It's all that you can do
I don't own anything used herein or Be Yourself, by Audioslave
Author: Dimitri Aidan
Fandom: Jl:U/TT/Smallville/DC Comics in general
Rating: PG-13/R ish
Series: None
Notes: Uh. It killed 'LtG'. But I'll be back to that eventually…
Summery: Flash's powers have begun to consume him and Clark only knows one person with the ability to help. But that help won't come cheap and not everyone thinks it's a good idea.
Quote: "Tell me Clark, when did you decide to give up on me?"
He smiled wryly. "If I had given up I wouldn't be here."
Pairings: John/Wally, Clark/Lex (Smallville rots the brain), Bruce/J'onn (I guess…). And assorted straight pairings…
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Part Zero
World on Fire
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Wally West didn't get sick. It was just…not possible. Something about viruses just not being able to compete with his super-charged immune system. He was never really focused beyond 'not getting sick'. And, more than that, he'd been fast since he was…a lot younger. He'd been Kid Flash and now he was Flash and he saved people and…stuff like that. He was a hero.
He'd never really tried to be anything else.
Well…he had other stuff going for him, of course. But he'd never really thought he'd be anything but Flash and so he had never been inclined to take any of it seriously.
So now, as J'onn and Bruce frowned at his blood work like it was some kind of puzzle to figure out, he had to admit he wished he'd been more serious. John was sitting in the chair next to him, his hand over Wally's and pretty much dwarfing it in size. The IV in his arm was dripping steadily and it burned in a strange not exactly painful way and every now and then something would beep and John's hand would shift but never leave his own.
This was strangely terrifying. He'd never been afraid of being sick or thought that he'd be knocked flat on his ass by anything, let alone something working inside of him. The fear of death had lingered in the back of his mind for a while now, but he'd always expected something…big. Befitting of a hero of his station, or at least he station he imagined for himself.
Now he wondered if maybe the most unexpected thing would be that something that killed him.
It had started two months ago. One minute he'd been chasing energy-weapon wielding soldiers down a dirt road in some hole in the wall country and the next he was on the ground, throwing up until his stomach was empty, throat raw, and every League member within a five mile radius aware of the fact he wasn't okay. Lantern had come to collect him and he'd brushed off the man's concern like it was nothing.
Now he wished he hadn't Wished he'd let John make him go to the medical wing and get himself checked out, maybe detected whatever the hell was going on with him. Maybe he could have spared himself a month of pain and close calls because he found himself gasping for air he couldn't get.
Wally was sick.
Very sick.
So sick that Batman and J'onn were exchanging looks that could only be described as worried. If J'onn and Bruce were worried it had to be bad. He groaned and slumped back on the cot he was sitting on. John's hand squeezed his and he wished he could say it made him feel better. But it didn't.
"We believe we may have an idea of what is causing your illness." J'onn's voice was strangely soothing and Wally couldn't help but wonder, almost distractedly, if J'onn was influencing his emotions somewhat.
"What is it?" John's voice was rough and thick, but nonetheless in command.
"Wally's ability has…caused his body to try and destroy itself. His speed is causing his body to almost…burn itself out, aging prematurely in a sense."
Wally blinked and looked up at John, who was frowning hard. "What do you mean? I thought you said it was probably the flu."
"The aging is internal mostly, primarily the heart. It's beating so fast that it's wearing down." Bruce sounded very…strained. Strained for Bruce anyway. "His body is trying to fight this wearing down as if he were sick, which is the cause for the fever and chills and other symptoms, but, because the 'illness' is essentially a part of him, it's destroying him. If Wally continues to use his ability his body will simply give out."
John's eyes narrowed for a moment, like he was seriously contemplating removing Bruce's heads from his shoulders before he sighed and looked down at Wally. He arced his eyebrow as if asking a silent question and Wally, being Wally, did his best to deflect from the fact he was about to be sick.
"I bet you're disappointed this pre-mature aging thing doesn't impact my maturity any."
John's lips twitched. "It's tragic. So, Bruce, how do we fix this?"
"We…don't. I don't fully understand how he became the Flash instead of suffering some kind of damage, how his body has survived so long without suffering adverse effects, or anything about the Speed Force." Bruce sounded even more strained, and almost regretful. "I can try and figure something out but the most effective thing would be for Wally to stop being Flash."
Wally just blinked again. Stop being Flash.
He couldn't stop.
He didn't know how to be anything else.
And he was still going to be sick.
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…I like screwing with Wally, stop looking at me like that. I figure, since 'LtG' is stalled, I'm not breaking my 'no more stories' rule just yet.