Published: May 07, 2015

Title: A Dark Speedster: 74X-2D89
Chapter Seven:
Hit and Run
Word Count:
2,999
Summary:
Wally West doesn't have a great family life much to contrary belief. All his mother wants is for a normal family. His father blames him for everything wrong. In all honestly, though, he's dealing with. However, sometimes it's just too much. This night is father is hitting harder than ever and Wally is actually afraid. He runs to his friend's city but getting in contact with the bird is harder than normal. For there Everything goes down hill. A few days later, Wally wakes up in a hospital.

Recap: Rudy is in league with some shady people that are worried things will get back to them if Wally's disappearance gets back to them. The Team, tired of being kept out of the investigation, has searched Wally's room to find a second laptop; they also realize how much they don't know about their friend. Later on, Robin takes the laptop home to start searching through the device for any clues. Rachael might have a photo of Wally the night he the gala and Rudy and Mary make a decision concerning their son.


November 3rd
Unknown Location

Benjamin Turner looked over the file that was given to him by a stranger earlier that day. The courier had been hired by Rudolph West, a client that he had been speaking with the day before. Turner or rather Bronze Tiger was a very successful hired hand.

The file wasn't large, picture of his target, a small bio, a short timeline, and finally a few possible places to start looking.

Wallace West, Kid Flash
Red hair, green eyes, freckles
5'11" and 185lbs

He was last seen leaving the West's house October 8th around 10 P.M. He was hurt badly before he left. He's probably healed by now. His mentor was informed of the disappearance on the 28th of October. The League is looking for him but they were given the wrong information. You are not. Find him first and eliminate him.

Check Gotham and Star city, he has friends in both cities. Check hospitals outside of Central and Keystone, Wallace would want to keep things low key.

When the task is complete call and the rest of your payment will be fulfilled.

Usually, he had a smaller search area but he wasn't deterred especially for the money this West fellow was dishing out. The age of the target, nineteen years of age, might have been unsettling but that feeling went away quickly knowing that the target had superpowers.

Tiger loved a challenge.

xxxxxx

November 3rd
King's Research Facility, Unknown Location

While the schedule was restricting by the end of the second week 74X had it down. Wake up, warm up, breakfast and then training in the yard with the team until lunch. Both meals like dinner were thirty minutes long though it was quickly determined that 74X needed carbs and sugars throughout the day along with the meals. The guards and doctors that monitored the team would carry energy bars for the speedster after the first time the boy collapsed from the lack of food.

After lunch, the team separated for specialized training or course study depending on the day. Two days a week, the specialized training was cut short and the team was given three hours of free time in the lounge and/or courtyard before dinner.

74X enjoyed the days when he had those three hours off.

Last time he had time off, 74X had looked at the photo of the flower in the lounge and decided that the "Iris" he remembered wasn't a flower. He was sure it was a name. Name to who he didn't know but he tried to push that away. He was done searching for information but he wouldn't pass on anything that turned up in his head.

Today, the sun was still hiding down beneath the mountains that surrounded the facility leaving the air cool. Despite the cool air, sweat drenched the five patients as they worked on their seventh try through the obstacle course in the past three hours.

The course had been designed by Dr. King. The team had to get through the entire demented thing as one group without triggering any of the bells.

Harder than it sounds.

They had not yet succeeded and Dr. King had warned if they didn't finish it soon then they'd work through lunch. By the way the others got their third wind it was apparent that it was not an idle threat. 74X was starving he could only image that the others were just as famished.

However hard the training was though it did give some insight to the facility, it's owner, and his teammates.

SR3 said that they took down the bad guys because the supposed good guys weren't getting the job done but the course wasn't designed for some street clean up. So the bad guys they would be dealing with weren't gang bangers and muggers. Muggers didn't have security systems like this. Hell, 74X doubted that drug dealers would have security systems like the ones they were put up against. JQK suggested the course was just about stealth but 74X knew training exercises and there was always more than one reason to do them. He didn't question why he knew that.

So the team would be dealing with high class bad guys, one that would actually be a challenge for the super powered team of heroes. That wasn't a bad thing, but 74X wished he knew more about their possible missions and about the good they could do as a team.

Dr. Raymon King, himself, directed and watched their exercises with the help of a few other members of his staff but it was clear he wasn't just watching – he was calling the shots. Such an interest in their little team, confirmed that their team or unit was the only ones that left the facility. Everyone else, like SR3 stated, was used for study.

If there was anyone else. They were guarded constantly and everything was timed so that they never ran into another unit. No matter how many patients there were or not there was certainly a large amount of workers.

Which meant the team was never alone. Even in the lounge there was a guard posted. What made it more disconcerting was that the guards and the doctors and workers never talked to the team, they only gave orders making them seem less than human.

They were always watched though; which meant that if they didn't want them to leave it was unlikely that they would. Honestly, 74X didn't want to leave – here he could be a hero, if he understood correctly. For some reason that just felt right. It felt like the right thing to do. Even if it was taking a while.

74X gained the most information from his teammates, though.

It was clear that while the team was a team it wasn't bond together at the core. It made the team obstacle course difficult but possible. They just had to figure out how everyone worked together. The others were obviously still testing the waters with him – some more than others.

For instant, 96P didn't seem to like him nor dislike. It was clear that 96P followed orders best and he'd help 74X only and only if doing so doesn't cause him to disobey any of those orders. Maybe the brute just needed some more time to get use to the new kid. It was also important to the young man that you called him a witch or wizard and not a magician which he apparently associated with a street performer.

The bright lights that 96P created, however, did not over shadow their leader's ability. SR3 was strong. Super strong. 74X wasn't sure just how strong but it was certainly a sight to see the lean, average looking guy toss a truck aside without any effort. 74X made a note not to get on the guy's bad side. So far he was pretty easy to get along with – as long as you didn't put the team in danger. The team came first for the leader which 74X figured resonated from his days in gangs.

Right after the team, for SR3, came XYZ's general health. It was obvious the boy cared for the girl like family. 74X guessed they had been on the team the longest. They're closeness was almost ironic as they seem like polar opposites even XYZ's were the opposite powers of SR3. Instead of body, she had enhanced mind power.

To what degree she has telekinesis though, is unknown. Dr. King is working on finding her limits but for now she works with what she has. What she does know, though, she assures she knows completely. When he learned of her powers he had asked if she could go in his mind and find his lost memories – something he did not trust the witch to do for one reason or another. She looked sad, "JQK asked the same thing. I'm sorry, 74X, but I can't. I don't know enough. It's too dangerous. I could give you brain damage if I don't do it right. Getting into someone's mind…it's is very careful work." Seeing the look on her face, he was telling her not to worry about it before she even finished her explanation. He was, he tried to assure her, getting more and more used to the idea of moving on without the darn things.

The two got along well on and off the training field.

Surprisingly, 74X trained well with JQK as well. While they seem to get along well, he could feel her guarded personality not only to him but to the others well and assumed it would be difficult to work with her on the field where trust was essential. However, She disproved that theory right away when on the first day of training she had turned back to help the team at the expense of the failing the job. It seemed her trust issues did not involve the team but herself. 74X could understand; her power - contact with her palms created combustion explosions - was not only powerful but dangerous, and she did not want to harm her teammates.

Which is kind of where 74X is himself. He knows what a team is supposed to be and at the moment this is the only one he's got. He doesn't know who his family is but these guys are proving to be pretty comfortable to be around.

"Look out!" SR3 shouted as he stepped in besides 74X and caught a large boulder falling from the crane above. "Pay attention, kid." He barked as he tossed the thing ahead of them making a bridge over the cavern that 74X had been instructed to inspect. 74X notes that the nickname doesn't him even though SR3 can't be much older than himself and 74X himself is certainly not a kid.

"I am." 74X counted as the five of them crossed the boulder bridge towards the next obstacle. A large wall of rope to climb while dodging a machine that shot beanbags at them which by the way hurt a lot more than they should for fabric filled with beans.

xxxxxx

November 4th
LM Magazine Headquarters, Gotham

Getting the ATM camera feed was easier than it should have been, but Rachael wasn't complaining. It was another late night for the reporter as she shifted through the footage for the mysterious Wally. She had found the right night and was at the moment fast-forwarding towards the right time. She hadn't remembered exactly what time Richard Greyson had taken that phone call that night, but she had narrowed it down to an hour time frame.

Surprisingly enough for a decade of mobile phones, several people had used that payphone within the time frame Rachael had determined. Three of the seven were female so Rachael crossed them off her list right away. One man was on the phone for nearly triple the time that Greyson had been on the phone so Rachael eliminated him as well. While she crossed him off the list she took off the third man as well determining he was much too old to be talking to Greyson by payphone. The heir had spoken to Wally as if they were on even ground, which meant more of a friend than a mentor or teacher. The last two, Rachael thought, could both be Wally.

The first one of the two, was no older than twenty-two, had walked up the payphone only to hang up a few moments later in obvious frustration. He had stormed off in the direction of the diner on the street. The second possibility had come into the frame a few minutes later. He was hurt, badly, and seems to struggle for the needed amount of change to make his phone call. It too was short, but instead of anger the young man seemed devastated and utterly lost. He hung up the phone and started to make his way towards the left in the opposite direction as the other man.

The second man would make a better story, Rachael could see the headline: Wayne Heir Hangs Up on Bleeding Friend, but it could be either of them.

Taking some still shots from the ATM footage, Rachael got decent head shots of both men. They weren't the best quality but if someone knew them she thought they would recognize them. Instead of taking the pictures to Greyson and asking which one was Wally because the boy could obviously lie or simply deny it all, she decided to take another trip down to that street corner. The diner was open twenty-four/seven; maybe someone there had seen either of the young men.

Rachael shut down her cubical and made the drive in easy time. Even Gotham traffic wasn't bad in the middle of the night. With the two photos in hand, pistol in her purse, she parked, locked her car, and entered the diner.

There were only three waitresses in the main room, that Rachael could see, all carrying for two tables. One of the tables sat a middle age couple in an argument of some kind and the other was filled with four teenagers just getting out of a late movie if their talk was anything to go by. One of the waitresses came to door as Rachael entered.

"Just you tonight, ma'am?" The girl asked. Her name tag read Carol. She looked young and bright eyed. Rachael guessed she didn't work the night shift often.

"I'm not eating tonight," Rachael stated clearly throwing Carol off, "I'm actually here to see if anyone recognize either of these two men?" Rachael presented Carol the photos. Carefully, Carol took the photos studying them.

"Um…I don't know this guy," She says giving back the second photo, "but this one looks like Randy."

"Randy?" Rachael asks surprised.

"Yeah, let me go get him." Before Rachael could say anything else the girl disappeared into the back. A few seconds later she returns with the angry young man from the photo trailing behind her. He's dressed as a cook.

"You lookin' for me?" He asks, a strong Italian accent.

Rachael shakes her head, "Sorry, I'm looking for someone else," She hands him the photo of the hurt man, "do you recognize him?"

Randy takes the photo and looks it over. In a very short time he hands it back to her, "Yeah, I've seen him before. Comes in here from time to time with some rich kid. He eats a lot, only reason I know him. There's only two of us in the back this late, whenever he's here I wish there was six of us." Randy grimaces in the memories, but Rachael can't stop smiling.

As soon as he said he had recognized the boy, she had removed a notepad and a pen from her purse and started to right things down. "Do you know anything about him? Or the 'rich kid' he's with?" Was Richard Greyson that rich kid? She wants to asks but doesn't because she knows better than to influence his answer.

"I don't know much, the rich kid always has shades and baggy clothes on. Only reason I know he's rich is cause he almost always foots the bill. Uh…Tonja would know more. She's always their waitress, but she's not here tonight."

"Do you know how I could reach Tonja?"

Randy shrugged, "I can't give you any info like that, but you can come back when she's working. She works this weekend, nights usually." Rachael thanked him. Two more days she might have everything she needs.

xxxxxx

November 6th
King Research Facility, Unknown Location

The two nurses and Dr. King have connected about twenty wires to his bare skin and order him to run. Slowly, they remind him. He chuckled at that, remembering how by using his powers he had destroyed the three previous treadmills. They had wanted to know how far he could go but hadn't been able to find his limit – Dr. King hypothesized that there was no limit. Now, though, they want to study him and not his powers. So he runs all the while pushing back whatever it is that makes him feel so good.

They ask him questions as he runs on the treadmill. "Have you looked through the books in the lounge?"

"Yeah." He confirms, "Got a lot of them in there. All sorts of subjects."

King doesn't really seem to hear him. "What book was your favorite?"

"Understanding Physics by Jordan Keller." 74X answers his feet pounding with the rhythm of his speech. It's hypnotic to say the least. He could picture getting lost to sound, to just keep running.

"Interesting. Do you feel like you're moving forward?"

"I'm not moving anywhere. I'm on a treadmill." 74X answers with a grin. He couldn't help himself.

King might not be amused but the blond nurse behind him found it funny. At least someone appreciates his humor. "I mean, 74X, are you handling the fact that we are not focusing on recovering your memories?"

"I knew that." 74X shrugs his shoulders, "I think it's like you said before – for the best. It's better this way. It's not as painful. I'm tired of pain."

King arches an eyebrow. "Do you feel a lot of pain?" 74X shakes his head with his lips thin. Why had he said that? Something told him he hadn't meant the frustration surrounding his memories but what other pain was there? "Well, I'm glad you are moving past the pain of shattered memories and focusing on your recovery. It will make the process all that much easier."

The strain of running is starting to show. "One more question. What is your goal here?"

Surprisingly 74X had no problem answering that. "It's getting better – stronger, faster – what it is I need to help people. I want to help people. Life isn't about yourself, your know? A measure of a man is in those that he has helped stand not in how long he can stand alone.


A/N: Just finished finals! Yay for that. Also I wanted to thank everyone that favorite and followed this story over the past few weeks. A lot of thanks to RainToLullaby and thebestoftherest for their reviews! I'm super excited about it all. However, I won't be able to update for a while. I'm going on a trip for a few weeks and won't be able to get online much. Once I get home though I'll get the next chapter up so look forward to that.

I'm still working out how this story ends but it looks like it's going to be about 18-20 chapters total. So that's certainly my longest story ever. That's something I wasn't prepared for. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the story.