Author's Note: Here we go again, guys-- this time it's a Justice League Unlimited one-shot starring my favorite boy: the one and only Flash! The only real thing of note is the ending, which I think can be read two different ways. It can either be seen as one coherent and chronological ending or three different alternative endings at one time in the near future.
Continuity: A short time before
Flash and Substance. Doesn't really matter when…
Disclaimer: I have the owning of nothing. Unfortunately. *huggles Wally* Would that I could have my very own…
To Sleep, Perchance to Dream
by, Caliente
"Good morning Wally," a friendly voice greeted.
One of the things people never seemed to understand about the Flash was that time traveled different for the fastest man alive. Sure, they got the part where he moved fast. That much was easy. But what they always failed to comprehend were the little things. Things like the time between a greeting and a pat on the shoulder. Between a smile of recognition and the start of a conversation. Between syllables. Sometimes those moments moved at pace with the rest of the world. But sometimes… sometimes they were slow as molasses.
Barry Allen, his boss, former mentor and a far better father figure than he'd ever had at home, never failed to bring out those molasses moments. It was just so hard for Wally to wait when he had things on his mind he wanted to discuss with him. Things he couldn't talk to other people about. Sure, Barry didn't know he was the Flash (although he occasionally had his suspicions about that – Barry was one of the smartest guys he knew) but that didn't mean Wally didn't value his opinion. If anything, it mattered more.
Most people didn't understand the Flash as a hero. His rogue gallery, large as it was, was nowhere near as crazed as Batman's. Or as cosmic as Superman's. That stuff wasn't important to him. His villains were the everyman of villains. Just like Flash was the everyman of heroes. He wasn't a billionaire. He wasn't an alien. He wasn't royalty or part of a cosmic military guard or disfigured in an accident or anything like that. He was a blue collar worker. Just a guy… who happened to have superpowers.
And, no matter what happened to him, he never wanted that to change. Wally didn't want to be the kind of hero that flew above people. That skulked in the shadows. That preached or followed blind order or detached himself from the so-called average man. He loved running
with the people too much for that. Having a
normal job and apartment. He was sure Central City would hook him up if he asked but why would he want that? Being an everyday hero and just a guy were as important to him as being a superhero. Maybe more so.
That, above all else, was why he'd moved away from the League when they expanded. There had always been
something about having a headquarters floating high above the ground. Up in the heavens. Where Gods, not mortals, were meant to lie. Wally had never been particularly religious but even he wasn't dense enough to misinterpret the cues. Still, when it had just been the seven of them– the
original seven– it hadn't seemed quite so… dangerous. More practical than anything else. But, when the League morphed into a Legion (for lack of a better term)… a Legion with giant space weapons…
It had been time to step back. Wally had reevaluated his role as the Flash in many ways during his move to reserve member. After they'd met the Justice Lords, he'd begun to think of himself as the conscience of the team. But what did that mean? If he didn't know, how could he be it? And, if he was it, did that mean without him there was no conscience? It was a lot to deal with and he… he hadn't wanted to deal with it. Wasn't the Thanagarian invasion enough? Hadn't he paid his dues? Never mind the fact that people in their line of work never truly finished paying dues…
Wally had held a hope that, if he ignored them, all the many thoughts… worries… problems of/about/regarding the League would go away. It was a vain hope. He'd known better. Life never went like that. And, eventually, he'd realized that being on the outside meant he wasn't doing what he'd made a vow to do all those years ago. When he'd first put on a uniform as Kid Flash. (Stupid Roy, taking the name Speedy first.) He'd promised the world and, more importantly, himself that he'd always do everything he could.
The everyman's hero. Supes could be every kid's hero. Something else else to aspire to. Bats could be every kid's nightmare. Something else else to keep them in line. Diana could be every kid's… well, she could be there as a moral guide of some kind. GA could be ever kid's politic conscience. And the Flash? Well the Flash could be every kid's friend. He had the time for it. And, more than that, he
wanted to be there. To be on the front lines, fighting the good fight and making sure that fight was a fair one. On
both sides.
If he was the key to keeping their world from turning out like… like that
other one, then… then shouldn't he be there to play his part? He wasn't afraid of dying– Wally had never been afraid of that. But he needed to be there to keep his friends grounded. And, really, he needed them to push him. To make him better. It was a kind of ying and yang thing. Or… something. Anyway, the point was, if he isolated himself, wasn't he giving up? He wouldn't be living up to his obligation. To himself. To his friends. To the world –
A friendly hand touched Wally's shoulder and he
finally turned (at an agonizingly slow rate) to face Barry. "How goes it?" he asked with a very Barry smile. It was a sort of combination between friendly and fatherly, while still remaining professional.
Wally found himself smiling back easily. Barry just had that effect. Not that the Flash ever let anything keep him down for too long. Life moved too fast to let the little things keep him down. Too much to do and all that. "It's going great!" he responded, gesturing to his lab station. "I managed to find a fingerprint that was 85% intact. The computer's running a search analysis and the results should be in before we break for lunch."
"Great!" Barry clapped him on the back twice and nodded. "That's just great." His faced became a shade more serious as he considered Wally for an
incredibly long instant. "I knew you were ready to move up to police scientist. Your work as an assistant was just too good to waste."
A small laugh escaped Wally's mouth as he remembered all the nights spent blowing things up in chemistry labs in Titans Tower. Eventually, though, Dick had managed to beat a little bit of that forensics stuff into him. "Well, I learned from the best, after all," was his quick reply. Accurate from more than one end, considering how much Barry himself had taught the speedster.
"Touché," Barry agreed with a light smirk. "But all the flattery in the world isn't getting you a raise."
The corners of Wally's smile twitched ever so slightly. Perfect! Just the opening he'd been looking for. "I'd settle for getting a half-day on Flash Day next month." He looked at his boss with a perfect mixture of innocents and puppy-dog-pout. "Please?"
Barry spent an agonizingly long time considering it before nodding. "I don't see why not," he answered. "Just fill out a formal request form and submit it at least two weeks before the day." Wally nodded. Standard procedure. Paperwork. A necessary evil, more annoying than Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Mirror Master and the Trickster combined! Hey, now
there was a thought… "Anything else Wally?"
The smile melted off his face before he could stop it. Damn fast reflexes. "Yeah… I was hoping I could talk to you for a minute. If you don't mind…"
"Of course not." Barry smiled lightly and gestured for Wally to follow him to the breakroom. "I was due for a coffee break, anyway." He refilled his cup far too slowly for Wally's tastes but the speedster himself decided to refrain. Coffee with thirty-sugars was good and all but he was antsy enough as it was. No need to add caffeine/sugar high to it. He'd be bouncing off the walls like a hummingbird on crack. Barry turned and leaned back against the counter. "So, what's this all about?"
Wally pulled out a chair for himself and sat down, actually taking the time to consider his words carefully. "I had a dream last night." He paused for a beat, before looking up at Barry with a sad smile on his face. "I had a dream and it was… wonderful. I've never had a dream like that before. It was so… so…" He trailed off, at a loss for words.
For his part, Barry was trying to take in this very new side to Wally's personality. He loved the kid like a father– or at least an older brother– but he'd never seen him like
this before. It was quite astonishing. "Why don't you tell me about it?" he suggested, once he'd found his voice again. "Your dream, I mean. What happened in it?"
"Well," Wally's face was thoughtful. "I was old. Really old. Like, seventy or something." Barry's lips twitched but he didn't say anything. "And I had a wife. And kids. And
grandkids. Things I always kinda figured I'd have eventually but… yeah. I dunno. It was strange." Stranger still was that all the kids and grandkids inherited his speed but telling that really wouldn't be good for the whole secret identity shtick. "Seeing it for myself, I mean."
Barry nodded and gestured for Wally to continue. "And my friends…
all my friends… they were there too." He smirked. "I was, of course, still causing mischief and driving them insane. But… we were all there. Like a really big extended family or something. It was… it was…" He just kind of shook his head because there wasn't a word to describe how it'd felt. Tormenting Bruce and Clark with his grandkids. Arguing with Shayera, hanging out with John, having coffee with Diana. Playing Brawlin' 'Bots with Ralph and J'onn, video games with Dick, Roy, Gar and Vic… the list went on.
Wally frowned suddenly. "But when I woke up…" he shook his head. "I know that's not real, you know? That's not how life works. Bad things happen to the people you love sometimes. And…" He shrugged. "I guess I'm just kinda sad because I know things won't turn out that way." And that was a know-know too because he'd read the mission reports that involved traveling to the future and things didn't get better. They got worse. Darker. Bleaker.
The passage of time to the Flash really was a thing of wonder. Wally was startled when he felt Barry squeeze his shoulder. Looking up, he saw the familiar sight of Barry's concerned green eyes peering down at him. "Hey," he started with an encouraging look on his face, "that's not the way to look at it, Wally. For all the time I've known you, I've never seen you look into the future any further than a week. But this… this is something to aspire to! And, if you put your mind to it, I'm
sure you can build yourself the future you're dreaming of. I know you, kid. You're going to do great things. You already have…"
Those were the moments that made Wally wonder. Did Barry know his secret? Was this his way of letting on? Or did he just mean the things plain old Wally did? In the end, Wally decided it didn't matter. He wasn't like Bruce or Clark. He was the same guy, mask or no mask, and he could do great things either way. Maybe that was what Barry was trying to tell him. Then again, maybe not. Wally wasn't sure even he was
that good. "Thanks Barry," he said, sincerity written all over his face. He'd done it yet again. "For everything."
"Anytime Wally," Barry replied with an easy smile. "You know that." He patted Wally on the back one last time as he moved to exit. "And don't worry too much – I'm sure we'll both live to a ripe old age."
Shaking his head lightly, Wally stood up. "I sure hope so. Maybe by then you'll ask that girl of yours to make the big leap."
He winked at Barry who unceremoniously facepalmed while shaking his head. "Don't you have work to be doing somewhere…?" he prompted in a mock-serious tone as he walked out of the breakroom. "You've got five, West!"
A whole five minutes? Oh, the possibilities. Especially for the fastest man alive. Wally smirked to himself before shaking his head. Even he didn't know what the future would hold. But hopefully… hopefully he'd make it to find out. And, even if he didn't, he wasn't going to give up without a fight. No way.
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"Flash, we've got a crisis in Coast City. We need you there on the double. I'm transporting Starwoman, Tempest and our new Green Lantern to help."
Wally smiled at the kids he was reading a story to. "Sorry guys, gotta run." He winked at them and pressed his communicator. "Roger that, Terrific. I'm on my way." And with that, he was gone. In a flash.
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"Do you ever miss it?" a soft voice flitted into Wally's ear. A soft voice from the warm body of the most wonderful and beautiful woman he'd ever known. A body that, by some miracle, was curled up next to him.
Wally smiled his infamous half-smile/half-smirk. "Nah. I've got everything I'll ever need right here. You're all I ever wanted. All I'll ever need. You…" he patted her belly gently, "…and our little ones on the way."
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So beautiful. So large. So infinite. Calling him, like a beacon calling a lost soul home. He can't resist. Not anymore. Not again. It's too much. Everything. Too much. So vast. So wondrous. So…
Lonely.
The End (whatever it may be)
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