A/N: I know some people feel OC stories are 'taking over' this section of YJ fanfiction but... really isn't that the fun of having such an expansive universe to play with? That's why there's DC Universe Online and all...

"Wally, isn't that your fifth milkshake?" Luke asked as the redhead across from him slurped the thick mixture down as if it was the last food on earth. "I don't understand where you put it all…"

Wally finished the milkshake with a noisy slurp. He smacked his lips some as he put the glass down next to a few others. "I just have a high metabolism," he said as he leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach with one hand. "But man that was good. I needed a pick me up."

Luke eyed the dishes in front of him warily. "If I had eaten that much I would have been picked up and slammed back down again," he muttered. "You're not going to stick me with the bill for all of this are you?"

"I'll pay for my own," Wally assured him. "I'm used to it."

"I imagine so if this is your idea of a quick lunch," Luke said as the waitress came with their bill and began to gather dishes. Luke glanced at the bill for a brief moment before pulling out enough money to cover his end of the check. "What are we going to do now that you've finished stuffing yourself?"

Wally grinned even as he reached for his own wallet. "I got a new game if you wanna try it," he said. "It's pretty sweet but not as much fun with only one player."

Luke frowned. "I'm not very good at video games…"

"That's fine! You don't have to be good at it to have fun," Wally insisted. "Come on, maybe you'll surprise yourself."

The blonde chuckled some and shook his head. "Maybe but I doubt it," he said. "Alright, I'll try it. But don't make fun of me when you pound me into the virtual ground."

"Would I do that?" Wally asked innocently.

"I don't know… would you?"

"You wound me, Brit-Boy."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you'll get over it."

The two of them got up a few minutes later and headed out of the diner. They weren't in any particular hurry as they made their way down the street. Since they had nowhere in particular to be they weren't concerned about getting there fast. As they were passing by an electronics store, the images on the screen attracted both their attention.

On the screen was a large bank with several police cars outside of it. A moment later the camera zoomed out to show a pretty reporter standing behind a police line. "Aunt Iris," Wally said rushing forward. "Man, why is it muted?" Luke blinked some and glanced at the woman's name scrolled across the bottom. Iris West-Allen.

"I didn't know your Aunt was a reporter," Luke commented as he took a few steps closer to the window.

"Yeah, but I want to know what's going on," Wally said before hurrying inside of the store. Luke called out before hurrying after his friend. Inside, one of the other TVs was on the same channel but without the mute on.

"-isn't clear how many armed assailants are inside or how many hostages they have taken. The police are currently attempting to negotiate with the men in hopes for ending this standoff peacefully," Iris said into the camera.

Wally scowled. "Hostage situation. Geeze. The police can't do anything because those thugs'll probably kill someone…"

"At least they have negotiators working on it," Luke offered. "I'm sure they'll manage to get it all under control. It's their job after all."

"Yeah…" Wally agreed though Luke was surprised that he didn't look all that confident

"Don't you believe in your police force?" Luke asked curiously.

"Hm? Oh, of course I do!" Wally said quickly. "It's just sometimes you can't reason with people like that. Criminals don't usually act like everyone else does. I mean, look at the psychos who go on massive killing sprees and stuff. Or the crazy guys with death rays and psychological warfare. Sometimes the police just can't keep up."

Luke gave a bit of a reluctant nod. "I suppose…"

Luke and Wally slowly made their way out of the electronics store and started down the street again. They hadn't made it more than two blocks before Wally suddenly stopped. "Hey, I just remembered… I promised my mom I'd grab her some stuff at the store before coming home. Can we do a rain check on the games?"

The blonde blinked some. "Uh… yeah bu-"

"Great, bye!" Wally said before dashing across the street and down a side alley to disappear from sight entirely.

"O-okay then," Luke said. "Bye…"

Luke was a bit confused by his friend's sudden disappearance but did his best to put it out of his mind. It wasn't like there was nothing else for him to do. He could… do lots of things. Of which nothing was coming to his mind. He sighed some and shook his head before turning back the way he'd come. He really had to make some more friends around here. Wally was great and all but he was a bit of a flake. He would disappear and cancel on Luke quite a lot and it was a bit frustrating.

Maybe he would explore his neighborhood a bit more. He hadn't really bothered to do that before and Luke figured there had to be something entertaining nearby. Maybe he'd even run into someone his own age.

As Luke walked back past the electronics store a sudden blur of color caught his attention. He paused and looked over to see a bright red and a bright yellow blurs move across the screen before disappearing into the bank. He tilted his head to the side and watched as, within minutes, the blurs reappeared and then stopped.

Several masked bank robbers were sitting in the middle of the street, tied and somewhat roughed up, with two people standing near them. One was a man with a red suit and a lightning bolt motif and the other was a boy with a similar, albeit yellow, suit on. Though the teen was showing off a mop of red hair. Luke frowned and bent closer to the screens. He had heard about the Flashes. He did live in their city after all. But he'd never actually seen them before. They were more… colorful than he had expected.

And he honestly hadn't expected the Kid Flash to be as old as he was either. 'Kid' Flash brought a much younger image to mind but the boy standing next to the red clad speedster was clearly a teenager. He wasn't given any more time to study the duo as they became blurs again and zipped off screen. "Huh…" Luke straightened again and gave the screen one last look before continuing down the street. "Only in America, I suppose…"

Luke wandered the streets near his home for a little while before he stumbled across a nice looking church. It had a huge rose window in the front and lines of thinner windows in each wall. There were several wings to the church and in a fenced in playground, dozens of kids were jumping around and screaming in delight. The sign out front of the old stone building was an engraved slab of white colored stone with the words 'Our Lady of Mercy Children's Home'.

Luke blinked in surprise before turning his attention back to the front of the building. The large double doors were fairly plain except for the crosses carved into the dark wood. It looked like any old church but apparently it was also an orphanage? Or was it just a repurposed church? But then why would it say Our Lady of Mercy?

"Can I help you?"

Luke turned quickly to see a middle aged priest standing there. He had a bit of grey coloring his temples and wrinkles forming at the edges of his eyes. His long black coat was perfectly pressed and the white collar stood out brightly against it. "Oh, no, I just moved here a month ago and I was exploring…" Luke told him.

"I see. Well, welcome to our neighborhood," the priest said with a smile. "I'm Father Andrews. Who might you be?"

"Luke Wright. Is this place really a children's home?"

Father Andrews raised an eyebrow. "It is. And it has been since we were founded here in 1891. Though we don't house as many children as we'd like we do what we can to provide a place of safety for them," he explained.

"This is a big place then," Luke said looking back at the building.

"Not as big as we would like. There are three wings for the children to reside in but we had to stop schooling them here because we simply ran out of space for it. At least now it is easier for everyone to get basic education than it was when we were founded," Father Andrews told him. "We decided it was better to give those without homes a place to feel safe and secure rather than focus merely on schooling."

Luke nodded some. "Makes sense." Suddenly, his watch started beeping loudly and Luke quickly looked at it as he turned it off. "Ah, I should be going. Mum'll be wondering where I am…"

"Then you should definitely go home. But please, don't hesitate to come back. We welcome all visitors," Father Andrews told him.

"Maybe I will," Luke agreed before turning and starting an easy jog back towards his own house. He was still surprised to find a place like that so close to his own home. It had just been nestled back in a neighborhood practically hidden from view from several trees in front. But at least there was a place with other kids around, some of them looked close to Luke's age. Perhaps he could at least make one or two other friends besides Wally? Then he'd have something to do when the redhead decided to cancel on him next time.