Disclaimer: I don't own Justice League Unlimited.

Send Me on My Way

Chapter 3: Starting Point

Wally looked over at Shayera, grinning. "Enjoying yourself?" he yelled, his voice barely registering over the wind.

"I'd be enjoying myself more if you kept your eyes on the road!"

Still grinning, he returned his gaze to the road. "Ah, relax! We'll be- whoops!"

The speedster quickly swerved to avoid colliding with the curb. After forcibly removing her fingernails from the dashboard, Shayera glared at Wally.

"That was a one time thing. But come on! Don't tell me you aren't finding this a little fun!"

The winged heroine turned to look out across the landscape that surrounded them. Although Wally was keeping her on edge with his… unique driving skills, she was enjoying the lack of responsibility that rested on her shoulders. She shrugged.

"I guess."

"Ah, you're just sore because I beat you at Bomberman."

"You did not beat me at Bomberman," she said, turning to face him. "I just needed some time to learn how to play the game."

"Look, it's okay to lose. Ninja Bomberman beats everyone. Only in the right hands, of course," he said, blowing on his knuckles and rubbing them on his shirt smugly.

"Both hands on the wheel, smartass."

She could see Wally's blue eyes rolling behind his sunglasses. Since she had refused to wear the pink ones he had chosen for her, she had enforced a trade on the hapless speedster. Unfortunately, that prevented her from being angry at him for long, since the glasses made him amusing to look at, to say the least.

"Hey, I can drive with one hand on the wheel." He grinned evilly. "I can even drive with my knees."

"Try it and I'll break them."

Wally's grin grew.

"Wally…"

He moved one knee up.

"Don't you dare."

And then the other.

"I'll break them," she said warningly.

He let go of the wheel, allowing his knees to take over.

"See? No problem."

"Red light."

Panic in his eyes, Wally quickly slammed on the brakes, his knees slipping from the wheel and sending the car careening into the traffic light pole. Airbags flumped out of their holding areas and covered the two in dust.

Wally heard a growl. He was glad he couldn't see Shayera's face.

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"I told you a road trip was a bad idea."

He looked over at her incredulously. "You're not giving up after that, are you?"

"Wally, it was a car crash!"

"Oh come on. That was like one time. I'll totally be able to handle it the next time."

Shayera's eyes went so wide, Wally wondered how they didn't pop out. "Next time? You really think I'm getting in a car with you after that?" she said, pointing at the bill for the car repairs.

Refusing to acknowledge the bill, Wally instead made his way over to his hammock and slumped into it. "Okay, maybe we shouldn't go by car, I'll give you that."

"I don't see why we had to drive in the first place."

"Because it's just… it's just… a car to man is like… I… because."

"Convincing."

"It is if you're a guy." He sighed. "Look, we don't have to go by car, okay? But, c'mon… you're not really gonna throw in the towel, are you?"

Now it was her turn to sigh. "No…"

A grin broke out on his face. "All right."

The door slid open and Clark stepped through.

"Hey Supes."

The Man of Steel gave him a look that was unreadable by both Wally and Shayera. It was impossible to tell if he was angry or exasperated. Probably both.

"All right," he said slowly, waiting for the door to slide shut behind him before continuing. "Before I start… do you even have a driving licence, Wally?"

A shade of red crept onto Wally's features. Shayera's were similarly effected, although for a very different reason. Her voice came out in such a frighteningly low way that even Superman moved away slightly.

"You don't even have a driving license."

Wally scratched the back of his head. "Uh, yeah… kinda… not."

She stood up. "I see."

Clark deftly moved between the speedster and the Thanagarian, though his expression betrayed his reluctance to do so.

"Why don't you go on your vacation some other way? Some method of travel that Wally can do nothing about," he said, looking at her enticingly.

Shayera considered Clark's suggestion for a moment, and then peered over his shoulder at Wally, who was scratching his chin in thought.

"How about we take the train? That way I have little to no control over anything."

A red eyebrow cocked, and Shayera looked at him sceptically. "Little to no control?" she asked, in a 'you promise?' tone of voice.

He grinned. "Seriously. What could I do on a train to mess it up for us?"

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Shayera winced as the baby's high pitched scream pierced her ears once again. Ignoring the rhythmic motions of the train, she leaned over to speak in Wally's ear.

"Are trains always like this?"

He shrugged. "Don't know. I've only been on one when I was like five. And that was one of those mini trains that goes around the mall, so…"

"…you don't know." She looked at him incredulously. "Why didn't you go on any real trains?"

"Well, my folks… my Dad wasn't too up on the idea of giving money to… well, anyone, really, so we drove to most places. But my Mom got car sick easy, so we couldn't really go that far. Holidays sure were a blast," he said, a forced grin crossing his features.

"Wait… so how many holidays have you actually been on?"

Blue eyes were cast upwards as the speedster recalled his past. "Let's see... there was a few times when my Aunt and Uncle paid for the flight to go and see them…"

"And where was that?"

"It depended on where they were." He shrugged. "They travel a lot."

She nodded slowly. "And… where else?"

"Um… does superhero stuff count?"

"Work, you mean?"

He smiled. "I guess not…"

"So… you've been on holiday to see your Aunt and Uncle… and that's it?"

"I dunno…" he grinned. "Living with the Titans was kind of a vacation in itself, y'know, and…" his enthusiasm faded slightly. "Uh… I guess that's about it, yeah."

Shayera opened her mouth to reply, and then closed it again. "Oh."

The bouncy Wally West quickly returned. "But hey! We're going on one right now, so… that's good, right?"

A grin spread across the disguised Thanagarian's lips. "Right." Silence descended upon the two. Shayera looked over at him. "So who are we visiting in Ohio?"

"Jay and Joan Garrick."

"Who?"

"Well, Jay was…" he paused and looked around the train before whispering the answer in Shayera's ear. "He was the first Flash way back in World War Two. He helped my uncle back when he was the Flash, and he's been pretty good to me, too." He leaned back, satisfied that the secrecy was well maintained. "It's kinda like having another grandfather, I guess."

"Is he like you?"

"Hell no. Smart, mature, very capable… he's like the anti-me." He smirked. "But he has his good days."

Shayera returned the smile. "I'm sure he does."

"And Joan makes the best apple pie you'll ever have."

"Actually… it'll be the first apple pie I've ever had."

Wally seemed almost appalled by this information. "Seriously? You've never had an apple pie?"

She shrugged. "I just… never got around to it."

"How can you live in America and not have eaten apple pie?" Wally asked, looking ahead in amazement.

"I'm sorry if this offends you somehow, but-"

"No, it's not that. It's just like the logistics of it. You've been here for… what? Over five years, right?"

"Something like that."

"And you've been in America for all of that time?"

"Not all the time, but most of it was here, yes."

The speedster's mouth hung open before he smiled and shook his head. "That's crazy…"

"Why? Because I haven't had an apple pie?"

"Well… yeah. It's like going to Italy and not having pizza or spaghetti or whatever."

"Is apple pie even American?"

"Well… yeah. That's where the phrase 'American as apple pie' comes from."

"Are you sure, though?"

"I'm not sure. I don't really look up pie history in my free time."

"So apple pie might not be American."

"Stop talking crazy talk."

"But-"

"Crazy talk!" he declared, raising a hand to silence her. "And besides, it doesn't matter where it came from – although it totally comes from America- the point is that Joan Garrick makes the best damn apple pies on the planet."

"Is that right?"

Well, except for Ma Kent's."

"Ma Kent?"

"Clark's mom."

"No, I know who she is, I was just wondering when you went to see her."

"Oh… it was… uh…" Wally shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "It was… kinda… after the invasion."

Shayera was silent for a moment. "Oh."

"Anyway," Flash said suddenly, bouncing slightly in his seat, "the point I was trying to make - before the incredibly and overwhelmingly rude interruption - was that Joan Garrick and Martha Kent make the best apple pies on the planet. I tell you, if those two joined forces and made one gigantic pie together, there would be no war."

The Thanagarian was once again silent, although this time for a different reason. Her eyes were half closed as she looked at her friend.

"A gigantic pie."

"Yup."

Once again, she was silent. "And you're how old?"

Wally grinned. "Ah, c'mon, I'm just kidding around."

"About the gigantic pie?"

"No, about the two joining forces. The flavours of their pies would clash. So they should really make two separate gigantic pies."

Shayera nodded. "Right."

"Although… there could be a war between the people who liked Marta Kent's pie and those who liked Joan Garrick's pie, so maybe that's not such a good idea…" he said, scratching his chin as though giving the subject serious thought.

"How do you have a girlfriend?" Shayera asked finally, looking at her friend in a 'what the hell am I doing here?' way.

"Linda's asked herself that very same question. She doesn't know, either. But anyway, I stand by the 'big pie equals no war' theory."

"Right."

"Hey, you have absolutely no idea just how good these pies are. They're better than s-" Wally stopped himself in mid-sentence. "Well, maybe not, but when they're at their best they're on a par with it."

"Wally."

"Mmm?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Pies."

"So… you are aware you're rambling about pies?"

"Not rambling. Raving!"

"…right."

"What? Look, don't judge until you've tried the pie. If you still don't like them – which is impossible, by the way – then you can make fun of me. But until then, zip the lip, missy."

Shayera cocked an eyebrow. "Did you just call me missy?"

He shrugged. "Well… you said I was rambling."

"You were."

"And you have never eaten an apple pie before. So you really can't judge whether I was rambling or whether I was just really, really, enthusiastic."

"Is there anything you're not enthusiastic about?"

Wally opened his mouth to reply, but then closed it again, crossing his arms. A frown wrinkled his brow as he closed his eyes, thinking back in his mind. After about five minutes, he came out of his self imposed trance.

"Pez."

"What?"

"Pez. You know, the little bits of candy? You put them in this weird ass stick thing with a head on the top."

"So… the only thing on this entire planet you're not enthusiastic about is a piece of candy?"

"Pretty much."

Shayera sighed. "Right."

The grin on the speedster's face grew to epic proportions as he rested back in his chair.

"Isn't this gonna be great?"

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(A/N: Sorry for the wait, folks, and for the relative shortness of this chapter, but as I said starting out, this is going to be a more relaxed affair both in tone and in my writing it, so… the length and pace of it are going to fluctuate. This is mostly due to busyness with other things, and not any unwillingness to write, so don't be concerned about an unfinished story (if you are, in fact, concerned).

And I completely share Wally's sentiments about apple pies from elderly relatives. So tasty it's crazy.

As always, review!)