Chapter 5

If you recognize it, I don't own it. If you don't, and I haven't explained, ask me!

"How much?" Artemis asked, acting like Felicity would, not Artemis.

"Well, I was walking back to get you to come inside when I saw someone run by me at super speed. I grabbed the rest of the team and came out here thinking there was a threat." Caitlin said.

"I promise I'm not a threat, I'm her boyfriend." Wally said. Artemis elbowed him in the stomach.

"You're not helping." she told him.

"The only thing that can help you now is an explanation." Joe informed them.

"Roy's going to kill me." she muttered.

"And Dinah." Bart added unhelpfully.

"Thanks for the reminder." she shot back.

"Will somebody explain what's going on?" Iris asked. 'Who are these people?"

"No one you need to worry about. You know what, I'm just going to go over here, and you'll never have to worry about me again." Bart said, slowly walking away. Suddenly he tripped, and the already uptight Joe fired his gun. Suddenly Bart was back over with Felicity and Wally with a flash of yellow lightning, holding the tranq bullet. "Ok sorry, I'll stay right over here."

"How does that scare you?" Artemis whispered.

"They just don't seem like the right people to mess with." he replied.

"Bart is from the future," Artemis started, pointing to Bart, "and Wally is my boyfriend." she finished, while pointing to Wally. "As you saw, Bart is a speedster, and I can promise he's no threat. Wally isn't very threatening either."

"Hey!" he protested.

"They're seriously no problem, just old friends." Artemis said, trying to reassure the team. Suddenly a beeping could be heard from inside Star labs. Everybody, even Wally and Bart, rushed inside.

"Robbery, probably a meta. The bank that's farthest from the police department." Caitlin read off.

"What do we do now?" Cisco asked. "I can't use my abilities offensively, Barry is gone…"

"You're a meta?" Artemis asked surprised.

"It's a recent development." Caitlin said, saving Cisco from explaining. Suddenly the alert stopped.

"What happened?" Cisco asked.

"That was fun!" Bart announced, speeding back in. Everybody looked up in shock, except Wally and Artemis.

"You just went there and stopped it?" Joe asked.

"Umm, yeah." Bart said. "I may not be a super hero anymore, but I still like to help out when I can."

"Who was there?" Artemis asked casually.

"Another meta. Probably had only had their abilities sense the accelerator explosion here two years ago, so not for long and still weak. Thankfully, I've had them my whole life, so they are now unconscious at the police station." he told her.

"Wish I could have been there." Wally said, while holding his hand up for a high five Bart took without hesitation.

"Who are you people?" Iris asked. "And are you actually from the future?"

"Wally and Bart are both speedsters. Bart retired from being a hero and Wally… disappeared. They're old friends of mine that I haven't even told Oliver about. And yes, Bart is from the future. One of his parents was a speedster."

"I got my powers about a decade ago, from a chemical accident." Wally told them.

"Metas existed before the particle accelerator?" Cisco asked. "No, that's not possible. Metas were created by the dark matter released from the particle accelerator. All metahumans are people who were in the right place at the right time when the particle accelerator exploded."

"Not really." Wally said. "It's a gene, and once it's awakened it gives people abilities. It dies our or becomes dormant again after a few generations. You can't become a meta without it."

"Why hasn't anybody found this then?" Caitlin asked.

"Because it only becomes visible after it's triggered." Bart said. "It's technically a guess with a lot of evidence to back it up. The meta gene seems to run in families, with three to four generations of them. Plus, the first seems to have been in some odd accident before their power shows up. In every meta's DNA, there seems to be the same gene, that wasn't there before their powers showed up."

"Or you can get hit by a speed force storm." Wally said. "I don't think I had a metagene before I got struck with speed force lightning and chemicals."

"So anybody could become a metahuman, at any time." Harry said. He seemed a little disbelieving.

"Anybody could become a speedster. Only people with meta genes can get other abilities." Artemis told them.

"I got my speed powers about a decade ago, from a chemical accident." Wally told them.

"Metas existed before the particle accelerator?" Cisco asked. "No, that's not possible. Metas were created by the dark matter released from the particle accelerator. All metas are are people in the right place at the right time when the particle accelerator exploded."

"Not really." Wally said. "It's a gene, and once it's awakened it gives people abilities. It dies out or becomes dormant again after a few generations. You can't become a metahuman without it."

"Why hasn't anybody found this then?" Caitlin asked.

"Because it only becomes visible after it's triggered." Bart said. "It's actually only theoretical, with a lot of proof backing it up."

"The only way to become a speedster without it is to come in contact with the speed force, which rarely happens." Wally added.

"So that's why so many people were unaffected by the explosion." Cisco said.

"Yep!" Bart confirmed.

"I need to talk to you two for a second." Artemis said, and dragged them into the hallway. "We will not mention Tigress, Artemis, or anything related to them. I am going to stay an IT girl who happens to help the Green Arrow, and met speedsters a while ago. Ok?"

"Ok." Bart and Wally both agreed.

"Felicity! We need some explaining still!" Harry yelled.

"Coming!" she yelled.

~xXx~xXx~xXx~

"So. How do you know these metas?" Caitlin asked casually.

"I ran into them during my hackavist career. They needed me to hack something for them, unofficially. We kept in touch, and I actually started to have a relationship with Wally. I haven't told anybody else, even Oliver, because it's not really relevant and I don't like looking back on my past hackavist life." Artemis explained. "Try to see it from my perspective. I get the chance of a lifetime to help a vigilante full time. When would I bring this up? If I would've told him at first, I thought he would've seen me at trouble. Once we were close enough that I knew he wouldn't see me like that, it would've felt like I'd been lying to him."

"I guess I kind of understand." Cisco admitted. "I'm not sure I would've made a different decision."

"Besides, I honestly didn't see it as being that relevant." she added. "So I have two friends who are speedsters. So what? How does that affect anything?"

"I guess that does make sense." Caitlin said, agreeing with Cisco. "Are you going to tell Oliver about any of this?"

"Like I said earlier, I don't see how it matters." Artemis said again. "So no, it would just lead to distrust and confusion."

Wally pulled her over to the side to talk to her privately. "How many other people know I'm alive?" he asked her.

"The original team, Roy, Dinah, and Jay." she told him. "Why?"

"I wanted to see if I could surprise anyone with me not being dead." he said, always the troll.

"You could try to surprise Batman." she joked. "Although I wouldn't recommend it. Everybody will still be surprised, don't worry. Nobody expected you to escape here."

"Felicity!" Caitlin called.

Artemis looked up. "Yeah?"

"Could you hang around a bit more? Cisco called me inside because he figured out Barry's alive, just trapped somewhere."

Artemis shot Wally a warning look, that said not to say anything. "I don't see how I could help. I'm just an IT girl, remember? Plus, Oliver is expecting me to come back and tell him what happened."

"Ok, if you're sure." Caitlin said, a bit disappointed. "Tell Oliver hi for us!"

"Will do." Artemis promised.

If you like this story, I have another story I'm writing called Felicity Crock that has the same idea as this one. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!

Happy Reading!

-LeiaKasta