Chapter 15
Kaldur waited anxiously in Atlantis for one of his team mates to call. He couldn't recall exactly when his communicator had lost contact but he had been restless ever sense. Orin had assured him that all was right with the world but...it certainly didn't feel right.
They should have stuck together, he decided. If they had, perhaps this worry wouldn't be gnawing at his stomach. He dreaded the thought that anything might happen to his friends and he not be there to prevent it.
'Or perhaps I am being selfish.' He thought sadly. He had to admit, it was difficult to feel lonely when you were constantly surrounded by a gang of loud teenagers all the time. But here in this world...he had never felt so alone. The king was kind enough. He had tested Kaldur's limits and listened to stories of the young hero's adventures. He seemed genuinely interested in Kaldur's life.
The Queen on the other hand...
In his own world, Kaldur loved queen Mere. She had always treated him with the kindness and respect that a mother would her own child. Kaldur had loved her all the more for that. He would have been more than glad to give his life for her.
This woman was not his queen. She had queen Mera's face. She even had her voice but her attitude had not left room for doubt in Kaldur's mind. She was not his queen. Whenever her eyes happened to fall upon him, they were cold, full of contempt. She would either address him in short choppy sentences or ignore him altogether.
At first, it had not bothered Kaldur. He knew he would eventually find his way home and he would be where he belonged. He would not have to deal with her cruelty anymore. But as the days grew into weeks, his doubts grew stronger and stronger. Would he ever make it home? Or would he be trapped in this hell forever. He relied on the sounds and messages of his friends for comfort. Now that comfort was gone.
"Kaldur'ahm? There you are! Come with me. We must train." Aquaman had found him.
"With all due respect, my King," Kaldur said kindly, "I was wondering if I could have some time to myself today."
"You would deny your king?" Mera's sharp voice reached his ears.
"No my Queen. I have grown quite tired during my stay here. I would just like a day with my thoughts." Kaldur replied calmly. He was trying to keep himself as calm as possible.
"I told you. Just like she was, ever willing to disobey her king. I told you they look too much alike. I wonder if you aid enemies of the crown as well." She hissed.
"I would never! To do so would go against everything I stand for." Kaldur fired back. He was not a traitor.
"Be calm Mera. As I have said before, it is a coincidence that he resembles her. He has proven himself loyal more than once." Orin reasoned.
"If you will recall, so had she. Tell me Orin, how many of our people look the way he does? How many of our people have his tattoos? If memory serves me right, she was the only one. Well, her and another but you know we did not call him friend."
"I do believe that is enough." Orin quietly warned her.
"Who are you talking about?" Kaldur inquired. He did not like being spoken about as if he wasn't in the room.
"No one-"
"Orin."
"It is clear that he isn't aware! Let us just leave it at that."
"What are you talking about?"
"Your mother, do you know her name."
"Sha'lain'a." Kaldur responded shortly. He did not like speaking about his mother.
"As I suspected. And you thought I was just being paranoid."
"That does not mean-"
"And your father?"
"Calvin Durham." But that was a lie. Kaldur did not look much like the man he called father and the only traits he shared with his mother were his hair and his eyes. Still, his parents had loved him like any normal parents would and he was not one to question.
"I sense doubt. You know he is not your father and yet you do not question it? Haven't you wondered? Haven't you ever wanted to know?" Mera asked.
Kaldur did not like what the woman was insinuating. He did not want to be with either of them anymore.
"I wish to return to the surface. I need to check in with my team and my communicator is malfunctioning." He said stiffly. Orin sighed and nodded.
"If that is what you wish, we can leave in the morning. For now, I understand that you are tired today and we will leave you alone." Mera looked ready to burst.
"You still refuse to see what is in front of your face?"
"It is not my place."
"He is the son of your enemy, Orin. You will still allow him here?"
"It does not seem to bother me as it does you." Now Kaldur was really confused. Son of an enemy? His father was no enemy of the king.
Aquaman finally conceded. He could tell that his wife was not going to let the situation die.
"Kaldur'ahm, would you like to take a walk with me? I have a feeling you want answers."
Kaldur glanced apprehensively at the man. He really wanted nothing more than to go home.
YJ
"Well this is awkward." Barry commented. Iris had suggested the coffee shop she visited every morning. It was a small place with and old homey feel. Barry hadn't visited it often but when he did, he was never disappointed. Sitting there with Wally though? Well it definitely wouldn't make his top ten lists of favorite moments. The boy was barely even talking. Sure, he could admit that maybe he hadn't been as fair to Wally as he possibly could but the boy would be gone in a matter of days. Iris would have badgered him for nothing.
But he had to agree with her. Wally looked rather…worse for wear. He'd gotten paler since his arrival and there were dark circles beginning to form around his eyes. It was strange because Wally almost always slept. He spent most of his time as far away from the family as possible. Barry could hear Wally muttering something under his breath that sounded oddly like 'not real' and he could say that the kid was nowhere near as obnoxious as when he had arrived. That alone made him nervous.
"Wally, are you alright? You look tired." He tried.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Wally replied in a hollow voice. He was so sleepy. It was weird. He felt as if he'd been asleep only moments ago. He could hear Barry talking but it was as if he wasn't really there.
'Not real.' His mind told him. Not real. Barry was fake, he knew that. He'd known that from the very beginning. But now…he couldn't tell what was real and what was not. The whole world around him seemed to be melting and bleeding together. None of the shapes made sense anymore. Wally blinked rapidly, trying to clear his field of vision. He couldn't see straight anymore. The colors, they wouldn't stop bleeding…wasn't he with Barry only moments ago?
He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. What was wrong with him!
"Wally?" he heard a voice cry out in alarm.
'Not real.' His brain automatically replied. 'None of it is real. Best to run and hide.' Wally couldn't shake the dangerous thoughts from his head. It was like someone was pulling him away from the world.
"Wally!" Barry had been shaking him for the better part of ten minutes. The boy had squeezed his eyes shut and closed off his ears! It was madness! People were staring to take notice of the distressed teen and Barry was considering calling in the League. He just didn't know what to do! He just didn't know what to do!
"Sir? Is your son alright? He's looking a little pale. You might want to take him to the hospital." Their waitress had returned and she looked worried. "Want me to call someone?" she cast a concerned glance in Wally's direction.
"No, really he's fine. At least, he was fine this morning. Wally? Wally? Come on kid, you're starting to scare people. Can you hear me Wally?" Barry could hear the panic rising in his own voice and fought to control it. He couldn't lose it now, not when the kid was already compromised. He fought the urge to snap his fingers in Wally's face. What if something really bad had happened? What was he supposed to do? He wasn't Bruce or Clark. He didn't know how to handle kids.
Suddenly, his cellphone started to ring. Barry quickly took it out and checked the caller ID. 'B'
"Aw crap." He hissed and answered the demanding ring. Now Bruce was on his back too?
"You're really taking a phone call right now? Have you seen your kid? I'm telling you, he needs a hospital!" The waitress commanded angrily.
"It's his mom. She wants to know what's going on." Barry snapped back. "What's up?"
"We've got an issue. Report to the Watch Tower immediately. This could be a life or death situation." Batman's voice growled into his ear.
"Can't! Something's wrong with Wally. I've got to stay here unless you're going to send someone. Really, if Clark can handle it, I have to stay with him." Batman was silent for a few moments before responding.
"What do you mean wrong?"
"I don't know! It's like he just checked out or something! He was kind of talking and then all of the second, he just checked out on me! We were talking, Iris saw him! He was fine this morning." But that was a lie. Wally hadn't been looking well for quite some time. Those dark circles hadn't appeared overnight. Barry just hadn't cared enough to really pay attention.
"You need to get him up here for and examination immediately. This could be a lot worse than you think." The line went out.
Barry's heart momentarily sunk at the look on Wally's face. The boy's eyes had opened back up but any of their former light had evaporated.
"Come on Wally! We're gonna head home okay." His eyes flicked to the waitress. "We're gonna go see Uncle Clark and Uncle John." He moved to hoist Wally out of his seat.
"Who are they?" the boy asked slowly.
"Conner and Megan's parents. Your cousins." Barry replied. He had to get the kid out of there.
"Who?" Wally's word slowly started to slur together.
"Good lord! It's like he's having a stroke or something! I'm calling 9-1-1" the woman cried. She helped Barry pull Wally from his seat and carry him out of the restaurant and to the car. "He needs a hospital." She said.
"We have a private physician. I'm taking him there now. Thank you for your help." Barry dreaded the fact that he would have to drive. There were just too many witnesses. He couldn't risk being seen. In the back seat, he could see Wally's head lolling back and forth. Best to get moving. He pulled out of the parking lot and back towards town. He had to find the zeta beam transport.
YJ
"Wally's been hurt? What's that even mean?" Batman was beginning to regret even telling Robin what had happened at all, let alone bringing the kid along. He hadn't shut up since.
"I don't know what's happened. Flash is on his way. You'll see him soon." He said shortly.
"That's not enough. This could be really bad! Was he fighting with Flash, did Barry hurt him-"
"Robin!"
"What? You know the two of them haven't been getting along. And besides, you were prepared to starve me. Who knows what was going on in the Allen house hold?" Dick insisted.
"I wouldn't have let you starve and Flash would never put his hands on a child. Not violently anyway." Batman pressed.
"If Alfred wasn't there, my stomach would probably be eating itself. And maybe you don't know Barry as well as you think." Robin challenged.
"Do you honestly believe that?" Batman asked slowly.
"Don't you?" Bruce didn't respond but merely shook his head. That most definitely wasn't what he wanted to hear.
"Bat-"
"Wally's going to be alright isn't he?" M'gann asked not even realizing she had cut Robin off. The boy shot her a look of annoyance.
"I don't know, I don't know. If it's as bad as the girl…"
"Then it could be permanent." She finished. "This is so bad."
"Don't worry M'gann. Wally will be fine. He's goofy but he's tough." Artemis and Roy had arrived. "Where's Kaldur?"
"We couldn't get in touch with Orin. As soon as we know something, you'll know as well." Clark assured them. "We won't keep any secrets."
Artemis nodded. "And Wally's on his way?"
"Yeah, Flash is having trouble getting him to move. He says Wally isn't responding the way he normally would. He isn't talking."
"Now I'm really scared. Wally hasn't shut up since he could talk." Roy snorted.
"Well if he's anything like this chick, he might not ever talk again." Robin said. He was trying to hide his inner panic.
"How bad is it?"
"See for yourself." they had finally reached the monitor womb.
"Uncle J'onn!" M'gann cried jovially. She waved frantically to her uncle.
"Hello M'gann. It's good to see you again." her uncle responded.
"Hey Roy." Oliver said. Roy glared at him.
Ollie sighed deeply. Even a separate dimension couldn't get Roy to forgive him.
Batman pushed him out of the way of the screen and stepped up. A photo of a young girl appeared.
"This is Kelly Raines, age ten. She disappeared shortly after you all did. She just resurfaced a few hours ago."
"She's so pretty." M'gann said quietly.
"And this is her now." Another screen popped up with a video feed of Kelly's containment room.
"Oh my god!" M'gann cried.
"And this is what you think's happened to Wally?" Roy inquired.
"We don't have enough information yet. When that world's Flash arrives, we'll be able to see if it really is what we believe."
"No! This can't happen!"
"And if it is? Do you believe it could happen to the rest of us as well?" Roy asked.
"What are you getting at Roy?" Ollie asked.
"When that thing was in my head, I couldn't function. M'gann had to yank me out of my own head." He said.
"There's nothing there for me to grab. She's gone." J'onn responded.
"But I could feel Roy clearly. He was faint but I could tell he was definitely there." M'gann said.
"Maybe it works in stages?" Robin suggested.
"We still need Wally to deny or confirm anything." Artemis reminded them.
"Well get ready, the zeta beam just recognized two arrivals." Superman said. They could hear Wally's quiet babbling voice from the distance. Robin felt his heart drop at the sound. He knew they'd lost him.
Slowly, the team readied themselves for the worst.
So I started another story that will continue after this one is finished. It's called OF Fathers and Sons (couldn't think of another title. If it ain't broke, don't fix it) and it's kind of based on the most recent ep. Agendas, and it's more so about each male sidekick and their relationship with their father figure. It started out as just Conner, Superman, and Lex Luthor but has gradually become about all the boys. So if you like this one, I hope you'll like that one too. As always-IFW