Chapter 10 – Misery Acquaints a Man with Strange Bedfellows

"What… what happened here? Was this a mountain?" Bart was rather confused. From the way Wally had been going on, he'd half expected… well nothing too great, but nothing quite as disappointing as this 'Mount Justice'. If you could even still call it that.

"Yes. Bomb. Long story." Wally turned away from Bart; their conversation cut short.

Great. No answers. Again.

Bart wandered off through the rubble as he tried to imagine what this place would have looked like before the bomb that Wally didn't want to talk about.

What sort of bomb could blow up a mountain? Was it the Reach?

He kicked a rock along the ground as he walked past several large boulders. It was behind one of these that he found an odd metal contraption that had been damaged a long time ago. He gazed up at it in awe.

"Bart!" he suddenly heard Wally call, "Where'd you go?"

He hadn't realised how far he'd wandered off and quickly turned around to go back. However, before he could call out to Wally, a strong hand seized his wrist and yanked his arm behind his back. A small yelp escaped his lips in surprise but he didn't dare make another sound as he felt something sharp press lightly against his throat. His free arm grabbed hold of the arm that he supposed held a knife in an unsuccessful attempt to pull it away.

"Keep quiet if you want to live," a gruff voice commanded.

Bart made a small movement with his head that he hoped would be interpreted as a nod.

"Good kid. Now tell me who you are and you'll probably make it out of this."

"Bart!" Wally called again, "Come on, answer me!"

"Don't even think about it," the man snarled, "Did they send you? Are you on mode?"

Bart didn't understand and hardly dared to breath.

"Come on kid. I don't want to kill you if I don't have to."

"B…Bart. My name's…Bart," he spoke softly and silently cursed himself for stuttering.

"Already worked that much out myself," the man lightly chuckled before returning to a darker voice, "Who's your friend?"

Bart hesitated for a moment and felt the man tighten his grip on his wrist.

"Wally," he spluttered.

"Bart!" Wally was getting closer – desperation evident in his voice.

Bart attempted to rip his hand out of the man's grasp, but was rewarded with the knife being pressed harder against his throat.

"Dumb idea kid. Just make this easier on yourself and answer my question: are you on mode?"

"I…" Bart's voice hitched as he felt himself start to panic, "don't know... what you mean."

"It's a simple yes or no question boy. Are. You. On. Mode?" The man punctuated each of his words, but they still made no sense to Bart.

"I… I don't know."

"That's not good enough kid."

Fortunately for Bart, it was at that moment that Wally finally found them amongst the debris – horror evident on his face.

"So your friend finally decided to join us," the man drawled, "maybe now one of you will give me an answer."

Bart saw something flash across Wally's face. Was it recognition?

"Hey, look man, we're not your enemy," Wally held his hands in front of himself as a sign of good will.

"I'll be the judge of that."

"Come on, he's just a kid," Wally gestured at Bart, "And we're on your side. We were looking for you."

"That doesn't sound very innocent."

"Look, we need your help. Can you… Can you let my cousin go?" There was no denying the fear in Wally's voice.

"Family hey," the man moved the knife a fraction higher on Bart's neck causing him to tilt his head back, "Not until you prove you're trustworthy. Are you on mode?"

"What? How am I supposed–?"

"Wally!" Bart choked in hysteria, "Are we or aren't we one mode?"

"Huh? Oh," Wally seemed to have one of his lightbulb moments much to Bart's chagrin, "Um. No. We're not on mode."

Bart let out a shaky breath. As he'd hoped, Wally somehow understood the man's strange question.

"What are you then?" The man didn't loosen his grip on Bart but his voice took on a different tone. Was it lighter? Hopeful?

"Uh," Wally's face was marred with uncertainty, "We're… crash?"

There was silence for only a second, but it felt like an eternity to Bart, then suddenly the man let out a raucous laugh and released his arm. The young speedster instantly ran to Wally's side; he didn't want to give the unhinged man a chance to change his mind. He also finally got a good look at the man and saw that he was wearing a torn and dirty orange prison jumpsuit and an accompanying inhibitor collar. He was bald and his face was marked with a large white scar that ran down the right half of his face. Wally placed a hand on Bart's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Are you ok?" He asked in a whisper.

Bart nodded and Wally turned back to face the stranger.

"Are you Neutron?" Wally inquired cautiously.

"Yes, but do not call me that. It's Nathaniel regardless of what those Reach freaks did to me."

"Neutron?" Bart asked incredulously, "as in the man who killed the Flash?"

"Yes." Neutron answered as he crossed his arms; his hunting knife came to rest on his bicep.

"You killed my grandfather!" Bart shouted. He prepared himself to attack Neutron, but Wally's arm flew in front of him.

"He didn't," Wally claimed.

"What do you know?" Bart growled.

"It wasn't his fault," Wally clarified, "And I'm pretty sure he's the man we've been looking for."

"What?" Bart responded in disbelief.

"Now why would you be looking for little old me?" Neutron said in an almost mocking tone.

"You have a plan. Don't you," Wally responded.

"And what's it to you?"

"I think–no, I know we can help."

"Alright," Neutron sat himself down on a rock, "Tell me your story. What makes you worth my while?"

"Well, we're both metas," Wally started, "Super speed. And we're related to the Flash. We were over in Central City but escaped a few days ago. We heard there was a man with a plan. And we're hoping that man's you."

Bart scowled at Neutron throughout Wally's explanation. He didn't like the guy and he certainly didn't trust him. Bart also noticed that Wally didn't tell Neutron about the time travelling which made him realise his cousin didn't trust this man either. Not fully at least.

"Metas huh," Neutron spoke up after a lengthy pause, "I suppose you could be useful. Know much about science?"

"I guess," Wally answered.

"Good. Follow me. And, uh, sorry kid. For before. You can never be too careful eh-heh-heh-heh," Neutron's laugh was borderline disturbing which only made Bart glare harder.

Bart made an effort to stay behind Wally as Neutron led them past the strange, ruined machine into a make shift shelter. A large tarp provided the roof although Bart made note of the many holes in it. To one side was a pile of decrepit sheets that Bart assumed were meant to be a bed. There was also a large metal chest that was overflowing with diagrams and blueprints some of which had found their way onto the wooden table that sat on the opposite side of the hovel. However, the most striking feature was the sheer quantity of scrap machinery stuffed into the tiny space Neutron called a home. Metal casings and multi-coloured wires littered every surface leaving almost no room to move in the cramped quarters.

"It's here somewhere," Neutron grumbled quietly as he shuffled through the many papers on top of the desk until he pulled out a large and complicated looking blueprint, "Uh-huh, this is the one. The plan. The future. Well, more like the past."

He passed the sheet to Wally who looked at it with confusion.

"Uhh, what is it?" Wally asked after a while.

"Time machine. My own design."

Wally's eyes seemed to pop out of his head as he looked back to the blueprint, then to Neutron, then to the blueprint, then to Bart and then back to Neutron again.

"We have to send Bart back," he announced.

"What? Why me? You're the one from the past!" Bart complained.

"He's what now?" Neutron chimed in, but was promptly ignored.

"You have to. It's your mission!" Wally continued.

"You're doing it again!" Bart was beyond frustrated

"Doing what?"

"Being cryptic!"

"When was I being cryptic?"

"Uh, spoilers."

"But that's your phrase!" Wally slammed a hand over his mouth as he instantly realised what he'd said.

"That is it!" Bart all but roared, "You're giving me answers. Now."

"You don't understand."

"I won't until you help me understand."

"It could mess up the time stream."

"Does this look like a reality worth preserving?"

"Well, no–"

"Then tell me–"

"Because you fixed the time stream! You stopped the Reach Apocalypse!"

"I what?"

"He what?" Neutron added, clearly annoyed at being ignored.

Wally seemed to squirm in his skin under the harsh gaze of his two companions.

"Wally what are you talking about?" Bart asked, his voice calmer, but filled with confusion, "What aren't you telling me?"

"Guess there's no getting out of this now," he gulped and proceeded to explain at a near inaudible speedster pace, "This is going to sound really strange, but just bear with me. To answer your question Nathaniel, I'm from the past, forty-ish years ago. We've actually already met. Saved your life. You're welcome. The Reach invaded. Attempted to invade. We stopped them, thanks to Bart here who arrived in a time machine that matches this one of your own design. Landed right in the middle of Mount Justice. While it was still a Mountain of course. After the Reach were sent packing from Earth, they made one last ditch attempt at destroying it. We stopped that too. But I accidentally travelled through time because of it. Annnnnnd now we're here."

Wally finished off his spiel with a dumb grin on his face, but Bart and Neutron only stared at him with wide eyes. Wally scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"So, um, yeah. Should definitely make this machine and then send Bart back… And then maybe you could also send me back?"

Silence continued to echo around the small shelter before Neutron finally regained his wits.

"The… The design only seats one. We'd have to make you a separate machine. And if what you say is true, then we should probably send the two of you back to different times anyway. Send you back to when you came from so you don't mess stuff up," he started rummaging through his many blueprints and scrap machinery, mumbling to himself.

Bart remained silent throughout Wally's jumbled explanation. For every answer it had given him, he'd been left with ten more questions. His mind tried desperately to sort through all his thoughts to provide him with something to say. So many questions, but he didn't know which ones to ask. He finally pulled one out that seemed appropriate.

"That means we've already met, doesn't it," Bart guessed.

"In the past? Yep," Wally's wide grin returned to his face as he added, "I met you for the first time right after you met your Grandpa."

"I… I met my Grandpa? Will meet my Grandpa?" Bart stammered.

"You sure will," Wally placed his hands on Bart's shoulders and looked him in the eye, "I'm really sorry I didn't tell you sooner. For one I wasn't even sure if you'd believe me. And I don't know if telling you will stuff things up. I really hope it doesn't."

"It's ok. I think I understand," Bart started to smile, "I'm going to meet my grandpa."

Bart enveloped Wally in a hug.

"What's this for?" Wally asked as he returned the hug.

"I'll do it. I'll go to the past," Bart mumbled into Wally's shirt before he let go.

"We'll build them outside," Neutron suddenly interjected, he was holding several blue prints and a jumble of wires, "Learnt the hard way that sometimes things go 'kaboom'"

Wally and Bart watched the man wander back outside.

"Guess that explains the scar," Wally laughed to himself. Bart just rolled his eyes.

A/N

Next chapter will be called "He Receives Comfort like Cold Porridge" and will be in the past.

There's not a lot to go on when it comes to Neutron/Nathaniel in the series, so I've made him slightly unhinged and a bit of a genius.

Updates will be slowing down now as I'm back at uni, so there's no guarantee of how much time I'll be able to allocate to writing unfortunately. Hopefully I'll be able to successfully juggle my time, but we'll see.

Don't forget to review :)