Don't own Young Justice.

The Way to a Speedster's Heart is not through his Stomach

...but through his muscles.

Wally was acting odder than usual. He kept stretching whenever he got up and looked uncomfortable every time he was still long enough for someone to notice. He holed himself in his room and the garage when they didn't have a mission, and when they did he didn't make as many quips or witty remarks during them.

The others tried to help him, but Artemis was useless at finding out what was wrong with the young speedster, outside of eating some of her cookies M'gann was not receiving her usual compliments from the boy, Connor didn't know how to talk about it, and Kaldur couldn't seem to get him to open up. Even Robin was unsuccessful in cheering up the disconsolate ginger.

The only person that seemed to put Wally in a better mood was the Flash himself. They don't know what he said, or did, but they finally caught Wally leaving that day in his civvies with a large smile on his face and what looked like a large silver board tucked under his arm. Once they were certain that the ginger speedster was out of earshot did Artemis sum up their thoughts aloud, "What. The. Hell?"

Robin nodded in agreement, his normally cheerful self somewhat subdued by his partner in crime's recent behavior. He turned to Flash, who had sped into the room eating a bowl of popcorn. "Yeah; what's wrong with Wally?"

Flash tensed and blinked at them for a moment, clueless, before relaxing again. "Oh, Kid? Nothing's wrong per se. His muscles are just really acting up right now."

Superboy blinked, looking confused for the rest of the team. "His muscles?"

The older speedster nodded, returning to his meal. "Yep; we Flashes rely so heavily on all of our muscles that, if we go for long periods of time without any way to relax them, they'll stay stiff and contracted. It hurts like bit-…beached whale."

M'gann frowned for a moment from her place next to Superboy. "I always thought it was his stomach that Wally needed to tend to most, not his muscles."

Flash snorted a little at that, but nodded nonetheless. "We make it appear that we rely on our stomachs more than anything else, but to be honest, when it comes down to it we'll eat just about anything. A person feeding us means nothing to speedsters who can't even remember how much we eat in a single day. But our muscles…" Here Barry whistled a little in appreciation. "Anything that can relieve sore muscles is always highly valued."

The Team sat there silently for a little bit, trying to get their minds around what might seem like a simple subject, but just wouldn't fit with the image of Wally they had in their heads. "So where is Wally right now?" Robin asked, getting over what the Scarlet Speedster said the most easily. For the Boy Wonder, this explained a lot of things, like why Wally doted on him for a week when he'd walked on the young speedster's back after a hard day of patrolling together.

"He should be sand boarding in the Sahara Desert, then he'll soak in some hot springs in Iceland, most likely," The Flash mused thoughtfully, ignoring once again the curious looks passed between the Team at the locations.

"Sand boarding?"

"Why the Sahara and Iceland?"

"Wally went to the Sahara and Iceland because the hot sands in the Sahara will help relax his muscles and the hot springs in Iceland are said to have a curative effect on those who bathe in them. As for what the sand boarding…well, Wally made a board that runs on a solar and thermal battery; the more sun and heat in a place, the better the board works." Flash then got up and blurred to the computer, typing some commands into it and watching as the screen zoomed onto some part of Africa. "See for yourself."

The Team obediently crowded around the computer and looked at it to see a yellow and silver figure appear atop the sandy hills of the desert the camera was focused on. Before them on the screen was Wally, wearing a yellow shirt with red sketches that formed wind patterns on his chest. The board he was riding on was the same silver one they saw him leave with, the only grip they could see on it being something that looked like a tether that ran from the front of the board to Wally's right hand.

They watched as the young speedster laughed joyfully at the freedom he felt being out and unbound to any duties he might have to do. After only a few minutes of simply making the board hover over large stretches of land and performing impressive displays of control with the prototype, he brought the board to a stop and simply fell with a large sigh onto the sand.

The Team tensed a little, somewhat worried about their comrade, but the speedster unknowingly calmed their fears by yawning and curling up deeper into the sand, the warmth obviously making him incredibly drowsy.

The teens and adult watched for a little while longer before turning the computer off once more and going back to what they were doing originally. About an hour passed before Kid Flash returned, his demeanor bright and happy once more. They all gave him a smile as he stretched casually and with much more ease than earlier, and Robin came up to him wrapping an arm around him and begging the redhead to see his sand board for himself.

Wally just laughed at his friend's antics, playfully complaining about omniscient Bats and not being able to do anything without the little bird noticing.

It's a rather pointless piece, but I wanted to write something like it. I can just imagine that super-powered runners would adore anything that can get them to relax.

Please review.

Ja ne!