It was quiet inside the jet, safe for the muffled sound of the engine, as they flew high over Metropolis. J'onn was a steady presence beside it, sometimes popping into view, depending on his flight path.

His ribs were still aching faintly so he sat slumped sideways, as far as the safety belt allowed it, in his seat.

"So..," Wally began to catch Bruce's attention. "What did J'onn show you?" He could have seen it. Should have really, as the alien had chosen to contact him.

"I'll explain it when we meet the others."

Wally meant to cross his arms in a petulant way but soon discovered it to be a bad idea because of his ribs. Bruce wouldn't have seen it anyway. Instead he huffed, hoping that Bruce could hear him.

"What, are you guys best friends now? He wanted to talk to me." It was stupid. The world was apparently being invaded and he played the part of a petty child. He should have just stayed silent.

"..that's why I don't like him." Bruce sounded reluctant.

Was he…"Are you jealous?" Now that was...that was alright. Because Wally had been slightly worried for real a second ago. Bruce didn't do chummy with people after five seconds. Weird Vulcan mind meld or not.

"No."

"You are! Aw Bats, don't worry," Wally smiled. If only these seats weren't practically sewn into the jet, then he might have hugged Bruce from behind. Instead he had to stay vocal. "I love you, not him."

Bruce seemingly didn't react. Well, maybe his mouth thinned in displeasure (for being found out) or curled up in a pleased smile? It was difficult to tell by staring at the back rest in front of him.

Instead the jet tilted softly to the side and Wally could feel the stabilizers activating as they landed wherever they've gone.

The landing was smooth as ever and Bruce was the first one standing up and getting out. Once up he turned to Wally and took one of Wally's arms and wound his own around Wally's torso. Then he was being pulled up and out of the jet. "Thanks."

Bruce nodded and set him down on the ground beside him, giving a reassuring squeeze to his shoulder.

J'onn landed next to Wally but stared up, which prompted him to look up as well. The others, except Superman, were closing in as well.

It was really strange to see so many floating people around. Before he had known Bruce, he had only ever seen Supes fly past Central once. Now he was in the middle of these...awesome people. And his ribs were still healing. A great first impression for their first real get together.

All of this should have gone differently.

"Where is Superman?" Green Lantern asked into their round.

"On his way." How Bruce knew that was beyond Wally. Maybe he just speculated and hoped for the best. Hardly the other's style but life was full of surprises.

"Everyone, this is J'onn. A Martian," Bruce introduced their newest alien ally. "He has encountered these...parasites before."

"We used to call them White Martians," J'onn briefly explained. "They aren't from Mars but tend to assimilate the beings they conquer and as such took on similar features to a Martian….and our abilities."

So parasites wasn't that bad of a word.

"Your abilities?" Came from above as Superman came to land between Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl, greeting everyone with a serious nod. Metropolis must be bad off.

"Telepathy," J'onn counted off. "Invisibility, shape shifting and phasing through...everything." He looked at Wally for a moment as he mentioned the last one. "They have assimilated those abilities as well and have been imitating your leaders a while now. Just as they have done with Mars."

"The weapons…," Wally murmured and glanced at Bruce, to see if the other too had thought about it. Only that everyone was looking at him, waiting for him to go on. "Ah..uhh," he cleared his throat, suddenly nervous. Bruce usually understood what his ramblings meant.

Or knew when they weren't important.

"The news, do you remember?" Wally asked in Bruce's direction. "They were talking about getting rid of weapons. We found it strange but.."

"No one shot at the meteorite," Bruce agreed. Meteorites this size would have been seen long before they hit Earth. And probably shot down. "Flash is right," Bruce turned to the others. "They must have been here for some time then."

"What do we do?" Hawkgirl asked, her wings ruffled and twitching while she held her maze.

"What did you find?" Bruce asked into the round.

Wonder Woman spoke up. "They dislike sunlight. We actually got through the wall before the smoke started. They fled into the shadows before they managed to get us out again."

Grim information. If Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl and Green Lantern combined couldn't do anything to them, if all of them together meant nothing. Then what could they do? Wally had fought many battles but none like this.

Tense silence filled the group, everyone probably having reached the same conclusion. If none of them had a good plan then...then what? Dread filled Wally's stomach and...he couldn't stand this. If they were going down, then with a mood.

"So they're like vampires?" He asked into the round, earning him startled and reprimanding looks. Bruce might have sighed but he was too sneaky about it.

"J'onn showed me what happened on Mars a long time ago," Bruce began. Finally. "They paralyzed them with a gas, made from a Martian plant."

"Yes," nodded J'onn. "But this plant doesn't exist anymore, nothing on Mars does…." J'onn trailed of, his eyes taking on a longing look. To think Earth was going to end up the same…

Wally glanced at Bruce for an answer, some kind of solution. But all that followed was more bad news.

"Unfortunately, nothing on Earth can imitate the plant. I suggest we split up. I need to look inside of one of the meteorites. I need more information on what happens in there." Bruce still sounded like he had a plan, even when he didn't have one. "You broke into the one in Paris?" He directed the question to Wonder Woman.

She nodded but Hawkgirl lifted her maze. "Yes. It was difficult but we could force our way through."

"Do you think it's still there? The hole?"

"I suppose…"

Bruce nodded and looked at each of them one after another. "J'onn and Wonder Woman. We will go to Paris and see what we can find. The rest of you will stay here and try to contain the damage. This one seems like the biggest of these rocks or ships." He must have sensed that Wally wanted to protest and go with him because he couldn't even speak up. "Your ribs are still in the process of healing. I need you here helping out."

He needed Wally safe is what he meant to say, Wally knew. But Wally too wanted Bruce to be safe and right now? Right now, nowhere was safe.

Was it macabre that he wanted to go down with Bruce beside him?

With a defeated sigh Wally nodded. "Fine."

The others watched this with interest but snapped their eyes to Bruce when he turned to the Batwing. "Let's move out," he declared with no room to protest.

Probably because no one had any other ideas.

Wally looked at the other three staying with him, Supes, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl. They briefly watched the Batwing take off before Superman made the first move to fly back to Metropolis. They followed without a word.

Wally was the first one in the city as he hadn't slowed down for the others.

People were still running and hiding and panicking.

Rolling his shoulders, he too felt kind of closer to nervousness than he would have liked, and started to move. Right now, the only real help the Flash could provide was to get people away.

After taking the third person to the outskirts of the city Wally noticed a military checkpoint. So they weren't completely out of the loop. Yet.

The next person he brought with him he directly placed at the checkpoint. There he briefly met the eyes of a soldier. He nodded at him and the other did the same. Perfect.

They'd see to these people to the best of their abilities.

At least he hoped so.

It was fairly easy to continue this pattern as the invaders were stupidly slow compared to him. Whenever they did shoot at him he was gone by the time the projectile met its mark.

After a while of doing this Wally came by Green Lantern who was fighting off three of these things while shielding two civilians.

"Lower the shield, I will get them out!" Wally called from the other side of the battlefield. He would have liked to knock on the shield for emphasis but wasn't sure if it was made to hurt as well.

But he didn't have to wait long. Green Lantern glanced at him and opened part of the shield. Wally rushed in and snatched the first civilian and murmured reassurances before zipping away.

The shield collapsed when he came back for the second person. He didn't linger to see what had happened as he whisked the woman away.

After that he could focus on helping Green Lantern.

Wally didn't want to call out, since he didn't want more attention of them but...where had the other gone? Looking around, Wally went on some rubble for higher ground to see more.

"Flash!" There. Lantern had gotten behind a wall into some..goo.

"Ew, what's that?!" Wally scoffed weirded out as he stopped right at the edge of it. It was pastel yellow and sticky, judging by the way it clung to Lantern.

"I don't wanna know," Lantern replied as he held out one hand, his other limbs stuck in the goo, toward Wally.

He barely reached it without falling into the thing itself. "Can't you just..ugh," Wally wheezed as he finally got a firm hold on the other's hand and pulled. "Use your ring?" He finished as Lantern came a bit closer to the edge and Wally could grab his whole arm.

Lantern didn't reply as they both struggled to get him out.

He was pretty sure they would have made it in the next century or so when Superman descended from above and simply grabbed Lantern by the shoulders and placed him beside Wally. Just like that.

"Something happened," said Supes and nodded toward the crash site. "The noises inside of that thing changed. It can't mean anything good."

What else could be in store? Killer robots (he decided it had to be either giant aliens or vehicles and the latter made him less uncomfortable) and smoke that blocked out the sun wasn't enough? Wally really wanted to tell Bruce. He could just hope that his boyfriend didn't experience whatever happened here as well. While being in such a thing.

"Maybe we-" Wally didn't get far as Wonder Woman butted in over the com.

"We're on the way back. We need to reconvene. Stay put and wait for us."

Supes glanced strangely at Wally before he said "Understood."

Why had Supes looked at him like that? And why hadn't Bruce said that they were coming, it was his com system after all.

Maybe it got damaged?

Frowning at the lack of information, Wally with Lantern at his side, moved to the side where a building had collapsed. They were practically hiding for now. Somehow Hawkgirl had found them while they moved into the ruins and remained with them. She looked as frustrated as he felt.

Sighing, Wally remained at the edge of their hiding spot, glanced out and just...looked. There was chaos and death. People were dying out there. Had probably died already. And what could they do?

Nothing.

Unsatisfied he turned back and joined the other's, nervously waiting for some good news.

They didn't need to wait too long as Wonder Woman and J'onn soon landed close to them. Bruce must have tracked the communicators.

Glanced from both of them up into the sky, Wally searched for the well-known shape of Batwing. Or the sound of the jet engines. He must be running late.

With an uneasy stomach he looked into the group and then at J'onn. "Bats is running late for once?" He faked his enthusiasm. As if it were an inside joke.

Bruce could be anywhere.

J'onn met his stare, his face carefully blank.

No.

"I'm sorry," J'onn said.

No.