The Future is X Rated

It's not 'Once and Future Thing' so the ages and timeline are of my own construction (IE: I just did whatever was convenient.) 'OaFT' was a little weird in that Static was around 60/70 to Terry's late teens-early twenties but in 'Future Shock' he was maybe late forties and then there's War Hawk. He looked around thirty which means John (who is at the very least forty 'now') had a son when he was around sixty and while that's possible it struck me as odd. Beyond that I didn't want Rex to be a lot older than Wally was; he'll have enough of a complex as is.

So I decided this would be set 35 years after Wally is put into stasis. War Hawk is 25, so he was born 10 years after Wally was put on ice, Bruce is early eighties, Static and Gear are early fifties. (In a general sense I doubt V and Rich were much younger than Wally, who would be 59, so I'd say 52/53) And, while this has nothing to do with anything, Terry is 21. Superman is sixty-something but he's Kryptonian so it doesn't matter.

0000000000000000000

Chapter Two

The Future Sucks Ball

00000000000000000000

"That went well." Virgil said with an almost cheerful grin. Rex didn't smile back, too busy pretending he didn't notice the way Bruce was glaring at him. He arched an eyebrow at the older man, deciding it best to just deny he'd potentially done something wrong.

Bruce was about as far form amused as Rex had ever seen him. And, as Rex had been privy to all of Bruce's moods, though some would imply they were just variations of the same mood, he was pretty sure he would know better than most.

"Was that necessary?" Bruce asked finally.

Rex shrugged, glancing over at Virgil and Richie for help. "He needed to know. Drawing out the knowledge or hiding it wouldn't help anything. Prolonging the pain in such a stressful situation could make him withdraw-"

Bruce interrupted him with a sigh. "I knew letting you take psychology was a bad idea. I preferred it when you went for violence over analyzing."

"You don't mean that." Richie said with an amused grin. "Besides, Rex is right. There is no point in making things worse by letting him hope for things that aren't going to happen."

Terry snorted from the doorway. "It's not like Rex got to why you woke up him up. Relax old man; if he's really worth all of this trouble he'll be fine."

"Go patrol something." Bruce snapped. Terry looked startled for a moment then rolled his eyes and nodded. He slid out of sight.

"Bruce-" Virgil started but Bruce silenced him with a sharp glance. Rex however wasn't so easily cowed. He knew Bruce too well.

"I think you're-"

"Go with him Rex."

Rex blinked then shook his head. He was, at this point, too old to send out of the room so the adults could talk and Bruce had taken to sending him on patrol instead. When his parents had died he'd moved in with Richie and Virgil, as his father hadn't had any family worth mentioning and his mother was still very much in exile, and they along with Bruce had pretty much raised him. He thought, at times, that Bruce (well all of them, but mostly Bruce) had problems accepting that he wasn't a little kid anymore.

Let him run around and beat the tar out of criminals sure, but treat him like an equal when it came to 'League business'? Never. Especially not after what had gone down with Superman. You almost get killed and let a slightly insane alien take over and everyone jumps all over your case.

Like they had never screwed up.

He headed into the Batcave to let Terry know he'd have company and descended the stairs just as the younger man was about to pull the mask on. Rex shook his head, just slightly disappointed. Terry could be a pain in the ass when he wanted to be, but he was eye candy.

…In Rex's defense he didn't date much. It was hard to bring home guys to billionaire Bruce Wayne, genius inventor and scientist Richard Hawkins, or Doctor Virgil Hawkins. Apparently they were intimidating. Rex didn't get it.

Terry smirked at him, blue eyes holding a trace of amusement. "Did they kick you out again?"

"Shut up."

"That's real mature Rex." Terry said mockingly. He pulled his cowl up but Rex knew, just knew, that he was smirking underneath it. "What would the media say if they knew Warhawk, the great stoic hero, went around telling people to shut up?"

"You're a really easy guy to dislike."

Terry laughed. "Which is why you keep looking at my ass."

Rex coughed then looked to the side. "It's a real shame your brain serves no purpose beyond giving shape to your skull."

"You wound me Rex, deeply."

"Don't tempt me." He muttered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It wasn't that Rex didn't like Terry, he reflected later as he unlocked to door to the house, it was just that he tended to be a bit of a whiney pain in the ass. It in no way reflected upon Rex. Or at least that's what he told himself.

Case in point Terry was muttering something about his girlfriend (who Rex thought, on a personal level, was just slightly annoying) and how she was going to be pissed he was bailing on another date. Rex didn't care. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been inclined to go out on a date, but he was pretty sure it'd been before he became Warhawk.

He'd never been a 'social' person. He blamed it on severe childhood trauma.

It worked for Bruce, why not for him?

That aside, Rex was about ready to crush Terry's skull. And he could do it to, with little to no effort. Bruce would probably be a little pissed off though. He was strangely fond of Terry…Virgil and Richie too. Maybe killing him wouldn't be the best idea.

Still, there had to be something he could do.

"I haven't seen you look this serious since you tried to beat Dad at chess." Rex jerked at the unexpected, but familiar voice. He hadn't thought anyone would be here for…a while. He turned into the living room, which he'd been walking past, and regarded his 'cousins'.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. Richie kicked your ass in four moves."

"Sparky!" Terry sounded a good deal less annoyed as he pushed past Rex. "Glad you're here. Rex was starting to get kind of boring."

"How many times have I told you not to call me Sparky?"

"…A few?"

There was the heavy silence, flavored by flickering lights, Rex had come to associate with annoyance fueled electricity interfering with the wiring of the house. He was sure one day Terry was sure to find himself electrocuted for getting on the other's nerves.

Bobbie (1) was one of Virgil's twins. She took after her father in that she talked too much, made bad jokes, and could take out a whole city block if she was so inclined. She didn't like being called Sparky, which was most likely why Terry insisted on taunting her. Rex had a theory on the whole thing but on the grounds he didn't want Bobbie's brothers trying to strangle him anytime soon, he mostly kept his mouth shut.

When Bobbie worked up to threatening to remove certain important parts of Terry's anatomy (assuming he planned to reproduce) he pretty much gave up this argument as another lost cause. On their own they were perfectly mature, but together…chaos ensued.

"Where's your brother?" Rex asked, preparing to just tune those two out for the time being.

"Dakota. Daisy needed help around the house and Bobbie wasn't interested so Aaron (2) stayed instead." Mikhail (3) said while standing up. He stretched some then motioned for Rex to follow him. With one last glance at Terry and Bobbie, who looked about ready to pounce, he trailed the blond into the kitchen.

Mikhail was, most likely, his best friend. He'd been a big…part of his eventually becoming adjusted to life without his parents. Of course he'd been all of four at the time, but it was the idea of it that mattered.

"I hear the ice-man is awake." Mikhail said as he made a beeline for the refrigerator. "Dad left a message on our phones."

Rex nodded while falling into a chair. "He is. Or he was. When I left he was unconscious; I think the…situation sent his body into shock and it made him shut down." Mikhail made a noise that Rex was willing to interpret as agreement. "Then we got kicked out so the 'grownups could speak.'"

"Again?" Mikhail placed a bottle of juice in front of him while arching an eyebrow. "You'd think they'd let you stay around. You've been watching over him more than anyone the past few months."

Rex shrugged. "You're the only person whose noticed."

The blond was silent for a moment then sighed and sat back in his chair. "Do you think he'll be any help?"

"I don't see how he can help when we don't know what we're up against." Rex said frowning. "Other than the psychic Lex Luthor hired to affect his mind and the woman who headed the Cadmus project being murdered we have nothing. And even that's not really 'something', it could just be a coincidence."

He added that as an after thought, though he didn't really believe it. Coincidences were something he'd been taught to never take at face vale because all things occurred for a reason and were interconnected in some way. The less obvious the connection the more sinister it was likely to be. Some would have called that being a little overly cautious, bordering on obsession.

Rex liked to think of it as perfectly honed and maintained paranoia.

"I heard Dad and Pops talking-"

"They think Kal El is around and up to something." He finished, shaking his head. He'd worked with Superman, though not for long, when the man had tried to reform the League. Bruce had warned his against it, claiming that Superman had more or less lost his mind after Flash had been poisoned and completely lost it after the original Watch Tower was destroyed but…Rex had thought maybe that wasn't the case.

And even if it was, being crazy didn't disqualify you from doing what was right.

Besides, on a more selfish note, Rex didn't have a lot of his parents; they'd just…died one day when he was nine and everyday his memory grew fuzzier and no one around him could talk about them. He'd thought that Superman might have been different. The whims of a foolish teenager…that was how he explained it now anyway.

In the end Superman had been very different but not in a positive way, to say the least of the matter. He'd pretty much fallen off of the radar after what had happened with Terry and the League had all gone their separate ways. Warhawk kept in contact with Aquagirl and Green Lantern, to a certain degree, but he was mostly focused on Gotham which was pretty much hell on earth these days. Between the gangs, radioactive company owners, and just in general crazies it wasn't the best place to live.

Not that any place was really a 'good' place anymore.

When it came to protecting the people from the 'not so normal' criminals the government tended to fail and most people with any ability to protect hid from the world. Rex couldn't blame them; after what had happened to the original League if he hadn't grown up fully expecting to be this he'd probably be making at attempt at normalcy as well. Still, not being able to blame them didn't do much for the state of the world.

Every psycho and their mother was trying to make a name for themselves by becoming rich or taking something over or just killing a lot of people and, for some strange reason, they tended to flock to Gotham. Probably because there was nothing better to add to your resume then taking out one of the few heroes left, in the form of Batman.

So this was where they stayed, figuring it was where they could do the most good. Rex was never sure if it did any good in the long run or if it was as futile as trying to hold back a wave with a glass, but it was something he had to do.

In the blood perhaps.

"Yeah. What do you think?"

"Nothing." Rex looked down at his bottle, considering the dark purple liquid inside. "We'll know when we know. Either way if Bruce's theory of whoever this is potentially wanting to come after Flash holds true it's better to have him able to defend himself the frozen solid."

Mikhail nodded, gray eyes thoughtful. "Can't argue that."

"Of course not." Rex smirked slightly. "My logic is flawless, as always."

Mikhail coughed into his hand before looking at a point over Rex's shoulder. "…So why're you back so early? It's barely nine."

"Things were quiet. Not even the Jokers were out tonight. Other than smacking a stupid thug trying to steal some woman's purse I just sat around for an hour."

To anyone else not having anything worse than a purse snatching was a blessing but it only meant one thing to them: Someone was planning something that was sure to leave them sore and bruised. Mikhail made a face.

"Lovely." The sarcasm was thick in his voice. "Do you think Dad and Pops will be back tonight? I need them to look at something-"

"I wouldn't count on it. With all the 'tests' they're sure to run on Flash I'd be surprised to see either of them at all this week." Mikhail snorted.

"Can you believe Pops once tried to tell me he used to slack off on almost everything he did?"

Rex laughed and shook his head. "Virgil? Slack? He gives new meaning to the term workaholic. I can help you out, if you want it."

"Not unless you have a super brain or a knack for science." Mikhail shrugged dismissively. "It was just that the biology final is coming up and it happens that my professor is the Spawn of Satan and has some sort of personal grudge against me and despite the fact I could kick his ass in a battle of the minds he insists of giving me a low C."

All of this was said in a rush and when he was done Mikhail sat back in his chair while letting out an annoyed breath. Rex quirked an eyebrow in amusement.

"How long have you been waiting to get that off your chest?"

"The entire semester."

"Mm." Rex smiled then inclined his head towards the stairs that led upstairs. "I can help out. I did okay when I took it. Better than a low C anyway."

"You sure? Trains stop running at ten."

Rex nodded while pushing his chair back. He had a place on the other side of town, complete with three very nosy roommates, and if he were forced to decide he'd choose the house over it any day. It was more to pretend he was 'independent' than to actually live in.

While he liked the people he shared an apartment with it wasn't the same as here, with Virgil and Richie and the 'cousins' always around. They were his family and he wanted to be close to them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

His name was Doug Hoffman. In this day and age he wasn't anything or anyone important or worthy of a second glance; just another old cranky man who yelled at anyone under the age of forty who dared to speak to him. However, when he himself was one of those people, with youth and a body not plagued by pain, he'd been a scientist.

To be fair even then he hadn't been that important, more of a secondary man just slightly above a Tech on the totem pole.

That didn't mean he was free of blame though.

So he had to die. It was a perfectly logical course of action in this case. He'd been involved like the others and everyone who was involved had to die.

The old man bled a lot before he finally just died, making quite the mess of the sheets and the carpet as he tried to struggle out of the bedroom and to what he was foolish enough to think was safety. It brought a quote to mind.

"Who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him?" (4) The words echoed off of the walls, bouncing back and forth in the darkness until finally it faded way completely.

He turned to leave, shoes sinking into the carpet with a soft wet squish while digging into his pocket for his list. He had one more person to visit in Metropolis before he could go back to Gotham and see how his favorite heroes were faring.

All of the players were gathered and it was almost a matter of time before they could all come face to face and he could show them what he had accomplished. With all of them gone things would be better like they had been before.

He was going to fix everything. Wipe the slate totally clean.

He heard the woman's gasp before he saw her. She was the man's wife…widow, to be factual. She was staring at him, blue eyes wide and startled. He tilted his head off to the side then looked down at his hands, which were stained in sticky red.

He looked back at her then, with a lopsided smile, lurched forward and snapped her neck in one fluid motion. Her body slumped to the ground; eyes still open and staring like a broken doll. He stepped over her and continued his trek to the outside of the house.

He was going to start everything over and to do that he had to get rid of everyone.

On both sides of the fight.

00000000000000000000

1) Bobbie Hawkins: She's named after Virgil's father, Robert. She's twenty and the voices in my head inform me she's probably the only person besides Terry with an actual sense of humor.

2) Aaron Hawkins: I just liked that name… Also twenty and by far the sanest person in the entire story. Thus not being a spandex wearing world saver.

3) Mikhail Foley-Hawkins: Nineteen, adopted by Richie and Virgil 15 years prior, about the time they adopted Rex. I have a whole long story about his heritage but I'm not in the mood to explain it right now. Author whims…

4) As said by Lady MacBeth in MacBeth…I think. I haven't read the play in a while.

Saturn: I already went over the timeline, since you did make me stop and think about it. (Shame on you, making me think…) I always figured Bruce was the oldest person (Diana, J'onn, and maybe Shayera aside) and since I figure John was about 40 (he spent 15 or 20 years in space with the GL Corp before joining the JL after all) I always put him around 45. And…well, Rex was white. If you were Wally you would have wondered about it too…

Lotus: Oh yeah! Walking Dead. It's about time for another chapter of that isn't it… I'm glad you like the stories so much, since I know I like writing them and all. These are without a doubt my favorite non-anime series as well, so combining them should be fun.

Cherre: Everything I do is strange m'dear, it's what I live for. Besides, I do it oh-so-well, don't I?

Lady Aku: I torture Wally because I love him. Wally has a lot of questions for Rex, both of the serious and the 'purely Wally' nature. And, like I've said before, it's never a matter of 'will I update' so much as 'what will I update'. I like keeping you guys on your toes.

Steph: I think Wally would disagree about the good thing…

TP96: Actually I think it was more of a 'thud' than a 'bang' you know?

HAP: Oh yeah, Rumors! I need to do another chapter of that too. I need to get back on a schedule… 'In theory' are of course the keywords. I've already had two ideas that I gave to other people to write so I wouldn't do them myself…

Batman's Lady: Clark and Bruce? …see, now, my morals are nearly non-existant and I'll write anything…except Clark and Bruce. (Okay, I won't write Clark/anyone except Lois, Lex, or Chloe…) Mainly because Superman annoys the shit out of me. No offense or anything…it's just not for me.

Mechante: I didn't want you crying, honest! I did want you feeling Wally's pain though and apparently I did an okay job. Still, cheer up, as you mentioned this is the future. Possibilities for Wally, once he's less broody, are limitless. More or less anyway. And loopholes…me? I would never…

Alba: The Question and J'onn are two of my favorite as well; Question is so uniquely paranoid and J'onn is just…J'onn. But, to be fair, I did kill off John and Shayera and they rank second and third on my list, so anyone could be dead…we shall soon see. I think Wally in the Beyond timeline is going to be…yes, amusing. Especially with Terry, who seems to doubt him already.

Candylyn: Uhhh…well I'm not grown up yet, so I guess you could be me, if you beat me there or something. Rex was a hottie…or, at least, you and I thought so. lol I'll be sure to thank Losha. He'll be glad to know he'd good for something.

Navis: Sick and evil are all relative you know...

And thanks to Taichi Prime and Moonjava. Reviews make my little world go round so…give me more? Please?