Chapter 2: Interview:
S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier 64
June 20, 2012
15:00 UTC
The first thing that Wally realized as he opened his eyes was that he was somehow alive. Why else would he be lying in a hospital bed? The second thing he realized was that he was aboard a ship of some kind, as the presence of hatches in place of doors seemed to indicate. How he had survived baffled him, but what confused him was the lack of any windows in the room. The real question, he thought to himself, is if I was rescued by the Team, the bad guys, or someone completely different.
His mental speculation was interrupted by a loud squeak as the hatch opened and in stepped a dark-skinned man with an eye patch over one eye and wearing a trench coat. He was followed by a brown-haired woman who appeared close to the same age as Black Canary. They approached him with an air of trepidation that indicated that they were unsure of what to do with him. The man with the eye patch spoke first.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Surprised I'm still alive, honestly," Wally replied.
"Who are you?" the man continued.
"Kid Flash," he answered dryly, clearly irritated that even after he'd hung up the suit, people still couldn't remember his hero name. "How is it that nobody gets the name right?" he asked himself aloud.
"Never heard of you," the man said, clearly just as confused as Wally was. "Which is saying something considering that no wannabe super hero ever escapes our notice."
"Hey," Wally retorted, "I've been in the hero game since I was thirteen." This seemed to surprise his two guests, who remained silent for several minutes before the dialogue resumed.
"How exactly did you end up unconscious in the arctic?" the woman interjected. Wally narrowed his eyes at the question, catching on to the fact that he was being interrogated. Deciding that no harm could come from being honest (at least for now), he answered her question
"I got zapped trying to stop a Magnetic Frequency Disruptor planted by the Reach."
"What is.. The Reach?" the man asked incredulously.
"Have you guys been living under a rock for the past three months?" Wally replied bluntly, surprised that they seemed unaware of the Reach's ongoing invasion. "They've been all over the news with their whole image of benevolent neighbors as they subvert control of earth from the shadows while they discredit the Justice League in public."
"Justice League?" It was the woman who asked this time. Are they serious? Wally thought to himself.
"How have you guys NOT heard of the Justice League?" he snapped.
"Probably because they don't exist," the woman shot back. "At least not here."
"What are you talking about?" he asked, growing concerned as a theory began to piece itself together in his mind.
"An hour ago our sensors detected an unknown energy surge in the arctic circle," the man replied. "When we sent a team to investigate, they found you unconscious in the snow. We think that energy surge may have been a dimensional rift that teleported you from your universe to ours." A look of understanding crossed Wally's face, signaling to his interrogators that he had reached the same conclusion himself. "One last thing," the man continued. "Can you tell me the date when you were "zapped"?"
"June 20th, 2016," Wally replied, as the implications of his situation began to weigh down on his shoulders.
"We'll be back soon," the man finished as he and the woman turned walked back towards the hatch.
When they were gone, Wally reached into one of the compartments on his gloves and pulled out a photo of the founding members of the team, taken shortly after they had liberated the League from Savage's control. In it, Kaldur and Raquel stood on opposite sides of the frame while the three couples stood together holding hands with their significant other. Dick was with Zatanna, M'gann was with Conner, and he and Artemis were together.
"I'm so sorry, babe," he whispered quietly as he broke down in tears at the thought that he might never see his family, friends, and girlfriend again.