Central City was quiet this night. Not even the sound of a siren in the distance could rouse the red haired young man sprawled out in his bed on the edge of the city in his 5th floor apartment. He lay on his stomach, clutching a pillow with one arm while his other absently reached for the dark haired woman lying next to him.

The lights from the city's towers leaked into the room through the slits in the blinds, tossing lines across the woman's face and the man's back. Slowly, the man reached further for his companion. Upon touching the side of her pale arm, he unconsciously turned and pulled her close to him. Although she protested slightly at the prospect of being awoken, she sighed contently as his arms encircled her. The perfect moment only lasted a few minutes at most.

A loud trill of a phone filled the apartment, breaking the fragile silence.

The man remained blissfully asleep, but his partner was not so lucky.

"Wally?" the woman whispered as the phone rang again. "Wally!" She shook him slightly.

"Wha?" The man sat up wearily. He ran a hand through his messy hair and huffed as he quickly got up to answer his cell. The woman, content that all would be quiet again soon, rolled back over and closed her eyes. Her breathing almost instantly fell back into the same calm rhythm of sleep.

Wally West stumbled into the living room, looking for where the ringing was coming from. Suddenly, the room went quiet again, only for the ringing to start back up a few seconds later. Picking up his coat, Wally search through the pockets, and upon finding his phone, discovered it to be dark and silent.

Frowning, Wally hurried to his kitchen cupboards, from where he was now sure the sounds were being emitted. Opening one of the cabinets, he reached for the brightly colored lunch box he had stashed long ago in the back corner of the top shelf. His still tired fingers struggled to open the simple clasp keeping the lid fixed to the base, but after a second, the lid was open and a small phone sat in the palm of his hand.

Flipping it open, Wally answered simple, "Flash."

For a second, there wasn't a response, and then he heard, "Please don't hang up."

He froze. The invasion had been only four months before, but no one had seen or heard from Hawkgirl since she had left Wayne manor shortly after the expulsion of the Thanagarians. While Wally had hoped his friend would reach out to him, as the weeks had passed slowly, he soon realized that Shayera wasn't coming back anytime soon.

So, like the others, he had started rebuilding. Central City was lucky to have little damage from the invasion, but many of the other heroes were struggling to put their homes back together. Between monitoring his city, helping the others repair what little they could, and his budding romance with Linda, Wally had been busy. But still, in the moments between missions, when he walked alone exploring the confusing halls of the new Watchtower, Wally's thoughts had often turned to the woman he thought of as a big sister.

Where was she? Was she okay? Was she happy?

Now, was his chance to ask her the million questions in his head. But all he could spit out was, "This phone is for extreme emergencies."

"I know. I know." She sighed, "Wally, I'm in some deep shit."

"What is it?" He leaned against the counter while reaching behind him for a coffee cup.

"It's not something I can discuss except in person. Can you meet me somewhere?"

"Where?"

He could hear the smile through the phone, "I don't suppose you've been back to Brazil lately?"

Wally had to chuckle at that. The last time he and Shayera had been together in the country, they had been surveilling a drug cartel leader who had ties to some major arms dealers. While they were supposed to be focused in Rio, they had ended up in a small town many hours North of the city and had been forced to hide out in the balcony of a Cathedral for several nights. He still remembered how he had to run back to the city for food, knowing that he would stick out like a sore thumb in the small community where they were.

When he had come back an hour later, he had brought several bags of junk food and sandwich supplies, the only foods that sounded good to him. Annoyed as Shayera had been, they had sat up late that night making sandwiches of the strangest combinations they could think up and talking about their homes. It was one of the best times they had together. Wally was almost sad when they finally busted the cartel leader.

"Nope. Guess I should make a trip down there soon. Wouldn't want any drug smugglers feeling too safe, now would I?"

"So you know where to meet me?" She asked to be sure.

"Absolutely. When will you be there?" He absently poured some of the coffee grounds into his coffee maker and pressed the start button.

"Can you be there in the next twelve hours?"

"How about an early dinner? I'll buy." He teased.

She laughed, "I would like that."

There was a pause. Wally frowned and asked, "Shayera, are you okay?"

He heard movement in the background, "I have to go. I'll see you tonight. And Wally, promise me you won't tell anyone about this. Please."

He sighed. The invasion had tested their friendship, but he knew deep down that if she was asking him for help, she really needed him.

"Wally! Please, I need you to promise me." She insisted.

"Fine. I promise."

"Thanks. See you soon."

With that, she hung up. Wally was left staring at the now lifeless phone in his hand, contemplating what it meant that she hadn't answered his question. Feeling torn about not telling anyone he was going to see her. He wanted to tell John.

But that was a whole other can of worms. Now that John had started dating Mari, Wally didn't know if he wanted to tell him and risk getting on Mari's bad side. While Vixen was a great hero, she was kind of a possessive girlfriend. Then again, if he was seen as the round bound, Wally was sure he would be possessive too.

Wally sighed and checked his watch. It was almost 4:00 in the morning, but he could be in Brazil in a short time if he asked Wonder Woman to drop him off from the Javelin. Deciding he would ask her in the morning, Wally started back towards the bedroom. He would just leave the coffee running until the morning; he had to be up early anyway.

Crawling back into bed, he wrapped an arm around Linda and pressed a kiss to her temple. In her sleep, she smiled and snuggled up against him.

He looked at her for a few moments, considering how much his life had changed recently. His desire to tell Shayera about everything was so strong, he thought he could burst. She was the closest thing he had to a sister and, he decided, one way or another, she wasn't going to ignore him again.