AN: I know it's been a few days, but I think this will make it up to you. LONGEST. CHAPTER. YET. So enjoy and review guys! :) The next chapter is going to be pretty awesome.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Justice League.

...

For the next couple of minutes, Wally's memories were a blur on the Watchtower monitors. The few things that stood out were a fight between the Justice League when Grodd had influenced their emotions into temporarily breaking up, and when Superman died.

Wally had imprinted Superman's funeral in his mind: the dignitaries, and foreign diplomats, the vast crowds of ordinary citizens standing with their heads bowed...Wally soaked it all up. Even though he didn't say anything, the leaguers knew in that moment, Wally was comparing Superman's funeral with his uncle's. Why else would he stare so blankly at the grandeur of it all?

Two heroes. Two funerals. One so large it would go down in history with a giant memorial, and the man wasn't even dead. The other without any fan-fair; just a shared headstone that would never tell anyone of what he'd done.

"At least it's done right," Wally murmured before the memories shifted again.

The next memory was short, and blurred around the edges. Wally walked across a stage in a red graduation cap and gown and got his college diploma. What was shown after that was much clearer.

"Welcome to the Central City Police Department, Wally," said a man with blonde hair and a lab coat. His name tag declared him as Dr. Garfield, the lab director.

Wally beamed back at him and the two shook hands.

"This way to the lab," Dr. Garfield said. "Of course, you already knew that." He chuckled. "Feels like just yesterday your uncle brought you in here; all bony-limbed and bright-eyed."

"I remember," Wally said wistfully.

They made their way to the large, open lab with sectioned off desks and counters with cabinets above them and shelves holding various colored liquids along the walls.

One middle-aged woman with a dark skin tone saw them and beamed. She rushed forward and pulled Wally into a hug.

"Wally! It's so good to see you again. Look at you! Last time I saw you, you were just hitting your awkward teenage phase. Now you're all grown up," the woman said a sad smile.

"Margie?" Wally asked incredulously. "Wow, you look exactly the same. Haven't aged a day," Wally said with a crooked smile.

Margie blushed slightly and swatted his arm. "You've definitely got your uncle's charm," she said with a giggle. "You're finally joining us?"

The director stepped forward. "He is. I just hired him." He gestured over to the back corner that had the standard desk, work space, cabinets, and shelves. "Your uncle always worked best back there," Dr. Garfield said in a more solemn tone. "He said he got lost in his own world. I figured you'd be the same. Besides," he added in a louder voice, "that space has barely been touched the past few years. I know you'll put it to good use." The director smiled at Wally.

"Thank you," Wally said.

The images dissolved and formed into one of the Flash on patrol.

Suddenly an arrow shot out right in front of him. Flash looked in the direction it came from and saw Speedy standing on a roof. In a second, Flash was standing right next to the other redhead.

"Speedy! What's up? How's everything?" Wally asked excitedly.

Roy was barely smiling. "Everyone's fine as far as I know. Listen, Wally, I came to tell you that you won't be able to get in touch with me for a while."

"Why not?" Flash asked, frowning.

"I'm going undercover. DEEP undercover."

"Uh-huh," Flash said, studying him closely. "Can I ask where?"

Roy shifted his feet and turned his head slightly. "The Shadows."

Flash's eyes widened and he didn't say anything for a minute.

"Do you know how long you'll be gone?" he finally asked.

Roy shrugged. "A year maybe?" His eyebrows came together in a frown. "You're not going to try and stop me?"

Flash smiled. "You can handle it. You have to come see me as soon as you get out though."

Roy nodded and the memory faded once again.

When the new memory appeared, Flash was standing with five of the other founders, looking down on a massive assembly where Hawkgirl stood with two other Thanagarians.

Commander Hro Talak stood at the podium and addressed the world leaders. "Five years ago, we secretly sent an advanced agent to Earth to learn more about your people and to study its defenses. That agent was Lieutenant Shayera Hol, better known to you as Hawkgirl."

"You mean she's a spy?" Flash asked. He smiled. "Cool."

"She was spying on us," GL said angrily.

"Oh, yeah. Huh," Flash muttered.

The next few hours passed by in a few seconds. The fast-forwarded memory slowed to a normal pace when Flash was working with Green Lantern on the giant Thanagarian device that was supposedly a shield generator.

Superman flew up to them. "Diana's in trouble! Get to the Javelin. Fast!"

The three took off with Martian Manhunter, but before they could reach the Javelin, it was destroyed, and the blast sent Flash flying backwards. GL caught him and got them both out of the way when a female Thanagarian shot at them. Flash looked back and saw Hawkgirl lunge at her, but after that, his attention was diverted to the hundreds of Thanagarians surrounding them. GL let Flash go and he ran around, knocking into them or creating wind tunnels to knock them out of the air. Flash looked over and saw J'onn get knocked down by that same female Thanagarian. She was about to deliver another blow, so Flash ran over and into her. Then he ran back to look over J'onn. When Superman got blasted down to earth, Flash ran over to check on him, but he couldn't do anything. Then a strange blue beam hit Flash. He grit his teeth trying to stand, but he just sank into the ground.

The memory became fuzzy, unfocused as Flash started to lose consciousness. The monitors all went dark after he fell to the ground when GL's bubble construct that was carrying them away gave out and dropped Superman and J'onn as well.

Flash came to on a metal floor surrounded by a gravity beam. As much as he struggled, he couldn't lift himself more than a few inches off the ground, and within a minute, he resigned himself to lying there.

The images became blurred for a moment, and a glimpse of the Justice League's escape from their cells was shown. Flash seemed to take a bit of pleasure from roughly throwing a Thanagarian into a wall. There wasn't a clear scene until all six were in a dark department store.

"For the time being," Batman said in his deep voice, "we're gonna have to go underground."

"How exactly do we hide when the entire planet is looking for us?" Wonder Woman asked.

J'onn had been inspecting a piece of clothing hanging on a rack. "They're looking for the Justice League. Without our costumes, we are merely ordinary citizens," he said as he morphed into an average looking man.

"Hold on a second here," Flash said nervously, putting his hands up. "What about the whole 'secret identity' thing?" he asked with a smile. "I mean, I trust you guys, but I'm not sure I'm ready to-"

"Wally West," Batman said cutting him off and then pointing to Superman. "Clark Kent. Bruce Wayne," and with that, Batman pulled down his cowl to reveal the handsome face and dark hair beneath.

Many of the leaguers had known or at least heard that Bruce Wayne was Batman from rumors in the league. Wally's earlier memories had confirmed it, but most had never seen Batman without his cowl, and several of the leaguers that weren't as close to the Dark Knight glanced over at him. The image of a de-cowled Batman was…strange.

The Flash on screen looked at Bruce wide-eyed before looking away with a pout. "Show-off," he muttered and pulled down his cowl. He smiled good-naturedly as the others walked off to pick out clothing.

Wonder Woman stayed next to him and smiled. "Red hair," she said as she reached out a hand and ruffled it. "It suits you."

"You think?" Wally asked hopefully.

A shirt hit him on the side of his head. "Change," Bruce demanded in a hard voice. "Now."

The memory changed and Wally and John were walking up towards Wayne Manor. Seeing Wally on the monitors dressed in jeans and an open button down with a t-shirt underneath, some of the league had to wonder how the others didn't realize then how young he was.

Wally lagged behind with his brows scrunched in worry. When John rang the doorbell, they only had to wait a couple seconds for it to be answered by Alfred.

Wally spoke up before John could. "Uh, we're looking for Bruce Wayne. We're friends." Wally's smile looked strained and his eyes practically screamed "play along."

Alfred gave no indication of knowing Wally and simply stepped aside. "Of course, Master Bruce is expecting you."

John and Wally walked inside and waited for Alfred to close the door and step in front of them. "This way please," Alfred said in his proper British accent.

Wally fell into step and smiled broadly at Alfred's back. "So, Jeeves. Do you come with the place or does Master Bruce rent you just for parties?" Wally looked like he was fighting back a laugh.

Alfred responded dryly, "I've been in service here since the Master was in diapers."

"Now there's a picture," Wally said, turning to John.

Alfred, meanwhile, had opened the secret entrance to the Batcave behind the old grandfather clock. The three of them walked through the passage and down the stairs, Wally's eyes skimming briefly over everything. His eyes lingered for a moment over the costumes in the glass cases, and the watching heroes knew he was wondering where the other bats were.

Everyone else was by the Batcomputer, where Bruce sat in the chair. John walked over to join them.

"You're late," Bruce said in his Batman voice.

"Nice to see you, too," John replied evenly.

Wally had instead wandered over to Batman's trophies, grinning like a fool and winking at Alfred. Play along, Wally mouthed to the butler.

"Hey! That's a giant dinosaur," Wally said.

"And I thought Batman was the detective," Alfred said blandly, though you could just make out an eye-roll and a small upward tilt of his lips.

Having put on his little act, Wally walked over to the others.

J'onn acknowledged him first. "We were just speculating why the Thanagarians are really here."

"Obviously not to protect us," Clark added from where he leaned against the computer console.

"But if the Gordanians aren't actually anywhere near Earth, why do they need to build that force field?" Diana asked.

"If it is a force field," Batman said darkly.

"Than what is it?" John asked him.

Before Bruce could reply, another voice sounded from the shadows. "I can tell you."

They all turned in a combination of fear and shock to see Hawkgirl walk into the light. The leaguers expressions quickly turned to anger as they advanced on Hawkgirl.

"I didn't come to fight," Hawkgirl said. "I came to help."

Wally scowled and crossed his arms as he accused Hawkgirl of everything that happened. Shayera ignored them all and walked past them to stand in front of Bruce to give him the information he would need to stop the Hyperspace Bypass.

Except for John, the others walked past Shayera to go over to help Bruce look over the new information, but as he passed her, Wally looked at her from the corner of his eye, and his face softened just a bit.

The scene changed and everyone was crowded around the computer as Batman typed in some commands.

Wally glanced around and then backed up away from the group. He ran upstairs to the main house and found Alfred in the kitchen.

"Dick, Tim, Barbara, Cass?" Wally asked frantically.

Alfred placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly.

"They're all fine," he assured Wally. "Dick had taken Tim to stay with the Titans a few days ago. I heard from them a few hours ago and they're currently lying low and helping people stay out of trouble. Supergirl came by shortly after Marshall Law was instituted and took Barbara to stay with her at the Kent's. Cass is, well, Cass," Alfred answered. "You know she can disappear into the shadows better than Batman. She won't be caught. Now, you need to go back to the others," Alfred ordered.

Wally nodded, slightly less worried.

"Here," Alfred said and handed him a plate full of sandwiches. "No doubt you're hungry."

Wally smiled and nodded his head in thanks.

The scene changed again and the Justice League was mid-battle with some Hawks that had invaded the cave.

"Let's go," Batman ordered when the last of them was down.

The scene changed again and Flash, Batman, and Martian Manhunter were inside one of the Thanagarian ships outside the Manor.

"Well?" Batman asked J'onn who was seated at the controls.

"I have no idea how to fly this vehicle," he answered.

Flash eyed a big button curiously.

The leaguers watching smiled. They could practically see the need for him to push it.

"What's this do?" Flash asked as he give into temptation and pressed the button.

An energy blast shot out of the ship and destroyed the remaining pillar between the shattered windows of the Manor. Alfred was inside and glared at him through the ship's window.

Flash grimaced and turned to Batman who loomed over him.

"That's. Not. Helping," Bruce snarled through gritted teeth.

The memory fast-forwarded through their fight with the Thanagarians to take back the Watchtower.

"So where's your secret weapon?" Flash asked Batman.

"You're standing in it," he answered.

Flash looked more sad than shocked. "Wait. You mean we're gonna-"

"Take the Watchtower out of orbit and drop it right on top of their little science project," Batman explained.

The scene shifted and they were all standing in an escape pod with the knocked out Thanagarian soldiers.

"Is that the last of them?" J'onn asked.

"Yeah. Tower's completely pest-free," Flash said in a satisfied tone.

"Good," Batman said from behind him.

The door to the escape pod closed and it detached from the Watchtower.

"Hey!" Flash exclaimed, looking out the window to see Batman was still in the Watchtower.

"What are you doing?!" J'onn asked him.

Batman kept a cool façade. "I can't risk having the Watchtower burn up on re-entry. I'll have to guide it in manually. Gentlemen, it's been an honor."

Flash's face went blank and he just sat down and didn't say a word.

Green Arrow looked over to Batman in the main deck and scowled. "Way to be a martyr, Bruce," he said in a clearly disapproving tone. Batman ignored him. He didn't need to justify his actions.

When the new scene came on the monitors, it was of Flash and Martian Manhunter meeting up with the rest of the Justice League. Wonder Woman and Superman were there standing in front of a sitting and beaten up Green Lantern. Shayera was unmasked, eyes down and standing off to the side, one arm wrapped around her front and grasping the other in comfort.

When the other two got close, they could see Batman kneeling in front of John, applying some first-aid. Flash stopped in his tracks and started chuckling. "Of course," he muttered as he raised his hand to rub his forehead. "Why would I think he'd be dead? He's Batman."

The memory morphed into a blur of color and Batman smiled slightly. Thinking back, Wally had always had a lot of faith in him. He'd even looked up to him as a kid. Batman had never interacted with someone who admired him like that. He felt…happy. Bruce Wayne, The Batman, actually felt happy. He was proud of Flash and honored that he was given a place of such high esteem. More importantly, he realized he wanted to keep it.

Because he cared. He cared what Wally thought.

Flash now ranked just as high as any of his birds or bats. If Flash ever turned his back on him, Bruce knew it hit him like a knife twisted in the gut.

Martian Manhunter walked past the other leaguers to stand next to Batman. "Shall we?" he asked, and Batman nodded, knowing that he was suggesting they go sit with the others in Wally's med room.

Up on the monitors, the six founders sat at a table in a closed room at Wayne Manor.

"She exploited our weaknesses, betrayed us," Diana said.

"Come on," Flash pleaded. "She was in the ultimate no-win situation, but when push came to shove, she came through for us just like always."

"She is a pariah to her people," J'onn said blandly. "We are all she has left."

"Believe me, J'onn," Superman said frowning. "I feel for her, but after everything that's happened I honestly don't know if I could ever completely trust her again."

John stayed silent.

"We're arguing in circles," Batman said. "It's time to take a vote."

"Not just yet," Flash stated angrily. "I've been patient. I've let everyone have their say, and I've tried to point out why we should let her stay. But since we've been in here for hours, I just want to make sure everything is clear." He glared at everyone once.

"She lied to us, she spied on us, and she betrayed us. That hurt, but none of it really matters. Because at the end of the day. She. Chose. Us. She chose the family she made and not the place where she came from."

"She was willing-" Diana began.

"To save our lives?" Flash asked tiredly. "To put her life in danger and sacrifice her own happiness? That's what she did Diana. What would you have done if you were in her place? What if it was a choice between Themyscira and the US, and only one place could survive? What would you chose?"

Flash stood up and leaned with his hands on the table. "I honestly can't believe we have to debate this."

He looked up at everyone.

"You're all focused on if she's trustworthy. Do you realize how loyal she is to us? You're blinded by her supposed betrayal, but there are two reasons why she didn't betray us at all. For one, the whole spying thing was her job. She was a soldier following orders. John," Flash looked to the Green Lantern, "you were in the army. Tell me. Did you ever question an order that was just observe-and-report?"

Everyone looked at John, who frowned and looked away, silently giving the answer that he hadn't.

"No, you didn't. And while we know that she doesn't have any place to go, I haven't heard one of you bring up the fact that Shayera was betrayed as well, and that's my second point. She believed she was doing the right thing. She thought she was protecting us because that's what she was told. How do you think she felt when she found out the truth? That her own people were willing to sacrifice a whole planet?"

Flash glared at each of them. "I can only imagine the self-disgust and shame she must have felt, must still be feeling!" He paused. "Shayera didn't even hesitate to help us after that, and we wouldn't have won without her. She gave up her planet, her people, everything she knew to save a world where she would NOT ONLY never really fit in, but be ostracized and ridiculed for being a Thanagarian. And she did it because it was the right thing to do. If that doesn't perpetuate the ideals of the Justice League, then I don't know what does."

Superman raised an eyebrow at this and furrowed his brows in thought. The others were also looking at Wally, for once really listening to what he had to say. Except for Diana. She was pouting stubbornly and had her arms crossed.

"If you all would stop taking it personally and look at the big picture, you'd realize that Shayera did everything right that she could have with the knowledge she had at the time."

Flash sat back down. "You know how I feel, so before the rest of you decide, consider this," Flash held up his finger. "Shayera fought beside us. She protected us. She shed blood, sweat, and tears with us. That's not a lie. That will always be there. She'll always be one of us, no matter what judgment you make."

Shayera was leaning forward on the couch staring open-mouthed at the screen. If she had felt bad before about leaving Wally, now she felt even worse.

"He fought so hard for me," she whispered.

"He was what swayed my decision," Superman said quietly.

"I'm sorry he didn't sway mine," Diana said to Shayera. The two had come to an understanding and were even considered friends again. "Wally was right," Diana said, smiling slightly. "If I had looked at it with a little distance…"

"I told you once that I didn't ask you for your forgiveness," said Shayera. "Sorry."

Diana nodded.

On the monitor, Shayera had just finished telling the league that she was resigning. Flash was the only one to really say goodbye when he pulled her into a hug.

...

AN: How'd I do?