Chapter Text
Running the Speed Force Test
Disclaimer: This is a purely fan-made piece that is using the world and characters from DC Comics, particularly from various Batman and Flash franchises, and is made entirely for enjoyment. No financial gain has been made in the making of this piece. All other situations and plot developments are mine.
Summary: They run some tests. Things do not go as planned.
Author’s Note: Sequel to ‘And Somehow I’ll Return Again To You’, because Buttersquashing asked for the bits I cut out, and then things grew from there.
Possible out-of-characterness and un-beta’d
Constructive criticism and comments are always welcomed.
Published: 11 February 2022
Rating: T
Wally’s feeling pretty good about his time management abilities because he's only five minutes late to his testing session at the Watchtower (unlike Uncle Barry, who's seventeen minutes late).
"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Uncle Barry blurts out as he bursts into the room and Mr Terrific looks at his fancy-dancy watch in an exaggerated manner. "But I just finished up the last bit of calibration, so we're all ready to go!" He turns towards Wally and smiles. "We're going to try something different today! But we have to go back to Earth, or else we might destabilise the Watchtower again, and then J'ohnn will give us weird dreams about brussels sprouts again."
Wally decides it's best if he doesn't ask questions.
“All righty!” Uncle Barry claps his hands together. “Let’s get this show on the road! Everyone’s waiting for us!”
“’Everyone’?” Mr Terrific says, narrowing his eyes slightly as they go to the transporters. “Exactly how many people did you ask to come to this?”
“Well, you and Atom wanted a baseline, right? So Max and Jay and Bart and Jesse all agreed to come and give us some data points to compare to.” Uncle Barry looks pretty pleased. “So not only will we be able to compare speeds, we’ll be able to compare Speed Force draws, as well.” He’s still talking as they flicker and reappear in a field. “And this way, we’ll be able to track it and see how it responses when different people are using it. It’s a solid plan. Just let me text everyone the location, and we can get going.”
Atom looks up from the screen on the machine he’s fiddling with. “There you are. But I thought you said the others would—”
There’s a few bursts of air, and the space is suddenly filled with milling speedsters.
“Never mind,” Atom sighs. He pulls out a metal box. “We can do two at a time—who’s going to be first?”
“Wally and I will go last,” says Uncle Barry. “Because then we’ll be able to immediately see any differences, and since the base line has already been set, we’ll be able to do an analysis on it right away.”
“MemememememeME!” Bart waves his arm wildly. “I’llgofirst!I’llgofirst!I’llgofirst!”
“Bart, normal speed for talking,” Jay says mildly.
Bart blushes and pulls up his cowl. “Sorry. I’ll go first.” He adjusts his goggles.
“Well, let’s get you hooked up.” Mr Terrific gestures and starts putting some sensor on the boy. It takes longer than it should because Bart gets fidgety after the first two are placed and Mr Terrific constantly has to tell him to hold still and to stop asking if they’re done yet.
“You can get me set up while the kid is running,” Max says to Atom. “Because we’re doing individuals first, and then together for the data, yes?”
“I was going to have you do it in pairs,” Uncle Barry says thoughtfully, “but you bring up a good point about getting data from just one person running at a time. Let’s do that. It won’t take that much time to do.” He turns towards where a frustrated Mr Terrific is finishing up with a nearly-vibrating Impulse. “Impulse, as soon as you’re ready, we’ll have you come over here and do a real simple ten times around the world. Nothing fancy, no vibrating through things or taking detours or anything like that, just straight running.”
“Okay. Are we done yet?” Impulse asks.
Mr Terrific’s face twitches.
Wally—who’s found the snack bin—hands Impulse a bag of Chicken Whizees and that distracts the boy long enough for Mr Terrific to get all the sensors and whatnot placed.
Things go pretty smoothly after that. Impulse runs his ten laps (after giving Wally a big hug) and after Max runs his, they both run ten laps at the same time. The process is repeated with Jay and Jesse, and Wally looks at the incoming data with a little bit of interest. Max’s times are the slowest out of the bunch, and Jay’s times start out faster than Impulse’s, but they dip below Impulse’s after about the seventh lap. Jesse’s times become ridiculously consistent after her sixth lap. Max and Jay seem to have the steadiest use of the Speed Force, while Impulse’s is more like a sputtery faucet and Jesse is between the two.
Mr Terrific fits the Flash up with the sensors after Jesse and Jay finish up their runs, but Wally gets a whole different set of sensors. “They should theoretically keep you from getting sucked in again,” Mr Terrific informs him as he tightens a large sensor on a belt around Wally’s waist. “And if you do get pulled in, they should make it easier for you to get out.”
“But just in case…” Flash says, making a big gesture. He frowns when nothing happens. “Just in case…! Just in case? Darn it, where’s my phone? Ruined my big dramatic moment, why don’t you…” He mutters as he fumbles with his mobile.
Right as he unlocks his phone, there’s a brief movement behind Atom and then Nightwing appears, the light from the transporter flickering over his mask before fading away.
“Aw,” Flash complains. “Ruined it! So much for timing!”
Nightwing grins and waves. “Sorry, didn’t mean to.” His eyes immediately seek out Wally and his smile gets hotter when he spots him.
Flash harumphs, but turns back to Wally. “Anyhow, as I was saying, just in case they don’t work, we have your lightning rod here to help you focus! If you feel like you’re being pulled in, just think about him, and that should help give the sensors enough of a boost to get you out.”
“There, that’s all of them.” Mr Terrific steps back and joins Atom at the computer screens. “Okay, Flash, you can go when you’re ready.”
Flash gives them a two-finger salute and takes his place at the starting gate. A moment later, he’s off.
Nightwing sidles up to Wally. “Hey,” he says lowly. “Ready for this?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I am.” Wally can actually feel the energy curling under his skin in anticipation of running—really running—again. It’s been too long and while he can understand why the wait has been important, it doesn’t change the fact he hasn’t run in any significant way since he’s returned.
“Okay.” Nightwing reaches up and pulls Wally’s mouth down to his for a very sensual, sizzling kiss.
“Break it up, you two. Don’t make me have to separate you.” Jesse’s voice breaks through the haze in Wally’s brain. “It’s time for Wally to give this a go.”
Wally tries to step back, but Nightwing doesn’t let him. “Just in case you need another reminder of why you should come back to me,” he murmurs before giving Wally another kiss, but while the first one was still hovering at the edges of appropriateness, this one is one hundred and ten percent filthy. When Nightwing pulls away a moment later, it takes Wally a few seconds before he can understand words again.
He manages to shake off his daze by the time he reaches the starting gate. He adjusts his goggles and gets into position.
“Just remember,” the Flash says, push his cowl back and trying to smile reassuringly at Wally. “Ten laps, nothing fancy.”
“Okay.”
“Go when you’re ready.” Atom is only marginally better at hiding his nervousness.
“Okay.” Wally takes a deep breath, shifts his weight slightly, and then he’s off.
And it’s amazing. It’s like exploding out of a tight, stifling box. The wind snaps around him and his feet feel like they’re barely touching the earth. The Speed Force rushes through him and he can feel its energy crackling out of his bones and over his skin in exuberant bursts of lightning.
He whoops with joy.
Far too soon, his tenth lap is up and he skids through the starting gate to a stop. It’s hard not to immediately start running again, and just keep going for another hundred or so laps around the world, because he can feel the ‘Force still racing through his blood.
“So,” he says, not even out of breath. “It seemed to have worked. What do the numbers say?”
Everyone stares at him.
Just when Wally is starting to think something has gone horribly wrong, Bart speeds over to him and throws his arms around him. He gives Wally a big squeeze.
“Um…” Atom manages to drag his eyes away and looks at the computer screen. “Yeah, that was ten.”
Mr Terrific also looks at the screen. “Holy…!”
Uncle Barry’s eyes are huge.
Wally can’t take it anymore and he disentangles himself from Bart. He zips over. “What? What’s—” he cuts himself off as he sees the screen. “Oh.”
There’s Max’s numbers and Jesse’s and Jay’s and Bart’s, and there’s Uncle Barry’s, which are faster than the others, and with higher Speed Force numbers.
And then there are Wally’s numbers.
Wally, it seems, has gone from being slower than Uncle Barry and Bart to leaving them in his dust by a long shot. And as for his Speed Force numbers…if Bart’s a sputtery faucet and Uncle Barry’s a high-powered hose, Wally’s the entire flipping Amazon River.
Apparently, his time in the Speed Force changed a few things about him.
“So…what does this mean for me?” He finally asks.
“I…don’t know. We’re probably going to have to run more tests—” Mr Terrific starts to say, but Uncle Barry interrupts him.
“You’re going to have to race Superman at the annual charity race!” He sounds utterly delighted at the prospect. “And then you and I can race and—”
“Barry.”
He winces. “Sorry, got a little carried away there. Sorry!”
Nightwing slides up to Wally and curls his arm around the taller speedster as he tucks himself against Wally. “I’m glad you came back,” he murmurs. “I think a reward should be involved, don’t you?” He leans in and brushes his nose against Wally’s neck.
“Hey, you’re in public,” Bart complains. “And stop hogging Wally!” He comes up to the other side of Wally, and wraps his arms around the redhead, glaring up at Nightwing.
“Wally still has to run again with Barry,” Jesse puts in, before things can go anywhere. “We need to make sure nothing happens to him when there’s more than one person using the ‘Force when he does.” Like it did last time hangs unsaid in the air.
Bart’s arms tighten and Nightwing curls in a little closer. Wally tries to reassure them by ruffling Bart’s hair and pressing a soft kiss to Nightwing’s crown before he carefully extracts himself from their grasps.
Nightwing only lets go after he catches Wally's face and reminds him once more why he shouldn't let the Speed Force pull him back in again (Jesse tells them to knock it off or she's going to dump ice water on the two of them). Wally doesn't know how he does it, but he somehow manages to walk over to the starting gate without tripping or saying 'screw it' and going back over to kiss Nightwing some more.
Uncle Barry has pulled his cowl back up, but Wally gets the feeling he's rolling his eyes at the two of them. "Remember, we're not doing anything fancy. Just around the world ten times."
"I remember."
"Are you sure about that?" Jesse asks, one eyebrow cocking upwards. "Because it looked like Nightwing did a pretty good job at destroying your higher thought processes."
Nightwing smirks. "Trust me, if I had stopped Wally's higher thought processes, the effects would have lasted much longer. I just gave him…some incentive to stay out of the Speed Force.”
Wally feels his face burn and he makes himself turn towards his uncle. “I’m ready when you are,” he says, adjusting his goggles.
Flash’s smile is a little strained. “Yeah, let’s do this!” He drops into a runner’s crouch.
Wally follows suit and there’s a brief moment when everything is still.
Then they both rocket forward and Speed Force surges through Wally. It’s even more freeing this time, and Wally can’t help but laugh with joy.
It’s a little weird, outrunning Uncle Barry, but from the things he shouts at Wally as he blazes by, he’s delighted by this turn of events. Wally wonders if he’ll respond the same way if (when?) Bart surpasses him.
Things are going well until the sixth pass. Wally doesn’t know how to explain it, but something ripples through the ‘Force and it causes him to stumble. He manages to keep his feet under him, but it’s a near thing. He starts to run again, but feels sluggish for a moment before the Speed Force sputters and then rips through him. It doesn’t feel the same as it did before; instead of being crackling and light and powerful, it feels…sticky. Gross. Almost wrong, but…not quite.
Wally pushed and it’s like a dislocated joint snapping back into place—abruptly, everything is normal again.
It’s strange and worrying enough that Wally doesn’t start his seventh lap. He skids to a stop in front of Atom and the computers. “Did you—”
“WALLY!”
Wally staggers as he’s suddenly enveloped by Bart, Jay, and Jesse. Bart’s muttering words so fast Wally doesn’t know what he’s saying, while Jay and Jesse are saying repeated variations of ‘thank god, oh thank god’. Nightwing has managed to push his way through the other speedsters and is showering Wally’s head and face with desperate kisses.
“What—” Wally starts to say, completely taken aback, but then Nightwing catches his face and kisses him. And wow. WOW.
…
…
…What was he saying again?
Dick eases back enough he can speak. “Thank you,” he whispers against Wally’s lips. “Thank you for coming back to me.”
"What?" Wally asked dazedly.
Dick's answer is to lean in again.
Right before his mouth touches Wally's, Jay lets go of Wally and Wally hears him say "what do you mean, you still can't find Barry?"
Wally's head snaps around and Dick's lips make contact with his cheek instead of his mouth. "What? What are you talking about?"
"The 'Force readings went nuts, and then we lost track of both you and Barry," says Jesse, also pulling away and dragging a very resistant Bart with her. "For a moment…" Her voice waivers a tiny bit. "We thought you might have been sucked back in."
"But you're back!" Bart chirps, trying to wriggle out of Jesse's grasp.
"But Uncle Barry isn't?"
Nightwing steps away and Wally is over by Mr Terrific and Atom before he can even register the tiny push his boyfriend gave him. "Where did you lose contact?" Wally demands.
Atom points. "Right here, at these coordinates, but—"
"Wait—"
“Wally—!”
Wally's gone before either of them can finish speaking.
It turns out he doesn’t need the coordinates that Atom showed him because he can pinpoint exactly where the problem is. He just has to run until he finds the deeply uncomfortable wrongness in the Speed Force again.
Uncle Barry is struggling to stay moving. He doesn't stop because it's clear he doesn't know if he'll be able to start up again if he does. Behind him, the Speed Force circles, almost like water in a drain, but not exactly.
As he speeds up towards Uncle Barry, Wally notices the ‘Force swirls a little more slowly, but that was something to think about later, after he got Uncle Barry safely out of there.
“Wally! What—" Uncle Barry started to say, and Wally grabbed his arm. His eyes widen when Wally shoves some Speed Force energy at him, but then the boost kicks in and he’s able to rocket a safe distance away.
His grin, while bright, has a strained edge. “I forgot how good you were at that. Thanks!” He turns serious. “But we still have to deal with that.” He jerks his chin in the direction of the sluggish vortex. “Any suggestions?”
Wally chews on his lower lip. “I thought that might have slowed down a bit when I started using more of the ‘Force. Maybe…I dunno, maybe if we absorb as much of the Speed Force as we can in the area, we can overload it?”
Uncle Barry furrows his brow slightly. "Interesting idea…it doesn't explain how I wasn't able to escape its pull, though. By using our speed, we might just make it bigger and stronger."
"I don't know if it can handle the two of us. It only pulled on you enough to force you to use your speed, but the moment I gave you a boost, it lost its grip. I think it might be like…" Wally searches for the right analogy. "Like sucking all the oxygen out of a room so a fire can't grow. Or overheating a heat sink? Or something. Okay, not the best examples, but you get what I'm aiming for, yeah?"
"I do. You're going to have to take point on this one, though, and you're going to have to send me a steady stream of the Speed Force, because I clearly can't draw enough on my own."
"Okay, yeah." Wally adjusts his goggles. "Ready? Let's do this!"