It was an uneventful week after that. Back in Central, he went to classes, hung around and went on the long walks that he always did. But for some reason his mind kept wondering back to Star City. Those two had chosen the other path, to fight rather than whatever he had chosen. He wasn't hiding per-se since they all knew where he was, oh who was he kidding, hiding was exactly what he was doing. He had run away in all senses except he literal one.

When Iris's article came out he read it. Then he read it again trying to see what someone would see if they looked under the surface. The third time he read it, he tried to see if he could tell that Oliver Queen was Green Arrow just from the article. After the fourth time he had read it he realized how ridiculous he was being. The fact was, that he admired them for making the hard choice, because it was also the right choice.

The one thing that Barry had taught him was to always move forward. Right now he wasn't moving. He had avoided making any choice and so ended up at a standstill. It hadn't been the wrong thing to do exactly. There was a lot he hadn't known back when Barry died, but there was no doubt things would have been different if he had never chosen to hide his powers.

He pushed the matter aside yet again.

Then a week and a half after Iris's article, an announcement was made by the Lords. It was a quiet press conference, no fuss was made, it wasn't even Superman who had been speaking. That honor belonged to J'onn J'onzz who managed to make everything sound as dull as possible, so even though Wally was listening to it first hand he almost missed what had occurred.

Green Arrow was gone.

He had been captured by the Lords and was to be tried in a closed trial for inciting anarchy and civil unrest. J'onn prattled on about how several people who had been assaulted without cause would be heard from at the trial. And any evidence that anyone wanted to present for the case could be presented to the Lords who would be overseeing the proceedings. J'onn then moved on to speak about fishing rights in the Arctic Circle and a dispute that had been settled since the last press release. Translation: We are in control. Anyone who goes against us will be captured. Since we control the courts any trial will be nothing but a farce.

He didn't realize he was vibrating until the chair he was on started rattling fit to fall apart. The sounds of metal and cheap plastic starting to twist under the pressure forced him to his feet. He was breathing fast, ready to run, to pound someone's head in. His dorm room was suddenly too small, the walls practically leaned inward. He needed an outlet, some way to vent, because for some reason this was just going too far.

Wally paced the length of the small room, still shaking with tension. He was moving too fast, but for the moment he didn't care. What he really needed was to talk to someone who understood where he was coming from, and not his aunt. Right now he needed a friend not a mother figure or whatever Iris was counted as.

Who he really needed to talk to was Dick. The former Robin would understand exactly what he was going through and probably be as angry as he was that Green Arrow was being made an example of. Wally made one of his characteristic split second decisions and headed for the stairs. To hell with hiding every second, he was going to go see his friend and if that meant running all the way to Gotham then so be it.

In the parking lot the crisp winter air and a layer of frost on the ground sent a shiver through him. Captain Cold had always left a trail of frost around him, it was a little invigorating. Just for the sake of argument he checked the parking lot for his roommates car. John normally let him drive it for errands and things though going all the way to Gotham probably was stretching it. The car wasn't there in any case so it didn't really mater.

Batman had ways of tracking anything that was going over a certain speed but staying subsonic and keeping to the highways where there were plenty of cars would mask his trail.

He ran. Tapping into the speed force more then he had for far too long. The energy coursed through him and made him want to go even faster blazing an electric trail in his wake. In town he had to regulate his speed so he didn't catch things in his slip stream. It was harder then it used to be; he was out of practice. Luckily there weren't many people out at that time of night on a Tuesday so he didn't really have to worry about being spotted by random passers by. Then he hit the highway and around him the world slowed down.

Seeing the world like that, with the wind whipping around him and all the details jumping out in technicolor. He caught snatches of sounds that belonged to places and people that he had already passed by miles. The world blurred around him and yet he managed to see all the details in this still life world. A perfect moment caught in time, that only he and a handful of others had ever had access to. This was how to live, to see each moment and be able to truly experience it rather then just letting each second turn into a minute and being too slow to pay attention as life passed by.

People didn't appreciate how every day could be so amazing if they set out to make it amazing. Drones, all of them, and he had been a drone as well for so long. The elation that came with the miles passing under his feet opened his eyes again to the truth that he had let himself forget. Saving people had always been just a side effect, spreading hope, showing the whole world everything that could be, that was what he and Barry had really been doing.

Gotham came up far too fast for Wally's liking, but logically the farther and longer he ran the more likely he would get caught. He looped around the edge keeping to the quieter neighborhoods as he made his way to the area known as Bludhaven. As he slowed down the hunger kicked in, he had almost forgotten about that particular downside to his power.

It was getting late by that point but there were still various places open, and one of them would be that doughnut shop. It would probably be a better idea to turn up with a dozen doughnuts in any case, since he hadn't thought to call ahead. His stomach protested, reminding him again that food would be a good thing. Maybe two dozen would be better, he had been running for a while.

With two pink boxes of pastries acquired he honed in on his friend's apartment. The loft looked normal from the outside but old habits, especially old habits hammered into you by Batman didn't die easy. There were four different hidden cameras pointed at the front door alone and the place had to have the most advanced security system outside of a bank, on this side of the city. He knocked but there didn't seem to be an answer and there was no way Dick was already in bed, again old habits.

Wally didn't bother looking for a hidden key or anything. Dick would be more likely to pick the lock if he locked himself out then open up that kind of hole in his defenses. He could always try the skylight but getting up there wasn't nearly as easy as Dick made it look. Normally Wally wouldn't have minded hanging out outside but it was February and unlike Central, Bludhaven tended to get a decent amount of snow. Dick wouldn't mind him waiting inside, if he managed to find a way inside safely that is. Then again, it wasn't like his friend could set up too many traps, he could probably dodge anything that was thrown at him. Oh what was he thinking, this was his friend's apartment not some villain's lair.

He pulled out his cell phone. Dick's number was one of the few Wally had bothered to memorize. He was still buzzed from his run so it seemed like it took forever for the call to connect.

"Hey, Wally, can this wait I'm kind of in the middle of something." Dick's voice was tense and quiet as if he was whispering into the phone. There was also a lot of background noise, traffic mainly but also people talking.

Wally didn't mind hurrying things along. The sooner he got inside the sooner he could attack those doughnuts. "Sure, just give me the code to your apartment."

"You're in town?"

"Yep, but you're busy and it's cold out here."

"7851120"

"Thanks, I'll see you later then."

Wally hung up, punched in the numbers, and let himself in to the wonderful warmth. He flopped down on the couch in the main room after taking a moment to push various things off it. The donuts went onto the coffee table after he grabbed one from the box. He let himself relax, coming down off the high that the run had given him. Slowly he trimmed his connection to the speed force back down to the thread it had been that morning. It was almost painful and he knew he would probably end up running back to Central before morning but honestly if he left it full force like that he wouldn't be able to pull himself back later.

After about ten minutes he got bored and snagged another two doughnuts and while exploring Dick's apartment. Dick had the strangest collection of books in the history of man, everything from old comic books to technical manuals to tattered paperback adventure stories. You'd think someone who had been a hero would find adventure stories boring and far fetched. Wally even picked up one of them up only to find notes scribbled in the margins. That possibly explained it. Wally raided the fridge for a diet soda and returned to the book laughing at the odd comments and trying to figure out when they had been written and by who since the writing style didn't seem like Dick.

It was several hours later that Dick finally made an appearance. Wally was still flopped over the couch and most of the doughnuts were gone but he had managed not to fall asleep. Dick came in through the skylight which was not entirely unexpected. What was unexpected was his outfit. He was wearing a black catsuit with blue lines down the arms and a mask that was distinctly similar to the one he had worn as Robin.

Wally looked his friend up and down a tight feeling slowly gripping his chest.

"Robin has a new costume I see." Wally tried to keep the emotion out of his voice though what that emotion was he wasn't entirely sure.

Dick smiled slightly. He reached up closing the skylight, then turned and flopped down across from Wally. "Actually it's Nightwing now. No relation to Robin whatsoever."

Wally let his eyes wonder. He wasn't sure how he felt about his friend being back in the business and to find out like this rather then from the news or through the community. Was he really that out of the loop? Well it kind of made sense since Robin had originally been more secretive, but still.

"Does Bat's know?"

Dick sank back into his seat slightly. "Yeah, I think so."

Wally glanced up giving him a look.

"Okay, he's Batman of course he knows. That doesn't mean I've made it obvious or that he's come out and said it."

"So nothing from the Lords then?"

"Nope, the papers are saying Batman is expanding his territory. No one's got a good picture of me yet. You know Batman and the Lords. None of them come to Gotham without his say so."

Wally nodded and for a time there was silence between them.

"So," Dick eventually said clearly trying to change the subject. "I'm going to go get changed, then you can tell me why you came all the way here."

"Right." Wally had managed to distract himself from all that. First the run then the doughnuts. It had been a surprise finding that his friend was back in the game at this stage. He would have to ask how long Nightwing had been active. The whole thing with Green Arrow had really gotten to him. More then he had thought, to risk it by coming here. It was a big deal, and he didn't know what he was going to do about it.

Dick came back in, in normal clothes this time. He tossed Wally a new soda and popped open his own.

"So, what's up? Last I heard you were still in Central, at college right?"

Wally nodded, rolling the can between his hands and wondering where to start.

"Did you see the JL announcement?"

Dick's face became that mask of no emotions that all the bat's seemed able to pull off. "I was busy..."

"You taped it?"

Dick was already reaching for his remote as he nodded. The two of them watched it again. Wally watched his friend's reaction more then the TV. Dick had always been better at reading people and Wally already knew he couldn't get anything off the martian.

Dick caught his breath when the moment came. He let the report finish then rewound it to the announcement about Green Arrow and watched it again looking for more details. The words seemed to drill into Wally's head as he heard them again and again.

Finally Dick sat back and paused the video. "Wow."

"Yeah."

"I mean Green Arrow. He's been active almost as long as Batman."

Wally looked at the frozen image on the screen. "You see anything?" He nodded at the martian.

Dick shrugged, "They're happy about it. This is a victory, but there's something else they're worried about."

Wally just nodded taking in the words without really thinking about them too hard. Dick turned to look at his friend. His eyebrows came down and Wally could see him studying him.

"There's something else isn't there? What is it?"

Wally took a breath and let it out slowly. "Did you ever meet Green Arrow?"

"No, Batman didn't like his style." He hesitated then shrugged. "I did know who he was though."

Wally stared at a spot on the floor across the room. "I met him a few times. My uncle was good friends with GL. The first GL, not Stuart. Then one summer the two of them, GL and Green Arrow, went on a road trip together. They stopped in to see Barry and after that I met him a few times."

Dick waited, he knew his friend well enough to know that that wasn't all it was.

"Then a few weeks back Iris brought me along on one of her interviews. I don't know if she knew or remembered, but she was interviewing Oliver Queen." His voice was dead as he said the name. Dick was wearing that expressionless mask again, waiting for the whole story before he made any judgements. "I didn't remember at first. Then I was out walking and this girl needed help and I couldn't do anything. Then, there they were Red Arrow and Green Arrow, full costume and everything. Iris writes her article and a week later they're dead." Wally tried to say more. There were so many things that he needed to say but none of them seemed to want to come out.

"They're not dead." Dick spoke quietly as if afraid to point it out.

"They might as well be." Scorn filled his voice as Wally sank another inch or so into the couch.

"Well, I meant more along the lines of it being him, not they."

Wally picked his eyes up and looked at his friend questioningly.

Dick used the remote to wave at the still frozen TV. "They never mentioned Red Arrow." Wally looked from his friend to the TV and tried to remember if that was true. Dick even rewound the clip and they watched it again from the beginning. He was right. There were a lot of subtle hints but no one actually said they had captured Red Arrow.

"So you think."

Dick nodded. "They don't have him."

They sat for a while in silence and just looked at the frozen screen or the coffee table or whatever was around.

"What do you think he'll do?" Wally's voice was hollow and he knew that there was a different question he should be asking, or maybe was asking. 'What should I do?'

Dick just shook his head. He couldn't really understand losing a mentor. Sure he and Bruce weren't speaking any more but they each know that the other is alive. The possibility exists to make things right between them someday.

Wally understood better, the loss that he must be feeling. Unlike Roy, though he never had anyone to blame, not really. Luthor may have pulled the trigger but it could have been anyone, the Lords never seemed to understand that.

Dick leaned over and took a good look at Wally and, like always, was able to read him like a book. "What about you?" There was no inflection to hint at disapproval or expectation, just the simple question. Wally knew he should have an answer. A part of him is still boiling, seething, just waiting for an opportunity to lash out. Everything that he's been keeping pent up for the two years since his uncle failed to come home was waiting just out of sight, a constant pressure over his senses. Another part of him tried to rationalize, hiding the fear he felt behind logic. The knowledge that no one would be able to fill the hole that had been torn open in his life.

He balanced between the two parts, waiting for something to push him over the edge to one side or another. He had been waiting on the cautious side of the fence for so long the thought of action was both exhilarating and fearful.

"Don't know yet." He answered after several minutes.

Dick nodded as if to say fair enough. "You want to be kept in the loop?"

It was a gesture that held all kinds of implications. Having Dick keep him informed of what was happening in the superhero circles could lead to all kinds of things, none of which would let him hide or make it easier to pretend it wasn't happening. Before, he probably would have declined, but now he nodded.

"Yeah, thanks."


chapter three: hope all of you liked it. I realize that this was more down time but we'll get to the action next chapter. I had several people beta this chapter so a thank you to all of them.

Initially I was going to post a chapter of Partners this week, but it was longer then expected and I haven't got it back from my beta yet. So to all of you waiting for that, please be patient with me it is coming.