Disclaimer: All DC stuff? Not mine.

Legacies

Chapter Five: Hunter and Prey

Vic stared intently at the monitor in front of him, tapping at various keys littered around the control panel below it. Not that Wally would notice; he was staring through the glass into the specially jury-rigged room that Vic had cooked up for Bart. Wally was just thankful that the Titans were away on separate missions; the only two in the tower were Vic and Robin. He didn't want any more attention than necessary. He heard Vic sigh and turned towards him.

"Everything okay?"

Vic nodded. "Yeah – the injuries weren't that bad. And the room seems to be doing its job," he said, gesturing to the room with his thumb.

"How does it work?"

Vic sighed again. "It'd be a bit too complicated to explain, but… it's slowed down his ageing process."

"How much?"

"There's no way to know for sure… but if he stays in that room, he should survive for another two years. That'll give me plenty of time to decipher the data on that disc and find out how you're supposed to…"

"Fix him," Wally finished, looking back through the glass mournfully. Vic placed a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"He'll be okay, man. He'll be even better if you're here when he wakes up."

Wally shook his head, turning and pacing the room. "I can't. I've gotta get out of here."

"Why, man? What happened? Who did this to him?" He paused for a moment, waiting for Wally to respond. "Talk to me."

Wally rubbed the back of his neck. "It would take too long to explain," he said, then looked at the irritated and concerned look on Vic's face. He sighed. "… there's someone out there as fast as me. He's wearing a different version of my costume, and he knows who I am. That's how he got to Bart; it's probably how he got the costume too."

Vic was silent for a moment. "Oh," he said, remaining expressionless for a moment before breaking into a half smile, "is that all?"

Wally couldn't help but laugh despite his situation. Vic walked over to a control panel and began pushing buttons. He looked over at Wally, a confident smirk on his face. "No problem, man. I'll call the other Titans together, and we can-"

"No!" Wally said suddenly, speeding over to Vic and putting a hand on his, stopping the rapid button pushing. Vic looked up at him, an objection ready, but he remained silent. Wally sighed heavily. "Look, I just don't want anyone else getting hurt. You don't know what this guy can do. Hell, I don't even know. He's doing all this… stuff with his powers I've always been too afraid to try. If any of the guys got hurt… or worse, what if one of those kids you're training goes up against him? I…" he paused, looking into his friends eyes, "… I can't let that happen."

Vic pushed a few buttons on the control panel, shutting it down. "All right, man. But if-"

He was cut off by the alarm, the flashing red lights reflecting on Vic's synthetic eye. Vic pushed some buttons on his mechanical arm, bringing up the communications device. The face of Robin appeared on the screen. "Robin, what's goin' on?"

Wally peered over to look at the Boy Wonder that he hadn't had the opportunity to meet, slightly interested in how he compared to Dick, although his main concern remained the source of the alarms. Robin looked at Vic, ignoring Wally's face leaning over next to him. "Proximity alarm; something's coming at us very fast," he said, pushing unseen buttons all over the computer in front of him. Vic nodded.

"All right; stay inside, me and Flash'll take care of it. I want you down here to look after our patient."

Robin nodded. "Gotcha," he said, before pushing a button to cut the communication. His image winked out, and Vic looked up at Wally. Or at least, where Wally had been. Vic growled and ran out of the room, intent on helping his friend whether he liked it or not.

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Wally shot out of the double doors at the base of the tower and looked in every direction he could without breaking his neck. He saw no sign of Zoom and growled in frustration. He cautiously crept out further into the open, looking everywhere he could, desperately trying to fight the fear that was building inside him, trying his utmost to keep his mind on the task at hand. He hoped that Vic wasn't going to try and help him. He couldn't handle being responsible for his death; or anyone else's, for that matter. He felt bad enough about what happened to Klann, and he was a mass murderer. If one of his friends died because of him…

The thought was knocked out of Wally's head as he heard something coming towards him. He saw Zoom barrelling right at him, and he readied himself, deciding to remain on the defensive. An instant before the point of contact, Zoom extended his arm and slammed it into Wally's neck in a vicious clothesline. Wally flew back and saw the ground coming up to meet him. Wally turned in mid air and converted his fall into a roll, landing on the ground and flipping himself up in an instant. He looked up in time to see Zoom coming at him again.

To hell with being on the defensive.

Wally gritted his teeth and shot forward, turning his run into a forward roll, taking him through Zoom's legs and out the other side. Wally skidded and turned, pursuing Zoom. Zoom attempted to come to a halt and turn around, but Wally was already behind him. He threw his fist forward and felt the satisfying crunch as his fist connected with Zoom's chin. Zoom flew backwards through the double doors of the tower, smashing through the glass and skidding across the floor. Wally stood at the entrance, his hands on his hips, the usual Flash grin on his lips.

Zoom growled and gritted his teeth, shooting towards Wally, his fist drawn back. Wally saw the blow coming and ducked to his left. Zoom quickly adapted and grabbed Wally's leg, performing the same trick that Wally had used on him hours before. Wally felt the air being sucked from his lungs once again, although being spun by his leg made the experience all the more unpleasant. Zoom let him go, sending him flying into the water. Wally could do nothing as he felt himself sinking beneath the water at incredible speeds. He gradually slowed and took stock of how deep underwater he was, and how far away from the Tower he had been thrown. He began swimming, and only hoped that Zoom would wait for him to get back on land.

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Hunter stepped out of the tower, ignoring the crunching of the glass beneath his feet. He looked at the huge wave that had been caused by his high speed throw and smiled slightly. He prepared himself to go in after him when a blue column of energy descended from above him, exploding in front of him and sending him flying back into the tower.

"BOOYA!"

Hunter heard a distinct thud in front of him as the Titan known as Cyborg landed in front of him, standing in the entrance with his sonic cannon aimed at him.

"Now what makes ya'll think you can kill him? You haven't even gotten through me yet!" he said in the tiresome tone of voice that Hunter had come to associate with Wally's pathetic wisecracks.

Hunter stood and found that there was blood coming from his nose, and realised that the explosion must have done it. Hunter wiped the blood away with his arm and looked at Cyborg, who hadn't moved. Hunter grinned.

"Small threat," he said, and shot towards Cyborg. His eyes widened and he fired, Hunter dodging the blasts every time until he was directly in front of Cyborg. He rammed both fists into the metallic man's chest, sending him stumbling back, sparks flying from his damaged systems. Taking advantage of his being off balance, Hunter brought his arm back and began vibrating it at high speeds. He pushed the blurring hand into Cyborg's sonic cannon, causing it to fall apart, the metal creaking in protest. Cyborg pushed Hunter away with his remaining hand and leapt away from him, nursing the stump where his arm had been.

Hunter ran towards Cyborg and he tried to land a fist on the speedster's head, but he was too slow to be any kind of threat. Hunter ducked the blow easily and swept an arm through Cyborg's legs with superspeed enhanced strength, causing the first leg to shatter and the other to fall from beneath the robotic Titan, sending him onto his back. Hunter stood over his fallen enemy.

"And so you don't interfere again…"

He brought his hand back, vibrating it at the speed that would cause the maximum amount of damage to the brain, and brought his head down on Cyborg's head. Before he could even get close, a red blur slammed into him, sending him flying into the side of the tower, causing an indentation in the wall with a loud crash. Hunter felt slightly dizzy after the sudden blow, and attempted to steady himself, his hatred for Wally West lending speed to his recovery.

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Wally stood over his mangled friend. "Vic?"

"I hope you enjoyed your swim," he said, letting out a grunt of pain as he did so.

"Will you be…?"

Vic nodded, though Wally wasn't sure how he managed it. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Wally nodded and looked up at the quickly recovering Zoom. "I've gotta lead him away from here; I don't want to put you guys in any more danger," he said, standing and cupping his hands around his mouth.

"Hey Zoom!" he yelled. "Betcha can't catch me!" And with that, he sped away. Zoom pushed himself to his feet and silently followed.

Vic sighed and lifted his remaining arm. He pushed a button with his nose and saw Robin's face appear on the screen.

"You might want to get down here and help me out."

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Wally had been gradually leading Zoom back to Central City over the ocean, and smiled when he saw the city on the horizon. It was night; it had taken the better part of the day to get to Jump City and back again. Wally checked behind him to see if Zoom was still following, and was surprised and more than slightly fearful to find that Zoom was catching up to him. Wally had hoped that they were evenly matched, but it seemed that Zoom was slightly faster than he was. Wally wished with all his heart that the Justice League were here to help him, but a part of his mind doubted whether any of them could actually help him. As fast as Zoom was, Wally seemed to be the only one with even a ghost of a chance of beating him. Wally remembered how, in the space of thirty seconds, Zoom managed to dismantle Vic, who was no pushover by any means.

Wally's thoughts were interrupted by the sensation of solid ground beneath his feet. Wally temporarily lost his footing, and that was all that Zoom needed to catch up. He jumped and landed a kick to Wally's shin, tripping him and sending him skidding to the ground. Wally used his arms to push himself off the ground in mid-skid, landing on his feet to find that he was in Central City Park. He looked over and saw Zoom stood next to the bench that he and Bart had sat on and eaten hot dogs just a few hours before. His arms were crossed and a sick grin was wrinkled across his face.

"Not used to being the slow one, West?"

Wally stood, preparing himself for another attack. "Who are you?"

Zoom tilted his head. "Don't you know?" he asked, the smirk on his face growing. "I told your boy before I beat him senseless."

Wally clenched his teeth and charged towards Zoom. He sidestepped and grabbed Wally's arm, throwing him over his shoulder and onto the grass. Wally quickly stood, attempting to control his anger, remembering something Batman had told him about thinking before acting. He stopped and allowed himself to process what Zoom had said, and shook his head in disbelief.

"Hunter… why?"

"Because you need to learn-" Zoom's head twitched slightly before continuing, "-you need to die!"

Wally prepared himself for an attack, but none came. He raised an eyebrow as he saw Zoom clutching his head for a moment before becoming normal again. He seemed to be confused as to what his intentions towards Wally were, and Wally decided to play on that.

"Well Hunter? Which is it? Learn or die?"

Hunter clenched his teeth. "Don't… you… DARE!" he said, charging towards Wally with such rage and speed that Wally had no chance to move. Hunter rammed his shoulder into Wally's chest, following the blow with hundreds of super speed powered punches. Wally attempted to deflect the blows, but only partially succeeded. Hunter finally relented, sending Wally stumbling back in pain. He looked up through bleary eyes to see Hunter coming at him again, his fist drawn back, ready to strike. Wally gritted his teeth and ducked the blow, and Hunter quickly brought his knee up into Wally's face. Wally tasted blood in his mouth as he fell onto his back.

He attempted to turn over and push himself up, but Hunter was already on him, his boot pushing down on his chest, slowly squeezing the breath out of his lungs. Hunter knelt, the pressure from his boot increasing on Wally's chest.

"I wanted you to feel this, Wally. So you could know… truly know what happened to me."

Wally tried to respond, but was silenced as Hunter's fists pounded on his face and body over and over again, moving at superspeed to the point where Wally couldn't tell the difference between one blow and the next. Wally heard booming noises all around him, and it took a moment for him to place them; they were Hunter's fists breaking the sound barrier. Suddenly, the pain stopped, and Wally felt numb. He looked around to see Hunter stood above him. Wally tried to get away from him, the only movement he could manage being a slithering roll. Hunter appeared in front of him and landed a vicious drop kick to his stomach.

Wally coughed blood and moaned in agony, trying to say something to get his former friend to stop. Then, as though he were never there, Hunter was gone. Wally looked around the park and felt relief wash over him as he realised that he was gone. Wally tried to move and was rewarded with blinding pain. He tried to stand, and was again rewarded with the same agony. He slithered himself along the ground, heading for the one place he knew that Hunter could never find him.

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Ashley Zolomon sat in the kitchen, staring straight ahead, the cup of coffee sat in front of her having long since gone cold. She had seen the news reports and had instantly known who this Reverse Flash was. It could have been anyone else, especially since Hunter had been stabbed in the back the day before. But besides the evidence indicating it wasn't him, Ashley simply recognised her husband, no matter how estranged they were. When she had heard the news of his injury at the hands of that serial killer she had intended to go and visit him and reconcile. She was getting ready to go when she saw the news reports of the Flash fighting someone the media had dubbed 'The Reverse Flash' because of his costume design.

After she saw that news report she had simply sat in her friend's apartment, thankful that she was away working. She had picked up the phone a few times, but had quickly put it down again after she realised that she had no-one to call; only Wally, and he was most likely out. Ashley had always been confused as to where Wally disappeared to all the time. In fact, Ashley had spent most of her time trying to keep her mind off 'The Reverse Flash' by thinking about what the goofy clown that was Wally West got up to.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a thumping at the door. Not a knocking, more a kind of strange thumping. She stood and went to the door and paused at the doorknob.

What if it's Hunter?

She heard a muffled voice from the other side of the door that was most definitely not Hunter's.

"Ashley… let me in…"

She looked through the small spy hole in the door and could see no-one in the corridor. She cautiously opened the door, not untying the latch just yet. She looked down and gasped. Knelt at the door was a severely beaten and bruised Flash. She quickly closed the door and untied the latch, slamming the door open and grabbing the injured superhero. She lifted him up and put his arm around her shoulders, attempting to share his weight while she struggled to get him over to the couch. Once he was there, he smiled in relief.

"Why… uh… why are you here? I mean… why did you come here? How did you know my name?"

The Scarlet Speedster paused for a moment, as if attempting to process the questions with an already groggy brain. He lifted his hand and pulled back his mask, hissing through his teeth as it pulled on the bruises on his face. Ashley put her hand over her mouth in shock.

"Oh my God… Wally?"

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"So… you knew it was Hunter?" Wally asked, his mind much clearer once he had had something to eat.

Ashley nodded. "Yes, straight away. Are you sure you're okay? I think you should lie down; you haven't had enough time to heal yet."

Wally shook his head and sipped at the coffee he held in his hand, clutching onto it as if it was his only source of warmth. It felt good to be able to sit without his mask on, especially while the bruises painted his face. "No need. I'm a pretty fast healer." He grinned. "It's a speedster perk."

Ashley gave him a wry smile before her face became serious. "What are you… going to do about Hunter?"

Wally's smile also faded, and he sighed, leaning back in the couch, looking up at the ceiling. "I don't know… I guess I'll have to bring him in," Wally said, scratching his face. He recoiled from the pain. "If I can," he added with a grimace, gently touching the bruises.

Ashley looked ready to say something else when a knock came on the door. Wally quickly put his mask on his face and walked cautiously over to the door, standing next to it so Ashley could open it and the visitor could not see him. She walked over to the spy hole and looked through. A puzzled look crossed her face and she looked at Wally.

"It's a man in a wheelchair," she whispered.

Wally raised an eyebrow. "Um… see what he wants then, I guess," he whispered back.

She cautiously opened the door and Wally pushed his ear to it, trying to hear the conversation as best he could while still being quiet. "Yes?"

"Hello, young lady. I was hoping to find the young man who's been going by my name recently."

"Well, I… um…"

"You can come out, junior. It's not like I can pose a threat, is it?"

Wally took a deep breath and considered. There wasn't much of a possibility that this could be a trick by one of his enemies, and there was nothing to indicate that he was Wally West by his being here...

Why not?

Wally sighed and walked out from behind the door, nodding at Ashley to step aside. He looked at the man in the wheelchair and momentarily thought he recognised him. He seemed to be in his fifties, judging by the grey hair around his temples and brown hair everywhere else. Wally tried not to look at his missing left leg and looked directly at the man. His eyes had a kindliness to them that Wally couldn't help but trust implicitly. He had a package wrapped up on his lap that looked like a bowl, but Wally put it aside. He couldn't see how a bowl shape could hurt him. The man smiled when he saw Wally.

"Ah, there you are. I thought I tracked your speed trail here."

Speed trail?

"My what?" Wally asked, his eyes thinning slightly, not understanding what he meant. The man waved a hand dismissively.

"Never mind; you're obviously not there yet. All in good time. Anyway, good to meet you," he said, extending his hand.

Wally cautiously extended his own hand and grasped the man's. "Good to meet you too, I guess. I'm the Flash."

The man smiled good-naturedly. "I know very well who you are, young man; I came up with the name, after all."

Wally was getting more confused by the minute. "Well, anyway… nice to meet you, Mr…?"

The man shook his head. "I'm sorry, where are my manners?" he unwrapped the package on his lap, revealing a gleaming silver helmet with yellow wings on either side, mirroring the way that the lightning bolts on Wally's mask were on either side. His eyes widened as the man passed it to him.

"Look familiar?" he said, a gleam in his eye.

Wally examined the helmet as gently as he would a newborn child. He looked up at the man in the wheelchair, almost breathless. "This is… that means that you're…"

The man nodded quietly. Wally looked at him, amazed. Just… looked at him. Ashley looked from the man to Wally, and then back to the man again. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand what this helmet means. Who are you?"

The man smiled and looked at Wally, who was still staring.

"My name is Jay Garrick. And I'm here to help."

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(A/N: You guys 'n' gals hate? You guys 'n' gals love? Review, dammit!)