#wally west is still dead...

[is-wally-alive-again-yet]

Wally West has been gone for 11 years.

[dubacheryking]

Okay ACTUALLY I have been sleeping on the flash fam. Flash fam I am so sorry u guys r so much cooler than most of the bats will ever be

[junespriince]

Connor: what's with handcuffs?

Wally: he ate a tide pod, for once lived unlike in his comics, and then handcuff us in maniac induce headaches and threw the key into the sun and now we are stuck here because DC took my vibrating out of physical matter and moving my atoms again.

Wally: all this happened at 2am.

Kyle: well, pay more attention to me than instead of your wife and husband.

Wally: if the thought of being stuck with your rotting corpse wasn't so off putting i would have strangled you by now.

Kyle: nun-uh

Wally: THE FUCK YOU MEAN NUH UH, YEAH UH I WOULD HAVE!

Kyle: YOU WOULD MISS ME!?

Wally: ugh! *To the sky* KILL ME!

Connor: so... No waffles?

Wally: in the microwave.

Connor: nice!

[just-blahh]

It’s Wally’s birthday!

This poor man doesn’t even know yet the horrors he is to face

[jonathanbyersphd]

Listen, I'm delusional enough to believe a blorbo I watched die in 2013 is still alive in another dimension. If you think I won't keep that energy no matter what happens in st5 you're mistaken

[kitkatscabinet]

STARTING A FAMILY

PAIRING: Wally West x fem! reader

REQUESTED: by anon as part of dc drabbles

A/N: we already had a pregnancy with Wally so I thought I'd try something different.

You'd seen a lot of truly horrific things in your days as a first responder, but the sight of a child covered in his mother and sister's blood and lying next to their dead bodies was hardly something you were accustomed to.

"Hey little guy." You coaxed, gently picking him up when he didn't flinch away from you. You kept your tone soft, doing your best to ignore the blood that was now blood seeping into your clothes. "Hey buddy."

"What's your name huh?" You gently run a hand over his hair, scanning for any visible injuries.

He doesn't answer, staring up at you with wide eyes before he turns and buries his face in your neck. You freeze momentarily, before forcing yourself to relax.

"Ok sweetheart, I'm gonna take you to get cleaned up now, yeah?" You gently cradled the back of his head, preventing the kid from looking at his dead family as you walked back out to the ambulance.

The kid refuses to let you go, even just to get cleaned up, and the second someone tries to take him away, he starts screaming bloody murder.

You hold him in your arms until child services arrives but even then the boy, Lucas, the detectives tell you, wails the second you're more than a few feet away.

Your heart breaks, and you're stepping forward, pulling him against your side. "I have a valid foster licence... can he... stay with me?"

The social worker hesitates but then Lucas speaks for the first time in hours, his voice soft and scratchy and filled with hope, "please, I wanna go with her."

It takes a few more hours to work everything out, but eventually, you're walking over the threshold into your house, a four year old, exhausted child asleep in your arms.

It's not until you sink down into your couch that the events of the day fully sink in. You have a child now, a little life you're responsible for, and —

Oh God, you hadn't even consulted Wally.

Lucas whimpers in your arms, and all thoughts of your fiance fly out the window as you work on soothing the little boy.

By the time he settles down, you're on the verge of falling asleep yourself. You try to wait up for Wally, really you do, but the emotional weight of the day finally takes its toll and you fall asleep with Lucas still in your arms.

It's a few hours later when Wally gets home, swining the door open with a dramatic, "Honey, I'm home!" Faltering when you didn't respond.

"Honey? You here?" He frowns, dropping his jacket in the foyer as he starts to search for you, only to stumble at the sight of you passed out on the couch, a protective hand sprawled across the back of a child.

A child that's now staring up at him with wide, suspicious eyes. "Who're you?"

"Who am I? Who are you, kid?" Wally flounders and it's enough to make you stir.

"Huh? Wally?" You rub the sleep from your eyes with a yawn.

He blinks at you, utterly thrown. "Hey babe, care to explain why there's a tiny person in my spot?"

Lucas scowls at him, clutching your shirt tighter. "I don't trust him."

Wally squawks in offence while you bite back a laugh, patting Lucas’s back in a sleepy, instinctive rhythm. "His name's Lucas. He… he needed someone."

Wally watches the way your fingers run softly over the kid's back, the way Lucas melts just a little under your touch. You probably don’t even realize how natural it looks, how maternal.

"Was gonna text you, but figured this was probably a conversation better had in person." You mumbled sleepily.

Wally kneels next to the couch, gently brushing your hair back as he looks between the two of you. "Okay. So… I’m guessing there's a good reason he's here?"

There was a beat of silence. You reached down and brushed a hand over Wally’s cheek as you sighed, eyes flickering to Lucas. "I know I should have consulted you first, come up with a plan of some sorts," you murmured, "But he didn't have anywhere else to go and... I couldn't just leave him."

"I wouldn’t have wanted you to." He says softly, staring at you with nothing but love and adoration. He watches you expertly soothe the little boy back to sleep.

His hand found yours and squeezed it gently. Another moment passed, and then, more quietly, Wally said, "I think… I want this."

You stare at him in disbelief and a little bit of hope.

"I mean it," he continued, voice barely above a whisper. "The late nights, the tiny shoes by the door, the mess and chaos and cartoons and everything. I want it. A family, with you... I've been meaning to bring it up for a while now." He admits.

Emotion swelled in your chest so quickly it nearly caught you off guard. "I want that too," you whispered, trying to hold back the sudden wave of tears, "more than anything."

Wally chuckles, leaning in to press a kiss to your temple, heart thudding with something terrified and tender. "We'll figure this out, together, ok?"

"Together."

[gilverrwrites]

Dickies Mom has got it goin’ on

Had to get this convoluted, angsty but fun idea out of my head. One day I might expand it into a better-written, fleshed-out fic, but for now please enjoy my yappy ramblings.

Wally West/BatMom!Reader

CWs: Wally being a not so great friend.

So like, imagine you're roughly late 20s/early 30s and happily married to the love of your life Bruce Wayne, there's an age gap sure, but ultimately that's not important. What matters is that you've made a life with him and his children. You're especially close with Dick, his eldest (late teens/early 20s) as you've known him since he was a teenybopper.

All is well, until one day in true comic book fashion; you die. You sacrifice yourself for a greater cause. It's all very tragic.

A decade later, it turns out fate isn't done with you. You've no idea how or why, but you wake in a coffin one day and have to claw yourself out of it. Cold, alone, and afraid, you make your way back to Wayne Manor. There you're greeted by your husband Bruce, but not really. This Bruce is greying. There are fine lines on his face you've never seen before and a ring on his finger that does not match yours.

You're not mad, it's been 10 years, and he was supposed to move on! But it doesn't feel like 10 years to you, it feels like only yesterday everything was perfect. It's devastating.

Queue Dick finding out. He just so happened to be hanging with his best pal Wally at the time, they both drop everything to rush over in a flash.

Your first night back on earth is messy. It's emotional, and stressful, a hell of a roller coaster. Ultimately, you spend most of it with Dick and Jay who surprise is also back from the dead. Dick is really your emotional soundboard, while Jay offers more practical advice about navigating a world that has gone on without you. He recommends you just take some time off, heal your wounds, catch-up with friends and family. You should learn from his mistakes.

Wally helps too. Primarily in a comedian relief way but also just as a sunny friendly face. His freckles and kind green eyes go a long way in making you feel at ease amongst a sea of familiar strangers.

He's adamant you've met before but you insist you'd never forget eyes that green and it stops his heart. You mean nothing by it, but it means a lot to him.

After you’ve parted ways, Dick makes a point of telling Wally not to flirt with you if he ever meets you again.

“Flirting? I wasn't flirting.”

“I was there.”

“But, come on man she's hot!”

“She’s my mom.”

“But she's our age now.”

“Wally, she's my mom!”

Eventually, after a lot of teasing, Wally surrenders but he deliberately makes no promises. He can't, not when he's been replaying the same 5-second interaction you'd had at Dicks 18th Birthday party many moons ago in his head over and over. He’ll try for his best friend, but it seems to him like this was meant to be.

Bruce may not be in love with you anymore, but he still loves you. So he helps how he can, offers you food and shelter, medical attention, a job, whatever you need to get yourself back on your feet.

You decide to take Jasons advice. Bruce still has a lot of your things; your clothes and your car. You ‘borrow’ gas money from your widowed husband and hit the road to seek out lost friends and family. Sad, but eager to get away from the city that no longer feels like home. You leave your rings with Alfred, a sign to Bruce that you expect nothing from him, that you'll leave him and his new wife be even though it breaks your heart.

The first stop is Dick, obviously, since you have to travel through Blüd. After joining him for a routine patrol, you spend the night on his couch, eating Thai food and talking about his life since you… passed. Nightwing as just finding his footing back then, but now he's a force to rival Batman.

You're two states over when you get a call from a number you don't recognise. Most of the people you know have changed their numbers since you last spoke, so don't hesitate to answer. You're surprised however by whose on the other end.

“Wally West? How did you get this number?”

“From Dick.”

He's not lying, he's just omitting the fact that Dick doesn't know Wally got your number from his phone bill. If he didn't want that info getting out he should probably put his bills somewhere other than a lockbox in a safe and quit being only person in the entire world to still actively use a landline.

His not-a-lie works however, the implication of Dick's approval helps you to let down those mother-appropriate conversation walls.

“Heard you're travelling cross country, any chance you plan on stopping in Keystone?”

“Why? Whats in Keystone?”

“Um, the Patriots?”

“Baseball?”

“And hotdogs! Al who serves em does not skimp on all the toppings, you've gotta try em.”

“You want me to detour in Keystone for baseball and hotdogs?”

“Well, there is something else.”

“And whats that?”

“Guess.”

“Unmmm… You?”

“Ding ding ding. She's smart and beautiful, a woman after my own heart.”

He's cute. So cute. He's no Bruce, but Bruce never made you laugh like this.

“Wally, this is a bad ideas. I was married until like a week ago.”

“And? I'm not askin’ you to walk down the aisle again, just one game and like 20 hotdogs. For me. You don't have to eat that many unless you want too.”

[radioactive-earthshine]

I haven't read any flash comics yet so all my information about Bart comes from YJ98 and I a have question. My friends claim you are the flash family expert so I think you can answer it lol.

If it wouldn't bother you could you please explain why Barry Iris and Wally couldn't take Bart in? Ig I do not understand why his own family wouldn't prefer to raise him instead of putting him with someone they didn't know if that's how I understood it? Like I mean it is great that we have a story about foster care but ig I'd still want to know why he was in foster care at all.

Sorry if I am bothering you and this question is like basic knowledge but it's bothering me.

Hello new Flashfam fan,

There are pretty basic explanations for why none of those characters listed could, would, or should take Bart Allen in when he was evacuated to the 20th century.

Barry

He was DEAD.

Barry Allen died in Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986, and he remained dead and out of the main continuity barring cameos and random moments for more than 20 years.

When Bart was born, he was dead, when he came back to the past, he was dead.

Deceased.

I know in a lot of Core Four fanfic many authors choose to depict him as alive and well, but in the comics he is as dead as Jason Todd.

Iris

She had studied the past extensively while she lived in the future, and thus obtained knowledge of what was going to happen to her loved ones in the past. She knew their histories.

Terrified of changing said history, and altering the future she understood, she withdrew herself from everyone as much as possible, including Wally. She essentially became a hermit.

She knew if she spent too much time with her family, she would likely give them warnings about tragedies to come. Iris was operating under an understanding that altering history is a big big big big no no. Because of her knowledge, she knew that Max took Bart in and declared it his destiny to do so, not Wally and not her, and they had no choice but to do it.

Agree with it or not, and whether it makes sense or not, and regardless of the more sinister implications of this plot detail, that is the comic explanation.

Wally

He literally could not handle Bart at this time in his life. He was not mentally prepared to deal with someone like Bart and this was actually a mutual decision between him and Bart.

Bart didn't want to live with Wally, they were not getting along, and Wally wasn't going to challenge that.

The Wally West at this time was not the current Wally which is a father to three, a husband, and someone VERY well adjusted - but rather, he was a mentally ill young adult dealing with cptsd, likely imposter syndrome, and prevailing jealousy of his proximity to Barry and infernal feelings of inadequacy. All of those together and how Wally dealt with them made him a pretty big jerk, which is what made him interesting, and what also made him not the best choice at all to take in someone as feral as Bart. It would have been a disaster.

Should Iris and Wally have just tried their best to take Bart in? That's up for debate and personal opinion, but in my opinion, both really did make the best decision they could have. I also stand firmly by the belief that no one should be forced to raise a child. Period.

There is also one final reason why Iris and Wally didn't take Bart in and it's really the most important one ...

That's not the story Mark Waid wanted to tell. Mark wanted to tell a story about aloof, cold, secretive Max Mercury taking in wild Bart and their adventures as they slowly bonded.

I hope this answers your question!

Note 1: I would not call myself an "expert" on the Flashfam, I just have read a lot of comics about them, well over 1000 single issues, but even with this, there are still huge gaps of knowledge that exist.

Note 2: this is for the comics and the comics alone, no other form of media or adaptation.

[froggibus]

Hi!

I saw your requests were open so I was wondering if I could request the Batboys with an s/o who passes out from a fever.

I hope you’re doing well!!

Passing Out From A Fever - Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Wally West

Pairing: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake and Wally West x gn! reader (separately)

Genre: hurt/comfort

Summary: your s/o reacting to you passing out from a fever

Word Count: 1.2k (Dick's), 1k (Jason's), 1.1k (Tim's), 1.1k (Wally's)

CW: sickness/the flu, minor injuries, reader is stubborn and refuses to rest, fainting, established relationship? gn reader but Wally refers to you as a 'damsel in distress', violence + drugs/drug dealers (Jason's) lmk if i missed anything

okok so sorry anon this request is almost 4 months old lmfao. i got a little sidetracked doing other stuff for a while but it is finally here. hope you enjoy it despite how delayed it is

--

Dick 

Dick looks at the numbers on the digital thermometer with a sigh. “Your temperature’s only going up.”

“Is that a bad thing?” You try to joke but your whole body aches, your skin is feverish and clammy, and your head spins every time you open your eyes.

He looks at you seriously, giving you the signature Dick Grayson disappointed older brother, team leader look.

“I take it no patrol tonight?”

He rests his hand on your thigh. “Not a chance in hell.”

“I figured as much,” you grumble.

“I’ll stay in with you tonight,” he insists, giving your leg a squeeze. “We can watch a movie or something. I’ll even let you choose.”

You let out a deep breath, leaning back and resting your head against your cold bed frame. His offer is tempting—it's not often he stays home during the evening. “Okay,” you nod your head slowly. “We’ll stay in tonight.”

He beams at your decision, planting a chaste kiss to your forehead before jumping up and leaving you in your bed. “I’ll be back in an hour, alright?”

You offer a weak thumbs up before relaxing back into your nest of blankets and pillows. It won’t hurt to sleep a little while he’s out, and you are pretty tired. 

— 

You wake up hours later, Dick nowhere to be seen. Your whole body feels like it’s been set on fire and beat with a baseball bat, but you still struggle out of bed to go find your boyfriend. Of course, he’s nowhere to be seen. 

You narrow your eyes, a sinking feeling in your chest because you know exactly where he is. Your hunch is proved right when you open the closet door with shaky hands and see the empty hanger where the Nightwing costume should be. 

What happened to staying in tonight? No patrol?

The thought of him leaving you while you feel this sick lights a fuse in your chest, and before you know it, you’re lazily tugging your own suit over your limbs. The suit only makes you feel hotter, your muscles aching in protest, but you need to see him. 

By some miracle, you manage to stumble your way across Gotham in the dead of night while dealing with an extremely high fever and body aches. 

Still, your boyfriend is nowhere in sight. You followed the trail of beaten thugs and failed robberies straight to the centre of the city, but Nightwing wasn’t there. You feel slightly woozy, your knees shaking below you. 

Your phone buzzes in your back pocket and you take it out, the writing blurry on the small glowing screen. You squint but the letters spin on the screen, and you can’t seem to make them out. 

In fact, when you look up from the screen, the whole world is spinning. Your head feels impossibly heavy, and suddenly your body is pitching forwards. 

————

Dick knows he’s fucked when he gets home and you’re nowhere to be seen. He sees the open closet door and the empty hanger where your costume should’ve been, and groans. 

If only he had just stayed home like he said. Guilt overwhelms him, but he swallows it back and forces himself to push through. 

You shouldn’t even be out of bed, let alone roaming the city dressed as a vigilante. Dick cards his fingers through his hair and starts to make his way through the city again. 

He assumes you were trying to find him, so he circles back through his usual patrol spots. The longer it takes to find you, the more anxious and guilty he feels. 

It’s all his fault that you’re even in this mess, stumbling through the city sick and disoriented.  

He finds you unconscious on a rooftop, tucked away in a corner, a small cut on your face from what he assumes was the impact. Seeing you like this makes his heart drop and for what feels like a thousand years, he watches you and waits for your chest to rise. He stares, holding his own breath until he finally sees your lungs inflate with air. 

He’s scooping you up in his arms and carrying you back to the apartment in an instant, careful not to jostle you too much. He can feel your feverish skin through your costume, sweat pooling on your forehead and neck. He could set a record for how fast he had you home.  

He changes you out of your suit and into comfortable pjs, patching up the mark on your face and tucking you into bed. He’s always taken care of his younger brothers so he knows just how to take care of you. 

He puts an ice pack on your forehead to keep you from burning up too much and gets water and ginger ale for your nightstand. He knows you’ll need fluids and medicine when you wake up and he wants to be prepared. 

Even after he’s prepared everything and double checked his, his nerves don’t settle. You’ve been out cold for at least an hour, with no sign of waking up. Another hour of this and he’ll have to take you to the hospital. 

He paces the room, eyes never leaving your sleeping figure. Wake up, wake up, wake up. He tries to will you awake, hoping your eyes will open any second and you’ll berate him for leaving you. 

“Dick..?”

His pacing comes to a stop, eyes snapping to yours. “Oh, thank god,” he kneels next to your side of the bed and takes your hand in his. “How’re you feeling?”

As if on cue, you groan in pain. The ice pack he placed on your forehead does little to help with the heat that’s ignited your whole body. Your eyes feel painfully heavy, and all of your muscles feel inflamed. 

He holds a glass of water up to your lips, helping you tip your head back so you can drink some. He pops a couple pills into your mouth and pours some more water in to wash them down. 

“They’ll probably take fifteen minutes to work,” he keeps his voice quiet. “You’ll feel a lot better soon though, I promise. I’ll make sure you’re all better.” 

You nod weakly. “You—you left me…”

Dick’s heart breaks at the sound of your sad, weak voice. He was hoping you wouldn’t dwell on that too much, the reminder that his fuck up for you into this mess weighing heavily on him. 

“I know, baby. And I’m so, so sorry. There was an emergency and I thought I could sneak out quick but,” he sighs and tugs on his hair. “I’m not gonna leave your side until you’re all better, okay? Never again.”

You’re too tired and sick to care for grovelling, you’re just glad he’s here and you don’t have to suffer alone. You reach a hand out to grab his hand and weakly tug him towards the bed. 

Dick obliges, crawling in next to you and letting you rest on his chest. “I’m gonna make you all better, hm? You’ll be all better soon, hun.”

His soothing voice coupled with the circles he traces on your back are enough to keep you content until the medicine kicks in. Then, you’re drifting back to sleep in Dick’s arms, already feeling better from the turmoil of the day

-

Jason 

You think Jason may be the most dense man on the planet. Unlike his father, his detective skills seriously need some work. 

When you woke up this morning with a fever and aches, you were sure you could push through it. It’s just a little cold, or so you thought. As the day turned into night and you got ready for patrol, your symptoms only worsened. 

Your body aches grew worse, your fever grew hotter and your movements got sluggish. Still, you brushed it off. You never miss patrol with Jason, and tonight wasn’t going to be a first. 

“You’re off to a slow start,” he teases. 

You would roll your eyes if you weren’t so tired. “Shut up. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

It’s a total lie, of course. And if he could see the swelling of your glassy eyes or touch your boiling skin, he would know otherwise. Lucky for you, the adrenaline rush Jason gets on patrol creates a kind of tunnel vision that allows him to completely overlook your symptoms. 

You stumble a bit, having to brace yourself against one of the shipping containers. You’re glad Jason shot out all of the street lamps at the old dock, leaving you in perpetual darkness. A perfect cover to hide the pain you’re feeling. 

You take a deep breath and groan, pushing off of the container and running to catch up with him. The friction only makes you hotter, the air being forced from your lungs. Your head spins and black spots crowd your vision, but you take a weak breath and force them away. Now is not the time to be weak. 

Jason tilts his head at you, and you can feel his judging eyes from under the mask. “Seriously, are you okay? Did you get hurt or something?”

“Did you? You’re off your game too, Red.” You try to nudge him teasingly but it just sends a shockwave through your body, your head suddenly pounding. 

He looks like he’s going to say something you don’t want to hear but you’re saved by the bell when an unlucky drug dealer stumbles into view.  Jason is pouncing on him in a minute, leaving you to your thoughts. 

His form gets blurrier the more you watch him fight, and you swear your arms and legs are growing heavier by the second. Your head lulls back and you worry for a minute that you’re going to pass out. 

You manage to catch yourself, pinching your arms to keep yourself aware. It works, but only for a second. You have enough time to make eye contact with Jason before your eyes are rolling back and you’re dropping like a sack of potatoes. 

—

Jason is freaking the fuck out. For a minute, he’s worried you’re injured—or worse. All he saw was your panicked expression before you dropped to the pavement. If he wasn’t so worried, he would have laughed at your lack of grace. 

He makes quick work of the remaining drug dealers, tearing through them with all the anxiety he’s feeling. By the time he’s made it to you, your body is practically on fire. He flinched away at first, not expecting your skin to be as hot as it is. 

“You idiot,” he lifts you into his arms, letting your head hang over his shoulder. “You should’ve just told me you were sick.”

He forces himself to keep his calm demeanour the whole way to the apartment. He doesn’t let himself worry until you’re both changed out of your patrol clothes and into normal, ordinary pyjamas. 

He has you laid down in the passenger seat of his car, his foot pressing heavily on the gas the entire way to the hospital. He knows it’s just a fever, but you fainted. Something could be seriously wrong, and he can’t chance anything. Not with you. 

—

You come to in the hospital, an IV in your arm. It takes a few blinks for you to take in your surroundings, but even then, it’s hard to keep your eyes open. Your throbbing headache does not mesh well with the fluorescent lights. 

“Jason,” your voice is barely a whisper. “Did you take me to the hospital?”

“No shit,” he scoffs. “

You would laugh at his brazenness if you weren’t in so much pain. The scratchy cotton thread of the hospital blankets aren’t enough to keep you warm, and despite being covered in sweat, you’re shivering. 

Jason sighs. “You’re an idiot, you know that? You could’ve just told me you were sick.”

“I-I—,” you can barely speak with how bad you’re shivering. 

Jason’s heart hurts at the sight of you, and despite how frustrated he is with your antics, he climbs into the bed with you and lets you lay against his chest. 

You relax into him, trying to sap his body heat. You know this can’t exactly be comfortable for him, especially considering you’re a million degrees, and it makes you appreciate it even more. 

“You know, I thought about just tossing you in the harbour and calling it a day.”

You let out a weak laugh at that. “I’m sure you did.”

“Okay, maybe not,” he admits, “but if you ever do that to me again, you will be taking an impromptu swim.”

“As you wish, Jay.”

He kisses the top of your head, “get some rest, hm?”

You nod weakly, letting your body sag against his. Just as sleep begins to take you, you mumble, “I love you.”

Jason’s heart flutters at your words. “I love you too.”

-

Tim 

Tim is such a hypocrite.

When he pushes himself to his absolute limit, staying up until he quite literally drops, it’s fine. But god forbid you try to push yourself even the slightest, or there’s hell to pay from your boyfriend.

“Tim, I’m fine,” you insist, narrowing glassy eyes on him.

He raises his eyebrows in annoyance. “You’re not fine, y/n. You’re burning up. You’re so congested you sound like a little kid. You need rest.”

“Rest, schmest. I’m coming with you.”

“Y/n, honey, love of my life…if you try to come with me, I will slip you Nyquil and you will take a nap.”

You maintain your glare. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Maybe I already have,” he shrugs, an amused smirk tugging at his lips. “How was the tea I brought you earlier?”

Your eyes shoot wide and you scramble to inspect the now empty Wayne Enterprises mug. There’s no indication that it looks or smells different from any other tea. You look up again, ready to mock laugh at your boyfriend, but he’s no longer there. 

“Fucking Timothy,” you shake your head. 

He’s been trying to force you to get bed rest all day, refusing to even let you come with him to the grocery store. Sure, you have a fever and you’re congested and your head really hurts,  but that doesn’t mean you have to stay in bed. 

You toss the blankets onto the other side of his bed and struggle your way out of it. The air outside of his bed is cold, forcing goosebumps onto your arms, but you don’t care. You tug on one of Tim’s sweatshirts and stumble your way downstairs. 

He’s gone when you get down there, the only semblance of human life being Alfred sitting at the kitchen table. He’s reading a newspaper, seemingly deep in thought, yet the minute you step towards the front door, he speaks. 

“If you are trying to follow Master Timothy, I would advise against that.”

“I-I wasn’t…how did you know?”

He smiles at you, “Master Timothy expected you would try to follow him, and asked that I make sure you rest.”

“Damn you, Tim.”

“I’ve prepared some water in the kettle and there are blankets on the couch if you’d like to watch a tv show with me?”

“That sounds great, thank you,” you sigh, giving up and trudging your way to the couch. 

You settle in under a blanket, leaning your head against the couch cushion. Alfred comes in a few minutes later with two glasses of tea and a bottle of medicine. 

You thank the man and take a few pills and the mug of tea, swallow down the pills and set the tea on the nightstand. 

Alfred turns on the TV and starts to play one of his English soap operas. The sounds all blur together and you fade in and out of consciousness, every once and a while snapping back to reality when you hear the door unlock. 

Of course, a million people seem to come and go from Wayne Mansion and your boyfriend is nowhere to be seen. Alfred has seemed to doze off as well, his eyes closed and head resting on the couch cushion behind him. 

You stand up from the couch on shaky legs, discarding the blankets next to you. You feel dizzy and lightheaded as soon as you stand up but you persevere. 

You’re not really sure where you’re going, all you know is that you want to see Tim and the first step is getting to the front door. You make it to the front entrance, and you’re only five feet from the door, but your whole body hurts so bad and you’re so tired and everything is so hot and cold. 

You brace yourself on the wall, leaning your whole body weight on it. You blink a few times, trying to keep the black spots from spreading to your vision. Everything overheats, and your muscles start to weaken. Before you can take another step, your body is failing, and your vision is going black.

—

Tim comes home just in time to see you hit the floor. He drops his groceries onto the floor, not even closing the door behind him as he runs to your side. 

“Y/n?” He presses a cold hand to your forehead, “y/n, wake up!”

He gently shakes your shoulders, willing you to wake up and be okay. His family all arrive at once, staring at the two of you on the floor. 

“Why couldn’t you just stay in bed? Dummy.”

He slips his hands under your knees and arms, lifting you off the ground. Your skin is hot to the touch but you’re shivering, sweat rolling down your temples. He carries you back to his room, laying you down in the bed and covering you in blankets. 

He knows rationally that you’ll be okay, that your body was just responding to the exertion you put it through today. But emotionally? He’s freaking out. He can’t help but wish he’d stayed home with you, taken care of you himself, laid in bed with you all day. 

Tim tries to distract himself by bringing up water and medicine and a cold cloth for you, but it does little to calm his nerves. Every minute that it takes you to wake up, he only gets more and more anxious. 

Finally, after almost two hours, your eyes flutter open. Your head is pounding and it’s hard to keep from falling back asleep, but you force yourself to stay awake. 

“Tim?” You call out, your voice even raspier than before. 

“Hey, hey, I’m here,” he murmurs, getting up from his desk and kneeling at your side. “How are you feeling?”

“Bad,” you admit, tears threatening to spill. “Really bad.”

He hands you two pills and a glass of water. “Here, take these, okay?”

You struggle to swallow the pills and water but somehow manage. The pain in your body is enough to bring you to tears and you can only hope that the medicine will kick in soon. 

Tim rubs your forehead with the back of his hand. “You’re burning up…”

“I—will you lay with me? I miss you…”

Tim can only oblige. You just look so cute and so vulnerable with your glassy eyes and clammy skin. He wouldn’t dare say no to you right now. 

He kicks off his jeans and t-shirt, trading them for a pair of sweatpants before settling in next to you. He can feel your body heat even though he’s not touching you, and even though he wants to hold you, he’s not sure if he should. 

“Are you hot or cold?” He asks. 

“Cold.”

That’s all the answer he needs before he tugs you into his chest, holding your body gently to his. He places a small kiss on your forehead and makes a silent vow not to leave your side until you feel better. 

-

Wally

“Are you sure you should be going on this mission?” Wally looks at you seriously. 

“Yes. Why are you even asking?”

He presses a hand to your skin, recoiling when he feels how hot you are. “Jesus, you’re hot.”

“Well, hello to you too.” You roll your eyes. 

“Y/n, you don’t look too good. I don’t think you should be coming along,” he looks at you with genuine concern. “You’re running real hot and that’s coming from me.”

“Wally, if I don’t come along, the whole mission is screwed.”

“I know, I know. You’re so stubborn,” he sighs. “Come along but the minute you start to feel worse, you tell me, alright?”

“Alright.”

He flashes you his signature grin, planting a kiss to your nose. He squeezes your shoulders once, before giving you a half assed salute and taking off at the speed of light. 

You smile after him, but your smile fades once he’s out of sight. Your head is spinning and your whole body feels like it’s on fire. With the way your muscles are aching, you’re not sure if you’ll even be able to finish the mission. 

Still, you have to try. 

————

Going on this mission was a mistake. 

It feels like every floor of the sinister science institute is filled with more and more baddies, tougher ones too. You were beat after the first floor, but now that you’re on the fifth, with three more to go, you’re not even sure if you’ll make it. 

You can hear Wally up ahead, zooming back and forth and taking out any baddies in his way. You know he’s partly doing this for you—trying to clear the floor and make things easier on you. He’d asked you one more time before you entered the facility if you were feeling up to it, and after you insisted you were, he didn’t bother to argue. 

You almost wish he did, though. Your head is spinning, everything hurts and everything is so hot and sweaty. You try to force yourself to stay awake, but even you know your movements are slow and sluggish and you’re a danger to all of your teammates. 

Nightwing is somewhere behind you, insisting there’s an air duct he can sneak through to get to the main lab before they evacuate. A part of you wishes you’d gone with him. At least then you wouldn’t be stuck leaning against a wall, desperately trying to get your bearings. 

You force yourself onto your feet, stumbling down the hall after Wally. You only make it a few steps before your muscles turn to jello and the black spots crowd your version.

You go limp, your mind retreating far, far away. 

Wally turns around just in time to see you go limp, and he’s speeding down the hallway and catching you within a fraction of a second. He doesn’t give you the chance to hit the ground, his arms already under your knees and shoulders, ready to carry you to safety. 

Your skin is hot to the touch, hotter than it was earlier. He shakes his head at you. He knew this was gonna happen. He knew you would push yourself too hard and end up getting yourself hurt. 

He gets you out of the building and into the jet you and some of the other Titans had taken to get there. He hates the thought of leaving you there, but he knows you would never forgive him if he abandoned the team now. 

Still, he only gets more and more anxious the longer the mission takes. The second Dick secures the samples he was looking for, Wally is taking off. He’s got you in his arms, speeding back towards your shared apartment. 

He’s got you home in a matter of seconds, changing you into a pair of his boxers and one of his old t-shirts. He tucks your boiling body into bed, covering you with blankets up to your waist. 

He doesn’t really know how to take care of someone when they're sick. Whenever he was sick as a kid, he would always just eat ice cream and play video games. That, or he would sneak out and go hang out with Dick or Connor. 

But he knows you need more than ice cream and video games right now. 

He decides on grabbing you water and digging through your cabinets to find any medicine that could possibly help. He tries to remember what his mom did for him when he was young, and all he can think of is a cold cloth on his forehead. Still, that’s better than leaving you there to boil to death. 

He lays the cloth gently on your forehead, leaving your water and medicine on the nightstand for when you wake up. 

He changes out of his suit, opting for a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Of course, you’re wearing his favorite t-shirt, but this one will have to do. He settles into the bed next to you, turning on the tv. He tries to keep the volume and the brightness low. 

After what seems like forever, you start to stir. Everything is too bright and hot when you open your eyes, and it has you squirming and crying. Wally is grabbing your hand as soon as you wake up, using his other hand to press the cold cloth into your forehead. 

“Shhh, babe, it’s okay.”

You clench your eyes shut and shake your head. “E-everything hurts so bad!”

He reaches across you for the water and the medicine, holding the glass up to your lips so you can take a sip before popping the pills into your mouth. You gladly swallow them, relaxing slightly at the taste of water. Wally sets the glass on the nightstand, resting his hands on your thighs. 

“I’m sorry for pushing myself so hard…I’m sorry that you had to clean up after me.”

“Aw baby,” he grins at you, but it’s not as wide and carefree as it usually is. “You know how much I love rescuing damsels in distress.”

Classic Wally, trying to make you laugh even when you feel like you’re on your deathbed. He rubs your thighs gently up and down, trying to soothe you. 

“Did the mission at least go okay?”

He kisses you gently, “don’t you worry your pretty little head about the mission, okay?”

He goes to pull away but you weakly wrap your arms around him, trying to pull him to you. He wraps his arms around your shoulders, holding you tightly. 

“It’s okay baby,” he whispers. “Everything is gonna be okay. I love you so much.”

[moonlit-imagines]

Lovesick

Wally West x reader

warnings: depression, angst teehee

a/n:

prompt: anon 🦊: “I’d like to request the song Lovesick by Laufey for Wally West and romantic relationship.”//Lovesick - Laufey

Ever since Wally…left, you’d felt like you were stuck in a neverending loop. Couldn’t get out of bed in the morning, barely able to keep yourself fed, sleeping all day, numbing your mind with stupid TV shows and movies that distracted you from the reality that Wally was gone.

When you stewed in bed, all you could see was his face. His cocky smile and a voice like honey telling you everything was going to be fine, but it never did. Even after all these months you’d still wake believing he was right beside you and ready to drive you crazy all morning.

Wally was a lot of things, but you never took him as a martyr. Maybe that’s why it felt so unreal—because you stopped seeing him as Kid Flash and started seeing him as your future husband. Now you had nothing. Just an empty apartment covered in trash, you hadn’t cooked in weeks, you hadn’t left in days nor had you showered and the Team was worried sick over you.

Dick, Artemis, Kaldur, Conner, and M’gaan showed up together one day, unannounced, and let themselves right in. You were asleep on the couch with the TV loudly playing some stupid show from the nineties. “Wow, it really stinks in here.” Dick said, wandering through the house.

“I’m gonna get y/n into the shower.” Artemis told the Team, shaking you awake gently. “Y/N, it’s me. The whole Team is here, isn’t that nice?” She saw your eyelids twitch, knowing you were pretending to be asleep. “Come on, let’s get you to the bathroom. No more rotting on the couch, we’re gonna be productive today.”

“What time is it?” You asked.

“It’s nine in the morning. Perfect time to shower and get dressed.” She pulled you from the indented couch cushions and you greeted the rest of the Team as you were pushed into the bathroom, where piles of dirty clothes were stacked. She turned the water on and let it run a bit, letting you know when it was warm enough for you. Before she left the bathroom, you stopped her.

“Can you stay in here with me?” You asked, desperately needing the company in such a mundane task. She agreed, closing her eyes while you undressed and climbed into the shower. It was then that she asked you how you were feeling and you broke down into tears.

“I don’t think I can live without him.” You sobbed into your hands. “My heart feels like it’s being ripped out of my chest every time I’m reminded of him. I’m angry at him for sacrificing himself—and I know we’d all be dead without it but I can’t help but be angry…” You spoke so loud the rest of the Team could hear as they cleaned your apartment. “I just can’t even go outside without being reminded by little things. He went on walks with me at the park. He picked flowers on his way home from class. He took me to lunch every Sunday. And now I have nothing!” Artemis silently broke into tears with you, trying to find a way to help you but she just didn’t know what to do.

“I…I don’t want you to be alone after today.” She replied. “Will you stay with me for a while? I could use the company.” The offer made you cry a bit more. “We should have come here sooner.”

“It’s okay.” You sniffled. “I know you guys were hurting, too.” You turned the shower off and grabbed the nearest towel, opening the bathroom door to see your friends cleaning your home, taking out the trash, doing the dishes, loading the washing machine, opening the blinds—everything they can to get you back. And for a moment, you thought you caught a glimpse of Wally in the shuffle. “I think you’re right, Artemis. I can’t hide from the world. It’s not what Wally would want for me.” You walked into your room and tried to find some clean clothes in the back of your closet while Artemis talked to the Team.

And in the back of your closet you found a picture of Wally laid on the floor. “You hear that Wally? It’s time to move on and move out.” You told the still image of his smiling brightly with the blinding sun in his eyes. “I’ll be okay. I think. I’d be better with you, but I can’t have you anymore. I’m sick to my stomach with grief, but I’ll love you forever.”

taglist: @summersimmerus // @azazel-nyx // @ravenstrueluv // @captainshazamerica // @deanzboyfriend // @mr-mxyzptlk-1940 //

[fantastic-nonsense]

What do you think about that one meme or head cannon where people view and said that "Only a Kent family member can handle the gloominess of the Waynes". How true is this, and do you like it even if it's not true?

I've never heard it before, it's incredibly false, and I hate the concept. Who on earth is trying to tie the Bats and Supers so closely together that they ignore everyone else?

Bruce has a lot of friends who are not Clark. Whether he admits they are friends or not is a different problem, but there are several people in his life that love him, care for him, and consider him to be a good friend. Diana and Zatanna, for one. I could list off a whole set of others, too.

Dick is basically the entire heroing community's "I know a guy" guy. His best friends are canonically Donna Troy, Roy Harper, and Wally West (depending on the era). None of them are Kents.

Tim is practically incapable of going anywhere without making at least one friend, to the point where even when he was on his angsty unhinged loner quest to figure out if his dead dad was alive he walked away with an ex-enemy turned ally and a pack of new assassin friends. Even apart from the fact that the Core Four are a "matched set, do not separate" group, I swear to you all that if Sebastian Ives was still around and finally found out Tim was a vigilante they would be the thickest thieves you could ever imagine.

Damian is the most inexplicable "I know a guy" kid on the planet because he keeps unwillingly making friends everywhere he goes, and meanwhile Jon is exuberant and nice and geniunely outgoing and yet canonically has like four (4) friends, one of which is Damian. Who is it in peoples' minds that "can't handle" his "gloominess?"

I could keep going of course (Cass has several good non-Bat, non-Gothamite friends now and none of them are Supers. Jason...is a work in progress, but he also has friends who are not Supers. etc etc.). But listing out all of the close friends who love the Bats and are not affiliated with Superman would take a day and much longer than I want to spend on this ask.

tl;dr it's not true at all and I hate that anyone even thinks it is.

[sasheneskywalker]

dc poly ships fic recs

Under Your Nose by withthekeyisking Dick and Kori have been together for years now, and it's been a recent habit of theirs to double-date with Jason and Roy. The four of them have a really good time together, that's all. Dick definitely doesn't have any desire to kiss Roy or Jason. And he definitely doesn't accidentally do that when drunk.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Koriand'r, Roy Harper/Jason Todd, Dick Grayson/Roy Harper/Koriand'r/Jason Todd

the pact of our youth by bramgreenfeld Bernard didn’t realize that Tim was dead until three weeks after it happened.

[Timberkon meets Reverse!Robins.]

T | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Bernard Dowd/Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Bernard Dowd/Tim Drake, Bernard Dowd/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Jonathan Samuel Kent & Damian Wayne

the halfway home for washed-up sidekicks by moth_tille “You wouldn’t last an hour in Crime Alley,” Jason said, completely ignoring his partner. “Oh yeah?” Kyle replied. “Wanna bet?” “Sure. Why don’t you come on patrols with us for a month and then see if you still think Gotham is easy?” “Sure. The hardest part is gonna be putting up with you for a month.”

in which Kyle Rayner stays in Gotham longer than he'd intended with two vigilantes who are definitely not what he expected. Chaos ensues.

M | Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Roy Harper/Kyle Rayner/Jason Todd, Roy Harper/Kyle Rayner, Roy Harper/Jason Todd, Kyle Rayner/Jason Todd

the old makes way to new by poppiesandsunflowers It's a new timeline, and in the process of fixing up the hiccups, Dick Grayson desperately tries to stop himself from becoming a homewrecker.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Wally West, Linda Park/Wally West, Dick Grayson/Linda Park/Wally West, Dick Grayson & Linda Park

live fast, die young by poppiesandsunflowers Barry Allen experiences the worst day of his life. Somehow, things end up getting better for him.

M | Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death | Barry Allen & Wally West, Barry Allen/Iris West, Barry Allen/Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Barry Allen/Hal Jordan (Green Lantern)/Iris West

space is just a word made up by someone who's afraid to get close (I want proof of what you're feeling) by lostandlonelybirds (RUNNFROMTHEAK) “Luv, what the hell are you doin’ here?” John Constantine asks from the rooftop below him, cigarette glowing in his hand. Zatanna waves at him, flashing a quick smile that feels like a punch to the gut. Right. Of course. Magic. Fucking Bruce.

Dick flips off his convenient gargoyle and lands in a crouch, silently as always. No sign of movement from probably evil witch, so Dick thinks he can hazard a conversation with the couple. Duo. Romantic partners. Fuck he’s pathetic.

M | No Archive Warnings Apply | John Constantine/Dick Grayson, John Constantine/Zatanna Zatara, Dick Grayson/Zatanna Zatara, John Constantine/Dick Grayson/Zatanna Zatara, Past Dick Grayson/Koriand'r

problematic by proxy by lostandlonelybirds (RUNNFROMTHEAK) “Why are you lying to me?” “I’m not,” Dick says, and there’s a hint of frustration creeping into his voice. “I don’t see him like that. He’s like Tim, just older, and with a bumpier history.” “You don’t stare at Tim’s ass, though.” “I don’t stare at Jason’s!” Donna gives him the most unimpressed look she can muster. “You sure about that one, chief?”

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Donna Troy, Dick Grayson/Donna Troy, Jason Todd/Donna Troy, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd

did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room? by maruyaaya Donna Troy is definitely flirting with him.

Which, for the record, Jason thinks is fucking insane because that’s Donna Troy. Donna Troy, the girl who’s sitting on Jason’s right while her boyfriend is sitting on Jason’s left.

What the fuck is going on?

or;

jason todd [9:00 am] once at a party i kissed someones girlfriend and to make sure he wasn't mad about it i kissed him too… i blacked out and woke up in a groupchat with both of them that said "did you make it home safe baby <3"

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Kyle Rayner/Jason Todd/Donna Troy, Jason Todd/Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner/Jason Todd, Kyle Rayner/Donna Troy

like real people do by maruyaaya “Don’t think this means anything. I just like to cook. That’s all this is.”

“I wasn’t assuming otherwise.” Donna shrugs and Kyle stays silent.

“Good.” Jason nods.

“Good,” Donna responds.

“Good,” Kyle adds, mostly because he feels left out.

or;

kyle, jason, and donna are friends with benefits and also emotionally inept. chaos ensues.

M | No Archive Warnings Apply | Kyle Rayner/Jason Todd/Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner/Jason Todd, Kyle Rayner/Donna Troy, Jason Todd/Donna Troy

a little bit of persuasion (it goes a long way) by kuro49 Jason's rehabilitation comes in the form of taking over Clark and Slade's couch. It works wonders.

M | No Archive Warnings Apply | Clark Kent/Jason Todd/Slade Wilson, Clark Kent/Slade Wilson, Clark Kent/Jason Todd, Jason Todd/Slade Wilson

we all fall down by vlrnlr Turns out there is a statute of limitations on saying the things you’re not supposed to say. / Pre-Flashpoint. Ollie, Hal, Dinah, and everything in between.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Hal Jordan/Dinah Lance/Oliver Queen, Hal Jordan/Dinah Lance, Dinah Lance/Oliver Queen, Hal Jordan/Oliver Queen

[thewitchblue]

I loved the ice skater reader btwww

Could you do a Wally west x reader fem preferably 🙏🏼 

Could you make them super strong like Sakura from Naruto. Like Wally with Someone super strong is just 🥰 fr

And can she have super strength? the kind where she kicks the ground and a hole appears.

She’s a model and well model are kinda skinny? 

So she doesn’t even look like she could lift a baby without struggling. So like the Young Justice got kidnapped and Wally c call reader to come help him. And the young Justice is shocked. Because this skinny girl just came and saved them.

English is not my first language 😔 su sorry for spelling mistakes🙍🏻‍♀️

You didn't expect to get an emergency signal in the middle of a random Wednesday afternoon, but here you were; riding a motorcycle like hell is chasing you down and muttering curses. You just got off of a photoshoot, and you had to cancel the next one because of Wally.

If Wally isn't dead when you get there, you'll kill him yourself.

Your anger was so burning hot you didn't even notice the craters you left as you stormed to the warehouse.

You kicked the steel double door open in your anger, which immediately breaks and knocks out a guard with a loud crack.

All guns were immediately aimed at you, but your blood was singing a wrathful song at that moment. You were a hurricane tearing through guards like wheat.

How the hell did your idiot boyfriend get caught by these inadequate goons? Wally was probably dared by Tim to not use his superspeed for one mission.

Actually, almost definitely that was the case. Your boyfriend, as much as you love him, isn't the best fighter or the brightest. He knows this, and he's always been a tad self-conscious about it. He wasn't even the better fighter in his own relationship. There was no other way this dare could have gone differently.

You were as graceful as you were brutal. You practically floated through the battlefield, aiming fists that threw back multiple guards at the same time. You tossed people around like they were ragdolls and even used some of them like a hammer to take out more in one swipe.

The guns were broken before they could even fire. Your shockwave punches mixed with your superstrength crushed the guns like they were clay.

You held eye contact as you took the AK-47 out of the goon's hand and turned it to dust in front of them. You called out loudly,

"Either you all turn yourselves in, or you all get ripped to shreds. Your choice."

Most of them, unsurprisingly, chose to live. One of them even cut out the team on the way out.

Wally ran up to you after buying your favourite sweets and handing it to you with a grin. You sighed at his puppy-dog eyes.

"You are so lucky I could cancel my photoshoot and that I still fit in this stupid suit."

Aqualad recovered from the shock the fastest out of the entire team. Before you could continue to rail into him, he asked with crossed arms,

"Who is this?"

Wally gave you a kiss with a big, albeit awkward smile while rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He insisted on the suit when you found out he was Kid Flash. He wanted matching suits, but you told him you don't want to look like a mustard bottle and picked something else. He wrapped you in his arms and introduced you to the team,

"Guys, this is my girlfriend!"

You grumbled your displeasure at being introduced to the team under such dire circumstances.

"You are SO lucky I love you. I could and would have killed you otherwise. How did you even fall into their hands? These idiots were as tough as a wet paper towel."

Tim offered in a cheery tone,

"He made a bet and lost horribly."

You turned your glare from Wally to Tim. The kid seemed like the brains of the operation. If he's the one to hurt your Wally... Well, John Constantine would have a better fate than him.

"What's your excuse then?"

That caught Tim off guard. Your voice was silky, like a midnight caress. He vaguely recognises you, but he can't pin your face to a name or even where he found you. Was it at school? No, it couldn't be. Kon would never shut up about you. You are his type in every way. Did you meet at a gala? No, he knows everything about every rich socialite. He never came across you at any of the events he was at.

"My excuse? I was the one to warn him against it!"

The audacity Tim felt almost made you smile. Of course you know Tim. Who doesn't? The only brain to rival Bruce Wayne.

"If that's the case, how did you all get overwhelmed? Wally, no offence, isn't your get-out-of-jail-free card."

Tim agreed immediately to your amusement,

"Oh, no, that is Kon. He's our get-out-of-jail-free card."

Kon didn't look nearly as amused as you were. Wally was slightly offended, but he scored Kon's dream girl, so he didn't care too much.

Aqualad walked into the centre of the group and said,

"Nobody is a get-out-of-jail-free card. We all are important, and all are at fault."

You crossed your arms. Damn right, they are at fault. That photoshoot was important to you.

You look gorgeous even when furious. The cooling rage somehow complimented your eyes. Nobody quite comprehended the situation. You were so tiny yet so deadly. It was all shocking. Wally's SOS ace card was a tiny model? They wouldn't have believed you were at all able to fight if they didn't see you just demolish an entire warehouse full of guards. You look like you couldn't lift a twig, let alone 200 kilograms of muscle. Yet here you are, burning and devastating.

Your alarm went off before anything else could be said. Shit. You had a lunch date with an important client. You groaned while shutting off the alarm. Fine. You climbed back onto your motorcycle and said,

"Don't let there be a next time."

You sped off before anybody could offer for you to join the team or express their thankfulness. Wally watched with a dreamy expression.

"I have the hottest girlfriend."

[greenlantern94to04]

Zero Hour 30th Anniversary Special #1 (October 2024)

OH NO! A residual time vortex left over from Zero Hour has transported us from October 1994 to October 2024! Before a Linear Man comes to take us back to our proper time and/or shoot us with a giant gun, let's look at the Zero Hour 30th Anniversary special that came out this month, and absolutely nothing else. (Not because I don't wanna learn too much about the future to protect the integrity of the timestream, but just because it looks kinda depressing...)

The issue starts with the Kyle Rayner of 2024, who looks exactly like the '94 model, right down to being drawn by Darryl Banks. I'm gonna take this to mean that no dramatic events have happened in Green Lantern comics during the past 30 years and the status quo is pretty much the same.

The one difference seems to be that Kyle can't access Sector 2814 or Earth, for some reason, so he's stuck Green Lanterning in alien planets. He's in one of those planets when a portal opens in front of him and Wally "Flash" West (or a version of him, anyway) comes out, begging for Kyle's help with some sort of universe-destroying threat.

Wally pulls Kyle into the portal, which leads them to a reality where there's a big statue of Batman in front of Wayne Manor. Apparently, they've landed in Earth "Bruce Wayne Doesn't Give a Shit If Anyone Figures It Out." Wally says something about a "Crisis-level event" coming -- which is confirmed when two members of the Fatal Five (the 31st century supervillain team) show up, kill him, and peace out.

Yep, that's a Crisis alright.

In the next section (drawn by Kelley Jones), Kyle has a run-in with Gotham City's protector: Batgirl, who's kind of a gritty badass in this reality and gives Kyle a beatdown because she thinks he killed Wally. However, no amount of prep time can make Batgirl more powerful than a ring that can create anything you want, so Kyle easily traps her in a green bubble and flies her back to Wayne Manor to figure out what the hell's going on. There, they meet a version of Bruce Wayne who never recovered from that little "Bane" incident in 1993, meaning he's still crippled and depressed. But hey, on the upside, he now owns a cool sci-fi wheelchair and sports an even cooler beard.

Kyle ditches the belligerent Bat-people and heads to Metropolis to look for Superman. And sure enough, he finds Superman... 's grave, because, in this world, he never came back after Doomsday killed him. You might notice a pattern emerging here. (This section is drawn by Tom Grummett, who has some experience drawing dead Supes.)

Instead, Kyle meets Supergirl, who's wearing a very "Reign of the Supermen" black costume and immediately starts punching him. We learn that Batgirl called every hero she knows and told them that this green weirdo killed Flash and is probably to blame for the fact that reality seems to be collapsing around them. Supergirl is joined by Azrael, The Ray, and Wonder Woman -- a.k.a. Donna Troy, who, we're told, is someone Kyle once dated (uh, spoilers for post-1994 GL comics!). Donna has no idea who Kyle is, but at least her Lasso of Truth establishes that he's not some Flash-killing reality destroyer.

Obsidian, son of the Golden Age Green Lantern, joins the party. He tells everyone that he (somehow) used his shadow powers to peek across time and found out that other eras have been erased, from Viking times to the Middle Ages to the 1940s. This provides a convenient excuse for this section's artist, the legendary Jerry Ordway, to draw the Justice Society of America for the 1940th time.

The far-future has also been destroyed completely, except for exactly five baddies who escaped in a time bubble (the previously seen Fatal Five). At this point, Kyle should have said "Hey, that's just like in Zero Hour!" but he still doesn't understand what's going on. Thankfully, he gets a little nudge in the form of... oh shit, it's Hal Jordan as Parallax!!! (Please pretend you didn't see him on the cover.)

After seeing Parallax, Kyle finally starts putting things together: looks like this is the "perfect world" Hal wanted to create in Zero Hour, where Coast City was never destroyed... but all the other '90s calamities still happened to the other heroes, because screw those guys. Now this universe is decaying, but Hal thinks he can keep it going if Kyle hands over his GL ring. Kyle doesn't wanna, so it's Lantern vs. Lantern time (as drawn by Paul Pelletier, who'd be great on a storyline featuring GLs fighting GLs, hypothetically speaking).

Hal sics his new lackeys, the Fatal Five, on Kyle. More '90s heroes show up to help: Connor "Green Arrow" Hawke, Jack "Starman" Knight (who I really hope is being used with James Robinson's blessing; presumably Tony Harris is okay with it, since he has a pinup in this issue), and Guy "Guy Gardner" Gardner (in his red armor, which probably hasn't been seen in non-flashback form since the '90s).

Meanwhile, Supergirl reluctantly visits her asshole ex, Lex, to ask him how to stop their universe from decaying (I wish they'd used his long-haired Lex Luthor Jr. look, but I guess that was ruled out because it ended right before Zero Hour). Lex confirms what Parallax is saying: they have to give him Kyle's ring.

So, Supergirl joins Hal's side, while Donna sticks by Kyle and other heroes stand around wondering what to do. Soon enough, Hal manages to get his hands on Kyle's ring, something he claims would be "next to impossible for most." Yeah, Kyle losing his ring to a villain? When has that ever happened?

Now that he has double the power, Hal saves this universe by... screwing Kyle's. As in, he takes all that entropy that's eating this reality and channels it to the regular DCU via the portal that brought Kyle here. The heroes aren't sure how they feel about that, but Kyle argues that their universe is less important than his multiverse because it's smaller. Also, that unimportant universe has a name now: Splinterverse! Not to be confused with the Earth where everyone is a martial artist rat.

(Also also, Howard Porter is the artist now!)

You might wonder where Linear Men, the time police, are during this whole mess. The answer is "trapped in a cube." Turns out Waverider found out about this Splinterverse at some point and traveled here to deal with it, but Hal imprisoned him in said cube. Luckily, Wavey's found by the Legion of Super-Heroes' Invisible Kid, who stowed away in the Fatal Five's time bubble by... being invisible. Before he's freed by Invisible Kid, Waverider delivers some (Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding-drawn!) exposition that reveals the precise moment when the Splinterverse was created: the part at the end of Zero Hour #0 when he slipped the heroes back into the timestream, at which point Hal sneakily dispatched "a splinter aspect of himself" to create a smaller-scale version of his "perfect world."

Waverider helps convince the conflicted heroes that it's worth it to let their little universe die so that trillions more people can live. Even Guy Gardner, who was initially going "screw you, I'm saving myself" and punched Kyle, begrudgingly stands down. With Starman and Obsidian's assistance, Kyle is able to get his ring back from Hal, causing the entropy to flood back into the Splinterverse. Kyle is convinced that there must be some way to save this place, but Waverider is like "nope" and drags him back to the DCU as the Splinterverse is erased. The only thing that remains of it is a nice necklace that Wonder Donna gave Kyle to remember her by.

Kyle is mighty pissed at Waverider for not even trying to save the Splinterverse, but at least they're back home and it's all over... or is it? The special ends with the revelation that something Kyle did in this issue somehow freed some sort of big, yellow space bug. Wonder what that's about. Looking forward to reading the resolution to that cliffhanger in 30 more years!

As a '90s kid, I am physically incapable of disliking this special, which was aimed squarely at me. The 14-year-old Kyle/Donna shipper in me especially appreciates the focus on those two, with Kyle even mentioning that he doesn't really understand why she was suddenly written out of his life (the answer is "because John Byrne").

However, I think there are several missed opportunities here:

The Splinterverse doesn't look a whole lot like the "perfect world" Hal wanted to create in Zero Hour. Coast City is there, but it only appears for a few panels and doesn't really play any role in the story. Everyone else is kinda angry and miserable, or pretty much the same as in the DCU. It would have been interesting to see if the utopia Hal had promised, where no tragedies happen and one needs to grow old or die, would have been sustainable over time.

I really hoped the female Time Trapper from the end of ZH #0 would be addressed, but nope. Dan Jurgens has said that he intended that to be the alternate timeline Batgirl who died in ZH, which I find a really intriguing idea. On that note, the Batgirl in this issue is clearly not the one who died in ZH, not just because, well, she's alive, but also because she acts like a totally different character and makes no reference to anything in ZH.

I was gonna say that I'd hoped the Hal/Parallax in this issue would be the one that was left as a loose end at the end of Convergence, especially since Jurgens was also involved in that series. However, the DC wiki informs me that this version has actually appeared in other comics since then, as recently as 2023, and his further misadventures sound a bit confusing from the write-up there, so I can't really blame Jurgens and Ron Marz for looking at that and saying "You know, let's just make another one."

One thing I did like is that, on top of reuniting Kyle Rayner creators Ron Marz and Darryl Banks, this special also features so many classic '90s Superman artists -- in fact, my friend and @superman86to99 co-runner Don Sparrow had a lot to say about the art in this issue in that blog, so head there for more!

[ftl-faster-than-life]

Trying to articulate the eldritch horror aspect of the Speedsters is really difficult because it's hard to put into words…You're Wally West, you're nineteen years old. You loved your deceased uncle more than almost anyone (except your aunt, but she's dead too.) You're working with a nutritionist to try to understand why your powers have changed since his death (you never needed to worry about starving to death in five minutes before.) She tells you something you don't want to hear: That power you're using came from that dead man. He wasn't human, not since before you met him, in being hit by lightning he became it. He was an energy source with a smiling face.

He was some kind of monster.

Because then he met you and you got hit by lightning, too, the accident was identical except it wasn't an accident, not really. He remade you in his image--not just with the silly tailored down costume you were happy to wear, proud to be like your hero. He connected you to him, fed you power. Made you into his companion because he was lonely in his inhumanity. Made you not-quite-human, too. You remember how much the idea that he wasn't entirely human haunted him and how he clung to the things that made him ordinary. Denial.

And now he's dead, and your powers are on the fritz, and you have two kinds of dreams: The ones where he rejects you and takes his powers back and you're left with nothing. And the other ones which are stranger (you don't have to unpack those first ones, really, the meaning is obvious.) You dream that you're talking to a dead man. He still cares about you, still wants to look after you, asks you about your week like he used to and tells you you're doing a good job, he's so proud of you. It's harder to believe these ones.

You keep looking for a way to fix your powers, you need to be faster but you can never quite push past a certain point. A man from the past tells you it's all in your head, you're afraid of being faster than a dead man, you don't want to replace him. You're damned if you're going to let anyone else do it, though. You push past that limit which you grudgingly acknowledge really was self-imposed. You nearly die anyway…but you're saved, last second, by a bolt of lightning.

You say thank you, because you know that was him.

You spend years getting faster, more powerful. You have a spiritual connection to the power that's unrivaled by anyone, past or present or future. You're the Fastest Man who Ever Lived. Sometimes you still see signs of intervention in your life, in other speedster's lives. He shows up for your cousin, then disappears again.

Then one day….he comes back. Not as a time traveler, not as a brief manifestation. He's alive and breathing and at first you feel pure relief… then you feel nervous.

What does it mean for you if he's alive?

The other shoe drops soon enough, you don't even get to the Welcome Home parties before the reveal: He was dragged out of the Speed Force by his worst enemy, who has remade himself in the process. He's not like you anymore, he's like him. They're unique, two of a kind. Connected, it turns out. It takes all of you to beat him this time.

Your uncle's got something on his mind, though--a murder over a decade old, his mother's. It's unnatural, a change to history written by his enemy. He's desperate to make it right. He wants to save her.

They fight. You're not there for this confrontation and afterwards, you aren't anywhere. He draws the entire Speed Force into himself and with it, he takes you. And your cousin, your kids, your mentor…Every other speedster.

You, your friends and family, all spend the next years in a strange state: Not alive, not dead, you never existed and no one remembers you. Then one day someone does--he does. He draws you out, fully formed and as you remember yourself (as he remembers you.) You fall into his arms and he holds you and you know the love you're feeling is real.

No one else remembers you at all at first, which isn't his fault it turns out. You're angry and you have every right to be but lashing out at him doesn't feel right either.

But you know he'll forgive you, so you let your helpless anger and grief break against that forgiveness.

Then someone, an enemy from an era you can't go back to, offers you a way to save your children. To get your life back.

All you have to do is destroy the power that is shared with you. Your uncle begs you to reconsider. He reasons with you. You can't help but see that for what it really is, a selfish plea for continued survival from that force.

You make the choice.

Because ever since you were nineteen, you've known your uncle was some kind of monster.

[superman86to99]

Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #0 (September 1994)

At last, our eternal September comes to a close with the climax of the Zero Hour event, and it's... a whole bunch of nothing. You know, because Hal "Not Green Lantern" Jordan destroyed the universe last issue and all. But then, out of the nothingness, a new universe starts emerging as Hal explains how the destruction of Coast City and his former bosses' refusal to let him recreate it led him to decide that the universe is all wrong and should be restarted from scratch. So that's what's he's doing. Talk about being the change you want to see in the world/universe.

Of course, not all of the heroes present appreciate the fact that Hal just murdered billions of people to create his "better world" -- or "worlds," since he floats the idea of giving the Justice Society their own where they can stay forever young. Hal also promises the alternate reality characters present, like Batgirl and Alpha Centurion, that they can have their own worlds restored instead of having to fade away at the end of the crossover like it usually happens.

What Hal doesn't know is that Waverider managed to pull a select group of heroes out of the timestream right before the old universe was erased, including Superman, Kyle "Yes Green Lantern" Rayner, Damage (who doesn't know why he's there, since he's just a kid who makes stuff explode), and Green Arrow (who doesn't want to be there, since he hates "this cosmic stuff"). The heroes try to stop Hal and end up having to fight not just his lackey Extant but also Alpha Centurion and Batgirl, who only wants to live.

(Glad to see Centurion is sticking by his "100" theme even in this time of great stress.)

Unsurprisingly, the side with the guy powerful enough to destroy an entire universe is winning the fight. Hal's practically a god! But not the God, which means that there's still one DCU character capable of kicking his ass: The Spectre, who also survived the destruction of the universe because he's The Spectre. While the royally pissed-off Speccy keeps Hal occupied, Waverider instructs the heroes to absorb the energy of the nascent universe and then channel it into Damage. Hal figures out what Waverider is planning to do and tries to kill Damage, but Batgirl switches sides again to save the kid, at the cost of her own life....

...which is particularly tragic because it looked like Hal was gonna miss.

Green Arrow, who had bonded with Batgirl even when they were on different sides, shoots an arrow straight into Hal's chest as Kyle holds him down, so I guess that's why Waverider brought those two along. The Spectre says "only one task remains" and pumps even more energy into Damage, who generates the mother of all explosions -- as in, the actual Big Bang. And that's why Waverider brought him along.

Without Hal manipulating events, the universe is recreated as it had been before, more or less. The heroes (plus Extant, but he bails pretty soon) watch from outside the timestream as history unfolds until the nanosecond right before Hal destroyed the universe, at which point Waverider slips all of them back into their present... with some slight differences, like Guy Gardner suddenly sporting some funky body paint instead of his Warrior armor.

Everyone who died from holes in reality and such is alive again, but we're told that others are still dead, like Wally West (spoilers: no he isn't), Hal and Kyle (spoilers: no they aren't), or the JSA's Dr. Mid-Nite and the Atom (spoilers: okay, yes they are... improbably, to this day). The alternate reality characters, like Alpha Centurion, have faded away as customary. On the other hand, amid all that death, Power Girl finally gave birth to a little boy, who I'm sure will grow up to be hugely relevant to the DC Universe and not end up being forgotten within two years!

The crossover ends with Green Arrow shaking his fist at the heavens about what happened to his best friend, the Linear Men exploring the mysteries of this new/old universe, and an intriguing shot of a female Time Trapper... which apparently never paid off. (All I can find is that a female Trapper was teased in the new continuity but never actually appeared, and now The Time Trapper is Doomsday?!)

This re-read hasn't diminished my impression that this series kicks ass. My one big complaint is that they kinda fumbled Extant, a tragic figure reduced to a pretty one-dimensional villain. He's a hero who was driven mad by watching his own future self killing his beloved partner, Dove. It would have been cool if this last issue had revealed that his motivation was bringing Dove back to life and untangling that whole time loop mess, even if it meant killing billions (as opposed to "he wanted a world to rule"). Then again, this is a pretty packed series, so it's possible Dan Jurgens wanted to do something like that and simply didn't have space. Or time.

But we always have time for more commentary from Don Sparrow, so keep on reading!

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

We open with the cover, and it’s important to remember this issue in context.  While blank covers are commonplace nowadays (a great way to get original art from a creator at a convention) they were completely unheard of at the time of publication, so this was a very nervy, risky thing to drop on a newsstand, and really stood out.

Inside the book, we start from the blank slate we already saw in the last few pages of the crossover issues. As the story gets started in earnest, the splash is a tad confusing, as Parallax appears gigantic in that first splash, but then is normal sized only a few panels later.  The image of Hal’s face lit by the creation he’s trying to build, while he scolds Batgirl, completely in control freak mode, is a good one, showing his placid expression.

The only thing scarier than a villain with this level of power is a villain with this level of power who can’t wipe an empty smile off his face—there’s a lot of that in this issue.

Speaking of facial expressions, Guy Gardner runs the gamut here, remaining so consistent since the last issue, showing both anger and shock in remarkably believable ways. When Guy Gardner is the voice or reason, you know something has gone terribly wrong.

Once the battle begins, the image of Parallax attacking Ray, Captain Atom, Superman AND Donna Troy with his back turned is pretty boss.

The emergence of the screaming Spectre on page 13 is a stunner, and I love the fun this art team has with his cape. There’s something fitting about Waverider literally thanking God, since Spectre was established to be the Judeo-Christian God’s angel of wrath at this time.  It’s pretty nuts that Parallax lasts as long as he does against Spectre, even seemingly damaging him on page 16.  But unlike Spectre, the power Hal absorbed from the Central Power Battery when he went nuts is finite, so he’s burning fuel this whole fight.

There are a couple instances in this story where the level of damage from an attack seems unclear to the reader.  The first is when Batgirl sacrifices her life to save Damage (as Max pointed out, it looked like Damage had cleared left of his blast).  As her stomach is blasted, we see—and hear—her Batgirl uniform being torn away, but still see her belly-button, making me think this wound isn’t that dangerous, but it’s apparently lethal.  Ditto a page later when Hal takes Ollie’s arrow to the chest—all we are shown is the very tip puncturing Parallax’s armour, but we aren’t shown how deeply the arrow went in, so it doesn’t seem like that’s what would have killed him, at least the first time I read it.

 The history of the new Earth as the heroes try to come to grips with what just happened is super interesting—I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dinosaur drawn more realistically than the apatosaurus on page 23.

 Lastly, I absolutely adore that pull-out timeline poster, something I would look back on again and again.  I loved the conceit of time not being fixed by dates, but by terms like “ten years ago”, etc. Jurgens and Ordway are excellent enough artists to make all these corny mid-90s designs look cool, even truly awful characters like Manhunter and Fate. 

Reviewing this series has been a fun reappraisal.  I’ll admit, I love the art so much that I was willing to overlook some of the criticisms (the mistreatment of the JSA, Hal as mass murderer) that are actually fairly valid.  But overall, I appreciated it as an effort to clean up Crisis-related continuity, and provide a jumping on point for new readers.

SPEEDING BULLETS:

I was pretty unfamiliar with Green Arrow at this point in my reading, so his jaded, world-weary sarcasm in this issue greatly informed my understanding of the character.  It would be years later when I’d read the original (relatively brief) famous run by Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams of Green Lantern/Green Arrow that I’d understand Hawkman’s reference to Oliver’s “optimistic liberal philosophy”. “Maybe it died with the rest of the universe” is an all-time cool line. [Max: I'm also a fan of Hal's "weren't you the one who always told me to get involved?"]

Less cool: eternal square Superman chiding Captain Atom for being counter-productive for pointing out that they failed in protecting all of reality. It’s in character, it’s a tad on the dorky side.

Alpha-Centurion having zero misgivings about siding with Parallax pretty much explains my lack of affection for this character.  It would be one thing if he’d said “I’m torn, but it seems we have no choice…” but nope, he’s all in—“I stand with him 100 percent”.

Triumph being ineffectual and indecisive on page 11 pretty much sums up this guy’s sad arc. [Max: I wonder if Triumph was there because he was meant to join Batgirl and Alpha Centurion's side, but then someone at the JLA office said "No, this guy's sticking around! He's for real! We'll be doing Triumph stories for decades!"]

Once again, Green Arrow gets a laugh-line with his muttered “Jeez, they’ve forgotten that we’re even here!” as 60 foot tall Spectre and Parallax throw down.

I know I’m commenting too much here, but “Emerald Hypocrite” is an appropriately Biblical sounding epithet from Spectre, that has always stuck in my mind.

I always find it interesting when writers come back to ideas they’ve used before.  I can think of a handful of different times when Ron Marz used the idea of destroying something, or defeating something not by removing its power, but by overloading it with power (perhaps Max, who is doing exhaustive research on the GL comics of this era can cosign on that one).  [Max: Co-signed! See here for evidence.] Two different occasions, Chuck Dixon had “password” as the ironic computer password needed to advance the story.  And here we see a scene playing out with Waverider filtering energy blasts into Damage in a way that recalls the same writer, Dan Jurgens, having the Eradicator absorbing and channeling the energy being shot at him by Cyborg Superman, saving the real Kal-El in the process in Superman #82. [Max: Co-signed on this one too. This moment always reminded me of that Eradicator scene.]

Had Parallax’s blast hit Damage, would it have been that different?  Wouldn’t he have just exploded and started the Big Bang anyway?

I do like that the Spectre, as narrative emissary of God’s will, was involved in that last stage of restarting time—makes me feel like his involvement somehow makes this reset official, feeling like it was intended to happen, and not just the handful of heroes left doing exactly what Hal had wanted, and making their own reality.

I thought of this issue, and the moment Waverider expresses that Extant will ultimately defeat himself as I read JSA #15 in the year 2000, and had to chuckle. Have a nice flight, Hank.

Love the non-answer from Waverider when Superman asks very clearly “Is Hal dead, or not?”  Which part is he saying yes to?

Read the room, Power Girl.  Also, in JLE #50, Power Girl made out with Hal once—no sorrowful reaction at his heel turn and apparent death? (Yes, I know most of Gerard Jones’ ideas were bad, but this was still present day continuity.) [Max: Hal did give her crap for becoming pregnant soon after declining to have sex with him as one of his last official JLE acts, so I can understand PG here.]

Yeah, I have no idea what to make of that female Time Trapper, either.  Just based on the wavy hair, and lack of other female time travel characters, I figured it was Liri Lee, but it was apparently Lori Morning in a possible future? [Max: Was that ever made clear? The DC wiki is kinda vague about it. I also THINK I remember an interview with Jurgens saying he intended that woman to be Batgirl, but can't find it right now, and obviously that went nowhere.]

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