The Knight and Knave (BirdFlash)

8. The Warehouse

It wasn't often Dick asked to see him somewhere outside the city, let alone after a chase. They always met at their apartment. Wally couldn't help but feel nervous. Thoughts of the worse lingered throughout his mind. What if he was injured? He sped his pace, trying to reach the villain faster. It took him 3 minutes to arrive at the warehouse. It was dilapidated with age and abandonment. The building had been ignored since the last time Flash and Renegade fought there many years ago. Wally looked around the building, memories of his last visit resurfacing. It was here they met. This building was the very building of their first fight; the place it all started.

The door creaked open as the hero pushed it. The moonlight peeked through the cracks of the covered windows. Flash wondered through the warehouse looking for the villain.

"Dick, I'm here. Where are you?" The hero announced into the darkness. He continued further into the warehouse. The steps of another brought Flash's attention to behind him.  He spun around ready to fight, only to become face to face with his lover. He sighed and lowered his arms. "Why are you like this?" He asked, nerves leaving his mind.

"Like what my love?" Dick smiled as he teased his boyfriend.

"You know, being all sneaky and whatever," Wally said, blushing a little. "Now, what do want?" He looked the villain up and down.

"I'm putting my plan into motion." The villain confessed,  his eyes staring into Wally's heart.

"And why did you need me here?" Wally asked.

"If I want my master plan to work, I need to be willing to do anything. I need to have no vulnerability. You understand, correct?" Renegade explained. The hero nodded. It was a thing he was used to, getting rid of attachments to make yourself stronger.

"So what do you need to get rid of?" The hero said, eager to help. He started to look around trying to find his lover's attachment. Wally felt the villain's hand on his shoulder. He turned to face his villain. A single tear escaped dick's eyes. A burning pain began to rise through his body. His breath hitched as he looked down to see the dagger embedded into his side.

"You." Dick pushed the dagger deeper into Wally's body, earning a scream from the hero. "Love was my only weakness." He stepped away from the hero, watching him stumble back gasping for air. "You chose to save the world over me, and now I'm choosing myself over the world. Our love was never meant to last. This is what happens when you love a villain, darling. This conflict here."

"Why are doing this?" Wally managed to speak through the pain. Blood was rushing out of his wound at an alarming pace. His healing was slowed, he couldn't recover fast enough. His hand was pressed against his side trying to stop the bleeding. The rusty taste began seeping its way into his throat. Black dots began to take form in his eyes. His legs became weak and eventually gave into gravity.

"It's simple really. I want the city to be mine. No more corruption from the government. No more people starving in the streets because some millionaire doesn't pay up. I'm ending the injustice of the system at any cost. With you gone, I can take my greatest rival and weakness out in one go. It's the sacrifice I need to make." He said, looking down at his lover struggling for life.

"Couldn't we have just been happy?" Wally gasped for air, looking into the eyes of the man he thought he knew. The man who he thought he loved.

"What kind of villain would I be if I had a happy ending?" The villain said coldly.

"I thought we had something special." Wally coughed, feeling the blood drip from the side of his lips. "I thought you cared for me how I cared for you. I thought you loved me how I loved you. I thought-" He was cut off by a laugh escaping from the villain's mouth. Dick kneeled next to the hero running his hand through his hair.

"I know you did." Dick smiled at the hero,  "We were just two fools in love, but love is just an ignorant lie that humans indulge in. That's why we will forever be mortal. It's why you're dying and the world will be mine. You can think the world is grey, but it's black and white. I'll always be a villain and nothing will change that, not even love. You always wanted to be the hero. What's more heroic than dying for someone you love?" Dick pressed a kiss onto Wally's forehead and leaned down next to his ear, whispering, "Remember darling, the knight will always fall to the knave."

The villain rose to his feet and without even looking back began to leave. Wally could only stare and watch. His body didn't have the strength to call after him. The metallic smell of his blood plagued the warehouse, staining the floors with its red color. He was alone. He tried to fight the call from the other side. He tried to stay awake, but his eyelids grew too heavy to keep open. There is no blazing fire that can't be extinguished.