WOW! I love all of you, my little communists! SO... here's the next chapter!

I own nothing. :(

There came the cock of a gun, and Barry slowly looked up from his nephew's face and saw-

"Luthor," he growled.

Diana swore as she saw the hectic, frantic children, police officers, and reporters running to-and-thro. J'onn had flown off earlier, and Wonder Woman, despite having the Man-of-Steel and a pissy Thangorian with a mace to back her up, was having trouble keeping everyone calm.

Mrs. Goodill, a short and fat woman with white hair, ran up to Amazonian princess. "We're missing a child!" she screeched.

Diana's eyes grew wide. "What!"

"We're missing a-"

"I heard you!" Diana blurted. "How did this happen?"

"In-in all of the ruckus, he-he must have slipped away!"

Wonder Woman wanted to slap the woman into a coma, but she didn't. Instead, she flew over to Superman, who was talking to the Police Chief. She grabbed his arm tightly. "Superman! We're missing a kid."

The man's eyes grew abnormally wide. "Who?"

Mrs. Goodill ran up. "Wally West!"

Batman looked up from the timer- 00:02:13:57- at J'onn, who was landing next to Green Lantern. "Where is Flash?" the Martian asked.

Green Lantern's eyes grew wide. "Damn," he hissed. "He- he ran inside. I dunno why."

Batman growled and was about to go into the orphanage, but J'onn grabbed his bicep. "Bruce," he said, "you have two minutes to get out of here. You are a human, and therefore perceptable to the same fate as a human. Go."

Batman growled, but didn't argue. As he dashed off, he turned and yelled at Green Lantern, "FIND HIM!"

Green Lantern nodded and ran into the building. J'onn eyed the clock.

00:01:14:32

Barry stood slowly, pulling Wally behind his legs, as Luthor pressed the cold metal of the gun into his forehead. "Lex..." he warned. "Let me get the kid out of here-"

"No."

Flash growled, "Lex, I'm gonna-"

"Gonna 'what'?" Lex laughed as the speedster grimaced. "You can't beat the bullet at point-blank, can you?"

"You don't want to blow up, do you?"

Luthor smiled. "Oh, I won't die, I can assure you," he said, using his free hand to pull down the neck of his shirt. "Lookie here, Flash. Five inches of pure titanian steel. I'm not going to die, but you are."

Luthor pulled on a thick helmet with only a long slit for eyes. "You're going to die in here, Flash. Sure, I'll get banged up, but you're going to go up in flames."

Wally whimpered and hugged his uncle's legs. "Luthor," Flash's voice held a lot more angst at the child's touch. "Lex, Lex, please... Just let me get him outta' here... Please..."

Lex scowled under the mask. "What?" he asked, his voice muffled by the thick metal protection. "And let the reputation of the Justice League stand? If it weren't for that brat, this place would have blown with all of those little twerps inside. But no..." He chuckled. "I live. You die. That kid dies. The Justice League is ruined." Luthor's eyes held a wild gleam. "I can't die. I'm infused with a self-healing and super-strength gene... Steroids on steroids!" He laughed at his own joke.

Wally pushed himself farther into his uncle's legs, and Barry put his hand on the boy's head, fingering his nephew's orange locks. They were long and curly and soft, just like Iris's... Barry bit back a sob. Now was not the time to cry.

It might be the last time he saw his nephew.

Okay, crying was approperiate.

Suddenly, a large green fist threw Luthor into the opposite wall. Green Lantern burst into the room and threw a shield over himself, Flash, and Wally. "What're you doing?" Flash was about to ask, but then-

BOOM!

Mrs. Goodill shrieked and fainted as the orphanage exploded. "Great Hera..." Diana gasped. Superman, Hawkgirl, Batman, and Wonder Woman all gathered and watched as, miles away, J'onn tried to contain the explosion.

It was huge for such a small bomb.

J'onn's body was tiny, but even at such a distance, you could see his long arms being stretched to their limits as the bubble in which the explosion resided grew larger and larger.

Then, like a water balloon, it popped.

Hot ash and flames flew out, knocking the Martian from the air. The numerous tongues and tendrils of fire and smoke flew out, lighting up the sky. The heroes' eyes mirrored the flames.

Slowly, the members' eyes met. Batman gulped. Hawkgirl paled and said, "But- Flash a-and Green Lantern a-and..." she looked down at her mace, which hung limply from the strap that wrapped around her wrist. "...the kid..."

Casualties.

There had been three- two members, and a kid.

Batman swore under his breath and hit the nearest thing- which happened to be a light pole. It heaved and buckled, a large dent in its side. Superman's eyes were filled with tears. Hawkgirl collapsed onto the ground. Wonder Woman just stood there, shocked.

There had never been casualties before.

Everyone was silent for several long moments.

No one moved.

No one breathed.

No one even dared to blink.

Then, their communicators sprung to life. J'onn's voice came on. "We need an ambulance... Now."

Barry woke up on his stomach, moaning. Everything was hot and murky with black smoke. Green Lantern was next to him, unconscious. His suit was ripped open at his left, and his skin was busted all over his left hand, where he kept his ring. His whole arm was covered in blood, and his face was contorted in pain.

Good, Barry thought. At least he can feel it all.

His head was foggy, and his skin felt all raw. He saw that his suit, too, was torn and smoking from the explosion. He and Green Lantern lay in a once-building, a small crater their bed. Barry's skin felt as if it had been ripped off, thrown in a furnace, and then taped back onto, only to be rubbed with sandpaper.

But he was alive.

Alive.

Wait-

Luthor!

He sat up and looked around, but the man was nowhere to be seen.

"He did survive," Flash growled.

Then, there came a whimper.

Flash's eyes lit up, and he remembered everything.

He turned and saw Green Lantern sitting up, holding a bruised and battered, bleeding seven-year-old boy with bright orange hair. The boy was cradled like an infant in John's arms, his face holding no emotion. He was unconscious... Unconscious... Please, dear God, Barry begged and pleaded as he crawled over to sit next to Green Lantern, please, dear God, help him to be unconscious...

Flash put a hand on the boy's neck.

There was a pulse.

Barry's shoulders shook with relieved sobs as he pulled the boy from Green Lantern's arms and into his. "Thank God!" he cried openly, kissing the boy's mucky hair. "Thank you, dear God! Wally..." He stroked the boy's hair from his ash-covered face. "Wally..." he said, putting a hand on the boy's cheek. "C'mon, Wally... Wake up. Wake up... Wake up, Wally... C'mon, kid... C'mon!"

Green Lantern looked sullenly at his friend. Flash didn't even acknowledge the extent of his own injuries. It looked as if one of his legs was broken from falling during the explosion. His right arm was bruised pretty well, and he had a huge, bloody welt on his head where his mask had ripped, revealing light blond hair. The kid, though... John shook his head. The kid should be dead. That blast was Hell for him, and he was practically an alien! Not to mention a full-grown man. Flash had hyper-healing, and he was a grown man (even if he didn't normally act it), but he looked pretty beat, too.

The kid...

His left arm was mangled. His right leg was bleeding heavily, and there was a scrape from his left eyebrow to the corner of his lip. His hand was crushed, and his knees were scraped up pretty bad, before and after the explosion.

Thank God, indeed.

J'onn came through the smoke. He, too, looked battered, his 'X' ripped up, and several scratches on his large green chest. He eyed the boy in Flash's arms. "Who..."

John shrugged. "Some kid-"

"He's not some kid!" Flash snapped suddenly, with such a furocity that Green Lantern jumped. He looked at his teammate, his friend, with wide eyes. "He's my nephew..." Flash said quietly as he gazed at the boy.

The child coughed once, small.

Then again.

Then again, loud and violent.

Barry helped him sit up, and the kid emptied his stomach of all ice-cream. His eyes were fogged over, and his body sagged as he looked up at Flash. "U-Uncle Barry?"

Flash nodded, licking his lips as he bit back more tears. "Yeah, Wally... It's okay... It's me. Uncle Barry's here... He's got'cha... He's got'cha..."

The ambulance, along with the other four heroes, arrived shortly. Flash put Wally onto a stretcher, and the boy was about to be whisked off when Barry grabbed the ER's arm. He turned. "Look, I know you're a hero, but we gotta get this kid to the hospital!" the man said, exasperated.

"Can- can I ride with him?"

The man's eyes widened at Flash's question. "Uh... Uh, yeah. Sure."

Flash opened one of the doors and hopped in, taking a seat next to Wally. He grabbed the boy's hand, and the doors closed before the ambulance ran off, lights and horns blaring.

Everyone looked at Green Lantern, who was downing a bottle of water as he sat on a large piece of debris. He held up a hand as he caught his breath. Batman ignored it.

"Who was that kid?"

"W- Wally West," John gasped.

Everyone waited while he took another swig. He gaped up at them, still not quite sure what they were all so curious about. Shayera gave an exasperated sigh/growl. "John, how does Barry know him?"

"Wha- oh! He's his nephew."

"WHAT?"

HA HA HA HA HA! Another cliffhanger!

Last chapter coming up 2morrow! SO BE READY! (P.S.- if u LOOOOOVE Wally West, like I do, look up 'Wallace's Nightmare' under COMICS- JUSTICE LEAGUE

TEASER!

" 'I'll find a job, Wally. I'll find a job out of state. I'll get us some tickets. I'll quit the League. I'll quit being Flash, Wally. We can go, start somewhere new. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Wally nodded. Barry smiled. "I'll quit. I- I'll send in a resignation form first thing in the morning..."

GASP!

Flash can't stop being the FLASH, can he?

WELL READ ON AND FIND OUT MY LITTLE COMMUNISTS!

I'm evil.

I KNOW!