A/N: If you haven't read it check out Schism it's pretty much one of my absolute favorite Young Justice fics. You don't need to have read it to understand this, just to be clear. Well, enjoy!
Wally West lived in a two story, three bedroom house in Central City. He lived with his Aunt and Uncle, Iris and Barry West after the untimely death of his parents when he was five. Wally West excelled academically but lagged behind the rest of his peers socially. Wally West had an aptitude for math and science which only further alienated him from his peers, and led to years of bullying. This led to Wally West further closing himself off, which led to Iris West arranging a meeting between the Flash and her nephew in an attempt to cheer him up. At the age of twelve Wally West attempted to recreate the experiment which gave the Flash his powers. That was the day Kid Flash was born. Kid Flash was not Wally West.
"You did great tonight, Kid." Said Barry as he and his nephew entered their home after an evening of protecting Central City. Captain Cold attempted to rob a jewelry store, the biggest in Central City, but the two of them had managed to subdue the ice themed villain.
"Thanks Uncle Barry." Said KF
"You know what this calls for?" asked Barry pulling down his cowl. It was alright, all of the curtains were drawn.
"Ice cream?" asked KF
"You've got it." Said Barry. KF didn't have to be told twice before rushing into the kitchen and getting out the commercial sized tub of three flavored ice-cream from the deep freezer as well as bowls and spoons. Aunt Iris liked them to be civilized that way. It was a shame she had to work late, he liked spending time with her. She hadn't tried to-no, he shouldn't have been thinking about that.
"You Ok, Kid?" asked Barry. He worried when his nephew got that look on his face, that dark look.
"I'm fine." Said KF, his face brightening instantly. He loved his Aunt and Uncle. He loved them and they loved him and that was what mattered.
"Do you want to talk about-?" started Barry before he was cut off.
"Really, I'm fine. Do we have any chocolate sprinkles left?" asked KF cutting off his uncle because he really, really didn't want to talk about it. Uncle Barry wouldn't understand. Nobody would ever understand.
"Check the cabinet above the stove, I think that's where your Aunt hid them this time." Said Barry sitting down. He wanted to talk about it, he wanted to understand. He knew that he had acted rashly, that he had panicked, and that he had made a mistake. This was not Wally, not really. J'onn said that he was going to fuse the cracks along Wally's psyche back together, to fuse the three personalities within him. It had been a disaster.
"Found 'em!" called out Wally happily. He then created a mixture that was equal parts ice-cream and sprinkles. He shoveled this mixture down his throat in between words. He was chatting about something or other, something stupid about his new school. He talked and talked and wouldn't let Uncle Barry get a word in edgewise because he knew that his Uncle would want to talk about what happened and KF never, ever wanted to talk about it. Ever. His brothers were gone and were never coming back, just like his parents were gone, and he didn't want to relive either of those experiences.
KF eventually excused himself to his room with the pretext of having homework to do. It wasn't a lie, not really, but it wasn't as pressing as he made it seem. He just wanted to be away from Uncle Barry. He loved Uncle Barry…he just didn't want to be around Uncle Barry when they weren't Flash and Kid Flash. Uncle Barry wanted to be Barry and Wally, but KF wasn't Wally. Wally was the one that KF wanted to keep.
He made his way upstairs through the house and to his room, what used to be Wally's room, his KF uniform still on. He hated taking it off because he was often mistaken for Wally. He hated it when Aunt Iris and Uncle Barry called him Wally. Wally was the one they wanted, he wasn't supposed to exist. They had no choice but to keep him, J'onn had removed Wally and Fate.
He hated the science trophies and ribbons which adorned his room but het let them be, as a shrine to the lost. That was the same reason why he left the books on magic and the cat plushy in the closet. Maybe Fate and Wally weren't wiped out, just dormant. Maybe they would resurface one day. Yes, that would be nice. KF allowed himself a few seconds, longer when he slowed down his perceptions, to daydream that scenario. He broke the daydream with a sigh, if they were going to resurface they would have in these three months.
He sat down in his chair and opened up his laptop. He'd check and see if there was any hero news before starting his homework. Science was Wally's thing, not his, but he had to pretend to be Wally. He didn't have much real interest in the areas Wally excelled at, preferring tactics and strategy to watching mold grow on a petri-dish, but Wally West had some of the best scores in the city when it came to math and science so everyone at his new school had certain expectations. Bullies did too but unlike Wally KF fought back hard.
He scrolled through the headlines. Avengers fought Loki and broke some buildings in New York City, some big monster attacked Neo-Tokyo again but was subdued and was currently being harvested for parts, another citing of that girl who claimed she was Kryptonian and Superman's love child with a mutant, that Magneto guy was saying crazy shit again…apparently anyone with an X gene was now a mutant and could have theirs activated by Genosha's scientists free of charge…yeah, even if he wasn't meta he'd have to say 'no thank you'….Dr. Fate and unknown protégé fought with an unknown sorcerer at Stonehenge-wait, what?
KF clicked the link and read the whole store. Someone was wearing the helmet of Fate and had a sidekick….a little kid. A familiar little kid…he enlarge the image. It was impossible to tell who Nabu was using as a flesh puppet. The kid was being speculated over. Someone thought he was a member of the Genoshian royal family….there was a link. Dr. Fate again this time fighting on Genosha with the same kid…only this time the kid was green. He clicked another link. This page was about that crazy genetically engineered mutant chick Magneto was raising.
He spent the next few hours going deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole trying to figure out who Nabu was using. KF knew he had seen that kid before, but where? He used magic so he must have been one of Fate's allies back when Fate existed. Nobody knew where the helmet of Fate went after Wally and Fate had been wiped out. The logical explanation was that the kid was some kind of magic user like that molesty brat Fate liked and had found a new host for the helmet. The illogical explanation was that Fate was using the helmet; that the magic KF and Wally had denied was real and had saved their brother. KF chose the logical option.
Aunt Iris eventually came home, some big story about the so called 'Last Daughter of Krypton' was keeping her and the rest of the reporters at the Central City News station busy.
"Wally, it's late and you've got school in the morning." Said Iris. It was almost eleven o'clock and night after all. Speedster or not he still needed his sleep.
"'K Aunt Iris." Said KF before she closed his door, afterwards he kicked his desk in frustration. He was not Wally and he didn't want to be either. He didn't know why it was so difficult for everyone to understand. Superboy was a clone of Superman but he was not Superman himself. Maybe it was because he, Wally, and KF all shared a body. It didn't matter, what was done was done.
KF didn't bother to take off his uniform, he wouldn't need to. He rarely if ever slept at home. It was the silence that got to him. He missed the never ending conversation between the three of them. Hell, he'd settle for Fate at this point, crazy and stuffy as that guy was. Listening to music didn't help and neither did white noise. No, he needed another person.
He climbed out of his window and made his way to Star City. Star City was full of crime, even more so than Central City, but KF wasn't there to beat up on any bad guys. No, he was there for something even better. He ran up the side of a building and climbed through an open window.
"Hey Kid, bedtime already?" asked Roy not looking up from whatever he was doing on his bow. KF didn't care, he was just happy to be there.
"I missed you." Said KF crossing the room and sitting on Roy's bed. Roy lived in a tiny one room but KF didn't care. Roy accepted him. Roy never wanted him to go away.
"It hasn't even been a day." Said Roy sitting down next to KF. KF leaned into him, he was dressed in his Red Arrow uniform. They must have looked ridiculous. KF didn't mind.
"I still missed you, did you already go on patrol?" asked KF. Roy pulled off his domino mask and set it on the bedside table.
"I'll wait for you to fall asleep." Said Roy kissing KF. Roy didn't know exactly what happened to KF, what exactly the league had tried to do. He only knew that they were trying to mess with his mind. He had noticed that there were times when Wally could be a totally different person. Time where he was tense and annoyed for no reason, times when he was shy and tentative, and times when he was…well the way he was now. Roy didn't pry into what happened, with Wally at least, but he was still trying to get to the bottom of it. The team was no help. Robin said that it was a secret which he had been trusted to keep, M'gann only cried and said she had done a terrible thing, and the others knew nothing. Well, Superboy was convinced he was crazy but Roy knew he wasn't.
"Roy?" asked KF and Roy pulled down his cowl.
"Wally?" asked Roy. KF turned away.
"Kid." Roy amended. KF faced him again and closed the gap between them. Wally fell asleep later, pressed against Roy, the other boy's breathing and heartbeat lulling him to sleep.
Wally West was not Kid Flash. Wally West was also not the Flash's son, despite what everyone assumed. Wally West no longer lived in Central City, he now lived on a commune in Nebraska, near the Missouri river. Wally West no longer went to school, instead he helped run one. Wally West was no longer bullied, the people around him had no reason to bully him despite being his age. Wally West even had a girlfriend, Linda Park of all people. Wally West was happy…he only wished that KF and Fate were there to be happy with him.
"Hey Wally, you know what we need?" asked Linda
"A better irrigation system?" asked Wally
"Well yeah, but what else?" asked Linda
"More adults?" said Wally
"Well yeah but what we need, like soon, is someone who can control the weather, like that Storm woman from the X-Men. It's getting too cold, way too cold." Said Linda as she turned on their electric heater. They lived in an old trailer adorned with solar panels, the perks of being the two smartest and sanest people in town.
"It's almost winter." Said Wally as he flipped through his book. The caravan had come through while he was teaching the little kids how to read. That other speedster, Jeremy, had saved him the thickest books with the most complicated words. This one was about cellular division as it pertained to bacteria.
"I know, can you believe it? I don't know how we'll get through the winter here." Said Linda, sitting down next to him. Their trailer had a bedroom in the very back and another off to the side. Someone had carved 'Fill it with kids' on the door, most likely Jeremy. He was currently sitting at the eating area, the bench was down but the table was still folded up.
"They know how, they've been doing it for almost five years now." Said Wally quietly. He liked talking with her but he was afraid that he'd make her upset and she'd leave or worse, make fun of him. He didn't know if he could handle getting picked on again. Nobody had so far but it had only been three months, still plenty of time for the other shoe to drop.
"That's what I miss most, I think. Not the internet, not fast food, not even hot baths. I miss the-" started Linda
"The convenience?" asked Wally. He missed his nice warm house and his warm bed and the sheer amount of food, and the variety of food available to him. He didn't eat as much as KF, he hardly used his powers, but he was still a speedster.
"Yeah…and my parents." Said Linda. Wally thought about it for a moment and put his arm around her. She leaned into his chest.
"I'm sorry that they, I mean-" said Wally resting his head on hers. She smelled like flour, books, and something which could only be called Linda.
"No, it's…it's fine. I tried to hide it and I just…couldn't." said Linda. She felt the energy spark between her fingers and balled her hand into a fist.
"They wouldn't have been messing with you if it wasn't for me." Said Wally. He could feel the energy coming off of her and held her closer, partially because he liked the intimacy and partially because he didn't want her to get upset and put a new sunroof in their home.
"Well I'd had enough of them! Where the hell did they get off saying all of that crazy shit? Joking that you had killed yourself…that was just sick, it was sick! I couldn't let them keep saying that." Said Linda. Wally didn't know what to do so he just held her tighter. She had been his sort of friend before. They walked home together and sat together at lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He helped her get her grades up and even after they got better she still hung out with him. Him, not KF who had the better social skills but him. She had even held his hand, before Roy showed up and confronted him thinking he was KF. He liked Linda but he and KF were sharing Roy at the time. If KF hadn't existed…if KF hadn't existed would he and Linda have ever gotten together?
"Linda, I'm sorry." Said Wally running his fingers through her long black hair. A month after he left and someone ended up in M-Town, he was fuzzy on the details, Linda had shown up. It made sense, M-Town was the most prosperous mutant commune and it was pretty good as long as you didn't piss off the governing body or bring up humans. He already had the trailer and Linda had been placed with him instead of in the temporary women's work house because they had known each other.
"Wally, it's not your fault. I shouldn't have…I should have controlled it better." Said Linda
"They're still alive, and you didn't maim anybody either." Said Wally
"I could have." Said Linda
"But you didn't, you only broke a few walls. I ran into so many walls when I was first trying to control my powers. There are still some twelve year old me sized dents in the living room…that is if they even still live there." Said Wally
"Your dad and brother still live in Central, unless they only run down there to patrol the city." Said Linda
"What?" asked Wally sitting up so quickly the trailer rocked. Linda wiped her eyes.
"Yeah, there was a big fight last week between Heat Wave, Boomerang, Flash, and Kid Flash. Green Lantern even showed up to help out. It was all over the news, channel 3. We finally got the TV in the unwanted miracle building working even if it's just two and a half channels." Said Linda. She studied his face.
"Wally, are you alright?" asked Linda. Wally's mind was going a mile a minute. Flash…had found a new sidekick? Another Kid Flash? Was he…was he really that replaceable? Flash really didn't want him. It wasn't KF and Fate that Uncle Barry wanted to get rid of, it was Fate and Wally.
"He…he…" said Wally softly not finding the words. Linda leaned over and kissed him.
"Flash shouldn't do that, play favorites. It's the same Kid Flash, same guy. I know he's your brother and you want to protect his identity so I never asked but I'm not stupid. Red hair, green eyes, your height? I know he's your brother, probably your identical twin. I wish you would have told me…I really do….but I don't ask." Said Linda
"Linda-" started Wally before Linda cut him off. She stood up and began to pace the length of the living/eating area.
"I never asked why you don't live with Flash or why you're here of all places or why-why you never fought back or why I've never met your brother or why you didn't-didn't tell me even now-" said Linda throwing her hands up and down in frustration, releasing short bursts of energy as she went.
"Brothers." Said Wally looking down at his worn shoes. Linda stopped.
"What?" asked Linda. Wally looked up and met her eyes.
"I had two brothers, Fate and KF." Said Wally
"What…what happened?" asked Linda
"Flash didn't want us." Said Wally drawing his knees up to his chest. Flash had…had he replaced them? Had he found a way to-to-what? Give KF's consciousness its own body? What about Fate? Did the league just…did they just leave him there when they had the one they wanted? What about Fate? Why? He barely registered Linda sitting next to him.
"I want you." Said Linda before kissing him. Wally kissed her back, and she deepened it. They had kissed before but not like this. This was how Roy and KF used to, still did? They were together, they lived together and slept in the same bed but they had never done anything more than kiss.
"I want you." Repeated Linda. He wasn't like anyone she had ever met before. True, she had a crush on Kid Flash but that was just a crush. She didn't know Kid Flash but she knew Wally. She knew how kind and sweet and smart and sensitive he was. She knew he cared about her. He took her in when she first came to this place, listened to her problems without telling her to suck it up or any of the phrases her parents had been fond of, wasn't afraid of her even when her powers decided to make themselves known, and had been honest with her when she asked him about what happened. She didn't know what exactly had happened to him but she knew she wanted to take his pain from him and relieve herself of her pain as well.
"Linda…do you mean-?" said Wally. Linda pushed his T-shirt up over his head.
"Yeah, I do." Said Linda taking his hand. His mind, which had been going a million miles and hour had suddenly decided to stop. She led, he followed. She kissed him, he kissed her back. Afterwards he held her, and she held him back. It was nice.
Fate was not KF or Wally and nobody ever assumed he was. He never did control the body much, mostly just when chaos threatened the world. Every so often he would feel a pull on his portion of their soul and don the helmet, becoming Dr. Fate. It was at these times he would stand there, with Mr. Nelson, and here the other man's stories. They would talk as Nabu kept the world in order and that was enough for Fate. There were some especially good times when Artemis would intercept him as he was either taking the helmet or putting it back. He loved arguing with her even if he would have preferred a proper conversation. He made her feel angry, she made him feel anything.
"Whatchya thinkin' 'bout?" asked Dimitri
"Nothing." Said Fate. What went on in his mind was his own business. He felt that same pull on his soul, chaos was threatening the world once again.
"I'm thinkin' 'bout making a swimming pool made out of chocolate pudding with vanilla pudding on the insides and giant marshmallows for floaties." Said Dimitri.
"Not in this reality." Said Fate closing the book on his lap and sitting up. He glanced out the window, the Genoshian skyline as breathtaking as always aside from the metal spires of the palace stabbing into the sky.
"I know, I know. I'll do it in Headspace." Said Dimitri laying on his stomach putting together a puzzle.
"We're needed, Dimitri." Said Fate picking up the helmet from the table next to the chair. He used very little space in the apartment given to him by Lord Magneto. He mostly lived where the child wanted to and the child preferred that little piece of reality he broke off.
"Klarion wants to play s'more?" asked Dimitri getting up
"I don't know. Hopefully it isn't anything too big." Said Fate. His body was still healing from his last battle. Often times KF had accused him of not caring about the body but if that were the case he would have simply let Nabu keep it. An eternity listening to Mr. Nelson's stories was better than an eternity listening to KF's whining.
"If it is we can call in Aunt Mandy for help, nothin' hurts Kyptonians." Said Dimitri
"They are vulnerable to magic." Replied Fate putting the helmet on before he could remember. It panicked him irrationally, remembering Superman holding him in arms too strong, so strong they might as well have been steel girders.
"Og em tel! Og em tel! em esaeler namrepuS!"
"Kid, you alright?" asked Mr. Nelson placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Fine, I'm fine." Said Fate. Even though his soul was outside of his body he could still feel his heart racing.
"You sure?" asked Mr. Nelson
"Yes, I was just remembering something I shouldn't have." Said Fate. Mr. Nelson could see into his very soul so therefore there was no reason to keep anything so small from him. The child was chattering animatedly, his skin shifting from green to Caucasian and back again.
"For the-for the next grand finale I'm gonna make a tank out of a cake and a wafer cookie and a pitcher of lemon-aid but it's gonna, gonna, shoot real artillery and then if Teekl's really hurt he'll go back to Klarion's house and then the day'll be saved! Isn't that a great plan?" said Dimitri pulling on Fate's cape.
"Nabu, please tell him that it's a good plan." Said Fate
"The less the witch boy knows of the child's power the better, it would be detrimental to bring the child along." Said Nabu within the helmet
"C'mon Nabu, let the kid have some fun." Said Mr. Nelson
"Your plan is satisfactory." Said Nabu. Why he conceded to easily to Mr. Nelson Fate would never know. All Mr. Nelson would tell him was that they might not have looked it but they were good friends.
"Did ya hear that Fate? I'm satisfactory." Said Dimitri before Dr. Fate transported them to the scene of the battle.
"You've got a great kid there, Fate. For someone you're age you make a pretty good dad." Said Mr. Nelson
"He's not my son." Said Fate
"You take care of him, teach him right from wrong, and I don't see his biological parents around so I'd say you've got the job." Said Mr. Nelson as they appeared at the battle sight. The reason for they're being there was not readily apparent.
"As I have said before, I have been given the task of helping him gain control over his abilities and teaching him right from wrong so that he doesn't accidentally end the world or anything like that. In exchange they separated my mind from KF's and Wally's." said Fate
"Uh-huh. Right kid, it's just a job to you." Said Mr. Nelson
"Alright, I do care for the boy." Said Fate. Dimitri was chatting with an unresponsive Nabu, waving his arms animatedly. Fate didn't have much experience with anybody let alone children but he did find Dimitri Lehnsherr's presence to be pleasant. If he didn't he wouldn't have made the bargain he did.
"I wish-I wish for me and my brothers to be safe! To be separate but still-still have bodies! To be corporal! Can you do that? Can you, Dimitri?"
"'K, but only if you'll be my best friend forever and ever…oh and whatever mommy and grandpa Eric and Uncle Charles say to do after they help me 'cause I'm not so good at making people and I don't know nothin' 'bout splittin' souls up neither."
"I want to play with the kid, not the geezer!" Came a voice seemingly from nowhere. It was Klarion again, Fate was sure that he must have fed on the attention Nabu gave him.
"Hi Klarion! We're gonna fight you now, ok?" said Dimitri. He gave a turn and changed into what he called his Kid Fate outfit. His house of crown colored gold, gold boots, gold gloves, gold belt, and navy colored shorts and a t-shirt. Fate smiled when he first saw it and laughed at Dimitri's explanation. Yes, every sidekick did need a cool outfit.
"What do you want, Witch Boy?" asked Nabu
"I told you, I want to play with the kid, not you and the baby!" said Klarion
"Well, someone's certainly possessive." Muttered Mr. Nelson as insults were traded between Klarion, Nabu, Dimitri, and possibly Teekyl though Fate did not speak cat.
"He feeds on the attention we give him." said Fate with certainty. He knew that Mr. Nelson and Nabu could see into his very soul so he avoided thinking about certain subjects.
"Red Arrow's better than that molesty brat you like!"
"I am notin love with Klarion!"
"The thing is, Fate, you do think about him a lot."
"The both of you exist to vex me."
"If that's what you want to call it." Said Mr. Nelson. One of the subjects he tried to avoid thinking of being Klarion Bleek, last name learned from Dimitri because the two of them were friends first.
"Hey, you in there! Klarion wants to borrow you're helmet. He says we can all play together if you want. I'm Dimitri Lehnsherr by the way, what's your name?"
"How are your brothers?" asked Mr. Nelson as the battle began.
"From what I can tell Flash has accepted KF, though I don't speak to him personally. From what my contacts in the M-Town commune tell me Wally is thriving and is even cohabiting with Linda Park. Once again, though, for our own safety we can't have any contact with one another." Said Fate
"That's a shame, you're all pieces of a whole, you know." Said Mr. Nelson
"Yes, but we wish to remain in pieces and for that to remain we must not arouse the suspicion of the League and that means no contact." Said Fate. He did miss Wally and even KF, annoying as he was, but he did not want to risk being killed, erased, like Psimon tried to do.
"Well, I suppose there's no going back now." Said Mr. Nelson gravely. Fate wished that his dearest friend would understand. For them to become a whole each of their individual pieces would have to die. Mr. Nelson did not know what it felt like to be crushed and erased out of existence. He didn't want Mr. Nelson to know what it felt like. It must have been different from dying Mr. Nelson had died but…but he didn't understand.
"No, we have our own bodies now. It was a miracle that Xavier, Jean Grey, Clementine, and Mrs. Frost were able to craft working psyches for us and that they were also able to guide Dimitri through making functional bodies for us." Said Fate watching the battle. Dimitri was holding back, manifesting things but not altering the rules of their reality. Good. He felt some pride at that, he had been the one to teach Dimitri some control and basic spell work as well, though he was self-taught and didn't know much more than the child.
"This is what you want?" asked Mr. Nelson
"Yes, it is." Said Fate turned to watch the battle. Dimitri, true to his word, fired the food artillery at Teekyl. Klarion stalked off back to his world, promising to see them again soon. Fate ignored the feelings the witch boy evoked within him and pleaded, once again, for Nabu to release him. Nabu complied after much begging, from Fate, reasoning, from Mr. Nelson, and threatening, from Dimitri.
"Let's go home now, yes? Let's go home and get some sleep." Said Fate picking Dimitri up.
"But I'm not tired." Said Dimitri though half lidden eyes.
"The sky is asleep, so we should be asleep." Said Fate pulling a key from his pocket, he stuck it out in front of him and turned it. A door appeared and he, still carrying the child and the helmet, walked through. He didn't notice the person hiding in the bushed with a camera.
