Author's Note: Back with another chapter! Here I am trying to figure out what's going on because somewhere along the way, I lost the path of the plot, haha. I think I've got it now. Kinda. There are a couple plot points that are going to be a little weird to wrap up, but I'll try. Anyways, read, review, and enjoy!

Response to Guest Review:

Shiranai Atsune – Finally figured out who the hostage was going to be! Thanks for the review!

WWWWWW

Jefferson was stone-faced and silent when he came into the room, hand resting lightly on the shoulder of a woman who Wally assumed was Dr. Helga Jace. She was pretty and mousy looking, eyes darting rapidly around the room. Wally felt his protective instinct flare when Dr. Jace's eyes lingered for just a little too long on Tara. This was the woman who was going after information about him? Seriously? Wally tried to keep his fury inside at the sight of her. He was so sick of people hurting him and hurting him and hurting him. He was so sick of people seeing him and wanting to tear him apart to see how he ticked. What gave this woman the right to want to do the same thing? What gave Savage the right since he was apparently interested in it, too?

Did Wally attract people like this? Was he doing something wrong that people looked at him and saw someone to hurt? Other people didn't have this problem! Other people weren't so scared to go to the doctor's that they had to do house calls with their whole family in the room watching. Other people didn't… they didn't… Wally wasn't other people. He needed to learn to accept that. He needed to learn to accept that people just wanted to hurt him and that he needed to be more careful all the time. He needed to consider everyone an enemy until they proved without a shred of doubt that they weren't.

Dr. Jace made a nervous, questioning sound, breaking the silence that had settled over the room, "What's going on?"

"Helga, I'm asking you, for us, to tell the truth. Were you working with the Light?" Garfield asked, shoulders drooped with the weight of the question he just asked.

Dr. Jace stiffened momentarily, a breathy laugh already leaving her mouth before Garfield had even finished asking his question, "G – uh, Beast Boy, what do you mean? Why on earth would I work with the Light? You know that Baron Bedlam forced me to help him turn those kids into metahumans, but that is over and done with."

Garfield dropped his head, disappointment permeating the air between them. The stiff, nervous smile on Dr. Jace's face faltering at the look. Dick stepped forward (looking especially cute in his all-black outfit), "Helga, we have definitive proof that you called and have been called by Cassandra Savage, the right hand woman and daughter to Vandal Savage, leader of the Light. We have a recording of you attempting to bargain information about Momentum for a currently unidentified thing."

There was a long pause. Jeff had stepped away from Dr. Jace at this point, looking away from her with a clenched jaw and shaking hands. Wally wanted to wince; betrayal like this in a relationship was never good. Dr. Jace swallowed before admitting slowly, "They promised to protect me and my children. Even now, they are preventing me from getting to my children. I did what I had to do."

Wally could see the way Dick immediately softened, a sigh touching his lips. Wally was more suspicious. Children? This chick? She gave off liar vibes. Something about the way she said that the Light was preventing her from getting to her children set off alarm bells with Wally. Dick said gently, "You should have told us, Helga. We can help you. You don't need to work with anyone else. Just tell us who your kids are, and we can find them. We did it with Tara and with Wally. We can do it with your kids as well."

Brion didn't look convinced either. He stepped forward slightly, frowning, "You told us that you had no children."

"That was to protect them," Dr. Jace answered quickly. A little too quickly, in Wally's opinion, but he was probably biased. Dr. Jace continued after a pause, "With what Baron DeLamb was doing, I could not risk him discovering that I had children."

"That doesn't make sense," Brion continued, eyebrows furrowing together, "You told me once that myself, Gregor, and Tara were like your children because you had none of your own. You said that we were the children you wished you had. Why would you say that where Baron DeLamb could hear that if you were worried about how he would react to the idea of you having children?" Dr. Jace's eyes flickered to Tara again, hungry and excited. Wally felt a pit form in his stomach.

He asked, quiet but firm, "Tara and Brion are your children, aren't they?" Dr. Jace didn't need to say anything in response. It was clear from her reaction – the paling of her skin, the way her eyes widened, the half-step she took back – that Wally was right. She made a valiant attempt at recovery, forcing out another incredulously giggle. Wally felt his heart sink. Tara and Brion were giving the woman identical looks of horror.

"What did you mean by that?" Dick asked, glancing over at Wally.

Wally shrugged, "Like Brion said, they were the kids that she didn't have. She's been giving them creepy, stalker looks this whole time. The way she said the Light was stopping her from getting to her children. It makes sense."

"You didn't leave Baron Bedlam until after Brion had been rescued," Jeff accused, finally turning back to look at Dr. Jace, "All those horrible things you saw, all those deaths, and you never left until you'd turned Brion into a metahuman."

Dick made a disgusted expression, "Is that your whole thing? You turned him into a metahuman, so he must be yours?" Brion and Tara were looking vaguely ill at that point.

At the accusing stares coming from all around her and the disgust from the Markov siblings, Dr. Jace broke. She screeched into the silence of the room, "You don't understand! I created them! They were reborn through me! If it weren't for me, they would still be in their inferior forms! I am their mother! I thought that Violet was mine, too, since I shaped Gabrielle, but Gabrielle died when she rejected the change. Then the Motherbox merged with her and Violet was created. You are not my child! My child is dead! But Tara and Brion – they're mine. I gave birth to them. Perhaps I could not do it in the usual way, but this is better. I made them superior beings. I gave them a better life."

Tara stumbled backwards, a hand held to her mouth. Brion looked like he wanted to comfort her but was too out of it to try. Hands shaking with fury at the thought of this freak coming anywhere near Tara, Wally zipped over to the siblings. He couldn't kill Dr. Jace (kill? Where did that come from? Rogues don't kill. They don't, they don't, they don't – no matter that Wally did), so he did what he could and dragged a sibling under each arm. Brion might not like him, but he was Tara's brother, so he was going to get comfort, too. Tara wrapped her arms around Wally's midsection, shaking against his side. After a moment, Brion leaned into the hold as well, eyes closed as he groped blindly to find Tara's hand and squeeze it tight. Wally settled for glaring at Dr. Jace.

She was glaring right back, "And you! You are a taint on my children! They are heroes. Beautiful, powerful heroes. You are tainting them, the way you've tainted the rest! Unhand them! Give them back. Give them back!"

That was it for Wally. He wouldn't leave the two when he was comforting them, but he wasn't going to just sit there and take that. He growled, lightning rising under his skin and pushing at the surface. He could feel the light dancing across his eyes, could feel the sparks snapping and crackling across his skin. The air popped with pure energy. It was enough to penetrate even Dr. Jace's insane ravings; she curled back, expression dropping into fear. Wally hissed, "You are a taint to these children. You are a monster. Experimenting on someone does not make them yours. You ruined their lives, hurt them more than they could count, and sold them out to people who continued to hurt them. You have no right to claim them and you have no right to judge me."

Dr. Jace got back some of her bravado, shaking but determined, "You are a supervillain. I can judge you however I-,"

Wally cut her off, voice dropping into a lower register, lightning coating his eyes entirely, "I dare you to judge me one more time." Her voice petered off as she curled even further into herself.

By this point, everyone in the room was watching Wally warily. Wally wanted to scream. He wasn't going to snap and kill all of them! He was just – upset. Even the Rogues were looking at him like he was teetering on the edge of insanity, like it was only going to take a breath of air to push him over.

Carefully, slowly, Wally pulled his powers back down into himself. He gave himself a moment in relative time where the only eyes that could judge him were Bart's. He was calm. He was. When Wally determined that he wasn't going to look like a madman anymore, he let go of his control over time, slipping back into normal speed. He very calmly stated, "I'm not going to go on a murder spree, so you can all stop looking at me like that."

Garfield laughed awkwardly, clearly trying to break the tension. It didn't work. Len spoke softly, like Wally was a skittish creature (which he wasn't. He might have been once, but he wasn't anymore. Besides, Len hadn't been gentle with him back then either), "Maybe we should go home, let the heroes deal with their own issues."

"She became my issue when she tried to sell information about me," Wally said, struggling to maintain his calm. The heroes wouldn't stop staring at him. It rubbed like sandpaper against his skin, dragging his worst fears and insecurities out into the open. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just the superheroes; Wally had learned how to ignore their stares a long time ago. But no, the Rogues were watching him with that same judgmental, scared look. What did they have to be scared of? They know he wouldn't hurt them. They know that he wouldn't hurt anyone.

Was this because Wally had… done bad things? It wasn't his fault! He'd been trying to protect Tara! It wasn't like the rest of them hadn't killed! They had no right to be scared of him for that. He'd looked like that before, with the lightning and all, and they hadn't been this scared. Awed, maybe. Surprised. A truly angry speedster was a rare occasion and often startled people, but they shouldn't still be scared. Wally wasn't going to do anything!

And then there was Dick! The man was going to marry Wally and even he was looking at Wally like the speedster was going to snap, like he was scared. Dick should know that there was nothing that would make Wally hurt him. He had to know how much Wally loved him. Or… had Wally been gone too long? Had he spent too much of his life disappeared into some place or a lab? Had Dick forgotten how much Wally cared? No, Wally had shown his feelings clearly when he'd proposed. And yet… Dick had his hands up like he did when he was facing someone whose powers were out of control. Wally was in control. He was.

He couldn't take this anymore, though. They were judging him, all of them. He couldn't handle their stares on him, couldn't handle the fear and suspicion there. Not today. Not after the last two years. He just couldn't.

So, he did what he did best, and he ran.

It didn't take him long to slow down. He'd gently deposited Tara and Brion over by the Rogues because he knew that the Rogues would protect them if it came down to it. That slowdown was what cost him because he'd barely gotten a state over when he realized he was being followed. There was a strange, new feeling deep in his chest that told Wally that, if he pushed himself just a little further, he could leave Bart in the dust. Instead, he slowed down somewhere in Canada, sliding down against a tree and closing his eyes. Bart skidded to a stop a moment later, eyebrow already raised, "You've gotten a lot faster."

"I could have left you in the dust," Wally pointed out, a silent plea for Bart to just leave or be quiet or something other than talk about it.

Bart laughed, "Yeah, you probably could have." He sat down next to Wally, leaning back on his arms and glancing over, "They weren't scared of you."

Wally blew out an aggravated breath, passing a hand over his face, "Really? It didn't seem that way to me."

"I think they were scared for you," Bart informed him.

"Is that much better?" Wally asked. He continued before Bart could answer, "It isn't. They're afraid that I'm – I'm too damaged or whatever. I can tell. They see me and they think that I've been through too much, that the last two years were the final straw. They think I can't handle this. They're worried that I'll snap if I try to handle it. That's worse."

Bart made a humming noise. For a moment, the two of them just sat there, breathing in the sounds and scents of the forest. Bart snuck a glance at Wally, "Are they worried that you're going to snap, or are you?"

Wally growled, "I'm not going to snap! I'm fine!"

"Running away doesn't really prove your point," Bart pointed out.

Wally glared at him, "It was better than standing in that room with them judging me and being afraid. Did you hear the way Len talked to me? He was acting like I was some little kid! Worse, he was acting like I was some little civilian kid! Even when I was younger, he didn't treat me like that. He always talked to us like we were adults. He talked to us like we could understand what was going on and what was happening. Which we can. And now he's talking down to me? Screw him."

Bart started picking at his nail, "Wally, I know we don't really know each other all that well. I mean, I feel like I know you since I knew the older version of you that I grew up with in the future. Plus, like, you kind of left shoes to fill when you 'died' and I ended up hearing a lot about you in that. Which is crash, of course. I'm not blaming you or anything. I'm just – saying. I feel like I know you even if we don't really know each other all that well. And, I mean, I think you're pretty cool. But, anyways, that's not important. What I'm trying to say is that I might not be the best person for you to talk your feelings out to, but I am a speedster, so I can understand a little bit. Enough to know that the amount of power we have can be scary sometimes. And it can be hard to know that everyone expects us to be happy and calm and controlled all the time. I know that we scare people when we get angry and that makes it feel like we can't even though – even though we all have stuff that we should get angry about and we have stuff that's built up from our trash lives and not being able to express that is – it's not asterous. It's really hard, actually."

"Tell me something I don't know," Wally muttered. He'd never had to hold in his anger as much as Barry and Bart did, luckily. Being a supervillain with a penchant for being slightly surly meant that it wasn't as strange to see him upset. But not holding anger wasn't the same as being able to fully express it. Wally knew that he'd scare people if he got truly angry. He knew that he'd scare himself. He was in control. He was. It was just… a lot to control sometimes.

Bart gave him a small smile, "Exactly. And the only reason we're able to do that – I believe, at least – is because we surround ourselves with people who, who don't understand, necessarily, but they care and they know how to help us as much as we can be helped." Bart lit up as he realized something, "They might not empathize with us, but they sympathize with us! Ha! Jaime always said that English class wouldn't be useful but look at that!"

Wally glared at him, "English class is the last thing I want to hear about right now."

Bart shrugged sheepishly, "My point still stands. I know they were being weird but that's just because you surprised them. They haven't seen you in literal years. Everyone's still trying to get used to you. Plus, you're a lot more powerful than you used to be, right? I had never seen you light up like that before, but it was really impressive. I'm betting it's the most intimidating you've ever looked. They're you're family. They're all used to speedster stuff. They just needed a moment to adjust."

"Yeah," Wally said, not really agreeing but not disagreeing either, "Whatever."

Bart smiled again, "Ready to go back yet?"

"Absolutely not," Wally answered, "Even if I was, like, emotionally ready or whatever, I don't really want to get in the middle of all that stuff with Dr. Jace. Like, obviously I want to know what the Light was planning on getting from her and if she was selling my info out to someone else or not, but… I'll leave that to you heroes."

"Those heroes," Bart corrected, "Let's leave that to them. How about the two of us go see if Barry or someone in the Watchtower has my genetic profile recorded somewhere? If not them, then we can try Batman, who I am completely certain has my genetic profile somewhere."

Wally laughed, "You're not wrong about that. Okay, let's go and see what we can figure out. Who knows? We might have my blackouts solved by the end of the day. That'll really make the rest of the guys at the Hub feel lame, yeah? All those non-speedsters holding us back."

Bart snorted, "Sure, Wally."

With that, they ran.

DDDDDD

Dick was willing to admit that he'd handled Wally's… anger? Possessiveness? Protective feelings? in a less than stellar manner. He should have followed Garfield's lead and broken the tension in the room when Wally told them he wasn't going to go on a murder spree. He knew that Wally wasn't going to do anything, that he wasn't any danger to anyone (except maybe Helga – no, that was stupid. Wally wouldn't have hurt anyone). It was just… Wally had never gotten that mad before. Or, maybe he had, and it just hadn't manifested as strongly physically. But Wally hadn't been had two years of awfulness to fuel his rage at any other time that Dick had seen him.

From the moment Wally had gotten his memories back, he'd seemed fine to Dick – too fine. He was relaxed and happy and determined. That wasn't a healthy reaction to two years of torture. That wasn't a healthy reaction to trying to fit back into a reality that had believed him dead for two years. Wally and Dick hadn't even really sat down and had a serious talk, yet. Of course, they'd spent the night together after the proposal, but there'd been less talking and more existing in those moments. From what Dick had gotten from brief texts to Hartley, Wally had been the same with them. He'd been more focused on reconnecting and figuring out this Light stuff than he was on having serious discussions.

Of course, it was nothing new to see Wally running from serious conversations. Which, Dick understood, but it was still frustrating in this situation. Wally needed to talk to someone. Dick could only hope that Bart was that someone. Maybe this was the catalyst Wally needed to be able to talk to someone about what he went through, about the hardships he was currently facing. It burned that he didn't feel like he could come to Dick to talk about this. It probably burned the Rogues just as bad that Wally didn't come to them either. But Dick couldn't focus on that. As long as Wally talked to someone at some point, he would do his best to not get jealous over who.

Dick shook his head. This wasn't the time for those thoughts. There was a Light conspirator standing right there in the room. She was clearly crazy. If Dick had to guess, he'd label her with an antisocial personality disorder along with whatever convinced her that experimenting on children and forcing uncontrolled powers on them made them her children. It made Dick sick to his stomach. He couldn't even imagine how Brion and Tara felt.

With that in mind, Dick nodded to them where they were surrounded by protective Rogues, "Brion, Tara, why don't you head to the kitchen to relax? You don't need to entertain her ramblings anymore." Helga's head whipped up at that, heartbreak written clear across her face. She didn't say anything though; she was still shaking from her interaction with Wally.

Brion shook his head, expression fierce, "No. I will hear her explanations. You were poisoning my mind to Wally because you thought he was bad for me, correct?" Helga nodded miserably. Brion set his jaw and continued, "And you said some awful lie to Violet because you thought she was your child and then you thought she wasn't your child, correct?"

Helga's expression twisted, "She isn't my child, but she was clinging to you. My sweet, beautiful child. How could I let someone so corrupted, someone who betrayed me stand by your side? I had to lie. I had to break her faith in the group, in herself. And then I could have just given her-," Helga cut herself off.

Garfield perked up, though, "Given her to whom? The Light? Why would they want Violet?" Helga bared her teeth and didn't respond.

Tara stepped forward slightly, ignoring the cautionary glances the Rogues were sending her, "Helga, if I promise to talk to you and let you explain more about this 'child' situation, will you promise to tell us about everything you did with the Light? I am interested in this child idea you have. I no longer have parents and, frankly, I have been bereft of strong female figures in my life until I came here and found you again." Dick raised his eyebrows, impressed. He could barely tell that Tara was lying (he hoped she was lying). He was certain that Helga wouldn't be able to tell the difference, especially in the state she was.

Sure enough, Helga brightened. She glanced to Brion momentarily before flinching away from his stony look. She looked back over to Tara and started explaining everything, "The Light have been tracking my progress for a while. They knew that I was making significant strides with the Tar and the creation of metahumans. They knew that I was likely to come in contact with the metahuman they were looking for. When I realized that Violet was the one they wanted, I kept the information for myself. I wanted to see what I could make it worth, how much protection I could get for us. But then they started asking questions about Momentum. They wanted to know what I knew about his blackouts, about his power boost. They wanted to know if he was working with the heroes and what his allegiances were. It wasn't information I had any real access to."

"So, you sold the information to someone else," Tara said softly, encouragingly.

"Yes," Helga smiled, "I sold the information to the one who really wanted to know who Violet is. The one who wants to use her for his formula."

"Use me?" Violet asked, voice small. For the first time in a while, she was allowing herself to cuddle into Brion's side. Dick wondered what Helga had said to make her so withdrawn and angry. M'gann had said that she'd been skipping school and had been caught doing illegal activities with a friend of hers.

No one got a chance to answer that before the front door was caved in.

Dick was proud of the kids – they pulled themselves into ready positions in seconds. He was even more proud of the Rogues, though. They'd thrown themselves in front of the kids, arms held out as if that alone would stop harm from getting through.

It turned out, though, that it wasn't harm to the superhero kids that they should have worried about.

In the broken doorway to the Hub, Vandal Savage stood, an unconscious, bound Lian Harper held tightly in his grip.

Author's Note: Blame my brother for not talking me out of this cliffhanger. I gave him the opportunity to talk me out of it, but he did not :P Nah, I just couldn't think of a way to add the rest of the scene without it being an awkward ending for the chapter, you know? So, cliffhanger instead :P Thanks for reading!