When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse
Wally is the one who sees her next.
He is running, running, running.
Because he has to be fast enough (to keep up with the fastest man alive to keep his friends alive) to save Robin because he's already injured (who let him out in the field anyway) and even though he's strong he can't be strong enough to get back up because he was shot in the leg (not the kneecap thank god because that would shatter and never work properly again and how can he runrunru- flip and twist with a shattered damaged knee cap), and there's a little girl who's all wide eyed terrified (runrunrun don't let the big bad wolf get you little girl) and Robin's defending her from a psycho (they're in Gotham of course because Gotham is the only place with enough psychocrazyinsane) people to warrant the big bad Bat and the nine (teneleventwelvethirteen pay attention years passed he grew runrunrun so he can growgrowgrow) year old sidekick (who were just as crazyinsanepsycho as the people they put away but instead of destroying people and taking they save and givegivegive) running around in the dead of the night, only talking to (because they don't trust people, but Robin trusted me with his identity because he's not tall, dark, and brooding scarily in a creepy cave swarmed with batsbatsbats) good old Jim Gordon.
(Keep moving got to runrunrun got to outrun the bullet)
He jumps because there is a child's body and he feels cold when he skips (runsrunsruns) over it like a piece of trash (couldn't stop the psychocrazyinsanedangerous, couldn't keep up, have to keep up and keep runningrunningrunning) he doesn't want to touch (he doesn't want to touch it at all, because he couldn't stop it couldn't outrun death, not for this kid so he runsrunsruns to outrun it for Dic-Robin) when he sees it (a ) and he pauses (less than a millisecond because that's just a breath for him and sometimes he feel like he can't breathe because the air around him doesn't have time to recycle at the rate he's breathingbreathingbreathing and he can't suck in air fast enough but he's doing it too fast to just breathe) she's all black hair blue eyes and he wastes a second (onetwothree) because (she's supposed to be deaddeaddead that's why his friend's Robin crazyinsanepsycho) before he remembers his bro Rob in trouble and turns just in time to see the man shoot Robin using his () cape to cover the girl, and just the girl(and she' staring at bird boy with hugetearyscared eyes and Kid Flash knows Robin is doing the rightmoralhonorable thing but wishes he wouldn't, so he could just crawljumprun out of the way to save himself, and just wishes he would movemovemove) and Kid Flash can see (but he can't move, he's stuckstuckstuck) Robin whisper 'Close your eyes and don't open them' and the kid follows direction right when the bullet hit.
SPLAT
And then he's moving because it didn't go splat, his friend was still (barely) standing.
The he's moving (runningrunningrunning) and he knocks out the perp (psychocrazyinsanenutjob) and grabs Robin and the girl, then they're outside (in a flash) and he leaves the girl with the police before they even see him (so fast in flash can you outrun death), then they're on the bio ship, and he gulps in air (can't breathebreathebreathe) and then M'gann is there already there, then Supey, then Kaldur, then Artemisand he screams at her (in rage because she was too slow too slowtooslow-) and then he's yelling at M'gann (because they need to leave fastfastfast) and he's moving fast (vibratingmoleculesphaseing) and then he gets an idea (in the name if science) he's ripping apart Robin's suit shirt and he shouts at Connor to see where the bullet is and Connor just loo
ks at him confused (too slow too slowtoofast) so he screams it again (because he can't go slow, not now have to movemovemove and out run death)and Connor flinches (Boy of Steel flinches) but gets the jist of it and does it and tells him where (so slowtooslow that he almost doesn't understand because he needs to move fastfastfaster) and quickly he turns and vibrates his fingers (thank god it's not deep enough to hurt anything but if he doesn't get this out now gravity will pushpushpush and he will die too soontoofast because he was too slow) through grabs the bullet and pulls (don't rip anythingdon't rip anything) and it comes out but Robin is screamingscreamingscreaming through gritted teeth because he had to solidify his fingertips to grasp the bullet and he screwed up his hand and Robin's side but the bullet is out and no major artories are destroyed so he won't diediedie.
Kid Flash takes a breathe and passes out on the floor, afraid that he'll phase through it and anything and everything solid and the last thing he remembers is a smell that he only recognizes smelling off of Robi- Dick's mother's box of stuff.
But she's dead and he's unconscious.
When he comes to he realizes he's in the Med Bay. Slowly he looks around and slowly gets up to slowly look around from a different angle.
He sees Rob but he looks fine so he doesn't worry and he settles back to sleep, the scent and the strange lady slipping from his mind as in the next few days he is berated for recklessly attempting (not attempting- doing successfully) surgery and burning all his energy away, and then he's congratulated and thanked because he rescued the girl and saved Robin's life (probably definitely).
Only weeks later when he's having bro night with Dick at the manor and he asks to know more about Dick's parents, and Dick takes out the box to show him and talk to him about it, explaining each thing because it matters to him, and he matters to Wally, does he remember the lady and the scent, but then Dick is looking at him with sad pretty blue eyes and he lets them be the only pretty blue eyes he thinks about.
Death tugs at my ear and says: "Live, I am coming"
Oliver Wendell Holmes