DON'T OWN JL.
Flash sat as far away from Superman as he could manage, " So, you're not from my r-reality?"
Batman shook his head, " No, we are an alternate version of the people you know back in your dimension. We have the same basic timeline, just different versions of events."
" Oh, I s-see." John sat next to Flash and watched his body movements carefully. This Flash did not slouch at times when he believed the meeting was boring, in fact he sat up straight and gave each member his undivided attention, especially Superman. He also had a slight stutter to his speech and refused to start conversations. He would answer a question when asked, other then that he remained totally silent. Batman was also studying his behavior, as different as he and their Flash would have been; Bruce felt that a totally silent Flash was a Flash who had learned to keep silent the hard way.
" So if he's here… where does that leave our Flash?"
" Possibly with the Justice Lords. Or maybe in another dimension." John held up a hand to stall any further suggestions,
" Flash. Why don't you go down to the kitchen and get something to eat?" Flash looked taken aback by the suggestion and moved to rise out of the chair. He stopped suddenly and looked over at Superman, as if asking for his permission.
" Go ahead." The Man of Steel gave him a smile that Flash did not return. Instead he bolted for the door and did not look back.
" Now, let me ask this one thing, when we went to their dimension he was already dead. How can he be alive right now?"
" I thought of that and I think that maybe he is from their past. Instead of Flash coming from our time period, he was taken out of an earlier Lord one."
" So now the question is what time period." Hawkgirl murmured into her coffee.
" Why does he act like that?" Diana stood up so that she would have everyone's full attention. " I have never seen Flash so quiet and he asks Superman's permission for everything. He's scared of his own shadow and he won't really talk to anyone else besides John. I know we were different from the Lord's but he seems to be a polar opposite."
She sat down and gazed at all of them, but mostly Superman, who shifted nervously under her stare,
" I don't know why…maybe…" He paused and looked around, " We all saw how I –me…he, whatever, acted after Flash had been killed, maybe this is how…you know?" He looked to Batman for help,
" You're saying that the other you was near the edge before Flash died."
" Yeah."
" That still doesn't explain why he acts like that or why he's so thin and that scar…"
" Flash needs to eat in one day what normal people eat in a week, maybe he has eaten in a few days."
" A few days? He's skin and bone. Why wouldn't he be eating?"
" P--punishment." The voice was meek and all heads turned to face it. Flash was standing in the door way with a small bag of unopened chips, his face pale, looking from Lantern to Superman, trembling slightly,
" What do you mean?" Superman raised his voice in anger that Flash had entered the room again, regretting it when he realized that they hadn't told him not to come back and that Flash was now cowering by the door.
" No, Flash…I didn't mean—" It was too late, the speedster ran out of the doorway in the direction of what he thought was his room.
" Damn it." Superman sat deep into his chair and sighed, " Ok, he obviously hates me. How the hell do we get him home?"
" I'll have to finish my interdemensioal portal."
" You're building one?"
" Yes." Batman stood up from the table and walked out of the room, no doubt heading for the Javelin hangar.
" So for now we just deal?" Lantern shrugged,
" I wonder…" Hawkgirl blinked at him,
" What?"
" Well, if the Lord's Flash is like that how are they going to react to our Flash?" J'onn answered,
" I suppose just as we would."
" You mean you hope that they will."
" Yes."
