The moment Luthor fused with Brainiac, Wally had a feeling. Being a closeted genius while playing the fool did nothing to lessen his intelligence. Sure, Bruce was the smart one on the team, and the Wally West they knew was just a community college graduate, but Wallace Rudolph West was nothing but intuitive. One had to be while hanging around Bats. So when Luthor fused with Brainiac, Wally knew something moving at a fast enough speed could be enough to separate the two villains. But Wally had forbidden himself from moving that fast ever since that day. But looking around, at Clark and Bruce going toe to toe with Mongul and the rest of the League facing Luthor's power hungry lackeys, Wally sighed in indignation.

"Are you going to fight me, boy?" Luthor/Brainiac asked, training the gun on him.

His heart skipped a beat, and in that instant, Wally could see the same Luthor delegating heroes and villains to help stop the Reach's invasion of the world. Spinning his arms, Wally threw off the men holding him down as lightning crackled around him. No, this Luthor didn't frighten him, even with the gun trained on him. Not even when the prospect of the Justice Lords crossed his mind. His League could never do that, not in any dimension. He would not let that happen.

Turning around, Wally took off in the opposite direction. "I'm sorry," he whispered, though he didn't know which team he was talking to.

Donned in his cowl, Wally braced himself for the force of going faster than he had ever been able to go, and didn't even blink when his fist flew through Luthor a millisecond later. Again and again, Wally ran around the world, building up lightning within his body in order to destroy Brainiac. Every rotation, Wally could feel a part of himself succumb to the speed force. The familiar sensation sent daggers into his heart, but his feet kept moving.

To everyone else, Wally moved like a bolt of lightning befitting the symbol he wore on his chest. Only Clark could barely see the scarlet speedster moving within the vortex he was creating, but even his Kryptonian eyes strained to see his friend. Instead, people looked to Luthor/Brainiac, who, after every pummel, lost a bit of Kryptonian armor as Wally's fist pulled Brainiac out of Luthor.

The vortex picked up, and it was all the League could do to remain upright as the velocity threatened to send them flying. In the center, Wally's vibrating form could be seen, though his form seemed to flicker out of focus. Jumping at Luthor/Brainiac, Wally's arms tore through the remaining armor at incredible speeds, sending volts of electricity into the air.

"Almost there," Wally grunted. "Got it."

The vortex subsided, leaving only a flickering Flash and a beat up Luthor in its place. And just as Wally had expected, the electricity remained around him. Turning to face his friends, his League, Wally took a second to capture their images in his memory. Souvenir, he thought.

He took a step towards Clark, and grunted in pain. "I feel kind of… funny." He saw Clark lunge for him, but it was Diana's voice that called out his name. And it pained him even more to know that he didn't get a chance to tell them that he loved them, just as his Uncle Barry had done once before.

Sinking into the speed force, Wally hung his head as silent sobs wracked his body. Swirls of energy surrounded him, and Wally felt the pull of his body into the force. Again. He remembered the last time he was here, right after disappearing from the North Pole. Afraid and exhausted, the younger Wally hadn't even stopped running. His run through the speed force had pulled him into another dimension, where he had eventually become a founding member of the Justice League.

But now, no longer running towards anything anymore, Wally allowed himself to fall into the force.

Opening his eyes, his attention drew itself towards a moving blur in the speed force. His heart fell into his stomach when he recognized that red suit and yellow boots. Years of being Kid Flash allowed Wally to memorize every inch of his uncle's suit. Wally choked back a laugh.

The red blur slowed to a stop, and the cowl turned his way. "Who's there?" Barry Allen's voice said.

"I guess I've finally crashed the mode," Wally said, letting out a light chuckle. "I didn't expect to find you here." But any of Wally's joy was sucked away from him at the sight of his mentor's face.

Barry, out of pure shock, had jumped away from Wally, his hand over his mouth. Had Wally not known Barry better, he'd have said his uncle looked sick. "Kid?"

That one, simple word hit Wally like a train, causing him to stagger back as if from a physical punch. This wasn't just Barry Allen. This was his uncle, Barry Allen.

"Uncle Barry," Wally whispered.

And Wally was suddenly engulfed in red as the Flash embraced him in a hug spanning dimensions. "You're alive… oh God, Kid, you're actually alive," Barry gasped. "We thought you were dead. The team, Artemis… oh God."

Wally wanted to tell Barry everything, about the new dimension, the League and the Lords and the Team. They had all the time in the world, right? But even fate or God or whoever seemed to preside over Wally's life had other plans, for when Wally untangled himself from Barry's arms, another force seemed to pull him away from his uncle.

"...Flash is still alive! I'm in telepathic contact with him. His spirit is weak and growing weaker… but he's still here." It was J'onn.

Barry turned his head, looking for the source of the voice. "Manhunter?"

And suddenly, Wally knew what was going to happen. "They're pulling me back, Barry!"

"Back? Back where?" Barry Allen lunged for his formerly dead nephew, determined to bring him back to his family.

Wally winced as the speed force opened and a hand reached out for him. "It's another dime-"

"Flash!" Shayera's voice screamed.

"Wally, don't leave!" Barry pleaded. Wally could only smile.

"Shayera, it's so beautiful here. There's a force, a speed force. It's calling me home." His eyes met Barry's desperate ones, and he knew he had to say it. "I have to go now." And Wally walked towards Barry, and away from the place he'd called home for the past five years. And as much as he wanted to see his family, it still broke Wally's heart to hear his sister scream his name.

"No, Wally! Take my hand"

Her hand snagged his at the last second, pulling him back towards the hole in the speed force. He panicked then as his dimension drifted further and further from him. He yelledscreamedshoutedfought, but Shayera's pull only grew stronger.

"I'm here too, Wally!" John's voice said.

"We're all here!" Clark's voice this time.

"I can't fight them off," Wally shouted to Barry. "Tell the team-"

"I'm not burying you again, Kid!" Barry shouted.

John's voice echoed both the League and Barry: "You have to come back to us!"

Their combined strength slowly dragged Wally's form to the hole. Soon, his arm had disappeared through to the other side.

"We'll find you, Kid!" Barry promised. "We've all been waiting for you!"

Wally smiled before the man who had been his first role model disappeared from view and he collapsed back onto solid ground, sandwiched between his best friend and adoptive sister. But as much as he loved them, what they did, even if it had been heroic and selfless in their minds, had collapsed the dam holding back his memories. Curling in on himself, Wally once again felt the pain of losing his family. And it crushed him.

"Why?" he murmured.

"We can't lose you, Wally," Shayera said, cradling her precious little brother in her arms.

"I was almost there," he cried.

Shayera, in true sister-like fashion, only held Wally closer. "You're back now, Flash, that's all that matters." She didn't know, couldn't know, that Wally wasn't speaking about his close encounter with death. She couldn't know that he had almost forsaken this entire dimension for the chance to see his again.

And it broke him.