He *knows*. And it's not like he doesn't *want* to. God, does he want
to. And he knows that if he just found someone he could talk to
about things, about *everything*...

And the thing is, Wally thinks he maybe missed his chance. His *shot*
at... this. The big brass ring. Romance. Love. Marriage. Because he was
really kind of an idiot for, well, most of his *life*, and then he got the
powers, and if you had powers you were supposed to *use* them --
because there were all sorts of people who had powers and used them
for *bad* things.

He'd had a pretty good childhood, all things considered, but bad things
still happened to people every day, and he never wants anyone to be
as sad as he'd been... well. And anyway, it's not like he could've run
around and fought the bad guys in his regular *clothes*, with his face
all out there. That just led to bad guys finding your house and your
friends and... no.

He's not the smartest guy in the world, but he'd never been *that*
stupid. So.

And he still dated people for a while after becoming the Flash, but there
was always a moment when the girl said something that made him
want to say something, that *reminded* him of a story he could tell, of
things he could *share*... if he just told the truth.

And that didn't seem so bad, either. But he couldn't tell just *anyone*,
and by the time he got to know a person, and think he could trust them...
well, by then he was a big, fat liar and he couldn't. He *couldn't*.

So he hasn't really even done more than dance with cute girls at the clubs
when he gets a chance to go out, and some of them are so... with the way
they move, and look at him, like maybe that Wally guy is really
*something*, and he wants to.

He wants to so *bad*.

But in the end he just goes back to the Tower, and watches the eyes of all
the others, or the shapes of the faces behind the masks, and he thinks
maybe that he's not just *not* a freak, but that maybe some of the others
have missed a few chances of their own.

It's why none of them -- not even Batman -- had said a word when John
and Hawkgirl had gotten together, and he thinks it's probably why none of
them -- again, not even Batman -- seem to *really* mind when Wally tries
to just... get a little closer. Make them all a little more like friends.

Because maybe it's not the brass ring, but it's still pretty shiny.

Wally grins ruefully at his hands.

Considering the alternative.