DEF: Okay so the Barry/Wally reminiscing is in production, this was inspired by Shattered:Trading Yesterday.

Vita: No Flasher isn't going crazy, if you read Don't Know What You Got, you could call this a companion piece. We don't own the song or the characters mentioned but Robi made a BatFlash pillow.

The Thanagarian attack hadn't left him as raw as this, back then when he'd believed his sister, Shayera, betrayed him, betrayed them all. It hadn't been as bad because he knew the others felt the same way, worse in some cases, he knew wasn't alone but this time was different. He flexed his hand slowly, watching intently as the red spandex stretched and contracted at a normal human pace, the Speed Force, it was scary.

It had called out to him, calling him home, it had struck chord in his heart, it was so familiar and yet so unknown, it was purely terrifying right? The speed force, he'd been running as fast as he could, brushing the raw power, so close and in that moment, he hadn't cared about his own life. Yesterday he had almost died, no he knew that yesterday a part of him had died.

He couldn't let Luthor win, there'd be no mercy, his friends would all die, Bruce would die, he couldn't let Bruce die. He let out a lengthy sigh, one leg dangled over the edge of the cliff, he didn't even know where he was exactly, somewhere in Gotham probably. As inane as it sounded, he always felt safest in Gotham, the madhouse of the superhero world, protected by the darkest of heroes. Yet because it was protected by that hero, he felt safe, he knew Bruce would never let someone get hurt in his City if he could help it.

The pale crescent moon began its slow descent into the calm ink black waters, purity getting swallowed up by the corruption of the world. Everything, every man, woman and child was like the moon, there was no way to stop the taint from touching them, evil was everywhere. Was this what the Justice Lords had realised after their Flash died?

Did they finally see how pointless all those battles were? For every criminal put in jail, there'd be two more waiting to take their place, for every plot thwarted, there was another, more diabolical, more evil, more likely to succeed than the last.

"It's all so pointless!" he yelled, and his words echoed hollowly, everything he'd done, worthless gain! What would happen to those he cared about when he was gone? The evil would win, they would take over and one day there would be no more heroes.

Or maybe...it was him who was pointless. Yeah, that made sense, what great feat had he accomplished in his lifetime? Nothing that someone else couldn't have done better, they hadn't even needed him to beat Luthor, Superman would've shot him with his heat vision. Batman would have taken him out with some elaborately thought out plan, he wasn't needed, worthless was what he was.

He was even too much of a coward to admit to Bruce how much he loved him, ever since he was freakin' Kid Flash and running around with the Titans. Batman was everything he'd ever wanted to be, strong, smart, he was taken seriously, no one doubted the Batman. But wait, wasn't Barry his idol? All his life all he'd ever wanted was to be like Barry, he was so confident in himself, in his powers.

He let out a strangled cry as he buried fiery red locks in his hands, it was too much, who did he want to be? Batman or Flash? Who was Wally West? Had he died that day during the experiment gone oh so right or was he still there, little more than a spectre on the sidelines?

Had the Lords' Flash ever felt this way? Had he loved a man that he could never have or did he have the guts to tell him what he felt? Most definitely, the way their Bruce had looked at him, the barely suppressed longing behind those blank white lenses.

How had that Batman felt, left alone without the one he loved? To loose what you'd only just found and the rest of your life left in a compromise, 'you're dead, I'm sorry but I'll get rid of all the people who ever hurt you'. What kind of life, what kind of existence would that be, so hollow and alone, it would drive you insane. And now he understood that small nod shared by the Bats, the Lords' Bat knew and he was wishing their Bat luck to realise before it was too late.

Only, he was sure his Batman didn't share the same feelings, those two were so different, worse than night and day because at least those resembled each other in a twisted sort of way. The day held no meaning if there was no night and who would know the night without the day? They completed each other, so no the two Batmen were as different as, as, as a river and the ocean!

Rivers were so calm and beautiful, they were more than likely to be cold, he knew from experience, and they were unattainable like the dream you have just before waking. That one illusive dream, that one memory that skirted the edge of your consciousness, impossible to catch. They were pure, untouched by the black waves which they seemed to kiss along the coast line.

The ocean was forever churning, forever in constant chaos, fighting itself for control, the amount of contamination in it was horrifying. To think that it was connected to trickling brooks and hidden rivers was almost unimaginable, how could they all be bonded when they were so unlike each other? Where one washed away the filth, the other embraced it knowing to do anything else was pointless so why fight it?

The two Bats were connected in much the same way, they both had the same roots but when the taint touched one, he became stained for life. Could that happen to his Bruce? Could his death push him over the edge from river to ocean?

But then again, who was he to judge others, he didn't even know how to classify himself anymore he'd been willing to throw away his life to stay in the Speed Force but that was for his friends. He risked his life every damn day of the frickin' week, why should this be any different? Because he wanted to go back? Because he was so close to getting up and running right that second?

No, maybe it was because he knew that was how the Lords' Flash died, yesterday he had died, tomorrow Batman was bleeding, hurting because of him. What else was there now? What had happened to the Lords' Bat, how had he reacted after they left, after he'd seen the League's Flash?

The utter fear in his eyes when he thought that Wally was going to die right in front of his eyes again, it must have been horrible and yet, he had seemed content. When he had helped them in Arkam, it was almost as though he were trying to prove himself to someone, to prove he was still good. He had lost who he was but he'd found it because of them.

'He's happy now, he finally got to be with the one he loved.'

He frowned, where had that come from? Was it J'Onn messing around with his head, no the Martian didn't do that so then what? He knew it wasn't his own thought but whose else could it be and besides it hadn't felt like a new thought, it was almost as though he'd already known it and was just remembering.

'They're both happy, they're together and now it's your turn.'

Oh great, first there's the Speed Force trying to reclaim him and now he's remembering things he never even thought about in the first place!

'No, look down at the shoreline.'

Well if he was really and truly crazy, he might as well listen to the delusions while they were somewhat sane, he dragged his gaze from the sea down to the beach down below. He furrowed his eyebrows and squinted, there wasn't anything but driftwood down there and black rocks washed up by the ocean. Then there was something down there, people, two people, one dressed all in red and the other in black and gray with metallic embellishments.

The two were standing shoulder to shoulder, the one in red, the smaller one, almost tucked away behind the taller's gray cape. They were too far away to make out exactly who they were but he already knew who they were, the Lords' Batman and Flash, together, here.

His counter part waved up at him enthusiastically so that his arm was little more than a blur, he lifted his hand in response still a little shell shocked, how? The Lord Batman stared straight at him, it wasn't a glare, it was more like he was trying to tell him something very important, not very un like Bats.

"How are you guys here?" he called his voice not echoing like it had done a while ago, strange, maybe the breeze had disrupted the vibrations or something.

The Lords' Flash shook his head pointing to the ocean, then to his Batman and shaking his head again for an answer, nice now the ghosts were in his head. The other Flash was trying to say that his Batman wasn't like the ocean, or at least not anymore.

"Flash is dead, how are you with Batman?" he tried, well duh Wally, their Batman had probably died that's how and this was the part where the ghosts got pissed at him. But they didn't, the other Flash smiled ruefully and waved again, turning to his Batman and whispering something.

He contemplated just running down there and finding out what the hell was going on but didn't get the chance, the other Batman was glaring at him. He gulped out of reflex before remembering this wasn't his Bats, he couldn't punish him for anything but still the glare was just as effective from the Lords' Bat.

'You will tell him.'

"No I will not," he replied but they were gone leaving his own voice echoing back to him, okay, creepy, he ran down to the beach intent on finding out where they'd gone. Flash was dead and apparently Batman was dead too, maybe when they died in their own dimension, they got sucked into the League's.

Careful not to disturb the sand, he walked over to where they had been but no footprints, the sand was semi wet which made for a good base, there should be footprints. He tracked up and down the entire beach, nothing, only his own pair of footprints, okay they were dead over here as well, why had they come to see him?

He huffed and sat down heavily on the sand, the moon had dropped considerably, it was now touching the navy blue waves, hours had past talking-arguing with the dead. What should he do? Should he listen to the Lords' Batman or not, they were one in the same but how could he know for sure? Well duh idiot, no one knows for sure, look at how they ended up.

The other Flash never got up the guts to tell his Batman before he died and the other Batman only realised he loved Flash after he was gone. Their Bat had shattered under the pressure, the realisation of exactly what he had lost was too much for him, he had died of a broken heart.

'You don't know what you have until it's gone, don't wait until it's too late.'

He got to his feet, clearly they weren't going to leave him alone until he told Bruce how he felt and so what if Bats was disgusted by the very idea, at least he'd feel better about it all. He ran back up the Cliffside, he had all the time in the world and none at all, who knew when the hand of fate would intervene. Still, he had enough time to glance back at the beach, enough time to see the two figures moving across the sand.

Enough time to see the happiness in their smiles, in the silent laughter, in the very way they moved with each other. If he could have just a fraction of that he'd die a happy man, a love that could conquer death itself.

DEF: So yeah, this was a little on the angsty side, normal for me, and at least two guys from another school want to steal my pillow.

Vita: The Ballad Of Barry Allen in the works expect it before the week is out. Review and state any song and character you want.