Hello! Again, sorry for taking so long with the updating. This chapter is mainly a lot of plot. There is oncoming batfluff, I swear!
Once more, thanks to everyone who's supporting me, you're great help. :)
Special thanks to GirlAtThePiano and AidenSurvival who left reviews.
AidenSurvival: Thanks for following :D Hope you enjoy.
Chapter Four
It had been one week since the rogue attack, and Wally's arm had healed so much that he no longer needed the sling, although he kept a bandage on his still tender arm.
The speedster was sitting (well, sprawling) on one of the chairs in the Watchtower. Most of the League was with him; the day had been a lazy one, with hardly anyone to go and help. Wally liked days like this. Everyone could sit down together and just chill out. He had spent the day talking to the others and teasing Superman. Supes was pretty easy to wind up, but Wally had decided to stop after a while. He didn't feel like dodging lasers today.
The speedster looked over at Batman. He was sitting next to Wonder Woman, and talking quietly. They were sitting close together, legs only a few inches from touching. Batman's body was straight and facing forwards, but Wonder Woman's was angled, almost painfully, in the direction of the caped crusader.
Wally felt a pang of jealousy as he looked at the princess. Not everyone got to sit so close to the caped crusader and keep their heads.
With nothing else to do, he continued to sneakily gaze in the direction of the two. He knew he shouldn't, they were having a private conversation, but he couldn't stop himself. For about the twentieth time that week, he found himself ogling the Bat.
The caped crusader was still tense looking, despite being sat on one of the most comfortable chairs in the world, in Wally's opinion.
His back. His goddamn back is all stiff again.
The speedster began to wonder what the two were talking about. Wonder Woman seemed to be getting closer to Batman, and her eyes constantly flickered down to his mouth.
I can't do this, Wally thought. He stood up, mumbled some bullshit excuse, and left the room.
As he walked slowly down the corridor, someone grabbed his arm. He found himself half wishing that he would turn around and see Batman, but instead, Hawkgirl stood there.
"What was that all about?" She questioned. "You just suddenly walked out of the room."
"I'm not feeling well."
"Really? Because back in there, you said something about going to visit a relative."
Wally had nothing to say to that. Softening, Hawkgirl spoke again.
"Is there something wrong, Wally? You're like a brother to me, just say what it is." Wally gave a shrewd look around where they were standing. Anyone could overhear them where they were, and Wally really didn't want that to happen.
"Okay, I'll tell you, but you can't say anything."
"You know I wouldn't. Come on, let's go to the canteen to talk."
They walked silently for a little while before Wally spoke up.
"Have you ever fancied someone who you didn't think it was a good idea to fancy?"
Hawkgirl just stared at him blankly.
"Uh…well…my friend has this 'thing' for another guy, but the other guy is pretty scary. And he might be in a relationship already."
"So when you say your 'friend' you mean you, right?"
Wally nodded meekly.
"How did I know." She said sarcastically. "Who's the other guy, then?"
"Uh…B-batman?" He replied, almost whispering. Hawkgirl abruptly stopped walking.
"Did I just hear that right?"
"If you heard 'Batman', then…yeah." She turned to him, her eyes wide, hand clutching his arm again.
"Flash, why? Just why?"
"I-I don't know! I just do!" He stammered defensively. "You can't choose who you fancy!"
"I know that, but, Flash, it's just-" She sighed, "-I don't know how Batman will react to this."
"You said you wouldn't tell anyone!"
"He's going to find out at some point. You can't keep this to yourself forever."
"I know. That's why I told you." They started walking towards the canteen again; Hawkgirl was pointedly avoiding his eyes.
"Now that I've told someone, the feelings will go away, right? My mind won't be worrying about them so much anymore."
"Flash…I don't think it's that simple." She looked at him, pity betraying her features. They had reached the canteen. Seeing as it was both too early and too late for any food, they just sat down at a table and resumed talking.
"Do you think I should tell him?" Wally asked a little while later.
"I don't know. I guess it's up to you."
"Have you told GL yet?" The speedster asked, smirking.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yeah you do. Don't deny it!" At this, Hawkgirl made a sort of frustrated growling sound.
"I'm right, aren't I?" He laughed. "You two should get together. You'd be cute."
"Who'd be cute?" A deep voice behind Wally asked. The speedster turned and immediately saw GL standing a few meters away. Hawkgirl's face was white.
"Heh, I'll just leave you guys alone." He said, backing out of the room.
Maybe I should be the Justice League's version of cupid, Wally thought, as he was teleported back down to earth.
He'd probably helped GL and Hawkgirl get together, he could always help out with Wonder Woman and Batman (Although he grimaced at the idea of that) and then he could pair up…Supes and J'onn? He couldn't see that happening. Ah well.
To celebrate his first matchmaking success, he headed towards the direction of Rick's coffee shop. He would've gone there anyway, but it was always nice to find an excuse.
He hadn't had a run this morning, so his legs had practically been aching for some exercise. He did a few laps around the city before finally stopping in front of the familiar building.
Only, it wasn't open. That's weird. It was about four in the afternoon; Rick's shop was always open then.
Wally peered in through the window, the place looked abandoned. The speedster knew for a fact that Rick and his family lived over the top of the shop. They always leave a note on the inside of the door if they are away or on holiday.
Worried, Wally knocked on the door of the house next door. Usually he wouldn't do this, but he was concerned for his friend.
After a few minutes, a young blond woman came to the door. She was cradling a baby and talking on a phone at the same time, the object wedged between her shoulder and ear.
"Yeah. Yeah. Uh-huh. Okay, then. Seeya." She said into the phone. She raised her eyes to the man on her doorstep.
"Hi." Wally grinned at her. He realized, too late, that he was still in his suit. Oh well. That couldn't be helped now.
"Oh my…y-you're Flash!" She said in shock.
"That's me, yeah." They both grinned.
"Can I help you with anything?" The woman asked, still looking slightly dazed.
"Uh yeah, actually. What happened to the shop next door? Did you know the guy, Rick, who owned it? Where is he?"
"Oh. We don't know what happened to him. He just disappeared. I last saw him yesterday. We called the police and everything, but they said he'd probably just gone away for a while."
"Did you see anyone hanging around when he went missing?" The girl thought for a little while, rocking her baby as she did so. Wally was chewing his lip nervously.
"There was a black car outside the shop, right before he went missing."
"Is that all you remember?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry I can't be more help."
"That's okay. Gotta go now." He faked a smile.
"Bye!" She said enthusiastically, typing a number into her phone as she closed the door. Probably telling her friends that she just met me.
The speedster walked slowly away from the door, deep in thought.
Why would anyone want to take Rick? He'd figured out that the people in the black car had taken him; it seemed like the only thing that could've happened. Even if Rick had been called away urgently for some reason, he would still leave some sort of message for his customers.
But again, why Rick? He was a relatively good man, no enemies (The man was too nice) what would men in black cars want with him?
Wally stood outside the shop, gazing in at the darkened room as he thought to himself.
It had to be because he knew something or knew someone that the black cars wanted.
This is all very Sherlock Holmes-y.
Could it be…? No. It wouldn't be, would it? Could Rick have been kidnapped because of Wally? The speedster thought back to all the times where Rick had indicated that he knew who Flash was. Somebody must have been watching him.
Suddenly, Wally was aware. If they had Rick, (and probably his family) then they were looking for Wally. He touched his ear communicator, and contacted the first person he could think of. Batman.
"Bats, I-"
He needed to get home, he needed to…
An arm slid itself around Wally's head, as a cloth soaked in something pressed itself against Wally's nose and mouth.
Everything went black.
Cliffhanger. Because I'm evil like that.