Someone is behind me. Actually, someone has been following me for the past three days. I've been trying to catch him or her without much success. I have even been trying to bait this person into coming closer by walking around the shadiest parts of town at the most inconvenient hours hoping I will tempt him enough to make a move. But the stranger doesn't. He or she stills watches me from afar, he stays close enough for me to notice his presence but far enough that I can't find him. It has been incredibly frustrating. I can feel him watching while I am at work, I could feel his eyes during my lunch with Tim yesterday and every day I can sense his presence while I walk around my apartment. However, nothing Batman thought me has helped me catch him or even see him. I have not told Bruce, Tim nor Barbara. It's not because I am ashamed of not being able to get him after three days (even though I am). It is because I am afraid of the possibility that maybe I haven't been able to catch him because there is no one to catch. At this point, the only options are that either I am losing my touch or I have finally become paranoid enough that I am creating imaginary enemies. I know my detective skills are as great as ever therefore, the question is: is this really all in my head?

I am thinking about this as I walk through Bludhaven's darkest alleys. With my hands deep in my pockets and my hood up, I blend in among beggars, criminals and prostitutes. Some of them try to stop me but my tamest bat glare is enough to send them away. Behind me, the stranger follows. Right now, he stalks me from somewhere behind me on my left. I turn around discreetly trying to catch sight of him. I don't even catch his shadow, I only see a plastic bag and a couple of newspaper pages floating around as the wind blows it away. I sight and continue my way towards my apartment ready to give up for the night. What did this guy want? He didn't seem interested in kidnapping me in order to get a ransom from Bruce and he obviously wasn't sent to kill me. Also he had very good training if he has been able to hide for this long. After three days of stalking, I am ready to admit that if this wasn't all in my head then maybe he wasn't looking for Richard Grayson, rather the persona I used to become, Nightwing. The paranoia and crazy theory comforted me more.

Had an old enemy learned my retired secret identity? Were Bruce, Tim, Alfred and Barbara in danger? The though scares me enough that I decide it is time to call for back up even with my sanity in the line. I continue walking towards my apartment, it is time to call Bruce. Obviously, nothing ever goes as plan. Especially if you are me.

I fasten my walk as I feel a new presence following behind me. This one is bigger, noisier and it obviously belongs to a very drunk man.

"Hey, pretty boy!" The voice calls. With a resigned sight I turn around to face a big, fat and heavily tattooed man. He comes closer, I don't back away.

"You shouldn't be wondering around this place at night, especially with that perky ass of yours." He grumbles in a tone that suggests worry. However, his leering eyes wondering all over my body, lingering in my namesake, suggests otherwise.

"Is that so?" I reply containing my disgust and sending him my best bat glare. He is too drunk and horny to notice. He takes a step closer, forcing me to back against the wall.

"I could walk you home or better yet you could come home with me." His attempt to be charming almost makes me laugh, instead I decide that this has been going on long enough. Just as I am about to ram my knee to his crutch, I feel it. My stalker is back. The pervert is now almost resting his forehead against mine but I pay it no mind. Because I have finally catched a glimpse of my stalker. I only see his shadow for a millisecond before it disappears but I see it and I also see that he is the closest he has been in three days. Why would he risk exposure? Why is he coming closer now? A new and very stupid theory comes to me. Is the stranger worried? Is he coming closer in order to protect me? My mind formulates a new plan in seconds and I retreat the leg I was going to ram into the pervert's crutch.

"What are you doing?" I stammer acting as scared as a normal civilian would be.

"Don't worry pretty boy, I will take care of you." The big guy says groping my ass. I resist the urge to punch him. 'Come on stalker, help me. Come closer. Let me look at you.' I think trying to block the smell of alcohol and smoke the man that is currently licking my neck has. I feign to resist and fake tears pour down my face. The man starts biting my neck and pushing his crutch against mine.

I gasp in shock, this is going too far. Obviously, the stalker is not some kind of guardian angel. Again, I am about to free myself when the stalker approaches once more. This time he doesn't hide or hesitates, he grabs the old guy and throws him towards the other wall effortlessly. While the stalker approaches the pervert to knock him out, I approach him. I flip him over my shoulder and he hits the ground with a groan. I straddle him from behind and shackle his hands with the shackles I have been carrying for the past three days. I turn around to face the fat guy but he has ran away. Deciding I will look for him during my next police shift, I face my stalker again.

With apprehension and a little excitement, I turn him around and pull his hood down. What I see scares me more than the possibility of being raped had. Because looking at me are a pair of the greenest eyes I have ever seen attached to a redhead I have missed so dearly. I was looking into the eyes of my best friend. I was looking into the eyes of a dead man. Lying beneath me with a sheepish smile on his face was Wally West.

I gape at him for what seems to me to be hours. Like an addict, I search every one of his features: His sheepish smile, his messy red curls, his numerous freckles, the laugh lines around his eyes and mouth and of course his brilliant green eyes. I was frozen, my mind plagued with memories in which we had found ourselves in this exact same position while training in the cave, battling for the TV remote or simply having a tickle fight. By now, the smile has left his face and has been replaced with an unsure and worried look.

"Are you ok? Did that bastard did anything to you?" He asked bringing me out of my stupor. Suddenly, I could think rationally again and realize that I was straddling a dead man. I had him in a headlock in seconds.

"Who are you?" I growled.

"I can't answer that if I am dead Dick." He gasped out; I loosened my grip enough to let him breath.

"Answer the question" I demand when he only stares at me and while resisting the urge to strengthen my hold around his neck once more.

"Well, I would think that was obvious. Nobody is as good looking at me." The sarcastic little shit dared to say. And it was such a Wally thing to say too that I almost believed him. I almost believed that he wasn't an impostor and somehow I was truly choking Wally West. However, I knew better.

I forcefully grabbed him by his shirt and pushed him against the wall I had been pushed against mere minutes ago. He seemed a little startled but not all surprise.

"Seriously Dick, you are going to bruise my back if you keep manhandling me." He joked once again making me angrier. Who did he think he was? How dare he impersonate Wally?

"If you don't give me a real answer in the next five seconds I swear to God I will…"

"You'll what? Set the Batman on me. I thought you preferred to fight your own battles Wing. Have you gone soft while I've been gone? I've notice you have not patrolled for the last three days." He was smirking. I was on the edge of killing him and he was giving me that stupid smirk that Wally used to give whenever I got in trouble with the Bat.

"Why have you been following me?" I asked then since it seemed obvious he was not going to reveal his true identity, at least not yet.

"I have been trying to approach you for days now, but I had to make sure nobody was following you first. Then you decided it would be a good idea to roam dark alleys. Obviously, you wanted me to approach you but I couldn't do that while we were among the scum of this city."

"Then why did you approach me now?"

"You are kidding me right? That dude was about to rape you and I can't believe you are crazy enough to put yourself through that just to get little old me to stop hiding." For the first time since he attacked the man in the alley, the impostor seemed pissed. His nose was flaring and his eyes were sparkling just the way Wally's did in our last fight. It made me feel self-conscious, sad and defensive.

"I wasn't going to let him rape me! I was just about to get him off me when you did it."

"You should not have let it come to that in the first place." He growled.

"What is it to you anyway? How do you know who I am? Why did you want to contact me?" I replied trying to remember that I wasn't talking to Wally but to a stranger that had taken his shape, mannerisms and voice. An impostor that has been following me and who obviously knows more about me than I care to admit.

"I will tell you everything you want to know, but we have to go to a safe place. We have been exposed enough as it is." He whispered suddenly looking paranoid. His gaze shifted around our surroundings. Probably searching for the people he said could be following me.

"Are you suggesting that I should follow you to a secret place in order for you to talk to me? How stupid do you think I am?"

"We could go to your place then." He suggests and I laugh at the ridiculous proposal. "Sure, let me take the man who has been stalking and is now impersonating a dead man to my apartment." I replied sarcastically.

"Aghhh, paranoid bats and birds. I am not impersonating ANYONE! I am Wally. I have been to your apartment millions of times. Besides, even if I wasn't Wally, I have been following you for the past three days Dick. I already know where you live."

"Fine, we'll go to my apartment but if you try anything I…"

"Yeah, yeah. You'll set the bat on me."

"The Bat? No, no, no. I'll set Agent A on you."

"Ah come on dude, you can't set Alfie on me. That's a violation of the bro code" I was once again shocked. I was sure he was going to fail this test. How the hell did he knew Alfred?

"So… did I passed the test? Can we go now?" Wally look alike asked nervously but with that stupid smirk on his face. With a resigned sight, I released him from my hold. He massaged his throat and then brought his shackled hands into my line of sight. His puppy dog look was almost enough for me to release him but Batman's voice in my ears won the battle.

"Your hands stay shackled." I reply; he pouts even more.

"Why?" He whines. "How am I supposed to carry you back to your place if my hands are bounded?"

"Why the hell would I let you carry me?" I asked him affronted and pushing him towards my building.

"So we can get there faster and without risking anybody seeing us, duh."

"Shut up, we are walking." He groaned and whined the entire walk but I ignored it. My mind was restless. He seemed to know a lot about me and my family. He looked, acted and talked like Wally. Also, while walking, I could see the way his feet blurred at times before he remembered to slow down in order for me to catch up. Meaning he was a speedster. So, why the hell hasn't he run away then? Was this a trap? Why did he want to come with me to my apartment? Who was he?

We arrived at my apartment in minutes, even though he complained about it taking hours. He let me open the door without giving my back to him and upon entering, sped over to my couch where he proceeded to make himself at home. It was such a Wally thing to do.

"Do you have any food? I am starving!" He asked once I made my way over to a seat in front of him.

"We are somewhere private, now talk." I replied ignoring his quip about food and earning a pout in response. We had a mini staring contest, which I won when he surrendered with an exasperated sight and instead questioned "Where do you want me to start?"

"Who are you, how do you know me and what do you want?" I asked once again earning an eye roll.

"Broken record much" At my answering glare, he continued. "My name is Wallace Rudolph West as I told you already. I was adopted by my Aunt Iris after she and my Uncle Barry discovered my parents were beating the crap out of me. I became Kid Flash, The Flash's partner and soon met other kid heroes: Speedy, Aqualad and of course Robin. Robin aka Dick Grayson aka you became my best friend. He is supposed to be a very good detective therefore I trust that he will get his head out of his ass and realize that I am me." I glared at him trying to hide my shock and doubts. Was it really possible? The Wally look alike took my glare as a sign to continue his story. "On June 20, 2016, Uncle B, Bart and I went to the Artic in an effort to stop the last of the Reach's bomb. However, my slower speed made me vulnerable and I disappeared."

"You didn't disappeared, you died." I interrupted with a growl not noticing that I had referred to him as if he was Wally.

"No Dick, I didn't. Tell me, what happened that day, how did Kid Flash died?" He asked me with a meaningful look as if the answer to his apparent survival was obvious. "Come on, humor me." He insisted when I only offered silence.

"Flash, Impulse and Kid Flash ran around the MFD at the Artic creating a vortex of kinetic energy that would in theory halt the "chrysalis" mode. However, Kid Flash's slower speed led to the energy taken off to strike him. This caused Kid Flash to become translucent and intangible with each hit until he disappeared." I reported in a monotone voice as if I was giving a report to Batman. However, in the inside I was breaking. Talking about Wally's death with a person who looked and acted so much like him was killing me.

"Exactly! I disappeared!" Wally look alike exclaimed excitedly, jumping of the couch and pointing at me with his still bound hands.

"Care to elaborate how this information helps your case."

"Come on Dick, you cannot tell me you have not thought about it before, you are a nerd, a mathlete for God's sake." He exclaimed exasperated. His body was trembling in excitement.

"What are you talking about?" I asked confused.

"Ughhh, Dick! What does the Law of Conservation of Mass states? Mass can neither be created nor destroyed, but…"

"It may be rearranged in space" I finished for him. Hope fluttered in my stomach. Was it possible? Was it possible that the person standing in front of me was really Wally? Was it possible that the doofus currently fist bumping the air was my old best friend?

"Say that I believe you" I started earning a groan and a 'paranoid bats and birds' that I decided to ignore. "Where have you been? Why come here? Why did you chose to contact me first out of all people and why have you been following me for three days instead of knocking on my door the first day?" His mood took a 180 degree turn at my questions.

"Because I did not came alone."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that someone followed me here and that someone is looking for me."

"Who followed you Wally? Why is he looking for you?" I asked fearfully. Wally looked up at me and before he answered I knew why he is being followed. The look in his eyes told me everything I needed to know. However, Wally still confirmed my fears with his next words.

"He calls himself Zoom and he wants me dead." The reality of the words hit me full force. It seemed that Wally West's life would be cut short after all.