Light came streaming in through the reedy curtains as the sun gradually rose from the east, the light entering the room met the figure of a redhead teenager. Said teenager's eyes flitted around under his pale eyelids as he began to wake. The sound of an alarm erupted in the massive room and a lazy hand stretched out and hit the snooze button in hopes of a few more minutes of blissful sleep.
But it was too late as his thoughts grew more aware and more difficult to control. Slowly, well slow for someone with super speed, Wally West stood up and dressed himself in the futuristic jumpsuit. Taking a few extra milliseconds, the sides of Wally's lips turned upwards as he stared at his reflection in the standup mirror.
He totally pulled off jumpsuits.
Noting that the time was 7:00 a.m. exactly, the fastest boy alive (or so he assumed, he hadn't heard of any other current speedsters), arrived in the kitchen. Nonchalantly, Wally gave a nod of the head as he passed a pajama clad Dick reading at the counter.
A full minute passed before Dick spoke out, "Guess what?"
Shoving food to the side of the side of his mouth, Wally replied, "What?"
"M'gann and Connor, and possibly Kaldur are coming."
Wally dropped the spoon full of Fruit Loops with a clatter, "For real? How'd you manage that?"
A mischievous smirk tugged at the Boy Wonder's lips, "Email. It was a piece of cake."
"What time will they get here? Do they know where we are? And do you think they ever found out about your secret identity?"
"If not I just told them, they'll arrive here around noon."
Wally cheerfully reminisced and absentmindedly spoke, "Schway. What's the plan until then?"
"See if Inque's made any moves," Dick paused, "Just hang out."
"I call chilling in the pool," Wally finished his breakfast, dumped the bowls in the sink, and then the colorless blur passed by Dick's chair and caused the younger boy's chair to wobble. Unfazed, Dick righted his chair and counted to three inside his head.
One Mississippi, two Mississippi…
"Back, coming?"
"I'm good."
"Suit yourself," Wally shrugged carelessly and within a second Dick heard the faint sound of a splash and a yell, "Cannonball!"
Carefully setting the book he had previously been engaged with, Dick took quiet steps towards the master bedroom. The grand staircase did not creak under his weight, much to the relief of the thirteen year old boy. After crossing paths with the door to his own bedroom, he arrived at the massive doors of the master bedroom. Pleased to see that the door was slightly ajar, the younger boy poked his head inside to gander at the slumbering Bruce Wayne.
Instead of the elderly man resting on the bed, there was nothing but pillows and blankets neatly made. Sighing and pushing the rest of the door open, The Boy Wonder turned quickly on his heel and began to head to the only other place the elderly Bruce would be.
The Batcave.
His fingers brushed the strand of gray hair out of his view and straightened his aching back. Overlooking the tracer's progress, he found that Inque was not on a predictable path. Her movements became unpredictable and inconstant. Grimacing Bruce turned towards his old work table, memories found their way to Bruce's mind but the elder man pushed them away. He was good at that; he'd been pushing things away all his life.
Letting his fingers glide over the cold metal surface, a creak of the door alerted Bruce to a guest. Albeit the boy had quick and light steps, he couldn't sneak behind the focused man. He heard the curious breathes as the boy began to creep closer.
"Dick?"
The boy let out a heavy sigh and plopped down into the comfortable chair seated in front of the Bat Computer, "You mad?"
"Of course not, why?" he replied turning towards the 13 year old boy
Glancing up at his mentor he saw his relaxed expression, "I dunno, I guess I assumed you'd be mad that I contacted the team…"
Staying silent, Bruce observed his young ward. His eyes were sparkling with curiosity but dark circles rested below them which made him look older then he really was. Unrelenting scars were already forming from previous battles on the boy and Bruce's eyes almost filled with water.
Shaking them away in a nanosecond he responded, "I'm not angry, confused more than angry."
"I know that this future isn't what Wally and I are going to experience. It's just that seeing that the team could survive without us gives us a sense of inner peace, Y'know what I mean?" Dick's eyes looked for some understanding in Bruce's light blue eyes. The older man turned back to his work table.
"Of course I do," Bruce said, "You better get ready, they'll be here soon."
Dick let out a displeased 'humph' and marched towards the stairs. Bruce's eyes followed him as he went and he muttered under his breath, "Sorry."
Reaching for a tool, Bruce began work on his new project.
Floating carelessly above the water on a blow up raft, Wally's fingers created a ripple in the calm water. He had been basking in the sunlight for a little bit of an hour now and the all too familiar feeling of boredom began to overwhelm the speedster.
"Wally!"
The sudden call of his name left him surprised and underwater. Dick watched as the raft tipped over and how Wally created a terrible display of swimming. He couldn't help but let out a laugh; he clutched his sides and wiped a tear out of his eye.
"Dude you need to get better at being aware," the younger boy chocked out between his fits of laughter
Using his upper body strength, the soaking wet Wally pulled himself up and out of the pool. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," he grumbled
He threw a dry towel at his soaked friend he finally calmed down and Dick said, "Get dressed; they're going to get here soon."
"Score!" Wally grinned and rushed off
"I swear, that grin gets bigger every time," Dick muttered, following Wally's path into the mansion.
The bioship flew through the air with ease carrying two passengers. The sky was clear but inside the ship, uneasiness was a shared feeling between the two superheroes.
"I called Aqualad-" Megan began
"I thought he became Aquaman," interrupted Connor, "Isn't that why he left the team?"
She smiled, "Yes, anyways, I called Kaldur and asked him to join us."
Curiosity caused Connor to ask, "What'd he say?"
"We're going to pick him up," M'gann beamed
A smile graced Connor's lips, "It's like a family reunion."
The smile faded from M'gann's features, "Almost."
The comment left Connor silent, Megan turned back to the controls as they headed towards Mount Justice. Connor didn't quite understand her at times, he guessed that the reason they drifted apart was the fall out of the team. "Thank you Artemis," he thought
Connor closed his eyes, when he reopened them he took in the sight of the bay doors opening for the bioship to land at good old Mount Justice. Or what's left of it.
"We're here," he heard M'gann say
Walking into the Mountain brought back both positive and negative memories for the clone of the original Superman and the niece of Martian Manhunter, their steps echoed throughout the mountain as they went to the zeta beam teleporter. They arrived and as if planned the new Aquaman emerged from the bright light.
"Kaldur!" M'gann ran over to her aquatic friend
He embraced her with warm arms and said, "M'gann, it is so nice to see you," he let go of the Martian and smiled, "Along with you Connor."
The now Superman grumbled but then embraced the Atlantean, "Let's go," he muttered after pulling away with a sly smile on his face.
"What time is it?"
"Eleven thirty-eight."
"Seriously?"
"Yep," Robin, now with his shades in place, rolled his eyes at his friend's impatient nature. Old reruns of Law & Order: SVU filled the room with noise but Wally still remained bored. Those shows didn't usually entertain the speedster, but for the Boy Wonder they had an opposite effect.
A ringing sound vibrated throughout the house and the two boys immediately recognized it as the doorbell.
"I'll get it!" Wally shouted
"Wait-"Robin sighed, KF was already gone. Begrudgingly he ran after his excited best friend.
Dick's feet slipped from underneath him as he rounded the corner, he caught himself in time to witness three older versions of his friends.
"Holy age Batman," he said, he ran up to them and made the group engage in a group hug.
Bruce smiled at the sight when he entered the front area.
Dick led everyone to the sitting room after they finished hugging. Dick and Wally sat on one of the three couches in the room with Kaldur, M'gann, and Connor sitting diagonally from them on the other couches.
Looking at the three, M'gann had changed the least. The only difference was her height; she was at least a foot taller than when Dick and Wally had last seen her. Her skin was still an olive color and her red hair contrasted beautifully.
Superboy was smiling at them–which confused them both—and he wore thick rimmed glasses just as the man before him wore. If Clark and Superboy were in the same room together right now, Dick was sure he wouldn't be able to tell a difference besides the shorter haircut Superboy sported. He wore what looked like his combat boots with long pants and a button up shirt.
Wally turned his attention to…Aqualad? Kaldur obviously wasn't a lad anymore so it's a possibility he has his own title now. Maybe he's now Aquaman? Wally gave him a confused look and saw that the Atlantean had developed wrinkles on his forehead and slight ones at the edges of his eyes. He wore a version of his old costume with some alterations, like the bright orange that replaced the red that was once a part of his costume.
Breaking the silence, Megan smiled and said, "You both look exactly the same as I remember."
"You too beautiful," Wally winked and to his surprise she laughed
"And act the same too," Megan said, "Why are you still wearing your glasses Robin?"
He shrugged, "I figured I'd dress the same just to bring back memories."
"Are you both well?" Kaldur questioned politely
"We're great!" Wally said, "So are you Aquaman now?"
"Yes, I am the successor of King Orin," he replied
Connor coughed loudly, Dick looked at him and asked, "How about you Supey? What's new?"
"Not much, I—I have a name now; Connor. I'm also the new Superman," he said happily
"Really?" Robin questioned, "That's great Connor!"
Color filled his cheeks as he looked away.
The room fell under a comfortable silence as everyone relaxed, Wally noticed the missing presence of the female archer on the team and asked, "Where's Artie?"
Dick noticed the subtle signs of the three people in front of him becoming uncomfortable; M'gann looked away and refused to make eye contact with the two teenagers, Connor did the same, and Kaldur took on a somber expression.
Kaldur looked at Wally in the eyes and then Dick's.
"What happened?"
Bruce took the opportunity to stroll into the sitting room and he spoke, "A big mess. Artemis got into trouble with some major villains."
Connor felt anger bubble up, "She compromised Mount Justice's location."
Dick and Wally's jaws dropped simultaneously.
"What?" Wally asked, dumbfounded, "I knew she was annoying but I never thought…"
"Tell us how, when we go back we will prevent it from happening," Dick stated
"You should not intervene with the way things are supposed to happen," Kaldur sighed
"Who said this was how it was supposed to happen?" Wally asked
"Even if you wanted to change it, I don't know how that would happen. We barely understand what happened as it is," Megan informed
Bruce narrowed his eyes, "If this is too much information for you both to handle, I'll ask them to leave."
Robin crossed his arms, "Please don't do that. We just don't understand why you guys don't want to take the opportunity to prevent things like this to happen."
Connor found himself agreeing with his younger friends, "Avoiding her from hurting us is something we should want."
Everyone was getting upset so Dick attempted to diffuse the conflict bomb, "Look, it's not something we have to decide right here and now. Let's talk about something else; fighting isn't going to get us anywhere."
The corners of Bruce's lips tilted upward, he excused himself to give them time to talk. "He'll be a good leader," he thought and closed the door behind him.
A/N: Well, it's nice to finally be able to update for all of you lovely people! I'M YOUNG JUSTICE DEPRIVED… they didn't air the episode…what the eff? Anyways, I don't have much to say besides review please. Those of you who review make my day! Press. The. Review. Button. Pwease? :D
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