Wally had to actively concentrate in order to hold back his powers, the urge to vibrate on the spot out of anxiety was so strong. He had never done this before. Picked up a girl for a date, a real date and potentially met her father. Or father-figure. Now he came to think about it, he realised that Persie had never actually told him whether Paul was the type of guy to shoot his daughter's boyfriend. When the door did finally open it wasn't Persie who answered. Nor was it her step- father. No it was a teenager maybe three or four years younger than himself.

The kid looked like he was still half-asleep and the circles under his intense dark eyes didn't help. He had pale skin yet oddly Italian features and a dark shock of black hair that was shorn close to his head at the sides and the back but longer and floppy on the top. He shook a few strands impatiently out of his eyes and Wally caught a flash of silver on the top of his ear. That combined with the black clothes, t-shirt emblazoned with a grinning skull all combined to make the kid look like a mix between a mix between a goth and a punk.

"Can I help you?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Wally fidgeted. "Um. Did I get the right address? I'm looking for Persie Jackson?"

The punk suddenly smirked and the expression caused such a change on his face that Wally reared back slightly. "Are you Wally?" he asked.

Wally nodded uncertainly. "Ah, yeah."

The teenager hummed and then turned back into the flat, calling. "Persie! It's your boyfriend!"

There was a thud from inside and then Persie came into view, shoving the boy aside. "Thanks Nic." she muttered. "Don't you have homework?"

"Oh yes." 'Nic' said almost sadistically as he walked down the hall. "Paul will have to help me."

Persie scowled after him. "That's Nico, my cousin." she answered his unasked question. "I don't see him often. He lives in Italy mostly. He's here for a few weeks."

"I think he'd get on well with Bart." Wally said, feeling horrified at the thought of his eternally hyperactive cousin and the goth/punk ever teaming up.

Persie laughed softly and Wally looked at her properly for the first time since she had arrived at the door. She wasn't dressed up but she still looked beautiful, the perfect 'date casual' of grey skinny jeans, a purple shirt under a black jacket and a silver scarf slung around her neck. She wore purple and blue striped arm warmers, black boots with a small heel and a grey beanie was placed atop her loose black curls. "You ready to go?" she asked with another small smile, drawing attention to the slight black outline around her eyes, making them seem even more hypnotic.

"Yeah." Wally said dumbly before he mentally slapped himself and grinned at her. "You look really nice." he said honestly and she blushed.

"Thank you Wally. You're not looking too bad yourself." she said indicating his ensemble of his red tight jeans, white Flash shirt, black hoodie and grey coat. Persie pulled her own coat off the hanger by the door and closed the door behind her as she stepped out to join Wally in the hall. They talked as they walked out of the building and to Wally's (Uncle Barry's) car. It was weird, Wally thought, but far from unpleasant to find so much conversation with Persie. When he and

Artemis had been going out they were hard-pressed for conversation that didn't dissolve into an instant argument. By the time they got to the cinema, Wally found that he almost didn't want to get out of the car because he didn't want to stop talking to Persie, watching her laugh and smile. Dick's words; 'you've got it bad, dude' came back to him as they got out of the car and he couldn't even find it in himself to be embarrassed.

Persie frowned up at the posters advertising the movies currently showing, trying to make the words stay in the one place. "So, what'cha wanna see?" Wally asked, bumping their shoulders together with a grin.

"Not a chick-flick." she said absently, squinting at the posters. It was possible to guess what they were about but not being able to read the words properly was incredibly annoying.

"Thank god." Wally sighed. "I've never really done this dating thing before." he admitted. "But I don't know how many chick-flicks I could sit through before I snapped."

Persie snorted. "I'm not really into those...sappy movies." she shrugged. "You're not the only inexperienced one here." she murmured. "I never really had the time or interest. We can learn together."

Wally smiled at her and it made her heart pound. "You into action?" "Yeah." she said enthusiastically.

"So which one?" Wally asked, pointing at the three posters at the end of the row, the actors all arranged in dramatic poses and various forms of explosions and violence in the background.

"What's the difference?"

"The titles probably sum 'em up."

Persie flushed, looking to the side. "I-I uh." she coughed. "I'm dyslexic. I can't really...read them properly."

"Oh." Wally said awkwardly. "Is that why you always look like you want to kill your books?" She huffed a laugh. "Yeah."

"S'cool." he said. "My parents think I'm ADHD."

Persie sniffed. "I am."

Wally whistled. "Man, school must have been hell."

"You don't know the half of it." she replied with a grin, feeling a bit better with Wally's easy acceptance of her. "I never stayed at one school for more than a year. Kept getting expelled."

"I'm guessing it wasn't for yelling at the teachers."

"I blew up our school bus with a revolutionary war cannon once." she admitted and Wally howled with laughter.

"Oh, that is gold." he chocked. Once his laughter had subsided he pointed to a poster which had a woman standing back to back with a man, both covered in dirt and holding a weapon. "That one. I think you'll like it."

As they walked up the stairs towards the theatres having bought their tickets from the incredibly bored looking girl behind the counter, Persie slipped her hand into Wally's and squeezed gently but firmly. "Thank you." she said softly when Wally looked over at her curiously.

"For what?" Wally asked, squeezing back, his hand large and warm around her own.

"Most people when they find out about...me, well they don't usually take it all that well and from then on, I'm a freak. You're probably one of the few people who haven't held it against me."

Wally just smiled down at her and pressed a shy kiss to her cheek, blushing furiously and led her towards the theatre and their seats. Persie could feel her own cheeks heating up and realised that she was still holding his hand. She squeezed it again, instead of letting it go and was rewarded with the sight of Wally's white smile, teeth almost shining in the gradual darkness as the lights went out.

She could do this. She really, really could. It would be so easy to fall completely in love Wally West.