Disclaimer: I do not own the characters.

"Ha! I found you! You suck at this."

"Twenty! Ready or not, here I come!"

"Dude, how'd you even fit in the medicine cabinet?"

"Really Walls, the Christmas tree? You've really sunk that low?"

"Found you!"
"Yeah, I know Boy Wonder. You always find me."

It didn't happen with some big fanfare. No explosions or extravagant rescues. One second Wally was a blur of light, flashes of color and streaks of pain on a continuous loop through his body, and the next he was standing in a small, sad looking studio apartment. Wally didn't know where he was, the body at the sink unfamiliar and yet recognizable somewhere in the brain that was vibrating in his head faster than his Uncle Barry could run. But then the man turned around, and Wally was able to connect the words friend and safe before he felt a final shutter rattle his body, and he fell without awareness to the brown, stained tile of the floor.

"Bats is going to kill me, you know that right? I'm so dead, and no one will ever find my bod-"
"Walls, man, you've got to stop, all you did was eat his Poptarts, he won't kill you, and if he did I could always find you."

"Aw dude, that was supposed to be a surprise!"
"I've always found you, why would a toy in a cereal box be different?"
"I'll have you know I paid two whole dollars for that kinetic sand, Dick, it's not just any toy…"

"I thought I was a goner man, and no one would ever find me."
"Shhh… I got you. No man left behind, remember? I'd have found you."

There was a hand in his hair. It was comforting, though not gentle, and Wally could sense its tremors with each pass. The air was quiet, but with a gentle hiss of compressed air. A soft beeping timed with the hiss, and under his hand was a material that was scratchy to his fingertips. His hair snagged where it was being touched, and a rough curse was uttered, in a voice that forever scared nightmares away. The peaceful atmosphere was suddenly replaced with terror, Wally's mind skirting to a dream, and the dreams within the dreams that tormented him Before, while he was running. The constant tease of being safe and home replaced by recognition of the bizarre nothing he was in, pain his only companion.

"Is it entirely necessary? He hates needles…" The prick of a needle brought instant tears to his eyes. This pain was different than in the white. Sharp and biting, but it felt like it was supposed to feel. It didn't hurt less than it was supposed to as his body destabilized in the white, didn't hurt more as physics messed with his density. It felt like those hundred shots before, the painkillers, nausea, the tests, and the IV's that come hand in hand, wrapped in a bow when one became a superhero. He felt the ugly sob jerk out of his body, uncontrollable now that hope was alive.

"Wally? Wally!" "What's happening? What's going on with my kid? Wally!" He blinked his eyes open to a face, mentor, uncle, father, all mixed in his brain with lights and colors and sounds and worry and red so, so much red.

"Uncle Barry?"

"You boys should have been more careful, what if you had gotten lost?"
"I would have found him, and then KF wouldn't be lost anymore."
"Dude!"

"Rob, you've got no idea where we're going, do you?"
"Oh ye of little faith, I found you didn't I?"
"And as grateful as I am for your company, it would probably be more helpful if you found the way out of this Martian sewer."

"Boo!"
"Dammit, Rob! I swear, with you ninja sneaking around all the time, I'm going to have a heart attack by the time I'm eighteen."
"You're twenty."
"Your point?"
"I swear-"
"How'd you find me anyway?"
"Dude, I always find you."

Okay, fine, so Wally shouldn't judge, but honestly, this apartment sucked. Those brown stains were definitely blood, the microwave kept sporadically beeping, and that sofa definitely only had three legs. Why would Dick even live here?

"Yeah, I'll give it to ya, it's not the nicest digs, but easier to take out crime if you stay in the shadiest neighborhood." Wally took him in. The hair was definitely longer, the frame was broader, and the face had finally grown into the ears. He looked older, even older than the night of Artemis's exaggerated death. He looked good though, which was the important thing.

"You know, it's the funniest thing. I wake up in a hospital surrounded by my closest friends all vying for my attention. Connor hugged me dude, and Kaldur was crying, actually crying. And yet, one friend who I know for a fact knows about my return from playing dead is suspiciously absent. Go figure." Dick is silent, but his brow is drawn, and he's biting his lip. He's considering his words then, which is commendable, but really not necessary and is mostly just making him impatient.

"And it's not like I'm even mad, but I just can't figure it, right? So I start thinking - yes I know, a dangerous habit, ha ha, smell smoke, ha ha - and I conclude that maybe there's a reason my best friend doesn't want to see me, and I'm like 'nah that's not it, who doesn't want to see the Wall-man?' So then, I think that maybe my friend doesn't want me to see him? Since this dude is well known for his internalizing and guilt melodrama, I'm like, maybe my friend hasn't been doing so hot? Yet when I ask around, I learn that he's actually alright, still off the team - which is a real dick move, Dick - and instead is adopting teenagers and pulling covert missions that have a tendency to blow up. But at this point I'm done speculating, so I pull my IV and dash out before anyone can stop me, and I realize I'm pretty hungry so I run back to the room and take Barry's wallet and run to grab Thai food, and-" Wally finally pauses to take a deep breath, while Dick just blinks at him bewilderingly. Wally holds up the bag with takeout food. "Well, here I am, let's eat."

Dick stares at him for another moment, his mouth forming a small "o" shape as he desperately grasped at words. Wally waited patiently for a smart remark or a comment about "kid stomach." Dick, as always, derailed his plans and decided to burst into tears. Now it was Wally's turn to gape for a second, before placing the takeout on the counter, grabbing Dick, sinking onto the three legged couch that dipped precariously when he leaned in and pulling him into a bone crushing hug.

"I-I-I couldn't find you and I thought you were gone- I said I'd find you and I-I couldn't- and- you were dead- but you're- you were- and-" Wally just shushed him, tucking him closer as he started to tremble. Dick's hands were grasping at his shirt, trying to worm his way as close as he could to the redhead. "I'm sorry - sorry- I tried- couldn't- sorry- Walls- sorry- I couldn't- I couldn't-" Wally rested his head on Dick's, as the other boy slowly settled.

"Shhh, shhh. It's alright Boy Wonder. It was my turn to find you."

"Found you!"
"Huh? Who are you supposed to be?"
"Kid Flash, duh. You're a lot smaller than I thought you'd be. And you smell."
"I've been sitting, kidnapped, in a sewer, what'd you expect? And what are you doing here?"
"You've been missing and Batman called in Unc- Flash and like Batman is really scary did you know that and he was all growly and 'find my partner' and I think he was frustrated because-"
"You talk a lot. Not very sneaky, are you?"
"Excuse you, I'm awesome at sneaking. I'm the Hide n' Seek champion at school! No one ever finds me."
"I'd find you."
"No way man, I'm telling you, I'm awesome."
"Fine. Your house, Saturday, three o'clock."
"Fine. See you then."
"Hey, Kid Flash?"
"Yes?"
"You should probably untie me before you leave."
"Oh, right."

Yeah, it's been five years. Honestly, I started this story with no real plan, and no real ambition. I just wanted to be cool. Ended up, I didn't have the attention span to complete this (plus I kind of hated my writing…), so yeah the story was pretty much abandoned until now. But I finished it, finally, so that's some guilt off my mind.

My sincerest apologies ya'll, honest. I really am truly sorry. Hope you enjoyed the finale!

Comment, if you want (please not about how I suck for taking so long, because trust me, I got that part down :D), but I'd love to hear from you. Ya'll are awesome.