AN: a classic YJ/JL(U) fix-it fic, inspired by snow patrol at two am. please forgive the title and listen to the goddamn song.

~all this feels strange and untrue and I won't waste a minute without you~

Sleep is impossible, so he runs away in the middle of the night and barely makes the five am bus from Metropolis to Gotham. Sure, he could run the rest of the way there in no time, but time is all he has these days and he needs to do something to fill the void. Other-Wally told him to keep a low profile until they figured something out about his 'situation', but being cooped up in an apartment for weeks with a pseudo-stranger who shares his name and face can't be healthy. Still, he can't risk using his speed in populated areas. It'd throw these people off to see more than one speedster in action.

He's faster here and it makes his entire situation that much worse. If he'd just been a little faster back at home, none of this would have happened.

It takes three hours to reach Gotham, and he spends the entire ride scrolling through the phone Other-Wally gave him. This world isn't too different from home, structurally. Gotham is, well, Gotham. It shouldn't be hard to find this world's Batman and get some answers. Other-Wally wants to keep him a secret until they can figure out the proper vibration frequency for inter-dimensional travel together- but a little help from the Justice League will speed things up. He's been stuck here for five weeks; Artemis is going to skin him when he gets home.

When he arrives in Gotham, he pretends he's a tourist (again) and gets 'lost' in the East End. The streets are eerily similar to the ones at home, and the path he follows is so familiar he could walk it with his eyes closed. He stops in front of an old apartment complex, one with peeling paint and rusty fire escapes. She's not there, and he knows it, but just being here reminds him of her and why he has to find Batman and get home immediately.

They've been separated for too long already.

Taking a deep breath, Wally turns away from the building and starts walking towards an alleyway. He fiddles with the stolen (is it really stealing when it's from himself?) ring on his finger. It's just like Uncle Barry's. As soon as he disappears into the alleyway, he presses the button, changes, and takes off at a speed he never knew himself capable of. The city slows (in his eyes) and he takes a few seconds to admire the morning crowd's ability to ignore him. Even as his speed-trail zips past them, they pay little attention to the sudden breeze that nearly knocks their hats off.

He stops at Wayne Manor and knocks- at the back door. The paparazzi hiding in the hedges would have a field day if they saw 'Flash' at Bruce Wayne's front door. Alfred answers- a little older, a little shorter- and leads him into the house with few questions. Wally thanks him. It takes two minutes for Bruce to meet him in a small library.

It takes ten seconds for Bruce to unmask him and ask where the real Flash is.

-o-

The Watchtower here is way bigger than the one at home. More crowded, too.

Other-Wally meets them on the teleporter platform and immediately hones in on his counterpart.

"I told you to lie low and now we're in space," Flash sighs. He gestures from Wally to Batman and continues, "Hey, Bats, I see you've met me… I can explain-"

Batman walks past Flash without a word and Wally follows him. Other-Wally catches up to them both and keeps his mouth shut. Batman called a meeting of the Founders to 'deal' with him and, oh boy, is he ready to chew out Other-Wally for keeping such a big secret. They pass a lot of doors with a lot of names Wally recognizes, and a lot of ones he doesn't. Ted Kord tries to say hello, but one look from Batman stops him in his tracks. Wally can't help but glance back and wave at the hero who sacrificed his life back in his world. Hopefully, the same won't happen here. He thinks about the Memorial Garden in the Watchtower back home and wonders if this League has one, too. Before he can ask, a door slides open and he's led into a room filled with heroes. Superman, Green Lantern, Hawkwo- Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter stop murmuring when they see two Flashes.

"Tell me I'm seeing things," Green Lantern -John Stewart, Wally notes- sighs, taking a seat at the large board-room style table in the middle of the room.

"You are. This is Wally West," Batman replies, pushing Wally into a chair, "and Flash is going to explain everything right now."

Other-Wally stumbles over his words as the others take their seats and prepare for a long night. Wally almost feels bad for his counterpart. Flash takes a breath and starts over.

"Look, this is me- but not really. He's from an alternate universe. Like the Justice Lords, but not. He found me after he got here and we've been trying to figure out a way to get him back ever since."

"Wally, why didn't you tell us?" Wonder Woman asks, leaning towards her friend with obvious worry.

"We were testing a few theories," he admits, avoiding her eyes, "and you remember how we travelled between dimensions last time."

She gasps and turns to Wally with striking blue eyes. She looks quite similar to his world's Wonder Woman, but she acts less reserved. She's seen less of man's world, so he gets it- and wonders if this is how Wonder Woman was back in the first era of superheroes.

"That's incredibly dangerous! Johnny Quick died."

"I know, I know, but with two of us, we thought we could channel it into a sort of portal instead of through our own bodies." Flash looks at Wally for assistance.

He stands and faces an unfamiliar League full of familiar faces.

"Uh, hi," he says, glancing at his counterpart for support, "I'm Wally, but you already know that. I'm a little out of the loop around here, but I know what happened to Johnny Quick, and trust me when I say I'd never put me or- me in danger by trying something without being at least ninety percent sure of success."

"Only ninety?" Hawkgirl asks.

Wally shrugs. "That's how sure I was when I gave myself powers."

"Lets slow down," Superman says, putting a hand on the table. "How did you get here in the first place?"

"Well," Wally drawls, scratching his cheek, "There was an alien invasion on my Earth and in the end, my uncle, cousin, and I had to stop the planet from being destroyed by a Magnetic Field Disruptor. We used our combined kinetic energy to get rid of the giant energy vortex, but I was slower than the others and got hit by the beams from the device… One minute, I was there, flickering out of existence- and then I was here."

He takes a seat, uneasy. The story leaves a bad taste in his mouth. It doesn't make much sense, but it's all he knows. It's not much to go off, but it's a start, and if the Justice League can't help him get back, no one can. Wally swallows down his emotions and chances a glance around the room. His counterpart runs behind him and places a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. We'll get you home." Other-Wally turns to his fellow Leaguers. "Right guys?"

-o-

Wally likes this League. There are so many different personalities. He takes his time getting to know a majority of the heroes, never leaving the Watchtower (Batman's orders). It's better the world doesn't start thinking Flash can be in two places at once. On the Watchtower, it becomes a game: Which Flash is the 'real' Flash? And Wally plays along, because how else is he going to distract himself from the fact his family and friends probably think he's dead.

He gets access to the League's computers after the first week. The first name he searches is hers. Neither Artemis nor Tigress gets a hit in the database. He doesn't know what he expected.

During the third week, he has a dream where he's in their apartment in Palo Alto, and she comes home with Brucely in tow, calling his name, searching for him. No matter how many times he tries to move, he can never reach her. It's agony to watch her face crumple into sadness as she realizes he isn't there. That dream replicates itself the next night, and the next, and the next, until he gives up trying to sleep for more than a few hours at a time.

He'd rather work on getting home, and making sure she never felt that way again.

-o-

It takes six weeks for the League to reverse-engineer Luthor's dimensional travel device.

Wally says his goodbyes the night before he's set to leave. Booster Gold and Blue Beetle joke about not letting him get away from his poker debts that easy. Black Canary ruffles his hair and when he tells her more about the woman who trained him as a teen, she gets teary-eyed and sends him on his way with a quick punch to the arm. Fire and Ice give him cookies.

The next morning, the Founders escort him to a lab in the Watchtower where the device has been installed and prepared. He shakes a lot of hands, and receives a lot of hugs, before he takes his place on the platform in the middle of the room. Martian Manhunter stands at the control panel, ready to flip the switch and send him home.

"I, uh," he clears his throat and calls full attention to himself, "I just wanted to say thanks, again, for everything. I won't forget you guys."

"Anytime, Wallman." Other-Wally runs to give him one last, tight hug. "You guys ever need some extra hands, call us. We'll be there in a-"

"Flash. Yeah," Wally laughs, patting a new pocket in his Kid Flash suit. "Will do."

When the other speedster returns to where the others are standing, Wally feels a tingling sensation start spreading through his body. He can't help but grin as his body begins to flicker in and out of sight. Some of the Founders gasp when he starts to disappear completely, but he has only one thing in mind as he closes his eyes.

Home.

-o-

He phases back into existence and the first thing he notices is that it is freezing. Then he hears a voice.

"Wally? Wally, are you there?"

Raising a snow-covered hand, he opens his new pocket and activates his end of the trans-dimensional communicator. The beep cuts off his otherworld-self.

"Yeah- I'm here." He pauses and scans the barren, snowy landscape. "At least, I think I'm here. Gotta run. Thanks guys."

His heart swells as he races across the ice. This is where it happened. He can feel the air still buzzing. How long has it been? For him, it's been three months, but time is relative. That thought worries him as he starts running over open ocean. How much time has passed here, at home, while he was gone?

He swallows back his fear and runs even faster.

Only one way to find out.

-o-

He makes it to Palo Alto in less than two hours, which simultaneously worries and excites him. That's fast. Not as fast as Barry or Bart, but way faster than he was before. He skids to a stop in front of his apartment and runs up to the door at a normal pace. Then he realizes he doesn't have a key and it's three in the morning. He fixes his hair with one hand and rings the doorbell with the other. A light turns on inside. His entire body vibrates in excitement. FinallyFinallyFinallyFinallyFinally-

The door opens, and Wally runs away.

The middle-aged woman in the doorway definitely wasn't Artemis. The furniture wasn't theirs. She moved.

He breaks the sound barrier in the middle of Nevada, and doesn't stop until he reaches Gotham. Paula will know where she is. His heart pounds so loudly he's afraid it'll burst. When he runs past a newspaper stand (good, old-fashioned Gotham), he reads the date on a flying paper and a heavy weight lifts off his shoulders. It's only December 2nd, 2016. Just a few months more than he thought it'd be. Still, six months- He has to find her, and fast.

He knocks at Paula's door, over and over and over again, until the rapid tapping matches the pace of his speeding heart and leaves a dent in the wood. He stops himself when he hears the sound of the lock turning.

"Who the hell is knocking at-" Artemis swings the door open, fist raised, ready to hurt whoever thought it was a good idea to bother them at such an ungodly hour. He's never been happier to see her so angry.

"Hey," he breathes, standing incredibly still for a guy who just ran across the globe.

Artemis's stunned face suddenly twists into the one from his nightmares. Her eyes water as she takes a tentative step towards him, reaching out with a shaky hand as though he'd disappear once she got close enough.

"Wally?" she rasps, holding back a sob. It's then that he realizes she doesn't think he's actually there. She's so convinced that he starts to doubt it, too.

Then he takes a step forward, and knows it's real.

Her strong hands drag him into the apartment, and he uses the last of his sense to shut the door behind him before they collapse into a pile of limbs on the ground.

They cling to each other, brokenly murmuring apologies and names and promises, until the sun rises and there's nothing left to say and everything left to do.

~every minute from this minute now, we can do what we like anywhere~