[Keystone City
March 16, 05:00 CDT]
Wally thought that he was holding it together pretty well.
Right after Uncle Barry hung up with Batman, he'd moved the entire family – including Dick and Roy – across the river to Keystone before running off to teleport up to the Watchtower. Jay and Joan Garrick had welcomed them without question and agreed that it wasn't safe for them to remain at the house in Central with his father missing from his cell and knowing full well where they were living.
Jay had taken Aunt Iris into the kitchen to get some coffee brewing while Joan went back upstairs to prepare the guest room and bring some blankets out from the linen closet for the couches. Roy had unfolded his collapsible bow with a violent jerk of his arm and slung his quiver over his shoulder, calmly declaring that he would be on the roof if anyone needed him.
Dick had briefly looked like he wanted to stop him, but they had both seen Roy completely lose his shit half an hour ago. Wally kind of figured that he needed some time to cool down – that or he was casing the perimeter while playing sentry.
Wally had tried to nonchalantly excuse himself to 'use the restroom' without raising his best friend's suspicions. He'd all but sprinted up the staircase to the Garrick's bathroom and locked the door behind him before sinking to the floor and pressing his face into his hands. He then braced his back against the door and closed his eyes as tightly as he could.
So, that wasn't panicking, right? He was doing pretty well. No hyperventilating, no hysterical screaming, no sobbing uncontrollably. This was good. He had basically run away and locked himself in a bathroom though. No, no, wait. That's exactly what he'd done.
Alright, so maybe he wasn't doing so well. He couldn't even think. Wally opened his eyes and peered through his fingers at the palm tree shower curtain hanging directly in front of him. The little cartoonish islands and trees gave him an idea.
A great idea.
He needed a change of scenery to clear his head. Wally bet that he could totally think better at the beach. Just him and the sun, the sand, and the sound of the waves – well, no, not the sun. At least not yet; it was still pretty early in the morning, but he could do it. The closest ocean beach was only like 890 miles if he ran straight south. He'd be at the Gulf of Mexico in no time.
And he'd be alone. Wally would be able to think about this without worrying about everyone judging him. He was constantly freaking out over making the wrong decision and ticking off all the people who had worked so hard to help him.
Speaking of which… Nothing would piss everyone off more than him running off by himself right after he'd found out that his father was missing from one of the most secure locations in the solar system. Wally drew his knees up and rested his forehead on them with a groan. There was no way he could do that to his family and his friends.
God, but he wanted to run so badly. His powers were one of the very few things that had made it all bearable before. Number one was, of course, his mother's safety, and the chance to be just like his favorite hero was the topping on it all. Wally loved his speed and the freedom that it gave him.
However, right now he was suffocating. There were too many walls surrounding him – trapping him. He needed to run, but now really wasn't the time. Wally shook out his limbs in frustration and pressed the back of his head against the door, staring up at the ceiling. He could do this; he was stubborn enough. He just had to go slow for once and work it all out piece by piece.
Wally blinked tiredly and focused on the small light bulbs fixed above the mirror. Alright, what was first? His father was missing. How did he feel about that? Wally chewed on the inside of his cheek while his stomach churned endlessly. He felt pretty terrified, honestly. Logically, he knew that it didn't make any sense to fear his father anymore. He didn't have his mother to protect, so there was no reason to take his dad's abuse. The only reason Wally had gotten shot before was because he'd been taken by surprise. Under normal circumstances, he was stronger and so hilariously faster than his father. But there were a few things that didn't make sense.
All Uncle Barry had said was that his father was gone. Did that mean he had escaped? If that was the case, how had his dad outsmarted the Justice League? How had he gotten out of his cell by himself, snuck by the guard that Uncle Barry told him was stationed by him at all times until he got relocated to isolation permanently, and then hijacked the Watchtower's zeta transport? There was no way.
So he'd had help escaping, assuming that he had escaped at all. Maybe he was still hiding somewhere on the Watchtower, trapped. Or maybe someone had kidnapped him from his cell. Wally's brain whirled around with all the possibilities of that – Why? Who the hell would want him? And for what? It was extremely unlikely, so he backtracked.
If his father had escaped, he would have needed help to do it – no question about that. So, who had he gotten help from? Someone in the League? That seemed both the most likely and unlikely at the same time. What Justice Leaguer would want Wally's dad free from his cell? His dad certainly wasn't friends with anyone in the League and definitely not close enough with anyone to make them betray it. So, maybe someone in the League had needed him for something. But for what? His father worked at a power plant. Wally couldn't think of anything that his father would be important enough for to cause someone to break him out of a prison.
So, next option then. Maybe someone in the League had wanted Wally's dad so that they could use him against him somehow. It was completely ridiculous, but it was possible. Wally liked to think that he left a good enough impression on most of the League members he'd met through Uncle Barry that none of them wanted him dead. It would be a tad extreme if that were the case, seeing as Wally couldn't think of any grievous insult he'd delivered to anyone terrible enough to warrant revenge. That, plus the fact that Uncle Barry was generally one of the nicest and most well liked members of the League was enough to rule that possibility out.
Wally didn't honestly believe that any of the Justice Leaguers would help his dad escape. There really wasn't a reason to. But, someone had helped him escape – if he'd even escaped at all; Wally still wasn't sure. That set up a whole other line of questions by itself. Who would want him? Again, what would they want him for? Who did his father know who was strong enough to break him out of a Watchtower holding cell? How the hell did his father even know anyone strong enough to break him out of a Watchtower holding cell?!
And with that, Wally felt a full on migraine creeping up on him. He didn't have a single answer to any of his questions, and the only thing he'd accomplished was inducing another panic attack.
There was no way he was going to be able to go back downstairs and pretend like he was fine if he kept this up. Wally grabbed the edge of the sink and dragged himself to his feet. He turned on the tap and splashed some water on his face to calm down.
Wally almost walked out of the bathroom right after he wiped his face dry, but he caught sight of himself in the mirror and stopped dead. He stared at his own reflection in dawning horror, fingernails digging painfully into his palms.
Anyone watching him might have thought that he was shocked at how far he had deteriorated physically. The strain of healing and the energy that it had taken had been especially brutal combined with his metabolism. Wally had lost over twenty-five pounds while he'd been recovering in the med bay, including most of his muscle mass. It had been impossible to eat enough to gain any weight when all of his fuel was being immediately consumed for his accelerated healing. He'd gained back a few pounds since his injuries no longer required constant repair and his body could afford not to burn up every scrap of food he ate instantly. But his face was still thinner than it had ever been, and Wally could see that his shirt was much looser. His eyes were no longer sunken in, but they were bloodshot, and his skin had finally regained a tiny bit of color.
This wasn't what had stopped him.
Wally tentatively reached out and touched his reflection. He had the same eyebrows as his dad – not the same color, but the same shape and thickness. His ears were almost identical, and the line of his jaw sloped exactly the same way as his father's. Wally touched his chin and turned his head to the side to get a better look, feeling nauseous now. He'd never really thought that he looked like his father before, but now it was unmistakable. The similarities were glaringly obvious now and stood out starkly like they were mocking him.
He tossed the towel aside and ripped his eyes away, yanking open the bathroom door and turning off the light just in case he saw something else in his peripherals.
Wally turned around after he closed the door behind him and came face to face with Dick, who was silently leaning right against the doorframe with his arms crossed. His best friend's ridiculously blue eyes were staring straight at him, eyebrows turned slightly downwards in concern.
Wow, so he hadn't been quite as nonchalant as he'd hoped. Wally plastered a huge fake grin on his face and strolled past Dick, shooting him a weirded out look, "Gross, man. Were you listening to me use the bathroom?"
Dick cocked an eyebrow at him, clearly not having any of his garbage. His piercing eyes bored holes through Wally, making him squirm uncomfortably in place. Honestly, Wally didn't know why he bothered trying to put up an act around Dick. The Boy Wonder saw through it every time anyways.
"Are you alright?" Dick asked quietly, the look in his eyes softening.
"Yes, I'm fine," Wally said a little more sharply than he'd meant to, yet he still stuck to his lie stubbornly. "Geez, can't a guy take a leak in peace?"
Dick didn't respond. He just looked back at Wally sadly and took his arm, leading them both into the guestroom. He nudged the door shut with his foot and hooked one hand around the back of Wally's neck and gripped his shoulder with the other, still staying silent.
Wally dropped the act immediately. He felt his limbs trembling faintly, and he clamped his jaw shut tightly to keep his composure. Dick gently rubbed his thumb along the fabric of Wally's sleeve and looked at him seriously. They were almost the same height now, Wally noted. When had that happened? And when had his shoulders gotten so broad?
"No more lies," Dick whispered solemnly. "No more hidden truths. We tell each other everything from now on, remember?"
Wally did remember. It had been that first night after Uncle Barry revived him. Dick had snuck back into the med bay and stayed with him the whole night. He'd promised to be with Wally every step of the way, and it looked like he had no intention of going back on his word.
So, Wally let go. He nodded and felt Dick's fingers move against his hair soothingly, "Yeah…"
"So, are you alright?" Dick repeated quietly, this time expecting an honest answer.
Wally looked down at his feet and shook his head, "Not really. I almost took off for the coast a few seconds ago."
Dick scrunched up his face in alarm. His right arm tightened convulsively on Wally's shoulder, "East coast?"
"Ew, no," Wally blurted suddenly. "I've seen Gotham's water before. I was thinking more Texas."
"What's wrong with Gotham's harbor?" Dick frowned defensively.
"Um, a lot…" Wally trailed off at the look his friend was giving him. "Oh, come on! The first time I came to Gotham, Scarecrow was dumping a fear toxin into it!"
"Gotham isn't the only city on the East coast, you know." Dick looked away slowly, clearly remembering the event very well.
"Yeah, well, I'm more of a southern coast kind of guy."
"Why were you about to leave, anyway?" Dick asked. "Feeling caged?"
Wally felt his eyes widen in surprise, "It was mostly just manic decision making, but yeah. How'd you know?"
The acrobat shrugged like it hadn't been very hard to figure out at all, "You're a runner who hasn't been allowed to run for two months. It's kind of a no brainer."
"Uncle Barry and I were going to run to California tomorrow too," Wally lamented. That trip was almost definitely cancelled now. It would have felt so good to break the sound barrier again…
"It'll be okay," Dick shifted closer, removing some of the space left between them. His voice dropped lower, and he looked serious again. "The League will find your dad and lock him away again for good this time. And then everything will go back to normal. You'll be zipping all over the place in no time."
Wally looked at Dick, eyeing his friend's confident smile, and felt his stomach settle back down. Why the hell was it so easy for Dick to calm him down? He smiled back and pulled Dick into a tight hug, wrapping his own arms around the smaller boy's back.
Dick gave a small noise of surprise and tensed up like he'd been electrocuted. Wally had been about to let go to see what had happened when Dick squeezed back suddenly.
"Thanks," Wally whispered into his best friend's shoulder.
Dick pulled back just enough to look at him, and his easy grin melted away all of the stress in Wally, "You don't ever have to thank me."
The door to the guestroom opened then, and Joan walked in carrying an armful of blankets. She jerked to a halt with a startled gasp when she saw them and nearly dropped her load. Wally and Dick sprang apart immediately. He ran his fingers through his bright red hair in embarrassment, and Dick fumbled to jam his sunglasses back onto his face.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Joan quickly backed out of the room. "I didn't mean to interrupt."
Wally saw Dick turn bright red beneath his shades and felt his own face heat up too. He didn't know why exactly he was reacting this way; they hadn't been doing anything to be embarrassed about, right? So why the heck was his heart racing like he'd just run across the Atlantic?
Wait, why had Dick freaked out?
"You weren't!" Dick said hastily, pulling the door back open before Joan had the chance to close it all the way. "We were just talking! Can I help you with those?"
He took Joan's armful of blankets and started down the stairs quickly, "Where did you want them? On the couches? I can do that for you."
And then Dick was downstairs and out of sight.
Wally exchanged a stunned look with Joan, who was still standing with her arms out, and shrugged. His embarrassment quickly faded in the face of his confusion.
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Dick tossed all four blankets on the small floral loveseats in the Garrick's family room before heading to the kitchen where he could hear Jay and Wally's aunt speaking. He touched a hand to his burning face and groaned internally.
'Super smooth, Grayson', he thought miserably. 'That wasn't at all suspicious.'
Truth be told, it was probably a good thing that Mrs. Garrick had walked in just then. Dick had almost been about to… well, do something that was sure to screw up a lot of things for a very long time. He'd just been so caught up in the soft texture of Wally's hair between his fingers, and the feeling of Wally's arms around him, and being the lifeline that Wally needed to center himself. He'd thought he had a handle on his confusion about Wally. Although, after much consideration and hindsight, he didn't think he was very confused anymore.
Dick was furious with himself for giving in. He'd made a promise to himself - not even a day old yet – to put all his feelings on the backburner until everything was sorted out. He would need a clear head free of any other pressing agendas if he was going to be any good to Wally.
He swung open the door to the Garrick's kitchen and found both Jay and Iris sitting at the little dining table clutching steaming mugs and looking weary. Jay looked up when Dick walked in and offered a smile.
"Everything alright, Robin?" Jay asked.
He tried nodding normally. The action felt oddly mechanical.
"Was Wally okay?" Iris didn't look away from her hands.
"I calmed him down a little, I think," Dick took the seat that Jay had pushed out for him and folded his arms on the table, resting his chin in the cradle that they made.
The elderly speedster reached behind him to grab a mug from the counter and the fresh pot of coffee. He set both on the table in front of Dick and gestured to the sugar and cream already sitting in the middle, "Have some coffee, son."
Dick would have preferred some of Alfred's tea instead, but he'd drank his share of coffee over the years in order to keep up with Bruce's late nights patrolling Gotham. He poured himself a full cup, preferring it black, and took a big gulp of the scalding liquid.
Joan and Wally stepped into the kitchen soon after. Joan was smiling very happily and patting Wally on the back while he had a deeply disturbed and confused look on his bright red face.
Dick almost choked on his coffee. Oh God, what had they talked about?
Wally plopped down in the seat beside his aunt and frowned down at the table silently. He half glanced over at Dick before turning redder and dropping his eyes again. Great…
Joan suddenly reached out from behind Dick and set a massive cinnamon roll in front of him with a fork. He blinked at it in surprise; it was easily bigger than his face. She went around the table passing them out and finally sat down between Wally and Jay with her own cup of coffee, "Go ahead and eat something. You three must be hungry."
Dick noticed that the roll in front of Wally was especially big. So, apparently he wasn't the only one who had noticed that Wally was still too thin. The youngest speedster picked at the cinnamon roll halfheartedly and avoided everyone's gaze.
"Have you heard anything yet?" Dick asked Jay.
"No," he shook his head slowly and held up a small JLA earpiece. "Barry gave me his communicator before he left. He'll let us know when he finds something."
"Okay," he stood up suddenly, snagging the cinnamon roll off the table and darting around to grab Wally's arm. Dick yanked him to his feet and started for the door. "We're going to go bring one of these to Roy. He's probably going to be too stubborn to come inside. Let us know if anything happens."
Right before the front door closed and both boys stumbled out into the slowly lightening morning, Dick heard a baffled 'alright…' follow them out.
"Uh, what's up with you?" Wally pulled his arm free and watched as Dick easily scaled the side of the house and rolled onto the roof.
Dick leaned over the edge and extended one hand down to the redhead, "You were acting weird. Just figured you were getting claustrophobic."
"I was acting weird?" Wally cocked an eyebrow up at him but took a few steps back anyway. He sprinted at the side of the house and managed to run most of the way up it before his feet lost traction. He grabbed the shingles on the edge of the roof with one hand and Dick's offered arm with the other, letting Dick help pull him up.
When they turned around, Roy was already halfway done with the cinnamon roll and watching them with an almost bored expression. His red bow and quiver of arrows were propped against the Garrick's chimney, and he was straddling the roof's ridge with one knee bent up.
Roy took another bite of the pastry, "I assumed this was for me."
"I see you've calmed down," Dick strolled over to the middle of the roof with perfect balance.
Roy nodded towards his weapons, still chewing, "I got to work out some stress."
Dick eyed the surrounding yards and houses warily in the quiet, suburban neighborhood, "What did you shoot?"
He could hear Wally clumsily navigating the rooftop behind him.
"Let's just say that the Garrick's won't have to worry about squirrels and mice for awhile," Roy shrugged.
"That's really redneck, bro," Wally slipped on a shingle and dropped to his knees to better grip the ridge. He eventually just gave up and ended up perching right where he was. "There're a lot of dead bugs up here…"
Roy just rolled his eyes and ignored him. He addressed Dick, "What's going on up there? Has the Watchtower called?"
"…You'd think the rain would wash these away."
Dick shook his head, "No word yet."
"Unless they're like baked on. It hasn't snowed in a few days..."
Roy cocked an eyebrow and leaned over to get a better look at Wally, who was staring fixedly at the black asphalt shingles. He sighed and shifted his weight to the other leg to stretch it out some, "They should have contacted us by now. It's been half an hour."
"You know they wouldn't leave us hanging if they could help it," Dick sat down and leaned back on his hands.
"The longer they take, the more worried I get," Roy grumbled. "They should've had this taken care of already. How hard is it to hunt down one lowlife, toss him back in his cell, and punish whoever screwed up security?"
"Then why didn't you go up there yourself when Barry got the call?"
"I wasn't about to leave you and Wally by yourselves down here. Plus, I didn't have my communicator on at the time," He tapped his earpiece to demonstrate.
Wally stopped examining the roof then. He narrowed his eyes at Roy, "Oh, please. Quit acting all superior. The only reason you're in the Justice League and we aren't is because you're older."
Dick could easily relate to Wally's irritation. True, Roy was four years older than him and two years older than Wally, but they all had relatively the same amount of experience in the hero game. Despite this, Roy constantly insisted on undermining them for refusing to abandon their mentors when he had almost a year ago. "He's right. We're just as skilled as you are."
"I meant that I stayed down here to keep you both from doing something reckless," Roy sighed. "Not that you couldn't handle-"
He trailed off mid sentence and stared out into the yard like he wasn't really seeing it. Dick was just about to open his mouth to ask what was wrong when Roy touched his ear, "Yeah, I'm here."
Dick and Wally watched him silently, both straining to hear whoever was talking to him through his communicator.
Roy's expression became dark very quickly as he listened. His whole body tensed up, and he was on his feet and slinging his weapons over his shoulder within seconds. Dick glanced back at Wally in concern, saw the detached look in his eyes and the grim set of his mouth, and was startled to recognize that his best friend was already preparing for the worst.
"I'm on my way," Roy pressed his ear once more and sprinted for the edge of the roof. He crouched down right at the gutters and vaulted over the side, landing in a roll.
"Wait! Where are you going?!" Dick scrambled after him and looked down as the archer stopped for a moment. Wally joined him at the edge of the roof.
"That was Oliver," Roy shouted up at them. "West didn't just escape. Something attacked the Watchtower to break him out, and they nearly killed Black Canary in the process! I'm going up there to see her; Ollie has a hidden arsenal near here. He said that Flash was on his way."
Dick's eyes widened in shock, and he watched his friend take off down the street without another word. He turned to look at Wally only to find that he was alone on the roof. Panicked, Dick swung to the ground and ran into the house.
"Wally?!" he sprinted back to the kitchen and found his friend standing in front of Barry, who was decked out in his full Flash uniform. The loose papers and curtains around the room were still swirling around from the gust of wind he'd created.
Barry pulled back his mask and guided Wally to sit down at one of the kitchen chairs. He looked exactly like he had that first night up in the Watchtower right before Wally had woken up from his coma – tired, defeated, and angry.
Dick hung back by the door, too afraid of interrupting to speak.
"Uncle Barry?" Wally looked up at his mentor worriedly.
"Kid, this is a lot worse than we thought…" Barry ran one hand through his hair.
Jay slowly rose from his chair, eyebrows turned downwards in a deep frown. Joan reached across the table and took Iris' hand.
Wally glanced around at his family before looking back to his uncle for answers, "Where's my dad…?"
"We don't know exactly," Barry crouched down in front of his nephew and looked up at him with apologetic eyes. "The Watchtower was breached by these things that Hal called Manhunters, and they took your father with them when they left."
"They kidnapped him?" Iris asked in dismay.
Barry looked over at her and shook his head, "It looked like the Manhunters were rescuing him, but we're not sure. He did leave with them willingly, though."
"I've never heard of a Manhunter before," Jay said cautiously.
"Hal told us that they're androids created by the Guardians long before the Green Lantern Corps. He said that they were made to police the universe but went rogue and started taking out entire planets," Barry explained quietly. Dick moved closer to try and see Wally's expression, but the redhead was looking down. "Most of them were supposed to have been wiped out, but the Watchtower was just attacked by an army of them."
"My dad went with them willingly?" Wally asked suddenly, still looking down.
Barry seemed reluctant to answer, "It…looked that way."
"And no one knows where they took him?" Wally's voice took on a strange tone that Dick had never heard in him before. He sounded both angry and calm at the same time, and Dick knew that Wally was rapidly approaching his breaking point. Why the hell did Roy have to run off now? He couldn't have waited a few more minutes to hear this?
"By the time we all zeta'd up, the Manhunters must've gotten too far beyond the range of our scanners, because we couldn't pick up any spacecraft in the area. Batman is trying to recover some of the external camera logs so that we can maybe see what direction they went in at least," Barry said regretfully. He rested both arms on his knees and tried to meet his nephew's eyes.
"They broke Dad out the night before he was supposed to be moved…"
Barry's eyes widened in surprise, and he looked abruptly taken off guard. Apparently, he hadn't considered that.
"There's no way that was a coincidence! They had to have known that!" Wally looked up then, his eyes burning. Barry looked disturbed by the possibility. "Someone told them."
"Wally…" Dick touched his best friend's shoulder, alarmed, but Wally shook him off and shot to his feet. Barry rose as well, taking a half step back.
"And what the hell does my dad have to do with Manhunters?! How would he even know how to contact one?" Wally waved his arms around, gesturing wildly. "And what do a bunch of evil robots want with him anyway? He's a nobody!"
"We don't know any of that yet," Barry grabbed Wally's shoulders to hold him still and hopefully calm him down. "But we're trying to find out. All three of our Green Lanterns are on this: Hal and John Stewart are contacting the Corps as we speak to let them know what's going on, and Guy Gardner left for Oa already. He's going to try and find out more about the Manhunters and why they're here, and Batman is going to start looking into your father's past as soon as he has the Watchtower back online."
"So, what are we going to do?" Wally asked angrily.
"I'm going to help everyone in any way that I can, and you are going to focus on recovering," Barry said firmly.
"I meant what is the Team going to be doing to help – the League's covert team that I'm on?" Wally looked almost defiant.
"Batman will find something for them to do," Barry's understanding attitude turned stern. "As for you, you're not anywhere close to combat ready. You're staying out of this."
"Are you joking?!" Wally exclaimed. "This is serious! I can help."
"It is very serious," Barry agreed. "Your dad is loose and with some very powerful enemies. And he knows all of our identities – you, me, Jay. It's not safe for you to be Kid Flash again until we know how many people your father's told, if any."
"It's not safe for you to be out either!" Wally argued vehemently.
"That's a risk that I chose to take when I told my family who I was," Barry said very evenly. "I knew that this might happen one day, and I'm prepared for it. So is Jay."
"So are all of the heroes!" Wally clearly wasn't about to give in. "Including me. I knew it was dangerous when I signed up."
"Yes, but there's a difference between fighting at full strength and trying to fight when you're still heavily injured," Barry didn't relent. "You'll need at least two more weeks to re-condition yourself for combat, and even then I know I won't be happy with your muscle tone. You can barely keep any weight on as it is, and you haven't used your superspeed in over a month."
Wally opened his mouth again to speak, but Jay beat him to it, "Barry is still your mentor, son. And he's your legal guardian now too; you need to listen to him. He wouldn't keep you benched if it wasn't what was best for you."
"I know that," Wally said tiredly, visibly shaking. "But I need to help with this. He's my dad. Out of everyone, I should be involved."
"We don't even know how much your dad is connected to all this just yet," Iris spoke up from the side.
Barry looked at her for a long moment, nodding, before fixing Wally with a heavy stare, "Look, I get it. If I were in your shoes, I'd want to be right in the middle of it all too. But this is just not the right time; you're not healthy enough yet. We almost lost you not too long ago, and I'm not very keen on that happening again. So, until you're one hundred percent again, you're off duty. That's my final word on the matter."
Wally looked like he'd just been handed down a death sentence. Dick's heart twisted unpleasantly at the devastated expression on Wally's face, and he would've given anything to change it.
"I'm sorry, Kid," Barry truly looked regretful. He gripped Wally's shoulder bracingly. "You know that there's no one else I'd rather have as my partner."
"Yeah…" Wally said dejectedly. Dick could see him closing up again. He looked around frantically at the various faces in the room and was dismayed to see that none of them seemed to notice. Wally was losing it internally, but he'd buried it so quickly that no one could tell. And he was going to keep suppressing it until he cracked.
Dick was beside his friend in an instant, taking his arm, "You look really tired."
It was a lie – Wally looked way too agitated to be physically tired, but he was clearly at a mental breaking point. And his family didn't seem to know how to handle it. They kept making decisions that were essentially caging him, whether they realized it or not, and it was only making him feel trapped. Dick needed to get Wally out of there fast.
"This is a lot to take in all at once," Barry's tone softened. "Why don't you try and get some sleep while you can."
"Take whatever room you want, sweetheart," Joan said soothingly, getting up to give Wally a quick hug. "I promise that I'll make sure you stay updated."
Wally just stood there for a few moments, looking around at his family again like he was dissatisfied with everything that had just happened and didn't want to leave. Dick, however, knew exactly what he needed. He pulled on Wally's arm forcefully to get his attention. Once he had it, Dick gave Wally a meaningful look, trying to convey a wordless message without tipping off the adults. Wally stared at him blankly for a few seconds, and then seemed to get it. He let Dick lead him out of the kitchen and into the laundry room at the other end of the house beside the back door.
"I have to get out of here," Wally said as soon as they were out of earshot. He knotted his fingers in his bright red hair and shut his eyes tightly. His whole body was trembling uncontrollably. "I- I need to run. Now."
"I know," Dick tried to speak as calmly and reassuringly as he could. Wally's family clearly loved him, but they didn't have any idea how to find the balance between keeping him safe and letting him still use his powers. When Wally had his accident, he didn't just gain the ability to run at superspeed – it was written into his DNA, his thought processes were altered. His speed was an integral part of him now, as important as any vital organ or any of his senses.
Dick grasped the back door's handle and turned it very carefully, trying not to make a sound. Five years training under Bruce made the task easy as pie. He cracked the door open without so much as a click and shot a devious grin over his shoulder at Wally, "That's why we're gonna go take a little jog around the neighborhood."
Wally eyed him suspiciously and didn't budge from his spot.
Dick sighed, cocking an eyebrow at his best friend. Wally didn't believe him.
"Come on, before Flash 1 and Flash 2 decide to come and check on you," Dick held the door open invitingly. Wally zipped out, and he carefully closed the door behind them both.
"I don't understand," Wally said in confusion. Dick took his hand and pulled him around to the side of the house. He scanned the area left and right beyond the tall privacy fence that the Garrick's had around the perimeter of their yard.
"You said it yourself: you need to run."
"Yeah, but…" Wally raised an eyebrow at him and glanced over his shoulder. "Shouldn't you be telling me to stay put and that it's too dangerous to be running off by myself?"
"You won't be by yourself," Dick put his hands on his hips, resting his fingers against the utility belt concealed beneath his hoodie. "I'm coming with you."
"Dick… You can't run at superspeed…" Wally said slowly, still not comprehending Dick's plan.
He shrugged like it wasn't a problem, "You've carried me on your back before."
"You're serious." Wally's eyes widened suddenly, and he looked at Dick intently like he was trying to figure out if he was pretending or not.
"Yeah," he grinned. "It'll accomplish a few things all at once – you'll get to run, you won't be alone, carrying me will help you build back those muscles, and my extra weight will stop you from running so fast that you strain yourself."
"Your extra weight won't be the thing that slows me down," Wally said sincerely. "It'll be the fact that if I make a mistake, the particles in the air will rip through you like bullets."
Dick looked to the side then, thinking hard about what he just said, "How come they don't do that to you and Flash?"
Wally shrugged, "Speedster mystery. We have a lot of those. Are you really serious about this?"
"Let's just go before we get caught," Dick jerked his head towards the house. Wally immediately seemed both relieved and excited at the same time. He turned around and crouched down halfway, holding his arms out to the sides a little, and Dick carefully jumped onto his back.
It was a little more awkward now that Dick had grown so much taller in his last growth spurt, but they used to run around like this all the time when they were younger, so it didn't take much adjusting. Dick hooked one arm across Wally's collarbone and slid the other underneath his right shoulder. Wally gripped both his legs beneath the knees and straightened up with a little effort. Dick forcefully shoved his feelings back and locked them up before they could get out of control again. There was no way he would be thinking about Wally like that while they were in a position like this.
"So, around the neighborhood, huh?" Wally flexed his back tentatively and tested their combined weight by bending his knees. "What's your idea of 'the neighborhood'?"
"Me? The whole city of Gotham. But, since you're the one running, we should go with your idea, don't you think?" Dick leaned over his friend's shoulder to speak. "What's a neighborhood for you speedsters, anyways – a few counties?"
"Pfft. More like a few states."
"States, huh? You know, I've been wanting to go to the beach lately…"
Wally squeezed Dick's legs gratefully and hunched over a little in a runner's stance, "Hang on tight. I'm gonna try starting off at five hundred miles per hour. I don't want to risk making a sonic boom this close to Uncle Barry and Jay."
Dick gripped Wally tighter and tried to remember if he'd ever gone that fast before with the speedster. Probably not. He took a deep breath and nodded, "Got it."
"Then once we're clear, I'm going to bump it up to eight hundred if I can. I don't want to run out of fuel if I can help it," Wally rolled his shoulders eagerly. "Oh, and you might want to close your eyes. You might get dizzy."
"Just go before we get caught," Dick tried to hunker down against the back of Wally's neck. "I'm sure they'll suspect something. I only broke you out of the Watchtower's med bay thirteen times when you were still there."
"You got it."
And then they were off.
Immediately, Dick felt the unpleasant backwards slide of his insides, and the sunglasses were ripped from his face. His limbs locked around Wally's body like vices in his sudden terror. He'd definitely never gone this fast before. The wind rushed past him violently as Wally cut through the air like a supersonic knife. Dick tried to close his eyes – he didn't know why he hadn't done it before – but the gusts of wind forced his eyelids back open again, and he watched as the familiar shapes of trees, houses, roads, and cars all blurred together into long lines of color that shot by him like missiles.
Dick's heart pounded madly in his chest, and he struggled not to hyperventilate as Wally zoomed along in God only knew what direction. He eventually managed to push his head behind Wally's for a little bit of shelter and tried to force his brain to keep up with the speed that it was trying to process. It was nearly impossible. If Wally's brain wasn't also able to work at superspeed, Dick didn't know how he would be able to navigate through the various obstacles at this velocity without crashing into something. He tried to blink away the tears that the stinging wind was causing and prayed that Wally stopped soon.
That was when he heard his best friend laugh. Dick stopped his mental floundering and listened. Wally really was laughing. He sounded relieved and peaceful at finally being able to stretch his legs. A smile spread across Dick's face at seeing his friend so happy after so long, and he tried to open himself up to it too. The speed they were traveling was terrifying, yes, and Dick would be more concerned if it were anyone else 'at the wheel', but Wally looked perfectly at ease and in control going this fast. Dick tried to take as many deep breaths as his lungs allowed him to and attempted to enjoy himself.
Turns out, it was only hard for a few moments. Before Dick knew it, an exhilarated laugh was tearing free from his throat, and his heart was racing from adrenaline instead of fear.
Wally heard the laugh and turned his head to look back, meeting Dick's impossibly huge grin with one of his own. He shouted over the roaring wind to be heard, "This is easier than I expected! Want to go faster?"
"Yeah!" Dick yelled back, but he could hardly hear his own voice. Wally seemed to have gotten the message anyway.
"Try not to keep your mouth open! You don't want to swallow a bug, trust me!"
Mindful of the warning, Dick tried not to laugh as Wally kicked it up a few hundred miles per hour. The vertigo passed almost instantly after that and was replaced with pure euphoria as the two of them tore down the countryside.
Dick didn't know how long they ran, or even where they were going through. He was only conscious of a difference when Wally began gradually slowing down. The solid walls of color streaks started to form actual things again, and Dick could faintly hear the high-pitched shrieks of gulls and the rush of water in the distance. Five seconds later, Wally came to a skidding halt, and the momentum smashed Dick against his back.
"Last stop!" Wally cried triumphantly. "Galveston, Texas!"
Dick still clung to Wally like a barnacle, fighting down his nausea desperately while the whole run caught up to him. He shut his eyes and rested his forehead on Wally's shoulder, groaning miserably.
"You alright?" Wally asked with a laugh. Dick nodded wordlessly, too proud to complain. "You want me to let you down?"
"Yep. I'm ready."
Wally carefully released his legs and bent down. The second Dick's feet touched the ground and he dared to put weight on them, he fell over.
"You said you were ready, you liar!" Wally protested from somewhere above him.
Dick ignored him and crossed both arms over his eyes to calm the swirling in his head. The ground he'd landed on was firm, but not hard at all. It felt like sand, but he didn't want to open his eyes to check. He just tried to lie still and will the world to stop spinning.
He heard a plop in the sand beside him, and then: "That bad, huh? I'm sorry."
"No, no! It was great!" Dick insisted. He forced himself to sit upright, and that's when he actually took in his surroundings. Wally had brought them to a beach alright. He'd run them underneath a pier where no one would see them. Dick watched the water crash into the pillars several feet out and felt the cold from the sand seeping into his clothes. "Until we stopped… How fast were we going?"
He heard the ocean beside them and traffic honking in the distance but not Wally's voice.
Dick looked over at him questioningly, "Wally?"
The redhead was looking down at his own hands in confusion, "I got us here in eighteen minutes…"
For a second, Dick didn't understand what was wrong until he remembered Wally's birthday when he'd had to run a heart from Boston to Seattle in just under four hours. He drew up a mental map of the US and figured up the distance they'd just gone. Then, his eyes widened in surprise, "There's no way! In November it took you like three and a half hours to run from coast to coast. And you barely ate half a cinnamon roll this morning!"
"I don't really feel hungry either," Wally looked just as startled.
"I told you not to push yourself!"
"I didn't, I swear! I just went with what felt like normal effort, and all of a sudden we were here!"
"So, you're just suddenly five times faster than you were before?" Dick asked incredulously. "And you're still recovering from the worse shape I've ever seen you in."
Wally looked scared suddenly. He turned to Dick with huge eyes, and his face drained of all color, "You don't think…dying did something to me, do you?"
"Well, something made you faster," Dick mused. "Do you feel like anything's wrong?"
"Nah, I feel great," Wally shook his head, absently checking over his hands and torso like he expected something to be missing. "Normally, I'd be starving just a third of the way through a run like that."
They were both silent for a few minutes as they took everything in. Dick was finally beginning to feel normal again, so he focused his mind on trying to figure out why Wally's speed had increased so much in such a short amount of time. He could only identify two likely causes. If it was a physical catalyst, maybe all of the electrical shocks that his uncle had delivered straight to his heart when he'd been trying to save him had done it. If the change was mental in origin, perhaps the reasons behind Wally's slower speed all these years were just psychosomatic, and it had taken something as traumatic as dying to unlock his full potential. It was possible – Dick had heard of people losing the ability to walk before and it turned out that it was all in their heads.
"What do you think we should do now?" Wally asked worriedly.
"We should zeta home," He said without hesitation, and without thinking.
It took less than a second for Wally to process what he'd said and start to close up, "Dick, don't do that to me, please. Don't tell me I can't run. If you're not in my corner on this, I can't-"
"Whoa! Calm down! That's not what I meant," Dick held out his arms peaceably. "I was saying that we should use the zeta beams to get to Keystone today. Just to be safe. You don't want to push it with two runs like that in case there are side effects that haven't shown up yet. I'm not telling you not to run ever again."
Wally stared at him sadly and flopped over onto his back in the sand, "Sorry… I just- Everyone's trying to restrict me, and… once they find out about this it's going to get even worse."
Dick lay down beside him and stared up at the pier above them, "Then let's not tell them."
"What?" Wally looked over at him in confusion.
"If we tell anyone about this, they're just going to keep you in the Watchtower or some S.T.A.R. labs facility and run test after test on you until they know why you're faster. And we both know that's only going to make you worse," Dick reasoned, thinking about Wally's fragile state of mind. "I say we keep this between the two of us and make up our own tests on our own terms and then go to our mentors with what we found. You know, providing there aren't any terrible side effects like you dying or something. What do you think?"
Wally seemed to relax significantly, "That sounds a lot better."
Dick bumped shoulders with him playfully and grinned, "You should know that I'm always on your side."
Wally smiled back, looking relieved but completely worn out, "Why the heck are you so perfect?"
And that sent his heart racing faster than any run at superspeed.