Part 0: Shadow of Youth

by Sagga Bott

saggabottyahoo.ca

PG-13

Summary: Post DWF. As an accident saves Flash from his own metabolism (but not without leaving some changes of its own) an unknown benefactor is gathering information on the League's greatest weakness.

Disclaimer: The DC characters are not mine. I'm just playing with them. They'll be returned…eventually, not in good condition but that can hardly be blamed on me!

Author's Note: PLEASE READ THE A/N IN CHAPTER 1 SO YOU ARE NOT CONFUSED LATER!

Chapter 2 - Virtutis Fortuna Comes

He stripped out of the confining clothing and angrily tossed it in the closet. A flick of his wrist and the sliding closet door slammed shut. What the hell had he been thinking? First he gets all touchy when he was talking to John and then he decides to run home. Run!

I'm such an idiot, he couldn't help but think as he sat down on his bed. He hadn't realized how fast he'd been going until he'd arrived at his front door. It usually took him longer to get home from that far away, and he hadn't even been trying. He just went. He'd been shocked and a little scared when he so suddenly found himself at home. What if he accidentally got caught in the speed force again because he went too fast?

It had to be a side effect from his contact with the speed force. Whatever speed barriers he'd had prior to the incident seemed to have been broken. Without those thresholds it was harder for him to judge his speed and it had taken him long enough to gage his abilities when he'd first got them. Now when he was running it felt even more right. Not effortless but definitely easier. Only problem (other than the threat of eing trapped in the speed force) was his body paid for it later.

Now that he was still again he could feel the fatigue and dizziness resulting from his exertions. He lay down on his soft bed hoping the uncomfortable sensations would pass quickly.

Speaking of uncomfortable sensations, apologizing to GL was going to be weird. He wasn't usually so sensitive about his upbringing. He'd felt included in the League especially when it had just been the seven members. They'd all come from different homes and they'd all lost different things. Strangely it was with a group of super-beings that Wally had felt less imperfect, less inadequate.

His thoughts continued to spin in his head too fast for anyone but him to decipher. The gist of it was that recent events and put him a little off kilter. He'd apologize to John when next he saw him. That resolution formed, his tired body fell easily into a deep but troubled sleep.

+JLU+

In the neighbouring city of Keystone a group of the city's less reputable citizens were gathered in one of the usual hang outs. Recent news of Luthor's attempts to take down the Justice League had given direction to some of those in the criminal underground previously lacking it.

"I'm telling you it'll be so easy!" He looked around to find that no one was paying him any attention. "Hey! I'm serious. How easy would it be to knock of Metropolis Central Bank without those super-clods to mess it up?"

From the back of the small room a voice called out. "No one wants to hear it, Keegs!" The rest concurred; they all began laughing.

"This ain't a union, Keegan," an older man slurred around the fat cigar in his mouth. He huffed and folded his cards before turning to overzealous petty crook. "You ain't so bright. Stop aiming so high."

To Keegan Strom the words were an echo of his tenth grade teacher's.

"This time is different, Mick. This time…" he glanced side to side conspiratorially, "…I have a secret partner."

"Nah, your girl's just ashamed of you," commented a man still involved in the card game. More laughter broke out.

"Keep laughing. When I take down the Justice League then you'll wish you would've taken me seriously!"

There was no response from the other occupants. Strom was good for a laugh now and then but taking the guy seriously was a sure sign of diminished mental capacity.

Mick Pokorski, otherwise known as 'The Doc' assessed silently. Keegan was more of a thinker than a doer. Problem was he didn't think all that well. Still, Mick had never seen the man this confident. Strom was flipping rapidly through a small book. His pale blue eyes skipped back and forth from page to page searching for something. Keegan's face had more lines than a thirty-five year old was owed. Mick guessed it was a testament to too many late nights and failed attempts at glory.

"See this?" Keegan had opened to the book to a diagram. 'Standard Bank Vault' read the title. What was this 'Crime for Dummies'? "The weakness lies in the materials."

"Steel?" Mick asked, deciding to play along until he knew everything.

"Reinforced with titanium alloy."

Keegan waited for the clues to come together in Mick's head. The older man just stared at him. The clues apparently got lost somewhere.

"It's totally unstable. The free energy of the steel and the titanium is through the roof. Thermodynamics dictates that-"

"Can the science lesson. Get to the point."

Keegan swallowed thickly and gave a slight cough. He knew that tone of voice. Now was not the time to over embellish. 'The Doc' was in. Everything Pokorski involved himself with was done with surgical precision and he could salvage almost any snafu. It was how he got his nickname.

"If we could speed up the process the whole thing would fall apart. I have a friend who say he can increase the flux of chronotons through-" he was getting the look again, "-we can break it with a special gun. We can break anything."

"Sounds straight outta science fiction," Mick mumbled as he turned away. The others at his table were starting a new hand of hold'em. His time was better spent cheating at poker than listening to Strom.

"No. Just science."

"How will this bring down the League?" That had been the purpose Keegan had claimed before.

He smiled, crooked teeth exposed. "Well, all projects need some financial backing. This is just the first step."

"And how many first steps will this make?"

The smile slid off his face but he would not be deterred. Strom would leave a few minutes later, big plans on a mind that could have gotten him somewhere if his fortunes had been different. For once the circumstances of nature would work in his favour even if he had to force them.

His name would be bigger than Luthor. Keegan Earl Strom was going to collect his dues and no League would stop him.

+JLU+

Getting past the lock on the window was no problem. He'd picked enough that it was almost second nature. He made sure to lock the window again after he was through. This wasn't the best of neighbourhoods.

The layout of the one bedroom apartment hadn't changed and there was just enough light for him to avoid the various objects on the floor. Even without his suit on he was silent as he crept to the bedroom. From behind the closed door he could hear sounds of distress likely from a nightmare. Quietly opening the door his hypothesis was confirmed. His friend was tangled in his sheets, head tossing back and forth as he tried to escape his dream.

He gently shook the nearest shoulder and Wally abruptly woke. The startled green eyes turned to the intruder.

"It's just me, Wally."

A beat, then, "Dick?"

He nodded and turned on the Statue of Liberty lamp on the bedside table. The flame in the green woman's hand lit up and the room was bathed in yellow light. Wally looked like crap and Dick was sure it wasn't the fault of the poor lighting.

"You okay?" Wally just nodded. He pressed the heel of his hands into his eyes trying to force away the images. He'd been trapped in the Speed Force and the Wally in the dream didn't seem to mind.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just thought I'd check up on you."

"What makes you think I need checking up on?" Wally stared at his friend.

Dick was a lot like his mentor –of course saying that to Dick's face wasn't in your best interests. Somewhere during his life at Wayne Manor he'd adopted Batman's blank look. The one where you couldn't tell if Bats was mad at you for eating the last of everything and was wondering what was suitable punishment for a guy who could do almost anything in a split second or if he was just sleeping with his eyes open.

Well Dick had his own version of blank-face but he and Wally had been friends for a long time and Wally could pick out little things and get a pretty good read on his friend. Like now he could tell that Dick was hiding something.

"When don't you need checking up on? Come on."

Wally let it drop. Not really caring why Dick was in Central. Missouri was a little out of the way for Dick, who made his home in Bludhaven, a city neighbouring Gotham. "Where are we going?"

"To get some food. You look like you haven't eaten in…" he was going to say a months but for Wally, "…an hour."

"…feels like days…" Wally mumbled. He rubbed his stomach which, at the mention of food, decided to remount its protests. "Just give me a sec to change."

A few moments later and they were heading out. Wally had slipped a sweater over his thin frame, which was looking scrawnier than Dick remembered. Bruce hadn't been kidding about Wally's malnutrition.

Since Dick had known him Wally had always eaten like a one-man army. To him anything else was unimaginable –and as it turns out, fatal.

"What time is it?"

Dick looked at his watch. "Six-twelve."

"Are you serious? I slept for… thirteen hours. That can't be normal. And where the hell is the sun?"

It was that time of morning when the sky was turning blue but the sun wasn't yet out. "Sleeping. Even he needs rest."

"She."

Dick's brain stumbled over the correction. "What?"

"I said the sun is a she." Dick was looking at him like he was crazy. "You said she was a he."

That kind of made sense. Dick shook his head. "You must be wearing off on me."

+JLU+

The tower was quiet. It was early still and many of the heroes had worked themselves to the point of exhaustion. J'onn remained on monitor duty. Martian days were only 36 minutes longer than earth days but J'onn had volunteered to take watch. It would be one of his last shifts on this magnificent structure. He just wanted some quiet time in what had become his home.

Living on earth among humans –many of whom were wary of meta-humans and aliens- was not a situation he was eager to try. He'd also lose the solitude the tower provided. Telepathic abilities are great in theory but he knew that once he was among the people it would get very noisy inside his head. He could tune most of it out but there were times when the strain broke his defences and overwhelmed him.

"Morning, J'onn." John Stweart walked into the monitor room blowing on a cup of coffee.

"Good morning. You were instructed to sleep-in."

"Can't help it. I've always been an early riser. First on the beach and all that." Stewart noticed a blue light on the console started blinking. "Looks like trouble."

J'onn too noticed the alert. "It appears to be trouble in Central City." They were both silent for a few seconds.

Yes, Central was Flash territory.

Yes, Wally was down there.

Yes, they'd never hear the end of it if they go down there to help and he doesn't need it.

But, if he does need help and they don't go…

"We've repaired two of the Javelin's."

John's ring lit up and he was bathed in a green aura. "I've got my own method of transport."

"Shayera will not appreciate you method." Hawkgirl had never taken well to being ferried around by other heroes, only accepting help when it as necessary. She would prefer the Javelin but he didn't see what that had to do with anything.

The door to the room swished open. "What's going on?"

J'onn just smiled. He couldn't read Shayera's mind, nor any Hawk-person's but he could still sense it.

"Trouble in Central City. I'm going to check it out."

"I'll go with you."

John new better than to argue with her. She was just as worried about Flash as he was. They nearly collided with Wonder Woman as they exited.
"Trouble in Central," Shayera explained quickly and sidestepped the Amazon.

Diana didn't even pause. A quick pivot and she was going with them. John stopped.

Was this really practical?

"We don't all need to go."

The two women didn't even pause. "Fine. Stay here then," the winged woman called over her shoulder.

John caught up with them before they took off.

+JLU+

An hour and a half after Dick had woken Wally they were working on their third restaurant. Each one had 'all you can eat breakfast' deals but Wally's appetite was fiercer than ever and he could easily eat each establishment out of business. So when they started getting glares from the owners they left.

Hence, restaurant number three.

Thankfully, Wally was not longer inhaling the food but he didn't show signs of stopping. His stomach seemed to be co-operating today. Yesterday much of what he'd tried to eat had ended up coming back up. What was the term those Doctor's used? Emesis?

"Aren't you going to eat?" Wally asked of his companion before cramming half a muffin into his mouth.

"You know watching you eat makes me sick." It was a joke. Wally knew it. Dick knew it. But to the casual eavesdropper it would have sounded like an insult.

Wally just laughed. He finished off his very large glass of orange juice and let out a small burp.

"Feel better?"

"A little. You're not going to eat that, are you?" Before Dick could answer his muffin was gone.

"…I suppose not." Dick wasn't hungry but he was at least trying to make it look like it was both of them eating all the food.

"Wally!" They turned to look at a man approaching them.

West recognized the voice. This was the last place Wally would have suspected to find him. "Hi, Nick. What are you doing here? You hate the food here?" He looked pointedly at the bagel and coffee in his hands.

"I guess I got hooked on it. It's your fault you know."

"Well, it's cheap. And it keeps your immune system on its toes."

"Right," was the dubious response. The dark eyes shifted to Wally's friend who had been sizing up this guy the same way he did all people he met for the first time. Fancy suit, expensive cologne, impeccable hair, shiny grad ring, Rolex watch –this guy seemed more the type to be hanging around Bruce.

"Nick McKay," he introduced himself and after shifting his purchases to his left hand he offered his right in a handshake.

"Oh! Dick this is Nick." A strange smile broke out on Wally's face and Dick knew he was amused by the rhyme -such a simpleton sometimes.

There was a pause were Grayson just stared. Just as the pause was reaching the threshold to awkward Dick grasped the offered hand. "Nice to meet you." The blank yet calculating look was still there as they shook hands making Nick's smile somewhat strained.

Wally sighed mentally –typical Dick. "Don't mind him. The early hour has made him cranky." He ignored the kick he received under the table.

Nick extracted his hand from the iron grip carefully hiding the wince. He turned back to West. "I'm surprised to see you at his hour. You're usually a late riser."

How the would you know? Dick thought but didn't ask.

"Extenuating circumstances," West replied.

Since when did Wally know the word 'extenuating'? Dick sipped his water. Or 'circumstance'?

"Well, I have to get to work. I hope to see you around." Wally smiled falsely, but McKay didn't notice. He turned to Wally's friend. "Dick." He nearly spat the name.

Grayson just glared until the jerk was out of earshot and then shifted his gaze to Wally. "Who is he?"

"Just a friend." Wally was a terrible liar. Always had been and always would be. It was a good thing that Wally had no idea. It made getting information easier.

"Just a friend?" It was clear from his tone that Dick didn't believe him. He watched Wally squirm.

"Uh-huh." The red-head forked a large piece of a pancake into his mouth to save him from further speech.

The explosion in the distance provided another distraction. A glance out the window, a glance at each other, a couple of bucks left at the table and they were gone.

+JLU+

At his computer Batman was trying to interpret some confusing data. He'd been up the whole night as usual but he wasn't tired yet. He'd feel the lack of sleep in a few hours but for now he had work that had to be done.

He was covertly using a Wayne Tech satellite orbiting earth to monitor the skies for activity. A few weeks ago on the tower he'd observed some strange readings from the sensors. At first glance it looked like background noise but it was too ordered to be random. Unable to find a source for the signal he set out to monitor the skies for another such occurrence.

There had been three more. Two had occurred when he'd been busy with League and Luthor and one more had occurred this past night. He didn't know what it meant but he'd figure it out.

A secondary computer screen blinked to life showing a muted report of a battle occurring in Central City. His eyes remained on the screen longer than was warranted. Even when he went back to deciphering his scans he didn't turn the media stream off. In fact a few seconds later he turned on the audio.

"-confirmed that there is only one man. He's armed with a very unusual weapon. It appears to decompose anything that it is aimed at. Cornered in the busy intersection of Main and Hanover, he's managed to keep police at bay. The Flash has…" The female reporter paused to take a note from off-screen and read it. Batman waited patiently for her to finish what she had been saying about the Flash. She never did.

"We've just received unconfirmed information about the identity of the Bank robber. Thirty-five year old Keegan Strom, a local resident-"

Batman immediately input the name into his database. The results were not spectacular; theft, assault, and a whole host of misdemeanour charges. He turned back to the news. Judging from the footage this one, normal, no-name man had caused a lot of damage. Where did he get the tools to do it?

Alfred pulled the pendulum of the grandfather clock with one hand while balancing the loaded tray with the other. The sun was barely up but the trusty butler was wide awake. If there was one thing that working in Wayne manor guaranteed, it was strange hours.

He began descending the many steps to the bat cave.

"Master Bruce, I've brought you some…"

He arrived just in time to see the hangar doors closing. The Bat-wing was gone as was Batman. Alfred shook his head and ascended the stairs.

"If he wants to eat his breakfast cold, that's fine by me."

Another explosion rocked the ground knocking unsuspecting spectators to the earth. A quick detour to change and the Flash was on scene. The type of destruction he witnessed upon arriving was out of place in downtown Central City –downtown Apocalypse, maybe. Entire structures had been reduced to rubble but the surroundings were strangely untouched. One of the cop cruisers was a mass of twisted and charred metal, apparently the source of the explosion that they'd heard a few minutes ago.

In the thick of it all was Strom, large weapon in his hands and a bigger smile on his face. He was taking cover behind the tall white roman-like columns at the entrance of the bank. He'd been too slow in his heist or the police too quick in their arrival and the robbery had turned to a stand-off. Still, Strom looked proud of himself, not worried in the least. Wally felt like making him very sorry.

He took off for the criminal but Strom had not missed the appearance of the speedster (bright red suit and all). He fired a shot in the hero's path. The blast itself was easy enough to dodge but Strom was just getting started.

The weakness of every hero was the people they were trying to protect. Strom aimed at a nearby gas station. At first nothing seemed to happen but everyone new it wouldn't last. Cracks began to form, materials decomposed and liquid began to drip out a spread in rainbow pools.

The smell of the gasoline was quickly circulated by the breeze. Bystanders began to run while they still could. "As long as there's no ignition source we'll be okay," an officer said. The problem was that Strom knew that too.

He pulled out a regular gun, small calibre, and fired at damaged station. The sound of the bullet ricocheting off metal surface incited further panic and ignited the spilt gas. The Flash sped past the small bit of burning gas before it could get to the main tanks and his vortex managed to put out the flames.

Keegan was not taking very well to being thwarted. "Fastest man alive, huh?" He took aim again with his gun. "Let's see how fast you really are."

Several shots rang out is succession. A blur of red and then there was stillness. Flash opened his fist and tilted his hand. Out dropped five bullets.

"If I counted correctly, you're out of bullets." Flash sped towards the assailant only to be stopped short by a sudden cry.

"No! Don't!"

Many people turned just in time to watch the small flickering object fall into a dark hole. The metal covering usually present had disintegrated leaving the port open. Below were the large tanks of gasoline that fed the pumps. The Flash sped over but before he could reach the match the gas in the air ignited. There was an intense wave of heat before the concussive blast knocked him into the air. Buildings shook, air was sucked out of lungs and the fire engulfed everything nearby, including the pyromaniac that had dropped the match. The flames crawled down the streets and high into the air.

Flash managed to land on his feet but the force of the blast and his momentum carried him further. He tumbled for several yards before sliding to a stop. The deafening sound had faded to a reverberating echo. The bright flash of light had vanished. Only further destruction was left behind.

The front of his red costume was scorched black and he had the acrid taste of soot in his mouth. His head was still spinning from the blast and his unwanted flight so getting to his feet was difficult. Once he was relatively stable he surveyed the surroundings.

Many others were just coming around, others weren't moving, yet Strom thought it was funny. The grating laughter was the last straw. Wally didn't think. He ran at Strom dodging the blasts from his strange and powerful weapon with sharp changes in his course. He cut particularly close past one blast putting himself within striking distance. He pulled his fist back to deliver a blow but the ground beneath him gave way creating a gaping hole in the middle of what was once a busy intersection. The Flash fell through but his speed carried him to the other edge of the hole where the breath was knocked out of him but the ledge provided him purchase to hold on.

Prior to his arrival one of Strom's shots hit the ground there weakening it and the infrastructure beneath. The red clad hero dangled in the opening, his feet just a few feet from the putrid waste flowing through the now exposed main sewer pipe. The smell was suffocating.

"Times like now, I wish I could fly," Flash mumbled as he scraped his way out of the chasm.

A voice too close startled the speedster. "That's exactly where I want you." Flash looked up and right down the barrel of a large silver and blue gun, the most destructive hand-held weapon he could ever remember seeing, the one that Strom had been using to destroyed the area.

Flash saw the twitch of Strom's trigger finger but before enough pressure could be applied a red fist connected with Strom's jaw. He landed a few feet away head ringing and his precious toy just out of reach. Flash stood over the man, arms crossed and face angry.

The fallen man reached for the weapon only to have his hand knocked away by some kind of throwing disc. Another two embedded themselves into the gun causing it to spark and crackle with electricity and some other strange energy. That couldn't be a good sign.

Unarmed and out-classed, Strom should have given up. "No."

Flash tilted his head. He'd heard many bad guys say the same thing when faced with their defeat but this man's tone was different. He was planning something.

The police had managed to make their way over, cautious of the damaged and weakened ground. On a nearby roof top Nightwing was joined by three league members.

"You missed the party," he told them without turning.

"Is Flash okay?" Diana asked.

"He's fine. This block will need a lot or reconstruction but no fatalities."

"I'm going for a closer look," and Green Lantern quickly made his way to Flash's side.

"Hey Kid,"

Flash just gave him a tired smile. He looked completely winded. John decided that after this situation was taken care of he was going to bring Flash back to the watch tower and assign some other members to temporarily watch Central and Keystone. Flash was in no shape to be taking down psychos.

Strom was being placed in handcuffs by the police and, as so many criminals were prone to do, he was putting up a token struggle. Something made John look to an alley. The walls were scorched from the gas station explosion and smoke hung heavily in the air obscuring his vision but he saw someone; a tall man, wearing a hat and -from the tiny red glow- smoking a cigarette. Stewart will swear to the day he dies that the man smirked at him. Just then a commotion broke out and one of the cops shouted 'bomb'.

The damaged gun came back to life and began glowing bright blue. Strom yelled something about defeating everyone but his rant faded into the background. GL was quick to enclose the gun in a shield but just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. It was a tense few seconds they waited for something else to happen. They would be happily disappointed.

Strom struggled angrily, yelling about how he was promised to win by some man, a Dr. V. GL ignored him and slowly approached and examined the weapon. He hoped that the damage done by Nightwing's batarangs had somehow disarmed it. What he found was worse. The batarangs had damaged some of the wiring and created and leak in what looked like a radiation containment shield. When he flipped up a panel on the side he was even more dismayed.

"This thing is still going to blow. The timer's damaged. It's counting randomly." As John spoke a blue numbers flashed on a small screen.

…14…..7…..29….2….55…

"We have to get it out-"

…11…26…0.

The gun/bomb in his hands had just begun to light up as it detonated when it vanished suddenly. An almost instantaneous trail of blue light and a blindingly bright explosion some distance away told them all that the Flash had saved them, again. They waited. The sound of the explosion shocked them all when it finally reached them. What shocked them even more was that it arrived before the Flash. They continued to wait. Strom was laughing almost maniacally but a subtle elbow to his gut by one of the cops had him doubled over and gasping for breath.

GL and the others waited and the tension climbed. "Come on, Kid."

The Flash didn't return.

End Chapter 2 – Good Luck is the Companion of Courage

Sagga Bott…