Disclaimer: No matter how much time passes, I still don't own Young Justice. Never will, because the series died.
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Mist: I am soooooooooo insanely sorry for not updated in such a long time, but I can explain.
Whistle: In the time since we last updated Mist has started university, lost five family members to cancer, and went into a temporary depression.
Mist: So you can see why I haven't been around...
Whistle: But we're back now.
Mist: Also, KN101 may be updated soon. Hopefully.
Whistle: Midterms is on Tuesday and Mist is FAR from ready
Mist: wish me luck
Whistle: Enjoy the chapter. Let us know if we've gotten rusty.
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Chapter 8: Coming up blank
"is this the place?" Wally asked as he looked around excitedly at the place.
"Sure is," Barry said with a laugh, seeming quite glad at how happy Wally was.
Wally jumped in excitement, this place was beautiful. The camp-grounds surrounded a large sparkling lake. Many log cabins lined the lake, all identical in appearance except being numbered from 1+. Each cabin was made of medium tone wood with white and orange painted accents on the windows, roof, and door. In the distance he could see a smallish mountain and tall trees that made want to go exploring. The sun was shining and the sky was a vivid clear blue that he wasn't used to seeing in the city. It was truly magical.
"This is the cabin we'll be staying in," Barry explained as he pointed out one of the cabins, "Number 8 -can you remember that?"
"Yes," wally replied, trying to hide his annoyance.
"You two done talking?" Iris asked them, "Then help us unpack."
They both turned to see Iris and Bart carrying supplies. "Be right there!"
^o^
Later that day, after they finished unpacking of course, Wally had convinced his uncle to go on a walk with him. Just him. Because of everything that had happened lately he hadn't felt particularly safe... but he wanted to get over his pathetic fears. He knew his uncle wasn't bad, he knew it in his heart. Even still he needed to talk to his uncle about his fears -particularly about the situation with his friends.
"Is everything alright Wally, you're dragging behind?" Barry asked, concerned.
"Its fine, everything's fine..." Wally mumbled, trying to figure out how to start. "I just... I wanted to talk about what's been going on..."
"There's nothing to talk about," Barry said sternly.
Wally flinched, but persisted. "Please, don't do this anymore," Wally pleaded. "You can't just silence me every time I want to say something you don't care about. That's what Hartley used to do..."
"Don't compare me to that monster!" Barry snapped, causing Wally to flinch away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm sorry."
"It's ok..." Wally mumbled.
"You're right, we need to talk more," Barry told his nephew, trying to figure out what to say to help his nephew feel better -and forget about the delinquents. "Let's talk."
Wally relaxed, glad that his uncle was going to hear him out. "Thank you," he sighed. "I want you to stop hating my friends. You're judging them when you don't even know them -they care about me and are trying to actually be nice to me!"
"They aren't your friends," Barry frowned, then an idea popped in his head. "You're real friends are the team, and the kids you used to hang out with out-side of being a hero. Most of them you've known since kindergarten. Do none of them mean anything to you anymore?"
"The team hasn't bothered with me since my rescue, even Roy and he wasn't even grounded, they don't like me anymore," Wally said sadly. "And those kids you had Bart force me to spend lunch with? I don't even recognize them, but from what I know I hate them."
Barry sighed and shook his head. "The team doesn't hate you, Wally," Barry told him, "They just aren't sure what to think about everything. It's been hard on everyone to see you change so drastically from who you used to be. As for your memory... I really wish you didn't have to deal with that. You've been through enough -that's why I want to keep you safe."
"But why does that have to mean keeping me away from my friends?" Wally sobbed out as he started to cry from frustration and sadness.
"Wally..." Barry sighed before picking up his nephew and sprinting a little farther into the woods. He didn't want Iris or Bart to see what was going on and get the wrong idea. Once Barry was certain that they were far enough away he put Wally down and tried to calm him down.
Wally had become a little frightened when his uncle had grabbed him. It wasn't something he was used to having happen and he didn't like it. But why did his uncle drag him further into the woods? Wally didn't understand.
"Please don't cry, everything's alright," Barry told him.
Wally looked up at his uncle. "Why do you hate them?" he asked him. "Why can't you just accept them?"
Barry sighed again. "I'm trying to protect you."
^o^
Wally had tried to get his uncle to say more, but he refused -Making the long walk out to the waterfall and extremely silent one. Silent and depressing and frustrating to no end. It mad him sad that his uncle was ignoring him, he didn't understand why his uncle hated his... his what again? Who did his uncle hate again?
...
...
...
His friends!
His uncle hates his friends. How had he nearly forgotten that? It made no sense...
These thoughts came to a halt when he looked up and found that they had arrived at the waterfall. Wally looked up and became instantly entranced.
"It's so sparkly!" Wally exclaimed as he looked at the water falling down, the sun causing it to sparkle.
"Nature sure is beautiful," Barry agreed.
"You finally talked!" Wally laughed. "You were so quiet during the walk -I thought you were mad at me."
Barry looked ashamed. "I was just thinking," he assured his nephew. "Besides, we talked at the beginning of the walk."
Wally tilted his head in confusion. "We did?"
Barry smiled a little. "Yes, but it wasn't anything important," he told him, "So it's OK that you can't remember."
"OK," Wally smiled as he turned back to stare at the waterfall, unaware of how relieved his uncle was that he could no longer recall the conversation from earlier.
"We'll stay here a little longer and then head back to the others ok?" Barry asked his nephew.
"Ok!"
^o^
(later that day)
"We're back!" Wally declared happily as he skipped over to his aunt and cousin with a huge smile on his face. "You should come with us next time -the waterfall was amazing!"
Iris laughed a bit. "Glad you had fun," she said. "You must have worked up quite the appetite on your walk."
Wally nodded his head.
"Well dinner's just about ready," she told him, "We're just waiting on the corn."
"I like corn," Wally smiled and then ran off to play on a nearby rope-swing.
Iris looked over at Barry. "Is he alright?" She asked him. "He seems a little... I don't know. Off?"
"He was having some trouble at the beginning of our walk," Barry told her with a sigh. "I was worried about him for a bit, I thought he was going to break down. Luckily I managed to calm him down."
Iris nodded. "I just hope he recovers soon," she sighed. "It hurts to see him like this."
"So long as he isn't being turned evil or being used as some sadists doll I don't care if he acts like this," Barry huffed.
"You can't mean that!" Iris pleaded. "This isn't right the way he is now!"
"It's better than he was!" Barry snapped back then stormed off.
Iris fumed. "Don't walk away from me!" she snapped. "This conversation is FAR from over! Get back here!"
Barry rolled his eyes. "I'll be back in an hour!" He snapped before rushing off at light-speed.
"Damn it, Barry!" Iris growled.
^o^
Wally looked back and forth at his aunt and cousin from the other side of the picnic table as they ate dinner. He was very confused about what was going on. It had been a while since he heard his Aunt and Uncle fight and his Uncle still hadn't come back and he was starting to get worried. Wally didn't even understand why they were fighting in the first place, none of what they were saying made any sense to him.
"Aunt Iris," Wally started. "When is Uncle Barry coming back?"
Iris looked at her nephew and sighed. "No clue, but he better have fixed his attitude."
"What exactly happened?" Bart enquired.
"Barry isn't seeing the bigger picture in all this," Iris growled in frustration. "He thinks that it's fine to leave Wally the way he is and not try to help him become his old self. The person he really is inside."
Wally started to tear up a bit. "You hate me?"
"No no no!" Iris cried out quickly. "I could never hate you, Wally! I just mean that you, as you are now, isn't the real you!"
"Not like you can change it," Wally grumbled, clenching his fist. "You know as well as I do that the brain damage is irreversible. I'll never be exactly what you want me to be..."
"That doesn't mean we can't try to get you back to normal," Iris insisted, seemingly not getting her nephew's point.
Wally glared at her. "And what if I like the way I am!?" He snapped.
Iris went to respond but at that moment Barry had shown up, kicking up dust with his speedy entrance.
"There's nothing wrong with Wally," He defended his nephew. "He just needs to stabilize."
Iris stood up and stormed over to him. "Where the hell have you been!" She snapped at him angrily.
"I went for a run to build up steam, wound up having to stop Zoom from robbing a bank," Barry explained as he grabbed some food and sat down at the picnic table. "Took a little longer then I had hoped. I would apologize for taking so long, but with the way you're acting I don't think I should bother."
Iris fumed. "The way I'M acting?"
Barry shrugged. "You're being a bitch, if I may be so blunt to say."
"No you may not!" She snapped at him.
"You're being cruel to Wally," Barry argued. "It isn't fair to treat him like this, it isn't hid fault and you know it! He's hurt and you are treating him horribly!"
Wally looked back and forth at his Aunt and Uncle as they continued yelling at one another. He still didn't understand exactly what was going on but from the sounds of it his uncle was on his side so he guessed that was good.
"Umm guys?" Bart said suddenly, interrupting Iris and Barry. "I don't want to be rude, but could you maybe discuss this elsewhere..."
The two looked at each other for a moment before storming off in opposite directions.
"...Or storm off in opposite directions," Bart gulped nervously, "That works too."
"Why are they fighting?" Wally asked in a confused and slightly nervous tone. "They never used to fight this much before... did they?"
"They're just under a bunch of stress," Bart assured him. "They don't know how to deal with it so they're taking it out on each other."
"Why?" Wally enquired.
Bart gave him an assuring smile. "People always take things out on the ones they love the most," he explained to him. "Because they know that when things are all said and done they'll be able to forgive one another."
"I hope so..." Wally sighed. "I don't like it when people fight..."
"Don't your friends at school argue all the time?" Bart asked and immediately regretted it. The last thing he wanted to do was remind him of the delinquents. That was the opposite of what this vacation was about.
Bart braced himself for listening to Wally go on about his friends, but it never came.
No, instead Wally became very confused at what he said. "My friends at school?" Wally asked carefully. "You mean those people you had me play with during lunch? I don't like them. They aren't my friends, and I don't remember them arguing about anything..."
Bart lit up. "And you can't think of anyone else you've met at school?" he asked hopefully.
Wally shook his head. "No, should I? Did I forget someone important?"
Bart shook his head, unable to hide his smile. "No, you have everyone you know in mind," he told his cousin happily. "You don't know anyone else at school."
"So why were you asking me?" Wally asked as he tilted his head in confusion.
"Just making sure you were stable," Bart lied easily. "I was worried that you might have imaginary people in your memory. I heard that brain damage can do that to people sometimes."
Wally nodded his head. "OK."
Bart grinned even more to himself, this couldn't possibly get better. Now all he had to do was get Iris and Barry to stop fighting and he'll be able to go back to saving the past from turning into his nightmarish life.
^o^
(Around 11 o'clock)
"It's about time you two came back!" Bart exclaimed as he said Iris and Barry in the distance. He was relieved, he'd been worried about what might happen to them as it was dark out now.
"I'm sorry I left the two of you alone," Iris apologized first.
Barry looked around and when he saw that Wally wasn't around he panicked. "Where's Wally?" He asked quickly as he looked around more.
"Wally went to bed about an hour ago," Bart explained. "He was exhausted from earlier still."
Barry calmed down at that.
Bart grinned at the two of them.
"What are you so happy about?" Barry asked him curiously.
Bart grinned even more, excited to tell them what had happened earlier. "Well I was talking to Wally after the two of you left and was trying to explain why you two were so angry at each other," Bart started happily. "But when he said that he didn't like it when people yelled I accidentally commented on the fact that his 'friend' at school yelled a lot... and he had no clue who I was talking about."
Barry grinned back. "So he's completely forgotten about them?"
"This is great!" Iris exclaimed. "Now all we need to do is keep them away from him and maybe he'll finally be able to recover from all of this!"
Barry shook his head. "He doesn't need to- actually, you know what?" he laughed, "I'm to happy to argue with you right know."
"You shouldn't be arguing with me when I'm right in the first place," Iris muttered.
Bart, sensing that a fight was about to break out, quickly interjected. "But what are we going to do about Wally's memory?" he asked. "It's great that he's forgotten about those delinquents but he's also forgotten everyone else. He also forgot everything he cares about -he has practically no connection to anything he ever used to care about."
Barry frowned. "I'm not quite sure," he said, then smiled a bit. "For now we'll just take thing's one step at a time until he stabilizes. Then we can worry about teaching him things again."
Iris sighed. "I wish there was a faster way."
"We all wish that," Barry said, "But for now I'm just glad that he's here with us -where he's safe."
^o^
Mist: I regret nothing
Whistle: What Mist means to say is that she's essentially given up trying to control the story. She's going to do what she did with Dollz and just start writing with a basic idea and see what happens.
Mist: And once more I apologize for the insanely long Hiatus
Whistle: Wasn't much we could do about it.
Mist: I'll try to update more regularly again, hopefully nothing comes up again...
Both: Until next time -please review!
