Disclaimer: I don't own Justice League Unlimited.

Rest and Relaxation

Chapter Six: History Lesson

John cocked an eyebrow at the man and woman stood in the doorway. Wally smiled and stood as Bart shot forward to the two, obviously glad to see them.

"Hey Mom. Hey Dad."

Barry looked down at his son, a kind smile on his face. "I hear you've been getting in some trouble with The Top."

Bart smiled sheepishly. "Well, uh…"

"Totally my fault," Wally said, stepping forward and hugging the two. "Come in, come in," he said, gesturing for them to enter as he closed the door behind them.

They both took a seat at the sofa with their son, provoking an awkward silence between them and John.

"So…" the Green Lantern said, not sure how to introduce himself.

Wally slapped his hand to his head and grinned. "Oh! Sorry. Uncle Barry, Aunt Iris, this is John Stewart. John, this is my Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris."

Barry reached forward with a smile on his face. "The Green Lantern."

John was about to be surprised, but then remembered who this man had once been. Iris turned to face Wally, who had his arms crossed with a grin on his face.

"How've you been, kiddo?"

"Pretty good. That lab assistant job seems to be getting closer and closer."

Barry smiled proudly. "That's great."

Bart cleared his throat. "Excuse me, but… you were just telling me about how you used to be the Flash?"

"Oh. Yes," Barry replied, a sheepish look crossing his face. "Well, I got my powers much the same way you and Wally did. In fact, Jay and I think that half the reason you got your powers-"

John raised an inquisitive hand. "I'm sorry. Who's Jay?"

"The first Flash."

"I thought you were the first Flash."

"No, I'm the second Flash. Jay's the first Flash."

"Who's Jay?" John said, a hint of frustration in his voice.

"Jay Garrick. He fought in World War Two. You might have heard of him."

John just shrugged. "I always thought that Wally was the only Flash until you were mentioned."

Barry smiled. "That's understandable. Both Jay and I kept a pretty low profile. He's still around now, though he doesn't do much superhero work; only in emergency situations. He helped out during the Thanagarian crisis, if I remember right. Anyway," he said, shaking his head, "back on the subject. We were both low profile, trying to keep out of the public eye. Not that it made much of a difference to me, considering the amount of time I was around. If I'm honest, I couldn't have been the Flash for more than a year and a half before I lost my powers."

Bart leant forward, completely engrossed. "You lost your powers?"

Barry nodded. "Yes. You see, when I got my powers, Central City and Keystone City were under siege by a pretty vicious motorcycle gang. They killed a lot of good cops. When I got my powers, people thought that it was just another bombing, and I didn't see any reason to tell them otherwise."

"The perfect cover…" John added, stroking his beard.

"Exactly. I became the Flash, and Wally was struck by lightning pretty soon after, turning him into Kid Flash."

Wally sat on a stool by the kitchen counter, and Iris got up to the join him.

"However," Barry began, his expression darkening considerably, "there was one man who knew that it wasn't a bombing; who saw me when I was struck by lightning and doused in chemicals. My lab assistant, Eobard Thawne. For reasons I never knew, he hated me with a vengeance, and upon deducing that I was the Flash, he set about to recreate the incident which gave me my powers. It worked, and be became Professor Zoom, the Reverse Flash."

Bart's eyes widened. "Was his costume like… a reverse version of the normal Flash costume? With yellow where the red should be, and red where the yellow should be?"

"How did you know that?" Barry asked, his face slightly cautious.

"Well… when I got struck by lightning, I saw him. Or at least, for a little while."

Barry nodded, deep in thought. "That could prove the theory…" he said absent-mindedly.

"What theory?" Bart asked.

"Never mind. I'll finish the story first, and then I'll explain it to you. Where was I? Right, right… Thawne and I were evenly matched, and…" he cast a troubled look over in Iris's direction, "…he tried to kill Iris on our wedding day. But as we ran, I saw that Thawne was beginning to disappear the faster he went. And so was I. But I managed… by thinking of your mother… to stay in this plane of existence. Thawne became part of what we now know is called the… Speed Force?" he said, looking over at Wally for confirmation.

The redheaded speedster nodded, and Barry continued.

"I lost my powers that day, and stopped being the Flash."

"Where was Wally during all of this?" John asked, his question more curious than accusatory.

"I was at Gotham State U. I had no idea what was going on until I got a phone call from Iris," Wally said, looking over at his aunt with a slightly haunted expression. There was something about those days that Wally wasn't particularly proud of, but John decided to leave it alone for another day.

Barry nodded. "After that, Iris and I moved to Keystone, and Wally became the Flash."

Bart frowned. "What were you saying earlier… about that theory?"

"Oh, yes. We were theorising – and this is just a theory, mind you – that my powers were somehow… moved by the Speed Force from me to you. Since you saw Thawne when you were struck by lightning, and that was the last thing I saw when I had my powers, that seems to add some credibility to the theory."

"So… I've got your powers?"

"In essence, yes."

Bart was silent for a moment.

"Cool."

Iris sighed loudly from where she sat beside Wally. "Well. Now that that's out of the way, why don't we talk about something else. Like, oh, I don't know," she turned to Bart, "you nearly getting yourself killed," she turned to Wally, "you giving him these powers in the first place," she turned to John, "and you…" she paused for a moment. "Actually, you didn't do anything. You poor guy, having to deal with Bart and Wally with superspeed."

John groaned loudly and fell back into his chair. "It wasn't easy."

Iris grinned. "I'll bet."

Barry looked at Bart. "Your mother's right. We need to talk about what you intend to do."

The teenage speedster fidgeted nervously. "Well… uh… I was thinking that I could maybe, kinda, sorta… stay here with Wally and fight crime?" he said, wincing at the expected response.

The ex-Flash sighed and rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses. He looked back over his shoulder at Iris pleadingly. Bart's mother leaned forward to address her son.

"Bart…we just think that you're not ready for this just yet."

"But Wally said I could go and train with the Teen Titans!"

Bart's parents shot accusatory glares at Wally, who shrunk in his chair, laughing nervously.

"Uh… … that wasn't me… that was… that is… I'm gonna get something out of the fridge."

And with that, Wally darted behind the kitchen counter and buried his head in the fridge, although he had no idea what he was looking for.

Barry and Iris turned back to Bart.

"It's not just about the danger to you," Barry added. "After all, Wally became Kid Flash at about the same age. But there's also the matter of you missing out on school because of your superhero antics. Wally got into enough trouble at school for running out in the middle of classes to help me or work with the Titans."

"Actually…" Wally's head popped up from the fridge, his mouth full of various snacks. "…Titans Tower is a certified school now, so you don't have to worry about…" Wally trailed off as he saw the death glares coming from his aunt and uncle.

"Uh… I'm just gonna…" he pointed to fridge. "Yeah."

Barry and Iris once again turned back to Bart, who was now looking at them with puppy dog pleading eyes.

"C'mon… the Titans are perfect for me… and it's not like I can just ignore my powers."

Barry sighed and looked over at Iris, who just shrugged in resignation. Running a hand through his greying blonde hair, Barry nodded.

"All right, all right… you can join the Titans."

Bart pumped his fist in the air in triumph, and Wally stood back up to his full height, now believing himself safe. Iris turned to him, pointing a warning finger.

"But you'd better take good care of him, kiddo. You get me?"

Wally nodded vehemently. "Yes ma'am."

Bart paused for a moment and turned to Barry, Iris, and Wally. "Uh… there's just… one more thing I'd like to ask you guys…"

The three looked at each other warily.

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John wasn't sure why he had come along to this. He just felt awkward, sat around with Wally's family like this as they chatted amongst themselves. They were all sat in a row facing a door, waiting for Bart to make his entrance. John looked out the window over the city of Metropolis, still marvelling at the views the Metro Tower offered.

"So," a voice said, and John turned to see Barry Allen facing him. "You're the Green Lantern, eh?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know Hal Jordan?"

John cocked an eyebrow and smiled. "Who on Oa doesn't know who Hal Jordan is?"

Barry smiled in understanding. "No, but I mean, do you know him? Personally, that is."

"Ah, no. He was the Lantern for this sector way before I came along. He retired, didn't he?"

"From being a Lantern, anyway. He's with the air force now."

John nodded. "I take it you know him?"

"We teamed up a few times before we both left the business. I handed over the reigns to Wally and Hal handed them over to Abin Sur."

John sighed. "That didn't last too long, I'm afraid."

"I heard," Barry said, nodding. "Sinestro must have thought he was Hal. Hal was the first Green Lantern to defeat him, you know," he said, a certain measure of pride coming through his voice.

"Sinestro seems to have a weakness against the human Lanterns," John said, smiling. "That count has gone up to three."

"So you've beaten him."

John nodded. "Me and this other kid, Kyle Rayner. He's off training with the Corps."

The ex-Flash nodded as he took in the surroundings. They were in the R&R room of the Metro Tower, although most of the members were on duty. Booster Gold and Blue Beetle were the only other people in the room, in fact, though they were engrossed in their game of 'Brawlin' Bots'.

"I certainly never imagined anything like this when I started out," Barry said wistfully.

"I think what you guys did was even more impressive, in a lot of ways," John said, meaning every word.

Barry shook his head. "We were just a few guys trying to make a difference. This…" he said, gesturing around the room, "…this is fantastic. I'm just honoured and proud that Wally was one of the people who started it all." He smiled. "I can only imagine what the others thought of him."

John grinned. "He certainly grabbed everyone's attention."

"He's always been like that. He's gotten better, though, don't you think?"

"Sometimes yes, sometimes no," John said, and Barry laughed.

"That sounds about right."

The door opened, and the group stopped their respective conversations to turn towards the doorway. In it stood Bart, who was now in a new costume.

A Kid Flash costume.

It was very similar to the one Wally had worn back in his Titans days, except there was now a circle around the lightning bolt around his chest, much like on Wally's Flash costume. The colours were different than the old Kid Flash costume, too. Bart had opted for the same darker, inverted colour scheme that Wally had on his Flash costume.

Wally nodded in approval. "Hey, you used my colour scheme… nice."

"Looks good on you," Iris added. Barry, meanwhile, was frowning. Iris nudged him in the shoulder.

"It's great, it's just…" he sighed. "Did you have to go for the rim lit look? It makes you look all shiny."

Bart, unaffected by his father's comments, just grinned. "I like it shiny. It looks cool. Besides, if I'm running next to Wally, I've gotta match, right?"

Wally winked at his sidekick. "Right."

They all looked to John, who had yet to comment on the costume. He had no idea why they were looking to him for an opinion; he wasn't even part of this family, why would it concern him?

"It's… nice…?" John said unsurely, his confused and forced tone of voice making Wally burst out laughing.

Bart just put his hands on his hips, a proud grin on his face.

I'm on my way to the top.

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As John looked out over the ocean from the roof of Titans Tower, he had to marvel at the view, even as he remembered thinking the same thing about the Metro Tower earlier that day.

It probably helped that it was sunset; that always made things seem more idealistic and romantic. Although John was the exception to that rule. One of the most painful experiences of his life happened at sunset. A part of him loved the colours and the atmosphere of a sunset, but the other…

He shook his head free of such thoughts as the door opened and Cyborg and Beast Boy stepped forth, making their way over to them. Barry and Iris had gone home, but not before the ex-Flash had invited John over to meet Hal when he had some free time. John had accepted, being honoured at the prospect.

Cyborg smiled, and John saw that it was something that looked natural on his face. He was the kind of person where a frown would look out of place on his features. Looking over at Beast Boy, John got the strongest sense of déjà vu, and quickly understood why when he grinned.

Beast Boy and Wally had the same grin. The grin of someone who was fully aware of how cheesy and stupid the grin made them look, but didn't care.

Cyborg extended his hand to Wally, who shook it enthusiastically. "Hey man. How are you?"

Wally shrugged. "Eh. The usual. You?"

"Ditto." He turned to Bart, who was stood in awe of the two heroes stood before him. "And you're Bart?"

Bart, dressed in his full Kid Flash costume, simply stood, dumbfounded. Wally nudged him, and Bart shook himself out of his reverie.

"Uh…yeah, that's me."

"Good to meet ya," Beast Boy said, extending his hand. Bart warily took it, obviously still disbelieving that he was shaking hands with THE Beast Boy of THE Teen Titans. "I hope you're not gonna be as much trouble as he was," the changeling said, the small fang on his bottom lip giving him an almost elf like appearance; it didn't help to change John's impression of him being like Wally.

Cyborg and Beast Boy looked over at Green Lantern, the former offering a nod and the latter a cheery wave.

John nodded back in response. "Hey."

"So," Wally said, clapping his hands together loudly and rubbing them together, "what's gonna happen now?"

"Well, since he's your sidekick, you need to fill out some forms. His parents will have to fill some out, too, but you can get those back here pretty quick, can't you?" Cyborg said, a wry smile on his face. "I'll just go get them."

The man-machine turned on his heel and walked to the door, leaving the four alone. Wally and Beast Boy soon got into an animated discussion that led to the pros and cons of different gaming techniques for Mega Monkeys Five.

John turned to Bart. "How're you feeling, kid?"

The young speedster blew out a shaky breath. "Pretty nervous. I've got no idea what to expect."

"You'll do fine."

Bart looked up at him and smiled. "Coming from you, that means a lot."

"It does? Why?"

Bart shrugged and nodded over to Wally, who was laughing hysterically with Beast Boy. "Well… I look up to him. Even before I knew he was the Flash, I though he was pretty cool. And… he looks up to you, so I get the feeling I should too."

John scrunched up his face. "What? Wally doesn't look up to me."

Bart laughed. "Uh, yeah. He does."

"Have you seen the way he talks to me?"

"That's just his way of covering it. It's so obvious that he looks up to you. Haven't you ever noticed?"

"Well… I…" John sighed. "I'm not exactly the most observant guy in the world when it comes to that stuff."

Bart laughed quietly. "That figures."

The two were silent for a moment. John turned to Bart.

"Can I ask you something?"

Bar shrugged. "Shoot."

"Why'd you change from being Impulse to Kid Flash?"

"I…" he sighed. "a few reasons. When I was in that costume, you guys treated me like I was an idiot who didn't know what he was doing. And I didn't. I still don't, but I want to start learning seriously about this stuff, and I can't do that if I'm acting like an impulsive moron all the time, y'know?"

"And the other reason?"

"My dad's the Flash. I kinda felt like I would be disrespecting him if I didn't. And, like I said, I look up to Wally. I'm kinda flattered that he wanted me to use his old name."

John nodded slowly and smiled, looking down at the boy stood next to him. "You're well on your way, Bart."

"Thanks," he said, his smile turning into a smirk. "Besides, the Kid Flash costume shows off my butt more."

John shook his head, the smile still on his face. "Naturally."

Cyborg emerged from the doorway with the necessary forms and a pen, and gestured for Wally to follow.

"Let's get these babies filled in, shall we?"

Wally zoomed forward and took the pen, putting the forms on Cyborg's back. The speedster ignored the half robot's protestations as he filled in the forms faster than the eye could see. In a few seconds, he was done.

He walked to the edge of the Tower with two forms still in hand.

"I'll just go and get the signatures, and then you guys can get started," he said, putting his hand to his ear.

"One for the Watchtower, if you please."

He disappeared in a blur of white-ish blue light, and Beast Boy's eyes bulged.

"Dude! Why don't we have one of those?" he said, looking over at Cyborg.

"'Cause you'd break it, BB."

"I so would not."

"You so would too."

"Would not."

"Too."

"Not!"

"Too!"

"Not!"

"Not!"

"Too- hey! That's not funny!"

Cyborg chuckled to himself. "Oh, I'm sorry, I was under the impression it was." He turned to Bart. "Was that funny?"

"Yep."

He looked back at his changeling friend. "See? And he knows. He's the cousin of the one of the biggest pranksters this Tower's ever seen."

Bart cocked an eyebrow. "Really?"

John sighed. "Kid, that shouldn't really surprise you."

Cyborg looked over at John. "Does he still do that thing where he shouts-"

"-something offensive and runs away? Oh yeah."

John remembered hearing about one such particular incident. Flash was eating with Booster Gold and shouted 'thong!' as Gypsy walked by, who's thong was unfortunately (and unwittingly) on display. Gypsy turned around, and Booster Gold was left to fend for himself. John shuddered at the memory. Booster was in the medical bay for about a week, and not entirely because of the injuries.

A blue-white light appeared, and the Flash emerged. He walked over to Cyborg and handed over the forms.

"There you go." He walked over to Bart. "Have fun. I'm uh…" he shuffled sheepishly on his feet. "…I'm glad you decided to be Kid Flash. I, uh… it's… cool of you."

Bart nodded and smiled, offering a small salute. "No problem."

Wally and John took up their positions, and John put his hand to his earpiece to signal for a pickup. Wally waved to Cyborg and Beast Boy.

"See you guys later. Say hi to the others for me!"

"Will do," Cyborg said, nodding.

As the two de-materialised, Wally could see Beast Boy putting his arm around Bart while Cyborg carried the young speedster's suitcase downstairs.

"So, Bart. Do you like tofu waffles?"

Wally wondered if Bart could hear him laughing.

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The distant cracks of pool balls hitting pool balls filled the air, along with the general murmur of the bar. Wally smiled as their beers arrived.

"Ah… I've been itching for one of these since this whole thing started." He turned to John, lifting his glass mug of beer. "Cheers."

John nodded. "Cheers."

The two sipped in comfortable silence, looking up at the sports game playing on the TV overhead and around the smoky bar, waiting for a free pool table.

"So," Wally said gently, turning his attention back to his friend. "What is going on with you and Shayera?"

John looked over at Wally, though there was none of the irritation that Wally was expecting. John just sighed.

"It's complicated."

"Okay," Wally said expectantly, rotating his hand in a 'continue talking' motion.

John sighed again. "I'm with Vixen, right? I should be happy with that. And I am, but…" he paused for a moment, then turned his entire body to face Wally. "Do you remember when Batman and I went into the future?"

"I remember you telling us about it."

"Right. But… there was something I left out. When we were in the future, we met… my son. Mine and Shayera's."

Wally's pale blue eyes widened. "Woah…"

John nodded. "Yeah."

"Does Shayera know?"

"No, and you're not going to tell her. I need to figure out what to do first. It's just that… I didn't know what to do then, and I still don't now, especially since this Carter Hall guy came along talking about destiny and reincarnation."

"But… you don't believe in that stuff, do you?" Wally asked, a sceptical eyebrow raised.

"Of course not. It's just… is that future supposed to happen? Or was it part of Chronos' time jumping mess? Am I denying him life by not being with Shayera? Do I have any right to do that?" John groaned in frustration. "God… a guy could go crazy thinking about this."

"Then don't think about it," Wally said simply. "Go with your feelings. What feels right to you? Vixen… or Shayera?"

John was silent.

"Hey, Mac, table three's open," the bartender said, interrupting their conversation. Wally nodded.

"Okay, thanks." He got up and paused as John didn't move. "John? You coming?"

"Uh…" John shook himself from his thoughts. "…yeah, yeah, I'm, uh… I'm coming… yeah."

Wally grinned as he picked up the cue. "We placing bets on this game?"

John, quickly recovering from the heavy nature of the last conversation, allowed a small smile. "I think you lost enough money during the hockey game."

"Hey, that was luck, and nothing more."

"Yeah… luck that repeated itself, what… sixteen times?"

Wally smirked good-naturedly and tossed John a cue. "Well you're goin' down now, amigo."

"What a vivid imagination you have," John said, setting down his beer and setting up the break. He paused for a moment, never once taking his eyes of the table. "Thanks, Wally."

"Any time."

John broke, and potted several striped balls.

"Oh, you're so cheating. Give me that ring."

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(A/N: Well, well… the beginning of the end. Not to worry though, I've got another (I hope) crackin' Flash story coming up, this time with Hawkman guest starring.

I hope I made the whole Flash history thing clear enough; I was trying to make it seem detailed enough without it seeming like Barry was telling them his whole life story.

Next chapter: Thursday has arrived – and you know what that means…

I like reviews.)