This is just a story I came up with in the middle of exam studying, more of an outlet than anything. There's some minor swearing and darker themes ahead. But this will mostly be a gen story without any pairings unless I specify later.

I have no clue about updates since they will probably be really sporadic.

Enjoy~

Chapter 1: Where It All Starts

"Just tell them okay?"

"Kid?"

His vision started to blur as the energy siphoned through him and his body began phasing out. Round and round in a circle they ran. If he had been more into that boring lit stuff, he would call this symbolic. Kind of represented a hero's life and all. How did Batman always put it? Oh right; the mission never ends.

Staring up at his uncle and younger cousin's faces, he tried to give them what he thought was a reassuring smile for everything he was about to put them through. Probably failed though. They both still looked scared, desperate almost.

"Catch ya late-"

"KID!"

On June 20, 2013 at 13:56, Kid Flash- Wallace Rudolph West, was declared dead.

-)(-

The first sight as he opened his eyes was a starry sky from where he laid flat on his back. It was quiet and peaceful really.

"Irony," Wally muttered humourlessly as he propped himself up on his elbows. He was fighting a losing battle as he attempted to message an extremely fast oncoming migraine. Super speed so didn't come in handy for these types of situations.

Tiredly, he half crawled through the tall grass to a nearby tree and leaned up against it. First thing's first, he recited to himself; take an inventory of well-being and his surroundings. It had become a habit by now for whenever he woke up in an unfamiliar place, and back in the day, that meant often. Growing up as an extended part of the bat family had its perks in situations like this. Though their fall out a while back, he really hoped that was reversible. 'Wait, come on Wally concentrate, this is important dude!'

His plan had been a success from what he could tell. Wriggling his toes inside his boots and fingers in front of his face simultaneously, there were ten of each. Yup, he would consider that pretty much a success! The corners of his lips reflexively twisted up in a triumphant smile only to be gone a second later. A grimace that had started becoming more and more common these past few months replaced it as reality dug in. Dropping his hands back down to rest at his sides, he began surveying the area instead.

The amounts of trees and lack of artificial lighting and sounds, suggested he had to be in a forest somewhere. Okay, good start. He was able to see the landscape below, but still with no lighting meaning that he was on higher ground and far from civilization. Great…. He better start figuring out how to get to a town - preferably a busy one where it was easier to blend in – quickly. Someone was bound to easily remember him. Who wouldn't notice a teen in bright yellow and totally awesome, but unfortunately still bright spandex.

Or worse, if they asked him why he wasn't in school. Again.

"And I always teased Dick about having a baby face. Even with his shit-eating grin," At this Wally had to chuckle quietly. He was definitely going to miss his friends these next few months. And Uncle Barry and Dick were so going to have a field day with him about reckless plans if he got back. When he got back.

No one intentionally ran slowly to get hit with thousands of volts of alien energy. No one usually plans to take advantage of said energy to have their molecules ripped apart so it can be displaced somewhere else. But it was a calculated risk, and a good one. Especially if he wanted the excess kinetic energy to disrupt any mind linking M'gaan might try in the next couple of hours. So all good.

Out of nowhere, the muscles in Wally's left arm painfully seized and uncontrollably spasmed. This left the boy gasping for air for what felt like hours, but in reality was only a couple of seconds until it stopped.

"Never mind, not all good….Okay, so maybe I didn't think out everything with this plan."

But still, he had to do this alone, Wally couldn't risk the others getting caught in something dangerous like what happened during the last "undercover" mission. Even if they'd hate him later. With a thud, the former Kid Flash leaned his head back against the tree trunk trying to recoup some energy from the everything he had been through today. Hopefully, he could get some sleep, because he was for sure not going to get much in the days ahead.

-)(-

In the middle of the Arctic, the team was in various states of shock. Within the span of ten minutes everything had gone so wrong, so terribly wrong. Wally was at one moment there, and when the smoke cleared, he just….wasn't.

Artemis shook quietly on the frozen ground, tears streaming down her face with M'gann holding her in her arms. The rest of the team and Barry though on their feet, were still trying to absorb what had just happened. They stared blankly at the ground, at the sky or at Artemis. Anywhere but the spot where Wally had previously been, where he had died.

'It's like they were hoping that if they didn't look then they could pretend it never happened,' thought Nightwing bitterly.

Clenching his fist tighter and tighter, Nightwing attempted to push his thoughts aside. He had to be calm for the team at the moment, he was the leader after all. And the mission wasn't done until everyone was safe and in a secure location. At least everyone that was still aliv-

Willing his voice to steady – something he was thankful for having been taught by Batman – he called out just slightly louder than a whisper, "Everyone to the ship."

This certainly jolted people out of their thoughts. It was like a trigger had gone off that made almost all the member utter some word of protest even though most of it was unintelligible because of the number of people speaking at once.

However, he would have none of it, "We are in the vicinity of what was seconds before enemy territory. We need to move. Now." His voice was quiet still, but there was a harsh finality to his tone that cut off whatever else anyone had left to say. Everyone silently stared in him clearly unhappy with the situation, but didn't dare to push their leader any further. So one by one, the group slowly drifted towards the bioship ramp.

Nightwing however stood rooted in place, and stared at the spot Wally had disappeared from with narrowed eyes.

As the last four moved past him – M'gann supporting Artemis and Barry gripping Bart like the boy would disappear as well – they were stopped by a silent stare. "Flash, help Artemis onto the ship, I need to speak with M'gann." Earning a nod from the older hero, M'gann released Artemis, stepping aside to allow the remaining three access to the ship ramp. Once they were out of sight, she slowly walked over to their leader. Nightwing had turned back to stare at the previous spot once more.

"There's something I need you to do M'gann."