The Flash,

Fastest man alive,

One of the seven founding members of the Justice League.

Wally West was sure that his uncle, Barry Allen…the original Flash, would be proud of him. He was standing shoulder to shoulder with the world's greatest heroes. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman. And at the age of 24, he thought that he had everything he ever wanted. He had a successful career as a forensic criminologist, membership in the Justice League, and residuals from Lightspeed Energy Bar sales were a nice perk as well. Not to mention that finding dates…as Flash and Wally West….had never been difficult for him.

But that was before last week. When saving the day had almost cost him his life. Sure, he knew being a hero had inherited risks. And he had cheated death before. But there's something about a near death experience that will make even the world's fastest hero slow down and take stock of what he has…and doesn't have.

Since his run in with the Speed Force…using his powers for everything just didn't seem necessary. Wally found himself being much more introspective….no longer living for the moment, but thinking about his past, his future. It was difficult to find reasons to smile. And he found himself losing track of time.

"When you're as fast as me, time's something you've got plenty of! Croissant?"

Wally felt a smile creep on his face at that memory…as he continued to blankly stare through the computer monitor on his desk. But the memory quickly faded into a more painful one. The feeling of being embraced by light….being unable to move. Thinking about how much he had left to accomplish. There was a blinding pain….when Shayera had grabbed hold of his arm.

"I'M HERE WALLY….TAKE MY HAND!"

"This is really it…..I'm going to die. I had so much more stuff I wanted to do. Grow older, maybe have a family some day…"

Wally's life flashed across his eyes. The pain of seeing his uncle die, wondering if he was ready to be the Flash. He remembered being Kid Flash, joining the Titans…how proud he was to be a member of that team too.

"JINX! I'll….I'll….I'll never have a chance to respond to that e-mail! NO! NO…I'M NOT READY TO DIE!"

"I'm here too, Wally!"

"We're all here!"

"GL? Supes?"

More blinding pain. And a sensation of being ripped apart. Then a thundering boom, darkness. Wally's eyes came into focus….Shayera was holding him. He was back. He wasn't going to die. Not today.

Coming back to his personal computer, Wally felt an overwhelming emotion that was too much to bear as he buried his head in his hands and began to cry. A knock at the door shook him as he quickly tried to compose himself before answering the door.

"Oh hey, GL….what's up?"

"…we were gonna play racquetball this afternoon, remember?"

"Oh. Oh yeah, racquetball. Yeah…." said Wally as he rubbed his head walking toward the dresser.

"You okay, man? You don't look so good…."

"I'm fine. Just been hard to sleep….that's all."

"…Is it?" said John. Not convinced.

Wally stood up, his back to John. He wanted to say something that would make his friend believe him. But words failed. Another sign that would tip off his friend that all was not right in Wally-world.

"….looks more like post traumatic stress disorder to me."

John shut the door behind him, then pulled up a chair.

"C'mon rookie, you can't fool me. That battle with Luthor is tearin' you up inside isn't it? Told you to go talk with J'onn. But you didn't go, did ya?"

"I…I thought I could handle it."

"Man…I've seen battles that shook the strongest Marines to their knees when it was all over. There's no shame in talkin' to someone about it."

Wally sat down on his bed.

"Just so much….so much stuff that used to be annoying….just doesn't matter anymore."

"Everyone gets to this point, Wally. It just hit you like a wall. Maybe you shouldn't have been running so fast…" said John with a smirk.

"…very funny."

"Were you checking your e-mail?"

Wally looked up to see that John was looking at the monitor, how it was opened to the Outlook page.

"…something like that."

"…this one message is almost two months old. Is it junk?"

"…not exactly."

"Jinny Xavier, huh? Since when do you avoid e-mails from women? Especially on the 'Flash' account? How does this girl know your secret identity?"

"…I have a pretty good idea."

"…old flame?"

"…something like that."

Wally smiled again, looking back introspectively.

"Okay man, you're gonna have to follow through with that one."

"Fine, fine."

Wally pulled open the top drawer to his bedside dresser. After a moment of rummaging, he pulled out a 5x7 picture and handed it to John.

"…and don't laugh."

Despite the request, John couldn't help but chuckle. There he was…clad in a yellow outfit with red trim. About 15-16 years old by John's estimate.

"My how you've grown," said John, now laughing. "…is that a zit?"

"…very funny. Laugh it up."

John composed himself to take another look. In Wally's arms was a girl about the same age. A black and purple outfit, pink hair.

"Not an old flame. A high school sweetheart. Cute girl….hair's a bit unusual."

"That's Jinx."

"Jinx? Parents didn't like her very much?"

"Nah, that was just her M.O. Hexing her enemies was her power."

"I see…"

"H'yeah. She was actually a bad guy if you can believe it. But I pulled her over."

"I see. What's she doing nowadays?"

"…I don't really know. We only dated for about 18 months. Wasn't anything personal, we just-"

"…lost touch. Grew up and grew apart. I see."

"Yeah. I became the Flash. She gave up the hero gig I guess. She was getting ready to head to college last I heard from her. But that's been about 5 years now I guess."

"…and let me guess. You suspect this e-mail is from her."

"…pretty much."

"…and you've been goin' back and forth over whether or not to open it."

"…up until battling Luthor."

John closed his eyes and shook his head…folding his arms across his chest.

"Well, the way I see it….you can just sit here in your quarters and sulk about your life…"

"…or?"

"…or you can live your life. Come have lunch with me and Shayera, then we'll go play racquetball, then you go talk to J'onn, then you come back here and open that e-mail."

Wally smiled.

"…thanks John."

"…sure. Now come on, get into your outfit and let's go to the cafeteria."

"Sure- Wait a sec…isn't this Thursday?"

"Um…yeah. Why?"

"Dude! It's taco day!"

Within 2 seconds, Wally had jumped into his outfit and whisked out the door….in a flash. Leaving John with a startled look on his face…which molded itself into a smile.

On the streets of Central City, a young woman dressed in a professional suit walked out of a law office and headed north towards an unassuming café that she liked to frequent for her hour-long lunch break. Shoulder length pink hair swayed back and forth as she walked in heels that were also pink.

She had only finished paralegal training two months ago…before landing a job in Central City as a law clerk.

Central City of all places. She had been here before…in her youth. The odds of being back here was 'just dumb luck' she had told herself, laughing inwardly at the irony of her words.

It had been a busy morning, but it was still difficult for her to concentrate. She had a lunch date with someone she hadn't seen in a long time. And she was wondering if this was such a good idea.

Jingling bells signaled her arrival at the café as she opened the door.

"Hi, Jinny!" said a friendly girl behind a counter.

"Hi, Susie…been busy today?"

"…same as always. You want the usual?"

"Um…" she said as she scanned the small lunch crowd.

"Jinny?"

"Uh…actually…I'm supposed to be meeting someone. Have you seen a guy with red hair, freckles, blue eyes…about 6'2" come in here?"

"If I did I wouldn't be sharing him with you…" the girl said with a wink and a smile.

"…right." she said smiling and laughing back.

"Tell you what, I'll just have a coffee for now. And I think I'm gonna eat outside on the patio, m'kay?"

"Sure thing. And if I see someone that looks like who you're looking for I'll send him your way, hon. Who should I ask for?"

"Wally. Wally West."

"Oh, okay!" said the girl as 'Jinny' walked back out the door and had a seat at one of the outside tables.

Once seated she had pulled a pocket mirror out of her purse and looked herself over, still wondering if this was such a good idea. As she continued to look herself over, a bloodcurdling scream from down the street broke her concentration.

"Somebody help! He's got my purse!"

She could see a young man running from a woman with a purse under his arm, then could see that a street patrolman was in pursuit….but hopelessly behind the criminal. There was no way the policeman was gonna catch the crook before he got to his getaway car parked at the end of the block.

She looked left and then right to make sure no one was watching, then extended a pointed finger under the table…aimed directly at the theif. A second later a burst of pink energy flew out…causing the crook's feet to become entangled underneath him…and causing him to fall face first into the pavement. A moment later the cop had caught up to him and had him handcuffed.

"Guess this just isn't your lucky day, is it son?" said the policeman as he led the thief to a nearby squad car, returning the purse to it's owner in the process.

'Jinny' smiled as she watched the events across the street unfold, taking a small amount personal pride in herself as she glanced at her pink fingernails.

"…I still got it." she said quietly to herself.

"I'll say! That was impressive!"

The startled woman spun in her seat to see that a young man had taken a seat at the table with her.

A young man with red hair, blue eyes, freckles…about 6'2".

"Hiya, Slowpoke…"

"Wally!"