There was something magical about skipping. It was hard to express the simple joy of movement, of sensing the world slow down around her. And, to even her surprise, going over a thousand miles across the country she still had enough around her to keep her entertained.

Irey finally, finally understood why Bart's favourite volleyball team was from a small town's high school over by Reno – the fast-food restaurant where they had their post-match hangout lay right on the road between Keystone City and San Francisco, which meant it also lay on the road between Keystone and Gateway cities. And while unlike Bart she hadn't stopped to chat to everyone there, not even coming out of superspeed to use the restroom (something done by adding speed to the fixtures – otherwise handwashing would be painfully slow) before dropping a handful of coins on the counter to pay for some pretzels and an 80floz 'cup' of lemonade, she had seen his favourite team commiserating after a narrow loss. She wasn't sure about his favourite garden center however – while it looked impressive it also looked far too old for her, she thought maybe 80s? Certainly not her style. On one thing she had to agree though was their facilities were clean and their cakes tasted great and helped fill her back up and the spare cakes and bottled juices currently in her ring ensured they entirely deserved their place on the speedster map of good cross-country break locations.

Now she faced a new jaunt, this time with a passenger. Gateway City to El Paso wasn't a route she or any of the speedsters she knew about were all that familiar with (save maybe Blitzen because it wasn't like she shared anything with the rest of them but it would been well off the Dakota City heroine's usual routes if she did for some reason, and who knew about the much slower speedster in the Super Young Team?), but that just meant she'd have to find a good route herself.

Looking at the map it had seemed easy. She'd sped through Gateway City and south along the coast road, taking in the sights of the Pacific Ocean as she ran south, ran through LA pausing for a microsecond to take a picture of herself (and Traya) on the Hollywood sign (and yes, she remembered to add speed to her camera so it could actually take a photo that quickly), and she'd continued on taking in the sights until she'd reached the outskirts of San Diego and the coast road ran out where Sub Diego began.

Fortunately the city had managed to build a new road inland, and she'd sped around that too, attempting to take in more sights.

It was a struggle though – the city was vailed in darkness. In her entire trip across the sky was lit only by occasional purple pulses and six bolts of lightning – all in pretty much the same spot. So she'd done what any sensible person would do, kept a wide berth and accelerated to a full-on sprint before dashing for the border – dipping into another cake and a gulp of mango juice as she'd done so.

Except now there was a problem. Because she'd reached the border – she was pacing between the checkpoints, and the big bold black line on Traya's map that ran from the Pacific Ocean through El Paso and rather unevenly onto the Caribbean Sea? Nowhere in sight.

Honestly, what were the map-makers thinking putting a feature that didn't exist on one of their roadmaps? How was she supposed to navigate now? Following the coast was easy – as long as the sea was on the correct side she was going the right way. Several hundred miles inland across a desert however? That didn't look so promising.

She had no choice but to try and find a path that led there, and not knowing any Mexican at all ruled out trying to find anything further south. She had no other option but to go north and try to find an eastward passage to follow.

She skipped off again, hoping to find a road before reaching what now that she thought about it was very obviously a battleground, but with it looming ahead she had to settle for skipping into a station and following a railway that claimed to have trains going to Texas. At least that should be the right direction.

Railroads did at least go where they were supposed to, but – and it was really hard to explain this to non-speedsters – they were just so boring. Even if she'd been a trainspotter they'd still be boring. On the roads between Keystone and Gateway Cities Irey had encountered all sorts of cars and trucks, and all kinds of people in them. On the rails however it was just emptiness, and making matters worse the view was just a desert.

It did however give her time to think, and whatever might be true of the route Irey was still overjoyed at having made a friend, and hoped she'd get to make more just as much as Traya did.

Mom and dad had signed her and Jai up for school, but it was horrible – not only were the lessons boring to sit through but more importantly she could not make a single person want to hang out with her no matter what she tried. Everybody loved Jai – he'd joined the school's baseball team and he'd signed up for pageants and they all welcomed him with open arms, while she had nobody.

It was so weird. Her understanding of normal people her age wasn't brilliant but she'd have thought a boy signing up for pageantry would get a resounding (if wrong in several ways) 'that's so gay' – in both the 'boy loves boy' and the unfortunate and hopefully soon to be gone 'sad and pathetic' senses – from his classmates but that hadn't happened, at least not much, and instead his little league teammates had said "That's cool" and the other pageant entrants – mostly girls from the music clubs, drama club or spirit squads – had been so happy to have him there with them that they'd pushed him up to second in the 'Coolest Boys' list in the second floor girls' restroom (she made a point to only use that stall if the others were occupied and she couldn't hold it any longer – it made her feel sick to look at) and sometimes the other girls even talked about him when they went together and didn't realise she was in there too (that was something she couldn't really do anything about but it too made her feel ill).

(It probably helped that he's chosen to demonstrate photography as his talent. The cheerleaders all danced, the drama club members either danced or sang, the musicians either sang or played, and all of them got a bit catty as to who was the best in their own thing, but Jai was the only one to display any gallery-based rather than performance art. And he was also lucky that they had someone who knew the subject well enough to judge it, and that they hadn't closed what she thought was probably a loophole in that part of the rules yet.)

(And yes it probably also helped his popularity that when they had a school dance he actually could dance. Apparently 'Cass the totally awesome old Batgirl' had been teaching him when Red Robin had to take breaks from helping him with photography in order to run tests on things, and if that happened enough for him to learn to sweep Giselle Towe from their math class off her feet them why couldn't she have trained him to fight instead? Sure Jai didn't have any powers any more but the Bats didn't either and Irey would love to be part of a sister/brother heroic duo again.)

And it didn't help her that there was no aspect of school she could excel at – she couldn't even be great on her feet because her secret identity meant she couldn't use superpowers. She lacked Bart's super memory and struggled to focus in classrooms so there was little hope there, and she'd yet to find a (non-hero-based) hobby she could share with anyone.

And that's not even getting into the effects of living a double life on her school life. Everyone else liked to talk about what they'd gone to watch at the multiplex, where they'd gone out to eat and the fun times they'd had at the parks. Irey also had fun evenings – rescuing people from a burning building with dad here or foiling bank robbers with Bart there but she couldn't share any of those with her classmates – they must think she's so boring.

At least her family hadn't asked her to help with anything during school hours yet. Bart, the speedster with the least on his plate during the day (he'd tested out of school during that time he was a grown-up and try as they liked dad and Great Aunt Iris couldn't change that, and she wished that she'd been an adult for long enough to do that too), anyway usually had everything well in hand, and if he didn't then he'd call Jay or the Teen Titans for help before pulling her out of her classroom. (A notable side effect of that was that she'd noticed some of her classmates 'shipping' Kid Flash and Wonder Girl and she had to really try not to laugh.)

Anyway, it wasn't like she had many friends in the hero communities either. First it had been great – Lian Harper was awesome and she (and Jai for that matter) had loved hanging out with her, and then Prometheus happened.

No no no, bad thought train, Irey reasoned. She didn't want to cry in front of Traya, even if Traya was moving too slowly to even register her.

Oh, speaking of trains she'd finally found one – a slow and dirty diesel-electric locomotive that didn't even look a little bit like Thomas the Tank Engine – it didn't even have the big smiley face on the front (or even a bored face – this route was dull). She could've run through it but decided going around the outside would be less irritating on her eyes.

And in an attempt to feel better she thought about the people she hoped to meet. Sure she had no idea how the younger Superboy – Zod's son – would react to their offer of friendship but she hoped at the least they'd part ways as someone she could be comfortable around. And surely Traci would know someone that might want to hang out with them, or at least know someone who knew someone.

Unlike Traya though she had zero hopes towards Rubbish-Robin. Seriously what was Dick thinking trusting that jerk with the safety of Gotham? What was next – a 'reformed' Rogue? (OK, that had happened with Pied Piper, but it had ended with Bart's death so that should be a big clue as to how bad an idea it is.)

It was a further subjective ten minutes before she skipped into a station in what (according to the signs) was Santa Fe.

Now she had a problem though, because she didn't know which line she'd need. Also, she was starting to need a break, and while it wasn't urgent by any means she wasn't sure how long it would be before she had the chance for another one.

She came out of superspeed, ignoring the startled looks on the faces of everyone on the platform, before slowly and carefully tapping Traya's leg.

"Hey buddy?" She hoped her tone was gentle. As a speedster she often felt rather intense, especially during a run.

"What is it?" Traya asked. "Are we there?"

Irey shook her head before remembering that Traya was sat on her and probably had her eyes squeezed tight.

"No, we're in a train-station in Santa Fe. I don't know which route to take from here to get to El Paso, and I do know that I'd like to use the restroom before I leave, would you mind getting off for a minute?"

Traya did so, and Irey turned to face her, and as she realised this could finally be her chance to hang out like the girls at school did a lump formed in her throat as she hugged herself a little. Traya would say 'yes', right? But what if she didn't? What if it wasn't appropriate here for some reason?

"Um, wait, uh, the girls at school do this thing where they uh, but I've never had any friends to do it with and I'm worried I'll get it wrong so please don't judge me if it's not right to ask but, um, do you maybe want to go with me?"

Traya gave her a worried look. "I thought we were already going together Impulse? Please tell me you weren't going to leave me here."

Irey blinked. "What, we are? Oh." Her brain figured out how Traya had misunderstood it. "Not El Paso, the restroom. I was wondering if we could, maybe, go together?"

Traya looked like she was still in slow motion and Irey checked to make sure that, yes, the world as a whole was still in its standard time.

"Uh, if you're not interested that's OK too…" Irey plead – she didn't want Traya to resent being asked.

Traya gasped. "No no, I'd be happy to. It's just, you've never had someone to go with before?"

Irey shook her head. "Only adults: mom, Great Aunt Iris and Jesse. Well, and in unfortunate circumstances my dad and Kid Flash as well but those were in boys' rooms. I guess Jesse is sort of a friend but she's not, y'know, oh, how can I explain?"

"I understand," Traya smiled at her. "The others – you know, Wonder Girl, Arrowette, Empress… they were about as much older than me as I am older than you but they always made me feel like I was one of them, you know? That's partly why I'm so upset now. But if I was with the Justice League then well, they were always friendly but it just wasn't the same."

Irey nodded. That was close to how she felt.

"That's it. I mean, even Ba- Kid Flash treats me as a junior successor rather than a friend he can open up to." Although sometimes while teaching her Interlac Bart would mention a few things, mostly relating to what the future was like. "What's the most interesting time you've ever had in a restroom?"

"When we let the old Impulse join us once." Traya grinned. "It was an accident on his part, Lil Lobo had messed with the signs, but we – that is me, Arrowette, Empress and Wonder Girl – were like 'It's just Impulse – what's the harm?'. Arrowette gave him a touch of make-up and Empress braided his hair, we talked to him (and each other of course) and made sure everyone felt wanted and I made him a friendship bracelet… we all had a great time."

"Is that what I've been missing out on?" Irey asked, a sinking feeling in her stomach with every detail Traya added; she'd had no idea it was even close to that much.

Traya chuckled. "Not normally. We just went full out that time because, well, him." Traya wrapped an arm around her and Irey felt herself being steered towards the restrooms. "Now, since it's your first time I'll pick an easy topic – let's talk about school, that's something we have in common, right?"

"Do we have to?" Irey asked. "School sucks."

Traya laughed and steered her towards, Irey realised, the ladies'.

"Well then Impulse, we can talk about the things we don't like about it."


OK, this place would not be joining the list of speedster-approved good cross-country break locations. The floor looked like it had been vacuumed but never washed, it was easier to say that the mould had patches of wall and ceiling than the other way around, and the basins looked like they were starting to rust. That said however, the toilet seats at least were clean, the doors still worked, and, most importantly, she had a friend to share it with.

So despite the issues it was still an enjoyable couple of minutes later that they were at the basins, careful to keep it to the good bits, and while Irey could've added speed to the water and washed her hands more quickly (or done everything else faster come to that) she wanted to enjoy the moment for as long as possible because commiserating with Traya about school was great.

It seemed Traya excelled at the learning side of it, but was in classes with people much older than her so struggled to make friends too and the one non-hero-based close friend she did have was started in guilt. And she also had her share of embarrassing anecdotes – Traya had told Irey about her SATs, where she'd knocked a full glass of lemonade into her lap and then when asked had said it was 'an accident' – not realising how that would be wrongly interpreted until someone handed her an advert 'she might need' for money off on absorbent underwear while everyone looked on and laughed, and she ran back to her dorm, found the entire building empty and just stayed in her room crying.

But even that story had two happy endings. Firstly while it took a while Ellen had found Traya alone and upset later, had driven her into the city proper and taken her to their local Wayne Burger where they'd de-stressed together over their favourite fast foods. And secondly, when the results came in Traya despite her discomfort had scored over 2250, which was apparently a good enough score that she hadn't felt the need to retry them.

And in return Irey had told her about the time at the school dance when her dress ripped down the front. She'd speed-blitzed home as fast as she could, but apparently she'd stood there in shock just long enough for her brother along with a cool guy on the lacrosse team and the cattiest girl in school to see. The only good thing was that she did leave before even Jai could think to take a picture.

"It could be worse Impulse," said Traya soothingly. "You could've pulled a Cassie and Kon."

Irey was about to ask what she meant when there was a loud tearing noise from behind her.

Irey went back into superspeed as she spun around just in time to see two boys appear in the room out of this air. They both looked around her age. One had black hair, a red sweater and black pants, while the other was blond with a suit and tie. She quickly sped through finishing off her hands.

The one the suit started looking round while the other clutched his stomach.

"Excuse me," the boy in the suit spoke to her. Irey made out a thick British accent. "Are we by any chance in San Diego?"

Irey slowed down and shook her head. "Nuh huh – I just came from there. This is Santa Fe station – you're a few hundred miles out. Wonky teleport?"

If so then that could certainly explain their sudden appearance in the women's room – even with the best of intentions there's an element of trust that you'll end up where you want to go and if someone doesn't then the only thing you can do is be glad if nobody ends up half way through a wall.

"So it seems," he replied, as the other boy bolted into a stall and – not even closing the door – started retching. "Such an uncomfortable way of travelling… Do you know which direction we need to go?"

"It's sorta that way?" Irey pointed westwards, trying to avoid looking at the hurling boy. "If you're asking for advice on trains however I can't help you – I ran here."

"Ran?" his eyes widened. "Do you have superpowers?"

Irey snorted. Wasn't the costume kinda a giveaway? "Uh, yes."

"OK, that explains that. I'm Edwin by the way, and my unfortunate travel sick partner is called Charles. We're detectives."

"I'm Impulse." Irey nodded. Suit and tie? Uses long words? An old fashioned name like Edwin worked for him.

The boy – sorry, Edwin – looked at her rather strangely. "That's an unusual name."

Oh no. This was worse than she thought. She never met someone who thought Impulse was her real name before. Did he live under a rock?

"Um, I'm a superhero. So I have a secret identity and all. You can call me Impulse, but yes I do have another name."

Edwin's eyes widened. "What? You're like Animal Man?"

Irey blinked. "Not the usual example but yeah." From what her dad said she thought Animal Man was almost as bad a hero as Booster Gold.

Irey felt an arm come round her and turned to see that Traya had also finished up, her vacuum cleaner thing hanging limp at her side. "Come to think of it Animal Man lives in or at least around San Diego. Is that who you're looking for?"

Edwin shook his head. "Not him exactly. Our business is with the patron goddess of his church herself."

Irey nodded, not actually knowing what he was talking about but not wanting to admit it. Traya meanwhile was muttering something unpleasant about tax avoidance.

Edwin shuddered. "She's a most disagreeable girl. Last time we met, Charles and I were attempting to rescue this nice chap named Timothy Hunter from a dimension called Freeland, and she sent all her animal friends to stop us. Unfortunately Mr. 'Not-Daniel and Not-Other-Daniel' was most insistent in our commission – 'Save the goddess and save the world' he says. And she's the only one we know that anybody calls a goddess – however accurate or otherwise the claim might be. So we got some directions from Mr. 'Not-Daniel and Not-Other-Daniel' and rushed over."

Irey frowned. "And those directions led you to the ladies' room in Santa Fe station?"

Edwin nodded. "Yes, apparently they- wait, what?" He looked around and his mouth dropped open. "Oh my god. I'm supposed to be a detective; how didn't I notice there are no urinals? I am so so sorry. Please forgive me." He turned to face the still spewing Charles. "We need to leave Charles – we're in the girls' lavatories." He raised his head towards the ceiling. "Hey Mr. Not-Danials, if this is your idea of a joke then it's very poor taste."

Irey's arm shot out, gripping Edwin by the shoulder. (Strange – he felt really cold.)

"It's OK Edwin. No need to panic. We understand. It was an accident."

"Miss Impulse?"

"It's fine Edwin," said Traya. "Now, why don't you wait outside, and we will help your friend."

Edwin nodded and headed out the door, and Traya led Irey to where Charles was retching.

"Are you OK?" Irey asked, reaching out to comfort him. (He was an icicle too.)

Charles shook his head. "Who knew a- ghost could vo-mit?"

Irey gasped. "You're a ghost?"

He nodded slightly. "Me and Ed-win."

Well, that would explain the cold.

Traya had suddenly turned thoughtful. "My friend Secret used to be a ghost. Thankfully Darkseid attacked her and she came back to life, but while I don't fully understand what it's like I want you to know that you two being dead doesn't make me not like you."

After a moment the gags turned into hiccups and then stopped, Charles slowly straightening up.

Irey immediately got a juice bottle from her ring and handed it to him.

"Here you are – try this."

He took a long gulp, and she could see him swirling it around in his mouth before he swallowed. "Thank you."

"You are welcome Charles. Are you feeling better now?"

Charles nodded. "A little." He pulled the flush. "Do you really not mind that I used the girls' toilets?"

"Even if you had realised where you were it looked like you would've made a mess before reaching the boys'," said Traya. "We've forgiven you."

"Yeah," agreed Irey. "Emergencies happen and sometimes any cubicle will do, y'know. This time it was your turn. It's been mine before and as I have a speedster metabolism I'm kidding myself if I don't think it'll be mine again. Now…" she steered him to a basin. "…let's get you cleaned up and back to Edwin."

Then she felt a tug on one of her sleeves.

"Um, excuse me, um, Impulse?"

She turned to see a young girl shaking from nerves – bushy hair going in all directions – resting on crutches that she gripped with one hand while holding some sort of comic or magazine with the other. Her breathing was erratic and Irey could only guess one thing.

"Does someone need saving?" Thoughts of someone tied to the tracks flickered through her head.

The girl gasped. "What? No. It's just um, uh, would you please sign my comic book?"

Irey blinked in superspeed. This hadn't happened to her before. Then she saw the book in question. A picture of her and Bart both in their Impulse costumes with him leading her by the hand adorned the cover, and the title in bold white font on a red background read 'A Tale of Two Impulses'. And she'd also pulled a pen from somewhere.

Come to think of it Bart had mentioned that there was a comic of them coming out.

Irey glanced over at Traya and Charles.

"I got this." Traya wrapped an arm around the ghost. "By all means talk to your fan."

Irey did so, facing the girl.

"Of course I can sign your comic book. What's your name?"

"I'm Annie," she said. "I want you to know that you're such an inspiration to me, and thinking of you is what gives me the courage to keep up physio."

"Thank you?" What was she supposed to make of that? On instinct her eyes flickered between Annie's legs and her crutches. Her brain spat out the second thing it could land on – she maintained just enough sense not to say 'That must suck'.

"Does physio work for you?"

Annie also looked down. "It's better than it was – I can walk a few steps now – but it's really slow going. One day I hope to run again, but when I'm training it doesn't feel like I'm getting anywhere, you know."

Irey smiled. "Of course I understand something not being as fast as I'd like. Kid Flash has been trying to teach me Interlac in case I end up stranded on another planet or in the future, but it's really hard. I learned a few key phrases like 'I need help', 'I need a drink', 'I need sugar', and 'I need a restroom,' – phrases my fellow speedsters have taught me in quite a few languages in fact – but the language itself is so hard. That said, I cannot comprehend not being able to move."

Annie leaned forward, only to wince and jerk back – her grip on her crutches tightening, and Irey watched in high-speed as they started sliding in opposite directions on the not so clean floor. As Annie started to fall she rushed forwards to steady her – wrapping an arm around her shoulders and propping her up.

"Don't worry, it's OK, I've got you."

It was weird. Annie looked mortified, and yet she still leaned into her.

"This is all wrong," Annie told her. "I just wanted to tell you how awesome I think you are, and hopefully get your autograph, and instead you're catching me as I almost fall at your feet."

"Don't worry," said Irey. "I'm a superhero – catching people is kind of a big part of what I do."

Annie almost smiled. "When I tell the people at school about this later, can I please tell them you hugged me instead of caught me? I don't want to sound like a complete loser."

Irey chuckled as she realised she more or less was hugging her. "Sure, that works. Anyway, sure I'll sign your comic book, but can we do it outside the restroom? I don't think there's clean enough surface here. Or do you need to go first?"

Annie shook her head. "My next train's not for an hour – I don't need to rush."

Irey smiled. "Close your eyes."

"W-what?"

But she did, and Irey ran her (and the crutches) outside. Now that she had something to brace the comic against she grabbed the pen and signed it in superspeed, almost signing it with her actual name by mistake.

Dear Annie

Never give up.

Irmpulse.

"There, all done. You can open your eyes now."

Annie looked at it and smiled. "You've made me the happiest person in the world."

A boy came up to her, this one in some sort of scout uniform. He had pale brown hair and spots.

"Um, 'scuse me?" he smiled shyly at her, his smile struggling to transform his acne-ridden face.

"What's up?" she asked, smiling back.

"Hi, I'm Mitch, and I was um, wondering, uh, what happened to the other Impulse, the boy?"

Irey smiled. She loved talking about Bart. Other than her, Bart was the best superhero ever.

"First he became Kid Flash. Then he got aged up and became The Flash. Then he got killed which was a total bummer because I hadn't got to meet him back then but then a thousand years into the future his cousin XS bought him back as a teenager and he came back to now as Kid Flash again which was great because it meant we could spend time together and doubly great because it meant Impulse was free for me. Right now he's probably helping repel an underworld invasion with his Teen Titans and apparently half his Young Justice teammates, and lately he's been teaching me to be a better Impulse and trying to make something he won in a contest that's definitely not a house into a home." She wondered what other Bart facts he'd be interested in hearing.

She proceeded to tell him (and Annie) all about their first team-up, and when he accepted her as Impulse.

At that point Traya emerged with Charles and led him over to where Edwin was waiting. Irey told them she had to go rejoin her colleague.

"Wait!" Mitch called.

"Yes?" Irey smiled at him.

"Um, do you think we could, that is uh, please could we get a photo?"

"Good idea." Irey nodded – now that she thought about it she wanted a memento of this too, so she spun around so that she was between them. Then, in superspeed she reached down the front of her costume to a concealed pocket between the third spokes of the yellow zig-zag and pulled out her minicam.

"Here's one for me," she told them, snapping a picture. "What about you?"

Mitch had one of those cameras which 'instantly' print out for you. Maybe to him it was instant, but Irey spent a good twenty seconds waiting for it to come out. Still, it looked clear so she turned to Annie. "You want to get a picture too?"

Annie sighed, running one hand through her hair. "I don't have a camera."

Mitch gasped. "Is that all? I don't mind taking another picture for you?"

She gasped. "You'd do that?"

And he pushed the button again.

Half a minute later Annie was the proud owner of a photo of the three of them, and Irey thanked them before making her way back to Traya and the ghosts.

And just in time too for Traya also wanted to take a picture.

"They need to head off soon," Traya told her. "If 'Mr. Not-Daniels' is who I think he is then I really don't like him – I didn't know Daniel Hall particularly well but he was still one of us, the then infant son of two honoured superheroes of Infinity Inc. and he not deserved what happened to him – but I do trust that the world really does depend on it. Otherwise I'd ask them to come with us."

Irey had never heard of 'Daniel Hall' before, but then Infinity Inc. wasn't a superhero team she'd had much cause to think of. She assumed Traya meant the old one that Atom Smasher and Obsidian used to be on and not the recent one that was run by Luthor but even so they just didn't think about them.

Still, she was happy if Traya wanted to snap herself with the ghosts.

It took a moment for Traya to get her camera bag out of her main bag, and another longer moment to get her camera out, and another still to position the tripod. Her camera was different again, bulkier like Jai's, which Irey was just remembering used to be Great Aunt Iris's before she'd one a better one in a 'photojournalist of the year' contest. Irey could make out a couple of different lenses still secured in the bag too, but not the six or so her brother had at his disposal.

Anyway, squeezing 4 people into a frame – even a landscape frame – wasn't easy, and everyone had to squeeze the person next to them such that even with the ghosts in the middle Irey's and Traya's fingers were still meeting at the back. But all four of them were smiling as Traya used the five second delay to snap the photo, and further smiles and hugs were exchanged.

Then the ghosts' good mood evaporated when they realised they faced another teleport.

"It'll be OK," Traya told Charles.

Irey took the opportunity to slip Edwin another of her spare juice bottles. "Remember, drink it if you feel travel sick, that's for him as well."

"And hope we don't end up in the girls' toilets?" Edwin teased himself.

Irey giggled. "And that yeah, though if one of you really is gonna hurl again then it's not worst thing in the world. Just remember, if you do have another teleport accident and end up there don't like, just stand around. In hopefully happier news, please tell me we are now friends."

Edwin laughed at her. Laughed!

"You don't think so?" she asked.

He gasped. "What? Oh sorry, it's just that your companion said almost the same thing while you were talking to the scout. Yes, I hope we're friends."

Irey's heart swelled. In the span of one day she'd now gone from no friends to two, hopefully three, and she'd had a good time with two fans as well. She was really happy that she'd chosen to come out to play when Traya asked.

All too soon though it was time to say goodbye, and she forced herself to grin as Charles and Edwin faded out. And then it was back to the trip.

Traya also bore a grin, though Irey suspected this was a genuine one.

"I also looked at the map. There's a road. I know Ba- Kid Flash always preferred road to railways for some reason. Do you?"

And with that Irey couldn't help but grin back. Yay for Bart, telling her these things. "Completely yes."

Everything was soon tidied, and Irey informed of the directions, and Traya resumed her stance on Irey's head.

And she sped off, finally knowing where she was going.

Roads really were so much nicer. She sped past a BMW with a suited man at the wheel, a Dodge Charger with a personalised number plate had its hood up at the side of the road while a man appeared to be shouting at it, an older teenage girl was taking her friend (girlfriend?) for a ride in a Pontiac… there was so much more to see.

And finally, she sped up to the sign that welcomed people to El Paso. (After all this she really hoped the Beetle would be in, and that he'd actually be able to help them find Traci because otherwise she was going to look stupid.)

Or well, it was supposed to welcome people to El Paso anyway, but where it used to say El Paso: Welcomes Careful Drivers it now read El Paso: Welcomes Careful Drivers (as long as there white).

For what it was worth her own costume was mostly white though had a few streaks running through it, but Traya's was an eclectic mix of colours and sorry but they were not running all the way back just because they hadn't thought to dress for Wimbledon so whoever scribbled on the sign would just have to stick it. (And while Irey wasn't entirely confidant with spelling and grammar she was fairly certain it should've been 'they're' rather than 'there' anyway.)

"OK, you can open your eyes again now," Irey called. "We've arrived."


AN: So while I think about it, where does the fanon of Jai being really into photography come from anyway? I actually thought it was canon when I started this. Also, Irey in this chapter is really living up to her young age with things like believing the borderline was an actual physical line on the ground. If that didn't come across in the story then please tell me. Oh, and I have found the reference that made me think he was into pageantry but on a reread it's clear it wasn't in the 'beauty queen' sense I was thinking of (it was the 2009 DC Holiday Special if anyone was wondering) - but oh well, I've done it now.

An2: Characters and their canonicity:

First off Charles and Edwin are the Dead Boy Detectives that first appeared in The Sandman, were the lead characters in Children's Crusade (which is where they had their not so great interaction with Animal Girl - she probably remembers it more as 'I was asked to help with a game of hide and seek'), and had a black and white oneshot in I think 2006 in which they had to pretend to be girls and at one point were being all but force-fed. I based their ability to drink in this chapter on that.

Annie and Mitch are my OCs and aren't likely to appear again.