Disclaimers and Useless/Useful Stuff to Know:
Don't own Justice League. Never will. WB and DC got dibs that I don't. Takes place around the first season of JLU, pre-The Return.
Onions and Cakes

by Alba Aulbath


"So, just what the heck are we supposed to be looking for here?" the Flash wondered, sighing with obvious annoyance.

"Clues. You ever do detective work, Speedy?" the Question commented offhand, not even giving the other League member a glance.

"Batman usually kinda does, and G.A.'s gonna sue you for callin' me that."

For reasons the Flash couldn't begin to fathom, somehow he and the Question had ended up looking to the prison where Heat Wave had been originally kept. Walls had been melted down to the point where he had escaped; by the time the pair of heroes had arrived, what had been burned had been cooled off into formation. Question was stepping by the shuffling policemen and through the gapes that Heat Wave had caused; the Flash was following him, resisting the urge to just sigh some more and look very put upon.

"Why are we checking here if J'onn's been kidnapped by some whacko?" the Flash elaborated on his earlier question.

The faceless man stopped in Heat Wave's former cell looking over the walls and the floor, then knelt down as if to observe something. "You aren't sure if Heat Wave's the 'whacko' we're after," the detective remarked.

"Hey hey; I know he's an annoying supervillain. I catch 'im three times a week in the city, pretty much. I know his style, and kidnapping an alien really kind of doesn't make sense."

"Then he's not alone in the game." The Question held up a finger before Flash could step forward. He pressed his finger to the floor, seeming to outline something. "What size feet does Heat Wave have?"

"I dunno, maybe size ten - heck if I know. You plan on going shopping for sneakers?"

"Not at all. I just happen to notice that someone else other than Heat Wave's been pacing around in this cell. There might be plenty of dust and his footprints, but there was someone here earlier. Who probably shouldn't have been." The Question stood up, gazing down at his gloved fingers; they had some powdery residue that didn't appear to be part of the debris around. "What kind of lock down do they have around here?"

"I dunno much about it. I just drag the psychos over here." Shrugging faintly, Flash leaned against the scorched wall. "I know they use keycards to get in to check on the cells." He quickly came to the Question's line of thinking. "Someone broke him out?"

"They don't normally lock up the enemy with their weapons, do they?"

"Yeah, real funny. So you have a point, but who would do that? Heat Wave is pretty much a solo villain; he doesn't have a huge list of contacts."

The Question stood up, looking at some of the residue on his fingers. "Who indeed?" he mused.

"Say it's a conspiracy, and I am SO not working with you," Flash muttered, planting his hand to his forehead. "Have a hunch?"

"A better one if we talk to the authorities." The Question turned, walking down the hall to spot someone to talk to. Shrugging without a better idea, the Flash quickly followed him.

Essentially, everyone was busy shuffling in the hallways and getting things in order. While someone escaping was something predictable, the damage was, apparently, not something that occured too often. The pair of Leaguers were basically brushed aside with quick apologies until they came across the Blonde Man; the Question recalled that Flash had been speaking to him before out of costume.

"Ah, Flash; I was wondering if you'd come by and see this mess." The blonde smiled awkwardly. "Now's not a terrific time, but I can tell you what I can, if you want." He paused, noticing the Question. "Who is this? I don't believe that I'm familiar with your... ...well, I suppose 'face' isn't the polite term..."

"I'm from Hub City," was all the faceless man was willing to supply.

"Everyone calls 'im the Question. Hey, Detective, what happened here?" the Flash wondered.

Pushing up his glasses, the cop shook his head. "Really, we have no idea. Somehow, Heat Wave got his hands on his suit again and melted his way out. Someone must have brought it in, but we can't understand how; there's a very limited access in and out here."

The Flash looked confused. "What about a security camera?"

"No good. All the cameras had a blackout just before whoever went inside," the cop responded, shaking his head.

"Is there a way to find a record of the last people to go in?" the Question asked.

"Well... yes and no. The keycards tell us which division entered, not the person who owns it. There's a keycard belonging to Central Labs on Fifth Avenue, one to the security guards, a keycard between me and Detective Morillo - Flash, you've met him..."

"Yeah, he's a real nice guy." The Flash rolled his eyes while the blonde smiled a bit helplessly.

"Anyway, I'm sure you've got the idea," the cop shrugged.

The Question folded his arms, as it was his only means of physical expression. "Let's see who last swung by to pay Heat Wave a visit."

"Well, we did check already, but it doesn't make much sense." The blonde motioned for both heroes to follow him as he stepped into one of the security rooms. Sitting down at a computer, he typed away until he brought up the appropriate file, gesturing. "Central Labs," he read outloud.

"Why would Central Labs have a keycard, anyway?" the Question inquired, though in Flash's opinion he always sounded like he was interrogating someone.

But this didn't bother the cop at all, who turned to look at the Question. "Central Labs accepts weapons and whatever else might be at a scene of a crime and investigates it in all forms and purposes. Though..." He frowned.

"What is it?" Flash tilted his head.

"Central Labs was the last place that I know of that did have Heat Wave's weapons," the cop admitted. "I don't like the idea of considering that anyone there is behind this. Most of them I know personally, as far as I can remember."

The Flash narrowed his eyes, then shook his head. "Hey, don't sweat it, Detective Allen! We'll check it out."

"Well, I'd like to ask Iris personally, but..." Allen shrugged. "I'm up to my neck in work here right now. You let me know what's going on, Flash."

"No problem!" the Flash dashed out from the room, but the Question remained, only briefly glancing over his shoulder, then he looked at Allen.

"Iris?"

Allen nodded. "Oh, yes. She's a dear friend to me. When I was in my worst hour, she was there for me. I'm not sure what I would have done without her. She's a dedicated scientist, ever since I met her. She'd be someone you'd want to talk to, Question."

"Does she have a connection to the Flash?" the Question mused.

"They do appear to be good friends, but honestly, it's hard for someone in this city to not get along with someone like him," Allen chuckled.

There wasn't much of a reply from the Question; just an amused 'hmm' as he turned and stepped out without a good-bye to be said. Stepping out the front door, the Flash was waiting, arms folded and tapping his foot irritably.

"What took you?" the Fastest Man wondered.

"Aching to get to the labs?"

"Well, yeah; we kind of have an investigation."

The Question probably would have narrowed his eyes at the Flash; the speedster couldn't tell, but the look he was receiving was a little reminiscent of Batman's 'what are you hiding' glare.

"What do you know about Iris?" the detective inquired.

"She's a friend; known her a long time." The Flash shrugged. "Look, can we go?"

"And how?" The Question gestured, as if to make a point about his lack of travel capability. "Remember sometimes everyone else isn't the hyperactive roadrunner you are."

The Flash eyed at him.


If it were many others, like Booster Gold or Green Arrow, there would be much complaining involved. They would, perhaps, call it undignified or simply whine until the trip was over.

It was the case in point that some had to recall that not everyone (A) owned jets or otherwise a technological capability that allowed them to fly, (B) natural or freak-accident capability to fly, or (C) could run anywhere they practically wanted. The Question wasn't the richboy Batman was and the only freaky things about him was his personality and his face - or lack thereof.

Nevertheless, the Question had his arms around the Flash's neck and was essentially given a 'lift' to Central Labs, and he simply made no comment.

The Flash considered the possibility that maybe the Question thought it was the most normal thing in the world, for superpowered people to give him a ride somewhere because he couldn't fly or anything of the like. Not even a grappling hook.

No, the Question wasn't complaining. Just humming a rather bouncy song to himself that the Flash was pretty sure another one of those pop songs he heard a lot on the radio, Supergirl's favorite station in fact.

(This guy is such a kook,) the Flash decided.

Thankfully, once they got to their destination, the Question stopped humming and let go, walking casually to the labs with the red-clad man behind him.

As soon as they stepped in, one of the scientists perked up in alert. "Flash?"

"Hey, Jerry; where's Iris?" the speedster waved at him.

Pointing behind himself, Jerry smiled faintly. "Her office. Go on ahead. She's still busy last I saw her; she's pretty baffled about Heat Wave's weapons missing."

"Sounds familiar," the Question commented while sparing a glance to the Flash, who could only shake his head and grumble to himself.

Nodding to Jerry, the Flash hurried off down the halls of the lab to go find Iris. At his own pace, the Question simply followed in a humbled walk, hands in his pockets.

The moment the Flash zipped his way into her office, Iris turned from her computer with a tired grin. She only came up, in height, to his shoulder, but her smile was familiarly similar to the Flash's. Her hair was a light brown, coming down to her chin, and her eyes glittered a soft green.

Standing up, she gestured him inside. "Wally, good timing, I-" She stopped short, not having noticed the faceless man until he stepped in. "Oh, I..."

The Flash held up his hand. "Don't worry about it; he kinda noseyed into my background and knows my name anyway," he assured, shooting the Question a brief glare.

Either not noticing or not caring, the detective turned his head to Iris. "Good timing?" he repeated for her.

"Oh! I'm just glad to see you here; Heat Wave's suit was stolen, then obviously he got it back somehow." Iris let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Whoever did it was brief and wasted no time; he used the keycard from the labs, then brought it back in time when I was looking for it when I heard about Heat Wave's breakout - and the fact that he had his suit back."

"Let's see the card," the Question told her.

Shrugging, she turned around to unlock a drawer, opening it and taking out the keycard; she handed it over. "I don't know what you intend to find, but..."

Silently, the Question turned around and studied the card. The Flash let himself roll his eyes and look at Iris, as if to quietly tell her that he was not enjoying his current partner - in which she merely grinned at him.

"So this is the infamous Question?" Iris asked the speedster while the detective was silently investigating the card.

"Yeah," the Flash let out a sigh, quickly at her side and speaking quietly to her. "He says J'onn disappeared, and he thinks Heat Wave has something to do with it. It's ridiculous; Heat Wave doesn't have anything to do with J'onn! Ugh, who sent him down here to help, anyway...?"

"I'm sure he's very capable, Flash," Iris smirked at him.

"I'm sure he's very nutty," he muttered.

Iris shrugged helplessly. The Flash was probably overreacting, in her opinion, though she merely looked at him sympathetically, placing a hand to his arm.

Finally turning around, the Question was eyeing at the card, then at his gloved hand. Then he held out his hand, dust on his fingertips, it looked like. "Powder," he elaborated. "It was what gave away the footprints in Heat Wave's cell. So whoever is giving our pyromaniac villain here a hand is working with whatever this stuff is."

"Powder...? Strange. I can see if I can analyze it. Flash, I have your communicator signal; see what you and Question can still dig up around the city on J'onn's disappearance. I can contact you when I have some hopefully good news," Iris suggested. She took the card back from the Question and turned to go to the backdoors of her office.

Flash turned to leave, but Question held up a finger. "Iris. What's her connection to you?"

"You don't know?"

"Your profile is harder to investigate than most others in the League; frankly, I'm still working on it recently."

Flash couldn't help but smirk faintly. "Most?"

"Batman's thorough."

Shrugging, the speedster didn't seem interested in discussing. "She's family."

Leaning forward, as if to get on some kind of eye level with the Flash, the detective spoke lowly, obviously interested in getting more information from him. "Then why isn't she listed in your profile? I've checked school records, newspapers, family tree, the orpha-"

"What the hell does this gotta do with finding out where J'onn is?" the Flash demanded sharply, glaring at the detective.

"What indeed."

"Is that one of your favorite lines or WHAT? Get a copyright already!" Flash held up a finger at him, though he debated the more offensive phalange. "Why the hell would I be on your suspect list!"

"You're not." The Question's tone was clearly a smirking one. "Not right now anyway. What were you doing at the police station earlier, Wally? Is it Detective Allen?"

"An hour's gone by since I ran into you, and I'm already so damned sick of you!" The Flash was quick to leave the room.

"Point taken and proven." The Question turned and calmly started out after the Flash, singing to himself far too cheerfully:

"One is the loneliest number..."


"Flash to Watchtower!" the communicator snapped irritably.

Wonder Woman lifted her head from her discussion with B'Wana Beast and Wildcat. If you could called it a discussion.

She put a hand to her forehead and wondered how in Hera's name did J'onn deal with this, day in and day out.

"All right, you two go. No. More. BRAWLING," she ordered in her best Amazonian tone. The pair turned around, though she clearly heard B'Wana Beast utter a sarcastic cat-hiss noise. Sighing, she turned around and press a button to return the call. "Diana here; Flash, how are you?"

"Feeling like crap, Princess; why'd you send this nutjob down here?" The Flash sounded clearly quite grumpy.

Wonder Woman made a helpless and apologetic sound. "I'm sorry. Elongated Man isn't here, and Batman can't help; he's on another case in Gotham. Firefly broke out. It was short notice, and the Question volunteered, and he IS a detective."

"Yeah, well, he's being a real pain in the foot. ...Firefly?" The Flash seemed to consider something.

"Yes. It wasn't too long ago, I guess. I hadn't realized Batman was busy I called him for help when J'onn went missing."

"Heat Wave's gone, too." The Flash paused. "Hey, can you check the prison in Metropolis, Princess? See if there were any breakouts?"

"I haven't heard Superman mentioned anything, but... then again, he's out in Europe right now." Diana turned and began to check the database. "But you know..." It started to dawn on her. "Supergirl mentioned this morning at breakfast. Volcana escaped."

The Flash was heard smirking. "Thought so."

"Great Hera... It's not just a coincidence, is it?"

"Nothing ever is," the Question added over the communication line, and the Flash didn't hide his grumble of annoyance. "The Martian's from a planet colder than ours. He's more vulnerable to heat than most of us, except for maybe Ice. It's a weakness for him. Whoever kidnapped him had that intention, which is why Firefly, Volcana, and Heat Wave are out running around."

"You don't think J'onn would be..." Diana didn't want to consider the possibility that the psychic was gone for good.

"I doubt it. If he was, then we'd be seeing three pyromaniacs tearing down the streets, don't you think?" the Question pointed out. "The Martian's alive out there - and for a reason. Only, we just don't know who's responsible... Yet."


"55 degrees farenheight, thereabout... Amazing that you could stand Africa, Mr. J'onzz, or did you quietly suffer?" There was no reply, and it seemed to be something that the speaker expected. "I won't be able to speculate your bloodtype since you're not human, but I suppose it might not matter; you won't be able to have a blood transfusion. Your height varies, but at your natural state as you are, you're about 6'5" and 145 pounds. For such a height, one would thing you'd weigh more..."

J'onn was barely awake as the scientist talked on and on. He didn't speak to him, but merely watched as his temperature had been taken, blood had been drawn, and so on.

Pierce Tan, as he had announced himself to be, spoke softly and never made eye contact once with J'onn. Admittedly, that was not so difficult to do, considering the fact that the Martian had a difficult time keeping his vision focused and to even keep watch of the scientist who was keeping him in such an ungodly heated basement.

There were a lot of supplies and tools on the tables surrounding the both of them; a working sink for biochemical and biohazard reasons, he fathomed. A bin, and an empty bottle of water near a cooler which was, undoubtedly, no longer particularly cool.

It had been J'onn's speculation, since he felt too weak to reach into Pierce's mind and find the answers himself (and the man had, he found out once Pierce was near enough once, a metal headband on, much like the ones given to Green Lantern and the Flash once when Grodd had gone to Central City), that Pierce was not particularly proud of having him as a captive. It led him to speculate that though Pierce had three madmen with pyromania tendecies hired, that the scientist was still working under someone else.

It was simply him being presumptuious, though.

"What was the medical procedures like on Mars?" Pierce inquired, this time not simply a rhetorical question.

J'onn frowned, unsure if he was capable of speaking much, his throat completely dry. "...I am... unsure of the specifics..." he answered honestly. "...Though I can use the basic technology here... I was not exactly a scientist on my world, to begin with..." He frowned to himself.

Pierce seemed genuinely interested. "Yes? Oh. My apologies..." He glanced around, as if he was expecting someone to be watching, then turned to the cooler to pull out a bottle of water. "It's not quite cold anymore, but here." Tilting the Martian's head, he allowed him some sips of water. "Now, please, continue."

"..." J'onn's expression went dark. "...After the invaders arrived on my world, I had no choice but to learn some science... Though I am not as... medically inclined as many others were on my planet. I can only perform... the simple procedures here on Earth rather than any that were on Mars."

Considering this, Pierce nodded before pushing up his glasses. "...What were you before the war with the invaders?"

"An artist..." J'onn looked at him a bit wryly. "I sculpted."

"I see." Pierce smiled faintly. "...Though that's hardly relevant to my investigation. Perhaps I shouldn't be making you speak so much, but I've had my curiosities about many members of the Justice League... particularly those who are sole survivors of their race. You, Superman, and Supergirl. Though S.T.A.R. labs has studied Kryptonians, no one has taken a look at a Martian."

"...And that is why I am here."

Nodding. "I'm afraid so."

"...Who is responsible...?"

Standing up, Pierce picked up a small plastic sheet and a scalpel from a table. He frown, shaking his head. "It won't matter to tell you much of anything about 'who was behind this' or 'that', Mr. J'onzz. You won't exactly be leaving this facility. I am terribly sorry." He pulled up a stool, sitting beside where the Martian laid. Taking an arm, the dark-haired man pressed down on the scalpel, cutting down into the alien's flesh. While J'onn let out a pained cry, Pierce quietly worked and cut off a piece of the Martian's skin, setting it onto the plastic sheet.

Though he hardly left J'onn unattended; bandages and a murmur of what could have been an apology were made before the scientist turned away.

"Your shapeshifting abilities are a mystery to me," Pierce narrated; either to keep some one-sided converstion going, or because J'onn was incapable of reading his thoughts. "So... I apologize for doing that. It's for some study."

"You say 'sorry'... in spite of what you're doing..."

Nodding, the scientist didn't look at J'onn as he continued to speak. "I can honestly say that I'm ashamed of resorting to this. Hiring madmen and capturing a member of the Justice League, doing this to you? Not part of my morality."

"Then why...?"

Pierce lifted his head and looked at J'onn, smiling sadly. "If I told you, you and I both would be in a lot of trouble, Mr. J'onzz. You really don't want to know what kind of people you'd end up with if I wasn't involved on this project..."


"Rundown of the clues so far?" The Flash glanced to the Question curiously; it was likely that he was keeping better track than the speedster was.

"Three pyromaniacs were 'helped' out of prison and probably hired to take down the Martian. Someone who has access from Central Labs, no doubt, who knows where to look and how to shut off security just long enough to do what he needs to do. And he's left behind some powder." The pair had reapproached the labs. They didn't come up with many other leads, and before frustration sunk in further, Iris had given them a call to come back for the results of the analyzation of the powder that had been left behind on two accounts.

The Flash eyed at him. "Someone from the labs? Yeah right; I know most of the staff here."

"Oh?"

The Fastest Man Alive grumbled; of course the Question was curious. "Through Iris, I met most of 'em. I trust them. Not everyone's got some dark motivation."

"No, but everyone has something dark, even if it's not motivated." The Question opened the door to Iris's office.

Turning around, the female scientist motioned them inside quickly. "Do either of you know of a man named Jonathan Crane?"

"The Scarecrow. He's in Arkham," the Question responded immediately.

She nodded. "Some years ago, he used a powder on athletes to invoke fear in them when they reached a peak of excitement. This powder is a bit similar, though over the years it doesn't have the same properties as the powder Crane used. This stimulates a momentary recall of a memory."

"How exactly?"

Iris sat down to her desk, letting the Question take the paper with the results of the analyzation. "Say someone has forgotten something from their childhood, or anything of the like. The powder can act temporarily and allow someone to remember something. It's not controlled, though."

"So, what's that got to do with the Scarecrow?" The Flash was completely lost.

"The powder the Scarecrow used would cause someone to fear something. It would react in someone almost like celluar memory. I'll try to give an example." Iris sat back in her chair, thinking. "The powder causes a physical reaction, which causes you to suddenly remember something. Say a certain object reminds you of a particular memory, because that holds meaning to you. The powder helps initiate something similar; it's like a reminder tool. The powder from Crane caused fear through celluar memory, of something we used to fear or can fear. Ah... I hope that helps; you look a little pale, Flash..."

"Iris." The Flash frowned, looking at her. "Don't you think..."

"No," she answered quickly. "Why would he do something like that?"

The Question lowered the paper, looking at the pair. "Who?"

"...A close friend and co-worker. Dr. Pierce Tan." Iris turned to look at the detective. "I've worked with him for years. He's younger than me, and quite gifted... though he has an obsession with things like celluar memory and recalling something that's deep inside and locked in our minds. There's absolutely no reason why he would be involved with breaking out Heat Wave or capturing J'onn. It's impossible; he's a good friend of mine and Flash's."

"Did you know he was developing this powder?" The Question obviously didn't seem to be phased by the fact that Iris wasn't willing to believe that a friend was capable of all this.

"I didn't, IF he was developing it at all," she told him sourly.

The Flash frowned and placed a hand to the back of his neck, considering what to say. "It doesn't seem like something he'd do," he admitted. "But..."

"Wally." Iris scowled at him. "He would NOT do this. You know him; you've known him since you were fifteen."

"Yeah, and I know he'd kinda gone off the deep end sometimes."

"Let's keep this organized, shall we?" The Question placed the sheet of paper down onto Iris's desk. "Why is Dr. Tan obsessed with memories?"

The Flash looked less than willing to discuss. Iris responded with, "That's certainly none of your business, Question."

"It is, with the Martian missing in action."

"A friend got amnesia; he snapped and wanted to see if he could cure it," the Flash told him quickly. "Look, does it matter? I don't even see a motivation."

"He doesn't have to have a motivation to be involved." The Question shrugged. "Not a motivation against the Martian, anyway. But there's one on a different subject, and I'm going to have to find out why."

"Personal matter, Question; let it go."

All eyes and those lack thereof were turned to the doorway. Green Lantern looked sternly between the three of them, then approached the Flash, pointing at him. "When were you going to tell me this came up?"

"Hey, look, I just found out!" the Flash held up his hands defensively. "I don't know what's going on!"

"You never mentioned Dr. Tan was working on anything like recalling memories."

"Yeah, well, maybe I'm kinda hoping it'll WORK."

John narrowed his eyes. "It can't happen."

"Why NOT?"

"You know why not."

"EXCUSE me," Iris cut in, standing up. She held out her arm, intervening between Green Lantern and the Flash. "John, I appreciate you coming by and hopefully supporting Question and Flash, but this isn't something we can openly discuss!"

The Flash folded his arms, frowning and glancing at Question, then back to Lantern. "Sometimes, John, you're a real jerk," he grumbled, dashing out of the office without another word. Without a word, the Question started to follow; however, Green Lantern held up his arm to block him off.

"And where do you think you're going?" John asked sharply.

"Follow him. You think it's smart to let him run out like that?" the Question tilted his head. "I'm starting to pick up on a pattern here. What's got you involved in all this?"

Green Lantern gave him a disapproving look. "This is about us finding J'onn, as soon as possible."

"It's also about Wallace West, Iris, you, Dr. Tan... and I'm betting on another one, too. Why don't you talk to me about Detective Allen? How about why Wally's record doesn't show any family members other than his parents, yet here he has a perfectly good relation right here. Right, Iris?" The detective leered at her, and she glanced away. Lantern said nothing. "Interesting. This is something big all right. But it begins with the Flash. And we'll see where it ends." The Question moved Lantern's arm out of the way, walking down the hall after the speedster.

Outside, the Flash waited, angry obviously. He spotted the Question, and glared at him. "It's not one big conspiracy."

"Sure it isn't."

"Look, what's this all got to do with J'onn, anyway? Even if it is Pierce, it doesn't make sense why you want to dig into this so damned much."

The Question folded his arms. "It's my job."

"Self-appointed."

"Isn't yours?"

Flash sighed and shook his head. "Look, would you just drop it? I don't want anyone digging into my personal life, much less YOU."

"Let me explain it to you. Everyone, whether or not they realize it, all have one connection. There are layers upon layers of stories, but all leads to one thing. Conspiracy. Which is why I investigate; whether or not you wanted to be, you're involved in the conspiracy. You're keeping silent about something, and it only suggests suspicion, and makes more possible connections. There was someone's memory wiped, and you were shut up about it, and so was Iris, Pierce, and Green Lantern. But Pierce refuses to give that up, but you have to keep it a secret, don't you? So what is it, the government, or-"

"It wasn't G.L."

The Question probably would have lifted a brow. "Pardon?"

"He wasn't involved. Not really." The Flash sighed. "Look, I can't talk about it. Even if I could, I wouldn't. It's got nothing to do with why J'onn's missing. So would you let it GO?"

"Probably not. But I'll cut you a deal for now."

"Gotta love the 'for now' part," the Flash grumbled.

"Tell me about Dr. Tan, and I'll leave the rest of it alone for now. Besides, I have different ways of finding out that doesn't include asking you questions."

"Then why have you been?"

"Easier to." The Question considered. "And you don't look ready to strangle me, which I find to be a very commendable point in someone."

"...Seriously?"

"Of course. You only look like you want to punch me."

The Flash looked at him, raising a brow. "...I guess that's a step-up?"

"Works for me, Speedy."

"Flash." Green Lantern shut the front door behind him, frowning. "Maybe you should keep taking a hiatus."

"Maybe he's been taking a vacation too long," the Question commented.

"Would you butt out of this?" Lantern sent him a cold look before turning his head back to the Flash. "I mean it. This might be getting in over your heels right now, and if Pierce really is behind this-"

"Then I wanna be there and know why. I mean, it might not be his fault, G.L. Seriously, I'm fine." Flash shook his head at him. "Where should we head out for next?"

John gave him an uncertain look, then frowned in hesitant compliance. "I'm going to Gotham and Metropolis to narrow this down. Flash, take the Question with you to see if you can find Pierce at his place." Green Lantern approached the detective, narrowing his green eyes. "And don't you try to interrogate anyone else on this subject!" The Question just shrugged at him. That seemed to satisfy the Green Lantern enough. "If you find out something, let me know," Lantern instructed Flash.

The speedster smirked. "What am I, a teenage sidekick? I'm not gonna forget to." Green Lantern nodded and took off into the sky.

The Flash turned to the Question, then scratched behind his neck. "...So, uh, hop on...?"

"I need an invisible jet," the Question muttered.


Predictably to be continued.


Next Chapter: There are several links to a chain reaction, that continues to answer questions and make more of them. The Flash and J'onn are unfortunately along for the ride. The Question makes tea.

Notes:

Detective Morillo is a character from the comics, a supporting cast member in the Flash comics. I'm referring to him as the other cop that was with the blonde man (who has been named, now, as Allen). Jerry is Jerry McGee, a scientist from the comics as well. I'm trying to stick with some Timm style and keep as many original characters lowkey as possible - unfortunately, I didn't find anyone quite like Pierce's personality, so I did create him as already mentioned.

The Flash might seem a little highstrung, but as you can expect, there's a reason for it. Also, hopefully, part of the fic will explain why he thinks the Question is such a 'kook' in Doomsday Sanction. Though I've yet to actually view all of the episode, I caught the beginning there, naturally. I do intend to have Flash calm down eventually and be able to them bounce off of each other without the big tension being there.

I'm hoping that I'm keeping the story considerably interesting without throwing too much into the reader's face at once. It's a bit difficult, dropping clues that are hopefully clever enough and keep it open so it can be figured out without seeming too confusing. I'm also hoping to keep a pace similar to Justice League Unlimited and hopefully make it feel like this could potentially be an episode. I'm hopin' I'm doin' okay with that.

To the readers:

Raven Hope: I planned on using a lot of Flash aspects, Iris's involvement included. Though her role isn't exactly drawn precisely from the comics, she's still significantly part of Wally's life and the plot. :D Hope you enjoy.

doc-trigger: I have updated, thus I hope I have avoided all possible porcupine encounters.

Dacker Spaniel: Hopefully you still feel the same way. I was really concerned with this chapter, because it might feel that things are being dropped onto the reader's clap too suddenly. It's difficult to drop clues and keep the air of mystery around on the storyline.

Dusha: Thanks very much for your compliments, and I hope you're still enjoying the fic! J'onn is one of the wisest, but he is also the oldest. He's several centuries old. So yeah, I understand how awkward that might have felt when it was read. The thing about Flash's relationship with John is that it's going to change a little, because it seems like it was changed after the Thanagarian invasion and during JLU. At least to me, it does. This'll be elaborated on. The Question is way different from Batman, even if he is a master of the martial arts and a keen detective he's also suspicious of literally everyone and sarcastic. And a bit of a crazy. But I love 'im; he enjoys music. Woo him!

balletangel19: It's named Onions and Cakes because of a discussion I had with a friend of mine. I had trouble thinking of a title for the fanfic, because I frankly quite suck with titles. She suggested 'More'. I asked her why, she said 'because this story has more connections to be found, more layers to be found, and more everything'. Layers made me think of Shrek, where they discuss layers. Which includes onions and cakes. The line of thinking about onions and cakes and their layers, and plus it's not a very conventional Justice League title for an 'episode', so I decided to use it.

HawkAngel XD: Glad you enjoyed! Hope you felt the same for this chapter!