one left behind, she let out a breath as she let her feet finally settle fully on the ground for the first time that day. She licked her lips and wiped her chin. A hand came down on her shoulder and she turned her uncle had a hard look on his face.
Somber and unlike his usually sunshine day expression.
“Stay hydrated,” he handed her an electrolyte pouch, then tilted his head, “Follow me kid, there’s more.”
She sucked the pouch dry, and licked her lips with a frown, “That’s no good…”
The Flash turned and in half a step he was gone, Wally threw the pouch in a nearby trashcan and before it finished its arc and hit its target true she was gone. Following behind in a yellow blur.
Running beside the Flash was a dream come true. Despite the current hell on earth kind of vibes that Central was wearing, there was something beautiful in looking at the city through the blurred impressionist lens of superspeed. Stretching her legs like she had been for the past six months fed a hunger that she had been previously starving and now that she had tasted it she didn’t know if she would ever have her fill.
Fires had sprouted all over the city, like blooming roses that ate away at everything around them, they were equally as beautiful as they were devastating. She knew she should probably keep that to herself, her conscience ticking at thinking such a terrible turn of events was at all pretty, but…
“These aren’t just gas leaks are they?”
They were running around and around, like a dog chasing its tail, snuffing out the flames of evacuated buildings attempting to stop the fires from spreading even further than they already were. The fire department was already spread thin taking care of other buildings, so they were picking up the slack and doing what speedsters did best.
Run real fast.
The flames had dimmed, then flickered and then finally they were snuffed out, “They aren’t.”
Her uncle spoke to her as they ran, “I’d say this was a distraction, the fires are starting too fast and there’s a pattern to it, plus the way they start have familiar markers. It’d be pretty effective, they start fast, get big, but not too fast that people will be dying too quickly and most importantly the fire department has been getting calls as soon as they start.”
“So… it’s a distraction? Shouldn’t we be finding out what kind of thing we’re being distracted from?”
They paused as they snuffed another fire, and finally both planted their feet as they took a breath, her uncle passed her another electrolyte pouch while he finally took his first, “A distraction huh… it’d be a pretty good one.”
She blinked up at him as he fell silent and pressed her lips into a thin line, her foot tapping impatiently beside her blurring as it went on for longer than a second. She sucked on her electrolyte pouch nosily and her uncle finally looked over at her with a chagrined smile, ruffling her hair.
“Unfortunately, this is probably not that… no, what we’ve got is even worse than a carefully constructed plan and well executed distraction. It definitely started out a nice big spread-out net, but now everything is getting clustered, getting messy, tell me kid. If Captain Cold is in custody and the rest of the rogues are either in the wind or in lock-up, where does that leave us?”
Wally blinked again.
She bit her lip and looked up at him with a furrowed brow, “I-… if Cold is in lock up then… that leaves us with a Heat Wave with no direction… right?”
Barry ruffled her hair, and she looked up at him with a serious expression, though her lip twitched like she wanted to say something, he nodded.
“Mick Rory broke out of rehab a week ago, and he’d been in there since last year. I’d been visiting him, he’d been doing well at least that’s what the staff told me, but with stuff like this… it can be tricky.”
Wally nodded her head, “If it started as clean as you said, and now it’s getting messy then sooner or later he’s gonna mess up. Those three cluster fires spread from one controlled fire, Mr. Rory is good at what he does, he wouldn’t have made a mistake like that. We need to get him, he needs help if he did a whole year,” she spread out her arms as if encompassing the large milestone, and looked at her uncle pleadingly, “he can do it again.”
Barry looked as serious as ever, but then a smile broke out across his face and he reached across and ruffled her hair, Wally tried to dodge but was too slow. He pressed her head and shook her head with his much larger hand.
“Couldn’t have said it better myself. Keep an eye out and your ears open, we’ll keep running and see if anyone else needs our help, but I think that for today at least it’s over.”
Wally tilted her head under his hand and frowned, “How do you know that?” she crossed her arms in disbelief.
Barry tilted his head, “This was a welcome back. It was big and showy, in fact he probably is somewhere watching it go down, but something like this took time. While Heat Wave is good at what he does, this reeks of a cooler head, if he wants to one up this, which he will want to.” Red gloved hands captured her head as he murmured turning her to the direction he needed her in, she allowed it as she listened to him.
“He’ll need time.”
Wally frowned but nodded seriously.
Barry tilted her head back and looked down at her with a no-nonsense stare, “Don’t engage without me, if you find him you signal me.” Winking at her he gives her a thumbs up, “I’ll be there in a flash.”
She grinned, her own thumbs up matching his and they parted ways.
The rest of the day was startling calm, the fires were put out and the people were relocated. In total twenty buildings were burned, and luckily only two of them were destroyed to the point that they could not be salvaged. Both were abandoned buildings, but not empty buildings, she remembered an old man and a dog who had been sleeping while the building burned around him, and couple of kids who had dared one another to sneak in and get back a lost toy.
It could have been worse than it was.
It always could be.
[ . . * . . ]
“Are you fucking kidding me?!”
Laughter and jeers passed her by as she grimaced at the sight of gum stuck in her hair, how they had managed to sneak so close as to stick gum into her very short hair she would guess had to do with her own inability to focus.
She had bigger things to worry about than school bullies.
Even if they did end up tripping her up, spit balling and gumming up her hair, “Geez, maybe I should punch one of them, at least back then people left me alone.”
She hurried to the bathroom with a dissatisfied frown pulling out a travel sized container of baby oil and comb she carefully picked out the gum and grimaced as she felt the thing on her fingers. She almost gagged as she shook the mixture off into the nearby trashcan.
“Woah… that’s a bigger one than usual.”
“Yeah the bastard must’ve switched to hubba-bubba or something, ugh… god it’s so gross.”
Wally watched the girl with narrowed eyes, but the girl simply reached into her backpack and pulled out some sanitary wipes, “Here, the soap dispenser is always empty on Mondays… and Tuesdays… and really all week unless somebody tells somebody. You don’t want idiot germs on you all day you might get infected.”
Wally laughed.
It was a loud and short thing, but it was real. The girl jumped her eyes going wide and then she smiled too, Wally smiled and took the wipe.
“Hey thanks man… I’m Wally, Wally West, well technically, legally my name is Wilhelmina, but don’t call me that unless you want to get shin kicked.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Wally held her hand out awkwardly, before slowly retracting it, “Right of course, yeah that makes sense… god are they still calling me Willy Wally?”
The girl snorted and quickly snatched her hand, Wally grinned, “They are, bunch of ignorant idiots.”
Wagging her finger, “Hey now, they are learning they used to call me Tranny Wally, it’s like they can’t help but want their insults to rhyme. At least Willy Wally has some sort of alliteration and tune, almost sounds like the start of some nursery rhyme or some shit.”
The girl smiled smally, “I’m Linda, Linda Park.”
Wally grinned, “Nice to meet you Linda.”
[ . . * . . ]
“Really during my snack break,” a yellow blur disarmed the would-be robber and divesting him of his gun which now lay in pieces away from the man. The beanie wearing male looked around with wide eyes, “Wah-” then suddenly he fell to the ground, his arms and legs held together with duct tape, “Wuh-” “do you think petty criminals are getting dumber, or should we be kind and hope he’s an out of towner?”
Taking the wallet the thief had in his pocket she showed it to the unimpressed cashier who snorted without a single facial expression change.
“Fucking Kansas?”
The robber for some reason took issue with that reaction and then decided that going on a long-winded rant about Kansas iconicness in the conscious of classic americana. Wally tried to pay attention it only seemed fair, but she just edged the Slurpee, reheated burritos, and chips closer to the cashier who cared very little about the mans rant as she rung her up, “20.75.”
Paying the cashier, she nodded to the police who had finally arrived, tipping his hat, “Out of towner?”
“Yup.”
“Hmm… well thanks again for the help Kid Flash, enjoy your lunch… though shouldn’t you be eating something healthier? A growing kid needs their nutrients especially a speedster like you.”
Wally bowed her head in a quick nod and gave a cheeky grin, “Tis’ just a snack good sir! I always eat something actually filling once I get the chance to! Have good day and thank you for the weird lecture mister.”
She was gone in a yellow blur leaving nothing behind but the slightest bit of ruffled hair and marginally lighter stocked shelves than there were before. Out of the store and zipping down the streets the yellow blur created a breeze that was only noticed by those paying attention or those hoping for a speedster to pass by. A kid shrieking in delight at their ruffled hair made Wally grin.
She arrived at the roof with a triumphant laugh, “For you good sir, a XXL Grande Verde Burrito with Sweet Honey BBQ Fritos and three Slim Jims which I know you will probably use to desecrate that poor burrito.”
“Sweet, thanks kid!” Barry rubbed his hands together as he, with surgical preciseness, opened the plastic packaging all heated and filled with condensed steam. He then opened the burrito and with an almost delicate touch managed to fit all three Slim Jims and half the Fritos bag.
Wally grimaced and took another slurping sip of her red Slurpee, “You disgust me.”
Barry grinned with a full mouth, “Hate me cuz’ you ain’t me kiddo.” He reached over to ruffle her hair, but she dodged it.
“Heck no! You have Slim Jim grease all over!”
“Aw! Come on, just a little ruffle, it’s my good luck charm!”
Wally shook her head sticking out her tongue as she retched, “Yuck, I have no idea how you can stand those things they taste like… well I don’t know I never tasted anything as terrible as that before!”
Barry pouted as he took his last bite, “It’s not that bad, and you’re the one who likes plantain chips dipped in nacho cheese and relish. It’s not that weird!”
Wally shook her head with a disgusted frown and finished her very light, very delicate and womanly snack, “Ma says I have to eat my vegetables, with this I get both my fruits, veggies and my calcium!” Slurping the last of her cherry red and raspberry blue Slurpee she mourned the fact that the mystery flavor was out once again. Someday she would get the white and pink streaked drink, someday.
He ruffled he hair while she was distracted with a chuckle and Wally squawked in dismay, “Come on man!”
He was gone and back in a red blur trash gone and dusting his hands of any remaining crumbs, she grinned up at him, “Thanks!”
She jumped from her seat dusting off her hands with a satisfied clap stretching out her calves she grinned at her uncle.
He laughed, “Ready kid?”
Giving him a cheeky two finger salute, “Always boss!”
“Then lets head out, patrol waits for no one!”
They ran down the side of the building and canvassed the city taking time here and there to not only deal with dangerous and criminal activity but also to help those who needed help. Wally had stopped to give an old lady directions, Barry had stopped to help move in some boxes from a moving truck, the adults giving direction, and Wally distracted the kids by playing with them on the sidewalk. There was a truck which had lost control on the freeway which they had to take care of, unfortunately the driver had suffered a heart attack and died while driving.
The old man looked a lot like her dad if he had more greys, it made her twitch.
Overall, the day was quiet, nothing had been heard from Heat Wave since the fires two weeks ago.
“This is normal especially if Rory is by himself generally the compulsion to start fires can take anywhere from four to six weeks to become unmanageable. If he’s trying to one up his opening act he’ll be taking the time to really prepare for a big bang.”
“If it’s really going to be such a big thing wouldn’t we be able to track or maybe mark down chemicals that he’d usually use when starting his fires?”
Barry smiled, it was something small almost proud, they were running at the sight almost made Wally trip over her own feet. Instead, she just skipped and then fell back into stride falling a few steps behind her uncle.
“That’s a good idea kid, the thing is that normally I would do that if I didn’t also know that he had a stash of his own stuff hidden away somewhere. The Rogues were planning something before half of them got put away and those plans got derailed, but now we have unmarked chemicals out in the world free and open for anyone to get their hands on with no way to track or find them.”
Wally frowned, “That sucks… so then all we’ve got is trying to actually catch him before anything happens or wait until it does happen.”
Barry nodded, “Yup.”
They continued on their run in thoughtful silence, though it didn’t last for long as silence rarely did in the presence of speedsters, or maybe just in particular her, “I’ve come to the conclusion that pie is gross and I hate it. I don’t want to hear anything about it, about how it’s a betrayal to all of the Midwest and that my great-great-great whatever would be horrified about the revelation. I just thought I’d let you know and if you have a problem with how I’m deciding to live my life then I’m sorry man, but I’m gonna have to cut you out of it. I just don’t get how someone can like pie, like cherry pie is so gross and goopy, and apple pie is goopy and gross, and pumpkin pie tastes like a candle and not even a good one, I’ve bitten into a cotton candy Yankee candle, and it was like all right.”
They had separated for the last bit of patrol and were now talking over comms, well Wally was, but Barry did respond with the predicted hums, grunts, and yes/nos.
She zipped down an alley and pushed a man menacing a woman at the end of it into the wall, taking some zip ties she tied his arms and legs, as she made a phone motion to the woman who had taken that to mean that kicking him in the ribs was okay. Wally let it go for one but herded her away and out onto the street as she waited for the cops.
“Hey, have you ever knit?”
The woman was shivering and looked like she was floating away, but the random non-sequitur caught her attention even if only a little, “Uh- no, I haven’t. Do you… knit?”
Wally nodded rapidly, “I do, I do! My ma and me knit stuff to donate or to keep handy at the library in case someone needs something warm and homemade, oh but yeah, I ask because I’ve started knitting plush dolls and animals, and I was wondering what animal I should make for my first project, ya know. I have like a bunch of patterns that I found online for like lions, dolphins, whales, dogs, cats, rabbits, robins, koala’s, there’s just so much and I don’t know where to start!”
Turning to the woman she rocked on her feet, “Hey, what’s your favorite animal mine is a manatee, or maybe a black bear, ooh! Or a Saint-Bernard!”
The cops had just arrived, and Wally directed a few of them down the alley before turning back to the woman who had been given a shock blanket by the nice EMT lady, “Will you be ok here?”
The woman smiled and finally nodded, “I will be, my mom will meet me at the hospital… thank you.”
Wally grinned brightly, widened her stance and gave two thumbs up, “No problem miss! It was what anyone would have done, anyway I’ve gotta continue on my patrol so I’ll leave you in the reliable hands of Central’s finest.” Winking she leaned close to the lady and EMT whispering in a giddy tone, “By that I do mean the EMT’s.”
A nearby cop gasped in dramatic shock clutching at his vest as if clutching pearls, and the EMT lady huffed out a laugh. The woman nodded, Wally nodded back and stepped back, really took a hop and a skip back as she waved and started to turn.
“A rabbit.”
Wally turned and tilted her head blinking in confusion, the woman smiled softly, “For your first project, rabbits are cute and a classic.”
Wally grinned and gave another thumbs up, “A rabbit it is then. Have a good night!”
She was gone in a yellow blur.
[ . . * . . ]
“What is that, a gopher?”
Wally groaned and let the half formed plush fall from her hands, drooping and sliding from the couch like a defeated noodle she whines wordlessly. Rudy watches the scene with an unimpressed stare, taking a gulp from his Coke as he waits for his daughter to respond.
“itssuspwncritoobeairabii….”
“What?”
Lifting her chin, she looks at her dad with a pout on her face she mumbles one more time.
“Seriously, I’m old I have no idea what you’re saying.”
She throws her hands up and grunts in annoyance, “It’s supposed to be a rabbit.”
Rudy raises a brow then looks at the lumpy thing on the ground, he had only said gopher because he knew it was supposed to be some kind of animal but honestly…
“Shouldn’t rabbits have ears… and tails… and like at least one leg?”
Wally slumped even further and let herself slide to the ground throwing her arms up as she grumbled unhappily. Rudy hummed and smacked the back of the couch, “Alright, enough whining take a break and come help me bring in some stuff from the truck.”
Wally looked up at him with a frown, “Aw~, no pops I don’t wanna!”
“Lots of yapping from the kid living in my house rent free, now up and at’em, a break full of physical labor is sure to get rid of your frustrations!”
Wally rolled her eyes with a huff but stood up anyway and followed her dad out of the door.
[ . . * . . ]
It was a rather calm night all things considered.
She grumbled under her breathe as she took another vicious bite of her spicy chicken burger, “I can’t believe it! Kid! Kid Flash! It’s like every writer or editor in that darn building ended up flunking their creative writing class!”
“It’s not that bad.”
“Of course, you’d say that it’s a diminutive of your name, someday I’m gonna hit puberty and then what, their gonna call me… ‘Teen’ Flash. I’m just saying they really phoned it in.”
Barry barked out a laugh and ruffled her hair, she leaned away and took another bite of her burger, “Ugh, don’t. You have cheese grease hands!”
Barry reached for her as he stuffed his mouth with the rest of his meal, and she squealed rolling away from his reaching hands. Paper bag securely in her hands as she dodged, for even if she were running for her life, she would never forget her food. It devolved into a short game of tag as she dodged as best she could when suddenly Barry froze and held a hand to his ear.
“Got it. We’re on our way.”
Wally picked up their trash and Barry nodded, “Come on then, you can dump it on the way.”
She nodded seriously, “Got it.”
They were off in a red and yellow blur.
“What’s the sitch boss?”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Chief.”
“Nope.”
“Teach, bro, dude, man, master? I could be your padawan.”
Barry laughed, “Definitely not master, just call me Flash. I call you Kid.”
“Which I am telling you right now will be confusing the moment I get taller and grow some chest hair… or chest. Leg hair? I don’t know. The standard markers for female puberty. Then you’ll be calling me teen like some weirdo, but seriously what the situation?”
A faint smile stayed on as he gained serious edge to his voice, “Silent alarm got tripped at Central’s Natural History Museum. It wasn’t the standard alarms either, those were left untouched, these specific ones were put in place on the arrival of the Curse Gems exhibit. Likely someone is trying to run off with them.”
“Huh, so someone smart enough to get past regular security without a sound, but not in the know to know about the secondary alarm system.”
“Tertiary.”
“Oh, then a professional.”
They were a street away from the museum, “You go to the back make sure no one heads out that way, but I want you alert and ready. Keep your ears open alright kid.”
Wally huffed out an annoyed breath, but nodded, “One of these days I’m gonna have to go in through the front with you.”
Barry grinned, “Maybe, but not today.”
They split off red blur phasing through the front and yellow blur circling around the building before heading to the back entrance. She had come with her aunt last week because Iris had done an exclusive and had gotten free tickets along with a behind the scenes tour. Wally looked at the warehouse like back entrance with a frown the evening light made the scene more ominous than when she had been there during the day. Clicking her tongue, she looked it over and then blurred away as she took in the surroundings trying to see if anything odd stood out, she returned to the back entrance and decided to lean against the brick wall and wait.
A minute passed.
Her foot was blurring with how fast her foot was tapping, she finally decided to contact her uncle, a hand tapped at her ear and then she winced at the static.
“Shoot!” she turned away from the sound, her hand snapping away like it had been shocked.
Something was wrong, nothing had sounded from inside, or at least nothing loud enough to escape the confines of the museum. She shook her hands and took a deep breath, tapping her feet she decided that one minute was too long a wait and headed in.
Vibrating her hand against the side of the door she remembered the conversation of some janitors about getting the door fixed since the lock kept unlocking if it was jostled enough and she hoped it wasn’t fixed. The click and slowly creeping open door said it wasn’t and with that the silent alarm should have gone off and the cops should be en route. She closed the door behind her and followed the path she remembered back to the main halls and exhibits.
Something shined in the corner of her eyes, she yelped as she ducked under the sudden barrage of darts escaping the mouths of the masks lining the wall of the Polynesian exhibit. She looked around suddenly more wary than she had been before, she stayed low to the ground and planted her toes and fingertips firmly before taking a breath and breaking into a run out of the room. The whistling sound of wind being cut through and the thuds of things hitting the walls with force rang out behind her as she turned the corner and continued on her way.
The museum was booby trapped.
Unbelievable.
Going slower than she liked, she decided to keep to the edges and darted back and forth just in case. There was trip wire at the entrance of anthropology wing which she jumped, but which led to her stumbling over a false tile which would have shocked her had she not stepped off of it as quickly as she had even then she still felt the copper taste and twitchy twitch of electrocution on her fingertips. Continuing she stayed on the shortest path she knew to the Cursed Gems Exhibit and managed not to trip any more traps.
“I don’t know about this boss. I know that we’ve been casing this for months, but I still feel like going up against the Flash is a bit far. Feels like he’ll get out of those python bonds any second and it’ll all be over.”
“Stop getting cold feet, we’re already doing this so stop being a pussy and get on with it.”
“Honestly, I don’t know why you’re whining for all that he is the Flash we did prepare for this, and he didn’t know we were here until we were here. We’re lucky we didn’t get nabbed by the archer. He was actually prepared for us, but lucky for us his little brat got napped.”
“Oh yeah, I heard a rumor about that. Didn’t he get him back like a month ago though, found him in a Lex Corp shipping container or something.”
“Poor kid was gone for three months, lucky for us, but sucks for the kid.”
There was a minimum of six people, at least that she could hear, there could be more but as she closed her eyes and listened to the footsteps she was sure there was at least eight. They talked like they had planned for a speedster, and it made her nervous. If her uncle actually was captured, which since he wasn’t bantering back and they weren’t knocked out he probably was, then what luck would she have in stopping them.
She pushed out a breath and peeked around the corner as quickly as she could her vision sharpening and slowing down as she took in the positions of all the men before pulling back into her hiding spot. She frowned as she wasn’t able to see her uncle, but most of the men were scattered around three at the exhibit entrances with guns, and four looting the cases and one on a computer doing something else.
From her crouch she stood up and then moved.
“Where do you want to go when we cash in, I’m thinking-”
Whatever thought he may have shared was lost as he was punched in the jaw, the gun strap was easily removed the gun clattered into pieces below. Wally was glad she had learned how to disassemble guns and made it much easier to not worry about left behind weapons.
There were shouts of shock as he went down, but she ignored it as she went to the next armed guard, and then the next and when finally, all three obviously armed criminals were down she turned to the rest of the thieves.
“Sorry for the interruption, you guys were just taking way too long, like don’t you get that this is speedster territory.”
“Woah, when did the Flash get a kid!”
“What is it with heroes getting kid partners, someone should look into that because you don’t see villains getting kids into the game this early.”
“This isn’t the fucking time!”
The loudest one pulled out a handgun as he fiddled with something behind his back, but whatever it was she didn’t care. He shot at her, and she dodged, before running straight at him, removing and disassembling the gun before elbowing him in the ribs as she continued her stride to another guy who fumbled at something while shooting at her wildly. She hated panicked gunmen worse than calm gunmen. She had an idea of where shots were going when they were in control, but panicked and they’re as likely to shoot one of their own or themselves as they are to hit her. With him she tackled him, hit his arm up, before taking the gun and knocking him out.
“Guns aren’t exactly your best bet for a speedster man, just give up and we’ll all leave with less bruises and no headaches.”
Someone else shot at her and she dodged again with an indignant shriek, “Seriously, you guys are so rude!”
She huffed out a breath and rocked on her feet and took out two in a row this time, they had been polite enough to get in a line so she could make quick work of it. She dragged the four into the center of the room and zip tied their hands and feet to one another, the guards had been rounded up and pulled along and tied at the wester entrance of the exhibit with some of those stanchions to tie them up together.
Clapping her hands to dust off any imaginary dust she turned to the last man who had closed his laptop and set it away in a duffle bag.
“Last one, seriously I think you should take the non-headache option of just sitting down and waiting for the cops.”
“I think not kid.”
“Aw come on, please?”
The man grinned and took a step back, she rolled her eyes and tried to run at him, but then-
Yelped as her feet slid out from under her, her back slammed against he marble floor and against small round things that pressed against her bones and muscles. She realized as she laid on the ground that her uncle was hanging tied up from the roof of the ceiling, black cordons attached to the eight corners of the room. Octagonal shaped rooms were weird. She wheezes as her breath was knocked out of her as she turned on her side to look at the man with a glare and try to calm down and breathe in. The man grinned and picked up the discarded duffels of his compatriots, the rest of them were slowly waking up from their knocked-out state. Which she was glad, she wanted them momentarily incapacitated, not brain damaged.
“I gotta run, kid!”
Saluting the girl, he turned and booked it.
Wheezing, she forced herself to speak through gritted teeth, “That’s my line… ugh, ouch.”
Just as she had managed to clear the metal balls in her path she heard a grunt and a yell and the robber that had left was thrown back into the room.
She stared wide eyed, nervously she took a step back, her back foot hit the balls there was the tinkling of metal balls hitting on another. She couldn’t really hoof it out of there, looking up she frowned and steadied her stance, not that she would.
Taking a breath, “Well that was very mysterious, very cool, how about whoever did that come out and introduce themselves. If you’re shy I can go first, Kid Flash’s the name, being is fast is the game. I’m a Virgo Rising, I like cheeseburgers, hiking, and swimming in rivers over the ocean or lakes. I’m not much of fighter, more of a lover really, but-”
“Holy fuck. You yap a whole fucking lot don’t you?”
She stiffened and gave a cheeky grin that was more than a little strained, the voice was a lot closer than she had expected, but…
“Bit of a potty mouth huh, what about the children dude? Little ears are always listening!”
A scoff, “God you sound like a mom, you can fuck right off, and your welcome. You almost let that guy get away and what all because of some little balls.”
Her face burned and she shuffled forward to where she thought the voice was, “I got Looney Tuned man! Give me a hot a second I took care of the rest and besides my u- the Flash needs my help more than that guy needed to be chased, the writhing on the ground was me thinking. A good worm sesh gets the good old brain juices flowing.”
She knocked at her head and grinned widely, she was almost at the edge of the metal ball spillage, only shuffling so that they wouldn’t go in unknowable directions.
Just in case she needed the space.
The next sound, almost like a cross between a disbelieving snort and surprised laugh, was revealed to come from a boy. He couldn’t be much older than her, wearing her color scheme with a feathered cap and a bow and arrow, she reared back then grinned.
“Holy moly your Speedy! Green Arrows kid.”
He frowned, well more like grimaced, “I am not his kid!”
It was snarled and she held up her hands and widened her eyes in surprise, “Well fine then, what’s a Men in Tights reject like you doing this far east.”
If she could see his eyebrows she knows she would have seen them twitch, “You really don’t stop talking do you-”
She had sped to his side, and he flinched and fumbled the slightest in pointing an arrow at her, she tilted her head but ignored him as she made sure the runner had been properly restrained. Then she focused on the sight of her uncle hanging from the ceiling.
“You got any clue how to get him down?”
His tense form looked at her with a glare and she twitched, her fingers tapping on her thigh in a too fast rhythm, her foot tapping against the tile floor, and her breathe blowing at a strand of hair in her eyes. This was taking too long.
“Don’t worry kid I got him.”
From behind her a man emerged dressed in green and from his fingers he let go of arrows so quickly and smoothly she almost wondered if he was the one with superspeed. Then Speedy let his own arrow fly true and hit the ground beneath her uncle and from the arow a sort of foamlike substance broke open and grew.
Her uncle dropped into the foam his bonds loosened and finally free.
She hurried over and he was hacking as he breathed in deeply, but then wincing, hand on his ribs he stayed laying down for a second before sitting up. She reached for him, and he took her hand with a smile, pulling him out of the foam she circled him like a dog sizing up a stranger.
He stopped her movement as he ruffled her hair, “You alright kid?”
“All good boss!” she saluted him cheekily then grandly showed him the newcomers, “Plus we have guests!”
Barry raised a brow and stepped forward. Wally followed close behind as the heroes met in the middle of the room.
“Green Arrow what are you doing in my city? No notice, no hello, not even a gift basket for visiting, it’s bad manners. You’re turning more and more into Batman every day.”
Green Arrow clutched his chest as he gasped dramatically, “You take that back! Speedy defend my honor!”
Speedy looked at the pair of them with a deadpan expression, “He’s nothing like Batman…”
“Ha! Yeah, take that-”
“For one he’s not as cool.”
“Betrayed by my own protégé, this cuts deep ya know.”
Green Arrow shook Speedy’s shoulder as he clutched his chest looking away with an exaggerated look of pain, Wally giggled and even Speedy cracked a small grin very different from his previous scowl. Barry huffed out a laugh and shook his head, looking at his fellow blonde with a silent judgement, “But seriously, no warning?”
He pressed his lips into a line that wasn’t quite a frown, “They shouldn’t have gotten away at all, but… well never let it be said that Star City natives don’t take care of its own messes. Sorry man, I thought we would’ve taken care of them before you got here, but you really are the fastest man alive.”
Wally looked between them, and took in her uncle’s softened brow, the not quite strained smile on the archer and the discomfited scowl on Speedy.
“Well, it’s fine now isn’t it, we got’em and the cops-” she ran out and saw the police at the turning onto the street, “are here. So, all’s forgiven and forgotten! Nice to meet you Mr. Green Arrow sir, I’m the now newly dubbed and unlikely to be able to change, Kid Flash. I’m a big fan of the paleolithic era weaponry and the Robin Hood aesthetic, though I do prefer the fox cartoon over anything else, but extra points for the green and red!”
The blonde archer grinned and took her hand and shook it once, Wally liked the guy already he had face meant for smiling. Plus, his mustache and goatee were cool.
“I like your mustache and goatee!”
Speedy groaned in despair and even Uncle Barry rubbed his face like he regretted bringing her along, but Green Arrow, the man preens. He straightens his mustache and pulls into place his goatee and grins even wider, and Wally can’t help but match it.
“It’s good, right! Thank you! I’m glad someone recognizes the effort and time that goes into maintaining this beautiful visage.”
She nodded, “I get it man.”
He patted her shoulder and nodded, almost sounding teary eyed, “That you do sweet summer child, that you do. How about you and Speedy go and greet the cops, we’ll finish up here.”
The police sirens had been going for a while now, and the blonde pushed her toward Speedy who was glaring at her, and she frowned back at him and stuck her tongue out at him.
“What are you a baby?”
“I am not a baby!” she stomped her foot and frowned.
He smiled meanly, “Sure you aren’t Kid Flash.”
Jutting out her chin in stubborn annoyance, she snorted, “At least mine is in theme, what kind of name is Speedy for an archer!”
She huffed and turned back to her uncle and Green Arrow, “Mr. Arrow are there anymore booby traps we need to worry about?”
“Nope we’re all clear, Speedy take notes.”
“Hah! Why the hell should I? He’s a baby when it comes to this hero stuff, he should be taking notes on me!” he dug his thumb into his chest as he puffed it out, probably to make himself look bigger.
Hands on his hips the archer looked like disapproving mother, “Because the last time you interacted with Star City’s finest you ended up slugging them, and the Flashes are the heroes with the best relationship with their local PD’s. Now you don’t have to like them, you know damn well I hardly trust them, but you do have to learn how to work with them. Unless you want them shooting at you as you swing between buildings. Now go!”
Green Arrow pointed him out the door, Speedy collapsed his bow with a grumble and stomped out of the room, Wally yelped as he shouldered past her, “Hey!”
She followed after him anyway.
Then she sped up to reach his side and shoved her shoulder against his, “And I’m a girl!”
Speedy looked down at her chest and then at her short hair, and she blushed bright red in embarrassment, “Yeah right.”
Shoulder checking him as they walked, which he responded with a push, and they continued trying to push the other off their feet until they reached the entrance of the museum.
Green Arrow grinned and looked at the Flash, “Aw~ they’re becoming friends!”
Twin shouts of disgust and anger rung out through the room, “‘NO WE’RE NOT!!!’”
Barry grinned, “They totally are.”
[ . . * . . ]
“That’s my fry!”
“That’s my milkshake! You’re lucky I didn’t bite your hand off!”
The gingers were play-fighting, well real fighting, but compared to their usual fare the mustard yellow and ketchup red wearing duo were basically having a slap fight. Despite the rocky start both had grins on their faces as they bickered with one another.
“It’s like watching siblings, it’s uncanny.”
Barry swallowed and nodded, then turned to the archer, the bickering conversation a pleasant backdrop, “How are you?”
Green Arrow was silent for a moment, then he sighed and took off his cap and ran a hand through blonde hair, “As fine as I can be. Canary wants me to talk to someone… it was bad, when we couldn’t find him lots of things slipped, lots of people slipped, seriously man. Sorry about that mess, they shouldn’t have made it out of the city-”
“Don’t worry about it, I get it. If Kid… if she ever went missing I don’t know what I’d do, but I know I’d handle with a helluva lot less grace than you did. Besides forgiven and forgotten, we’re friend’s man. We help each other out.”
A screech of unadulterated anger rung out through the night, and a yelp of pain followed, they turned, and Wally had attached her mouth to the boy archer’s arm. Still, he did not let go of the lawfully won milkshake.
“I got it! Fair and square!”
“MMppphmmfff!”
He passed the shake to his other hand and chugged the drink as fast he could. Wally let go of the other’s arm and reached across, but Speedy simply pushed her face away still she reached across him. He threw the cup as soon as he finished, aim as good as ever as the cup sunk into the trash can without trouble, wiping his mouth he grinned evilly at her.
Wally looked at him with deep betrayal and wet shining eyes.
Then Speedy grimaced, and clutched his head, “FUUUCK!!! Brain freeze!”
She pointed at him and laughed.
[ . . * . . ]
She was helping people off the oil rig when it happened.
“You are getting this a lot quicker than I did kid.”
They were running their usual cross-country route while having this conversation, Wally, in a show of maturity and wisdom did not startle at her uncle’s praise. She did grin like a loon and rub the back of her neck in embarrassed pride. Before the smile turned into a frown, Barry noticed the expression but stayed quiet and let her speak.
“Well, I do have you as my mentor, you make things easy! Still, I’m so much slower than you though, even the Rogues tease me about it. It’s kind of embarrassing.”
Barry hummed as they stamped out a fire in California that had the makings of kicking up into a statewide wildfire. Wally veered off to return a ball which had rolled onto the street to a boy who had obviously tried to run for it. They kept running only stopping for a second to speak to some obviously lost tourists or a mugging or to catch a falling window cleaner.
“You are a lot slower then I am,” Wally frowned and felt her neck tense, but Barry continued, “that doesn’t mean you’ll stay that way, for one I’m older than you, for two I’m taller than you, and for three I’ve had this speed longer than you have. You’ll get there when you get there and even if you don’t, being more skilled and having broader skills are always helpful after all, ‘A jack of all trades is a master none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.’ You’ll learn everything I know and then some because I’ll teach you and then you’ll learn stuff beyond that because you’re not me.”
Wally smiled hesitantly, “Alright Uncle B.”
Barry nodded and then tilted his head, lifting a hand to his ear he veered off suddenly from the usual route, Wally of course followed.
“Got it, me and Kid Flash are on route. ETA four minutes.”
“What the sitch, boss?”
Barry rolled his eyes, Wally grinned cheekily, but didn’t miss a step, “We’re needed for evac, an oil rig in the Pacific is on fire. You ready?”
Wally nodded seriously, “You know it boss.”
“Alright then, let’s go.”
They speed off even quicker than they had been before a running start was needed in order to gain the momentum needed to run on water, especially for Wally. She frowned as she followed her uncle and sped up to match him as they reached the coast and then suddenly they were running on water.
Red blur quicker than yellow they speed off at an even quicker pace than before since running on water required some gained momentum, especially for Wally. Chewing on her lip as she joined her uncle who had adjusted his own speed to match her since he quickly noticed she had fallen behind they had reached the coast in under a minute and then just as quickly were on the water.
“Aquaman and Aqualad will be joining us, we’ll be in charge of personnel evac, and they’ll be making sure that the fire doesn’t get any worse. We’ll be evacuating personnel to an emergency platform where they’ll offload if needed to an empty tanker that had been going there for a fill-up. Our job is to make sure no one is stuck and that everyone gets out alive.”
“Got it boss.”
They arrive at the rig right at the emergency platform and see that a lot of workers had already made the trek there, but that didn’t mean much to them. Slowing down enough to be seen they pass by and head to work. Splitting as they arrive at the rig proper Wally made sure not to miss anything, it was a rote evacuation, the fire was as contained as it could be. She had made it to the areas where the fire was still raging but torrents of water had it under control. She itched to meet the man, the myth, the legend, the king of the Seven Seas: Aquaman. She kept it professional and helped a man who had inhaled too much smoke and was leaning against the wall of a hallway out into the open air.
“I’m going to carry you to the emergency walkway alright.”
The man nodded eyes wide as he took her in, she was glad he wasn’t too much taller than her and half carried the man to the walkway. He shook his head as his feet were planted fully on the ground, she almost turned and left but a hand caught her arm.
“Wait-” a hacking cough, she rubbed the man’s back as she walked him down the walkway a bit, waiting for him to finish, “there’s- my supervisor she stayed behind and I don’t know if she got out. She said she had to manually shut off- doesn’t matter, she stuck further back than I was, please you have to go get her.”
Wally’s eyes widened and then she nodded, “Of course, leave it to me. You just head to the emergency platform and get those lungs checked out.”
He looked unsure as someone reached for him taking him to the triage area, she gave him a thumbs up and a wide smile, “Don’t worry sir, we’ll both be back in a flash!”
Then she was once again gone in a blur.
By the time she had arrived back where the man had been the hallway had been flooded with smoke so thick she could barely see through it. She had to do a hard break that left her shoes smoking and tread marks in her wake, she looked down the hall with some anxiety and as she was deciding what to do a voice sounded over the comms.
“Kid you alright I haven’t seen you back in a second. Do you need back up?”
“I’m fine and dandy, Uncle B. Just making a last run through in my section going down hallway G-3-E, catching my breath before heading back.”
“Good, if you’re not back in the next 5 minutes I’m going to get you.”
“Aw~ come on boss have some faith.”
She rocked on her toes before taking in three big gulps of air, “Wait hallway G-3-E is dangerously close to the fire, wait-”
“Already here Uncle B, just making sure no one was left behind.”
“Kid!”
She ignored the rest of what he had to say and sped through the hallway passing where she had found the man, her eyes watering at the smoke getting in them, she continued speeding down. The metal hallways were sweltering, but no obvious evidence of encroaching fire was probably a good sign. She almost thought she had sweated like a pig and suffered smoke inhalation for nothing when she stumbled, literally, over a body.
It was an older woman, square jawed and with dazed eyes looking at her uniform Wally knew this was who she was looking for.
Kneeling at the woman’s side she took her pulse which was steady, and her breathing which was labored and swung the woman who was a slight bit shorter over her shoulder. Making sure she was in a sure and stable hold Wally began her run back to the emergency platform, her eyes were watery from the smoke so much so that the tears leaking were more of a hindrance than a help.
“I need to get goggles for this thing.”
She grumbled under her breath as she made it to the emergency walkway, the woman on her back shifted and started mumbling. Wally swung her slowly and carefully onto her feet, the old woman hacked and coughed eyes watering as she wobbled on her feet.
“How you feeling ma’am, can you tell me where you are?”
“I’m fine, j-just need a little rest, and I’m on OXXON Pacific, it’s Friday August 10.”
Wally grinned widely as she tried to give the woman more support but was waved away, still Wally kept a hand on her arm as she led her slowly down the walkway, “Wonderfully done ma’am, we’re almost to the emergency platform where if need you will begin evacuations to an empty tanker, currently the fire is under control and the Flash, and I have personally taken over personnel evacuations.”
“Kid!”
She turned and looked to her uncle who had a less than pleased look on his face, and Wally winced, the older woman chuckled next to her. Wally made an exaggerated put out expression towards the woman and then-
From the corner of her eye-
It was like the screeching of something dying and-
It was so sudden.
She was supposed to be faster than that-
Maybe it was because there was a sudden explosion that rocked their feet making their balance off, or maybe it was because her focus was so fully on getting the woman away from danger that she made the panicked mistake of pushing the woman towards her uncle who had run towards them. Something snapped in the walkway hit her back and suddenly her feet weren’t on the ground.
Suddenly, she was falling.
The ocean was cold, and she was confused, unfocused, panicking.
She was choking on water, her back fucking hurt, her arms and legs weren’t under her control, and she was sinking, sinking, sinking, the light above her was fading and all she could really think was that she was damned glad the ocean wasn’t on fire. Being burnt then dunked in salt water sounded like a fucking nightmare.
She wanted to swim.
She really, really did, wanted to move her arms and legs and-
Swim.
She just couldn’t, her head felt like it was swimming and not just because she was underwater. She had already fucked up by gasping in water, but she had at least stopped herself from swallowing anymore too bad she had ended up coughing and losing any air she might have had.
She was going to drown.
Keeping her eyes open was a pain, but if she could just move a finger, just one, she could move an arm, if she could just move a toe, then she could move her leg. Gritting her teeth she refused to pass out, and yet…
Touch came out of nowhere startling enough that it forced her eyes open, and she turned to look and though she couldn’t see clearly she could make out the outline of something person-like floating beside her. Then arms wrapped around her middle and they suddenly moved upwards towards the light.
They broke the surface with a splash.
Her ears were muffled likely clogged with ocean water and she was coughing up sea water by the bucketfuls. The arm wrapped around her middle tightened slightly, maybe a bit too tight as she winced and groaned. Something was burning bright and painful on her back. They were moving towards something when water swirled around their waists and they were picked up by the water and placed gently on something stable.
“Are you alright? I apologizing for the delay-”
The voice had a soothing quality, though it was tinged with well hidden nerves, she coughed out some more sea water shaking all over like a chihuahua, “Thanks for the save man, and no worries. There was something kind of relaxing about nearly drowning.”
She laughed brightly and turned to the other, her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped.
The boy looked on worriedly at her, his ice blue eyes narrowed in confusion and shoulders broad and well-formed were tense.
“Kid! Holy- I was so worried-”
Barry had run to her side immediately, a warm and steady hand on her shoulder and maybe it was because she had almost drowned, maybe it was the relief and giddiness of not dying, maybe it was the reassurance of being in her uncle’s grasp.
“Wow, you’re beautiful.”
The boy blinked, then blinked again, “I-I- Uh… t-thank you?”
Wally wished she had drowned.
She passed out into her uncle’s arms who had the gall to bark out a surprised laugh as he caught her almost as if he couldn’t help the sound escaping his throat. She was glad she had passed out maybe the beautiful boy would be gone when she woke up.
[ . . * . . ]
He was not gone when she woke up.
She had sat up rapidly and had found herself looking out to the sea as the sun was setting head swiveling as she took in everything around her, “Did we do it?”
Uncle Barry walked up from behind her and ruffled her hair, “We did it, kid.”
She let out a sigh and slumped backwards onto the sand, “Thank goodness-”
“Yes, we did a rather marvelous job I would say! The oil spillage was contained and dealt with before it further poisoned the sea, and the humans on board were all evacuated with great care and haste. A rather model example of heroic deeds indeed!”
Her head snapped to the booming voice, and she couldn’t help, but smile widely, “Holy moly, you’re Aquaman!!!”
The man was… epic.
From his voice to his facial hair, there was something about the man that really gave off the vibes of epic hero. His hair was golden and shiny, and his eyes were bright and bluer than the water off Pasqyra beach. Even the odd combination of orange and green scale armor, which she couldn’t really judge since her own suit was yellow and red, was so cool and badass. Here she was likely looking like a half-drowned rat with sand in her hair and waking up from passing out after nearly dying.
How uncool.
She stood up as quick as she could, dusting off some sand and reached out a hand, “It’s a real honor to-” her vision went blurry, and she nearly toppled over when once again warm arms wrapped around her and steadied her.
“Please be careful there’s no need to hurry anywhere, regardless of a speedsters recovery capabilities it is best if you take your time.”
She turned and blinked wide eyed at the boy beside her, he gave a small smile, “Uh…”
She tried to run a hand through her hair and grimaced as her hand got stuck and she felt the griminess left behind by salt water and sand. Trying to yank her hand out of her hair led to her face feeling like it’d melt off. Still the boy waited patiently and didn’t even seem at all like he was laughing at her struggle which was more charming than she thought possible, he lifted his hand, “Here allow me-”
“You did almost get bisected by a metal support wire. You were lucky kid. If we both didn’t have such good regenerative abilities you would have bled out.” Her uncle was suddenly by her side and firmly pulling her away from the very, very beautiful boy who she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of.
She smiled toward him shyly turning away as she met his gaze, “You- uh… you saved me from drowning right… uh thank you.”
Covering her face she stepped behind her uncle, Aquaman had the trembling of timber of someone who was holding in laughter, he placed a large hand on the boy’s shoulder, “Well this meeting was truly spectacular, but unfortunately me and Aqualad must be on our way. The sea calls for us and she is not mistress that is easily ignored!”
Aqualad nodded pleasantly both, though he seemed to falter at the sight of her uncle. Wally looked up at him, but an easy smile met her as he ruffled her hair though damp and grimy as it was it couldn’t have been pleasant.
Rocking on her feet she skipped forward and held out her hand, “It’s a real honor to have met you Mr. Aquaman sir, you are like, one of the coolest superheroes out there, not better than Wonder Woman, but she has like a sword so it’s no contest unless somebody comes out with like a mace or a war hammer. Anyway- I mean… uh… you’re awesome!”
She gave him a thumbs up as soon as he let go of her hand, he laughed and slapped her shoulder, “It was a joy to have met the Flash’s dear mentee, he speaks highly of you and you, Kid Flash, have met those compliments well.” Winking exaggeratedly, “And a sword is quite a difficult standard to surpass… except of course by a trident.”
She gave a wide eyed, too big grin, “Tridents are cool.”
He gave her a thumbs up and moved toward the ocean, she turned to Aqualad and smiled shyly, rubbing her gloved knuckles on her thigh she rocked forward hand hanging in the air, “Seriously man, I would have drowned to death if you hadn’t fished me out. I owe you one, if you ever somehow end up in Missouri or Nebraska I totally owe you some ‘thank you for saving my life’ butter cake.”
Aqualad took her hand and smiled beautifully, stoically, cooly, she giggled, “You do efficient and admirable work for my first mission working with another hero I am glad it was the both of you.”
“Hehe… ditto.” She could feel her cheeks burning red as he shook her hand.
Aqualad blinked in confusion but nodded with a smile and walked away to join Aquaman. Her uncle joined her side as they watched the both of them disappear into the waves, her uncle’s warm and reassuring hand squeezed her shoulder lightly.
[ . . * . . ]
“How do you think Superman flies, like with Hawkman and Hawkwoman they have wings, and the Green Lanterns apparently keep themselves in the air through pure willpower or something, and Wonder Woman is so awesome that gravity would obviously never hold her to the grounds, but Superman… ya know what does he do. Is he actually just really good at jumping, is it some kind of aero kinesis, or maybe it’s telekinesis, or is it like the cape. What I’m saying is that we should get capes.”
She easily dodged the mind-controlled civilians and continued yapping about whatever came to mind in her hands the shrunken and wooden form of her mentor crossed his arms.
“I don’t think capes would work for us, think about the drag-”
“Capes aren’t about practicality, it’s about style! Plus, it can be used as a shock blanket, think if I open the fire hydrant and spray them down it’ll snap them out of it because knocking them down doesn’t seem to be doing anything other than bruising them.”
“Who is this guy anyway?!”
The puppets head shook, “I have no idea- DUCK!”
She yelped and ducked under a sparkly pinkish light but was tripped as some civilian hit her shin with a pipe. She rolled holding her uncle close to her chest, rolling she dragged herself behind a parked car and bit her lip to hold back a pained shout.
“Haven’t you heard that kids should be seen not heard?!”
The voice seemed to echo all over the street, and she had to speed away as the car she was hiding behind turned into rubber ducks that spilled all over the street. She made a circuit around the crowd of people and gathering them together when she noticed that some of them started clutching their heads and shaking themselves seeming more aware than before. She stopped circling them and touched her ear, “All clear civilians seem to be falling out of the mind control on their own, I’m gonna be heading off to see if I can catch the person who did this.”
“Roger that.”
She looked down at her uncle who looked up at her with shiny painted eyes, though they weren’t as expressive as his normal eyes he looked worried, but resigned, “I don’t think you should go after them kid, take us home we need to call somebody to come and fix this.”
He gestured to himself, a classic wooden marionette hinged jaw like a nutcracker, and features simplified suit a bright red, brighter even than his usual suit with black shadows blocked out on his body. She giggled at the sight but shook her head and frowned as she helped a woman who had fallen to the ground before nodding and running off.
“Have some faith, you act like I’ll go in guns a’blazin’, but uh… just in case I get turned into a puppet too who should I call?”
Her uncle sighed.
[ . . * . . ]
She didn’t end up finding anyone it was like whoever was there had vanished after causing some chaos, no money emptied from the ATM, not a single diamond lost, heck not even a bag of chips lifted from the corner store. There was plenty evidence that someone had been there pink glitter covered walls and roof tops, brick walls turned into chocolate and peanut brittle, and there was the scent of something in the air.
“I don’t think this was a pro, what do you think?”
Wooden hand cupped his hinged lower jaw as her uncle shook his head, “I don’t know, magic users aren’t really my beat, but while it seems random it doesn’t seem so screwed up that it could be on accident. I already notified the league, and somebody is meeting us to help with all of this.”
She frowned, but nodded, “Alright… where do you want me to go?”
Suddenly there was steps behind her, and she yelped and turned and took as step back and there in all his dark and gothic glory was the one, the only, the…
“Holy fuck it’s Batman.”
“Language.” Her uncle’s unimpressed voice was ignored.
A cackle from the shadows that sounded like every creepy child in every horror movie ever made had her eyes widening as she clutched her uncle closer to her.
“I- uh- i-i-it’s a real shock to- uh- is this- did the Flash call you here? Um… it’s just I think this might be out of you’re wheel house, not to say that anything couldn’t not be in your wheelhouse because you’re like Batman, and like you’re known for being a hypercompetent nutjob- which of course nobody I know has ever called you a nutjob,” she squeaked out the last nutjob and cleared her throat, a boy, short and lithe jumped out of the shadows and her eyes widened as his bright costume didn’t seem to at all impede his ability to hide in the darkness, “not that you couldn’t be a nutjob if you didn’t want to be, but really I always got like goth theatre kid from you, ya know- and oh god somebody stop me from talking!”
She slapped her hands over her mouth as she let her uncle fall to he ground a thunk, “Ow.”
“Sorry!”
She squeaked out as she kneeled down and picked her uncle up.
Coughing she rocked on her feet and stepped forward sticking her hand out she met his eyes, “Sorry sir, I’m Kid Flash and my- uh… the Flash was turned into this, and I can’t find who turned him into it. I thought- well uh, doesn’t matter. It’s seriously an honor to meet you- well you both. Holy woah you’re like the actual Robin aren’t you!”
Batman tilted his head and then took her hand and shook it once, before holding out his hand for her- well her uncle.
“Oh uh-” it was a reflexive response really, curling around her uncle and taking a step back, but it made her face burn in embarrassment, a wooden hand patted her arm, she looked down and her uncle gave a facsimile of a thumbs up though his hands had no joints, “Don’t worry kiddo, Batman may look scary, but he’s like a sea urchin, spiky and dark on the outside but bright and soft in the middle.”
She gave a nervous smile, and nodded, “Sorry sir.”
She handed her uncle over and Batman nodded, and patted her shoulder, “It’ll be alright Kid Flash.”
Shaking her head she ran a hand through her hair and nodded a wide smile on her face, “Right! Yeah of course, just uh- got used to people lunging for him ya know, became a bit of a habit, but yeah of course, you’re Batman you’ve got this-” she covered her mouth again and nodded.
As Batman and her uncle in his hands turned away she covered her face and groaned.
“Hey now, you reacted a lot better than most people. You didn’t even scream or anything.”
“Thanks.”
She mumbled the words into her hands and peeked out of the corner of her eye the boy was grinning hands on his hips, she rubbed her face straightened up. Sticking her hand out she grinned gladly, the boy tilted his head and took her hand almost as if he was playing along.
“It’s seriously awesome to meet you man. Like I’ve met a few heroes ya know, but you’re like the original kid hero, you’re amazing.” Robin almost seemed to puff up in pride at the compliment, Wally’s smile widened. Shaking his hand even harder as she leaned forward with what she knew might have been a rather off-putting but eager expression. Robin didn’t even lean back or flinch and seemed to lean in as well.
“Did you name yourself after the bird or after like Robin Hood, because if it’s the bird then you and Batman have the whole animal theming down. Not to mention the symbolism of Robin being like rebirth or new beginnings, which just goes with Batman’s whole darkness, like the light breaking through the night, but if it’s like about folk heroes, you still got it. Like I can totally see Batman being like inspired by Zorro, and with your costume it has like tunic and chainmail pattern for your shorts, not to mention your shoes look- I should stop talking sorry about that.”
She covered her mouth again and then clutched her stomach as it roared hungrily.
Cheeks burning, she swallowed loudly, “Sorry my metabolism is intense.”
“That’s alright Kid Mouth, Batman! Me and Kid are going to get something to eat I’ll bring something back for you.”
There was a grunt and then silence.
Wally blinked and turned to the Boy Wonder, “Was that a yes, or like a threat in Bat grunt?”
He laughed, and smacked her shoulder, “That was a please get me curly fries and fork to eat them with because I’m a heathen who eats his burger with a fork and knife.”
“Oh my god he’s a monster, and you enable him!” She pointed at him and he raised his hands in surrender.
“Hey! I do not, he’s a grown man if he wants to be wrong that’s his choice!”
Wally frowned, but then nodded, “I guess it’s not the weirdest thing, he does dress up like a bat and punch people… but wait I dress up and punch people. Do you think this is something that happens as you get older, like the more people I punch dressed up means an inevitable fall to using cutlery while eating an obviously hand-held food. Like where does it end, does he eat ribs like that, Indian food, hot dogs!!!!”
She grabs a hold of Robins shoulders and shakes him, he look bemused his smile smaller, but no less amused, maybe even trembling with withheld laughter, “I don’t want to be like that man!”
Her stomach growled again, Robin seemed like he was judging her, “We should probably go and get something to eat don’t want you passing out.”
He reached for something on his belt, “You’re so right dude, so piggyback or cradle?”
“Huh?”
Wally grinned, “You want the cradle hold or piggyback, if we go by rooftops and grappling hooks it’ll take forever!”
“Uh-”
“I recommend cradle, over piggyback because if I’m being carried I’d rather not do any of the work, plus your hands are free to do other stuff, but piggyback is more fun, so it’s really a preference thing.”
“I don’t think-”
She snapped her finger and zoomed to his side lifting into her arms, “you’re right we can do both, cradle for going and piggyback for coming back. You’re really smart Robin, we’ll be back in a flash Mr. Batman, boss!”
She was gone in a yellow blur, Robin yelling in her arms.