Author's notes: I'm glad I bounced with joy when I saw I had got over the big 100 as far as reviews are concerned when I did, because right now real life is pretty much keeping me bounce-free. My only granddad is in the hospital and the outlook's not that good, and (perhaps) as a result I haven't been writing anything for a week or so – got 9 more snapshots not counting this one, so they'll be going on anyway, but… Yeah. Anyway, I could do with a bit of funny here. Hence this snippet. Of course, next one's not that funny – again, alternating. 'Cause life does have its ups and downs.

Disclaimer: whoa, lots of characters in this chapter – Nightwing, Speedy, Green Arrow, Batman … and my favourite Scarlet Speedster :o) Of course, all those charming gentlemen belong to DC comics. But go tell that to Bats. Of course, he'd probably buy them off… On second thoughts, let's not, and on with the snippet and shutting up now.

Snapshot Collection

19. Sidekick

"… And?" asked Nightwing, a grin of anticipation playing across his features. Speedy's own smile became thoroughly smug.

"He said something snarky, and then he was like, "Okay, sure, whatever". You should've seen his face, Dick."

Oliver Queen shook his head as he listened to the conversation from where he stood near the computer.

"Kid doesn't even include my snarky comeback in the story, but I could swear it was something witty." He smirked, and glanced down at Batman, who sat at the computer and typed as though the world depended on it. Which probably was the case. "When did I become the uncool, Bruce?"

Batman's response was short and curt.

"When you got yourself a sidekick."

He didn't even spare a side look. Ollie snorted.

"Yeah, I suppose. Nothing like some enthusiastic newbie kid to remind you that you're old and boring now. Still …"

"And that, folks, is why you'll never see me with a sidekick," said a cheerful voice. Flash suddenly stood near Ollie with a grin on his face and an apple in his hand. "That way, my coolness factor remains intact, thank you very much. Plus …" He took a bite out of the apple and added with his mouth full, "I get to make fun of you guys. Best of both worlds."

Ollie didn't know Flash all that well – they weren't on first-name basis – but silly jokes and wisecrack attitude aside, he seemed an okay kind of guy, who got the job done and was liked by an uncanny number of people. So far, though, he hadn't really thought about him more than that.

He watched the speedster amble to Dick and Roy and join the conversation naturally. The next minute, the three of them were laughing heartily, and he had the unpleasant feeling that they were enjoying a joke at his (and/or Bruce's) expense.

When he took another glimpse at the dark figure at the computer, Bruce had the merest hint of a smile on his face.

Wait. Is Batman making fun of me now? Man, and I thought things were bad.

"Hey, he's got an uncle somewhere, right?" Ollie muttered, his eyes still on the small group of kids – none of them older than twenty-five, he knew that. "You don't suppose there's a younger cousin in the mix who could get super-speed powers in the same way he did …?"

There was a gust of wind and a whooshing sound, and Flash grinned at him from a spot that was empty a second and a half ago.

"No chance, Arrow. My aunt and uncle don't have kids. Maybe in some alternate reality they do, and one of them got their speed in the exact same kind of freak lab accident I got mine – that would really be a stretch, though, 'cause there's no way I'm careless enough to let that happen – but here? Nope."

"So, even if you could, you wouldn't want a … partner?" Ollie corrected himself because of the mild glare that Speedy suddenly threw him without breaking his conversation with Dick, noting interestedly the mention of a 'lab accident'.

Flash threw him a pointed look.

"Coolness factor, remember?"

And he sped up in the other direction.

Ollie rolled his eyes.

"Let me put it this way," came Bruce's low voice behind him – when Ollie turned round, the guy was still staring at the screen. "Do you really want another like him zipping around the place?"

Ollie stared at him in mock horror. Come to think of it, the idea was pretty cringeworthy.

"That's what I thought." Yep, there definitely was the slightest trace of a smile in Bruce's voice, which Ollie inwardly confirmed when he actually swivelled his chair to glance at Green Arrow and the laughing trio.

"He's one of a kind."

As Batman turned back to whatever he was doing, Ollie realised with some surprise that those words could have had any meaning. They could be derogatory ('he's one of a kind, thankfully') or a praise, and knowing Bruce, they could very well be both at the same time.

This was most intriguing, character-wise.

Still, it would have been interesting to see the Flash teamed up with a sidekick even more impulsive than he was.

Even if Ollie had a feeling that both would drive everybody up the wall before you could say 'Fastest Kid Alive'.

Yep, it's a nod to the comics, where Wally takes a sidekick, who is the grandson of his uncle Barry and his aunt Iris (who moved in the future, long story), and is named Bart Allen. Since this is the DCAU (as I see it), Barry and Iris never moved to the future and had kids and grandkids, so Bart probably won't turn up anytime soon – not that I don't like him, poor kid, I love his Impulse period. But I wanted to dig a bit into that.

And I love Green Arrow. I mean, Ollie is just full of snark and thinks before doing something and generally has a great heart – not to mention his own awesome factor, the guy hums along his own theme tune (in To Another Shore) for God's sake!! If that ain't cool, I don't know what is :o)

Next up: As a kid, knocking on a door and running and hiding always seemed the funniest thing to Wallace Rudolph West.