Notes: Sorry this is so late! But I just saw 'Flash and Substance', which is the most Batman/Flash-y episode I have seen yet, so it made me get back into the mood :)

Thanks for all the reviews guys! I really was not expecting them to be so many and so wonderful :)

Chained To You
Chapter Two

/ You're coffee brown and bubble gum pink
And oh I think the shade of you is on the brink
Of changing all the ways I see the world
I could drown inside a single drop
Of all the kinds of things you got
And all the kinds of things I'm not / - Your Every Color ; Train

He was moving around. Quietly and carefully, so as not to wake his sleeping roommate.

But Bruce had been awake from the first creak of Wally's bed.

A door shut and closed nearly silently, and Bruce opened his eyes only when he was sure Wally had left the room. Groaning to himself, he sat up, stretching his arms behind his back, wincing at a loud crack that came from somewhere inside himself.

After a moment, Bruce stepped out of bed, immediately reaching for his costume, pausing when he noticed a red mask and suit hanging haphazardly beside his own.

He wouldn't… Bruce rolled his eyes.

But he had.

Quickly shoving on his mask and body suit, Batman grabbed Flash's uniform as well, storming out of the room in a way certain to make any redheads he approached aware that he wasn't very happy.

OoOoOoOoOoO

He found Wally sitting alone atop the Javelin, wearing his civilians. The younger hero appeared lost in thought, eyes cast out at the sea that surrounded Collandar, knees tucked tightly to his chest. The rising sun created a soft light against his silhouette.

All anger instantly drained out of Batman, replaced only by a small tinge of irritation.

"Wally," he said gruffly, trying to sound as stern as possible. The redhead turned strange blue eyes towards him, appearing somewhere between startled and lost.

Looking away, Batman held out Wally's uniform.

"Oh."

There was silence for a moment, before the outfit was ripped from Batman's hands and a smug laughter came from behind. Batman turned around and the blue eyes were now hidden by a tacky red mask.

"You just missed being able to see my ass," Flash smirked, waving around the baggy jeans he had been donning just moments before.

Feeling far more comfortable with this version of Wally, Batman made a disapproving sound.

"You are not to go out in public, in a place where it's obvious who you are, in civilian wear," he snapped, folding his arms across his chest. Flash grinned.

"Hey, hey, hey. They could have thought I was Batman. I didn't have to be Flash. There are two humans here, aren't there?"

Batman snorted. Laughing, Flash flexed his muscles, dancing around the darker man with a playful smirk.

"You're right," he countered, "I'm much better looking."

With a roll of his eyes, Batman turned and began his trek back toward the palace.

"Hey, hey! Don't hate me because I'm beautiful!"

Cursing under his breath, Batman sped up his walk. Hating Flash because of his looks was the opposite of what he was worried about.

OoOoOoOoOoO

It was only a day later when Green Lantern sent another message, this time urging their return.

"I thought you said he needed a vacation?" Batman replied, irritated at being called away from looking unaffected as Flash played in the sea with some of the young Callandarians, his suit even tighter than usual due to the wetness.

Shit.

Maybe he was thankful Lantern had contacted him.

"J'onn's leaving."

The statement was abrupt and it took a moment for the words to sink in.

"What?"

"He's leaving, Bruce. On some fucked up mission to fucking find himself." Batman closed his eyes and let out a heavy breath, knowing full well that the ex-marine used foul language during efforts not to show vulnerability. He could only imagine how Flash would react to the news.

"When?"

"He said he'd wait until you and Wally came back."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Batman sighed.

"We're on our way."

OoOoOoOoOoO

"So what's the big emergency?" Flash wondered as used his finger to trace invisible lines between the stars against the window. He had been yanked away from his new Colladarian friends, shoved unexpectedly into the Javelin, and hadn't even gotten a chance to say goodbye to Barry in the sudden rush he had found Batman in. "Did we forget someone's birthday?"

"Knock it off," Batman snapped.

"Jeez, what's got your bat-a-rangs in a tangle?"

Sensing the shadow of hurt in Flash's voice, Batman sat back, staying silent for a long moment as he collected his thoughts. Setting the Watchtower coordinates into the Javelin, he spoke quietly.

"Someone is leaving."

"For real?" Eyes widening, Flash shot up in his seat, interest perked by the news. "Who? Who? Aw, man, I hope it's Elongated Man-"

"Wally."

"--He's such a dick--"

"Wally."

"--Oh! Oh! Is it Booster?--"

"Wally."

"---I mean, that'd suck and all, but he has to go back to the future at some point--"

"Wally."

Snapping out of his rambled thoughts, Flash stared at Batman as though he had just realized the older hero was there.

"What?"

"It's J'onn."

"What?"

Batman sighed. "I said it's--"

"I know. I know what you said. Rhetorical question, Bats." Flash frowned, sinking back down in his seat again. "Why would GL leave? Did Shayera get to be too much for him? I mean, I knew it was awkward, but…"

"Not that one."

"I…" Flash stopped, realization dawning. "What do you mean leaving? Like… never coming back? For good? Or like… he'll be gone for a week?"

"Do you honestly think we would have cut a mission short just to go back if it was only for a week?"

"Oh."

Standing silently, an odd expression on his face, Flash turned and made his way to the back room of the Javelin.

Batman cursed.

He really needed to work on this 'comforting' thing.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Throughout the team-wide farewell, Batman kept a mindful eye on Flash, surprised at the grace with which he smiled and hugged J'onn, before stepping back to allow Shayera her chance to say goodbye.

He was decidedly less surprised to find Flash, an hour later, alone in the observation deck, hand pressed uncertainly against the large window as he gazed out at the infinite expanse of space. He looked small.

Batman cleared his throat.

"What if something happens? What if J'onn dies, or I die, and we never see each other again?"

Opening his mouth to retort that Flash was being stupid, Batman immediately closed it, something in the younger hero's voice halting him.

"I mean… I know it's corny and all… but J'onn was like a father to me… and my father, hell…he's not a father…mom barely talks to me anymore, too busy with Ernesto," Flash nearly spat the word, "Everyone else is gone… and I only have you guys. And Shayera left… I mean, yeah, she came back, but what if she hadn't? And what if J'onn doesn't? And what if someone else leaves?" he cursed under his breath, "We can't be the seven core members if there's not seven of us!"

Batman wished for the life of him that he had Green Lantern and Shayera's tact when it came to dealing with Flash. As the case was, all he could do was stand there awkwardly, waiting for the other man to calm himself.

A thick silence lolled between them.

"Wally…" Batman walked up beside him, placing what he wanted to be a comforting hand on Flash's shoulder. "I know how it feels to be left alone. All of us do, probably more than others. But that's why we fight, so others don't have to feel what we have…. But we all lose people or get lost ourselves eventually."

Flash sniffled and for a brief moment, Batman wondered if he had been crying. He shifted uneasily.

"Is that why you're all such sticks in the mud?" Flash said with an unexpected teasing tone, his frame relaxing only slightly.

"Possibly."

Standing straight, Flash glanced at Batman out of the corner of his eye, before turning back to the view of the window.

"But you know, Bats… what good is tomorrow without a guarantee, anyway?"

Batman was very quickly lost on Flash's train of thought.

"Hn?"

"We all lose people or get lost ourselves, right? Well, what if it happens today… or tomorrow…or yesterday, and we'd just spent the entire time with fucking logs up our asses?" Flash wondered, his voice growing with every sentence. A look of determination crossed his face.

Batman frowned, feeling that he had very suddenly put thoughts in the younger hero's head that he shouldn't have.

"Wally, I didn't--"

"Thanks for the talk, Bats. John and Shayera usually just try to cheer me up, but you tell it to me straight. I appreciate it, dude." And with a lopsided grin and a blaze of red and yellow, Flash was gone.

Shit.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"I'm going on a road trip."

"Hn."

"I said I'm going on a road trip."

"Hn…"

A deep breath.

"Hello? I said, I'm going on a--"

"I heard you the first time," Bruce snapped, turning away from the computer console of the Bat Cave, facing Wally full on. "And how does this affect me?"

Wally grinned as though he thought Bruce would never ask.

"You're coming with me."

Rolling his eyes, Bruce turned back to his work. "You're less amusing than usual."

"Bruce! I'm serious! I want to see this country."

"You could have visited every state in the time this conversation took place."

"Yeah," Wally frowned, "But I want to see it for what it's worth. When I use my speed I can't really take the time to enjoy anything except the destination. And I have to be in superhero mode the entire time."

"No."

"C'mon, Bats! What good is protecting the world if you've never seen it?"

"I've seen enough. Take John with you."

"But…" Wally seemed to stumble for a moment, before continuing, "I want you to go with me."

Raising a suspicious eyebrow, Bruce gazed at Wally's reflection in the computer screen.

"You'd rather me than John or Shayera?"

"Well, Shayera would be damn pretty hard to disguise with those big-ass wings of hers…" Coughing, Wally shook his head, "I mean…but even if she wasn't. Yes."

"Who would protect Gotham?"

"All of your really dangerous baddies are locked up in maximum security and even if they escape, we can just get beamed back from wherever we are, right? And for the little things… I mean, Christ, we have a entire team of superheroes in space and on land. Diana or whoever can just fly in and handle it."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Bruce sighed. There was a large part of him that objected to even considering obliging Wally's request. Unfortunately, an even larger part (one that blushed like a schoolboy when Wally admitted Bruce had come before John and Shayera) wondered if this trip wouldn't be a bad idea.

"I'm not good company," Bruce finally said, in a last effort to dissuade Wally from his mission. The redhead merely grinned.

"I disagree."

"I'll probably yell at you. A lot."

"Used to it."

"We'll fight."

"And make up."

"The tabloids will talk."

"About Bruce Wayne spending some quality time with his newly found nephe--"

"-I'm an only child--"

"—Cousin? Really, it'll just make you all the more appealing, dearest."

Bruce sighed.

"We'd need to inform the Watchtow--"

"Already done! They know we're leaving tonight."

Sitting up straight, Bruce turned to look at Wally in disbelief.

"You told them I was going before you even asked me?"

"Yep!"

"Did you even consider I'd say no?"

"Well, are you?"

"I can't just leave tonight. I have things to do."

"Honestly, Bruce? What the hell do you even spend your time doing aside from checking in on every League mission and villain across the seven continents? Which, I should remind you, Mr. Terrific is already doing."

Feeling an odd heat on his cheeks at being caught, Bruce looked away.

"Dude, come on. Be spontaneous for once in your life!"

Staying silent for a long moment, Bruce put his head in his hands, rubbing his forehead. "Tell Alfred to pack my things."

"Bruce! You're the best! Awesome!" Wally cheered, throwing himself onto Bruce for a fierce hug, before darting up the stairs.

Turning back to the computer console, Wally's warmth only slightly fading, Bruce suddenly thought that maybe, quite possibly, this trip wouldn't turn out completely horrible.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"You know, Bruce… we only need a few…." Wally trailed off as Bruce dropped yet another box into the back of what had formally been The Flashmobile (now painted a simple, inconspicuous green at John's request and for security purposes). "What is all this stuff?"

"Make-up, costumes, our uniforms… things we might need if we run into trouble."

"But--"

"Our line of work doesn't provide the luxury of vacations, Wally."

"Right…"

Noticing the sudden dampening of Wally's mood, Bruce added awkwardly, "Hopefully we won't need to use any of it."

Wally grinned. "So are we ready to hit the road?"

"Are you sure you want to go with me?"

"Yes. Now quit whining." A mischievous smirk crossed Wally's face as he edged towards the passenger's side of the van. "I call shotgun!" he cackled, before darting inside.

Bruce frowned at him, coming up beside the door. "Wally, there are only two of us."

Wally laughed. "I know."

"So isn't it meaningless of you to call this seat? Who else would take it?"

"You."

"But then--" Bruce froze, realizing what Wally had just done.

Shit.

"You know... for the World's Greatest Detective, you really are kinda slow," Wally teased as he held up to keys for Bruce. The older man grumbled under his breath, before snatching the keys away and getting into the driver's seat.

It suddenly occurred to him, that if it had been anyone else, he would have exercised his patented "You'd-Better-Start-Running" look and that would have been the end of it. Yet he'd just let Wally walk all over him.

The frightening part was that he found he didn't at all mind.

TBC