Gotham managed to always make Wally feel uneasy, both at night and at day. But night was definitely eerier.

He stared at the blood dripping from Captain Boomerang's nose as he lay unconscious on the pavement. He didn't understand why the idiot had to keep running off to Gotham, as if robbing every bank in Central, Keystone and freakin Australia wasn't enough.

With a mix of curiosity and apprehension, Wally scanned the buildings above them where the bats would be running around. Dick definitely wasn't around, it literally wouldn't be possible without Wally knowing.

But for once, Dick wasn't the one he was worried about bumping into.

He wasn't entirely sure if Red Robin was still in San Francisco with Bart and the rest of Young Justice or if he was back in Gotham, but either way he really didn't want the kid to see whose stupid ass he came to drag back to prison.

Once he felt comfortable enough that there weren't any bats around, Wally grabbed the rogue and ran to the nearest police station. He couldn't tell if the officers there were annoyed or in awe when they saw him.

After unceremoniously dumping Harkness at the station and indulging the police in a short conversation about how he found the villain and what he did to him after, Wally leaves the building and walks down the road.

It was almost like a part of him was yearning to find trouble. He certainly didn't belong there, the bright red colours and glimmering silver adorning his body was a colossal contrast to the dark and gloomy environment around him.

He never had the urge to do this as a teenager, but these days he'd been finding himself wanting to stay in the moment and just block the speed force for a bit. In this temporary state, he could notice things he would never have otherwise, like the scent of pollution and smoke in the air and the cold of the pavement under his feet.

Without the Speed force rapidly burning in his veins like it did when he ran, he could feel the dull ache in his chest more prominently than normal. He hated it, but he knew he was never going to do what is required for it to stop.

The idea of lightning rods used to bore him as a child. He honestly couldn't have cared less. He only ever became intrigued once he noticed how much stronger Barry was than him, mostly because he was an adult, but also because he had Iris.

Iris didn't just make Barry more powerful, she made him happy. She gave him purpose.

He wasn't just strong because of her, he was strong for her.

Because of Iris, Barry could access a level of power Wally couldn't even fathom, let alone touch without getting sucked into a different dimension. Whenever he ran, he knew there was a limit as to how fast he could go.

The faster he went, the more likely the power cursing through his veins would crush him. His body couldn't handle it.

Yet.

Even those who hadn't the slightest clue about speedsters had to have questioned at least once how the slowest speedster is now notoriously the fastest.

There had already been plenty of adult metas around by the time Wally was in the picture, but he was the first ever meta child. Most people think it was just a natural outcome of his maturity. As the child undergoes adolescence, then so would the metagene.

But the concept was utter garbage. Puberty almost killed him.

Even Wally was forced to question it at some point.

What was making him stronger?

He really should have seen it coming. It all came back to Dick. Everything always came back to Dick.

The first ever sidekick.

The leader of his team.

One of the most adored members of the superhero community.

It hadn't just terrified Wally to discover his lightning rod wasn't a girl like Iris and Joan, it made him angry.

Dick had everything, and now he was going to have this too?

After finally getting out of Barry's shadow, Wally had to deal with Dick's looming over him.

Wally didn't want a lightning rod. He hated it. Hated how weak and vulnerable he is without one. Every time he ran, only Dick could save him from getting trapped in that hell again. His life depended on Dick loving him.

How absolutely pathetic.

He didn't want to be reduced to that, and more importantly, he never wanted Dick to know.

To know how much power he truly has over him.

Well. So much for that plan. Of course he had to go be an idiot and tell Dick the one thing he promised himself he wouldn't. He dug a hole and he jumped into it like an imbecile because for a second he actually believed him and Dick-

Wally is snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of a bullet ricocheting metal.

The sudden noise startled Wally so much, his vision was sparked with electric blue for half a second.

Keeping as much of a low profile as possible, Wally heads towards the disturbance and almost trips over his feet once he sees the cause of the racket.

There were at least five bodies sprawled across the pavement of the entry of an alleyway, unmistakable crimson liquid slowly seeping out and pooling over the grimy Gotham footpath.

In a horrified state of shock, Wally blinks up to see two men, one in red and the other in black grappling with each other. After narrowly dodging a blow to the head, the red one smashes the other man's head into the closest wall with an unforgiving crack.

Wally was about to step in before his veins started burning with a familiar sensation, forcing him to remain frozen. The speed force was reacting in the worst way possible. It was recognizing someone it knew.

Wally's hesitancy cost him. The man in the red took out a gun from his thigh holster and shot his opponent between the eyes without hesitation.

With a mixture of shock and anger, Wally threw himself at the killer, violently attempting to subdue him while ripping the gun out of his strong grip. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't even need to try. His perception so fast, it made his opponents look like they're standing still.

But after witnessing someone's brains getting blown out, knowing full well he could have stopped it if his head wasn't in the dang clouds . . It made him sloppy.

The assailant seemed to eventually have enough of his ministrations, grabbing his throat with one blood soaked hand and slamming him into the concrete ground. His vision is clouded by dark spots for a moment, before focusing on a red helmet hovering above him. The burning sensation in his body intensified immensely now that he was actually in physical contact with the other man.

That, along with the pounding in his head and the pressure on his throat caused him to panic even further. He slid a hand up to try and pry the fingers on his neck off while simultaneously fighting his nausea off. He was going to throw up. All his brain could think about right now was that he was trappedtrappedtrappedtrapppedneedtogetouttrappedcan'tmove-

He heard the whimper before he realized it came from him, and suddenly the unforgiving grip around his neck was gone.

"Shit"

Automatically coughing and blinking the wetness of out his eyes, he sat up to glare at the man as a response to his vulgarity. From what Wally could see, the man was wearing a red hood, a red mask covering most of his face and a black shirt with a . .red bat symbol.

Oh crap.

Jason pulls the hood off and removes the red helmet. He looked more of less the same as the last time Wally saw him, save for his eyes being almost as green and Wally's own and the white streak in his hair was no longer decorating his dark locks. The younger male appraised Wally with a cold, blank stare.

"What are you doing?" he finally asks.

" . . .I didn't recognize you" Wally said lamely.

"What are you doing here? In Gotham?"

That at least makes Wally annoyed enough to give him a proper response.

Stupid bats and their territorial behavior

"Captain Boomerang was here. I was sent to restrain him before he caused any . . trouble"

They both knew what he meant by that.

Jason showed his first display of emotion by scoffing annoyedly.

"Should've just let me put a bullet in the fucker. That way, he won't be able to "cause trouble" ever again"

Wally frowned. "You know we don't do that"

"Yeah, you mean you don't do that. I for one have a much more effective way of dealing with murdering scum" he looked away from Wally to coldly scan the bodies surrounding them.

Unsure of what to say, Wally just kept his eye contact with a concerned expression.

When Jason looked back at him, his eyes hardened again.

"You shouldn't be here. Pretty things like you attract unwanted attention. Go run back to your perfect city and enjoy the sunshine"

Wally was a hot head. And when someone treated him like a child, especially someone younger than him, he got fucking pissed.

Jason was about to turn away before Wally grabbed his arm and slammed him into the wall he was previously leaning against. With their positions switched, he felt an undeniable surge of confidence.

"Okay kid, let's get this straight. I'm not some stupid damsel in distress, and unlike you, I'm a meta. Don't talk down on me like I haven't seen anything like this before, because trust me, even in a sunny city, shit like this happens"

He steps back from Jason to give him a cold glare of his own. They are both silent for a moment before Jason's frosty gaze on him melts into something . . .warm

"Wow," he started, "Who knew under all that sparkle there's an angry beast waiting to be let out" he said with the fainted hint of a smile.

Wally couldn't believe this. How had they gone from Jason killing a man, to them wrestling on the floor, to them snarling and glaring, to Jason flirting? Honestly, how does that even happen?

Preferring this new mood to the prior one, Wally just plays along. "Yeah don't mess with me," he drawled out sarcastically, "I look cute, but I'll rip your head off the moment you let your guard down"

"I can't remember the last time someone called me kid"

"Yeah well I'm the older one. When you were in fourth grade, I was in middle school" he couldn't quite leave the smugness out of his voice. "Besides, it's not an insult if it's true. You're the younger one. What was an insult was you thinking I can't handle crap like this"

He looks away to glance at his surroundings. Both the sight and smell of death him make the bile in his throat rise higher than it should.

"Okay maybe you're a little right. I definitely don't belong here. I hate this city" he mutters as he turns away.

"Wait"

He's stopped by a gentle but firm hand gripping his arm, propelling him to lift a curious eyebrow at the other man.

"Wait i- I didn't mean to- uh, do you wanna get out of here?"

Wally blinked at him, questioning the authenticity of his tone before deciding it couldn't hurt to spend a few more minutes in Gotham.

"Yeah okay"

He could tell his response almost caused Jason to openly smile, but the second boy wonder kept his emotions concealed. Just like his brother.

After slipping his helmet and hood back on, Jason pulled Wally against him by the waist with one arm, and with the other he fired a grappling hook against the roof of the building next to them. The suddenness of the action would have surprised Wally if he hadn't already done this a hundred times before.

Once they land on a secluded rooftop, Wally pushed away from Jason to give him an annoyed look. "I could have run us somewhere much nicer than this you know"

Jason removed the helmet and hood again before snorting. "In this shithole? Doubt it"

"Not here. I could have taken us to like . . Norway or something. I dunno" he shrugged.

This time, Jason actually laughed.

"Norway?"

"Hey, don't look so surprised. You'd be amazed how many times I've had to carry your father around like a princess"

Jason closed his eyes and wrinkled his nose. "Now that's an image I'm never going to get out of my head"

"Don't worry, my uncle usually does it. If you had to pin me as a personal bat transporter, I would definitely be Dick's. I remember carrying the doofus around bridal style when we were battling Mr Twister with Garth. It was . . the day we met"

The memory of him, Dick and Garth as children fighting an enemy together for the first time felt like a lifetime ago.

And in some strange, twisted way, it technically was.

The empty feeling he was constantly harboring suddenly intensified tenfold, and the urge to go see Dick became almost inexorable.

With his mind clouded again, Wally missed the way Jason's expression soured at the mention of his brother.

"You're lucky Red Robin is not in Gotham tonight. The last thing anyone wants is for replacement to be anywhere near that lobotomized fuckhead"

"Don't call him that" Wally said quietly.

"Don't like profanity?"

"No," Wally said with an eyeroll. "Not that. Don't call him replacement"

He walked to the edge of the rooftop to stare at the city lights shining in the night. Even in such a horrid city, there was still an ounce of beauty.

"Believe me, it's the most awful feeling to fill someone's shoes and constantly have them remind you that you mean nothing more to them than a measly second rate substitute. Especially when they look up to you as much as Tim does"

He crossed his arms and glanced over his shoulder to give Jason a sad but stern look.

"How would you know?" Jason asked stubbornly, "You were the first Kid Flash. Your uncle's obvious favorite"

"Maybe, but I'm not Kid Flash anymore, just like you're not Robin anymore. I'm a Flash, and I'm definitely not the first. I'm not even the second - I'm the third. If my predecessors called me 'replacement' all the time . . .I can't even imagine how much that would hurt. And I'm not flash's favorite" Wally said before looking down at his feet.

Jason walked over to stand beside him before speaking somewhat hesitantly. "Tim and I have a history okay? You don't understand"

This time, Wally was the one to scoff. "Trust me, I know exactly how it feels to come back to this world after being 'dead' to find my mentor, my father figure, with some kid with my name in my costume that claims to be my family. You go through fucking hell, come back and find out the one person you looked up to all your life went and replaced you. And fucking forgot all about you"

He stayed quiet for a moment, turning to meet Jason's wide eyes.

"This world has changed so much while we've been gone Jason, and if I've learnt anything, it's that repressing the differences get you absolutely nowhere. We have to learn to live with them, because no matter how much we miss them – we're never getting our old lives back"

He turns back to the glimmering city lights, and something possesses him to unfold his arms and gently slid a hand into one of Jason's. "But there's a vital difference between you and me. When you died, there wasn't a moment Bruce forgot about you. He never ever forgot about you Jason. When I came back, no one remembered me. Literally. Barry pulled me out of the Speed force and the first thing he must've wondered was 'who the fuck is this?'.

His voice trembled when he said that last part, and Jason's fingers tightened to lock around Wally's own.

"Thanks" he says quietly

"For what?" Wally sniffed.

"For telling me all that. For telling me I'm an asshole and actually succeeding in making me agree. I'll stop calling him that. We've been past that point for a while now anyway"

Wally sunk down to sit at the ledge and pulled Jason down with him.

"I saw the way you treated your cousins the other day at the tower, and I saw the way they looked at you. They adore you"

"I wasn't always like that" Wally replied unhappily. "I used to treat Bart like absolute shit. Sometimes I want to go back in time and throttle myself for the way I treated him. He was just a kid and I was so mean . . ."

This time, the wetness pooling in his eyes started dripping onto the fabric of his cheeks. Before he could wipe them away, Jason's hand, the one that wasn't holding his, gently brushed the tears away. Wally's face burned with embarrassment. "Sorry, I didn't mean to turn into an emotional wreck on you"

"Don't be. Its nice to be around someone with a candid mental state for a change"

Jason let go of Wally's smaller hand to wrap his arm around his shoulders in a side hug. "Sorry for being a dick before. It's been a heck of a shit day"

"Yeah same here"

The silence that followed was comfortable, and Wally felt himself relax a little for the first time that night.

Notes:

Don't worry birdflash fans, if all goes to plan, next chapter should have some quality birdflash development. I hope.

I've literally been making a tally for this fic, and I'll be making one every chapter until it's time for me to decide which pairing will be endgame, so let me know if you're team birdflash or team hoodflash!

And thank you so much everyone who left a comment on the last chapter. They were my sole motivation for writing this one :)