"Let it snow! Let it snow!" sang Dimitri as he sat cross legged in front of the television. That movie was playing again, The Ice Queen, and Dimitri loved it. Fate didn't really care too much for it but it wasn't for him anyway. Like the title screen said, it was for every mutant child who had ever been afraid of their powers. It seemed strange to Fate. He did not enjoy having his powers but they were his, he had no reason to be afraid of them. No, it was a film for people like Dimitri. It was a film for people who were too powerful, so powerful that other people were afraid of them.

A light dusting of snow began to fall in their apartment. It was getting late in the day, the sun was making long shadows across the room. Fate ducked his head under the cabinet and leaned over the counter that divided the kitchen from the living area.

"No snow in the house, please." Said Fate. He was making one of the few things he knew how to cook, spaghetti. It wasn't difficult really, just boil the noodles and heat up the sauce. It would have been even easier, however, without the impromptu snowstorm.

"But Fa-a-ate! The snow never bothered me anyway!" said Dimitri as the blizzard picked up.

"It bothers me, Dimitri, so stop." Said Fate

"It's not even cold snow." Muttered Dimitri as the snow disappeared.

"Thank you." Said Fate before finishing dinner. They sat down to their meal and watched as the Ice Queen's human sister pleaded with her to return to their kingdom and unfreeze the world.

"Should I be scared?" asked Dimitri suddenly

"It depends on what you're scared of." Said Fate

"Should I be scared of my powers? Is that why I gotta hide them?" asked Dimitri. Fate put his fork down and slowed his perceptions so he'd have time to think.

"Dimitri, your powers are a part of you and you shouldn't fear them. However, other people will fear you. There aren't a lot of people who can do what you do and because your powers aren't common people can fear you." Said Fate

"Would the Justice Friends be scared of me?" asked Dimitri

"I'm not sure. Let's not find out." Said Fate returning to his meal. Dimitri gave him an unreadable look before returning to both his meal and the two hour saga of a mutant learning to accept her powers in a world which was unusually accepting of them. A few minutes later Dimitri decided to reopen his inquiry.

"Dr. Fate used to be a Justice Friend, right?" asked Dimitri

"Yes." Said Fate once again putting down his fork.

"Why isn't he a Justice Friend now?" asked Dimitri

"Because I am the one Nabu is currently using as a host and I am not a member of the Justice League." Said Fate

"But he could be a Justice Friend again if he wanted to be, right?" asked Dimitri

"Nabu has no such desire and neither do I." said Fate in a tone which he hoped conveyed his vexation at their current topic of conversation.

"But if you felt like being a Justice Friend you could be, right?" asked Dimitri

"I suppose so, yes, but I don't. I am happy working alone thank you very much." Said Fate

"You're not alone, I'm your sidekick." Said Dimitri

"Oh you are, are you?" asked Fate rhetorically. Dimitri pouted and stuck out his tongue.

"Of course I am. Don't be a dumb-dumb." Said Dimitri. Before Fate could reply he felt it, the pull on his very soul calling him to don the helmet. That was strange, Klarion didn't usually attack two days in a row.

"Dimitri, we're needed." Said Fate rising suddenly. He left his plate on the coffee table reluctantly. He hated messes. Dimitri jumped to his feet and did a turn changing into his sidekick outfit and reverting back to his natural coloring. Fate felt a small twinge of…sadness…as the boy shed the similarities he had with Fate. Fate shook off these feelings, donned the helmet, and allowed Nabu to take them where they were needed.

KF rode silently in the bioship. He allowed his thoughts to run as quickly as they could in an effort to keep out his mind reading teammate. He needed to figure out what was happening and then…what? Warn Fate? Try and figure out if it was an impostor or a shape shifter or another CADMUS clone before the League did? Oh, this was just too much.

"OK, I'll be the first to say something. What, exactly, is going on? Who's that guy and why does he look just like you?" Asked Artemis in that oh so Artemis tone Fate loved for some weird reason.

"He's-" started M'gann before putting a hand over her mouth silencing herself.

"Oh just tell them M'gann. Just tell everyone." Said KF

"Wally….I have no wish to-" started M'Gann before being cut off

"KF! I told you not to call me Wally!" said KF

"Leave her alone! Don't talk to her like that!" said Superboy attempting to stand up before being bound to his seat.

"Hey, let's all just chill for a minute." Said Robin

"Kid Flash, whatever is going on between you and Miss Martian ends now. The team does not need this hostility." Said Kaldur

"I'm not being hostile!" said KF throwing himself back into his seat.

"Will someone just tell me what's going on?!" asked Artemis. She was tired of this guessing game. All she knew was that one day he ran away and came back because the League wanted to help with something. He came back more obnoxious than usual and had it out for M'gann of all people.

"He's my brother, OK?!" said KF turning to face the team. There was a second of silence before the inevitable torrent of questions. KF let them all ask their questions at once. He glanced over and saw the M'gann was silent and a little sad looking.

"He's my brother but not really. We're all…we all came from Wally and now….well I don't know if that's even him! Alright!" said KF. He'd kick himself later over how whiney he was being. Heroes did note whine. They brooded and shouted but they did not whine.

"KF…what are you talking about?" asked Robin. He knew that there were other personalities but until this mission he had assumed that they had been removed.

"I don't know what Fate did or what happened. All I know is that I'm here, we might be going to capture Fate, and I don't know where Wally is or even if there's still a Wally. Ok?" said KF

"Why wasn't the team informed of this?" asked Kaldur. This was something he should have been informed of. This was serious. There was another person, or even people, that knew all that Kid Flash knew about the League.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tell my Uncle and then when Kid Flash came back I had assumed he was better." Said M'gann softly.

"KF…"said Robin thinking along the same vein as Kaldur. Two personalities….possibly with their own bodies….who knew League secrets….one of which was allied with Genosha. This was not good.

"I don't know who this is or what's going to happen. I don't want to-to hurt my brother. I don't him to go away." Said KF softly. He hated how small and young he sounded. He wished Roy was there, and not in that way either. He needed someone to tell him it was going to be alright. Ugh. That was such a Wally thing to think.

"KF, we'll get through this." Said Robin. KF wanted to believe him, he really did.

"Guys don't hurt him, ok?" said KF. He didn't know what to do. If there was even the slimmest chance that the person wearing the helmet was Fate he couldn't let anything happen to him. On the other hand he had a very clear mission to complete.

"Our mission is to detain and question only." Said Kaldur. Keeping the team together and completing the mission was the top priority. After that they would have to trust the League's judgement on further matters.

"Just, just be careful guys. Alright?" asked KF. The team agreed and they reached their destination which, at first, they assumed was covered in snow. Upon landing they discovered that it was something quite different.

"Ice cream?" asked Artemis as she took some in her hand. It smelled like ice cream, it looked like ice cream, and it probably tasted like ice cream, but it was warm.

"Definitely ice cream." Said Superboy as he licked some from his finger.

"Don't! It could be poison." Said M'gann. This wasn't right. Ice cream, by definition, had to be ice cold. This was warm to the touch.

"I'm fine." Said Superboy as he glanced wearily at the ice cream ruining his second favorite pair of boots. He had similar thoughts to the rest of the group, mainly revolving around what was this stuff and what was going on with Kid Flash.

"Do you guys hear that?" asked Robin. There, across the hills of ice cream laughter could be heard. Laughter and muffled explosions.

"I hear a kid." Said Superboy. It was a child, male, and some sort of energy being released.

"We'll split up and corner them but do not engage Dr. Fate unless you have to. Our mission is to detain him, not battle him." said Aqualad.

"Somehow I don't think he's just going to hang around until the League shows up." Said Artemis

"He won't." said KF. No, Fate would fight. Nobody could make Fate do anything he didn't want to do, even when they shared a body. Fate would fight and probably magic himself away again. Yes, that was what would happen, it had to.

M'Gann linked them telepathically and they split up and moved towards the sound of the battle. The ice cream got thicker as they moved towards the center and KF was tempted to eat some. Nerves, that was all. Nerves were kicking his metabolism into over drive. He didn't eat it, even when it was covered in sprinkles and caramel.

The team eventually reached the sight of the battle. Dr. Fate was fighting what looked like yet another evil immortal sorcerer….and so were ice cream snow man. There were about a dozen of them throwing ice cream into the battle. They were commanded by a little boy dressed in navy shorts, a navy shirt, gold boots, gold gloves, and with a golden piece of metal on his head.

"The house of Magnus….?" Said Robin into their mental connection. That symbol was the same one Magneto's children wore. That child couldn't possibly be related to Magneto….could it?

"You mean the Genoshan royal family? That kids' a part of the royal family?" asked Artemis. One of the few pieces of good advice her father ever gave her was not to get involved in anything having to do with Magneto's personal war on humanity. Nothing, even a simple job, ended well when that man was involved.

"If he truly is royalty we must tread lightly. We do not want to cause in incident between their kingdom and the League." Said Aqualad as he surveyed the situation. The child didn't seem to be in any distress and even Dr. Fate seemed to be meandering through the battle.

"Maybe we should just talk to them." Asked M'gann. She didn't want to make anything worse. She had already damaged her friendship with Kid Flash and didn't want to harm it further by attacking his…brother? Was that the correct word? She did not want to cause any further animosity between the two of them.

"Fate isn't going to want to talk." Said KF. Fate wasn't going to want anything to do with the League and KF didn't want his brothers to have anything to do with the League. KF didn't know what the League wanted to do to them, it wasn't as if they could be put back together…could they?

"We shall see. Everybody, get ready. Miss Martian, you know what you have to do." Said Aqualad as the battle ended. Dr. Fate had captured his enemy and sent him through a golden ankh. The child was now rolling around in the ice cream.

Within the space which existed inside of the helmet Fate was none the wiser to the plot set in motion against him. He was enjoying a favorite pastime of his, speaking with Mr. Nelson.

"Where is it that Nabu sends them?" asked Fate as Nabu banished their enemy. It would have simpler, to Fate at least, to keep them imprisoned where they could be watched over.

"Back to where they came from, I'd imagine." Said Mr. Nelson

"Where is it that they come from?" asked Fate. He knew where Klarion came from and he knew of the existence of differing planes of existence.

"A different plane of existence not much like our own." Said Mr. Nelson

"How many are there?" asked Fate

"I don't know of all of them, very few. There are, in theory, thousands of parallel worlds existing in relation to our own with slight or even great variation." Said Mr. Nelson. Fate smiled.

"Wally often spoke of that, the theory that there are other dimensions existing parallel to our own. However, he and KF always felt the need to explain everything away using science." Said Fate

"The worlds of science and magic are not as separate as you think." Said Mr. Nelson

"Yes they are. Science and magic exist at odds with each other, each one trying eternally to disprove the other." Said Fate stubbornly. Mt. Nelson laughed.

"You are the most bullheaded kid I've ever met, you know that?" asked Mr. Nelson. Fate's face flushed warm with embarrassment.

"Forgive me, I spoke out of turn." Said Fate

"No, it's alright. You've got to stick up for yourself and the things you believe in but at the same time you've got to keep an open mind and have fate in what you can't explain." said Mr. Nelson

"All the questions of this world can be explained using magic." Said Fate digging his metaphorical heals into the ground. Mr. Nelson sighed with exasperation.

"I suppose your brothers don't share your opinion." Said Mr. Nelson

"No, they do not. KF and Wally believe that magic and science are one in the same. I would almost like to see them explain away Dimitri's tremendous mystical abilities." Said Fate confidently. They would try, and fail, to explain how it was that the boy could manipulate the very fabric of creation itself.

"You may get your wish sooner than you think." Said Mr. Nelson ominously

"What do you mean?" asked Fate feeling the urge to run, to run far away, growing within him. Mr. Nelson motioned for him to turn. Fate allowed his perceptions to become one with Nabu's and was greeted with a sight that, if he were in control of the body, would cause him to slip into relative time in a panic.

"Hey Fate! Look! The Justice Friends are here!" called Dimitri happily. He was jumping up and down, his legs getting covered in ice cream and his hair covered in sprinkles. Part of Fate, the small part that was trying to stay at the same pace as the rest of the world, groaned at the thought of cleaning the boy up.

"Well would you look at that. Kid? Fate?" asked Mr. Nelson. The kid had a far off look on his face. The force of his emotion was attempting to wrestle control of the body away from Nabu. That never ended well.

"Kid, you've got to stop. Do you hear me, Fate? You need to calm down." Said Mr. Nelson. Outside the child was talking with Fate's old team oblivious to the struggle happening within the helmet. Fate gave no response.

"Nabu, get us out of here." Said Mr. Nelson. As much as he would have liked to see his friend reunited with his team he knew that this was not going to be.

"I cannot. Internally the boy is fighting me for control and externally I am being held in place. I cannot split my focus." Said Nabu sounding even angrier than normal.

"Then let him go." Said Mr. Nelson. Fighting with Nabu like this could damage Fate's already fragile mind.

"As you wish." Said Nabu grudgingly. Fate heard all of this but did not comprehend it. All he knew was that he needed to run. He needed to run far away and keep himself and Dimitri safe.

Meanwhile on the physical plane Dimitri carried on ignorant of what battle going on just behind him.

"I really, really want to be a Justice Friend like you guys and I think Fate would too, he just doesn't know it yet." Said Dimitri as he wished away the ice cream. Fate didn't like messes and Dimitri didn't want to make him mad. If Fate was mad he wouldn't agree to the two of them joining the Justice Friends.

"Justice Friends?" asked Robin. He had to keep the kid talking. Every piece of information, no matter how seemingly insignificant, could prove to be useful later.

"Yeah. You guys do justice stuff and you're all friends. That's why you're the Justice Friends." Said Dimitri

"Why do you want to join us?" asked Robin

"Because I want to be a good guy and help people and I want me and Fate to be friends with you guys. Fate says that you're good people because you're humans and mutants and aliens and robots all working together. Fate says that's a good thing." Said Dimitri

"Why isn't Fate saying anything now?" asked Robin. The team decided to leave the questioning to Robin. He, surprisingly, had a way with children. Probably because he was both the youngest member of the team and the protégé of the world's greatest detective.

"He's probably still talking to Nabu and Mr. Nelson. They live in the helmet too, but not in his head. KF and Wally used to live in his head. You don't know that because KF is supposed to keep it a secret. Keep it a secret, OK KF?" asked Dimitri. KF could only nod in agreement. He was praying for Fate to do some of his so called magic and escape already.

"Yeah it's a secret so don't go around telling people. I hope Wally isn't going around telling people either." Said Dimitri. He needed to shut up but he couldn't. He wanted to talk to these people and to make friends with them. Then he could be a Justice Friend and he and Fate would have lots of friends and do good things for the world. Dimitri knew that if he was a hero then fear wouldn't be his enemy anymore.

"Where's Wally?" asked Robin. Dimitri shook his head no. Wally was hiding and Dimitri knew not to give away people's hiding places. That wasn't nice. He still hadn't given up Klarion's hiding place and that was forever ago.

"I can't tell you." Said Dimitri before Fate fell to the ground. Nabu had released control of the body to Fate and forced the helmet from his host's head. Fate lay in a crumpled heap on the ground, his eyes searching the sky and his body vibrating in place. M'gann gasped and put a hand to her head, releasing the hold she had on Fate.

"Fate, guess what? The Justice Friends are here! Fate….?" Asked Dimitri running to his friend and caretaker. The others approached him slowly. To Fate the world looked and sounded as if he were in a fishbowl, everything was far away and distorted.

"Fate…..?" asked Dimitri picking up the helmet and poking Fate with it. The M'gann tried to hold him in place but both his mind and body were moving too fast. Fate suddenly sprang up, grabbed Dimitri, and ran.

"That went well." Said Artemis. That was the last thing Fate heard before the world bled and blurred around him. He didn't know how far he went or even where he went but eventually, having neglected his powers, he fell. He tumbled to the ground hugging Dimitri close to himself. The ground became soft below them and the smell of butterscotch invaded Fate's senses. He laid on the ground covered in butterscotch frosting clinging Dimitri to himself.

"Lemme go! Lemme go!" said Dimitri struggling against Fate. Fate's arms went slack and Dmitri crawled out from his protective embrace and was promptly sick all over himself. Fate uncurled from himself and tried to stand up. He slid in the frosting and fell on his back. He reached over and his fingers brushed against the cool metal of the helmet…which was promptly kicked out of his reach.

"What's the matter with you?!" said Dimitri doing his best to tower over Fate like he had seen his grandfather do to his subordinates.

"Wha-?" asked Fate attempting to sit up. He suddenly found himself sitting on a giant grape scented marshmallow.

"You were really weird and now they're not gonna want to be friends with us!" said Dimitri pacing back and forth.

"Dimitri, you don't-" said Fate before taking a frosting ball to the face.

"No, you don't get it! They wanted to be friends with us! You miss your brother! You guys could be friends!" said Dimitri

"Dimitri you don't understand. We cannot join them." Said Fate as he began to eat the marshmallow. It smelled like grapes and tasted like ranch dressing.

"Why not?! They wanted to be friends, I could tell. I want us to have more friends." Said Dimitri

"Control your powers and then you can make friends with the other children." Said Fate focusing on the task at hand. He needed to eat and calm Dimitri down enough for him to take them home. He wasn't going to put the helmet on again unless he had to. He needed to get everything sorted out. He needed to get himself sorted out.

"I want to be a Justice Friend. I want that more than anything else in the whole wide world! If I'm good and do good stuff then people won't be scared of me no more." Said Dimitri

"We will discuss this when he get home. Please be kind enough to manifest the key." Said Fate. Dimitri shook his head no.

"I'm not making the key until you say we're going to be Justice Friends." Said Dimitri

"That is now an option, Dimitri, no manifest the key." Said Fate wishing his voice wasn't shaking so much.

"Not until you say we can be Justice Friends." Said Dimitri stubbornly.

"Not an option. Create the key." Said Fate with equal stubbornness.

"Not until you say yes." Said Dimitri standing up on his tiptoes in an attempt to make himself large and intimidating.

"I will never allow that, Dimitri, now create the key so we can go home." Said Fate losing his patience. They needed to get home. They needed to hide, to plan, to do something because he was not going to let the League take him or his brothers away.

"I'm making a key but it's gonna be for me. You can find your own way home Mr. Bossy Head." Said Dimitri sticking his tongue out childishly.

"Dimitri Lehnsherr don't you dare!" said Fate. Dimitri blew him a raspberry and created a key in his hand. A door grew up from the ground in front of them and Dimitri entered the door. Quicker than the eye could see Fate tumbled in after him. The sounds of a very upset reality warper echoed through the night as the door melted back into the frosting from whence it came.