Disclaimer: I don't own Justice League Unlimited.

Rest and Relaxation

Chapter Two: Shooting the Breeze

John looked over the room at the shock of unruly brown hair sat at the couch. Bart flicked through the channels so quickly, John wondered if the teenager could even see was on. At least when Wally did it, it made sense; the red headed speedster could read an entire magazine while making it seem like he was just casually flicking through it. The Green Lantern had always wondered how exactly Wally wasn't some kind of genius by now, at the rate he took in information.

As he sat in the kitchen area, he hoped that Bart wouldn't start talking to him again as he had when he arrived the day previous. Although he didn't have a huge problem with kids, it wasn't something he particularly enjoyed; ironically, his young immaturity was one of the things that had ticked him off most about hanging around with Wally. Something else that bothered him was that Bart was unaware that his older cousin was the Flash, and so John's presence at Wally's apartment would be questioned if Bart recognised him. It was times like those that John wished he had bothered with the whole secret identity thing like Kyle Rayner had told him.

Thankfully, Bart wasn't such a big fan of the Green Lantern; he was more of a Batman fan, which, much to John's amusement, annoyed Wally to no end. The scarlet speedster would constantly drop hints to Bart about how cool the Flash was, and that Bart might see him during his stay. But Bart held steadfast and merely said that he would rather go to Gotham and see Batman. John had unfortunately been eating some Doritos at the time, and his sudden burst of laughter had almost resulted in Wally giving him a superspeed Heimlich manoeuvre.

But in the end, it hadn't been too bad. Sure, it hadn't been the relaxing trip he was expecting (at least so far), but Bart was nowhere near as bad as John guessed Wally was at his age. John frowned. Exactly what kind of relaxing time was he expecting at Wally's place, of all people? If anything, his stay was pretty much guaranteed to cause him more stress than League work. But even he had to admit that he hadn't thought about anything Hawk related for his entire stay. He looked over at Bart again, and sighed.

Suppose I'd better say something.

"So, Bart," John began, hoping to break the relative silence between them. "What brings you to Central City?"

Bart shrugged. "My parents are away from home for a few days, so they sent me here."

"And where's home?"

"Keystone."

John nodded. "Right, right…"

Bart turned on the sofa to face John. "So, how do you know Wally?"

"I'm a… friend."

"Oh, a friend, huh? Is that like, code for gay partner?"

John scowled. "No."

Bart smirked. "You sure?"

"Yes."

"So you're not gay?"

"No."

Bart looked at him for a few seconds more before his smirk deepened and he turned back to the TV.

"Right."

John glowered at the back of the teen's head. Obviously, they were going to get along well.

The door to the apartment swung open, and Wally stepped through with several paper bags full of groceries strategically placed around his upper body. At least, John assumed it was Wally; his face was blocked by a paper bag that seemed to be full of various snacks and candy.

"A little help here," Wally's voice whimpered through the bags. The slightly muffled voice almost made John laugh by itself. He made his way over and helped the speedster unload the groceries into the kitchen. As Wally put some canned goods in an overhead cupboard, he turned slightly to see Bart out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey, Bart?"

The only reply was an affirmative grunt.

"I was thinking I'd show you where your dad used to work today. You interested?"

The same grunt came in reply. Wally grinned and moved over to the fridge with another bag.

"Great."

John looked over at the speedster sceptically. All he could see was the back of his head as Wally unloaded the various yoghurts and desserts into the fridge.

"Where his dad used to work?"

Wally nodded, his red hair shaking slightly with his head. "Yeah – Central City Police Department. He was a police scientist," he elaborated, standing up to face the Green Lantern, closing the fridge door with his behind.

Shaking his head, John closed his eyes and covered them with his hand. Wally lifted his hands defensively.

"What? It's a patented fridge-door-closing technique." Ignoring John's sceptical look, he turned once again to Bart. "Hey Bart. We'll have some lunch first then go over there, okay?"

Once again, Bart's only response was a monosyllabic grunt. Nodding in approval, Wally looked over at John and gave him a wink before turning to get lunch ready.

"So, are you going to come too?" Wally asked, completely focused on his work of making some abomination of a sandwich.

"Do I have a choice?"

The speedster paused to consider this for a moment. "Nah. But hey," he said, snapping his fingers and pointing them at John, "I'll show you guys where I work too."

John cocked an eyebrow. "You're a police scientist?"

Wally let out a snort of laughter. "Yeah, right." He continued to laugh as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Police scientist…" he said, shaking his head.

"Then what?"

"I'm a mechanic for the Central City PD. Although I'm hoping to work my way up to lab assistant. I've been given some good word by Uncle Barry, but I guess that only goes so far."

"Uncle Barry? Is that the guy whose lab we're going to?"

Wally nodded as he finished up one sandwich and moved on to another. John could see the frustration on his face as he went deliberately slowly for Bart's sake. If it were just Leaguers here, Wally would have been done quite a while ago.

"It's the place where-" Wally stopped himself, glancing over at Bart, "-where my life sped up," he said, nodding slowly at John suggestively.

John nodded. "So I'm guessing Barry helped you out a lot after that?"

"Oh, yeah. He taught me how to use… uh, my skills," he said, nodding with satisfaction at the cover story.

Finished with the second sandwich, he moved on to the third. John looked down at the pitiful display before him, Wally having a pained look on face from moving his hands so slowly. Shaking his head, John came forward.

"Oh, for- let me do that."

An offended look crossed the speedster's face. "I can do it."

"Yeah, in a few years time."

"Look, I can do it, all right?"

"I'm just saying that you seem to be having trouble."

"Well I'm not."

"Yes, you are. Look at that. The bread is supposed to have some kind of shape after you've cut it."

"That's… artistic preference."

"Artistic-? Wally, it's a sandwich, not art!"

"Potato, Potahto... doesn't matter, it's fine."

"It's not fine; I want my sandwich square, dammit!"

"Oh, hang on; just let me get my military issue sandwich shaper. Oh… that's right; I don't have one! Just chill out. Geez, I don't know how Vixen-" Wally stopped himself short before he said something that would not only cause a nasty response from John, but also help Bart figure out that Wally's good buddy was also the Green Lantern. Panicking, he tried his best to cover.

"Uh… those… Vixen-like women you hang around with… uh… deal with you... yeah."

Bart, now looking at the bickering pair over his shoulder from the couch, merely shot them a suspicious look before turning back to the TV. Wally breathed a sigh of relief and got back to his sandwich making, sticking his tongue out in concentration. A quick glance at John revealed a very ticked John Stewart glaring at him with his arms crossed.

Wally just ignored him. A heavy hand slammed onto the counter top, and the speedster looked up at him innocently.

"I… am making… the sandwich," John growled.

There was a silence between the two as they stared at one another, John glaring at him while Wally tried his best puppy dog look.

The Fastest Man Alive never stood a chance. Standing up to his full height with a nervous smile on his face, Wally gestured to the counter.

"Y'know what? I think you should make the sandwich."

A few minutes later, and the three were sat around the counter eating lunch, with, John observed with a satisfied smile, perfectly square sandwiches. John briefly wondered how Wally could eat three meals a day off a kitchen counter, but was quickly reminded that his speedster friend ate most of his daily intake constantly throughout the day. He remembered that that was what annoyed him most about the speedster when the League consisted of a mere seven members; the constant chipping away at supplies. It made it seem like Wally wasn't in fact eating much at all, but slowly and surely over the course of the day, there would be less and less food until the fridge was empty.

He also remembered Flash's good natured grin when John had yelled at him not to eat so much.

"Sure thing, GL," he had said.

A day later, the food had disappeared. Shaking his head free of such fond, fond memories, John brought his attention back to the present.

"So," Bart asked between bites, "what are you two lovebirds planning to do when I'm gone?"

Wally scowled and turned towards John. "What have you been telling him?" he whispered fiercely.

"Nothing," John replied, shooting a glare at the smirking Bart.

"How come you care so much Wally?" Bart asked, his mouth full of sandwich.

Wally's eye twitched. "I'm not. I'm just… curious."

"Oh, so you're bi, huh?"

John hid his smirk behind his sandwich as Wally's jaw dropped.

"No I'm not bi! Who told you that?"

"Why? Is it true?"

"No!" he yelled, his voice raising a defensive octave. He smirked. "How come you're so interested, Bart?"

Not missing a trick, Bart just shrugged, swallowing his mouthful of sandwich. "Just thought I'd keep mom and dad updated. They're getting worried about you, you know."

John laughed out loud, and Wally shot him a 'look' before turning to Bart angrily. "They what?"

"Oh yeah. They said you haven't been out with a girl for so long, they're thinking of ordering one of those Thai brides for you."

His face darkening considerably, Wally's voice lowered to a deep growl as he snatched away Bart's sandwich. "No sandwich for you."

Bart shrugged. "Fine. Whoever cut that sandwich must have been mentally deficient or something."

John's smile disappeared and Wally's returned in full force.

"Those were perfectly shaped sandwiches."

Wally nodded. "Oh yeah. He even has an army issue sandwich shaper."

Bart looked over at Wally with a smirk. "Oh, so you like a man in uniform, huh?"

The Fastest Man Alive scowled and snatched Bart's iPod from his baggy pants pocket.

"Hey!"

"You wanna play? Fine. You don't get your music thingy," Wally said, a triumphant grin on his face as he put it in his own pocket. Bart turned away with his arm crossed.

"Just because you're in denial…" he mumbled, and John couldn't help but smile.

He was beginning to like this kid.

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Bart looked over the lab with an unimpressed look on his face. In fact, John couldn't remember if he'd seen Bart with anything other than an unimpressedlook on his face. When he was watching the TV it was with mild interest, the same with eating lunch. The walk through the city to the Central City Police Station hadn't elicited anything from the teen except a few grunts and glances. John was beginning to think that he wasn't related to Wally at all.

Said speedster, meanwhile, was pointing out different parts of the lab to Bart, in the hope that something would interest him. Needless to say, he wasn't having much luck.

"…And that used to be your dad's desk."

Bart nodded, his eyes half closed. "Right. Whose desk is it now?" he asked, adding sarcastic interest to his tone.

Wally didn't notice. "Uh… don't know. But I could find out."

Bart waved a dismissive hand. "Nah, that's okay. I want to save some excitement for the rest of my stay."

Wally noticed that sarcasm.

"Hey, it was your dad's idea to show you this place."

"Yeah, and I thought it was boring."

"Is that right? I'll have you know I found this place amazing when I was a kid!"

"Well that just says a lot about your taste in entertainment, doesn't it?" Bart said dismissively, turning away before Wally could get another word in.

John shook his head with a chuckle, and looked around the lab himself. It wasn't a busy day at the moment, but that could change at any moment with these places, at least according to Wally's Uncle Barry. John stifled a yawn as he looked at the different jars of chemicals and blank computer screens. He was brought from his half-asleep stupor when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning, he saw the grinning face of Wally West.

"Hey," he said, looking excited, "lemme show you something."

John cocked an eyebrow, feeling instantly wary. "Do I want to see this? I mean, do I really want to see this?"

The speedster rolled his eyes. "It's nothing weird, trust me."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm a bit wierded out by what you're implying, but still…"

"I'm not implying anything."

"Sure sounds like it to me."

"Well I'm not."

"Good. Come on then."

"Okay then."

"Good."

"Good." John paused. "What did you think I was implying?"

Wally let out a cry of exasperation. "John, please, just leave it alone! Come on, I really wanna show you this!"

Wally walked over to a window on the other side of the relatively small room, excitedly gesturing for John to join him. Sighing, the Green Lantern made his way over to the anxious Wally. As he crossed the room, he noticed Bart looking at a computer with vague interest, but not enough to warrant an emotion change.

"What is it?" John asked as he reached the grinning Flash.

"Guess where we're standing."

"Um… the police lab?"

Wally rolled his eyes with a groan. "No… come on, think about it. What great thing happened here… that impacted someone you know… that made them… quicker…" he said, adding on clue after clue as John's expression remained blank.

Finally, the Green Lantern nodded. "Oh, so this is where you-"

The red headed speedster nodded excitedly in response, grinning from ear to ear. John cocked his head to the side slightly, noting the dark clouds approaching them from the outside.

"We better head back soon. Looks like it's going to rain," he said, nodding at the window. Wally turned to look at the approaching weather, and then waved his hand dismissively.

"Pffft… we'll be fine."

John just shook his head. Looking around the room, he saw that Bart was still wandering aimlessly.

"So…" he began, turning to face the speedster. "How'd it happen?"

The Fastest Man Alive grinned. "Thought you'd never ask. Well, Uncle Barry brought me up here to show me where he worked, right, and-" he looked to his left and frowned. "Wait, there's supposed to be… ah," he said, spotting something in the distance.

Running at an average human pace, Wally went to the other side of the room and wheeled over some shelving that was packed to the brim with different jars and test tubes of chemicals. Wally pushed them to the side of the window, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Those chemicals were like, right there, and then this lightning bolt came through the window-"

"What're you guys talking about?"

The two turned in surprise to see Bart stood next to them, listening intently to Wally's story. The speedster smiled nervously.

"Uh… I was just… uh…"

Bart pushed past them to look at the different chemicals. Wally held out a cautionary hand.

"Uh, Bart… I wouldn't…"

Bart turned to look at him sceptically. "What? It's not like light-"

Suddenly, a flash of light blinded everyone in the room, and John had to fight the instinct to use his ring to protect himself. He heard a loud crash and a thud.

"Bart!" Wally's voice said, shooting through the blinding light.

Slowly, John's emerald eyes adapted to the white light that had consumed them, and the room came back into focus. As it did, he saw Bart on the floor, covered in shattered glass and multi coloured chemicals. The wind howled through the broken window, the blinds melted beyond recognition. Wally was knelt beside the unconscious boy, checking his vital signs before whizzing out of the room.

A second later, he was back in full Flash costume. John followed suit and used his ring to create the standard Green Lantern Corp uniform around him, before nodding at the speedster next to him. Wally quickly and delicately picked up Bart and shot out of the room, with John in hot pursuit.

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John had seen Wally do many things. He had seen him run up a wall. He had seen him eat five times his body weight in food. But he had never seen him wait. It was a curious thing to observe, and if Bart's condition wasn't still in question, John would have probably been more interested. As it was, he was feeling just as nervous as Wally. The speedster had left and changed back into his civilian clothes once they had dropped off Bart, although John had opted to remain in his Green Lantern uniform. He didn't see much point in continuing the pretence, as long as Bart didn't see.

Wally had a very strange way of waiting. Instead of pacing at super speed, which John half expected to be his reaction, Wally stood almost perfectly still, though a more thorough look at him revealed he was actually vibrating from side to side ever so slightly. John put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and Wally seemed to calm down, at least a little.

"Is this what happened when…?" John asked, cocking a suggestive eyebrow at the nervous speedster.

Wally shrugged slightly. "Kinda. I don't really remember half of it. I remember there being a bright light and then having this seriously weird dream… and then I was awake in a hospital bed, watching the clock tick by really slowly."

"Will you know if it's the same thing?"

"I don't know. It took Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris a few days to realise what had happened to me, but… I think I should be able to spot it if it is… that thing."

John looked over at the double doors leading to the corridor. "And… if it is? What then?"

The Fastest Man Alive let out the slowest sigh in the world before responding. "I don't know. If it's the same, I don't think there'll be any way we can stop him from… following in my footsteps."

John nodded as a Doctor emerged through the two-way doors, leaving them flapping behind him. He looked up at Wally from his clipboard as he approached.

"How is he?" Wally asked, his face wrought with a concern that John hadn't seen in him before.

"Well… you're lucky the Flash and Green Lantern," he said, nodding at John, "got him here as fast as they did; his heart had stopped. But, thanks to his quick delivery here, we were able to save him."

The speedster let out a sigh of relief, his entire body looking as though it were a deflating balloon. He looked over at John with a grateful smile, and the Green Lantern resisted the urge to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Enough people would question why Green Lantern was in Central City at the right time in the first place without him being chummy with Wally West in public.

"Is he awake?" Wally asked.

The Doctor's brow creased as he looked down at the chart he held. "Yes… that's the strange thing. He seems to have recovered perfectly. According to these tests… he's perfectly healthy. No signs of shock… nothing."

Wally shot a sideways glance towards John, a slight frown on his face. "So… can I see him?"

The Doctor took a breath. "I don't see why not," he said, shrugging. "But try to keep it short."

Giving a quick nod, Wally showed remarkable patience as the Doctor slowly led them to Bart's room. John resolved to stay outside; the last thing he needed was Bart recognising him and getting wise to the whole thing. Wally needed to ease him into it. Putting his hand to his earpiece, he called the Watchtower. If what he believed about Bart's current condition was true, then they would need to run some tests.

Wally, meanwhile, was having flashbacks to his own experience in this hospital. It felt like just yesterday he was here after being struck by lightning himself. As soon as the Doctor had told them that Bart had recovered so quickly, Wally had just known. He knew that Bart had been given the same abilities that Wally himself had been given all those years ago. Truth be told, this was the first time he had been to the hospital since that incident – his accelerated metabolism usually healed any injuries before they became serious enough to warrant treatment in a hospital.

The Doctor gently opened the door and gestured for Wally to enter, putting his finger to his lips to emphasise his earlier point. Wally nodded and entered the room. After the door closed behind him, all Wally could think about was how scared he had felt when he was lying on that bed those years ago. His Uncle Barry had helped him through it in more ways than even he knew. Wally only hoped he could be there for Bart in the same way.

As he walked into the room, he thought about the different ways he could tell him the news.

"Hey Bart! Guess what? I'm the Flash, and you might have super powers! Have fun!"

"Uh… Bart. You may not know this but… you've been punk'd! Nah, just kidding. You're actually a super powered teenager now! Ain't that great?"

"Bart... I'm the Flash, and you have super speed. But you can't be my sidekick. No way. At all. Well, okay, if you want to."

Shaking his head, he took a seat next to the bed and Bart looked over at him, his attention previously being attracted to the window.

"Hey Wally."

"How're you doing?"

"I feel better than ever. What happened to me?"

Wally looked out the window and pursed his lips. It was a clear day outside. It was a clear day when they had gone into the Police Station, too; not a cloud in sight.

"You were… struck by lightning."

Bart's brown eyes widened. "Woah… and I'm okay?"

Wally's face remained dark. Bart frowned.

"Wally… I am okay, right?"

The red head swallowed loudly and looked at his younger cousin. "Bart…do you feel… strange at all? Anything out of the ordinary?"

"Uh… a little bit hungry, I guess- Wally, what's going on?"

"When you're sat by yourself, does it feel like time's going really slowly? Like, you look at the clock on the wall and the hand is moving slower than usual?"

Confusion creased Bart's brow. "Yeah… I guess… Wally, talk to me, please. What's happened to me?"

Wally nervously scratched his head and pointed to a glass of water on the other side of Bart's bed.

"Uh… pass me that glass, would you?"

"Wait… I'm the one who's in a hospital bed, and you need something to drink?"

"Just do it, smartass," Wally said suddenly, and Bart grabbed the glass and handed it over. Faster than he would have thought possible.

"Woah…" he gasped, staring down at his hands. "How did I do that?"

"You, uh…" Wally let out a long sigh and put the glass on the bedside table next to him. "Bart… listen… there's something you need to know…"

His younger cousin looked at him intently, hanging on his every word.

"I'm the Flash."

Bart's face darkened. "Dude… I'm feeling seriously freaked out here. Don't joke around."

"I'm not!" Wally said, opening his shirt to reveal the red shirt and yellow lightning bolt logo beneath. "See?"

The brown haired teen's eyes thinned sceptically. Wally rolled his eyes.

"All right, you want proof? Watch this."

Wally stood up, and in an instant, he was on the other side of Bart's bed. The teen looked from where Wally had been stood to where he was now.

"How… how did you do that?"

Wally's face remained serious. "Because I'm the Flash." He lifted his arm and vibrated it relatively slowly, so that Bart could see his hand visibly shaking from side to side, the buzzing noise lightly prodding against his ear. "See?"

Bart leaned back onto his propped up pillow, his eyes staring blankly forward. "You're… the Flash…" His face contorted into a frown. "So why are you telling me this now! Are you trying to scare me as much as you can in one day, is that it?"

Quickly making his way back to the chair, Wally sat down and did his best to comfort him. "Look, Bart… the way I got my powers… it was… I was at your dad's lab, just like you were today. And, just like you, I was struck by lightning and covered in the same chemicals that you were. And when I woke up… I-" he let out an ironic laugh. "-I 'felt better than I ever had before'," he finished, paraphrasing what Bart had earlier said to him.

The teen's face remained blank as his shell shocked brain processed this information. Wally could mentally hear the timer making a 'ting' noise as Bart finally understood.

"So… you mean that… I've got… I mean…" He paused to catch his breath. "I'm a superhero?"

Wally put his hands up defensively. "Woah woah woah. Nobody said you were a superhero. I'm just saying that you might have gotten some… special abilities. We're gonna have to run some tests first to make sure that your powers haven't-"

However, Bart was off in a world of his own. "So that guy who was with you… he's Green Lantern! Oh man, this is so cool! What should I call myself? Quickman? Flash junior?"

Giving up trying to talk about serious things, Wally's head perked up slightly. "How about Kid Flash?"

"Pffft. That's lame."

Wally scowled and fiddled with his thumbs. "Well I think it's a pretty good name, I don't know what your idea of a good name is…" he mumbled into his shirt, though secretly pleased that Bart was taking it the way he was.

Wally sighed. Now he just had to tell Bart's parents…

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(A/N: Not too sure if this is longer or shorter than my usual, but it sure felt like a pain to write. I think it's because there isn't much in the way of costumed antics.

For any Flash fans reading this; Barry Allen and Aunt Iris are still around in this fic, I'm just leaving it open as to whether Barry Allen was ever the Flash or not. Either he was just a police scientist who helped Wally with his powers, or he was the Flash and has now retired with his wife. But considering that Bart doesn't have superspeed, and that kind of thing is hereditary… I'll let you guess about it.

And yeah, Bart is Barry's son here, not his grandson like in the comics. I just figured it's simpler than explaining the whole Allen/Thawne/Cobalt Blue/Time Travel thing – that gives me headaches just thinking about it…

And incidentally:

Goodbye, Justice League Unlimited. You rocked royally.

Reviews please.)