"Where to."

A far too young voice cut through the air in response. Wally West, thirteen year old self-appointed 'delinquent' of Central City, turned slightly and angled his genuinely surprised expression to where the voice had come from. The younger boy was still standing upon the concrete ledge of the roof they had been talking on... Well, that Wally had been talking at him on. Giving him a wagging finger and preaching on how spying isn't the most polite way to say 'Hi' to someone, the other boy had as of yet done nothing more than stand there and regard him quietly, which frankly gave Wally very few comedy cues to work off of. Naturally, the only logical response had been to keep talking at him. So he had done just that, and he thinks somewhere along the way, in the midst of his carelessly effusive nature, he must have accidentally asked the Boy Soldier of Gotham City for a play date.

Ever cool 'Kid Flash', as the Central City tabloids had been quick to dub him in answer to his meddling nightly escapades, just about managed to convert his awkward gawking into a breezy smile as he jerked his thumb in answer in the direction of a myriad of criss-crossing streets a few storeys below them. The only other sound made was that of his foot, tapping incessantly on the ground beneath them in its eternal obsessive buzz of excess energy.

"With you?"

That voice was now lilted with humor; the subject's face twisting with a countenance of visible amusement. The hair on the back of Wally's neck stood on end, his muscles seizing and locking in place as he allowed a moment to process just what exactly he was getting himself into. The boy in front of him was 'Nightwing'; right-hand of The Dark Knight of Gotham City, kind of a big deal. A really, really dangerous deal, Wally reminded himself, as he swept his eyes once more over the shorter figure standing mere meters away from him. That was definitely something that looked a lot like a jungle knife sheathed in his utility belt at his left hip, and that was definitely a loaded gun holster at his right thigh there, the thin leather straps that cut over his chest and snaked around to his back held god-knows-what behind there...

"If you can keep up."

Wally's voice had uttered in a knee-jerk reaction before his brain had given it permission. He instantly regretted it. Though his face continued to wear that smug teenaged smile that had recently come to define him, his heartbeat had picked up its pace to concerning degrees just within the moment of silence that ensued after his cocky response. No. No. What was he thinking. He was showing off his newfound attitude in the wrong place to the wrong people and taking his curiosity way too far. This was serious, he could be killed, why did he even come up here in the first place, why hadn't he just run, why wasn't he just running? He could still run, right now. Why wasn't he...? His brain and common sense kept screaming at him to move, but his body was frozen in place. Pushed to the edge. Salivating with anticipation. Captivated by the thrill of this imminent danger before him. He was...

Excited.

That was it, wasn't it.

Why he wasn't moving. Why he was still grinning with some kind of non-existent confidence at a boy who could actually kill him. Kill him. A boy younger than him, who killed. That... That wasn't cool. That wasn't fun. That was terrifying. Wally swallowed nothing and refocused his eyes on the dark figure in front of him. Clad in an inky blackness that clung to the legs, sleek charcoal boots and gloves that were loaded with compartments, crimson body armor that sported a dull gold band that dipped sharply in its center, those loose wraps of grey material around his neck, the fluttering black curtain that hung from his shoulders... Okay. The speedster then took a quick visual check of his own odds of survival in comparison. It was the usual. Sneakers. Old jeans. A red t-shirt he'd gotten for Christmas last year and had awkwardly painted a lightning bolt on. And a yellow bandana that had already slipped down from the lower half of his face. ... He always had his super speed. Him having superpowers automatically meant that-

"Sounds fun."

The kid- Nightwing- was right in front of him, smirking teasingly up into his face at such a leaning proximity that his cool, condensated breath tickled Wally's chin. There couldn't have been more than an inch or two between them.

"Lead the way."

Petrified, it took a few seconds for the 'amazing Kid Flash' to hastily gather his utterly shattered senses of security and comfort, and piece them together into a reaction. A reaction which consisted of a slight stutter, a stagger backwards and the haphazard pulling up of his bandana once more over his nose and mouth. Managing to alter the stutter into nervous laughter (which was a step in the preferred direction at least), Wally turned on heel and indicated a large, old looking complex in the distance. His pubescent voice was muffled only slightly by his 'disguise'.

"Race you to the Museum."

And with that, he kicked off the ground with more energy than he could ever remember giving to any getaway start. Even more than that time he had been caught spray-painting smileys on police cars by the owners thereof, or that time he had almost run right into Uncle B-... 'The Flash', and ran the risk of being discovered doing... Well, doing the stuff he's been doing for a while now. As bolts of visible lightning encased him and the world blurred into a rippling curtain of jet black and streetlights, Wally's mind began racing ahead in speculation of what the following chain of events would be.

Questions mercilessly bombarded his brain in quick succession; was- was 'Nightwing' going to follow him? How long should he wait at the Museum if he didn't? What was next if he did follow? Did he have a plan? Should he have a plan? Did 'Nightwing' have a plan? What was he even doing here? Why hadn't he asked him that in the first place? Why had he even talked to him? Why was he not running to Aunt Iris' to tell her the under-aged scourge of Gotham's underground was in their city? Also why was he entertaining the company of a nationally famous psychopathic criminal-killing 5th grader again?

Dust bloomed in the air as Wally came to a jerky stop at the steps to the Gedde Natural History Museum, also known as the prime attraction of the Mounds View district. Well, not counting the airport. Slowing his breath back to his regular rate, he straightened again and cast a look back over his shoulder to where he had come from.

Nothing.

Completely empty.

Central City was that kinda city. A large city, a marker in the Mid-west, sure. But it was no Gotham or Metropolis. In such residential districts as the one they were in now, a quiet calm descended at night like-... like a veil draped over the cage of a gaudy parrot, or something. In any young one's mind, this translated to; Best. Playground. Ever. Which is pretty much why Wally was still operating primarily at night, other than to avoid The Flash, the police, and too much public attention. Central's 'heroes' - Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard etc. - also seemed to adhere to a more regular sleeping schedule for most of the time. This ginger haired boy enjoyed his attention as much as any other teenager, but he also had the brain to know that his 'habits' were currently safest being committed under the cloak of night and then... admired, admired!, in daytime. Besides, like he could even sleep for more than a few minutes at a time with the desperate way his body craved activity...

Didn't change the fact that here and now, for once, he was very actively expecting company. It was thrilling enough to have someone his age out and about at this ridiculous hour into the night, but to be playing some pseudo chase with Nightwing of Gotham City? That was just too crazy for any kid to pass up on! That guy was a celebrity. Sorta. Okay, for all the wrong reasons. But he was a celebrity! At that age, too. And this celebrity was interested in him. 'Kid Flash'. Up-and-coming super speedster extraordinaire. It had to be that. He'd been looking right down at him from that roof - kinda sloppy for a supposed stealth expert if you asked him- just as Wally'd been playing hop-scotch along the roofs of the parked cars along the sidewalk for the fourth time.

Climbing the steps to the Museum, Wally pulled the yellow bandana down from around his lower face so that it fell once more around his neck, putting a hand to his now bared chin and pulling a thoughtful face as he contemplated his situation's context. Throwing another glance back down the steps to the street, he turned to the fore again just as he reached the top in order to stare right over Nightwing's hair at the museum door. ... Right over Nightwing's hair. The kid speedster gasped sharply and withdrew in horror as his gaze angled lower to meet with the eyelets of Nightwing's mask. The vigilante's expression quickly curved into a broad, mischievous smile and a string of light laughter echoed from his parted lips. It was the creepiest thing Wally had ever heard. And yet, as a naturally infectious social interaction, even amongst his halting breaths, the speedster let out an instinctive childish snort and nervous giggle at having been 'caught out' like that. For a second, it was just playing hide-and-seek with someone his age in the biggest playground ever. Thinking like this, he immediately felt better. ... He preferred to think like that...

"H-how do you do that?"

Wally asked breathlessly, once again without any regular adult's reservation, and still heaving in his recovery from the initial fright. There was a sense of fear, curiosity, and admiration bungled into one delivery, a delivery that he wore with a still yet unsure and nervous smile on his face. But he couldn't run. He didn't want to run. Not yet. Not right now...

The first answer he got was just more audible amusement, and for an extended moment he began wondering whether he was going to receive any more words from him that night at all. But soon enough, the younger boy straightened and directed an odd smile in his direction. The voice that followed dripped with a sense of someone who had been entertained to satisfaction. It made Wally's heart race further with that same cheap thrill again, the warning kind tending to a survival instinct such as that experienced by a mouse as it meets eyes with an as-of-yet motionless adder.

"Practice."

A pause.

"I won. What do I get?"

The question is barely serious, judging how the corners of the youth's mouth twitched higher ever so slightly in their smile. Nevertheless, Wally's age-appropriate petulant nature quickly got the best of him and his competitive nature blurted out an automated response, the start of which had clearly been said before in situations preceding this night.

"N-No you didn't! I got here first! I was waiting down there for like five whole minutes!"

... Nightwing leaned to the side and looked past the elder child, down the steps to the plateau where Wally had been waiting just earlier. An eyebrow must have arched under that mask, because his tone was 'innocently' inquisitive.

"I don't see a museum down there."

The Nebraskan teenager opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off by another smug remark.

"The finish line was the museum. This building is the museum. I got to the museum first."

Oooooooo~, that was one annoying grin the kid was wearing right now. But it seemed all Wally could do in reply was start sentences, point fingers and gesture in the air grasping for words, making faces before giving up and huffing in that childish manner of admitting defeat when one reeeaaallllly didn't want to. Looking to one side and tapping his foot again out of what he assumed was his mood, he scowled moodily and decided to make this kid feel bad about winning.

"Fine. But now I'm not gonna show you the cool dinosaur they have in there."

The kid didn't seem all that bothered. Shrugging one shoulder and speaking idly.

"I've seen some pretty cool dinosaurs..."

Wally's attention snapped back to the fore as he took this as yet another childish competitive challenge he had to rise to. Like heck the dinosaurs he'd seen were cooler than the ones in this museum! Putting his hands authoritatively on his hips, he leaned forward and over the other boy slightly, raising his voice.

"Th-the ones in here are cooler!"

He insisted impudently. 'Nightwing' took slightly longer to respond, in fact it seemed he had to actively relax first, and Wally only just belatedly caught that gloved hand retracting from somewhere around the kid's hip. The big city boy issued a chuckle and took a step back from the suburban settler, shifting to one side and gesturing towards the museum with his left hand. The smirk he wore seemed a nigh permanent fixture upon his face.

"Prove it."

. - . - .

The two boys spent the next three hours trespassing within the empty halls of Central City's grand museum. Wally had skirted inside here to mess around at night before, but all his previous safety methods were cut short by some technological thingies the visitor had in his gloves that he used to just shut down every security measure imaginable, including many Wally didn't even know existed. He even sealed the door to the security guard's office, after offlining her communicators, landline and mobile phones through an array of remote signal jamming, wire sabotage and forced electrical shutdowns. The museum was theirs. In blind exuberant delight, the thirteen year old speedster had whooped and run laps throughout the complex, adventuring in advance for what exhibits he could show off with most confidence to the visitor of his ever-so-humble city.

They played with the interactive exhibits and left them in a state. They put on some of the mannequins' costumes and ran around in them. They invaded the gift shop and lay amongst the stuffed dinosaurs whilst reading out various 'fun facts' about sea creatures they found funny or weird or dumb. It was Wally's idea every time, his companion seemed to just go along with whatever he decided, seemingly more interested with what his tour guide wanted to do instead. He wasn't just a mindless follower though; he was really, really smart. Maybe even smarter than him... This is one thing Wally West was able to learn about this 'Boy Soldier'. At the section focusing on organic evolution, Wally had started talking about Charles Darwin in advance to inform his younger accomplice, only for the other boy to ask him with interest on whether he's also read passages from On the Origin of Species. Expecting to be the teacher due to the gap between their ages, the speedster repeatedly found himself instead the pupil.

The majority of their time spent was, however, spent with the dinosaur exhibits. Despite the admission of the other boy- er, Nightwing- that the animatronic T-Rex model here was a bit bigger than the one he was familiar with, apparently it still lost in 'coolness' simply because it lacked as many teeth. Apparently. This then led into an argument over what constituted as 'coolness' in a T-Rex, physical size or available weaponry. Being two boys inching around their 'tween' phase, naturally no conclusion was reached to any degree of satisfaction. Instead it was decided that the pterodactyls hanging from the ceiling would make awesome stepping stones in a game where if you fell off one of them you drowned in a pit of imaginary lava below. The fact they made it from one end of the room to another successfully was, in fact, 'a miracle' and a party was thus held in their name and honor. Apparently. A few more active games involving the exhibits and arguments about the best dinosaur later, a dim light began to peek into the large hall through the shuttered windows all around them.

Time to go.

Making it outside once more just fine, it was made clear to the pair that dawn was rapidly approaching, and that the gaudy parrot that was Central City (... apparently.) would now be ruffling its feathers in preparation for the new day. It seemed neither of them had any plans for sticking around in the open any longer, this was made evident through their tones towards each other in the ensuing few moments. Whilst Wally grew more nervous and evasive once more as his brain finally caught up with what he'd actually been doing and with whom he had been doing it this entire time, the visitor from the East Coast only seemed to smile oddly with some degree of ample satisfaction, speaking in tones of a more sly ease than before. It unnerved him. Again.

"That was fun."

... Nightwing had said.

"Y-yeah, um..." Wally scuffed one foot restlessly behind the other and avoided eye contact with the other boy, looking instead over to his right for no real reason other than apparent sudden interest in the opposing building. "See you..." His gaze dared amidst hesitation to flit back to the fore again.

Nothing.

"... Later...?"

In utter confusion, the young delinquent looked around himself, turned, turned again, and yet saw and heard nothing of the other boy anywhere. Thinking it maybe one last run of their games, he made sure to rush through the whole area and perimeter around the entire museum. Completely empty. The other boy evidently didn't want to be found this time... The realization only just occurred to him, in such a way that his mind panicked in immediate denial. Earlier, he had turned in the streets and seen a flutter of dull gold lining and a glimpse of crimson armor atop a nearby roof, kinda sloppy for a supposed stealth expert if you'd asked him. He'd prided himself on this 'discovery' and approached the newcomer with a brazen urge to display his own self-created merits. ... No... If he could really just disappear like that at will then... That boy had wanted him to see him then. What had that all been then? Had this whole night just been some kind of evaluation, or, or measuring process for, for...

... ... For what...

Wally's legs gave way beneath him and he collapsed into a careless, slumped sit upon the stairs to the Museum. Mind numbed with a crash of thoughts and possibilities that thirteen year olds shouldn't be thinking of, his brow grew heavy and he looked out to the street in front of him with a weighted, dulled expression.

That kid had been Nightwing, Boy Soldier of Gotham City.

A hunter of criminals…

And he had been followed by him.

A/N: Sure has been a while since I uploaded something, huh. And what a thing to come back with!

This entire story is part of a much larger project between a friend of mine and myself entitled 'Inverse'. It's an alternate universe for the DCU that holds the essential premise that, by only tweaking certain events and circumstances in the origins of the various DC heroes and villains, their 'good' and 'evil' alignments could hypothetically 'invert' into the opposite status. Thus, the heroes are now the villains, and the villains are now the heroes. Though my friend and I have discussed in great detail the state of many other figures and realms of the DCU, naturally here I'm only focusing on a little corner of the DC world, with simply glimpses and hints towards the wider universe throughout the story.

The details of both Wally and Dick's 'tweaked' origins aren't dealt with in this story, rather those extensive and delicately handled tales will be written out into their own stories that may eventually published on here at some point. Thus the intricate explanations of things such as how Dick's costume name is now 'Nightwing' at the outset I'm afraid will have to wait for later revelation. The essentials of their slightly altered backgrounds that result in this state of affairs consider such factors as home life and the nature of the Speed Force for Wally (the latter of which is heavily implied throughout this story), and the influence of Bruce Wayne and an alternate choice in a canon crossroads event in his origin for Dick. Unfortunately much must be left to your imagination for the moment, as this story is primarily centered upon the meeting and interaction between these two in this universe, and a study into how even under such circumstances they might still become 'friends'.

If any of you lot are on Tumblr and are curious at all, a further explanation is available on my friend's blog, which I can link you to at any time. There will probably be some new stuff published within this universe between the two of us, anyway. But yeah, for now, enjoy the ride! =)