AN: Very sorry for the long wait, but this was a difficult and very long chapter. There is also a one-shot I will be posting immediately after this that fully explains what happens with the Bats, so if you're interested, check it out.

DISCLAIMER: We all know I don't own DC Comics by now.

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As Flash ran from the med room, the other heroes could only stare after him in shock. They didn't expect this. They expected Wally to be either angry with them for watching his memories without his permission or for him to accept it easily because of Harbinger's warning. They didn't expect him to run from them because he felt ashamed. There was nothing for him to be ashamed of. Why didn't he see that?

John was the first to snap out of it and flew out of the room. The others followed quickly and they all arrived in the main deck where the other heroes were. Everything would have seemed normal if it weren't for the down-turned faces of many of the league. Very few of them were talking and only then in whispers. Some looked at the teleport pad as if hoping that someone would appear there.

"Where's Wally?" John demanded before his feet hit the floor.

Black Canary was the only one in the front of the group that was brave enough to answer. "He left," she said sadly.

John frowned and started to walk towards the teleporter but was blocked by Batman.

"Let him go," Batman said in his deep voice.

John looked like he wanted to argue, but Batman didn't give him the chance. "Let him cool off. He needs time to himself to figure things out."

No one really liked the idea, but they all knew it was best if they gave Flash the distance he wanted.

"Will he come back?" Stargirl asked nervously. She really liked Flash. He had always been so nice to her and taken her seriously despite her age.

Everyone considered the question silently.

"Of course he will!" Batgirl answered angrily. "Honestly! After everything we've just seen, do you really think Wally would just stay away from his family? He'll come back when he sorts out his feelings."

Superman sighed and looked up at Mister Terrific at the controls. He floated towards the raised platform. "If I can have everyone's attention, I'd like to make a few announcements. Due to recent events, the rotations for league members will be in flux for the next twenty-four hours. I think we're all a little physically and emotionally drained right now. Anyone who wants to volunteer for the next two six hour shifts would be greatly appreciated while I advise others to go home, get some food and some rest. Anyone who needs to talk in therapy about any revelations from this experience can do so with J'onn tomorrow morning at 0800."

He looked towards the Martian to silently ask if this was alright, and J'onn nodded.

Most heroes were exhausted. In the end, only Red Tornado – because he was a robot and didn't need sleep – Orion, Aztek, and Dr. Fate stayed on duty for the next six hour shift. Booster Gold and Atom Smasher would stay on the main deck and doze lightly, but would be ready for action if they were needed.

The others left to their respective rooms on the Watchtower or went back to earth.

Superman himself left to head to the Daily Planet. He needed something to calm him and working at the paper always helped. Since Flash had been captured yesterday in the evening, it was only afternoon in Metropolis. Staying up all night and morning watching Wally's memories had tired him out, but it was more of an emotional and mental tiredness. As soon as he saw Lois, though, he perked up a bit. This was what Wally had learned long ago, and while Clark had always known it in the back of his mind, it had never hit him as hard as it did then to enjoy the good moments in life.

Sometimes you just have to take a step back and soak it all in.

The Bats went back to Wayne Manor, even Jason. After arriving in the cave, Dick, Barbara, and Tim changed and headed up stairs.

Jason kept what he had on because he didn't have another set of clothes, or so he thought. Bruce, however, had elected to keep the Batsuit on.

He walked over to the Batcomputer and sat in the chair before it.

"Jason," Batman said as he faced the former Robin. "We need to talk…"

Upstairs, Tim waited patiently for Jason to appear. He knew Bruce wanted to talk with Jason first, so he would wait until later. He would apologize to Jason for certain things, but he would also not hold back how wrong Jason had been to him. If he didn't accept that, Tim thought, then there was no point in trying to work something out, and they would go on as they had been, even if he hoped for more.

Barbara got home in the evening after a short stay at the Manor. She was slightly surprised to see her father home so early.

"Hey Barbara," Jim greeted his daughter with a smile. "I didn't expect you back until later tonight. Usually when you visit Kara in Metropolis, I have to beg you to come home."

Barbara smiled tiredly. "We had a busy day. I already ate, so I'm just gonna go to bed."

Jim smile back easily. "You look like you need it."

Barbara turned to head to her room, but turned back around and went over to her father. She hugged him tightly, wanting to remember this moment for the rest of her life so that she'd never forget the love she had for her father.

"I love you, Daddy," she whispered.

Jim didn't question it and hugged her back. His daughter was grown up and looking for her own place, so he appreciated every moment he had with her.

They let go and wished each other good night.

Diana lied on her side in bed. She couldn't stop thinking about Wally. She remembered the time Aresia had tried to rid the world of men. Flash had commentated later that it was too bad he'd never met her because he could have taught her about guys. With the way he had acted then, everyone had rolled their eyes behind his back, thinking that Wally would have only confirmed Aresia's prejudices.

Wonder Woman scrunched her eyes shut. If there was one man she would wish for all of her Amazon sisters to meet, it would be Wally. The Amazons would see then how good men could be. He could even teach them a thing or two, Diana thought wryly, especially on forgiveness.

John had decided to return to Earth and his own apartment. He hadn't used it much lately. Instead, he often found himself sleeping over at Mari's or at the Watchtower.

Looking around, he could see that little had changed, but that was how he liked it.

This is who I am, John thought. He sighed.

Wally was his best friend. Nothing would change that. He just wished Wally had told him the truth himself. It would have made the shock of seeing it easier to bear.

And Shayera? Well, he knew what he had to do. John had finally realized what he wanted and what he needed. He wanted to be himself and not live a lie, and he couldn't do that with Mari. He needed Shayera. He always would. It was a constant pull for him.

Those two decisions were clear to him the minute he stepped in his apartment, and he was able to organize his thoughts on everything before the sun went down. As a military man, John was in the habit of following through, so his mind didn't keep him up that night and he was one of the few heroes that got a decent amount of sleep.

Supergirl went home to the Kents and ranted about Wally taking Galatea in until Martha rightfully chastised her.

"But Ma!" Kara exclaimed. "She tried to kill me!"

"She didn't know any better," Ma Kent replied. "You give her a second chance," she told Kara firmly.

Kara stayed up until she ate an early dinner then went to her room. When she tried to sleep, she was restless. She thought about everything else she'd seen about Wally's life and then remembered a certain memory.

Kara smiled. She knew one way to get rid of energy.

Shayera was in one of the smaller gyms in the Watchtower. She didn't bother with her mace; she just used a specialized punching bag until her knuckles bled.

She blamed herself for how Wally reacted.

Stupid! She berated herself. How many times was I told that he didn't want to be treated differently? He was right about that! Why could I just brush it off like we all do when he gets hurt? We knew he'd be fine! He OBVIOUSLY didn't want to talk about it or have it change anything! Stupid. Stupid. STUPID!

Shayera cried silently as she finally let go of all of her anger; of herself, of John, of Wally not telling her, of the world, of the whole stupid universe that let bad things happen to good people.

She leaned against the bag for a minute to catch her breath and calm down a bit. Her legs shook and she only made it to a nearby bench before lying down and letting her exhaustion take her into unconsciousness.

Booster Gold found her not long after, carried her to her room, and set her on top of her bed.

J'onn J'onzz dealt with his knew knowledge in a very simple way. He meditated. At least, he tried to.

When he first came to earth and helped found the league, he had been in mourning. His beautiful wife and children were gone. There was nothing left of his old home, and his heart yearned for it every minute of the day. The league provided distractions, and they helped, but they had never fully taken the pain away.

He wondered now when it was that he could think of his old life and feel happy. One day, he was just reminded of his youngest child, and while he still missed her, his heart had leapt at the memory instead of tearing in two.

He still loved his Martian family and home, he always would, but he loved this family, too, and he knew Wally was a big reason for that.

J'onn smiled at how Wally would include him in his little games or share his "vast earth knowledge" as he put it. J'onn had never seen the point of the games. Oh, he understood how to play, but at the end of the day, what was the point? But Wally had insisted they were important.

The little things. Small moments make it all worth it.

J'onn had thought he was isolated from the others with his long life span, but Wally had to endure the same thing in his own way. He had live a long time in his own mind. Perhaps Wally had been trying to help J'onn deal with not only losing his former life, but also show him how to cope in his new one.

J'onn stopped trying to meditate and left his room. First, he went to the dining hall to raid the back kitchen of half a dozen root beers and cokes, and a big bag of Doritos. He levitated the things behind him as he went to the entertainment room and sat down on the sofa in front of the big screen TV.

He wasn't sure why he was doing this. All J'onn knew was that he normally wouldn't, and that's why it was perfect. He used his telekinesis to turn on the television and the Nintendo. The game that popped up was Mario Kart: Double Dash!

J'onn popped the tab on one of the root beers, took a sip, shoved a handful of chips in his mouth like Wally would, and started racing. It took a few tries, but he got the hang of it.

He didn't even notice the hours slip by until he jerked his head up, trying to keep himself awake.

The screen was running on an automated preview of a race. The sound was low and the only light came from the screen. From his place on the couch, J'onn thought of the simple joy he had from winning a race. It was the same, simple joy that Wally always radiated, and J'onn felt just a little bit better. He remembered how Wally would just make himself comfortable on the couch and did the same, smiling slightly as he fell asleep.

At eight am, the Watchtower's main deck held about half of the Justice League and all the other heroes that had been there the previous day.

People were already talking for a minute at a time with J'onn and the others to get their feedback on what they felt, and Nightwing stood there getting more and more frustrated.

He balled his fists and walked over to Shayera, who was glaring at some of the heroes.

"You fed up with them, too?" he asked her.

"Duh," she said. "This is about Wally, not them. They can get over it."

Green Arrow heard them and crossed his arms. "Try to be more understanding. Some of the things were pretty stressful to learn about, especially for the younger ones." He nodded to Stargirl who was staying close to her stepfather.

Shayera frowned but stayed quiet until she heard The Atom talk about Wally's chemistry prowess with a look on his face that reminded her too much of the scientists that wanted to use others as tools.

That was when she lost it.

"WOULD YOU ALL SHUT UP?!" she screamed at them.

They all turned towards her with shock and a little annoyance on their faces.

Shayera didn't flinch. She bared her teeth at them in rage. "I have been standing here listening to all of you for the past twenty minutes, and I've noticed that all of you are doing the same thing. You're talking about his childhood or his intelligence or his age or whatever! But that's it! Each one of you is focused on one part of his life and ignoring the rest! Wally is not one part of his past," Shayera said angrily.

Dick thought a moment. "I get what you're saying," he said in a low voice. "Wally is the abused little boy, the victim that wanted to be the savior, but he's also the man that saved the world."

Shayera nodded and added, "The kid that became a hero."

"The science geek who got picked on," Superman added slowly.

"But the muscle that kicked ass," Supergirl said with a grin.

The others were starting to catch on.

"The martyr who stayed silent in his pain," Green Arrow mumbled.

Black Canary walked up to him and put her hand on his arm. "But the jokester who can make everyone feel better."

"He's the brother I abandoned," Roy said shamefully, "and the one that came back to help me anyway."

"He was a boy who lost his family," Diana said.

"But he was brave enough to find a new one," finished Batman, who had stayed hidden until that moment.

Green Lantern stepped forward. "And it all adds up to Wally."

"And us knowing doesn't change a damn thing about who he is," Shayera said firmly. "We are the ones that are changed from this. We are blowing this out of proportion. Not him."

"But things can't just go back to the way they were," Booster Gold called out.

"But sometimes they can be better!"

They crowd looked towards a shady corner to see Jason Todd leaning against the wall and glaring at them. "Things can turn out better if it's what you want and you're willing to make it happen."

He looked different today than he did yesterday. No one could figure out why, but if they had looked close enough, they would see that the guarded expression in Jason's eyes was almost gone.

"Batman?" Mister Terrific called down to him and got everyone's attention. "Uh, you might want to prepare yourself."

Terrific hit a few buttons and the teleport pad activated.

Once the blue light faded, the heroes could see a familiar elderly woman with short, gray-white hair wearing khakis and a nice blouse.

Dick's, Roy's, and Jason's faces all brightened immediately.

"Grammy!" they all exclaimed.

Grammy Joan smiled back brilliantly. "Hello dears! Jason, Roy, are you two taking care of yourselves?" she asked sternly.

"Yes, ma'am," they both nodded fervently.

"That's good to hear," Joan said, smiling again.

Batman moved towards her. "Excuse me, Mrs. Garrick. It's a pleasure to meet you, but you're not authorized to be on the Watchtower," he said in his deep voice.

Joan frowned and put her hands on her hips. "Young man, don't you tell me that I don't have the authority to be here," she scolded. "I was married to a hero, I lost my son in the hero business, and now my grandson is a hero. I know all about the Justice League, its secrets, supervillains, government conspiracies, and secret identities, and kept quiet about it for years. I've only stuck my nose in now because I have a right to protect my grandson, and that's just what I'm going to do regardless of your 'authority'. You don't like it? Tough," Joan said with a lift of her chin. "You try to get me to leave before I accomplish what I came here for, and I won't hesitate to call this Alfred Pennyworth I've heard so much about, and I'm sure he won't approve of your behavior."

Joan fixed Batman with a steely glare and Batman felt like a kid being punished by his parent. He had thought only Alfred and Leslie could instill that reaction in him. Apparently he hadn't taken into consideration women who were married to heroes and had helped raised others.

Batman kept his gaze locked with Joan's as he stepped aside.

Superman leaned over to whisper in John's ear. "Remind me to get a copy of the security footage later."

Joan appraised the assembled heroes, about half of the league, before she sighed and gave them a warm smile. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Joan Garrick, but you all can call me Grammy. Everyone does. You might have heard about me before, and Wally told me something about you all seeing his memories?" she asked.

Shayera stepped forward. "That's correct Mrs. Garrick. We were actually just discussing that."

Joan's eyes went wide in excitement when she saw the Thanagarian.

"You must be Shayera!" she said happily as she walked forward and hugged the redhead. Shayera was a bit stunned, and Joan released her before she could react. "Wally talks about you all the time. You're as beautiful as he said you were, and I can tell you've got a good head on your shoulders. And please, call me Grammy. I'll even take Joan if it makes you too uncomfortable. Mrs. Garrick is too formal for family."

Shayera felt a smile spread across her face. Joan's happiness was as infectious as Wally's.

Joan turned to the man next to her. "John, it's good to finally meet you," she said.

John grinned at her. His respect and admiration for the woman kept growing with every minute. " It's good to meet you as well…Grammy," he said awkwardly.

Joan smiled anyway and turned to the other heroes. "Well, what have you all agreed on?"

They all pondered how to answer her question, some their eyes searching around as though they'd find a good explanation written somewhere.

"Well," started Stargirl nervously. "We've recently decided that Wally is still Wally, and that we're the ones who are affected by knowing his past and not him."

Joan nodded. "Makes sense. Wally's had time to adjust, and this information is still new to you."

"How is he?" Diana asked.

Joan sighed. "He's a little depressed. He's worried about what you're all going to do. He told me that you could shun him."

"We would never do that!" Diana exclaimed.

"That's good to hear."

"But why would he think that?" Nightwing asked desperately. "I've known him for more than ten years! I knew about his past!"

Joan smiled patronizingly at him. "What did you all do after his memories were shown? How did you act towards him?"

"We were just worried," Superman said helplessly. "Other than that, we didn't do much."

Green Arrow coughed and said in a guilty voice, "We, uh, stared at him…kind of…when he came to the main deck. We…might have made him feel uncomfortable."

"Hmm," Joan hummed. "And openly worrying about him would have done the same thing," she said. "I don't know what memories you saw, but it must have given you a good idea of what Wally went through. No matter what I or Barry and Iris did, we never could get Wally to have very high self-esteem. The only time that changed was when he was Kid Flash and later the Flash. He found his worth in helping people, but even then, he never thought he was quite good enough. And despite how much he hopes for things to work out alright, he has a tendency to think the worst will happen. Maybe he thinks that now that you know the truth, he won't be good enough in your eyes."

The other's looked at her in confusion. Was Flash really that…wait…yeah, it's possible.

"He's afraid of losing you all," Joan said simply.

John crossed his arms. "We need to fix this."

"Agreed," muttered Batman while the others nodded.

Kara stood back by Courtney. "But will he listen when we tell him that we don't care about his past and that we still care about him?"

"If I might make a suggestion." The robotic voice came from the very back of the crowd of heroes, and they all turned to look at Red Tornado. "I have heard that actions speak louder than words. Would it not be fitting then to show Flash how we all feel?"

"What do you have in mind?" Vigilante asked as he was standing right next to Red Tornado.

"Wally did describe his 'perfect day' in his memories. Why not give him what he wants most? It would bring all of us together for his sake," RT said monotonously.

The others were taken aback by the simplicity of it, and Nightwing even hit himself in the forehead for not thinking of the obvious solution.

Wonder Woman floated above everyone. "Okay people," she said in a no-nonsense voice. "If we're going to do this, we have a lot of work to do for that day to be a success. First…"

Wonder Woman rattled off instructions of the preparations they'd need to do, such as making sure there wouldn't be any villains out to ruin their day. For the next week, the Justice League would be very busy, and they weren't the only heroes…

...

AN: Soon, my readers...soon...Oh and check out what happened with the Bats. I'd include it, but this chapter was already long.