Hey guys, another short chapter but I am in fact, still grounded. Should be free next week so next week, should be longer chapter. Should be. No promises. Anyway, hope you like it. There's a lot of angst so fair warning. I'll be on vacation this weekend with the fam but I may upload a one-shot or something. Be on the lookout. I've noticed how many of you started looking at Of Fathers and Sons and I'm so happy. I hope you enjoy that as much as you've enjoyed this. As for any spelling mistakes, I've only looked over this like once. I'll go back and correct things but I really wanted to get this chap up. -IFW

Chapter 17

M'gann had learned the value of hard work early in her life. She had to work hard to make friends and even harder to keep them. She was a white Martian. Nobody liked white Martians.

When she came to earth, she had expected the same less than friendly reception. Her new friends however, they had surprised her. They had accepted her without question and gladly welcomed her into their team dynamic. She had a family away from her family. A home away from her home.

Well now her home was being threatened.

She had never thought she would miss the sound of Wally's laughter. It was loud and obnoxious but it filled the room with an undeniable happiness. God, she missed his laughter. Now she was bent over his bed changing his sheets. He was quiet, the babbling and screaming had long sense stopped. If she didn't know better, she would have assumed him dead.

"Stop thinking that way, M'gann." She hissed to herself. She couldn't give up. She was one of the only ones left holding onto hope. If she gave in…then they would fall apart.

She couldn't let her family fall apart.

M'gann stiffened her upper lip and changed Wally's sheets. She would do this for him. She wanted to hear his laugher again.

YJ

"We've gotten nowhere." M'gann pulled her pony-tail out and let her hair fall loose. She was exhausted. She'd spent hours going through Wally's mind, trying to retrieve something buts she'd come up empty. She felt like such a failure. She'd failed her friend. On top of that, she knew Kaldur was hiding how much pain he was really in. she only seconds away from forcing an aspirin down the stubborn Atlantean's throat. "I've tried everything I tried on Roy but it just isn't working. This is so different."

"How is it different, M'gann?" Kaldur asked.

"With Roy, I had his help. He was already fighting back to take control of his own mind. While he was in fact losing, I still had his support. Wally isn't fighting. He's given up. If I don't have his help, I can't save him. His mind has entirely turned against me." M'gann explained. She rubbed her forehead and fell back into her chair.

"Wait a second...you said fighting back." Roy said began. "Fighting back...M'gann, that actually makes some sense. That thing that was in my head, I was pulling against it. The entire time, I wanted to get away from it. Wally isn't pulling against it...why? What's different? We find what's different and we find our solution."

"Wow Roy, you actually made a legitimate point." Artemis jeered. "Where do we go from that?"

"Well, let's look at the differences between Roy and Wally when they contracted...well whatever this is. That's where we find an answer." Dinah had entered the room. "Can't hurt to have a few more ears to listen can it?" She smiled at Roy. "Bounce some theories off of us."

Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawk Girl stood behind her. "So let's start with Roy since you know, he's conscious and all."

"Before you were teleported here, before anything happened, how were you?" M'gann questioned.

"What? What do you mean?" Roy was confused.

"I believe she's referring to your mental state." Kaldur said through gritted teeth. His head was still pounding.

"Are you sure you don't want any aspirin for that headache, Kal? You look like it's getting worse." Robin asked.

"I will be fine. I promise. It is just a little pain. I can manage." Kaldur insisted. He did not enjoy indulging in surface-world medications. They always had negative side effects on him.

"Kaldur-"

"I am fine, M'gann." M'gann pursed her lips but nodded all the same. Now was not the time to question their leader. They needed to stand together.

"Anyway, back to your friend's mental state." Hawk Girl redirected the conversation.

"I...I was angry. No, I was pissed off. Ollie showed up at my apartment I the middle of the night thinking you guys were hiding out at my place or something. The League thought you guys were pulling a prank. They weren't looking. You were missing and they weren't going to be bother so yeah, I was really really pissed. I just remember being really mad." Roy shrugged. "That doesn't mean anything."

"You were angry. You were angry when I went inside your mind as well. Now what was Wally?"

"He was depressed. I tried cheering him up but he was going downhill fast." Robin piped up.

"He wasn't that depressed. A little sullen but nothing else. He was fine." Flash countered.

"That's not true! I talked to Wally! He was really upset and sad. I know my best friend, that wasn't him." Robin snapped at the older man.

"Okay, so hold your horses. Roy was angry and detached. He was able to fight back. Wally was depressed and hiding in his own head. He isn't able to fight back." Dinah weighed. "That makes sense to me."

"So it's all got to do with your mental state? That what decides whether M'gann can pull you out or not? No, that's too simple." Artemis disagreed.

"Maybe that's just what it is. Maybe it really is that simple." M'gann offered. "Black Canary is correct. It makes sense. In Wally's battered mental state-"

"Battered? Really, he went from depressed to being battered? Are you implying I battered him down?" Flash cut across her.

"Fine. Depressed mental stated then. In that state, Wally was much less willing to put up a fight. He was desperately looking for a way out of his torment. He found solace in whatever this thing is before it went bad."

"Maybe that's why he was sleeping so much. People who are experinceing depression tend to sleep more." Robin surmised.

"Sleeping? You never mentioned that."

"I just remembered. Every time Wally and I would talk, he would suddenly get tired and drift off to sleep. It was so annoying."

"It allowed easy access to Wally's mind. We're most open when we're dreaming. We have little to no control except in lucid dreams! It entered Wally's mind through his dreams! That means, it was already trying to work its way into Roy's head before he got here." M'gann clapped he hand jovially. "And Roy doesn't sleep."

"So it had less power over him. He could fight back."

"Wait. You know what that means right? If this thing is attacking on the other side, maybe those kids aren't here after all. That's why Superman can't find them. We're the only kids here." Robin said.

"But that doesn't make sense. Why send just us here?" Artemis argued.

"We're decoys."

YJ

"Dreams?" Batman's voice sounded skeptical.

"Yes. It makes sense. We've looked at both Wally and Roy's situations. It's the only theory that makes sense. Whatever this is, it's supposed to break us down. Once the child begins to lose resilience, they begin to sleep more. It's a coping mechanism. People feel like they have the most control when they're dreaming." M'gann explained. "That's when this thing, this spell takes hold. Wally was feeling depressed and underappreciated. He felt lonely and began sleeping more. Most likely, this thing's been feeding him images of his desires in order to persuade him to sleep more. That way, it could gain more power."

"And Roy is different. He's stubborn as a mule and typically doesn't care about anyone else's opinions. He's used to spending his nights patrolling and therefore, can survive on little sleep. He doesn't sleep as much, he doesn't dream as much. Much harder target to bring down." Robin said. "Batman-"

"I believe you. Given what this world's Flash has told us about Kid Flash's more personal history, I can understand why would come to that conclusion. I would as well. Good work." Batman admitted.

"You mean his father's abuse." Roy supplied.

"Yes, that was what I was alluding to."

"So the word 'battered' does fit." Artemis shot a glare at Barry.

"Okay! I get it! You all think this is my fault. You blame me! I'm sorry, I didn't know this was going to happen. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. You can't keep blaming me! Besides, this isn't about me anymore! It's about him!" Barry cried in his defense. Yes, he felt awful. He just didn't want a bunch of kids making him feel even worse.

"What did you do to my nephew! I swear, if you hurt him-" The other world's Flash growled.

"You're just like my world's Superman. You think that by ignoring the existence of your 'problem', it'll just go away. We're people, Flash. We don't just disappear when you want us to." Superboy growled. The others nodded their affirmation. Before Barry could argue, Batman cut him off.

"We don't have time for that. We have more pressing matters." Batman pushed him aside. "It has come to our attention that we have a very small window of opportunity to free these kids."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Kelly Raines is dead."

"What? Oh god. This cannot be happening. Wally's going to die." M'gann began to babble.

"Miss M, shut up. Wally isn't going to die; he's going to be just fine. We're going to save him." Robin protested. No, this wasn't happening. He wasn't going to lose any more people he considered family. No one else. "We have to save him." He knew that Batman couldn't see the pleading look behind his domino mask but he knew the man could feel it.

"We're doing our best, Robin."

"We have to do more. We have to work harder! If Wally dies-" Robin felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. Wally could die…for a split second, he saw his parents plunging to their deaths. How was the memory still so fresh in his mind?

"He isn't going to die. We aren't going to let that happen. We'll figure this out." Black Canary placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We've already called our world's Superman back. None of those kids are here."

"So we've gathered."

"Then that begs the question, why were they," she gestured to the team, "sent here?"

"Most likely to divert our attention away from the missing children. We'd be so focused on trying to find our kids that we'd overlook the others." Green Lantern supplied.

"And we'd have to pay for it." Superboy added.

"I'm pretty sure you're the only one not paying for it, Conner. No offense." Artemis said jokingly.

Conner bristled at her words. "It's not my fault okay! I get it, I shouldn't want to stay but I do! The rest of you are miserable and I should feel guilty because I'm not. Well, guess what? I don't feel guilty anymore. I deserve to feel happy and if he isn't going to give a damn about me, I have a right to find someone who will! So yes, I take offense!"

Both world's fell silent.

"Oh my god. I knew this was going to happen! Clark, I am going to kill you!" Black Canary's voice came from the other world. She wasn't in the camera's line of view.

"Dinah, I didn't-"

"That's just it! You didn't do shit! You fuckin' asshole!" They could hear the sound of an off screen scuffle and Batman's wearied sigh.

"As you can see, things are a bit stressful here. I'm going to terminate the connection and try to…deal with this. Goodnight. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Batman wait-" the screen went dark.

"No. This isn't happening. This isn't happening. I refuse to believe this is happening." Robin gasped for air and sat down on the floor. He put his head in between knees. When was the last time he'd had a panic attack? When he was eleven maybe? No, this wasn't happening.

"Robin. Robin! Richard!" Roy was shouting behind him, his arms wrapping around his torso. "C'mon kid. Stay away from the 'battered' mental state, remember? Makes you a target." Roy hoisted him into the air. "And believe me, I will have you strapped down in need be."

"He's going to die, Roy. He's going to die and there's nothing we can do to stop it. There's nothing we can do to save him. We've lost." Robin gasped.

"No, no we haven't. Not by a long shot."