Disclaimer: I do not own any of the superhero legacies or code names that are mentioned at any time in this story, DC Comics does. Any character that is not in DC I have made up so please do not steal them without permission from me. All characters and situations are fictitious. Scenarios in this story (to my knowledge) have not been used in any run of DC Comics. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 9: Blitz and The Little Girl

I lay shirtless on my stomach as Wanda smoothed healing cream over the last of my burns. It had been five days since I woke up in the Medical Bay of Titans Tower and I was enduring the last checkup before I left for Central City and for my Aunt's house. My powerless Aunt decided to take me in since she was used to dealing with speedsters, what with her being Emily's mother and married into the family. For the last week, she had been packing up the house my father and I had been living in along with the help of family friends who knew about the family's powers. She said that she'd be thrilled to officially adopt me, but I think its mostly because she wants me to watch over Emily since she and my Uncle had been going through a hard time in their marriage before the disappearances.

"Almost done, Nickie. Stop fidgeting." Sighing in frustration, I tried to hold still a little longer, remembering the last time she'd called me that before spoiling my good mood. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us tomorrow to the Flash Museum?" The heroic public funeral was scheduled tomorrow in Central City.

"I'm sure. Thank you for offering though, but I don't feel like making a spectacle. There is no Kid Flash on the Teen Titans' roster. If I showed up with you guys...and in a Kid Flash costume..." I let the sentence hang.

"You were the one that saved Impulse and Blitz. It's because of you that Impulse came out of that ordeal with only minor injuries. I know Blitz will want to thank you." She pat my back to indicate she was done and put the lid back on the tub of cream as I swung my legs over the side and turned so I was sitting.

"He knows where Titans Tower is and where my Aunt Gloria's place is." Wanda slammed the tub of cream on the counter top a little harder than she meant to.

"That's not the point Nick. If it weren't for you, there would be no speedsters left alive at all. It's not only Blitz that wants to thank you. The rest of the hero community thinks you're the last chance for the Flash Legacy." I rolled my eyes for a moment, hopping off the table to my feet.

"Is that what you and the other Titans think too? That I'm going to be the next Flash? What about Emily? She has the genes too."

"But you're the last male Allen left alive. Look what happened to the West and the Quick lines over the generations."

"So I'm screwed because of my genetics. Way to put it into perspective, Wanda." I started walking out until she put her hand on my shoulder.

"The Flash has always been the heart of the Justice League, Nick. And now? We need that heart more than ever." I sighed, looking back at one of my closest friends.

"I'm not a Flash, Wanda."

"Not yet. But the four of us know you have always had the makings of a true Flash." I looked at the ground, not wanting to face her absolute confidence in me. "Please, at least consider coming with us tomorrow." I glanced at her once more, shrugging her hand off.

"I'll think about it."

There were traffic jams on the ground and in the air the next day. Central City was packed to bursting with people and heroes from around the world wanting to pay their respects to the thirty-one deceased speedsters. Relatives of the deceased that lived in Central and Keystone City were inundated with heroes that came in civilian clothes. When the heroes started coming to my Aunt's house to see how Emily and I were holding up, Aunt Gloria was generous to the first visitors of the morning, but halfway through breakfast, she began turning them all away, almost screaming that all she wanted was peace and quiet. Something told me we wouldn't last too long in her care.

At noon, Emily had plans to meet her team at a certain park just outside of Central City and my Aunt demanded that I take her. It took us about an hour of silence for me to drive through the ground traffic to the park, but instead of heading straight back after her team picked her up, I sat on a park bench people watching. It was peaceful alone on the bench. No screaming Aunt, no pitiful looks from others. I was just an anonymous Central City teenager sitting quietly on a nice day.

I sat there for about four minutes and twenty seven seconds before someone sat down on the middle of the bench not a foot to my left. He was a taller, older guy with white hair and a surprisingly good amount of lean muscle on him but he simply opened a Central City newspaper, not saying a word to me. The front of the paper was all about the Flash Museum's Memorial to the speedsters. I turned away from the guy but he suddenly sighed.

"Pity. So many in such a short amount of time." He looked at me with clear, blue eyes. "Are you going to pay your respects at the Flash Museum today, boy?" I opened my mouth to say something a little snarky to him until the old guy gave me a smile. His kind, blue eyes and gentle smile reminded me of another man that had been in that room of horrors. I hadn't thought of it, but I had seen the White Flash before. I stood up and smiled at the old man.

"As a matter of fact, I'm thinking of going there now." The man's gentle smile widened into a knowing one.

"Perhaps I will see you there." It felt like I was suddenly talking to a grandfather I hadn't seen in years. I gave him a smile and trotted back to my Aunt's car, planning to drive it back to the house and then run to the Flash Museum.

When I got to my Aunt's, I jogged inside at human pace and into my room in the basement. I changed into clothes that weren't riddled with holes and was about to turn off the light when something glinted in the middle of my bed. A gold Flash ring that I hadn't seen was sitting on top of a small sheet of paper that had two T's on it. I picked up the ring, knowing it had another Kid Flash costume in it that Ethan made for me. Staring at it for a few moments, I slowly put it on the middle finger of my right hand and made a fist, looking at it for a few more moments. Deciding to leave it on just in case, I turned off the light and actually sped out the back door, running to the Flash Museum to see if I could find out who the White Flash was.

Standing on the other side of the street, I could tell the Flash Museum was crowded beyond recognition. There must have been thousands of people coming to pay their respects. Many of them put flowers at the sign and entrance of the museum. The most surprising was the ring of flying heroes from all over the world that were twenty feet above the Flash Museum like silent sentinels. Every so often, another hero would come soaring in and join the others in the ring as one or two would fly down to the ground to rest but the one above the entrance, Superman, hadn't come down yet. All around the grounds of the museum were hundreds of heroes and teams that knew at least one of the speedsters that had died. There were ropes separating the heroes from the general public and only if the heroes walked up to the ropes were the public actually allowed to converse with them.

The paparazzi were EVERYWHERE outside the museum. I avoided as many reporters as I could when I joined the throng to go inside the museum, but as I looked up at the heroes above the crowd, Superman noticed me and gave me an encouraging smile. Managing to get into the museum, I immediately saw another roped-off area, but whoever passed it would fall silent immediately. It had thirty-one lit candles in it along with my distant Uncle, Blitz, in a wheelchair. Like a magnet, I was drawn to him. No one told me how bad his injuries had been, and now I could see why.

He was missing his right leg.

Blitz, like most speedsters, was normally pretty chatty and energetic, but this Blitz was quiet and far too withdrawn. His head hung sadly, not paying attention to any of the crowd that passed. I stopped right in front of the rope, horrified at what happened to him. A speedster that couldn't run. He always loved being a hero; helping people was the best high for him. Now? It was a miracle that he had the strength to keep on living. I hung my head, ashamed at my own selfishness.

"Don't give up, kid." My head came up at his quiet whisper and he and I locked eyes, my green to his clear blue. He somehow knew only I could hear him. "Don't you dare ever give up. I might not be able to run anymore, but at least I'm still alive and willing to do the right thing; I can thank you for that." He looked at my hand that had the Flash ring on it and a small, hopeful smile tugged at the corners of his mouth before he looked at the candles. I backed away from him, feeling something stirring inside of me as I slowly walked to the Flash wing of the museum.

The encounter with Blitz shook me a little bit, and as I walked, the voices from several people went through my head.

"They called them the greatest heroes who ever existed. Legends of their legendary legacies."

"You know, the rest of the League and even the Lantern Corps tell me that whenever a human is picked to become a Green Lantern and join the Justice League, a Flash isn't too far behind."

"I guess I knew you'd someday be back. Once a hero, always a hero."

"The Flash has always been the heart of the Justice League, Nick. And now? We need that heart more than ever."

I stopped in front of a Flash poster, shaking my head to try and clear the voices until I looked up at the poster. A Green Lantern and a Flash were posing with each other in front of a seemingly disgruntled Batman. Stepping back from the poster, I stared at the Flash's gentle smile and kind, blue eyes.

I couldn't believe it. The White Flash was smiling right at me from the poster just as his voice came into my head.

"You still have a long race to run, Kid."

Barry Allen was the White Flash.

I don't know how long I stared at the picture of Barry Allen and Hal Jordan, but the next thing I knew, I heard a kid's cry near me. Blinking out of my shocked thoughts, I looked around at the people near me, but there were no young kids that I could see. Normally, the younger kids were in the Impulse and Kid Flash wings, but I managed to spot a small tennis shoe barely sticking out from behind a huge display case close to the wall. Walking over, I bent down to see a small three year old girl crying for her mother. Trying to sound non-threatening, I couldn't help but reach down for the girl.

"Hey, there. Are you lost?" The little girl looked up and her eyes went wide in fear when she saw me and scooted further behind the display where I couldn't really reach her. "It's okay, I won't hurt you."

"No. Go away. I want my mommy!"

I started getting a few curious looks from people near the display as the girl started crying louder. Backing away from the child as a few adults went to try and coax her out, I felt the Flash ring on my finger. The poor little girl was quickly becoming terrified with all the people around her and there was still no sign of any panicked parent. An idea popped into my head but if I followed my sudden plan, there would be no going back. One terrified scream decided me and I threaded through the sudden crowd, reaching a bathroom that was blessedly empty and changed into my Kid Flash costume.

Going for the door, I stopped with my red-gloved hand on the door, making sure I wanted to do this. Taking a deep breath, I knew this was the turning point in my life. I knew the world needed a true Flash; but I didn't know if I was really worthy of the title. The moment I heard the little girl scream through the door though, I pushed it open, ready to face the consequences.

I went through the already growing crowd like water and within a second was behind a man that was trying to reach the girl. The crowd that had already assembled seemed to stop moving behind me just as I cleared my throat loudly.

"Let me try."

I got to see the man's eyes grow huge and he stumbled back, letting me have more than enough room. Since the girl was in the Flash Museum, I hoped she was a fan of the Flash and maybe Kid Flash so I knelt down in front of the very skinny entrance to where the little girl had crawled into. She looked at me for a few moments as I reached my gloved hand out to her.

"It's okay. I'm Kid Flash and I won't let anything happen to you." The little girl sniffled once and suddenly scrambled towards me latching her arms around my neck as I practically fell backwards. I wrapped my arms around the crying girl and got up to my feet, hugging her to me. "It's okay, kiddo. Let's go find your parents." She simply nodded and, as I started walking, the crowd split in front of me, giving me a clear path.

Whispers flew ahead of me, and as I came to the front lobby with the girl still in my arms, hundreds of people crammed in the buzzing lobby, but I still had a clear path to two astonished policemen with a distraught couple. I walked up to them, cameras flashing all over the room as I stopped in front of the couple.

"Sir, ma'am? You might want to keep a closer eye on your daughter next time." I handed the grateful couple their daughter and started walking towards the entrance when the little girl scrambled out of her parents' arms and ran after me, hugging my legs.

"Thank you, Kid Flash." I couldn't help but gently smile down at her before she ran back to her parents.

Chapter 9 End

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