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When Jason died, Wally noticed the light that glimmered behind his best friend’s bright blue eyes begin to dim.
He watched as his best friend began to withdrawal, and he did his best to stay in touch.
Staying in touch with someone who wants nothing to do with anyone else is hard. And Wally tried for so long and he tried so hard, and he didn’t even notice when his answer to “Who’s the guy in the picture over there?” Went from “That’s my best friend! Dick Grayson!” To “That’s an old friend of mine. We don’t talk much anymore.”
The day he noticed, he was at Barry’s house for dinner. Barry asked him about Dick, how he’d been, he hadn’t seen him in what felt like forever. Wally shrugged and said he didn’t know, he hadn’t talked to Dick in a while.
Barry’s confusion painted face and Iris’s follow-up statement were what made him realize.
“We used to never be able to sit through a Sunday night dinner without you bringing him up, you know- it’s been months since he’s come up in conversation.”
Wally wasn’t sure what to make of that.
He didn’t finish his dinner.
He took the subway home instead of running himself.
He felt his eyes age as he thought about it.
When he checked his messages, he had to scroll to find Dick. His contact still listed with emoji’s around his name and a stupid contact photo, but the messages held no emotion in comparison to his contact.
“Busy Sunday? Uncle B and Aunt I do weekly dinners and asked for u to come to one.” - sent, 7 months ago
“Sorry didn’t see that till too late” - received 7 months ago
“It’s ok next time” - sent, 7 months ago
7 months since last contact.
7 months since they last spoke and so many years since he saw him in person and looked into bright blue eyes and smiled.
He had been in love with Dick when they were younger. When they were teenagers? Wally had been head over heels. Never acted, played it off by flirting with every girl he saw.
He doubted anyone ever knew. But staring at his and Dick’s messages made him think about it.
He had been 16 and in love, and now he was 24 and he was not. And he wondered how life would have gone if he had acted on that.
It would have had to have been before that trip to space where Dick came back and stared at an empty bedroom and that little glow behind his eye disappeared.
It was another year before they spoke anyways.
Dick started the conversation -
“U still run?” - received, 1 minute ago
Wally knew what he meant. Did he still run in costume.
“Only for emergencies.” - sent, just now
“I have an emergency KF I need help.” - received, just now
The use of the nickname made Wally smile fondly at his phone.
How could he say no?
He suited up. He pulled down the mask, and he grabbed a pocket full of those extra energy bars he kept stashed for emergencies.
Dick texted a location. Flash II met him there.
“Hey Nightwing, long time no see, huh?” Wally joked, his banter was met with a nod, and silence.
Wally inhaled deeply, this was going to be work, not a little get together.
Nightwing explained the situation. They needed a lot of energy, and Bart and Barry were barely enough to keep the explosion at bay, they needed just a little bit more to get it to defuse.
That’s where Wally came in.
He knew his place, so he joined the laps.
Barry slowed down to meet his pace, “Hey slowpoke, been a while?”
Wally huffed, “Years,” his leg began to burn, and he squeezed his eyes shut for a second. “Too many years.”
When he opened them, Barry was gone, and the lightning from him and Bart was running circles around Wally.
He glanced out and saw a flicker of a smile on a few surrounding hero’s faces. Must be working.
Wally put his all into the run. He felt the burning intensify and spread. And when he looked down, he realized both of his legs were covered in veins of lightning.
He shook his head and ate an energy bar. Whatever. He’d run it off.
And then he realized he was slowing down. He was already behind, and he was falling more and more behind as he went.
While Wally slowed, Dick watched as the explosion began to implode instead, and sighed.
Relief. Sweet relief.
His eyes drifted to the monitor. It showed the 3 speedsters, and 2 were fine. But Flash II was not.
His monitors were off the charts. His heart beat was violently fast, even for a speedster running his top speed.
Wait- that wasn’t his top speed. He was slowing down. He was beginning to slow down.
Wow.
He was really slowing down, like a lot- he was going to get hurt.
He was going to get sucked into the implosion.
Dick jumped up and shot towards the lightning, “Wally!” The use of code names out the window, “Wally get out! Wa-“
He heard the minister beep out. He heard the machine flatline the sensor that he had been listening to.
He heard Wally’s heart rate go from so fast to nothing and he stopped and stood, the wind from the runners still blowing his hair back.
He had lost his best friend years ago, and then, and then he had brought him back for a mission. There were other speedsters- oh so many others at this point- but he was wanted Wally.
Maybe he would stay in the hero business this time? Maybe they could run a mission together?
But Wally’s rerun as a hero had been cut short, Wally had felt himself get pulled back and suddenly- it was an out of body experience, except- where was his body?
He stared at the lightning below him and realized his body was shredded into the lightning and the implosion.
It was an out of body experience with no body to return to.
So he looked to the side, and he didn’t quite know how, but he was in front of Nightwing.
Nightwing who tore his mask from his face, leaving red blotches.
Nightwing- who already had no spark left, who stood in shock, with red blotches across his cheeks, and no expression on his lips.
And Wally sighed. He missed those lips. He missed looking at them while Dick spoke and laughed and joked and he knew in that moment, when Dick looked like he almost greyed. His eyes looked dull, and his skin looked tired.
He knew in that moment, that Dick would never laugh or joke again.
Wally knew that losing Jason had lost him his best friend, and now- and now losing Wally had lost everyone their Dick Grayson.
Wally turned around to see Bart and Barry standing confused, he watched them look at each other, and then Dick, maskless, and turn to look at the small flames from the implosion.
The lack of another speedster and the look in Dick’s eyes held all it needed to.
Wally moved towards the flames and leaned down, a piece of turned red cloth sat beside the fire, but his fingers brushed through it.
He couldn’t touch, but the red cloth blew towards Barry and Bart after Wally touched it, as if a breeze carried it to their feet.
And Barry picked it up and the tears fell.
But when Barry got home later that night he would still have a spark left in his eye for Iris.
And when Bart got back to the tower, he would still chuckle at a lame joke, even if he was grieving a pseudo-brother.
Dick would go home and stare at the picture on his nightstand.
Of Dick and Wally. Laughing on a roller coaster. Arms up and screaming at the drop.
And Dick would sigh. And he would lay down in his bed and stare at the ceiling. And his eyes would be lifeless and gray. And he would stay there until Bruce came and took him away.
And Wally would watch from above. He watched and he waited until Dick leaped across buildings years later, and his hand slipped and he came crashing down.
And then Dick was beside him clutching his chest and screaming at the air around them.
It was only when they reunited and Dick calmed that Wally was greeted by the pearly white gates. And he led Dick through them, hand in hand.