[The Watchtower

March 23, 17:30 EST]

The first thing Roy saw when he stepped onto the Watchtower was Dinah, covered in long dried blood, handing the Flash Wally's goggles. Flash looked down at the red frames in his hands with a strange, detached expression. Beside him, Hal was staring at the floor with a mixture of anger and distress. His white gloved fists were clenched and shaking. He turned his head a fraction to look at Flash, but the speedster was frozen absolutely still, his eyes glued to Wally's goggles stoically.

Dinah shifted uncomfortably on the Watchtower's observation deck. Behind her, the planet spun slowly on its axis against a field of endless black. Roy hated the silence immediately, but it didn't last long. The blonde heroine looked at Flash solemnly, one hundred percent in control of her emotions. The only thing that betrayed her was the way her fingers absently picked at the dried blood on her hands and wrists.

"Jay is going to survive," she said calmly, her head held high and shoulders squared officially. "Mister Terrific was able to reattach his arm and repair both of his legs. With the way he's healing already, Terrific thinks Jay will be on his feet and running again in a week. Max will be fully healed in two or three days."

Flash didn't say anything.

"Jay said he tried to keep the speedsters busy so that Wally could escape, but he couldn't get him to run," Dinah said sadly.

"Wally wouldn't have run away to save himself," Hal looked up at the ceiling and chewed at the inside of his cheek unhappily. "Not his style."

Flash's jaw tightened.

"Batman is trying to find out anything he can about the new speedsters that took Wally," Dinah continued quietly. "Max was able to identify that they were Russian, so we're looking into that right now, and we figured out that the boots were the reason they could stand on top of the water like that. We're searching for whoever created them; technological advancements like that don't just stay quiet, so Batman's expecting to get a lead from that."

"Aside from that, the only other lead is Professor Zoom," Elongated Man walked into the room with a massive stretch of his legs. He returned to normal proportions and came over to stand on Flash's other side. "He sort of seemed like he was leading the other speedsters, so we're operating under that assumption. Now, the video and audio from Kid Flash's goggles couldn't help us with determining whether this was just a coincidence or if Zoom is working with the Manhunters too, but Batman and I are thinking it's the latter."

Flash looked away furiously, his fingers squeezing Wally's goggles convulsively.

"Now… there's another problem," Elongated Man continued uncertainly. "Professor Zoom attacked exactly when Wally, Max, and Jay were over the water directly between two land masses. That's…pretty specific. He waited until they were in the middle of the ocean so that there was no land to run to in either direction. That's not even mentioning how hard it is to find three people in the entire ocean. So…he knew where they'd be and when."

Hal perked up suddenly in disbelief, "You're saying someone betrayed them and told Zoom?"

"Max and Jay were the ones who made up the route, and from the sound of the audio feedback from Wally's goggles, they hadn't even decided where they were going until this morning," the red headed hero said reluctantly. He opened his mouth to say more, but that's when Flash lost it.

"Jay and Max would never have betrayed Wally. They would die for him!" the irate speedster growled darkly. An electric current began dancing along his body as he advanced on his fellow Central City hero. "They almost did!"

"He's not saying that," Dinah placed one hand on Flash's chest to keep him back. "Think about it. If no one but Jay and Max knew where they were going for sure, and if neither of them told anyone, then that means Zoom had a means of tracking Wally."

"How?!" Flash threw his arms up angrily. "I was right there when Batman checked him over for any bugs his father might have put on him! How could Zoom be using a tracer that Batman missed?!"

"If he's working with the Manhunters, then they've got technology thousands of years more advanced than ours," Hal said suddenly, looking at Flash in alarm. "Batman may not have been able to detect it even if he was looking directly at it…"

"Without Wally or his costume, there's no way to tell for sure," Elongated Man shook his head regretfully. "We checked his goggles over for the full spectrum: blood, skin cells, fibers, radiation… The whole run through. And we didn't get anything. There's no use anymore trying to figure out how they got Wally, so we put that on the backburner and focused on what we did have instead."

Flash smacked Dinah's hand aside lightning fast and turned on his heel to stalk a few feet away before pivoting and pacing restlessly. He brought one hand up to his head and scrubbed at his brow. His eyes darted all over the floor frenetically like his thoughts were going into overdrive. Roy thought it was unsettling watching someone fall apart at the seams.

"Now, before Mister Terrific cleaned Jay up for surgery, Black Canary had the presence of mind to collect some samples from the blood on Jay's knuckles and under his fingernails. It turns out Jay got in a few nasty hits before he went down. The sea water didn't wash everything away, so we were able to get two foreign blood types off him and confirmed it from the blood on his uniform," Elongated Man went straight up to his friend and tried to hold him still despite the beginnings of lightning sparking all over him. "Batman's running every test possible on the blood, and we're going to get a lead from that too. I promise you."

Flash's eyes lit up dangerously, and he turned on Elongated Man in a rage, "It takes hours to get those results back and then hours more to find out what they mean! If Zoom has Wally, they could be anywhere on the planet within minutes! I need to get him back now!"

No one spoke for a long minute, and Roy watched his various mentors – the Justice League's veterans – stand around shuffling their feet in shame before one of them finally spoke up.

"Well, that's not going to happen," Dinah sighed in resignation. She turned to stare out the window into space, her lips tightening into a firm line. "So, we need to hold it together and work with what we have… and pray we're not too late."

Flash gave a frustrated cry of rage and slammed his fist into the wall beside him at superspeed, "God DAMMIT!"

The reinforced steel buckled beneath the force of the blow with a thunderous, ringing bang, and everyone in the room jumped. Flash placed the hand holding Wally's goggles against the wall and leaned forward until his forehead was touching the destroyed steel. Roy saw his shoulders hunch in anguish and the muscles in his back tense. Just when he thought the Flash was about to crumble, he took one deep, shuddering breath and straightened up.

"I'm going to the labs," he ground out suddenly. "I'm a forensic analyst; I can get those answers faster than anyone."

Roy watched him head for the door with grim satisfaction. He knew there was a reason why he'd always liked the Flash.

"Recognize: Hawkwoman – 10; Hawkman – 09"

Roy turned to see both of the hawks coming out of the zeta tubes behind him. Their armor and wings were a little blackened and singed, but they seemed largely alright. Flash stopped in his tracks and waited with everyone to hear the news.

"We found a Manhunter base," Hawkman said immediately. His hand clenched around the handle of the hefty, spiked mace at his side.

"You went in by yourselves?!" Dinah asked incredulously.

The two Thanagarian warriors scoffed at her words, and Hawkwoman crossed her arms with a small smirk, "It wasn't anything we couldn't handle. Really. The base was abandoned. We had to fight through the residual automated defenses, but it was smooth flying after that."

"We found deactivated Manhunters down in the crypts," Hawkman told them gravely. "Would've brought one up top with us, but we figured it would be safer to let the Lanterns examine it down there first."

Hal enveloped himself in his ring's light and flew towards the zeta tubes, "I'll take a squad and check it out if one of you will lead us there."

"I'll go," Hawkman flexed his wings eagerly with a dark smile. "Shayera's kill count is higher than mine right now, and I need to fix that."

"You can try," Hawkwoman said loftily, clipping her mace to her hip and walking over to Dinah with a toss of her red hair.

"Flash," Hal called across the room before he activated the zeta beam. "Are you going to be alright?"

"Go," Flash waved him off determinedly. "I have my own job to do."

Hal nodded and teleported away with Hawkman right as Flash zipped out of sight. Roy watched Elongated Man give a tired sort of sigh and excuse himself as well a moment later.

"They didn't find Wally, did they?" Hawkwoman stated more than asked.

Dinah shook her head, scratching at the back of her neck like it was aching, "We have a few clues, but nothing substantial yet. The waiting's going to be the worst part."

"The worst part is what Wally's going through right now," Hawkwoman corrected unhappily.

Dinah's strong appearance cracked a little, and she rubbed at her face with both hands to hide it. She jerked back suddenly and looked at her blood encrusted fingers with downturned eyebrows, "I'm going to go try and clean up a little. Can you check on Robin and Superboy if you have a minute? I left them in the medical bay."

Hawkwoman nodded her assent, and Dinah looked over at Roy for the first time since he arrived. Roy just gave her a determined grimace and stepped back into the zeta tube. He keyed in the coordinates for Star City and activated the teleporter.

Three seconds later, he stepped out into Oliver's secret arsenal and shrugged his quiver off, slinging it onto one of the workbenches. He pressed a button on the side and ripped out the small tablet he kept hidden in the bottom. This was not acceptable. No way did a villain get to take his little brother and get away with it. He tapped the screen a few times and pulled up his tracking software.

The JLA had their crap leads. Roy was going to get some real ones. He had his own methods and his own resources. He…really hated to use them, but he would do anything for his brothers – even this. But, the uh…the League definitely didn't need to know about this. Ever.

He chose the subject he wanted and waited impatiently as his receiver picked up the signal. The screen materialized a map of the United States and zoomed out from California. It scrolled east immediately and centered on the state of New York. A tiny red dot blinked to life at the southern tip of the state. She was in New York City. The logs said that she'd been there for an hour already, so he had ten…maybe fifteen minutes tops – not that he knew her patterns or spent time studying her movements or anything. He just knew her methods for…tactical purposes. Right. Well, at least the tracer he'd put on her during their last encounter was still there.

Roy swung the quiver onto his back and fastened the straps across his chest. He went to one of the walls and started loading up with weapons. He was going to need them. Roy strapped one handheld crossbow to his lower back and one to his leg. He packed three clips of bolts, strapped extra armor to his forearms and legs, and switched out his regular patrol arrows with his most dangerous ones. He slipped a pair of tonfa sticks into the holsters at his hips. He wasn't taking any chances…

Roy snatched up the GPS tracker again and stepped into the zeta tube once more. This time, he entered the coordinates for the tube in New York, and he was off.

When he stepped out of the 'condemned' building and onto the busy streets, the sun was just beginning to set in the sky. Wally had been missing for five hours now. Roy hopped onto the motorcycle that Dinah kept hidden nearby and roared through the rush hour traffic on it. He zipped through the grid as fast as he could, every now and then glancing at the detailed map of the city on his tablet. Her dot was still in the same spot. He only had seven minutes left now.

The tracker led Roy to a forty-three story office building that was just starting to empty for the evening. He paused in the plaza and glanced at the tracker again. Altitude sensors said she was on the top floor. Roy entered the building's address in his tablet and looked at the information that popped up. The top floor held the offices to Vandercorp Industries' CEO Thomas Mathers. It was almost a certainty that she was in his office. Roy looked at the surrounding buildings and spotted an adjacent one that was easily fifty stories. He abandoned the bike and took off for that one at a dead run.

Roy burst through the front doors, easily dodging the security that rushed forward to stop him. He ducked into the high speed service elevator and slammed his fist into the button for the top floor. One of the hired security guards tried to follow after him, but Roy planted a foot on his chest and kicked him back. The elevator doors slid shut, and Roy felt himself rapidly shooting upwards. He made it thirty-five floors before the elevator came to a jerking halt, and a ringing alarm filled the enclosed space. Roy rolled his eyes and braced one foot on the railing. He jumped up and unlocked the escape hatch in the ceiling, grabbing onto the edge and hoisting himself onto the roof of the elevator. He pulled the bow from his back, selected a grappling arrow, and fired it straight up.

The arrow hit its mark, and the attached cord pulled taut. Roy clipped the other end to his belt and hit the retract button, letting the arrow pull him the rest of the way up. Once at the top, he swung over to the closed doors and pried them open with little effort. He ran out into a plush, lavishly decorated hallway and waiting room to the left. Roy bypassed it all and sprinted for the stairwell. He kicked open the door and started climbing the steps the rest of the way to the roof, finding it unlocked. People really needed better security.

If the other building was anything like this one, then she would've had no trouble breaking in. They probably didn't even know she was there.

Roy darted across the rooftop, feeling the rushing wind breeze past him without any breakers. He leapt onto the metal railing and fired one half of a grappling arrow directly onto the roof behind him. He connected the line to his bow and fired the other half across the way onto the rooftop of his target building. The arrow dug deeply into the roof below, and Roy leapt off of the railing before the security chasing him had a chance to catch up. He zip lined down to the other building and cut the line right before he landed, rolling to absorb the shock and sprinting for this building's roof access.

When he got to the door, he saw that the lock had already been disabled. Cursing inwardly, he leapt down the stairwell to the first door he saw and shouldered his way in. It led to the top floor, which was deserted by now. All of the hallway lights were off, and there was no noise coming from any of the offices, except for one. Roy heard hysterical sobbing and the muffled sounds of someone begging for their life. He immediately took off toward the cries and burst through the door with an arrow drawn.

Like the rest of the offices, the lights were off in this one too. The floor to ceiling window taking up the entirety of one wall was facing east, so the only sunlight coming in was dim and residual. But Roy could still see Thomas Mathers seated behind his desk in suit and tie, shaking and sobbing frantically as a shadowy figure slashed at him with a sai.

Roy aimed and fired, his arrow striking the sai dead on and ripping it from the assassin's hand. Mathers whimpered from his desk and fell backwards out of his chair in surprise. The assassin froze, and Roy nocked a knock-out gas arrow, training it on the back of her head, "Back off!"

She slowly looked over her shoulder, peeking at him from behind a grinning, red-striped cat mask. Her thick black hair obscured half of the mask, which didn't really matter – Roy couldn't use it to judge her expression anyways. She straightened up and spun gracefully on her toes to face Roy, deftly twirling the other sai between her fingers, "Red~ It's been such a long time."

She spoke in a rich, almost coquettish voice, "I was beginning to think you didn't want to see me anymore."

Roy ignored the baiting and kept his eyes focused on her free hand. Experience had taught him that every part of this girl either was a weapon or was never more than a twitch of the fingers away from one.

"And, I thought our last date went so well," Cheshire brought one claw-gloved hand up to her hair and tucked it behind her ear where a lone earring dangled, holding the blinking red tracer that he'd stuck to her foot the last time he saw her. "I even kept the beautiful present you gave me. It was so thoughtful of you."

He felt irritation rise in his chest, and he pulled his arrow back another inch, "Step away from him."

"Red," Cheshire said in an exasperated, sing-song tone, resting her wrist on her hip and casually flicking the sai back and forth. "I'm on the side of the good guys this time. Honest."

"Good guys don't kill," Roy remarked grimly, still waiting for her to strike out lightning fast and hurl a kunai at him or something. Mathers was still cowering behind his desk.

Cheshire shrugged, "It's a work in progress."

"Put the weapon down," Roy didn't bat an eye. He knew she was watching him – waiting for him to slip up so that she could pounce.

"Did you know that he's embezzled hundreds of millions from his own company?" Cheshire rocked back on her heels comfortably, tilting the sai at her hip to point at Mathers in a lazy arc. "Put thousands out of work – four of whom have committed suicide. My employers hired me because they want…justice. Surely you can see how that makes my actions honorable."

"It's called 'revenge', and I don't care. Put the sai down," Roy growled, flexing the muscles in his arm in preparation.

"If I don't kill him, I don't get my full pay," Cheshire said in mock annoyance, but she tucked the weapon back into her belt. She reached up and plucked the mask from her face, revealing her beautiful, almond shaped eyes and taunting smile. She strolled catlike right up to Roy, her hips swaying with every step, and batted his bow away with one hand. Cheshire walked two fingers up his chest and grabbed the strap holding his quiver on, tugging him closer. "But, I could be okay with that if you make it worth it…"

Roy tried to keep his eyes on her face and his guard up, but everything about Cheshire was alluring – her voice, her eyes, her body

Ugh. He shouldn't have let her get this close. He was a predominantly distance fighter. Now, he was screwed. Cheshire rose up on her toes and leaned in for a kiss, hooking one hand behind his head and threading her clawed fingers through his hair. That was when Roy turned his face away at the last second and shoved her away with his bow, "Guess you're going to be pretty disappointed then. You're not killing him."

"This is a bad man, Red," Cheshire stroked the back of his neck, cooing to him and chuckling. "I think we can both agree that he at the very least needs to be….punished somehow."

"Then, collect some evidence, break his nose, and drop him off at the police station," Roy relaxed the string on his bow and replaced the arrow in his quiver.

"Oh~" she groaned mournfully, stalking around him in a tight circle. "You take all the fun out of it."

Roy felt her loop both arms over his shoulders from behind and lightly trace small patterns on his chest with her claws. Despite everything that was going on and the fact that he'd just caught her about to murder someone, Roy's breathing hitched, and his heart skipped a few beats.

"Fine," he said gruffly, trying not to let himself notice how she was pressing herself up against him. He didn't have time to argue with her. "Break his legs first, then steal his banking information and drop him off with the police."

"See? Now this is what real love is all about," Cheshire laughed breathily right beside his ear, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. "Compromise."

Roy felt his knees go a little weak, and he exhaled sharply to clear his head, angry that the villainess had this power over him. He turned around in her arms to face her, catching her hands in his own when they tried to cup his face, "I need a favor."

"Oh?" Cheshire leaned back in mocking surprise. She bit her lip and batted her half-lidded eyes at him seductively. "And what does such a big, strong hero want from me?"

All of a sudden, Thomas Mathers decided to make a break for it. Roy released Cheshire and reached out with one arm, clotheslining Mathers before he could get to the door and flipping him onto his back. He selected the knockout gas arrow and fired it directly down into Mathers' kidney. The trick arrow exploded into a small cloud of white smoke, and Mathers fell unconscious with a long, drawn out groan of pain. Roy nudged him with his boot and looked back to Cheshire.

She was perched on the edge of Mathers' desk across the room, sitting with one long, slender leg crossed over the other. She'd retrieved her other sai from the floor and was grinning at him playfully, silently daring him to come after her.

Roy refused to rise to her challenge. He folded up his bow, signaling that he didn't want to fight, and clipped it to his thigh. Cheshire's grin tightened a little in disappointment.

"The Justice League is looking for someone. He was taken by a villain, and I need your underground connections to help find him," Roy told her reluctantly. He knew that she would be difficult about this, and there was no guarantee that she would even agree to help.

Predictably, Cheshire's expression sharpened, and she narrowed her eyes at him, cocking one eyebrow dangerously, "You want me to help the Justice Friends?"

"I want you to help me," he tried to keep from getting angry because of his impatience. "He's my brother."

It felt wrong admitting something so personal and potentially damning to a known criminal, but it was necessary. Roy would risk giving her information that she could use against him if it could persuade her to aid him.

Surprisingly, his worried admission had taken Cheshire off guard. Her eyes widened marginally, and for a split second, she let her sly, conniving persona slip. He saw genuine surprise in her expression; she hadn't expected him to tell her something like that.

"You have resources with the villains that I don't," Roy pushed a little more.

"Why should I help you?" she bristled suddenly, glaring at him from the desk. "You've never been anything but cold to me. You're no fun."

"I'll be more fun," Roy slowly moved towards the volatile woman like he was approaching a wild animal. "I promise."

Cheshire sighed audibly in frustration and rolled her eyes at him, looking teasingly upset, "That's not how I want it to be. I want you to want it."

"Believe me," Roy spoke in a low voice, reaching out to touch her wild hair before he could stop himself. "If you do this for me, I'll want to be more fun."

Cheshire held the tip of her sai up to her lips as if she was considering it.

This was most definitely a terrible idea. The flirting and the tension was one thing, but actually getting involved with Cheshire was incredibly stupid – so astoundingly stupid, that Roy was afraid to admit to himself that the idea was undeniably exciting.

Cheshire stared up at him with a curious expression. Roy could see her mind working quickly, trying to gauge whether or not he was being serious. It only took a few seconds. She smiled and shot out her legs to wrap around his waist and pull him closer. Roy placed his hands on the desk on either side of her to brace himself.

"Deal," Cheshire purred. She lay back on the desk and stretched her arms above her head like a cat, still not releasing Roy from her hold. "So, who do you want me to investigate?"

"Professor Zoom," he said immediately, trying to keep his eyes from roaming over her body – especially where the short, green kimono was riding up her thighs.

Cheshire sat up abruptly and looked at him with a cautious frown, "Your brother? He's that little runner, isn't he?"

Roy nodded, "He's not blood, but he's my brother all the same, and I need to rescue him from Zoom before it's too late."

"Professor Zoom is insane," Cheshire said disapprovingly. "He would kill you – he'd kill me – before we'd have time to register that he was there."

"I'm not asking you to fight him," Roy reassured her quickly, and then his voice took on a fierce tone. "I just need you to find him for me. After that, I'm bringing the entire Justice League to take him down."

A darkly excited smile curled at the edges of Cheshire's lips, and she snapped up, wrapping her arms around Roy's neck. She squeezed her legs tighter around his hips and closed the distance between them, pressing their lips together in a deep kiss. Roy didn't pull away. He grabbed her thigh with one hand and placed the other on her back, crushing her closer and kissing back desperately.

"I love it when you get all protective," Cheshire chuckled against his lips, dragging four claws down the back of Roy's neck painfully. She placed one last kiss at the corner of his mouth and rolled backwards away from him and off the desk. "Give me one day."

Roy was still reeling when he finally noticed Cheshire hefting Thomas Mathers onto one shoulder and his laptop case onto the other, "What are you doing with him?"

"Taking him to the police," she smiled and shot out the glass window of the office, still moving gracefully even with her burden.

"You didn't break his legs," Roy pointed out lamely. Cheshire looked down at Mathers' intact limbs and gave a playful shrug before replacing the mask on her face.

"Compromise," she said simply, and then she was gone, leaving Roy standing in the middle of the empty office with some wildly conflicting emotions.

He went to rub the back of his neck and winced when he felt a sharp sting. He tried again gingerly and ran his fingers over the four raised lines, his stomach twisting in dread.

Claw marks.

Great. That wasn't going to be hard to explain or anything.

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[Undisclosed Location

Unknown Date, Unknown Time]

Wally woke up slowly. He cracked his eyes open one at a time and looked around blearily at the ceiling above him. He blinked a few times when his vision proved too blurry to see anything clearly. Several feet above him hung a wide metal disc with a vent built in. Everything below it was strangely distorted, and Wally blinked again. Oh. He was looking through glass. That's why. Really thick glass…

His eyes followed the glass down to the floor and saw his feet just a few inches from it. Wally really looked at what he was lying on top of then. It was a matching metal disc. His eyes flew back to the glass and followed it to the left where it curved just inches from his face and to the right where it circled around his legs.

Where the heck was he? Wally tried to lie still as his mind groggily stumbled to catch up. What had happened? And why did he feel so sluggish? He couldn't even remember how he'd gotten here. Okay, what's the last thing he did remember?

Eating half a kitchen… Ugh, he would think of food first. He'd been preparing for…something…

What? He always ate before missions with the Team and patrols with Uncle Barry. Ah, no, he was benched. That's right. So, what was he preparing for? He'd been…in the cave? Yeah, definitely, because he'd been polishing off M'gann's awesome meatloaf. That girl really needed to be a chef. HA! He'd been getting ready for a run with Jay and Max! He'd eaten so much because his metabolism was fluctu-

Wally shot upright in horror as his memories abruptly came slamming back into him. They'd been attacked! Wally gasped in pain and doubled over onto his side, curling his legs in. His stomach ached from where Zoom had slugged him. Wally wrapped an arm around his abs and tried to push himself back up with the other. He stared at the floor and took a moment to catch his breath. Professor Zoom and those other speedsters had attacked Jay and Max but had only tried to catch him. Why? What the hell did they want him for? And what happened to Max and Jay? He kind of remembered Max trying to grab onto his feet in a last ditch effort to stay together as Zoom lifted him out of the water, but nothing after that. Had Max been able to swim back to the surface, or had he drowned? And what about Jay!? The last things he remembered before he blacked out were Jay's cries of pain as the speedsters tore him apart.

He had to find out what happened to them! Wally gritted his teeth and pushed himself to his knees, trying his best to ignore the pain and looking around at the glass cylinder encasing him. He had to get out of this thing first. Wally peered through the glass in front of him and into the room beyond. It was huge; there were all kinds of large crates stacked floor to ceiling against the furthest wall, various bits of rusted and broken machinery sitting all over, and what looked like one small part of an automated assembly line that continued on unseen into the next rooms.

Okay. Before he escaped, he should probably figure out where he was. Look for clues, Wally. Your best friend is the sidekick of the best detective ever. You had to have picked up something from him. Wally stared hard at the machines. There was some kind of writing on the machinery that he didn't recognize – different letters. It might've been something Slavic.

The assembly line was running, but it was quiet, and a giant project tarp was cutting him off from seeing what was being made. He could see flashes of red and blue colors but nothing more. He looked to the right where the room was mostly empty. The far right wall was one big, roll down door that looked like it could be raised or lowered by a control panel. There were several sets of slushy tire tracks leading straight out from the door. So, wherever he was, it was snowy…in late March. Okay, so a cold place. Maybe up north? Or south…with Zoom, he could be anywhere.

Wally turned around in his glass cell and came face to face with Uncle Barry. He was about two inches from the glass and crouched down to eye level. Wally's heart leapt into his throat, and he gave a startled cry and fell back in surprise. Then, he really looked at him. He was wearing Professor Zoom's suit with the cowl pulled back. That alone would have been bad enough, but the most spine shuddering thing about him was his face.

He looked very similar to Uncle Barry, but it wasn't him. Not unless Uncle Barry had had a very horrific accident in the last few days. There were long lines of ugly, black stitches running along his jaw line, nose, under his eyes, his forehead, and cheekbones. Parts of his skin were red and patchy, and others were pulled tight like they'd been stretched too far. And his eyes were all wrong. One was a bright, clear blue that was a shade or two too light, and the other was dark blue with a ring of light green at the edges – definitely not Uncle Barry's color blue. Stitches ran along the top of his head and the hairline, which was just beginning to sprout scattered blond hairs. He looked like someone had tried to make Uncle Barry's face into Frankenstein's monster.

Wally's blood froze in his veins.

No. Someone had tried to make their face look like Uncle Barry's. His eyes flickered to the yellow and red costume again, and his stomach twisted in sickening terror. This was Professor Zoom. He reached out in a blur of motion and slammed one palm against the glass, making Wally flinch back instinctively. Zoom's mouth spread out in a slow smile, and he pressed closer to the glass.

"You don't talk in your sleep, Baby Flash," he whispered manically like it was a secret. His mismatched blue eyes bored into Wally's own. "I was hoping you'd say some names for me."

When Wally did nothing but stare back in wide-eyed fear, Zoom clarified, "So I could kill them."

Wally turned suddenly and shot to his feet, frantically checking the glass cell for a way out. Professor Zoom slowly straightened up from his hunch and rocked back on his heels, running a hand along the top of his scarred head, "Do you like my new look, Wally?"

This was not happening! Wally zipped to one end of the cell – the one farthest from Zoom – and began slamming his fists into the glass. Each blow was met with a muffled thud and a sharp twinge of pain in his knuckles but not a lick of damage to the walls.

Suddenly, Professor Zoom was standing in front of Wally again, "Of course, you've never seen my old look, so you have nothing to compare it to… but I still think you like it. I decided to do some work on my face – you know, a little plastic surgery. I have to say, though, your surgeons in this time are borderline primitive, Wally. Back in the twenty-fifth century where I'm from, the reconstructive surgery is much more advanced. You can basically do it yourself at home. They sell it in kits on the shelf."

Wally coiled the muscles in his leg and kicked the glass as hard as he could. He flickered away from Zoom again and attacked the seams of the cell where the glass met the metal circles.

"Hospitals have really big stores in them in my time," Professor Zoom ran around the cell to talk to Wally face to face again, keeping with him no matter where in the cell he tried to run to. "It's only like a thousand dollars for a new nose. I never realized how much I took technology for granted until I came to this time – definitely culture shock. Hey! I bet you can't guess who I picked to model my new face after."

Don't look. Don't look. Don't look.

Wally peeked over his shoulder at the twisted visage of Uncle Barry and felt his heartbeat stutter in terror. He'd known that Zoom was from the future, and he'd known he was a homicidal sociopath, but this

Professor Zoom crouched down again and cocked his head sharply, his twisted face deforming to show confusion, "Why are you being so quiet? You've always been rather mouthy whenever we met in the past."

"Oh, I know!" he snapped his fingers like the answer just hit him. "You're upset at me because I knocked you out and kidnapped you, right? Isn't that it, Wally? Well, if it makes you feel better, I wanted to kill you right then and there, but that would really mess up the plan."

"How do you know my name?!" Wally finally spoke. He'd meant to shout the words angrily, but his voice caught in his throat, and they just came out as a shaky, terrified mumble.

"Your name?" Zoom frowned like he didn't understand. "I know more than your name, Wally. I know your whole back story – your identity."

"Who told you?" Wally demanded, his voice getting a little louder. He squared his shoulders and tried to be brave, although he couldn't feel the tight fabric of his Kid Flash costume and draw confidence from it. "Was it my dad?"

"It was your aunt."

Wally froze. His eyes went wide, and he stared back at Zoom uncomprehendingly. The villain held up one finger, signaling him to wait a moment, and zipped across the room to retrieve something from one of the work tables behind him.

"Your identities? I've always known them," Zoom pulled whatever he'd grabbed from behind his back and waved it around loftily. "I'm from the future, Wally. And in the future, you're history."

It was a book. Zoom pressed it to the glass with one hand and rested his face right beside it. Despite his fear, Wally crept closer to read the title.

The Life Story of the Flash by Iris Allen.

Wally's mouth dropped open in shock, and he stared at the hardcover book in disbelief. Aunt Iris had burned their identities?

The book was abruptly pulled from the glass, and Zoom looked down at it with a strange, detached expression, "Calm down; she doesn't get it published for a few more decades."

Professor Zoom was quiet for a few moments before speaking again, "I just wanted an autograph, you know."

Wally stumbled back into the center of the cell and tried not to panic.

"I remember learning all about this time in school. Did you know that they call the twenty-first century the Heroic Age? There aren't any more superheroes in the twenty-fifth century. I was obsessed with learning more about it, so I'd spend the whole day researching as much as I could. The second Flash was instantly my favorite hero. Barry Allen. I knew him better than I knew myself. So, I decided I'd do anything it took to meet him. I spent a fortune, and nearly killed myself getting superspeed, and went back in time to meet him and become his partner."

Wally stayed very still, listening in fascinated horror as Zoom paced back and forth rapidly with a wide smile on his face.

"And I did go back in time. And I got to meet the Flash, but it was the wrong Flash!" Zoom suddenly charged at the glass and slammed a fist into it, mismatched blue eyes fixing Wally with the most hate-filled glare he'd ever seen. "It was you! I screwed up and came into your time after Barry had been dead for years, and you were the Flash instead. And, to top it all off, guess what I found out. Guess! I found out that I became the Flash's greatest enemy while you got to be his partner!"

"I…become the Flash….?" Wally asked brokenly, dumbfounded. "And Uncle Barry dies?"

"Yes," Zoom spat bitterly. He turned and hurled the book across the room furiously. "And you're faster than me! After you defeated me and sent me back to my own time, I decided to try again. This time, I arrived when you were just starting out. I watched you and your uncle run around together for months before I changed my goal. I didn't want to become Barry's partner anymore. I decided that I would kill you first, then him, and then I would become him and live his life instead of mine. I did give you two one last chance, though. It was the first time we met in this era, but you blew it."

"Uh, hey, loony tunes, you attacked us first! What were we supposed to do?! Invite you over for tea and cookies?!" Wally was still reeling, trying to digest everything Zoom had said.

Professor Zoom shrugged like it didn't matter, "I realized that it was going to happen no matter what I did. As Professor Zoom, I was destined to be the Flash's arch nemesis. So, I decided to throw away my own identity and take Barry's. When this is all over, I'll be Barry Allen."

"So, why didn't you kill me before when I was unconscious – or all of the other times in the past when you knew my identity and where I slept at night?" Wally threw his hands up angrily. Zoom was basically blaming him for how he'd turned out.

"I didn't know where you slept at night," Zoom jerked his thumb at where the book lay on the floor several feet away. "Your aunt kept the details vague. She's a smart lady. That's part of the reason why I love her. I think we'll make a good match when I'm her husband."

Wally's anger spiked at the mention of Zoom taking advantage of his aunt that way. He slammed one foot into the glass at superspeed, and the entire cell rang from the force.

"As for why I didn't kill you before: I couldn't," Professor Zoom sighed and walked a few feet away, looking like someone had kicked his favorite puppy. "We need you alive – at least for now – for the plan to work."

"What plan?" Wally growled, his fear melting away in the face of the protective rage for his aunt that was taking over. "And who the hell is 'we'?!"

"Well, I need you to stay alive until I get the formula right, and then you can die as far as I'm concerned," Professor Zoom remarked offhandedly. "I don't know what all your father has planned for you."

Wally had opened his mouth to shout back some smartass remark and then promptly shut it when he heard Zoom mention his father. He took a few steps back and felt his legs go numb without warning. His mouth went dry, and he tried to swallow hard, "My…father?"

Zoom nodded at something over Wally's shoulder and simply sauntered off to collect his beloved book from the floor, dusting it off and replacing it on the table it had been on before. Wally felt his chest tighten and his lungs absolutely refuse to take in any air. He slowly looked over his shoulder, his whole body shaking like mad, turning as he went until he was facing a man he hadn't seen in person for well over a month.

"Dad?"