Disclaimer: I don't own DC Comics (unfortunately).

Author's note: Me again, I decided I had some time so I updated. I'd also like to blame Wally West for the speeding ticket I got this morning while driving to school.

Wally: Me? What'd I do?

The authoress: I was thinking about ideas for the new chapter and wasn't paying any attention to my speed. Therefore, I blame you.

Wally: It's not my fault!

Resurrecting the Red

Chapter 18: Keystone City

David looked around him with awe as he and Max walked by a fountain in Keystone City. There was Flash memorabilia everywhere!

"Look's like you're a celebrity now," Max said dryly, causing David to redden slightly. He wasn't used to being in the spotlight. She smiled and looped her arm through David's as they continued on towards the Flash museum.

"Hey Kid," Huntress called. David zoomed over to the cynical redhead. Elizabeth Szasz motioned towards a blinking light on the screen.

"What?" David asked. Elizabeth smirked at him, the red haired image of her mother, Helena.

"There's a situation in Keystone City, you want to go check it out? If I remember right, that's where your grandparents were from."

"Sure, I'll go," David replied. Inside though, he was very nervous. As of yet, he hadn't made much of an appearance of the Flash. Perhaps it was fitting that he do it in Keystone.

"I'm setting the coordinates," Elizabeth said. "I'll transport you down."

"David," Max said suddenly. "Can you show me where it was?" David looked around and pulled her into the shadows. Then they zoomed several blocks over. His girlfriend gaped at the demolished area, which had been mostly cleared by the city crews.

David raced by the speeding police cars and fire trucks. He sidetracked only once to pull a little boy out of the way of a speeding car and handed the child to his astonished parents.

There was a cloud of black dust in the air, as well as the smell of an electrical fire. David zoomed through the police blockade to see that a large office building had collapsed, as well as several smaller buildings beside it.

"We need back up!" One of the firefighters yelled. "We have people trapped in there!" The man turned suddenly as he caught a sight of red.

"This is a restricted area…" The firefighter froze when he saw the red garbed superhero at his side.

"How many people are in there?" David questioned hurriedly. The man blinked as he attempted to hide his shock. Then he quickly regained his professionalism as he pointed to the wreckage.

"There's at least two dozen civilians still inside," the firefighter said. "Possibly more. We also have about seven of our own people in there."

"I'm on it," David said. He zoomed off into the collapsed building, leaving the fireman to stare after him in wonder.

Max grinned at the astonished look on David's face. He was still shocked at all of the attention he was getting. She knew full well that he was still only coming to understand how much of an impact that the Flash had had on the cities of Keystone and Central City.

"You helped a lot of people Dave," she said. She kissed him on the cheek, causing the red head to blush.

"It'll be okay Ma'am, we'll get you out of here," David said calmly. He picked up the dark skinned woman, who looked to be in her sixties or seventies.

"You're really him, aren't you?" she asked in surprise. David hesitated a long second before answering.

"Not quite," he answered politely. The silver haired woman smiled at him and patted his cheek affectionately.

"It doesn't matter," she answered. "You're the Flash and that's good enough for me."

David looked down at her in surprise before racing out of the building. His heart pounded in his chest as he increasingly became aware of the crowd gathering outside the police blockade. Some of the older citizens were cheering for him.

The young Flash paused in embarrassed wonder as more people were trying to clamber for a look at him. He gave a small, shy wave to them before speeding back into the wreckage to bring out the last remaining survivors.

"Did you watch the news?" David asked. The Keystone media had immediately jumped him for an interview after the teenager had cleared some of the rubble away. He had created a whirlwind of air to move over some debris that was blocking the street.

The teenager had been speechless when he saw several news reporters running towards him. He had even considered making an escape, but didn't want to be impolite. The thought of what his mother or grandfather might do also strengthened his resolve.

"Flash! Flash! Can we have an interview?"

"Flash!"

"Oh my God! It's really the Flash!"

The stunned David froze as they began to gather around him. He didn't like being the center of attention!

"Uh…Hi," David stammered. 'Crap, now that sounds intelligent', he thought. The news reporters continued to press around him excitedly as they called out question after question.

"Where have you been?"

"Flash, are you part of the Justice League?"

"What do you have to say about what happened here today?"

David stared at the expectant faces around him. Suddenly, he felt very overwhelmed. He wanted nothing more than to get out of there, but he realized that it wouldn't be the polite thing to do. They were expecting him to say something.

"Uh…I'm glad I was able to help," David said lamely. "I was just doing my job."

"Flash," one lady said. "Keystone has been without the Flash since the last one was killed by Grodd. Do you have a comment on that? Was she a relation?" David felt a flash of anger. What business was it of theirs if he was or not? He wasn't going to give anything away. He would do anything to make sure that his uncle and friends were kept safe.

"No comment," David said flatly. As Bruce had noticed earlier, the young speedster also had inherited some of Linda Park's temper. The woman appeared taken aback at his answer.

"But Flash…" she persisted, but the still irritated David interrupted her.

"Look Lady, I'm the Flash," David answered, glaring hotly at her. His voice unconsciously gained some more strength. "I'll do what ever I can to protect the people of this city as well as the rest of the world. It was a bad thing that happened to…" David was about to say 'to my Mom'. "…to the last Flash. She died bravely while protecting the ones she loved. It's my dream that I will be able to do half as well as she and her father."

With that, David zoomed off.

"I saw it," Max said dryly. "Terry laughed when you said 'No comment.' Even the Old Man smirked."

"He did?" David asked in surprise.

"Yeah, and he muttered something about 'Linda' too."

"Linda was my Grandma. Mr. Stewart said that she had had a big temper," he answered. Max flashed him a grin before pulling him up the steps to the Flash museum.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

"What're you guys doing?" Terry asked suspiciously. He glared into his little brother's room. Matt and a red haired friend of his were perched on his brother's bed.

"None of your business," Matt said. He stuck his tongue out at Terry while quickly pulling a blanket around him. Terry raised an eyebrow before quickly charging in to yank the blanket off his brother.

Terry burst out laughing.

"It's not funny!" Matt yelled. The younger McGinnis was dressed in black, with a red Batman symbol taped to his chest. He was also wearing a makeshift black cape.

"Twip," Terry smirked. Matt stuck his tongue out.

"Oh yeah," the boy countered. "Well Batman's a lot cooler than you!"

"Oh yeah?" Terry asked dryly. "Well, he is cool. He's better than the other superheroes."

"That's not true!" Matt's friend protested. "The Flash is better!"

Terry looked over to see that the other boy was wearing a red shirt and shorts, with a yellow lightning bolt taped to his chest.

"No he's not!" Matt yelled.

"Is too!" his friend protested.

"Hey! Hey!" Terry interrupted. "The Flash isn't that bad. After Batman, he's the second coolest." His younger brother gave him a stubborn look and Terry continued slyly.

"In fact," Terry said. "I heard that they're supposed to be good friends. Anyone that Batman hangs out with has to be schway, right?" His younger brother considered that before grinning.

"Okay," Matt admitted. "But Batman's still cooler. I'd rather have him for a brother than you. You're too lame."

Terry smirked.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

David peered thoughtfully at a statue of some guy called the Mirror Master. Next to him was a small replica of the Trickster.

Grandpa sure dealt with some weird guys, he thought.

"David, look at this," Max said. She pulled him over to a large photograph on the wall. David gave a sharp intake of breath as he found himself looking at a picture of his mother and grandfather. Wally was still the Flash and he had an armed draped over his teenaged mother, who was then Kid Flash. They each were wearing identical grins.

"Max," David said quietly. "Do you think I can ever measure up to them?"

"Bruce thinks so," she said quietly. "And you know the old man doesn't just say that about anybody." David blinked back tears. It wouldn't do if someone saw him crying. They might figure out why.

"I…miss them," David admitted. "I know I never knew them, but…I wish my parents and grandparents were still alive. I wish my Uncle Barry was still alive too."

"You're not alone," Max told him. "You have your uncle, me, Terry, Dana, Bruce, and all the others."

They both stumbled as the ground suddenly gave a shake. David caught Max before she could slip and fall.

"What was that?" she asked worriedly. This time they both fell as the ground ans the building again quaked. The statue of Mirror Master crashed onto the floor. They heard the distant sound of sirens.

"I have to go," David said quickly. He lightly kissed Max on the lips and pulled out his Flash ring. Moments later, he raced out of the museum and looked around. Several buildings had been smashed through.

What happened?

David gave a yelp as something hard hit him. The young man flew back and crashed into a parked car. He managed to race out of the way just before the car crumbled from a heavy impact.

The Flash gritted his teeth as the figure of Jon-El grinned at him.

………………………………………………

"Hurry up Matt," Terry ordered. His mother had forced him to take Matt down to the video store so he could rent a movie.

Matt didn't answer.

Terry glowered irately as he stalked around the movie shelf to glare at his kid brother. He knew that his brother was there because he had just called him 'ugly' not even ten seconds ago.

"Matt?" Terry said. He paused and came on his guard. With growing anxiety he began to check around each isle, calling out his brother's name. Maybe it was a trick, his brother liked to pull stupid stunts on him.

"Matt? This isn't funny," Terry said, not able to hide the worry in his voice. Something was wrong. There was no way that his younger brother could hide from him. Bruce had trained him too well for that.

Matt was gone.