"The Kind Middle"

Under the Hall of Justice

April 25, 2055

01:40 EST

It was crazy.

It really was. Despite all circumstances, Wally actually fell asleep on the couch.

Artemis looked over him as he slept on the semi-ripped couch, his head layed on the couch arm as he softly snored. After changing into some (relatively) decent clothes and finally getting cleaned up from all the mess he experienced yesterday he was getting settled in.

Well...as settled as he can get.

He opened his mouth slightly as he continued to snore. He had fallen asleep in the dimly lit room that was bathed in light yellow as Artemis looked over him. They had talked for a while before that. It wasn't anything important or timeline destructive, it was just, talking. Remembering the times with the team and all that had happened between all of them in the past 9 months for him.

To her It felt like a lifetime ago.

She couldn't believe it was hers.

Artemis was still sitting up on the other side of the couch, looking at Wally. She had a sad smile on her face. She couldn't imagine how he felt. Alone, scared, and into the unknown of a destroyed world. She was glad he came out relatively unscathed as far as she knew. Still, it was something no one should have experienced. No one.

She stood up slowly, hoping that the squeaky springs wouldn't wake him. She cursed under her breath when she heard a low squeak, her eyes darting to him hoping he wouldn't wake. He didn't.

She grabbed a nearby blanket and placed it on him. It wasn't much to fight the cold that came from the random shifts in weather, but it was enough. She looked at him one last time before she left the room, turning off the lights and shutting the door, locking it.

Dick had left a little while before. He had to help with other stragglers who were living here in one of the other sections of the underground bunker. Bart would have stayed but he had to run for rations. While he couldn't carry a lot, he could always be counted to get the job done. He always wanted to help, it was his best way to do so, despite the toll it took on his body. Not that he would tell anyone that.

Artemis found Dick finishing up serving the last of the stragglers. Most of them were already turned in for the night in the dimly lit rooms of the bunker.

The bunker, while it was under the hall, didn't leave much space wise. While it was very large underground, most of it covered by debris. The interior of the hall above was damaged in a fight against some challenger and most of it fell into the underground. They hollowed out some sections into rooms and created an alternate exit into the sewers, but that didn't leave much for electricity and heat circulation.

Still, it served its purpose. Though for how much longer, no one was sure.

As she quietly walked up behind him, she thought about how she saw a little light in his eyes yesterday, seeing Wally yesterday made them both happy... and scared of what was to come. She was lucky Wally hadn't asked any hard questions, Wally knew the situation and tried his best to control himself and she appreciated that. Still, she was afraid that curiosity would get the best of him. Curiosity and the sense of not being able to do something would do that to someone. It usually did to most people. Adding to the fact sticking him in that room for who knows how long will probably make it worse.

Still, better than him finding out everything from someone else.

"Hiya." Dick said with a little cheer in his voice without even looking up. All this time and she could never sneak up on him. It was like a little game they had, something to keep them on their toes originally, but now there wasn't much to do except stay down here, so this kept them busy, one of the many things that do.

As she went up to him, he was finishing up the prep for the last person who nodded in thanks. He smiled at her as she smiled back.

"Hey yourself." Artemis said back, going behind him and hugging him. He was so warm. "How's it going?"

"Rations are a little low, Bart's doing a double with E shadowing the patrols while working on the presentation, just wish we had more help though."

"Where's L?"

"She finished her shift. Now I guess she's busy, said she had to check something out in one of the other camps before leaving through the sewers. I tried to tell her no but..."

She smirked. "Yeah, I know. She's real stubborn like that. Lots of us are."

Dick laughed lightly, she liked it when he laughed. Not a lot of smiles here after all that's happened. Despite it all everyone tries to do their best. In their own ways. "Well I wouldn't call you that stubborn..."

"Flattery will get you nowhere Grayson."

"Yeah, you're right... You're way more stubborn than that." She playfully punched him in the arm. He playfully pouted. "Hey, worth a shot?"

She rolled her eyes. "Still a dork." She smiled softly at him which he returned.

"It's in the DNA." They began walking to their section of the bunker, her arm wrapped around his.

"You cold?"

With her, never. He thought as he gripped her hand.

"Nope, what about you? How are you 'Mis?"

He looked at her with a little glint of light in his eyes. "I'm fine. I'm just..."

"Tired?"

"Yeah." She wanted to let out a exhasperated chuckle. "I'm tired, really tired."

He looked at her as he stroked the top of her head with his free arm. "Yeah. Me too Art, me too. Hopefully one day we could get some well deserved rest."

She layed her head on his bicep. "Why do I feel like that's never ever going to happen?"

He shrugs. "We are who we are. I guess all we really can do is..."

"Manage?" She grinned.

"Yeah." He smiled as he opened the door to their section of the bunker. He closed the door behind them. "You know Art. When I saw Wally there, for the first time in a long time... I started thinking a lot about them. All of them." He said as he sat on the small single bed, getting his shoes off. She sat right next to him, untying her hair.

"I know. It was easy doing that at first, not thinking about them and just helping people. But when Wally and I were in there, we talked for a while, about the League, the Team. About that crazy first year that they had."

"Yeah, I remember, what was the old saying?.." He said as he stroked his chin. "All Aster and no Dis." He scooted over as he layed down, one hand propping his head up to look at her.

"Didn't know how good it was. The memories. It's all so jarring now thinking about it."

He gave her a half smile. "I know Art. If they were all here, they could have done better. Better than us."

"Maybe. But we don't know that." He nodded hesistantly in agreement with her despite her not entirely sure of it herself. "I feel so bad for Wally. I'm glad that for now he doesn't look at us and see that we're some sort of ghosts of the people he knew."

Dick then took a small sharp breath. "He will eventually. As much as I don't want that to happen, he will." He finally laid down on the small bed, turning to face her. She propped the pillow up as he looked at her, eyes filled with determination with a small glint of uncertainty. "All we can do now Art is focusing on getting him home. Back to the past. Unhurt and safe."

She took a moment to stare at Dick, as she was hoping that it did go the way they both wanted. Wally going back in one piece, unscathed, and completely back to the way he was. And maybe, just maybe the future would be kind. Not this hellhole. But fate is ever rarely so kind.

Dick stretched out his arm, she slowly lifted her head and layed down on it, making a soft noise as she did. "As much I want to believe that. Somehow Dick...I don't think that it's going to go the way we think."

He grabbed her hands, intertwining it with his. His thumb lazily rubbing circles on the top of her hand. "...It usually never does."

"Not without a cost." She sighed. She pulled the small blanket as she slightly wiggled close to him to get warm. He reached to turn off the light. "So what's the plan now?"

"Now... We enjoy the time we have. Because in a couple of hours we're going have to explain a lot to Wally about the theories we have. And..."

"He's not going to like any of them."

His eyes dropped as he nodded. "No Art. He won't."

...

Wasteland, Outside the Underground Entrance

Hours later

Bart ran to the front of the entrance, which was hidden behind the hall and in the forest. He skidded slightly as he forced himself to stop. He dropped the heavy bag of rations from his shoulder to the ground, slightly struggling. He let out an exhausted breath. He was still working on those stops, just like Dad and Aunt Dawn taught him. He shoved that thought out of his head as he looked around before going next to keypad on the floor and pressing the password.

As he waited for the password to be accepted he noticed something. The air was getting colder again. The harsh wind blew against his body. He had shivers sent down his spine. Still he fought it off. He was used to it. He then looked up and saw small black particles of snow.

He raised his hand as he looked at the little black droplet fall slowly onto his palm. He looked at it as it changed into dark water. He wasn't surprised, what else was the color of snow supposed to look like?

He looked around a little bit, there was rubble covering where the hall used to be, practically most of the bunker was underneath that rubble, hidden. He looked over the horizon one last time before he turned to back. The entrance of the bunker opened as he took a small breath, lifting the bag over shoulder. Before he could do so, E walked out.

"Need a hand?" E said as he stuck his right hand out, his left hand began slightly disappearing as it redistributed into his right hand, making it bigger.

Bart took a small breath as he continued to sling the bag over his shoulder. "Thanks, but I'll got it, have to get fit somehow." Bart slightly joked to the bot.

From what Bart could tell E rolled his blueish white eyes. "You can manage later. Plus no one's going to fault you for getting a little help. And I don't think putting your body through the ringer actually gets you fit. Malnourished sure, but fit? I don't think so. Besides I'm literally made to help. Come on Bart. Your biometrics are low. You need your full strength." Bart waited for a moment, thinking. E continued to stick his hand out. "Dude, this requires a lot of focus. I may be a bot, but I can't literally do this forever. Plus you need a break too."

Bart exhaled in defeat at the robot/android, he slowly handed him the bag. "Fine." He said exhausted as he shoved his hands into his pockets as they both walked into the entrance that closed behind them. "Thanks again E." He added as he took off his mask and goggles that wally gave as they walked down the tunnel.

E walked down the stairs as he turned his head to him. "No problemo dude. What are robot butlers for?" He said in a monotone voice, with a small tinge of... something.

Bart turned to him. "You know I don't consider you a butler right? No one does." Bart reaffirmed immediately.

E nodded slowly. "... I know. It's just... easier for me to deal with... this." He looked at his shifting hands made of nanobots. "Helps me be focused. When there's a job to do. And... people to care for."

Bart cracked a small smile, nice to know there was still a lot of human left in there, meaning well in all he does. Even if it doesn't always come out properly. "I know E. I know." E nodded in agreement as they continued down in silence.

They finally reached the bottom of the stairs, where he shut a door behind them. E's big hand dropped the scraps on the table. Bart looked around as turned on the emergency lights, the room being filled with dim red. E turned to him. "How was the run?"

"It was fine." Bart said as he picked up the goggles. "Having Wally's goggles helped. Now I don't get much dust in my eyes." He started cleaning the lenses as E looked at the rations, doing math.

"Glad to hear. Try not to break your new toy."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Bart said as he smiled lightly at the goggles. His new favorite.

"You cold?"

"Nop-" He said before he stopped himself, no point lying to the robot. "Yeah, but I'll be fine."

"Got any wood?"

Bart pointed to the little stack of newspapers lying on the ground around the room. The bunker had multiples around them. Helped with heat. Bart bundled up some of the papers around, placing it near the hard ground far from the other spots with papers. E slowly transformed his hand into the small lazer, aiming it at the paper.

Bart sat next to the fire, warming his hands. "You still have that rod in there?"

"Yeah, but now it's empty." E said as his hand transformed back. E looked at the rations. "I take it the usual places are getting low?"

Bart nodded, furrowing his brows. He ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, may have to find some new sectors to check out."

"We're still mapping out the Reach's routine. Shouldn't be too long before we find some more solid places."

"Still wish I could get more. I know it's not enough, more stragglers coming in every day now. I just wish I could do better." Bart took a small breath.

"Bart." E turned to him. Placing his large hand on his shoulder. "Your best is enough. Don't fault yourself for the circumstances outside your control." Bart hesistantly nodded. "Besides there are others in the sewers running other runs too."

"They're not as fast as me."

"I know. But just because you couldn't find a lot today doesn't mean it's not enough. You're doing your part. Also, I have noticed that there has been a sharp uptick in people coming here for the past week. I was informed that three or four camps were caught by Blue Beetle. One is being checked out by currently."

"Think something's going on? Beetle wasn't able to find these camps before. Why now?"

E narrowed his eye lights. "Mayhaps he's gotten bored, or he has a new toy that he's been using to find runaway and unenslaved humans."

"You mean a new toy with those little surges you sometimes detect? Could be."

"Perhaps. Those surges are... odd. I haven't been able to properly read them. It is... Interesting. Wish I could get a clear reading on it."

"Hopefully you get the chance. What do you think it's doing?"

"My binary guess... It's releasing something into the atmosphere and then pulling it back, collecting particles or something. The side effect being it can locate people."

"Collecting what?"

"Not sure. But if theories are brewing."

"So... why haven't they found us yet?"

"No clue. Could be the bunker's lining reinforcement. But still..."

"Only a matter of time." Bart said worriedly.

"Yeah. Do me a favor, If you see any wood, knock on it for me." Bart nodded. "Speaking of which, if you wanna know. I am working on the holographic demo for Wally."

Bart looked at him as he layed on the couch. "How's that going?"

"Well I am working on it, didn't say I was done."

"Isn't it due in like a few hours? Didn't Dick and Artemis say so?"

"Well... Yeah. But it's kinda hard, especially with my limited processing. But I'll get it done, I usually work well under pressure. At least I think I did. But on the semi-possible off chance that I don't finish it. What do you think of the etch and sketch alternative?"

Bart raised his eyebrows as he looked at him. "Uh...What's that?"

E's eyes shot up. "It's a-well. It's like a board with two circles and I-wait hang on I have a tool for this I—oh wait," He smacked his head, slightly shifting. "I am a tool." He transformed into a semi-large black board with two circles on the write and left. His eyes began to draw lines on the board. "Like this."

Bart looked at him quizzically. "You're going to transform into that to explain paradoxes?" Bart deadpanned.

"...Yeah sure, why not? I'm mean it was just a thought. I could turn into a board but I dunno. I like etch-n-sketches. Plus Bart, holograms are hard. And they require lots of focus. Solid objects aren't that hard, well they are but not as bad as holograms. And usually they aren't appreciated enough. I... point is I might just whatever is best."

Bart shrugged as he layed down. "Sounds good to me. I'm sure it'll be fine either way."

"Swanky." E shifted back.

Bart looked behind E, the door to Wally's bunker was still closed. "Is he still sleeping in there?"

E nodded as he started working on the holograms. "I don't know how he does it."

"Sleep? He's a speedster who used up all his energy. How long has he been out?"

"Few hours since Artemis talked to him. I think 12 or something. Plus he hasn't been outside that bunker the entire time he's been here. Must be nuts." Soon they both heard a loud yawn coming from the room. "Actually... I think he's just wakin' up."

Bart stood up immediately but slightly fatigued. "I'll keep him company."

"You sure? You need some rest."

Bart shrugs. "I'll rest when I need to."

E looked at him for a moment before nodding. "...Aight. Just keep it short. Don't want you passing out in case something happens."

Bart began walking to the door. "When does something ever happen?"

E shrugged in agreement as Bart entered Wally's room.

...

Wally woked up groggy. His eyes barely able to open as he turned on the couch. "Zzz... No mom, I don't want to visit her-zzz."

It was only until he fell off the couch that he realized he wasn't home.

He stood up immediately before he remembered.

"Oh yeah. The future. Right."

"Hey." The voice said behind, he turned around immediately.

"Oh hey Bart. Just drifted off for a bit." Wally said as he looked around for a clock.

"If you consider a bit almost 15 hours then you and I have very different definitions. Must be a past thing, its cool cuz." Bart joked.

"Yeah, must be. Truth is I wasn't sure if I could sleep at all, I'm just glad that I had Art and Dick here. And now I have a cousin, which is cool."

Bart smiled proudly. "Feeling's mutual Cuz."

Wally scratched his head. Tapping his foot. "Hey... if you don't mind me asking-"

"Depends on what you're asking. Can only tell you vague answers, don't want any spoilers to crash the timestream."

"Crash it? If only." Wally said below his breath, Bart barely heard him. "No, I was just wondering... how-how old are you?"

"I..." Bart said, thinking for a moment. "I think I'm twelve. I remember my dad saying I was 9 a while back in one of the camps. So I just assumed the day he told me was my birthday. It's kinda hard to keep track when the Reach don't give out calendars, you know?"

Wally immediately regretted asking. "Well you look kinda older so I just assumed 14 or 15. Which brings me to my next question... If that's fine with you?"

"I'm guessing the question is where are my folks if they have the same abilities as me?"

"I mean if you don't want to it's fine, I'd understand because of how painful it could be, I just... Well, you seem pretty competent with how you handle your speed, and you don't tire as easily. And I don't think the Reach would allow speedsters to train."

Bart scracthed his head. "Trust me, I do tire. Just, gotta find the motivation to keep going." Wally nodded, thinking he should stop asking. "As for your other question..."

"You don't have to tell me."

"No, it's fine..." It wasn't directly tied to immediate future of Wally. It was fine. "They're probably gone. I don't know about my dad. Last I saw my dad was about two years ago. Two and a half years ago for my Aunt Dawn. My mom died in one of the camps. Never got to give her a proper burial."

"I'm sorry." Wally said as he walked over to him to hugged him. Bart leaned into his shoulder, before pulling back.

"Don't be man. Wasn't you who got them diced. They taught me a lot about what I know with my speed, but... But not a day goes by I wouldn't trade my speed just to see them again."

Wally looked at the little kid. No wonder he looked older, he suffered through so much. Yet he keeps pulling through. Wally couldn't imagine how he gets through it everyday. "Still, I'm sorry. I can't imagine what I'd do if I lost my loved ones like that. So you think they're no chance they could be alive?"

Bart immediately answered. "No, I'm sure. I saw them get taken away by the Reach myself. Only way I didn't get moded was because I followed what they said, not use my speed. A few months later Dick and Artemis found me on a reach ship being transported, and I've been trying help out ever since."

"I'm sorry Bart. Wish I could help... Somehow."

"You will. By getting back to the past. And... maintaining the timeline."

"Maintain the timeline? You mean after all of this? And pretend it just doesn't exist? Not even try to fix it?"

"Yeah. Sorry. Rules are rules. You'll understand in a few more hours when we present. Though hopefully the etch -n-sketch gets the point across." Wally looked at him confused. "We don't have a marker board. Get some more sleep, alright. It's still late." Bart said as he walked away, hoping Wally wasn't going to ask another question.

"Bart, wait." Bart slowly turned to see Wally with a look of determination but slightly worried about what he was going to say. "What... What happened to the Flash?"

Bart debated on what to say, for a brief moment he had no idea. This was a mistake now, Bart knew it. Wally knew it too, it just slipped. If he said nothing, Wally would look into to it and wonder. If he said he died, it would lead to more questions about how and why. A speedster was caught in a place where he had no direction to run to.

He already took too long. Best to say something now. He had no choice.

He looked at Wally, taking a small breath. "He died." He said, keeping it as vague as possible with how he delivered it.

Wally was in deep thought. Bart wanted to say something. To add to it. But he wasn't sure what to do. After a few moments Wally

spoke. "How do you do it?"

Bart was caught off guard. "Do what?"

"That. Continue like nothing's bugging you. Like the whole world isn't just a pile of ash outside."

Bart looked down. "The whole reason I can do this is because the whole world is ash outside. I can't be focused on mourning, no matter how much I want to, and trust me, I want to. But... the world's bigger than all of us. And maybe, just maybe, it'll be different one day. But for now, all we can do is settle."

Wally looked at him in disbelief. "That... That sounds like a tough way to live."

"Yeah... but it's a good way not to get moded though. Point is, all we can do is our best, that's all it is really. Now get some sleep, okay? We all need some."

"...Okay." Wally said, despite looking more awake now then ever. "Hey Bart..."

"Yeah?..." Bart held his breath as he felt his heart skip.

Wally looked down. As if he was trying to control himself. "...I'm-I'm sorry you never got a chance to meet Uncle Barry. He was a good man."

Bart let a small sigh escape his mouth. "I'm sure he was Barry. Gramps must have been a great one. Good night."

Bart walked out the door, but not before seeing Wally look at him, his face turning sad as he sat down on the couch trying to sleep.

Bart immediately closed the door, he slumped down on the concrete wall, not caring about the slight debris scratching his back as he covered his mouth to let out a shallow breath. He had hoped he didn't do anything that gave anything away.

...

Few Hours Later

"Ughhh... Dick?" Artemis said as she looked to the side next to the small bed and saw there was empty space. If he wasn't here... She saw a figure on the floor. "Hmm. E you here?"

E stood up from the floor near the door. "Hey Arty." Artemis turned to him still tired. "Good afternoon to you."

"Good morn—afternoon." She corrected herself. "What's up? You seen Dick?" She said nonchalantly as she stretched out, E turned to the wall.

"Yeah actually, he's taking care of some stragglers. Didn't wanna wake you up. Dick asked me to watch you for a bit and tell you the archery range is ready for you. So I just doozed off and waited until you woke."

Artemis laughed as she sat up. "Heh, yeah, as always, I would have done the same. Help a girl up?" Artemis said as E walked next to her, putting an arm out. She grabbed it without even looking as she stood up, this was routine. How are you?"

"Not well. Not well at all. You Arty?" E said as they walked to the bench with clothes.

"Yes. And Nope."

"Huh." E shrugged. "Must be the weather."

Artemis chuckled. "Heh. Yeah. Must be." Artemis changed into her clothes as E walked away from her, facing the wall.

"They're outside Arty. Also, Wally is awake, he's talkin' to Bart about chicken whizzies." Artemis smiled, nice to see Wally has other company, and Bart's smart, he knows what to do.

"That's good." Artemis dreaded as she asked the following question. "It presentation time yet?"

"No, not yet." Artemis let out a small sigh of relief. "Biometrics indicate you're nervous."

"E... you're doing it again."

"Sorry, habit." She rolled her eyes. "I assume you're nervous to present?"

Artemis nodded. "Yup." What they told Wally today, well she wasn't sure if he was ready to hear that he couldn't do anything.

"If it's any consolation, just pretend the audience is in their underwear. Should knock the nerves right out."

She smiled lightly. "You know, I'm not sure that really works."

"If you want I can print up some cue cards." He chuckled. "Maybe transform myself into a huge stress ball?"

She rolls her eyes. "E. Thanks... for the light perk-me-up."

"Anytime, Arty." E finally turned to face her. Placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hopefully he takes it well. Well, as well as expected."

"I hope so too."

Artemis then heard some shouting from the door behind them.

...

"—they got captured! Shouldn't we do something?!" The girl who was barely over forty, but looked tired and rugged with dirty hair that couldn't be distinguished between either black or dark red remarked to Dick. Luckily it was just the two of them while the stragglers were in a different section.

"Li-Look," Dick pinched his nose. "we're taking as many stragglers as we can here. But whatever's going on, it looks like Beetle's has a new toy. And I'm pretty sure you can see we don't have the man power to fight him, maybe barely hold him off."

"But we have to do something! Anything. People who were freed are getting placed into camps and all we can do is nothing. To top it off, you've been more focused on whatever's behind that closed door that you haven't told us about instead of figuring out how to get the stragglers out of there!"

"I agree with you, we should do something, we have to. But for now we just can't. We barely know Beetles patterns and we don't have enough space to house everybody. Bart's been running double shifts mapping the patterns where they aren't present but we can do only so much. I know you want to help. I do. But we just can't."

"So what? We're just going to let them get recaptured? Taken as prisoner? People who resisted were killed. We can't just stay here and do nothing."

Dick let out a sigh. Lowering his voice. "We're not doing nothing. We're biding our time. There's a difference. We've had this conversation before."

"Yeah, we had. And it's only a matter of time until they find us here."

Dick let out an exhausted breath. "...I'm sorry. We can't save anyone if we try to save everyone. If we're going to deliver a hit to the Reach, we better make sure it's big and it counts. And I'm sorry to say that we don't have anything like that. Not without delivering a big blow to ourselves."

She crossed her arms. "You know, the real Nightwing would have found a way. The real Justice League would have found a way to save everyone."

"Hey!" Artemis said as her and E walked out the door of her section. "Cool it, alright, no need to fight."

Dick turned to her, not looking at Artemis. "Well, they're not here, sorry. I wish they were, but they're not." He said, his voice strained.

She looked at him "Yeah. I know. Sorry." She said to him, slightly regretting it as she walked away.

Artemis grabbed Dick's hand, intertwining it with hers as she raised his chin with her free hand to look at him.

His eyes looked... tired. So tired. She knew as well as he did that they both hated not being able to do anything, to not even try. E waited for a moment before patting him lightly on back.

"Is everything alright?" A voice came out from behind them as Wally peeked his head out the door. Bart tried to stop him as he held him off, before Wally got the better of him and just opened the door immediately.

"Yeah Walls, just a little spat. Don't worry about it."

"You sure?" Wally said with worry as he tried to step out the door, Bart stopped him halfway by holding his shoulder, with an apologetic look on his face. With this and what Bart just told him about what Wally asked this morning, they had both made mistakes, the had to be more careful.

"Yeah man. Just. Stay in there. We'll explain what we need to."

Wally hesistantly stepped back into his room.

Dick muttered slightly under his breath. He remembers vaguely that look on his face, that look of sadness of not being able to do anything, and using it do something. He shouldn't have seen that. Hopefully he didn't hear everything.

"E..."

"Yeah Dick?"

"Biometrics on Wally?"

"You sure man?" Dick and Artemis nodded. E sighed reflexively. "Elevated heart rate, blood pressure slightly above level, pupil dilation and eye twitches indicates rage and focus. Other scans show he's scared, angered, and determined, compared to before when he was just scared."

This wasn't good. Seeing the world was bad enough, but after hearing Dick arguing and Bart's almost slipup, they weren't sure what was to happen anymore. He shook his head. "You done with the presentation?"

E nodded almost sadly, he was done for a while now. "Yeah man, it's done. You-you sure you wanna go through with this?"

Artemis looked at Dick. "Do your thing and preface it a bit. We have no choice. Wally needs to know the stakes now. And he needs to know why he can't leave here and just change the future. Because if he will, he could not only destroy the space time continuum..."

Artemis looked down sadly.

"...He could die, probably for nothing."

"I'll...I'll try to streamline it."

Dick nodded hesistantly as he turned to Wally's door.

"Thanks. Now let's get to it."

...

A/N: This chapter was originally at least a 14k chapter, but it would have been wayyy too long.

Some notes:

•I believe I am at the halfway point, should be done, though I'm not sure since I split up this chapter. Hopefull its good enough. :)

•Next chapter is gonna be a little spotty and sci-fi-ish with lots of popular culture and sciency stuff about time travel and paradoxes. I'll try and accomodate as much as I can.

•I'm not sure I'll finish this before YJ season premiere, maybe after premiere, still on vacation. But I do intend to finish it.

•Also to all who reviewed, favorited, followed, and messaged me, Thank you! You make me feel great, hopefully you guys had a swell holidays and enjoy the rest of this story!

•Also had to repost, writing on the phone on the go formats it weirdly.

REVIEWS RESPONSES:

tjgrove: Thank You!

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