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It was a beautiful day outside and he was down in the subway station, a hysterical little girl wrapped around his chest.
“I know,” he said, patting her on the back. “I know, I’m gonna go get your mommy.”
He’d picked her up and she’d taken the opportunity to grab onto him koala-style with all four limbs. She sobbed harder and wailed something incoherent.
“Just let me put ya down, okay?” he said. “And I’ll go get her. I’ll be so quick, you won’t even see me go.” He couldn’t take her back outside.
A hand tapped his leg. At his feet, an even smaller girl said, “Horsie.”
“Bad horsie,” Wally told her. He turned back to her big sister. “You gotta stay with the nice lady for just a minute. Okay?”
The nice lady – a police officer – held out her arms. The comm line crackled in his ear. “Flash, where are you?”
“Got my hands full,” he said. “Two minutes.”
“Horsie,” said the younger girl more insistently.
“Sh,” said Wally, not sure which of them he was addressing. “Shh, shh.”
Between the pair of them, they managed to level the little girl off his chest and into the police officer’s arms. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was at the top of the stairs. There he paused, looking out over the street.
He hadn’t slowed down. Dust was falling like snow. The remains of a fire escape, broken away from the wall, toppled inch by inch towards the street. Rows of cars stood empty and motionless. In the distance, a line of fleeing people, frozen in place.
It was one of those moments that made him remember, abruptly, a different day. Waking up in a hospital bed to a silent world. Knowing something wasn’t right. He’d unhooked himself from his IV and got up. He remembered being surprised to find himself uninjured. A sound had thrummed through the room, low and slow. He’d place it later as a single tick of a clock.
He’d stepped out into the hall to find it full of statues. Walking between the frozen people, staring at them, low rumbling sounds on the edge of his hearing; becoming aware that they were moving, just impossibly, painfully slow. He’d stood in that hallway for fractions of seconds that felt like hours.
Looking out over the frozen street he heard a scream, drawn out and warped. He could see the woman’s car, the door back doors standing open, the dog-shaped bumper sticker. In the sky, grey-white, the winged horse was wheeling, the beating of its wings just visible.
He breathed deep, and ran. Dodging beneath the cars, ducking beneath the fire escape, rolling over the hood of her car to her side.
Sounds punched him in the ears. The tail end of her scream. Engines and sirens and yells and the distant booms of Cyborg firing his weapon. The fire escape crashed to the ground. He skidded to a halt by her car. “The kids are safe,” he said, scanning the interior of the car. In the back two car seats sat empty. “Are you okay?”
The woman was struggling with her seat belt. She was crying. “I’m stuck.”
He tried the door. It wouldn’t open. It wasn’t locked – something was jamming it. He could get it open but it would take some concentration and he didn’t want to risk hurting her if he misjudged the vibration.
She screamed. Above them the horse was going into a dive, and a split second went by as he tried to decide what to do. And then –
From the clear sky came a blast of lightning; and the winged horse was obliterated.
Wally watched, mouth agape, blinking away spots, as its shattered fragments rained down. The sky was a brilliant blue. In the aftermath of the explosion the sounds of the battle raging were very far away. He couldn’t process what had happened.
“Flash?” said Cyborg’s voice in his ear. The explosion must’ve been loud enough to carry across the comm line. “What was that?”
“Oh, god,” the woman was sobbing. “Oh, god.”
The air rushed. A figure in red flew into view, stark against that perfect sky. A white and gold cape flapped. “Good morning!” said the newcomer, throwing up a chipper salute. “You look like you could use a little help.”
At a loss for what else to do, Wally returned the salute.
Shazam descended from the sky, touching down heavily beside him. “I got this.”
Wally stepped aside. Shazam looked over the car and then with a single tug forced the door open. The woman half-rolled out and collapsed into his arms. “Thank you – thank you,” she said into his chest.
“I’ve got you,” he said, holding her. “Are you alright, ma’am?”
“My kids,” she choked out.
Shazam shot Wally a troubled look. “They’re in the subway station,” he said.
She booked it down the street. She wasn’t hurt and it wasn’t far, so he let her go and turned to look up at the new guy. “Thanks,” he managed.”
“Any time.” The new guy offered his hand. “I’m Shazam.”
“Yeah, uh.” Wally returned the handshake tentatively. “I know who you are, man.”
Up close, he was violently aware that the videos hadn’t done the guy justice. He had an uncannily perfect quality. Not a hair out of place or a mark on his costume. Sparks crackle dup and down his arms, lingering after that lightning strike. The emblem on his chest had a soft glow, energy pulsing within it. He’d been able to feel the raw strength behind that handshake.
He thought, shit.
“Flash, right?” said Shazam.
“Yeah,” he said.
“Can I help any more?”
“Uh.” He stared up at the guy’s features, as chiseled as a Roman statue. “Probably.” He was stupidly starstruck. This was dumb. He was a grown up and he’d met Superman. But Shazam was really tall and could probably blast him to bits. More than that, he was – weird. A kind of heat came off him, close up. An energy.
Nearby, there was screaming. Shazam glanced sharply in the direction of the sound – and then he took off up into the air. A streak of red, and he was gone.
Oh, man, thought Wally. Oh, shit. Shit. I think magic might be real.
There was movement overhead. He recognised Cyborg and relaxed. Cyborg touched down nearby and came to join him. “Everything okay?” he said. “Are you okay?”
“Uh-huh,” said Wally faintly, staring in the direction Shazam had gone.
“What was that?” said Cyborg.
Wally took a deep breath, and turning to face him said, “That guy stole my damn look.”
Cyborg looked at him, breathless, and said, “What?”