Fastest Man Alive

Froze in the Moment

Early the next day Chelsea woke up unusually early. Once or twice a week she usually went into the rec room and did some hand-eye coordination training or practiced her combat on a punching bag. She wandered to the monitor room, and almost instantly after, Batman walked in from the landing bay. When he laid eyes on her he felt an unusual ache coming from his chest. She was still as beautiful as ever dressed in her shorts and a tank top, like she still hadn't changed out of her pajamas yet, "Good morning, Batman." she said cheerfully.

His reflex caused a small, unnoticeable smile to appear on his face, "Why are you up so early?" he asked.

"I had a rough night trying to sleep," she shrugged, "I could actually use your help on something. You mind me borrowing some of your time?" she wondered.

"What do you need?" he replied.

Chelsea lead him to the rec room. He glanced around, "Wally is the one to ask for games," he told her.

Chelsea shook her head, "I want you to help me train some. I've been having Wally help me with my speed and accuracy. You're the best physical fighter on the team so I thought I'd ask you for some pointers."

He stared at her thoughtfully. He never thought it'd be rough on him to throw a punch at anyone, but the idea of taking a chance of actually hurting her didn't tickle his fancy. His tongue ran across his teeth, "Alright." he agreed.

The two started to spar with each other. Neither of them using their full strength. He would teach her a better way to avoid certain moves and even more so showed her how to counter almost any blow. As she went to throw a punch at him, he grabbed her arm and jerked her forward, bringing their faces very close together. Chelsea stared up into his eyes, and he hesitantly pulled away, turning his back on her.

"Hey sweetheart," she murmured, "You alright?"

His heart cracked, "Peachy." he exhaled.

She came around to his front and half-smiled, "I really appreciate you helping me, Batman. I think out of everyone here, you need this the most." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and embraced him firmly. It took everything out of him not to hold her. He felt his head lean against hers momentarily, but fought back the urge.

Without another word he exited the room. Chelsea sighed and leaned against the ball rack, which was very stupid for the fact that, it had wheels. She fell flat on her back, making sure to catch her head so it wouldn't smack the hardwood floor. Wally walked in shortly after to find her laying on the ground.

"Playing a new game?" he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded, "It's called Gravity is a Bitch…"

He laughed and helped her to her feet, "I remember when I first learned how to stand." he said sarcastically.

She shook her head and tossed a ball at him, "Always have an answer for everything, huh Wal?"

"I was wondering if you had an answer for me," he grinned, catching her pass with ease.

"Hmm?" she asked, not sure what he was talking about.

"I actually had the perfect idea. Riddle me this, Batman," he joked, tossing the ball back to her, "Who's the Gotham Knights playing tonight?"

Chelsea thought about it, "The Central Comets," she said, then smirked. Noticing what he was getting at, "Ah, my team versus your team, eh?"

"Now," he started, catching the ball as she passed it back to him, "I have two tickets to the game tonight… and if I recall, if I'm doing my math right," he started drawing in the air with his right index finger, "Carry the two… ah yep," he nodded, "there's two of us."

She laughed at his cheesy humor, "I think you're correct."

"So," he appeared in front of her instantly, brushing some hair back behind her ear, "Can I take you?" his tone was serious.

Chelsea's expression softened, "I'd love to go with you Wally. It sounds like a great time."

"Awesome," he acted like he was wiping sweat away from his brow, "I was actually really nervous about that for some reason."

She snickered at him and kissed him on the cheek, "You're adorable." she pushed the basketball against his belly, "come on, I'll cook you some breakfast. I know you love pancakes."

"Your pancakes? I could eat them like clockwork," he admitted, following her out of the rec room, tossing the basketball over his shoulder.

Bruce was doing some routine paperwork in the monitor room for J'onn while he rested. He was trying to keep himself busy so he wouldn't think about what just happened with Chelsea, but she never left his mind. Clark approached Bruce, and leaned against the wall, "So I heard someone had a date a couple days ago?"

Bruce's stare was rigid and cold. His eyes went back down to the paper as he started to translate information from graphs and diagrams into written word.

"Bad time?" Clark asked, "Look, I know you've got a thing for her. The others don't see it. Heck, I'm not even sure she does, but I know you. You know I do, and you-" he paused when Batman looked back at him. His cold stare even gave the Man of Steel chills.

"Whatever idiotic ideas you were about to purpose, I suggest you bite your tongue," Bruce growled.

Clark sighed, "Alright," he should have known better than to try to have a normal conversation with someone so incapable of doing so. Bruce was lucky Chelsea put up with his temperament. Not many people had the energy to even try, "but just so you know…" he thought it was necessary to give him a head's up, "Wally's asking her out sometime today… to go to a football game I think…"

Bruce's hand stopped moving across the page, leaving a deeper, wider ink mark where he stopped. He didn't say a word. He just stared at the page. Sure, nothing between her and Bruce was exclusive, but it had only been a couple days. Did he really leave such a fleeting impression on her? The way their evening ended. He probably made her feel awful. He started to rub his forehead and exhaled deeply.

Clark patted Bruce on the shoulder and wandered off. It was best to let working Bats concentrate. They had a mutual understanding of one another. And despite what Bruce would say, he had Clark's back the same way Clark had his.

"You ready?" asked Chelsea.

"Lay it on me." replied Wally. She used some fancy spatula work to flip three pancakes over her shoulder. He caught them all with ease, "Oh baby," he said, splashing them with syrup. This was already his fifth serving, but Chelsea never seemed to mind making an extended amount of food for him. She understood that with how his body functioned he needed the excessive amount of calorie intake to sustain a healthy metabolism. Chelsea sat down at the bar across from him and started to eat her pancakes.

"Man, that game is going to be great tonight," Chelsea reflected on it, taking a bite of her food, "Thanks for inviting me."

"There's no one I'd rather spend the evening with," it was the truth. Now that Wally was consciously aware of his feelings for her, he wanted to spend all of his time with her. Would any other girl make him pancakes? They probably wouldn't know how. And they definitely wouldn't understand why he needed so many. Would another girl play video games with him and watch old movies with him every Friday night? Perhaps, but not the way Chelsea did it. No one even came close to comparing to her in his life. He wanted her to feel the same way about him.

Chelsea wondered what the others would think. Going on a date with someone you work with all day and every day. It might make the others worry. Then again nothing was official yet. It was just a date. They weren't boyfriend and girlfriend. Plus if someone decided to rag on her she'd just mention the odd chemistry going on between Hawkgirl and GL no one else seemed to notice.

The hours ticked by and the game was fastly approaching. Unlike her last date Chelsea didn't struggle with what to wear as much. Going out on a date with Wally was like going on a date with her best friend. She wasn't all that nervous about it. She honored him with the same respect she gave Bruce and wore enough make-up to enhance her features. For clothes, she tossed on her favorite Gotham Knight's jersey. Their colors were black and blue. She wore a pair of jeans with black converse to complete the look. She put her hair up in a long cascading ponytail and slipped her matching cap on her head.

As she started for her door she saw there had been a note slipped under it, "Meet me at the ice cream parlor in thirty. -Wally."

She thought that was strange. Why couldn't they just fly down to Earth together and walk to the stadium. That's when it hit her that when it came to the Flash, walking wasn't exactly his style. What was he up to? She entered the monitor room to say goodbye to everyone before she left.

Clark looked her up and down, "Well don't you look cute?" she looked pretty, even in her oversized jersey.

"Go Gotham Knights!" she cheered, with a smile.

"You look excited," Diana said, crossing her arms.

"Pumped," she nodded.

"Where's Wally?" John Stewart asked.

"I don't know. He's being all secretive. Told me to meet him at our ice cream place here in a bit." She shrugged.

"Are you nervous? Isn't this your first official date with him?" asked Diana, her eyes flickering over to Batman who watched them all quietly.

"Eh, it's Wally." Chelsea wasn't worried. They always spent time together.

"Yeah, but it's date Wally," teased Hawkgirl nudging at her.

Chelsea didn't look at it that way, "I guess I'm going to find out." she laughed, "I'll see you guys later tonight."

"Or maybe you won't." Hawkgirl said again with a raise and lower of her eyebrows. John laughed at her expression.

Her hand grazed the back of Batman's shoulders when she went by, "See ya Batman. Have a safe trip back home if I don't see you." She turned back to everyone and waved, "See ya guys!" she yelled, "Oh! and Shayera! Don't think I don't know about those late night swims with Johnny cake!" with that left hanging in the air she was gone.

Green Lantern's and Hawkgirl's faces glowed red with embarrassment.

Clark came over to Bruce and patted him on the back again, "How're you holding up?"

Batman looked up at Clark in a way he never had before: pained. It pained him to let her walk out. It pained him to think of her with another man; especially Wally West! "If he hurts her…" Batman murmured, "he'd better run as far from me as he can."

Chelsea walked into the ice cream parlor right on the dot. Flying there took about fifteen minutes, at least at the speed she took. When she came in she looked around and didn't spot Wally. Perhaps he was running late? The irony continued to bubble inside her head as she curiously walked around the parlor, "You meeting someone here?" asked a familiar voice. So Wally was here. When she turned around though she didn't see a guy in a red suit with a lightning bolt on his chest. Instead she saw a guy with short red hair, a familiar smirk, and Comets gear on. He stood up from the both and opened his arms, "So what do you think?"

"Wally?" she asked, shocked he revealed his true identity to her. That took a lot of trust.

"Wally West," he corrected, and pulled her into an embrace, "I'm glad you came."

Chelsea rested her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around his body. She had never noticed before just how muscular his frame was. He wasn't built like Batman or Superman or even Green Lantern. Wally's limbs were long, tight, and powerful. Wally was, just Wally. He was goofy, sweet, and had the heart of a lion. She pulled away from him, "Come on, we're going to be late for the game."

He laughed at her logic, "Please," he shook his head, "I haven't been late to anything since detention of senior year in high school."

The game was about to start. When they found their seats they sat down. Wally rested his arm on the back of Chelsea's chair, "Are you excited or what?" he asked, pumping her up.

"I'm so excited," she snickered, "Your team is going down." she taunted with a wink.

"Just saying," he raised his hand in defense, "We're surrounded by more red."

"The Comets are at home. What do you expect?" Chelsea shook her head and watched the pregame festivities. When she turned back to Wally he already had a bucket of popcorn and a hotdog half eaten. She reached in the bucket for some popcorn and smiled at him. With his free hand he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in close. She looked adorable in her Knights gear. His fingers swirled through her long ponytail, as he admired the softness of her hair.

When the game started, a bad call was already made on the Knights, "BS call!" Chelsea said to Wally, "Bunch of cheaters with homefield advantage. Even the refs are rigged!"

He chuckled at her enthusiasm. Her passion for the things she loved could not be topped, "Just because the refs made the right call doesn't mean you have the right to get mad at them and be biased." he retorted.

She pointed to the instant replay, "It's as clear as day!"

He leaned forward and watched it for himself, "Nope." he said simply, messing with her further.

Suddenly a guy broke free and was endzone bound, "Touchdown Knights!" cried the announcer.

Chelsea jumped up from her seat, cheering for her team and then gestured at the number on her back. Her guy made the play that got them the points on the board. Sitting back down she raised her eyebrow at Wally in a cocky manner and then popped some more popcorn in her mouth.

"You're so beautiful," he told her.

She looked at him surprised. He had never said it to her in that tone before. He had called her beautiful before, but for some reason it was different this time, "Wally…"

"Are there any beautiful couples out there tonight?" asked the announcer as the kiss cam made its rounds around the crowd. The camera man spotted Chelsea with Wally's arm around her, "Uh oh, we got ourselves a couple who has fans on either side of the ball tonight."

Wally noticed the camera landed on them and raised his eyebrow. Chelsea's face turned red as he cupped her cheeks in his palms and planted a kiss on her lips that seemed to linger. It gave her chills. When he pulled away, he looked into her eyes, "Oh wow…" she mumbled. The last time they kissed was the first day they met. Now here they were kissing again. It hit her. If they started dating and something happened, wouldn't it complicate things? What if they got into a fight? She could lose her best friend. But that kiss. It made her stomach brew with butterflies.

Wally looked back at her and she leaned in to kiss him again. He welcomed it openly, pulling her closer to him. He could hear his heart pulsing in his eardrums. He was glad he hadn't overstepped his bounds by kissing her before and what's more, she wanted another.

Chelsea didn't know why this felt so easy. Why it felt like they had been this way all along. Her heart fluttered as she leaned against him and continued to watch the game, still a bit dazed from all the excitement inside her body.

The game went into overtime.

The final score of the game:

Knights 28

Comets 21

Chelsea walked out of the stadium with a huge grin plastered across her face. Wally couldn't be upset. He was too happy about the moment they had. He wasn't ready to go back to the Watch Tower. Not yet.

"I've never been to your place," Wally mentioned.

"It's a mess, are you sure you want to subject yourself to that?" she joked.

"I want to see," he said with a nod, "I've never seen your art." which surprised him, because she was always drawing in her sketchbook with her free time.

Chelsea led the way to her apartment. Opening the door she tossed her keys in the bowl and flopped down on the couch. Wally was shocked. So many pieces of art lined the west wall. he examined each one carefully, "You're so talented." he breathed, "Why did you want to be a Justice League member over this?"

"I still do my artwork," she told him, "I enjoy doing both. It's a lot of fun for me."

Wally spotted a familiar figure on one of the large canvases. There was Batman shooting his grappling hook in an alleyway it appeared, "You really like Batman don't you?"

Chelsea raised an eyebrow, "I look up to him Wally. I have for years. Without doing so directly, he's gotten me through a lot of tough stuff." She flipped through some of her canvases and revealed a very colorful image she had done of Wally running. The streaking lines of motion left such a beautiful effect across the canvas, "I draw pictures of you too, all the time." she showed him the canvas.

"That's sweet!" he grinned, "Man, how do you do that?"

"It's all in the wrist," she joked, and flopped down on the arm chair.

He sat down on her couch and stared at her thoughtfully.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I'm just so amazed by you," he ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head, "You're so wonderful and perfect. How hasn't a guy not snatched you up yet? It just doesn't make sense. I've never met a girl so good hearted in all of my life."

"Perhaps you didn't look hard enough," she told him.

"I don't have to look any further with you here now," he said, leaning forward with his elbows rested on his knees.

She looked at him. The look in his eyes were so genuine. She saw the glint in his eyes. He wanted to kiss her again, badly. She wanted him to kiss her too, but it was so weird that it wasn't weird. They had a strong bond from the moment they met, but they had always been friends with harmless flirtation here and there. Now, she was almost seeing everything differently as she moved from the chair, to straddling his lap, and finding her lips against his once more.

They kissed for a good long while, taking moments to just look at each other and touch one another to make sure it wasn't just a dream. Wally was on his best behavior, and told himself not to take things too quickly with her. She deserved all the time and patience in the world. He was just happy to be sharing this moment with her.

They laid together on the couch, wrapped up in one another, "Think we should head back?" she asked.

He raised his shoulder, "We did tell them we'd be back tonight." He slowly stood up and helped her to her feet, "I had a great time with you."

"Me too," she agreed, "but can I ask you something? As friend Chelsea now?" she wondered, walking out of the apartment with him.

"Sure," he said, rubbing his nose, "Chels, you should see the girl I got to make out with tonight! Hawt~!" he joked, pulling her close to him as they walked.

"Does this seem-?" she started to ask.

"Totally normal?" he finished.

"Right?" they both said in unison.

"It's so weird that this isn't weird." she shook her head.

"Don't over think it." he waved it off, "I had a great time."

"We always have a good time, don't we?" she said, pulling her arm around him and planting a kiss on his cheek, "Hey Wal?"

"Yeah?" he asked.

"You're my best friend." Chelsea smiled.

"You're my best friend," he repeated back to her, "As well as my hottest friend. Just letting you know."

She laughed and roughed up his ginger hair, realizing that soon he'd be back in his uniform and life would go back to normal. It was nice to have such a carefree evening with Wally. It was always so carefree with him. She didn't have to overthink. He made everything fun.

When they arrived back at the Watch Tower, Chelsea stepped out into the landing bay, allowing Wally to change in the aircraft. It didn't take him but a split second to have his uniform back on and he was by her side once more, "You ever think about getting yourself a uniform?" he asked her, as they walked into the monitor room together.

"Sometimes," she raised her shoulder, "I'm pretty good with designing stuff so it wouldn't be that hard."

"They're back," Clark said, standing up from the table.

"How'd it go?" asked Diana. Everyone leaned in with anticipation.

Chelsea noticed immediately that Batman was no longer around, "We had a great time. My team won in OT." she elbowed Wally.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, staring at her longingly with a shy smile.

The others were expecting some sort of official news about them becoming an item. They were already so close with each other, but it appeared as if nothing had changed.

"Want to watch a movie?" Chelsea asked Wally.

"Your place or mine?" he wondered, as they walked out of the room together and started down the hallway.

"So… anyone notice anything different?" John Stewart wondered.

"No," Diana murmured, "but I think that's the point."

Chelsea changed into some pajamas and flopped down on her couch she had in her room. She was wearing some boy shorts and a tank top that exposed her belly slightly. Striping the ponytail holder from her hair she flipped her hair forward and then back. When her hair flipped back Wally walked in. He watched her movements, and examined her up and down. He couldn't get over it. He'd never been on a date with a girl so beautiful, inside and out.

"What do you want to watch?" she asked, running her fingers through her hair.

He walked over to her and planted a kiss on her forehead, and then her lips, slowly and softly, "You." he answered.

She shook her head in disbelief, "What do you really want to watch?"

He sat down beside her, "You pick," he spread his arms across the back of the couch.

Chelsea moved to the floor to sift through her collection, "Ever see The Princess Bride?"

"Chick flick?" he asked.

"Not really, actually." Chelsea answered, "It has all the goods: knights, giants, romance, comedy… a little something for everyone."

"I'm game," he agreed.

She put the disc into her Xbox and let the previews run. Chelsea sat back down beside him on the couch and grabbed her Xbox controller to start the movie. Chelsea looked him over, "Give me your feet."

He'd never heard that pick up line before, "Wha-?"

"Your feet," she patted her lap. He laid sideways on the couch, resting his feet on her lap. She started to massage them. Wally instantly melted. It felt heavenly. It was odd with how much he ran around and yet never once received a foot massage.

"You don't have to-" he started to say, but groaned mid-sentence, "but please continue." Did his feet hurt that much or did she just make it feel that good? What was the best way to describe her? A princess? A queen? He felt like such a pauper in comparison.

Her thumbs kneaded at the arches of his feet as her hands moved gently up to his toes and then back down again, "Do I need to apply more pressure?"

"You're perfect," he moaned. He wasn't referring to the foot massage.

She smiled, satisfied. Wally did so much for her without even realizing it. This was her way of paying him back for his undivided support, "Have you ever had a foot massage before?"

"No," he shook his head weakly, his head tilted back over the arm of the couch, "how did you get so talented?"

"I think it's the artist hands," she joked, her attention redirected toward the television.

"Chelsea?" he cooed softly.

"Yeah?" she wondered, looking back at him.

"I hope… you'll let me take you out again." he admitted.

"Foot massage that good?" she laughed.

"I mean it… I've never had a day like today. I've never enjoyed myself this much. With you… everything's so easy. Everything is clear. I feel like the world slows down and I get to enjoy the sweetest person to ever walk into my fast-paced life." He spoke so sincerely.

"Next time," she said, "I'll take you out. Deal?" she asked.

"Deal," he nodded, a smile playing across his lips.