DC: The Brave and the Bawdy

Titans: New Recruits

Wally finished the next video game in the Titans' catalog. Then the next one. Then the next one. This continued for several hours straight before Wally reverted to groaning into a pillow in frustration. He was the only one in the tower, lying alone on the couch in the main room on the top floor.

Since developing a connection to the Speed Force, Wally had found it difficult to spend a great deal of time without people to interact with. With no one to talk to, his perception of reality instinctively sped up and made everything seem to move in slow motion. He could distract himself with video games and movies, but without another human being to focus on he had a hard time keeping his attention on any one thing. Time seemed to drag on forever.

It was particularly bad this weekend. Dick had just gotten dumped by Barbara, so he was on some sort of soul-seeking sabbatical abroad. Donna was spending the weekend with her family in Themyscira. Roy had left the team only a few weeks prior and that left only Kara to hang out with. Wally hadn't heard a peep from her all day.

"Hey Wally," said Kara, entering the room.

"Oh thank God!" sighed Wally, "I was losing my mind. Where were you?"

"Work," said Kara, "I actually wanted to talk to you about something. You have a sec?"

"Sure!" said Wally, rushing over, "I've been bored out of my skull all day. What's up?"

"I was talking to Lois about taking a job as a journalist," explained Kara, "You know, instead of as her personal assistant."

"That's great!" smiled Wally, "Congrats!"

"Except," said Kara, slightly frowning, "it would mean relocating to Metropolis."

"So?" shrugged Wally, "I spend half my time in Central City and half my time here. You and I aren't like Roy; we can basically be in two places at once."

"Not if I want to focus on my job," clarified Kara, "which I do. I really think being closer to this side of things can help me as Supergirl, but I can't do it and be a member of the Titans."

"...so you're leaving too?"

"Come on, Wally," said Kara, "Don't be like that."

"You're right," nodded Wally, taking a deep breath, "I understand it's fine. It just... It.... Uh..."

Wally's mind was racing. Thoughts were filing in and out of his head as his perception of time fluctuated inconsistently. He didn't like this. This meant less people to spend time with. It also meant the Titans were going to have a hard time staying active. It was already hard enough with only four of them. If they had to shut down over this, Wally didn't know what he'd do with himself. He couldn't let that happen.

One advantage to being a speedster meant that with enough determination, Wally could perform hours and hours worth of labor in seconds. If he pushed himself and compounded his efforts back to back, he could find a solution to this.

Wally did an inordinate amount of research. He used the tower's high speed computers to scour the internet for all publicly available information on the relevant subjects. Based on that information, he was able to sneak into and directly access appropriate government databases on those same subjects and send the appropriate inquiring emails to all parties. A process that would have taken hours upon days of unended concentration was accomplished in a few minutes just before Wally returned to Kara, where he promptly collapsed.

"Wally!" gasped Kara.

"I'm..." managed Wally weakly, "...okay..."

***