A/N: Thanks everyone who reviewed last chapter! I appreciate all of them, as well as the new readers as well. As this story was written months ago, I'm declaring AU from episode 16ish. Warnings: minor swearing and a bad cliffhanger at the end. (The last paragraph or so is a preview for the next chapter.)

I do not own Young Justice or any other DC characters.

"Hey, Clark. I was just wondering – do you think you could direct me to the, um, Helmet of Fate? I know it's stashed up here in the Watchtower."

Superman swiveled around in his chair away from the monitors (it had been a quiet day, anyways) to face his colleague. "I can't say I know where it is off the top of my head," he answered. "Why?"

Wally rubbed the back of his neck through the cowl. "I kind of need to borrow it. And trade it for my cousin's soul. So-"

"What?"

"Maybe you could just let me onto your account on the computer?" Wally asked. "Somehow I don't have clearance to enter the storage vaults. I can access every single batweapon in the armory, all the transport locations, and secret files on every single person that ever existed, but I'm not allowed into the storage vaults."

Superman replied, "That's because you would clog it up with all your souvenirs."

"So Bats is allowed to be a packrat and I'm not? How is that fair?"

"He's in charge," Superman told him in a dismissive way. "What was it you needed with the Helmet of Fate again?"

Wally waved the notion away. "Oh, nothing much. I'll have it back in no time at all, really. All I need is-"

"Flash," Superman interrupted, finally settling Wally down. "What's wrong? You seem jumpy- jumpier that usual, at least."

Wally weighed his options. One, he could try to laugh the comment off, or two, he could get serious and let the Kryptonian in on the situation. He decided to trust his teammate. "Well, Impulse got himself possessed by an evil demon child, and Klarion's demanding the Helmet for ransom."

When Superman was still looking at him like he had four heads, Wally sighed and reflected that option number one may have been the better choice.

"Let me get this straight. You want to give Klarion, one of the deadliest Lords of Chaos the League has ever encountered, the Helmet of Fate, one of the only resources we have that could help defeat him?"

Wally frowned. He should have known better than to trust Superman. Somehow their little chat had evolved into a whole Original Seven meeting (minus Aquaman plus Zatana, for some odd reason, but she was being so quiet Wally didn't really care). "You forgot Bart," he objected, leaning back in his chair at the conference table. "He's kind of the point of this entire escapade."

"You're not getting the helmet," Batman said, staring at Wally with his usual intimidating look.

Wally felt his mouth drop open a bit in surprise. "Didn't you hear anything I just said? Bart's life-"

"Flash, no." Batman growled. "You're going to have to find another way."

"But – you're just going to sentence a little kid to die?"

"Would you like some help, Flash?" Wonder Woman offered. "I have had more experience with these sorts of villains."

Wally sighed, resting his head in his palm. "If you could catch him."

"Perhaps I could pitch in as well," Superman offered.

Just what he needed. Superman and Wonder Woman to bail him out. No way he would accept, of course. If he couldn't solve his own problems, then nobody would ever take him seriously in the League. He wasn't that teenage kid anymore that was always crashing into things. He was the fastest man-

Bart. He had to swallow his pride for Bart.

"That would be great," he said softly. "Thanks, everyone."

The collective League dismissed the matter and started talking about other things, leaving Wally behind as he wallowed in his own thoughts. Sure, he hadn't tried to rescue Bart without the helmet, but he'd been planning on a get-the-innocent-kid-free-first-and-worry-about-getting-the-priceless-object-back-later approach. Apparently that was wrong.

Whatever.

As long as he had his cousin back when all things were said and done, the Justice League could do whatever the hell they wanted.

A day later...only six days left for Bart… he was summoned back to the Watchtower. Only just bothering to throw his suit on, he zeta-ed up there. He was the last one there. Again. This was becoming a habit…

"You defaced Mt. Rushmore," Batman was accusing.

"Whoa," Wally cut in, zipping over to his chair at the conference table. "What'd I miss?"

Batman glared at him. "You're late."

He shrugged. "Napping. Sorry."

"Bruce, if the children hadn't stepped in-" Wonder Woman started.

"That's enough excuses," Batman interrupted. Wide-eyed, Wally watched as Superman and WW were chastised like little kids. "You two are arguably the two most powerful beings on this planet, and you couldn't catch a child. Moreover, you couldn't stop the destruction of several important features of the western United States. This is pathetic."

Superman was looking like he was about to develop Batman Explode-O Vision, so Wally interrupted. "Wait. What happened? You guys didn't catch Bart?" He tried and failed to hide how crestfallen he felt.

"It was all over the news," Green Lantern pointed out.

"Don't watch the news. Didn't have time," Wally said quickly. He turned to all his elder members. "What happened?"

Wonder Woman grit her teeth. "I'm sorry, friend," she said. "We failed you. Your demon cousin – Kal and I underestimated him. He is faster than either of us, and he is able to vibrate through most solid matter. He saw it as a game. See how much damage he could cause with the Justice League chasing him."

She pounded her fist on the table, and Wally jumped. "His team, Young Justice, they caught up to us at Mount Rushmore. They had good intentions, but-"

"But they failed to communicate with us and the authorities," Superman finished for her. "They had a decent trap concocted, but I almost got caught in it and Impulse used it to take off half of Jefferson's face.

"And the University of Colorado," Wonder Woman finished glumly.

"He also caused several rockslides and froze the Great Salt Lake," added Manhunter.

Batman sighed. "Unfortunately, I have no choice but to move the situation to priority level one." He glanced at Wally. "Solve this problem before things become embarrassing."

"Even more embarrassing," Wonder Woman mumbled.

Wally looked around uncertainly at all of them. "So I still can't have the helm-"

"No."

He rolled his eyes, not that they could see behind his cowl. "You guys are ridiculous. Fine. I'm on it."

He didn't wait for any more instructions before zipping out of the room and out the door.

"Impulse? Impulse?"

He wasn't in Keystone. Or Central City. Or Denver or Los Vegas or San Francisco or Star City or Portland or Seattle or anywhere so he backtracked east to Chicago and Detroit and Toledo and-

He met up with Bart (no, not Bart, Impulse) on the Ohio River. Literally. Impulse was sitting on some Huck Finn–esque raft in the middle of the River. Wally was afraid it wouldn't support both of their weight.

But he stood on it anyways.

"Hey. Hey, Klarion." Wally nudged Impulse, who was lying down with sunglasses instead of his goggles on his eyes, with his foot.

Impulse sat up, moving the sunglasses to the top of his head. He grinned evilly as he did so. "For the fastest man alive, you are ridiculously slow. Goes to show the worth of men, doesn't it?" He crossed his arms over his chest. "Now. Where's my helmet?"

"I don't have it," Wally growled. Somewhere in the back of his head, he wondered if he should be admitting that – but then again, it was obvious. It wasn't like there were any hiding places on his suit.

"Tisk, tisk," Klarion stated, tilting his head to the side. "It's almost like you want your cousin to die. He's really scared, you know."

Wally's heart skipped a beat. "He can hear all this?"

He didn't get a response, just Klarion's foul grin that made him feel sick to his stomach. "God," he whispered, "You sick, despicable bastard."

"Now, now," Klarion started, but then paused, a frown replacing the smug look on his face. "That…bothers you."

Wally bent down and with a surge of strength, picked up Klarion by the neck. For a moment, a split second, a look of wide-eyed panic took over the face and…

Oh, god, Bart. I'm sorry.

He loosened his grip just enough so Bart could breathe. Then Klarion took over again, and Wally struggled to control the anger that was surging upon him in waves. "Give Impulse his body back," he snarled, "Now."

"It bothers you a lot," Klarion observed, as if nothing had happened, although two hands did come up to grasp Wally's red arm. "Why?"

Wally grit his teeth painfully tight. "You took away his free will," he growled. "I don't believe you."

"I don't understand how the situation has changed," Klarion said.

Wally's grip tightened for a second. "Nothing. He has nothing. You took away everything, you monster."

"Put me down, it's getting difficult to breathe." Wally hesitated, but slowly lowered Klarion back to the floor. "You'd rather he was dead?" Klarion asked, brushing off the Impulse costume as his feet touched the ground. "You'd rather that he didn't exist than exist as my slave?"

He observed as Wally remained silent. "Fool," he said.

"I don't have to explain humanity to you."

"Good. Because the more I hear about this stupid species, the more I wonder why I shouldn't just kill you all now. After all, there's nothing in my way."

"Let my cousin go."

"The Helmet," Klarion demanded in return.

"I don't have it," I answered. "I can't get it. I don't know where it is. I don't even know if it still exists."

"Oh, it exists," Klarion assured me. He narrowed his eyes. "I can feel it. And until I get the Helmet back-"

"Look," Wally interrupted. "You've got the wrong guy. I can't get you the Helmet."

"That's too bad for Bart."

"You should just let him go," Wally tried persuading. "He doesn't have any other emotional attachments with people in high places. They won't care if he's dead, and that'll be no use to you."

Klarion shrugged. "That's why I'm not going to kill him."

Wally blinked at the information. "What?"

The demon turned away from Wally a took a step towards the edge of the raft. "I've changed my mind. This conversation has been…enlightening." He looked back at Wally. "Alright, Flash. Listen up. I know you could catch me if I tried to run now. But if you let me go, I won't kill your cousin."

"Come on. Haven't we played this game enough-"

"I like games!" Klarion yelled, stamping his foot to make the whole raft shake. "So what's your decision? Kill me yourself, or let me live another day in hopes of saving your cousin later? How much does he mean to you?"

Wally crossed his arms. "I don't understand."

"You don't have to," Klarion reported. "Just tell your Justice League friends that I want the helmet, and I'm going to get the helmet, and they can try to stop me but they won't succeed."

"They're the Justice League."

"I'm a magician with super speed." Klarion raised his eyebrows. "Look. I can rhyme. Every time. Like that?"

"No."

Klarion smirked. "Well, then."

Confused and a little defeated, Wally watched as Impulse raced into the distance. No closer to saving his cousin than ever.

Montgomery, Alabama

"Just in: A small town of Manchester has just been attacked by a young man in a black and green outfit. The fire set in city hall injured seven, but no one was killed. If anyone knows more about the perpetrator, they are encouraged to go to the police. In other news, Hurricane Walter is predicted to die down to a tropical storm before it hits the coast…"

New York City, New York

"Your usual program is being interrupted for this emergency broadcast. The hero formerly known as Impulse has gone rogue. The speedster now dresses in black and green and is extremely dangerous. Everyone is encouraged to not panic and stay put to avoid his attention. Do not approach the Empire State building or the Statue of Liberty under any circumstances. Repeat: Do not approach…"

Providence, Rhode Island

"The villain Intertia returned to Mount Justice today to do battle with his former teammates Robin, Speedy, Wonder Girl, Beast Boy, and Cyborg. Mount Justice, revealed to be the former secret headquarter of Young Justice, was destroyed in a similar manner of the attacks in New York that killed twenty. The Justice League was not able to apprehend the villain, but gave assurances that they were doing everything they could. Flash was not on the scene, nor has he been spotted since Inertia emerged. The Justice League has not yet given a statement about their missing comrade."

Monterrey, Mexico

"Tenga cuidado con el nuevo villano llamado Inertia, quien es responsable de muchos ataques en los Estados Unidos. Él puede correr muy rápido y es el responsable de muchas muertes. Este villano era anteriormente conocida como Impulse, un joven héroe que trabajó con la delincuencia adolescente lucha contra la Justicia grupo joven..."

JLA Watchtower, Earth's Atmosphere

"Bruce-"

"I will not have emotionally compromised member of this team running around trampling the world underfoot."

"Drugging me was uncalled for. Not to mention a huge invasion of privacy."

"I did what I see fit."

"I'm not fourteen anymore, Bruce. You won't catch Bart without me."

"And we clearly will not catch him with you, either. You are confined to the Watchtower until the problem has been dealt with."

"An indefinitely long time-out? Nice, Bruce. You know, in med school there was a word for people like you. Mentally ill."

"That was two words."

"Not the point-"

"And there are no other people like me."

"How could I forget?"

"Wally."

"What?"

"Don't try to leave the Watchtower. Please."

"That's a promise I can't make, Bruce. You know that. In fact, I'm not sure why you stopped drugging me in the first place. It certainly wasn't for sympathy."

"…"

"It was becoming dangerous for my health, right? Knew it."

Sierra Nevada Desert, California

"Thanks, Hal," Wally said, double-checking that the Helmet was still inside the backpack flung over his should. He must have been a sight, the Flash with an old blue kid's backpack. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

The Green Lantern nodded and crossed his arms as he hovered several feet off the ground. "Me neither, Kid," he said, a nicknamed he still retained from the days when he and Barry were close friends. "Now, I'm trusting you to get this whole thing settled. Batman doesn't think you can do it; I disagree. Don't prove me wrong, or this whole thing is going to end badly."

"I know."

Hal opened his mouth again, but hesitated. He started to fly away, but then spoke anyways. "Look. This is Barry's grandson. I know you guys aren't that close, but you need to do right by him."

"I know," Wally repeated. "Trust me, that's what I plan on doing. I've got a plan." He gestured to the backpack. "I've got a plan."

San Francisco, California

Wally stopped directly in front of him, blue shock blanket in hand, not sure whether to drape it over the cape or what. "Tim?" he said softly. "You still with me?"

The boy was shaking violently. "I…I shot…I killed him. Oh my god, I killed Bart-"

To be continued...