Running through Kansas was wonderful; it was all prairie land and farms. Barry could run as fast as he wanted and not have to worry about too many obstacles. Driving to Kansas, however, was not so fun. Barry had spent the whole trip impatiently tapping the steering wheel and mentally weighing the potential damage of just forgetting about keeping his identity a secret from Wally. At least then he could sprint them both to Smallville – and he'd probably win the battle for Wally's favorite superhero hands down.

Short term gratification – long term hassle.

Thankfully, Wally had discovered the country music stations fifteen minutes into the drive and entertained Barry with his singing. The hours went by quickly after that and soon Barry was pulling into a crowded field that had been repurposed into a makeshift parking lot. Wally had his nose pressed up against the window as he stared at the tall Ferris wheel slowly turning in the distance, "Daddy! Can we go on that?! What is it?"

Barry got out of the car and immediately heard the loud music and steady hum of hundreds of people talking in crowds, "A Ferris wheel. You've been on one before, but you were probably too young to remember it."

"Can we go on that one?" Wally took Barry's hand and tried to pull him towards the fairgrounds ticket booths faster.

"You sure you aren't afraid?" Barry teased him, deliberately moving slowly to make Wally hop around like an excited puppy on a leash. "It's really high up…"

"I'm not scared!" Wally insisted, jumping at Barry to be picked up. "I wanna try it."

"Alright, we can go on it," Barry hefted Wally onto his back and held his legs firmly. He paid for the entry fee and wristbands that gave unlimited rides, kneeling down to fix Wally's around his arm. The kid was practically dancing in place with his eyes glued to the rides and stalls blinking brightly in the evening light. Thankfully, Wally was past the phase where he used to run off without any warning, but Barry still felt a little anxious when he was at places that he could easily lose sight of his son. Wally wasn't a speedster, but he was a fast little thing. He could easily be halfway across the park before Barry even knew he was gone.

He held Wally's hand again just in case he was thinking about taking off, and led him into the fairgrounds. This was what Barry loved about the country: the cool, clean breeze ghosting across his skin and the feel of trampled grass beneath his feet. They made it just across the gates when someone waved at them from the fence.

Wally looked up and tugged on Barry's sleeve to get his attention, "Who's that?"

"I…don't know," Barry squinted to try and see the stranger better, but he couldn't tell who it was from this distance. The man had on a black cowboy hat, plaid shirt, blue jeans, and boots. A suspicious feeling started in Barry's brain and worked its way down to settle heavily in his gut as he got closer and the face became very familiar.

Somehow, it was Hal.

Barry couldn't tear his eyes off of the Stetson hat on his head and the giant belt buckle at his waist. The whole picture was so absurd that as they went up to him, Barry couldn't help himself, "What is that?"

"What's what?" Hal grinned impishly with his arms crossed over his chest and one boot resting on the bottommost board of the fence, knowing full well exactly what Barry was talking about.

"On your head," Barry clarified with a nod to the hat. He released Wally's hand so the child could run over to Hal and clamber up the short fence to sit next to him and hug his arm.

Hal tipped the brim of the cowboy hat with a devilish wink and freed his arm to hook it around Wally, "It's a county fair, isn't it? I'm just blending in."

Barry looked around at all the people passing them by and noted that at least a third of everyone there was wearing a Stetson or some form of cowboy boots. He sighed and had to grudgingly admit that Hal definitely looked like he fit in, even if he was making fun of the style. Of course, that didn't mean that Barry had to condone it. He rested his hands on his hips and laughed a little, "You look ridiculous."

"No I don't. I'm hotter than the hinges of hell," Hal tried to look smug, but the laughter he was holding back burst out and he ended up shrugging. "Whatever that means. I've already had about six gals say that to me since I got here."

Barry could believe that. Hal had his shirt tucked in and the top few buttons left undone. He looked like he'd just walked off the cover of a trashy, western romance novel. Sometimes, Hal was a little too good looking. Barry shook his head and made Hal and Wally get off the fence, "Let me know if you're still happy when someone calls you finer than a frog hair split four ways."

Hal looked disgusted, "What…?"

"Uncle Hal," Wally pulled on his pant leg with a big smile, distracting him from getting any kind of explanation. "I like your hat."

"You do, huh?" Hal knelt down to his height and pulled a smaller cowboy hat out from nowhere and plopped it atop Wally's head with a grin. "That's good, because I got you one too."

Wally nearly lost his mind. He ran around Hal and Barry in a figure eight and grabbed the brim of the hat with both hands, "I'm a cowboy now! Look, look!"

"Alright, Bat Lash," Barry chuckled, snagging Wally's shoulder and pointing down the left side of the fairground's walkway. "Lead on then."

Wally skipped away and headed right for a stall selling hand carved toilet paper dispensers shaped like frogs. He cocked his head at one and frowned intensely as he tried to figure out what it was for. Hal and Barry followed after him at a leisurely pace, focused on keeping him in their sight. Hal jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the front gates and looked at Barry, "Shouldn't we wait for Clark back there?"

"You really think he's gonna have trouble finding us?" Barry sent Hal a wry grin. If Clark could track someone down in the middle of the largest city on the planet, he could locate three people in a farm town festival. He had telescopic vision, a super sense of smell, x-ray vision, and super hearing to use while he was looking for them.

"Good point…" Hal shrugged, probably thinking along the same lines.

"So, what's new with you?" Barry asked in an even, measured tone while they walked. He watched Hal out of the corner of his eye and saw him look up in surprise.

Hal went deer in headlights for a second before collecting himself, "What are you talking about? I'm with you like sixty percent of the week; you already know everything that's going on with me."

"I'm not stupid, Hal," Barry glanced around and moved closer to Hal so he could drop his voice in case anyone close by could overhear them talking. "You haven't mentioned anything about the 'corps' in days. Normally, you never shut up about it. So, what're you trying to hide?"

"You know, sometimes you're really irritatingly smart," He sighed in defeat and stuffed his hands into his pockets, "I'm going to Oa for two weeks at the start of November."

"Oh…" Barry frowned, looking at Wally who was a few yards ahead of them and blissfully unaware that anything was wrong.

Hal absently kicked at the dirt in front of him, eyes downcast, "Yeah… I didn't use to care about leaving the planet for days at a time, but now I feel so guilty about it. I knew it would upset Wally, so I've been putting off telling you."

"Hey, you've got a job to do," Barry shrugged, elbowing Hal in the side with a warm smile. "That's nothing to feel guilty about. We'll just tell Wally you're visiting your own family for a bit."

"He's six," Hal shot him an unconvinced look. "His reasoning skills aren't exactly fully developed yet."

"He'll still be upset no matter what we tell him, but he'll survive," Barry waved off Hal's guilt good-naturedly and tried to lighten the mood. "So, are you going because something bad happened? Is the universe going to fold in on itself at the end of November?"

"No," Hal breathed out in a short laugh. "Nothing like that. There's just a yellow hypergiant star about to go supernova in sector 589 and I got drafted to help out."

Barry took a second to puzzle out how anyone was supposed to 'help out' with something like that. He came up with nothing and decided to be grateful that he only had one planet to worry about, "Right…well, have fun, I guess?"

"Kilowog has assured me that it will be the furthest thing from fun," Hal grumbled.

"So…I should have a carton of ice cream ready for you when you get back?" Barry joked and had to leap away when Hal took a playful swipe at him.

"Daddy!"

They both looked over to see Wally hopping up and down in place and pointing at a small, dragon shaped rollercoaster a few feet away. The track was about the size of a large swimming pool with one hill no taller than a car, and Barry could have sworn that he'd seen the ride at every carnival he'd ever been to. He went up beside Wally and nodded at the entrance line, "Do you wanna try it?"

Wally's eyes were glued to the cars that were styled to look like a serpent. He nodded and raced to get in line, pausing when he noticed that Barry wasn't following him, "Daddy, aren't you gonna go on too?"

"I think I'm a little bit too big for that one, kiddo," Barry laughed and glanced over at the cars. The seats were barely bigger than high chairs. Hal was sniggering beside him and Barry knew he was picturing him stuffed into one of the cars with his knees shoved into his face. "But I'll go on the next one with you, I promise."

"Go ahead," Hal slung an arm around Barry's neck and wiped at some of the tears that had sprung up in his eyes from laughing too hard. "Your dad and I will wait right here for you."

Wally popped into the line and was secured onto the ride on the next go round. Barry and Hal migrated to the black iron fence that had been erected around the perimeter of the track and leaned on it to wait. The coaster started moving, and Wally waved at them both frantically from the front seat. Lots of other parents waved back at their own kids from various points around the gate, some taking pictures and videos. Barry was just content to stand in silence and watch his son having a good time, but Hal leaned against his shoulder and sighed, "You should keep talking."

"About what?" Barry turned his head to the side and frowned at Hal in confusion.

"I dunno. Anything," he shrugged. "I just like hearing you talk."

"What? Why?" Barry cocked an eyebrow at him, idly noticing that they were attracting a few stares from the people walking past.

"I like hearing your accent," Hal explained like it was obvious. "It's very calming."

Barry didn't understand, "I don't have an accent."

Hal suddenly tore his eyes from the dragon coaster going around the track for the fourth time and looked at Barry like his face was missing, "Yes you do. It's a little one, but you've got that sexy Midwestern drawl going on."

Barry's eyes bugged out. He hadn't expected Hal to say that, "Uh….what?"

"Don't be like that. I can appreciate a nice accent," Hal shrugged it off with a weird sort of grin. Was that him being defensive? Why? He laughed and it didn't sound as light as it usually did. "Haven't any of your female coworkers said anything to you about it before?"

The question very quickly and inexplicably made Barry feel extremely uncomfortable. He rubbed the back of his neck and shifted his weight from foot to foot, "I haven't noticed."

"Noticed what they said, or noticed them?" Hal asked slyly, his voice sounding abruptly normal again. Maybe Barry had just imagined the awkwardness.

"Them," Barry answered quietly, getting even more uncomfortable with the road this topic was going down. "I never had a reason to pay attention."

"And now?" Hal asked carefully.

Barry was silent for a long time. He stared down at his hands resting on the fence and thought about a certain coworker of his that had been overly friendly to him the last few months. "Well, there's one…"

Hal perked up in surprise, knocking his hat askew on his head, "Oh yeah? Who is she?"

"Patty Spivot. She works forensics with me," Barry agitatedly tapped his fingers against the railing. "I'm not interested, but…she definitely seems to be…"

"Hmm…" Hal didn't say anything at first. Barry couldn't tell what he was thinking about either. Was he upset? Worried? Eager for Barry to get a date? Or something else…? He leaned on his elbows and clasped his hands together, "Y'know…it's been two years since Iris passed. That's not too soon to start dating again. It may not be a bad idea to give it a go."

Barry felt himself shut down in mental self-defense before the throbbing pain in his chest could get any worse. He took a deep breath of cool air and said the first thing that came to him, even though he wasn't entirely sure if it was true or not, "It's too soon for me."

Hal seemed to know immediately that he'd upset him; he dropped the sympathetic look and straightened up. The ride made its last circuit and started to slow down, so Barry tried to keep the grief off his face and smile so that Wally wouldn't know anything was wrong.

"Do you think I could pull off a southern or midwestern accent?"

Barry studied him for a moment, taken off guard by the reverse subject change. Immediately, his brain started to imagine Hal speaking with a southern twang and he breathed out in a laugh, "Not at all."

Hal looked comically crestfallen for a moment, and Barry raised an eyebrow at him, "You really like my accent that much?"

"Uh, yeah," Hal said like it was obvious. He grinned at Barry. "I wish I could program my ring so that it had your voice when it spoke instead of the weird computer one it has now. In fact… Ring, can I do that?"

"Affirmative," the ring's tinny voice said passively.

The resulting manic grin that bloomed across Hal's face could have lit up the whole fairgrounds, "Oh, do it then!"

"Not here!" Barry clapped both hands over the Lantern ring and shoved it into Hal's chest, glancing around at the people near them to see if any of them had overheard. "What's wrong with you?!"

"You two look cozy."

Hal and Barry both looked behind them to find Clark standing a few feet away. He was dressed casually with his fake glasses on and smiling like he was trying not to laugh. Barry glanced down at how he and Hal were gripping each other's hands. He tried to let go at the same time that Hal hooked a leg around his thigh and tossed a suggestive wink at Clark, "Jealous? Get your own speedster."

Barry pushed him over and sighed in exasperation, "Oh my God, I can't take you anywhere…"

Clark laughed and steadied Hal before he fell on his ass, "Glad you three could make it out."

His eyes studied Hal's attire curiously as if he'd just noticed what he was wearing, and Barry decided that he wasn't going to make any excuses for him, "I didn't think we'd beat you here."

"Sorry. I stopped by Rhode Island before I headed over," Clark said apologetically. "J'onn finished the zeta wave transport and he wanted my help testing it out."

"You didn't try it on yourself, did you?" Hal looked Clark up and down like he was searching him for injuries. It was funny how he was nearly invulnerable, yet they still worried about Clark getting hurt.

"No, we used an orange," the Kryptonian shook his head.

Barry's interest was piqued. His scientific side took over and he inched closer, "And it worked? How did the orange come out?"

Oh man, if they'd finally cracked zeta teleportation, then the possibilities were endless!

"Uh…it was frozen," Clark told them reluctantly.

Hal frowned at him in alarm, "Come time for human testing, I'm not going first."

Barry deflated a little. Well, that was disappointing. True, zeta transport wouldn't really help him out all that much – Barry could run faster than he could be teleported – but it was still an exciting technological achievement.

"Mr. Giant!" Wally exclaimed happily as he came running out of the ride's exit gate. He tripped over his own feet and stumbled to regain his balance. Barry almost had to physically restrain himself from zipping over to catch him. That had to be one of the hardest parts of keeping his identity a secret from his son.

"Hi, Wally," Clark smiled down at him brightly. He stooped over with his hands on his knees and was still several feet taller than Wally. "Are you having fun?"

"Yeah!" he grinned, bouncing in place and teeming with energy.

"Where do you want to go next?" Barry was content to let Wally lead them around the park all night. This was the first time he was going to be able to remember going to a carnival.

Wally turned around in a circle, looking a bit lost. He tried standing on his tippy toes, but it didn't appear to help his decision making any. It probably had something to do with him being hip height to almost everyone in the ever moving crowd.

"Here, let me help you out," Clark lifted Wally up and set him on his shoulders so that he could have a better view of everything around him.

Wally grabbed fistfuls of Clark's messy black hair and held on for dear life. His big green eyes were wide with surprise and a little bit of fear, but that cleared up after a few seconds. Wally gasped at the new vantage point and leaned over to look at Clark upside down, "I can see the whole world from up here!"

Clark burst out laughing at the hidden irony there and just nodded, "Well, maybe you'll be as tall as I am one day – but only if you eat a lot of vegetables."

"That was clever," Hal said dryly, arms crossed in front of his chest like he was bored. "But unnecessary. Wally will eat anything – vegetables included."

Wally was resting all of his weight against the back of Clark's head and beaming proudly, "I'm a garbage can!"

Clark looked to Hal for an explanation, but he didn't look up to admitting that he regularly called a child a garbage can. Barry sighed, "It's said fondly, I promise. Hal and I were all ready for Wally to start fighting us with the whole vegetable thing, but I don't think he cares what's on his plate. We're pretty lucky."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Barry realized how much they made it sound like he and Hal were raising Wally together. Well…with as often as Hal was in Central City, they kind of were raising Wally equal amounts. But, it sounded like he and Hal were together.

Clark and Wally didn't seem to have noticed anything odd about what he said, but Hal dropped his eyes and stared down at his feet like he was thinking. He shifted his weight uncomfortably and remained quiet. Barry contemplated rephrasing, and his mind sped through a hundred different ways to word it, but if he hadn't meant anything by it then there was no reason to clarify. Right? Hal might not have even been thinking about what he said.

"Well, what do you think, Wally?" Clark turned in a circle so that he could have a panoramic view of the fairgrounds. "See anything that looks interesting? Just tell me where to go."

Wally squinted across the stalls, attractions, booths, and games. He perked up suddenly and pointed over Clark's head at a fast spinning ride straight ahead, "The Scrambler!"

For the most part, Wally was good with the rides. He only got a little wobbly when they ended, but he was fully recovered after a few seconds of stumbling. Barry, Hal, and Clark were all used to extreme velocities and dizzying maneuvers, so the rides were a cakewalk compared to super powered combat. Surprisingly, Wally held his own just as well. He seemed to have a stomach of iron; he never got nauseous even after nine rides in a row. In fact, he seemed to get even more energetic, like he fed off of the high it gave him.

He was going to be a thrill junkie when he got older.

Barry was carrying Wally a good distance ahead of Hal and Clark. They were speaking in hushed tones about Batman's latest project. Apparently, one headquarters firmly rooted to the ground wasn't enough for him. Bruce was drawing up schematics for a space station that would orbit the Earth and serve as the Justice League's new, more efficient base of operations.

In theory, Barry could see the benefits. The League was steadily growing – just last year they'd welcomed two Thanagarians into the ranks: Hawkman and Hawkwoman. Five months ago, a skilled magician named Giovanni Zatara accepted their invitation as well. Right now, the League had eleven members, but in a few more years the cave at Mount Justice would be too small. So, more space was definitely needed, but a whole satellite just seemed excessive. Besides, who was going to pay for it? Not even Bruce could take on the financial burden by himself, and the rest of them weren't exactly billionaires – not counting Ollie.

Barry had a good amount saved up, but the majority of it was for Wally's college fund. Plus, he didn't think a few thousand would even put a dent into it.

The League would have to accept funding from private sources and governments, which meant that those benefactors would expect favors and special treatment. Barry wasn't okay with selling his attention as the Flash to the person with the biggest pocketbook. Fortunately, he saw the others reacting the same way.

Wally suddenly started giggling hysterically and it snapped Barry out of his daze. He looked back at Wally and followed his eyes to what he was looking at. Off to the side, there was a ring of padded mats surrounding a mechanical bull. The machine bucked violently and launched the poor sap clinging onto it heels over head. He flew a good few feet and landed on his back with a strangled gasp and a muffled 'whump'.

It set Wally off again and he could barely breathe from laughing so hard. Barry smiled and changed direction so they could stand with the crowd watching. Another person stepped up to try and was on the ground after just three seconds.

Hal and Clark caught up with them just as the crowd was chuckling at the fall. Wally accidentally kneed Barry in the kidney as he was scrambling to get down, "Daddy! I wanna go!"

An image of tiny Wally being flung completely over the fence flashed across Barry's eyes, and he reached out to grab him before he got even a foot away, "No way."

"Please…?" Wally twisted around and shot puppy dog eyes up at Barry.

"No," Barry gave a short laugh over how ridiculous the idea was. No amount of cute looks would convince him to let Wally do something like that. "You'll break your neck. That is not gonna happen. Not today."

"Aww…" Wally didn't press it any more.

"Why don't you try it, Hal?" Clark sent Hal a sly grin once the ride's operator started walking the perimeter, trying to goad people into volunteering.

Hal eyed the bull with a derisive sort of smirk and laughed, "Uh…no."

Clark suddenly put on an understanding face and nodded. He leaned in like it was a secret and slapped Hal on the shoulder, "Oh, sorry. I get it."

"Get what?" Hal narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. Barry just stayed silent and tried to keep his expression neutral as he watched Clark play Hal like a fiddle.

"That you're too scared," Clark clarified gracefully like he didn't know exactly how Hal was going to react to that. "It's okay. I've been coming too this fair since I was eleven. That bull has always been pretty intimidating."

Hal gasped in disbelief like Clark had just delivered unto him an unforgivable insult, "I'm not 'scared'!"

"Hal, it's okay," Clark smiled kindly. This only made Hal angrier.

"I am a Gr…pilot!" Hal stuttered to correct himself before he gave away his identity. "I'm fearless!"

"Oh…" Clark acted like he had a sudden epiphany, and Barry burst out laughing. He couldn't hold it in anymore. Clark just nodded sagely and stayed silent while Hal did a very good impression of a pot boiling over.

"I know what you're doing," Hal scowled at them both. "You're not getting me on that bull. It's just country."

Clark and Barry didn't say a word.

Hal continued to glare at them both like a madman and Barry could almost see his nerves snapping. He gave an angry sigh of frustration and jabbed a finger at Clark's nose, "You are a jerk."

He stomped off towards the mechanical bull, fishing around in his pocket for a five. He slapped the bill into the operator's hand, and the man hollered loudly, "We've got a taker here, folks!"

Clark leaned in to Barry, laughing, "Why does he always feel like he has to prove himself? It's almost too easy."

"I think it's a pilot thing," Barry eyed Hal fondly as he climbed on top of the bull. Wally was excitedly cheering for Hal, pulling himself up the fence as far as Barry would allow.

The operator sat down at the controls and smirked at Hal's cockiness, "Alright, here are the rules: hold on with one hand only. Five bucks gets you three turns. Each round gets worse and worse. If you fall off, you lose. Stay on for ten seconds, and you win. Sound easy enough?"

"Yeah, yeah," Hal gripped the leather loop at the front of the saddle and dug his heels into the sides.

Barry chewed his lip with an absent smile. He didn't know why, but Hal looked ridiculously good like that – all angry and determined with a cowboy hat on.

"No one's ever won this thing."

He looked over at Clark quizzically and took in the crossed arms and anticipatory grin, "What?"

"I've been coming here since I was eleven," Clark repeated from earlier. "I've never seen a single person pass the third round."

Barry eyed him suspiciously and jerked his head towards Hal, "This is revenge for him showboating last week in Metropolis, isn't it?"

"Maybe a little…" Clark's smile tightened as he tried not to give himself away.

"Alright, we're gonna start slow since you're a beginner," the operator taunted Hal and flipped the switch. The mechanical bull lurched once as it started up and then rocked back and forth gently as it turned in a slow circuit.

Everyone started laughing except for Wally, who was still cheering his head off. Hal kept his seat with no effort, shooting Barry and Clark the evil eye every time he was turned their way. Ten seconds went by, and the operator positioned his hand over one of the knobs, "You ready for round two?"

"Bring it," Hal ground out through clenched teeth.

The bull hurtled forwards violently and Hal was nearly flung off. His eyes widened and he gripped the saddle with his legs immediately. It continued to buck and spin around erratically, but Hal did a pretty good job staying on. His hat flew off right away and joined the other hats littering the ground beneath like trophies. Hal made it the full ten seconds again, and all the warning he got for round three was a 'hold on tight'.

This time, the bull lurched sideways at breakneck speed and Hal tumbled off after only a second. He landed in a sprawl and just stared up at the sky like it hadn't quite registered in his head what had happened.

The crowd started clapping, and Clark could barely stand because of how hard he was laughing. Hal stumbled off the mat in a bewildered daze and went up to Barry unsteadily, "I…didn't expect it to do that…"

Barry patted him on the back and pointed at the buried hat, "You did really well, but…I think your hat is trapped forever."

Hal waved off that it wasn't important and tried to catch his breath. Wally patted his knee with a consoling look on his face, "It's okay, Uncle Hal. You're still the best."

He couldn't help but smile as Wally tried to comfort him, "You're so sweet. But, there's a real crime here. Mr. Giant set me up."

Wally gasped and whipped around to give Clark an angry, disappointed frown.

Clark couldn't even bring himself to look guilty. Barry took over and gestured for Hal to take Wally on ahead, "There's no 'crime', trust me. Go find something else you want to do."

Mollified, Wally took Hal's hand and dragged him on ahead to another part of the park. This time, they hit up all of the game booths. When Barry and Clark caught up to them, Hal was nearly finished with his retaliation. He'd won Wally a giant, inflatable hammer that squeaked whenever it hit anything. Barry was very disturbingly reminded of Harley Quinn. Hal also had a four foot tall green elephant for Barry and about seven other brightly colored stuffed animals that he made Clark carry around.

"His name is Pythagoras," Wally patted the elephant's trunk as he handed it to Barry.

The whole time, Hal just kept his free hands on his hips and a cocky smirk on his face as he watched Barry and Clark struggle to move around with all the bulky animals.

A big stage in the center of the fair grabbed Wally's attention next, and he wandered over to it. A wide banner hung over a long buffet length table reading '104th Annual Harvest Festival Rib Eating Contest'. Five large men were already sitting at the table facing the gathered crowd. Wally cocked his head and glanced back at Barry, "What's happening over there?"

"Smallville's rib eating contest," Clark answered for him. "All the barbeque restaurants in the county donate ribs every year and the entry fees go to a different charity each time."

"An eating contest…" Wally took a minute to process that, just staring at the stage with wide eyes.

"Do you have to eat fast or a lot?" Hal inquired passively. He had his hands in his pockets and was standing so close to Barry that their shoulders were tightly pressed together. Barry didn't look at Hal and tried to ignore the heat radiating off of him. For some reason, his memory pulled up the feeling of Hal's leg curling around his own. Barry stiffened up in surprise and tried to act normal. But what was normal? Pulling away? Staying where he was? He started to imagine Hal reaching out and curling his arm around Barry instead.

"Both," Clark laughed.

"Can I enter?" Wally asked in an awed voice. He'd clearly never heard of an eating contest before in his life and the idea of one was new and appealing.

Barry looked at the grown men already entered in the contest and then down at his skinny little son. Some of their arms were bigger around than Wally's waist. "Umm…I'm not sure, kiddo."

"Is there an age limit?" Hal asked Clark.

"I don't think so," he shrugged. "I can't see anyone minding, though. They'd probably think it was cute."

"Alright," Barry said skeptically, turning his attention back to Wally. "Do you really want to do this? Some of those guys up there probably have a better chance of winning. Will you be alright if you lose?"

Wally nodded happily, "I can wipe the floor with those guys."

Hal slapped a hand over his mouth and muffled a snort. Barry tousled Wally's hair and waved towards the stage with a sigh, "Let's go sign you up then."

Wally was a bouncing ball of energy the whole way to the sign-up booth, and he kept shyly checking the steadily filling bleachers by the stage. Barry filled out the entry form and paid the fee while the helpers pinned a number eight to Wally's shirt. They were all smiling and giggling over him entering the contest and one even took his hand and led him up to his spot at the table. Barry went to the bleachers where Hal and Clark had grabbed a place and waited for it to begin.

Wally was seated between an older man that looked to be in his fifties and another who had to be at least three hundred pounds. He just looked so tiny up there. They had to bring him a booster seat, otherwise his head barely cleared the table. Barry rested his chin on his fist and sighed, "I can't believe I'm letting him do this. I'm such an awful parent – he's gonna be so sick later…"

Hal slung an arm casually around Barry's shoulders, "It's not like it's a knife eating contest, Bear. Lighten up. Sometimes you've gotta let the kid learn the hard way."

"Are you gonna stick around for the clean up?" Barry grumbled, referring to the unavoidable vomiting that would soon be occurring. It was his favorite comeback whenever Hal said anything like that.

"Of course," he grinned. "I practically live at your house anyways. Mopping up barf can be my rent."

"I don't understand your friendship…" Clark was looking at them sideways with a strange expression on his face.

"That's alright, because I don't either," Barry leaned on his knees. Wally was trying to tie on a bib himself, giving up after a few seconds and stuffing the top half into his collar. He was happily chattering away at the older man on his right.

"People get really into this rib contest, huh?" Hal was looking behind them and all around at the people filling up the stands and eagerly talking amongst themselves.

"It's a farming community," Clark was nodding. "Fairs like this are a big deal."

When all the contestants were on the stage, a young woman stepped out with a microphone and addressed the contestants, "Alright, looks like we're ready to start!"

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A big cheer went up all around, and Hal resisted the urge to laugh at the man yeehawing in front of him. This was so country bumpkin – it was great. He shifted in his seat while the announcer explained the rules – eating contest, yadda yadda, gotta clean your plate first to win, yadda yadda – and his back spasmed painfully. Well, not everything was great. He was going to have to get Barry to pop his spine when they got home. Throwing out his back and he wasn't even thirty yet…damn, he felt old.

Barry's knee bumped against his, and electricity shot up Hal's leg. It wasn't painful – Barry often carried a static charge and he'd accidentally shock other people, but never Hal. It just felt like a hot sort of tingle, and it wasn't unpleasant at all. In fact, Hal found himself using any excuse to brush against Barry or throw an arm around him so he could feel it again. It was highly embarrassing and no one was ever going to know about it.

Several people started bringing out huge, hub cap sized platters of ribs and setting them in front of each contestant. Hal burst out laughing when Wally got his plate and it was taller than him. Water, buckets for the bones, and big rolls of paper towels got passed out, and then the countdown began. The crowd joined in around ten and a big buzzer went off when they reached zero.

All twelve contestants immediately dug in, grabbing ribs in both hands and going to town. Hal couldn't tell how Wally was doing until he saw clean bones being tossed over the pile into his bucket. There was at least one bone going in every three seconds. The other contestants weren't even going half as fast. Wally quickly tore through the top half of his plate and Hal watched in open-mouthed awe as soon as he could actually see the kid. Somehow, he was just sticking the whole rib in his mouth and pulling it out completely stripped of meat.

Beside Hal, Barry looked equally stunned. He was slowly shaking his head in disbelief, "You'd think I don't feed him or something…"

Wally just kept chowing down with single-minded efficiency. Both grown men on either side of him were starting to notice now and they kept glancing over at him in alarm every few seconds. Hal narrowed his eyes at Wally's focused little face, "Where is he putting it all…? He can't weigh more than 40 pounds."

"Oh, he's just healthy. I ate like a horse when I was his age," Clark didn't seem surprised at all. "Ma always threatened to stick me in the ground and just water me like a plant."

Barry laughed out loud suddenly, and both Hal and Clark sent him odd looks. He chuckled for a bit until he noticed them staring, and then he stopped and stared back cautiously, "…It's funny…cause y'know, he gets his powers from the yellow sun…and plants need it…for photosynthesis… What – nothing? I thought it was funny…"

"You're such an adorable little science nerd," Hal grinned at Barry. "I love it."

Barry went a little red around the ears and straightened up in his seat. His response made Hal's heart beat faster and for some reason, it was no longer okay to be touching. He moved his leg away, pretending like it was just because he was hooking it over the other, and focused all his attention on the race again.

Wally was almost done with his plate by now. He only had seven ribs to go and everyone else was leagues behind him.

"He's actually winning…" Hal murmured, very calm in contrast with the spectators going wild over a six year old beating grown men in an eating contest.

Wally finished off his last rib and plunked it into the bucket with a triumphant little smile. He kept his barbeque sauce covered hands just off the table like he didn't know what to do with them and looked around patiently until the judge stopped the contest to declare him the winner. The announcer quickly dashed over to him and raised Wally's arm above his head in victory, "And contestant number eight is our winner! I don't believe it! What's your name, sweetie?"

"Wally…" he spoke into the mic shyly and then perked up like he'd just thought of something. He waved excitedly at the crowd with a big smile on his barbeque smeared face. "Hi, Daddy!"

The crowd went 'Aww' all at once, and Hal snuck a glance at Barry. He was just smiling, looking like his heart was melting.

They put a small medal around Wally's neck and marched him off stage as everyone clapped. Once the crowd dispersed enough for Barry and Hal to move, they went to collect him. He was dancing in place when they got to him and ignoring the efforts of one of the helpers who was trying to clean him up, "Did you see? Did you see? I told you I could do it!"

"We saw," Barry carefully picked him up and started wiping the sauce off his face himself. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Mmhmm," Wally nodded easily.

"Not gonna be sick?"

"Uh-uh," he shook his head.

"He's a bottomless pit," Hal ruffled Wally's fiery orange locks proudly.

"Can we go on the Ferris wheel now?" Wally asked them both immediately, not deterred in the slightest by how full he was.

Hal glanced over his shoulder at where the ride was. The sky was dark enough now that the decorations on the wheel shone like Christmas lights. It was turning slowly enough that it wouldn't upset Wally's stomach. "Kid, I think after that, you can do pretty much whatever you want."

Barry didn't say anything to indicate agreement, but he kept a strangely wooden smile on his face. Hal was just about to ask him what was wrong when Clark leaned close and put a hand on his shoulder, "Sorry, guys. I need to take off early. There's a… 'big story' in Metropolis I need to look into."

Subtle way to say that he had to go stop one of his villains from rampaging around the city. Hal flexed his ring hand meaningfully, "Need any help?"

"I've got it covered," Clark gave him a wink. "It should be a quick write up, but thanks."

Man, they were gonna be in trouble when Wally grew up and started poking holes into their excuses.

"Bye, Giant Man," Wally said quickly after a nudge from Barry. "Thank you for inviting us."

"You're welcome," he waved before heading off toward somewhere secluded to change into his uniform. "Enjoy the rest of the night."

"Thanks, Clark," Barry waved him off.

"Ferris wheel?" Wally whispered eagerly, jumping in Barry's arms.

"Yeah, it's time for Ferris wheel," Hal laughed, and they started towards the edge of the park. "But I think that should be the last ride tonight – just in case those ribs decide to come back up."

Wally bobbled along singing a Ferris wheel song he'd made up on the spot, but Barry was strangely silent the whole way. His blue eyes were fixed on the giant wheel and he barely even blinked as they made their way to the line. Wally jumped down and ran to the queue, but Barry grabbed Hal's arm to hold him back, "Hey…"

"What's up?" Hal stopped and frowned at the suddenly raw look on Barry's face. He looked like he was in pain.

"Would you mind going on with Wally by yourself?" Barry asked quietly.

"Sure…" Hal answered cluelessly. "But, why?"

"The uh…Ferris wheel…" Barry nodded toward the ride apprehensively. He struggled to speak and took a deep breath. "I…asked Iris to marry me on one."

Hal's stomach dropped into his feet and then the pained look on Barry's face made sense. "Oh…"

Wally stopped at the end of the line and looked back when he realized they weren't behind him. He waved for them and Hal held up one finger to signal for him to wait. He turned back to Barry and thought hard about what to do. The Ferris wheel was obviously the trigger to an intensely painful memory, but Hal didn't want his friend to be haunted by something this heavy any longer. So, he put on his most confident, reassuring grin and held out his hand to Barry, "Come on."

The speedster looked hesitant for a moment. His eyes flickered between the wheel, Wally, and Hal lightning fast and he carefully reached out to place his hand in Hal's.

He pulled Barry over to Wally and the three of them got into their own pod when it came around. Wally took one side for himself and immediately stood up on his knees to see better once they started moving. Barry was like a stone, keeping his eyes on the floor of the car and staying utterly still. Hal discreetly covered Barry's hand with his own again, lightly squeezing his fingers to coax them out of the fist they were curled into.

Barry's head turned towards him in surprise, but Hal didn't know what to say so he looked away. Barry didn't try to free his hand and the stiffness gradually went away as the ride went on. Wally talked the whole time, but Hal barely heard a word he was saying. He was too focused on the electricity surging up the bones in his arm and the way Barry's tense muscles started to relax.

By the end of the ride, Barry was smiling, and Hal had a hard time tearing his eyes away from him.