It was not uncommon for Jack to be awake at the ungodly hours of the morning, working on some project or another.

It was also not unusual for Wally to be in his kitchen at this same time, raiding it for whatever food he could find.

July 5th, 2011, was the first time he'd ever been there in a shredded, friction proof suit though.

For a second the two red heads stared at each other before Jack pulled out one of the chairs from the table and sat down, dropping his crescent wrench on the oak.

"So, what's up?"

Wally swallowed before speaking. "Hero stuff. What's up with you?"

Jack lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "Villain stuff."

"Cool."

The silence between them became awkward pretty quickly. Never one to let the talking stop for long Jack broke the quiet.

"So…" he drawled.

"Yeah?" Wally prompted, arching a brow behind what remained of his mask.

"What exactly happened?" Jack gestured to the torn yellow and red fabric. It hung on the lanky runner in strips, revealing quickly healing cuts and bruises on the fair skin that seemed to be a family trait. To be assured Jack had the lightest skin of anyone from Ira West's lineage, being an actual albino, but Wally was still very easy to burn. Family traits also extended to the brilliant red hair that Jack dyed white locks to get in a mimicry that was just a few shades too neon.

It had been because of Wally that Jack wanted red hair when his parents asked him about dye, actually.

Wally, the only person in the family who could understand exactly what he was saying and contribute to a conversation while at the same time being willing to talk about how the newest super heroes and villains that were popping up. They had been nearly inseparable when they were kids, up until around three years ago when each had gotten seriously interested in their personal fields. Wally had become a super hero and Jack had a super villain.

They still got along like two peas in a pod.

Wally's heavily heaved sigh brought Jack back to the present and he looked up, red eyes meeting green. There was a weariness about him that was normally absent from the carefree speedster.

Jack kicked a chair to him and Wally sat, yanking the rest of his mask away before beginning his tale of the long night he'd had.

First he'd been treated like a sidekick(Jack had never heard anyone say the word with so much distain), then he'd gone off with his friends into a genetics lab that had fifty two sublevels, a menagerie of living weapons, all of which had been unleashed on him and his friends.

The speedster had been chased, nearly crushed, beaten to a pump, had DNA extracted directly, chased some more, taken another beating, and had a ceiling dropped on top of his head before getting a lecture from one of the scariest men on the planet, as well as a full month grounding from official hero duty.

Jack was sympathetic and, once Wally had finished his vent, went on to describe his latest failure to capture a Shen Gong Wu, the beating he'd taken from the monks and the berating and belittling of Wuya.

The two cousins sat in companionable silence for several minutes, the only sound the crunching of chips that Wally had commandeered.

"Did you ever figure out how the Shen Gong Wu or the Xiaolin Showdowns work?" Wally asked when the wall clock chimed four in the morning.

Jack shook his head. "Nope. I've got theories. Most of them are energy manipulation, psychic enhancements, and matter alteration, as well as pocket dimensions and phase shifting mixed with major hallucinogenics," Jack answered, spouting the most bull shit he had all night. It was magic, he knew that. Wally just didn't believe, so to make sure that Wally didn't write him off as crazy or stupid.

The boy still nodded, apparently mulling the suggestions over.

After a few more minutes Jack spoke again.

"If you're not doing hero things for a while, wanna come with me to get the next Wu?" he asked.

Wally started, staring at his cousin in surprise. The surprise melted into a smile within a few seconds.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to see one of these Showdowns you're always so on about," he admitted, straightening up. A wince followed soon after and Wally's had went to his side. "Once these ribs stop being bruised," he amended.

Jack grinned and pumped his fist into the air.

"Awesome! I might actually win this time!"

Wally laughed, kicking his legs up on the table with only a small hiss.

"With me there, how can you lose?"