In the Hall of Justice
Dwyn stared across the table at the rabble seated around it. She watched as they played poker with her Hollywood Legends deck. Their gloved hands fumbled to pick up the plastic cards, and they peered at the numbers through the eye holes of their half-masks. She'd been invited to join the game but had declined since she knew nothing about poker. She still could hardly believe that she was sitting in the Hall of Justice watching the Justice League play cards.
To her right The Flash muttered to himself; it was obvious he had been dealt a poor hand. Dwyn leaned close to him and whispered, "You know, Flash, there's no such thing as a bad hand. It's all in what you do with it." He looked at her and grinned before turning back to his cards. To her left, Batman studied his cards silently. It was impossible to discern his hand since his face was impassive as always.
If someone had told her three days ago that these people actually existed and that she would be sitting here she would have laughed at them. All her life she had thought of the Justice League only as comic book characters and not as real people. She knew their histories and identities from reading about them as a child. She had never imagined actually meeting them. But here she was sitting at a table with Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, Batman, and the Flash, watching them ante up.
An alarm suddenly went off and everyone jumped up to hurry towards the computer console. After Superman pushed a series of buttons, a display popped up on the huge monitor. He frowned. "Mirror Master's robbing a bank in Gotham."
Dwyn chewed on her lip as an episode of the 80's cartoon show resurfaced in her memory. "Don't let him catch you in front of any mirrors, or you'll get sucked into mirror land."
"Mirror land?" Batman asked in disbelief.
Dwyn shrugged. "I'm sure it has some technical name, but it's a place where you're trapped on the other side of the mirror. Can't I come with you guys? I know I can help."
Flash looked at her with a smile. "We've been over this already, Dwyn. We can't protect you and capture him at the same time. It's safer for you here."
Dwyn fought back an urge to stomp her foot like a spoiled child and simply nodded. "I understand. I'll just see you guys when you get back."
Superman patted her on the shoulder. "Thanks for the information, Dwyn. I'm sure it'll come in handy."
She nodded and sighed as they left. She felt so useless at having to watch them go save the day while she remained in the Hall. She wandered back over to the table and began to clean up the cards and poker chips. With a yawn, she headed to Flash's bedroom. Even though they didn't actually live in the Hall of Justice each member had his or her own bedroom. There had to be someone in the Hall at all times, and each member was assigned one night of the week. Dwyn had been sleeping in Flash's room because his turn hadn't come up since she had been here. But he would be sleeping there tonight, which meant she had to move into Wonder Woman's room.
As she lay on the bed her thoughts drifted back three days. It had started off like any other day before it. Paperwork needed to be filled out and visitations needed to be made. There was never a lack of problems in the life of a social worker, and Dwyn couldn't have been happier.
A man had come into her office and she would never forget his eyes. Bloodshot from heavy drug use, they were hard and mean. He stormed into her office, gun in hand, demanding his son. Dwyn was not about to tell his man where his child was so that he could use him as a human punching bag again. Even though her heart was pounding erratically, she'd held her position with stalwart tenacity. No matter what he threatened she wouldn't give this man the information he desired.
He'd fired, and before Dwyn could even react she was knocked over by a red blur. She'd gasped softly as she found herself pinned to the floor beneath a hard body covered in red spandex. Flash's cocky grin flooded her mind, and she had to smile to herself as she remembered his words to her. "Good thing I got here in time or the world would have lost a beautiful woman."
While Flash was lying on top of her flirting, the man had escaped, and Dwyn's safety became a question. Her boss had wanted her to go into hiding, but she had no place to go. That's when Flash had suggested she come to the Hall. He'd taken her home to pack a few belongings, then brought her to see the others. There was some debate on whether or not she could stay, but Flash eventually got his way. She'd quickly fallen into the ease of their routine, and her old life seemed only a faded memory now.
She felt someone gently shaking her awake. She opened her eyes to find Flash smiling down at her. "Wake up, Dwyn."
She smiled and stretched her arms. "How'd things go?"
He flashed his signature smile. "It was cake! We trapped him in that mirror land you talked about."
Dwyn laughed. "You didn't! How?"
"I stole his thingy-mc-bobber that he opens the portal in the mirror with and used it on him."
"I guess being the fastest man in the world does have it advantages."
"It can." He grinned. "The others have already left, and I wondered if you were hungry."
"I'm starved! You wanna order out?" She asked with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
Flash nodded. "You bet! The delivery boys get so freaked out when they come here."
A short time later Dwyn studied him as they ate their pizza. "Flash, are you happy?" He chucked a crust back into the box before answering her. "What do you mean?" She nibbled on her own crust as she tried to put what she wanted to say into words. "Do you like being a superhero? Do you ever wish you weren't one?"
He frowned as he contemplated her question. "You mean do I ever wish I was normal?" He continued when she nodded. "Sure, we all have moments when we wish we had different lives. But then I think about how much good I've done and how the world might not be such a nice place without me and the others."
"All my life I've wished I could be a superhero. I wish I could just stay here and help you guys. I know I don't have powers, but neither does Batman. Maybe he could train me. . ."
Flash interrupted her. "Dwyn, you are a superhero! Maybe you're not running around saving the world from intergalactic villains but you do save people. If you asked any of the kids you took out of bad situations, I bet they'd all say you were a hero. Just a different kind."
She knew he was right and that she was needed at her job. But thinking about leaving broke her heart. She'd come to feel comfortable here and care about these people. She looked at him with tears shining in her eyes. "Oh, Wal. . ." He placed his fingers over her lips lightly before she could finish. "I have no name here. Here I'm only the Flash." He wiped away her tears and cradled her face in his hands. Her eyes fluttered closed as he lowered his mouth to hers, but just before their lips met an alarm went off to announce the arrival of the others.
Dwyn sat back and composed herself as Flash cleaned up their dinner. The six others came into the Hall looking solemn. She cocked her head to the side as she studied them and wondered what was going on. Superman stopped in front of her with a sad smile on his face. "They've caught him, Dwyn; you can go home now." She nodded and cast a glance at Flash. "I guess I'll just go get packed."
When she was gone Flash turned to the others. "I'll take her home." But Superman shook his head. "No, Flash, I think it might be better if you said your goodbyes here. I'll see her home." Flash stared at him before nodding and headed to his room. Batman looked at his retreating figure with a frown. "I knew having her here was going to be a problem." Wonder Woman smiled. "Don't try that, Batman, you'll miss her too." He looked over and gave her a rare grin. "I suppose you're right."
Dwyn was folding clothes into her small suitcase when Flash knocked on the door. She didn't bother to look up as she called, "Come in!" He entered the room and watched her quietly. "It's for the best, Dwyn." She looked over at him and nodded. "I know."
He crossed the room and gathered her in his arms. "You have to go and take care of all those kids. Don't be sad, Dwyn, think of the good you haven't done yet."
"Right now the only person I'm thinking of is the one in front of me." She looked up at him and he smiled.
"Don't worry about a thing." He leaned down and kissed her lightly before backing away. "The others are waiting, Dwyn." She nodded and he picked up her bag. They linked hands and walked out slowly to the main hall together.
The others were staring at each other quietly, and Superman gave her an almost knowing smile as he took her bag from Flash. "You ready?" She walked around the group and said her goodbyes to each of them. When she came back to Flash she paused and smiled. "Thanks for everything." She gave him a hug and didn't want to ever let go.
But she finally pulled away from him and turned to smile at Superman. "Okay, I'm ready." He nodded and lifted her into his arms. She waved one last time as Superman took off and carried her home.
He set her down on her front porch. "Make us proud, Dwyn."
She smiled and hugged him. "I will, I promise."
He nodded to her one last time and took off. She suddenly felt very alone and missed the chatter of the Hall. She unlocked the door of her apartment with some trepidation. She dreaded entering the still darkness. She shook her head and went inside. She still had a life to live which she couldn't do that by doing nothing.
The days seemed to run together for Dwyn. She didn't take as much pleasure in her work as she once did. She spent as much time out of her office as she could because it was haunted by memories of both angry eyes and sexy smiles. She often spent longer than was needed with her visitations or lingered over lunch at one of the local restaurants.
She sat quietly at her table on the patio of the restaurant with the cool breeze attempting to loosen her tight bun. She pushed her half-eaten salad aside as she studied some recent case files. She didn't look up at the sound of the wrought-iron chair scraping against the stone of the patio.
"You really should finish your lunch. Think of all those kids in China."
The sound of his voice had her looking up with a wide grin. "Wally."
He grinned. "In the flesh, sugar." She studied his green eyes and red hair for the first time. "I'll say."
He leaned across the table to kiss her lightly. "I've missed you, Dwyn."
She smiled. "I've missed you too, Wally."
"You wanna get out of here?"
She grinned and called for her check. "Just one question, Wally. Are you fast at everything?"
Dwyn stared across the table at the rabble seated around it. She watched as they played poker with her Hollywood Legends deck. Their gloved hands fumbled to pick up the plastic cards, and they peered at the numbers through the eye holes of their half-masks. She'd been invited to join the game but had declined since she knew nothing about poker. She still could hardly believe that she was sitting in the Hall of Justice watching the Justice League play cards.
To her right The Flash muttered to himself; it was obvious he had been dealt a poor hand. Dwyn leaned close to him and whispered, "You know, Flash, there's no such thing as a bad hand. It's all in what you do with it." He looked at her and grinned before turning back to his cards. To her left, Batman studied his cards silently. It was impossible to discern his hand since his face was impassive as always.
If someone had told her three days ago that these people actually existed and that she would be sitting here she would have laughed at them. All her life she had thought of the Justice League only as comic book characters and not as real people. She knew their histories and identities from reading about them as a child. She had never imagined actually meeting them. But here she was sitting at a table with Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, Batman, and the Flash, watching them ante up.
An alarm suddenly went off and everyone jumped up to hurry towards the computer console. After Superman pushed a series of buttons, a display popped up on the huge monitor. He frowned. "Mirror Master's robbing a bank in Gotham."
Dwyn chewed on her lip as an episode of the 80's cartoon show resurfaced in her memory. "Don't let him catch you in front of any mirrors, or you'll get sucked into mirror land."
"Mirror land?" Batman asked in disbelief.
Dwyn shrugged. "I'm sure it has some technical name, but it's a place where you're trapped on the other side of the mirror. Can't I come with you guys? I know I can help."
Flash looked at her with a smile. "We've been over this already, Dwyn. We can't protect you and capture him at the same time. It's safer for you here."
Dwyn fought back an urge to stomp her foot like a spoiled child and simply nodded. "I understand. I'll just see you guys when you get back."
Superman patted her on the shoulder. "Thanks for the information, Dwyn. I'm sure it'll come in handy."
She nodded and sighed as they left. She felt so useless at having to watch them go save the day while she remained in the Hall. She wandered back over to the table and began to clean up the cards and poker chips. With a yawn, she headed to Flash's bedroom. Even though they didn't actually live in the Hall of Justice each member had his or her own bedroom. There had to be someone in the Hall at all times, and each member was assigned one night of the week. Dwyn had been sleeping in Flash's room because his turn hadn't come up since she had been here. But he would be sleeping there tonight, which meant she had to move into Wonder Woman's room.
As she lay on the bed her thoughts drifted back three days. It had started off like any other day before it. Paperwork needed to be filled out and visitations needed to be made. There was never a lack of problems in the life of a social worker, and Dwyn couldn't have been happier.
A man had come into her office and she would never forget his eyes. Bloodshot from heavy drug use, they were hard and mean. He stormed into her office, gun in hand, demanding his son. Dwyn was not about to tell his man where his child was so that he could use him as a human punching bag again. Even though her heart was pounding erratically, she'd held her position with stalwart tenacity. No matter what he threatened she wouldn't give this man the information he desired.
He'd fired, and before Dwyn could even react she was knocked over by a red blur. She'd gasped softly as she found herself pinned to the floor beneath a hard body covered in red spandex. Flash's cocky grin flooded her mind, and she had to smile to herself as she remembered his words to her. "Good thing I got here in time or the world would have lost a beautiful woman."
While Flash was lying on top of her flirting, the man had escaped, and Dwyn's safety became a question. Her boss had wanted her to go into hiding, but she had no place to go. That's when Flash had suggested she come to the Hall. He'd taken her home to pack a few belongings, then brought her to see the others. There was some debate on whether or not she could stay, but Flash eventually got his way. She'd quickly fallen into the ease of their routine, and her old life seemed only a faded memory now.
She felt someone gently shaking her awake. She opened her eyes to find Flash smiling down at her. "Wake up, Dwyn."
She smiled and stretched her arms. "How'd things go?"
He flashed his signature smile. "It was cake! We trapped him in that mirror land you talked about."
Dwyn laughed. "You didn't! How?"
"I stole his thingy-mc-bobber that he opens the portal in the mirror with and used it on him."
"I guess being the fastest man in the world does have it advantages."
"It can." He grinned. "The others have already left, and I wondered if you were hungry."
"I'm starved! You wanna order out?" She asked with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
Flash nodded. "You bet! The delivery boys get so freaked out when they come here."
A short time later Dwyn studied him as they ate their pizza. "Flash, are you happy?" He chucked a crust back into the box before answering her. "What do you mean?" She nibbled on her own crust as she tried to put what she wanted to say into words. "Do you like being a superhero? Do you ever wish you weren't one?"
He frowned as he contemplated her question. "You mean do I ever wish I was normal?" He continued when she nodded. "Sure, we all have moments when we wish we had different lives. But then I think about how much good I've done and how the world might not be such a nice place without me and the others."
"All my life I've wished I could be a superhero. I wish I could just stay here and help you guys. I know I don't have powers, but neither does Batman. Maybe he could train me. . ."
Flash interrupted her. "Dwyn, you are a superhero! Maybe you're not running around saving the world from intergalactic villains but you do save people. If you asked any of the kids you took out of bad situations, I bet they'd all say you were a hero. Just a different kind."
She knew he was right and that she was needed at her job. But thinking about leaving broke her heart. She'd come to feel comfortable here and care about these people. She looked at him with tears shining in her eyes. "Oh, Wal. . ." He placed his fingers over her lips lightly before she could finish. "I have no name here. Here I'm only the Flash." He wiped away her tears and cradled her face in his hands. Her eyes fluttered closed as he lowered his mouth to hers, but just before their lips met an alarm went off to announce the arrival of the others.
Dwyn sat back and composed herself as Flash cleaned up their dinner. The six others came into the Hall looking solemn. She cocked her head to the side as she studied them and wondered what was going on. Superman stopped in front of her with a sad smile on his face. "They've caught him, Dwyn; you can go home now." She nodded and cast a glance at Flash. "I guess I'll just go get packed."
When she was gone Flash turned to the others. "I'll take her home." But Superman shook his head. "No, Flash, I think it might be better if you said your goodbyes here. I'll see her home." Flash stared at him before nodding and headed to his room. Batman looked at his retreating figure with a frown. "I knew having her here was going to be a problem." Wonder Woman smiled. "Don't try that, Batman, you'll miss her too." He looked over and gave her a rare grin. "I suppose you're right."
Dwyn was folding clothes into her small suitcase when Flash knocked on the door. She didn't bother to look up as she called, "Come in!" He entered the room and watched her quietly. "It's for the best, Dwyn." She looked over at him and nodded. "I know."
He crossed the room and gathered her in his arms. "You have to go and take care of all those kids. Don't be sad, Dwyn, think of the good you haven't done yet."
"Right now the only person I'm thinking of is the one in front of me." She looked up at him and he smiled.
"Don't worry about a thing." He leaned down and kissed her lightly before backing away. "The others are waiting, Dwyn." She nodded and he picked up her bag. They linked hands and walked out slowly to the main hall together.
The others were staring at each other quietly, and Superman gave her an almost knowing smile as he took her bag from Flash. "You ready?" She walked around the group and said her goodbyes to each of them. When she came back to Flash she paused and smiled. "Thanks for everything." She gave him a hug and didn't want to ever let go.
But she finally pulled away from him and turned to smile at Superman. "Okay, I'm ready." He nodded and lifted her into his arms. She waved one last time as Superman took off and carried her home.
He set her down on her front porch. "Make us proud, Dwyn."
She smiled and hugged him. "I will, I promise."
He nodded to her one last time and took off. She suddenly felt very alone and missed the chatter of the Hall. She unlocked the door of her apartment with some trepidation. She dreaded entering the still darkness. She shook her head and went inside. She still had a life to live which she couldn't do that by doing nothing.
The days seemed to run together for Dwyn. She didn't take as much pleasure in her work as she once did. She spent as much time out of her office as she could because it was haunted by memories of both angry eyes and sexy smiles. She often spent longer than was needed with her visitations or lingered over lunch at one of the local restaurants.
She sat quietly at her table on the patio of the restaurant with the cool breeze attempting to loosen her tight bun. She pushed her half-eaten salad aside as she studied some recent case files. She didn't look up at the sound of the wrought-iron chair scraping against the stone of the patio.
"You really should finish your lunch. Think of all those kids in China."
The sound of his voice had her looking up with a wide grin. "Wally."
He grinned. "In the flesh, sugar." She studied his green eyes and red hair for the first time. "I'll say."
He leaned across the table to kiss her lightly. "I've missed you, Dwyn."
She smiled. "I've missed you too, Wally."
"You wanna get out of here?"
She grinned and called for her check. "Just one question, Wally. Are you fast at everything?"