A/N And here's the next chapter! :)

~Aiva

Dick froze, snatches of painful memories flashing through his mind in rapid succession. A feeling of dark and heavy dread settled deep into the pit of his stomach, adrenaline flashing like lightning through his veins. Wide cerulean eyes stared back at the man he had thought to be ash.

Impossible, the thirteen-year-old thought, the words a whisper even in his mind, He's dead.

Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case any longer, even though Dick sorely wished it was. Time seemed frozen for a moment as he stared at the evil scientist in shock, his mind still struggling to process this horrifying revelation.

Roy managed to situate himself in front of both Wally and Dick, cursing himself for not having a bow on hand. He had set it aside, foolishly believing he wouldn't need it…of course, no one had predicted this. The archer glanced around with determined blue eyes, frantically searching for a way to escape. They weren't ready to deal with this, not right now. Wally was still injured, Dick wasn't moving yet, and Roy didn't have a bow. They were in over their heads for sure, but there was no way Roy was letting this creep get his hands on his little brothers again, not after last time.

For a minute, Wally's heart seemed to stop, and his breath caught in his throat. An awful sick feeling coursed through him as he realized that Dr. Anthony Lawrence was very much alive. It was no illusion; he was there, and Wally honestly didn't want to think about what the scientist wanted.

Just as quickly though, anger crashed over him, tinting his vision red with rage. "You killed her!" he shouted, and his throat stung immediately because of how loud and furious it was, a chilling yell that was full of obvious pain. "You killed her and you tortured my best friend!" His eyes narrowed as he balled his hands into tight fists, gritting his teeth at the same time.

All Wally could see was Dr. Anthony Lawrence's scarred and burned face while images flashed through his mind; Hope's weak, sad smile as she said goodbye, Dick's haunted blue eyes and bruised and bloodied skin, the flames licking at the walls as Hope burned… No words came this time, just a grieved, angry shout full of raw emotion. Wally lunged forward, rage allowing him to briefly forget his injured leg as he slipped into super speed. He poured all of his heartache and fury into one powerful punch that knocked the scientist back a few feet.

Dr. Anthony Lawrence, however, quickly regained his balance, only grinning in response as he pulled out a sleek silver gun. "I didn't feel a thing," he smirked, before his eyes narrowed, insanity flickering briefly in their brown depths. "You see, Wallace, when 287 caught Cadmus on fire, I managed to escape into one of the many hidden rooms there, built for emergencies such as that. I survived, but not without severe burning, as you can see." He actually chuckled then, the sound chilling all three of the young vigilantes to their bones.

"The burns were so severe, in fact, that I can barely feel anything there anymore. It took me months to be able to even move again. Months." The smile was gone now, replaced by a cold hatred that was just as terrifying. "You ruined everything, so now I will ruin you. I will make you hurt, bleed, scream, and cry. I will cause you so much pain you will beg me to end it, in any way necessary." The mirthless chuckle came back, full of sick, twisted pleasure. "And I'll keep going, until I've broken you completely. Then I'll kill you, as slowly as I can." He paused, staring at Dick and Wally with cold eyes. "And I'll enjoy every single moment."

Dr. Anthony Lawrence had been frightening before, but this…this was a whole new level. Before, at least, he had been rational. But now he was insane, apparently having gone off the deep end long ago.

Wally felt uncertainty and fear start to trickle through the thick walls of anger he had built up; never had he faced a villain like this. Central City's Rogues weren't half as dark or twisted, and he had never been to Gotham long enough to have really faced a big baddie there. The young speedster didn't know what to do, other than the one thought that remained clear in his mind: Keep Dick away from him.

"You're insane," Wally snarled, his tone much colder and harsher than he had ever made it before. "You're not going to hurt either one of us again."

The scientist chuckled again, the sound chilling. "Wallace, you don't stand a chance at stopping me."

"Yeah?" Roy growled, a scowl set firmly on his face. "Well, I do." He pointed his bow at the insane villain, having used the distraction to retrieve his precious weapon. An arrowhead glinted menacingly from where it was loaded on to the string, aimed without hesitation at Dr. Anthony Lawrence's chest.

Dick stood behind him, a utility belt hanging now in view around his waist and a pair of birdarangs clenched in his fists. "I swear, if you ever hurt him I will personally track you down and make you wish you were never born." His voice was icy and anger was making his heart pound, but he didn't have time for any more words. Knowing this was the best opportunity he was going to get, he threw the batarangs directly at his target.

The scientist shot one out of the air before it had the chance to make contact, but the second one slammed into his shoulder, the razor edges biting into his flesh. The weapon gave a gentle beep once before gray smoke poured out of it, filling the room immediately.

Dick wasted no time in rushing over to Wally's side to support the injured speedster while Roy braced his other side. They raced as quickly as they could towards the open doorway, the actual door blown to pieces. They managed to make it to a zeta tube, silently thanking Batman that one was so close to the house; there was no way they would've made it otherwise. Roy hastily punched in the first coordinates he could think of: a safe house he and Green Arrow had set up in Star City a long while back.

The yellow light whisked them away to safety, depositing them in an alleyway.

Roy reached out with his free hand and pressed his fingertips against a particular brick. "Recognized. Red Arrow B-06," a computer called out, beeping in acceptance before a section of the wall slid aside to reveal a metal door. Roy pushed that open, ushering his two younger brothers inside and slamming it shut behind them.

For a minute, there was nothing but a heavy silence that no one seemed willing to break. Then Dick let out a frustrated cry and slammed his fist into the nearest wall, producing a loud thud. Roy winced, glad those walls were reinforced; they'd surely be cracked otherwise. "He's supposed to be dead!" the acrobat practically shouted, blue eyes burning with emotion.

Wally let out a small groan from the seat he had managed to get to as soon as he had entered the hidden bunker. His leg was finally starting to bother him now that they were safe and most of the adrenaline was wearing off, but it didn't bother him nearly as much as knowing that Hope's killer and the source of Dick's nightmares for the past two months was still out there, alive and bent on torturing and then killing them.

Roy attempted to place a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder, but Dick shrugged him off, almost angrily. "Dick-" he attempted.

"Don't," the Boy Wonder interrupted, clenching his hands into fists. "Just don't."

Roy sighed and Wally remained silent. "I'm going to get in contact with Bruce and Barry," the archer finally said, "Give them the heads up. Okay?"

Dick mutely nodded, the sudden lump in his throat making it difficult to speak.

Wally sensed this immediately, and gestured for his best friend to walk closer. "Come here, Birdy," he said, voice a lot softer and hoarse. Dick hesitated before complying, managing to squish into the tiny spot next to the speedster. Wally wrapped an arm around Dick automatically, drawing the kid closer as he rubbed his back soothingly. Anger set aside for the moment, they were both emotionally exhausted; they needed a chance to recuperate and get their thoughts in order, simply taking comfort from each other's presence for the moment.

Bruce was absolutely furious upon arriving at the Watchtower and discovering there was no real emergency after all. He had been forced to leave his son for absolutely nothing. He immediately went over to nearest computer and started typing in strings of code, searching for whatever virus had forced the alert system to glitch. The search itself took fifteen minutes, since he decided to update the system at the same time to ensure nothing like this ever happened again.

Bruce's frown deepened as he stared at the screen, thoroughly confused for a few seconds. There was no virus, no plausible reason that there would've been an accidental alert sent out to him and Barry. Unless…

His eyes widened fractionally and he pressed his comm.-link, tuning into Barry's specific channel. "Flash, meet me at the zetas now," he ordered. How could he have been so stupid?! The only way this could've happened is if someone with a lot of resources and skill had hacked it. And since Barry and Bruce had been the only ones to get the alert…well, it was fairly obvious Cadmus had planned the whole thing to separate them from their boys.

Bruce rushed towards the zeta tube himself, praying silently that he wouldn't arrive too late. He refused to lose his son a second time to Cadmus. Unsurprisingly, Barry was at the zetas first; the only time that man was ever on time was when his nephew was in danger. "Bruce, what's going-?" the speedster started.

"It was a trick," Bruce interrupted, his voice a growl. "Cadmus wanted to get Dick and Wally alone." And they succeeded, he added in his head.

Barry's eyes widened, and he quickly punched in coordinates, hoping that when they got there Wally would still be okay.

They were back in Central City in seconds, and Barry didn't hesitate before grabbing Bruce's arm and dragging the Dark Knight behind him as he used his super speed to reach his house quickly. Normally, Bruce would've complained, but now was not the time. Right now his boy needed him.

Barry sucked in a sharp breath upon seeing his door; well, what used to be his door, anyway. Now it was just a blackened hole where the solid piece of wood used to be, clearly blown up somehow. Barry dashed inside, closely followed by Bruce. Rubble coated the ground, gritty dust crunching beneath his boots as he investigated his house. "Kid?" he called out desperately. "Wally?!"

There was nothing but eerie silence.

Barry turned to Bruce, shoulders slumped and mouth drawn firmly into a frown. "They're gone," he stated unnecessarily.

Bruce's eyes narrowed when he saw a birdarang lodged firmly into the wall. "Though not without a fight," he responded. Inside, he was panicking. His son had just been kidnapped again, and he hadn't been able to do a thing about it!

His comm.-link buzzed then, alerting him to an incoming message. Bruce really wasn't in the mood to deal with this and was tempted just to ignore it, but he paid intent attention when it was Roy's voice that came through the speakers. "Bruce? Barry?" the archer asked, checking to see if the connection had worked.

"We're here," Barry answered. "Where are you guys? Are you hurt? Wally's okay, right?"

"Barry, slow down," Bruce instructed. "Roy, continue." He secretly wanted to act the same as the speedster was right then, but doing so wouldn't help him find Dick any faster, and that was his priority.

"Right. We were attacked by Dr. Anthony Lawrence."

"What?!" Barry all but shrieked, voice incredibly loud. "But he's d-"

"That's what we thought too," Roy interrupted. "We thought wrong. I don't know where he is now. Dick and Wally are safe; we're in one of the safe houses in Star."

"We're on our way."

A/N Yeah, they got away this time. Of course, now they have two people after them... Fun times. ^^

Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Mailbag

MysteryGuest: I updated! ^^ And don't worry; there will definitely be a lot more Wally whump in this story than there was in Fugitive. Thanks for the review!

Don'tWalkUpStairsBackwards: No problem! I understand completely; I barely have time to review anything anymore myself. It is nice to hear from you again though. ^^ And it's okay; I'm sort of sadistic with Dick and Wally too. Well, more like a lot sadistic. ;) Thanks for the review!

fanficfantasies: I've decided to take the fact that I'm scaring you as a compliment, lol. ;) Roy will be playing a bigger part than he did last time, but as of right now, I'm still not sure exactly how big of a part that will be. I guess we'll just have to find out. ^^ Thanks for the review!