Wow, it's been so long since I've posted...anything. I'm in completely new fandoms now. It's just...weird.
Anyway, enjoy this bit. Got the idea after I came up with the idea for a 'Ginger Squad,' featuring Lian Harper, Wally West Jr, Ellie Grayson (Dick and Barbara), and Jonathan Kent (Conner and M'gann), all of them kids of heroes from the team. But then I realized the timeline just did not work out for the four of them to be a team together and it all kinda fell apart. So I came up with this instead.
Ginger Invasion
"So...what are we looking for exactly?" Flash asked as he turned full circle in the clearing he and Green Lantern had been transported into. They were in a forest, somewhere in Oregon if he remembered correctly, the closest town several miles away.
"A source for the anomaly," Batman replied through the coms.
"Yeah, but what does that mean? What's it look like?"
"It could be anything," the Dark Knight answered. "Just look for something out of place. Something that could cause the energy readings the Watchtower picked up."
"Yeah, that's tons of help," Flash muttered to himself. "You got anything?" he asked Green Lantern, who was scanning the trees with his ring.
"Just some residual energy from the anomaly," GL replied. "Whatever is was seems to have dissipated, and I can't detect any harmful effects."
"And we have no idea what this energy surge was?" Flash asked, zipping around from tree to tree, quickly scanning the area before moving on.
"It looks familiar," Batman told him. "But I haven't found any matches yet."
"Great." Flash huffed, racing back to GL to see if he'd spotted anything from the air.
"Still nothing," Green Lantern said as his ring completed another scan of the area. When nothing came up, they moved on to the next section to continue their search.
"How do we even know there's something to find?" Flash wondered. "What if there was just some random energy surge and then nothing?"
"It had to come from somewhere," GL replied.
"But it, whatever it is, could have come from somewhere else. Or maybe it was-"
"Flash!"
Both heroes whirled around at the call, GL with his ring raised and Flash poised to run. Except that voice, it didn't sound threatening. It sounded...young.
"Flash, up here!" They turned again, following the voice to a little figure sitting high up in one of the trees.
"Whoa, hold on there kid!" Flash exclaimed, zipping to the base of the tree. "Hang tight, we'll have you down in a minute!"
"It's okay," the kid said, a little girl by the sound of it. "I can do it," she said, and suddenly she was jumping from branch to branch, flipping in the air once before landing gracefully on her feet.
Blue eyes blinked up at them with relief, a smile breaking across the child's face. She looked to be no older than six or seven, with short, curly red hair framing her face and freckles dotting her nose and cheeks. She was wearing a tiny Wonder Woman tee, which Flash thought was utterly adorable but also a little surprising because he wasn't aware there even were Wonder Woman t-shirts. She was still a fairly new hero, after all.
"Um…" GL looked a little at a loss at the little girl in front of him. "Uh, where did you come from?"
The little girl shrugged. "I don't know. I was with Wally and Lian and suddenly I was here. I was really scared, but it's okay, because you found me!" she exclaimed with a smile, clearly at ease with the two heroes.
Flash did a double take at the name she mentioned, but quickly put it from his mind. It was just a coincidence.
"Did you find the source of the anomaly?" Batman's voice asked over the coms.
"Uh…" Flash frowned. "We found a...kid?"
"I think...she's the source of the anomaly," GL said after giving her a quick scan with his ring. "She has residual energy identical to the energy the anomaly gave off."
"What are you talking about?" the girl asked, her frown returning.
"If that's true then you should bring her to the Watchtower for further analysis," Batman said, and Flash winced at his wording. She wasn't some science project, she was a little girl and-
"Flash?" The girl was starting to look worried, and in an instant Flash had her scooped up in his arms. She didn't seem to mind, even wrapped her arms around his neck.
"It's okay," he told her. "We're just going to go on a little trip." He tapped his coms and said, "Three to the Watchtower." He still didn't like this, but it wasn't like he could just leave her out here in the woods by herself anyway.
"Standby," Batman grunted.
Another moment and the familiar tingle that came from the Watchtower transporter raced down Flash's spine. She held the girl tightly in his arms, knowing that the teleporter could sometimes leave you a little dizzy if you're not used to it. When they reappeared on the Watchtower, however, the girl seemed surprisingly fine, and not at all alarmed by the sudden change in location.
Everyone was gathered in the control room waiting for them, clearly interested in what they had found. Instantly, all eyes were on the girl, but she didn't seem bothered. Instead, she calmly looked around the room, as if looking for someone. And then she spotted Batman.
"Grandpa!" she exclaimed, wiggling out of the Flash's arms and racing over to the caped crusader. She crashed into his legs, wrapping her arms as far as she could around him and hugging tight.
Now, it should be noted that nothing really phases Batman. At least, not anymore. He knows three aliens, a guy who calls a race around the world nothing more than a morning jog, an Amazonian warrior princess, and a space cop with a magic glowing ring. He's fought off monsters, meta-humans, aliens, evil witches, and more. He's visited other planets, seen people come back from the dead, and once dated a centuries old assassin who's father wants to destroy the world. But this? This was something else. And no matter how hard he tried, Batman just couldn't keep the look of complete and utter surprise from his face.
The little girl pulled away to look up at him and said, "Grandpa, what's going on?"
Batman, for once in his life, was completely speechless. He had to mentally kick himself to stop staring at...at his granddaughter, apparently, and ask, "What do you remember last?"
The girl frowned and replied, "Well, I was with Wally and Lian-" There was that name again. "And then, I'm not really sure. There was a big boom, I think, and lots of light, and then I was all alone and I tried calling Mommy with the special coms that Uncle Tim made me, but it didn't work. But then Flash and Green Lantern found me! Do you know what happened? Are Wally and Lian okay?"
"Um…" Has Flash ever seen Batman stutter? He didn't think so.
Batman looked around almost desperately, until Wonder Woman sighed and stepped forward, bending to that she was on the girl's level and saying, "Come, Little Sister. Let's get you something to eat while we sort this out, okay?"
The girl looked skeptical, but nodded, and Wonder Woman took her hand, leading her out of the control room. "Okay. Can I have some cereal? I really like the-"
And then they were gone. For a tense moment, there was nothing but silence. And then Flash started cracking up, unable to contain his glee any longer. "Oh man!" he exclaimed. "Bats! Why did you tell us you have kids?"
"Because I don't," Batman grumbled in reply, crossing his arms. And scary Bats was back.
"Well, she seemed quite convinced that you do," Superman said.
"And she seemed familiar with us, as well," GL added. "At least, she seemed familiar with the Flash."
"She mentioned a Wally and a Lian," Batman noted. He turned to the Flash and said, "Ring any bells?"
Everyone turned to him, and Flash sighed. Of course Batman knew his secret identity. Of course.
"No," he answered. "It doesn't. But she asked if this Wally and Lian were okay, so she couldn't have meant me."
"I'm sorry, I'm a little lost," Hawkgirl cut in. "Did I miss something?"
Another sigh from the Flash, but he supposed there wasn't much point in hiding anymore. "My name is Wally."
"Really?" GL started to smirk.
"Yeah, really," Flash huffed. "But that was probably just a coincidence. Especially since I don't know any Lians."
"Maybe not here," Batman said.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean, I think this girl is from another dimension."
"Another dimension?" J'onn wondered. "That seems...far-fetched."
"It would make sense, though," Batman insisted. "Like Green Lantern said, she was familiar with us, and didn't seem bothered by being on the Watchtower. She asked me about this 'Wally and Lian,' as if I would know who they are. And lastly, I found a match for the energy readings from the site of the anomaly. It's the same as when Flash, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern returned from the alternate dimension with the Justice Guild of America." He conveniently left out the part where she called him "grandpa," but Flash supposed that was implied. "I suspect that this 'Wally and Lian' were watching her when something happened and she got caught in the crossfire, ending up here."
"So, she could be talking about an alternate dimension me?" Flash wondered. "But then why wouldn't she recognize me as the Flash?"
"She might not know you are the Flash," Batman supplied. "Or, perhaps you aren't the Flash in that dimension."
"Or she's talking about a completely different Wally."
"Considering the circumstances, I find that unlikely," Batman replied. "But, yes, that is also a possibility."
"So what do we do with her?" Superman asked.
"We question her more, to verify if she is, in fact, from another dimension," Batman answered. "And then we find a way to get her home."
"Or we wait for alternate dimension Grandpa Bats to come tearing through the dimensions looking for his lost granddaughter," Flash suggested. At the looks the others gave him, he said, "What? C'mon, I know you're all curious about alternate Batman's supposed children!"
"I just wanna know who the mom is," GL replied.
Flash snickered and turned to the glaring Batman. "Hey Bats! Is there a Mrs. Bats back in the-"
He was cut off by an alert sounding from the computer. J'onn went to check it, typing away at the keyboard before reporting, "There is another surge of energy, identical to the first."
"More people from another dimension?" Hawkgirl guessed.
"Most likely here to take the girl home," Flash suggested.
"Probable, but we can't be sure that whoever it is won't be hostile," Batman added.
"Agreed," Superman nodded. "If they're what sent the girl here in the first place, they probably won't be friendly. Hawkgirl, Green Lantern and I will check it out."
"Flash, you'll need to watch our...guest while I inform Wonder Woman of the situation," Batman continued.
"Sounds good," Green Lantern said. "Let's go say hi to our neighbors from another dimension."
-0-
It wasn't hard for Superman, Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern to find the source of the anomaly. The minute they were teleported down, they immediately heard frantic calls coming from up followed the voices to a clearing, where a girl with a bow and quiver of arrows strapped to her back was calling out for an 'Ellie.'
"Excuse me," Superman said, only to be immediately cut off when the girl whirled around, bow suddenly in her hands and drawn. She looked to be around 18 or 19, with bright red hair pulled back into a braid.
"Wow there," Green Lantern said, hands raised. "We don't mean you any harm."
Before she could reply, something zipped into their field of vision, and suddenly a boy who looked only a little younger than she was in front of them, eyes wide and panicked. He also had red hair, oddly enough.
"Justice League!" he exclaimed. "Haveyouseenalittlegirlanywhere? She'sthistall, hasredhairandblueeyes, respondstoEllie,Robin,orLittleWing. Canyoupleasehelpusshe'sonlysixyearsoldohmygodUncleDickisgoingtokillus."
"Wally!" the girl shouted, breaking his rant. "Slow down! We can't understand a word you're saying!" She had replaced her bow on her back and walked towards them, placing a hand on the other boy's shoulder and saying, "Sorry about that. We're a little on edge. I highly doubt you could've understood Kid Mouth over here, but we're looking for a little girl, red hair, likes to climb things. Have you seen her?"
The three of them looked them over for a moment. Both teenagers, not in any kind of hero costume, but the kid, Wally, was definitely a speedster (and if he really is the Flash, then that would make sense) and the girl's bow looked real enough. But they were teenagers. So young. Maybe they were kids of heroes? That didn't make sense in Wally's case, but the little girl on the Watchtower did say she was Batman's granddaughter, so…
"Who are you two?" Hawkgirl asked, because kids or not, they still needed to make sure they weren't a threat.
"I'm Lian," the girl said. "This is Wally. Or, Speedy and Kid Flash, if you prefer."
"Speedy Jr," Wally added.
"It's just Speedy," Lian countered.
"But it's Speedy Jr," Wally insisted.
"It's just Speedy and I won't stick an arrow up your ass."
Wally gulped and said, "It's Speedy."
Green Lantern stared at the young speedster, trying to determine if he could be a younger Flash. It didn't help that he didn't actually know what the Flash looked like, but he supposed the shape of their mouths were the same.
"Anyway, have you seen her?" Lian asked, looking between the three of them.
"Yeah, we found her," Superman replied. "She's safe."
"Oh thank god," Wally breathed. "There's no telling what would've happened to us if something bad had happened to her."
"We'd probably get buried alive," Lian agreed, almost nonchalantly.
"Or killed and then brought back to life and then buried alive," Wally added. He shuddered, then said, "Bats are scary."
Lian stared at them for a moment before frowning and saying, "Y'know, I don't think we mentioned that we're from a different dimension."
"You seem strangely calm about the whole thing," GL noted.
"Look, my dad's a clone and my cousin here can break the sound barrier in his sneakers," Lian replied. "Nothing really phases us anymore."
"I'm guessing your lack of surprise means you guys already figured out the dimension thing from Ellie," Wally said.
Superman nodded. "We suspected but weren't positive until now."
"Well, it saves us some trouble," Lian sighed. "So, can you take us to Ellie now?"
"Wait!" Wally cried before anyone could respond. "What if they're, like, evil Justice League?"
"Then they'll face the wrath of my mom, your mom, and the entire Bat-clan when they come looking for us," Lian answered. To Superman, she said, "Please take us to Ellie."
Superman turned to his teammates, a silent question in his eyes. They didn't seem dangerous, and the little girl, Ellie, had already mentioned their names. Besides, if they did prove to be dangerous, they were just two kids. None of them really wanted to find out exactly what Lian meant by the "entire Bat-clan" but Superman didn't think it would come to that.
"Alright," Superman said. "We'll take you up." He tapped his com and said, "Five to the Watchtower." A moment later, and all of them were standing on the bridge, J'onn at the controls and Batman and Wonder Woman waiting for them.
"Wow," Wally commented. "That was weird. You guys don't have zeta tubes? I guess this way is more secure. And it's like we're on Star Trek!"
"This is them?" Batman asked, ignoring the boy's question.
"This is them," Lian grumbled at him. "And them can talk."
"That did not make sense."
"Shut up, Wally." Lian turned back to Batman and said, "Where's Ellie?"
"So that's her name?" Wonder Woman asked. "She wouldn't tell us."
"She probably realized something was wrong and knew not to give any personal information out," Wally informed them. "If we hadn't shown up, she probably would've slipped away and try to contact her mom or one of her uncles or something."
"Didn't you say she's six?" GL asked.
"Yes, and her dad is Nightwing and her mom is Oracle," Wally explained. "She's already more of a badass than I could ever hope to be."
"It's alright, cuz," Lian said, patting his shoulder patronizingly. "I make up more than enough badassness for the both of us."
Batman clearly wanted to ask questions, because according to Ellie, either this 'Nightwing' or 'Oracle' was his kid, and Wally also mentioned uncles. But before he could say anything, the door opened and in walked Flash, leading Ellie in by the hand.
"Ellie!" Wally cried, speeding over to scoop the little girl in his arms. "Oh thank god! I thought we'd never see you again! I was so scared!"
"Geez Wally, calm down," Lian sighed. "She's fine."
"You don't get it, Lian," Wally huffed, coming to stand next to her. "I lost my best friend's little sister in another dimension. You can't come back from that. I broke the bro code so utterly that there's nothing left to break. I took the bro code, tore it to shreds, smashed it into tiny pieces, burned it, then launched the ashes into the sun. And then I exploded the sun."
"I feel like this metaphor is falling apart," Lian commented.
"I just hope John will at least tolerate my presence once this is all over," Wally sighed, clutching a giggling Ellie closer to his chest.
"Wow," Flash commented, still standing in the doorway. "I never knew I could be so dramatic."
Wally's face furrowed in confusion. "Huh?"
It wasn't like he could really hide his identity any longer, so he might as well. At least, that's what he was thinking, when he pulled back his cowl, revealing hair just as red as Wally's and an amused smirk on his lips.
Wally frowned, looking confused. "I don't get it."
"Y'know, for a speedster, you really are slow," Lian sighed. "He thinks you're him."
"You're...not me?" Flash asked, suddenly very confused because while this kid didn't look exactly like him, he did look very similar and he was younger anyway so…
"You're Wally West, right?" Lian asked.
"Uh...yeah." There went the rest of his secret identity.
"Yeah, I thought so," Lian nodded. "See, my cousin here is Wally West…Jr."
Wally grinned and waved. "Hiya alternate dimension dad!"
Flash...well, the Flash was frozen. The fastest man alive, and he couldn't move an inch. "You're…" he breathed. "I have…" He gulped. Hard. "Um…" He had so many questions, but the only one he could think of was, "I named you after me?"
"Hm? No, Mom named me after you," Wally replied. "It's kind of a complicated story, involving the speed force and everyone thinking you were dead for a few years, but yeah. Wally West ll."
"...Who's your Mom?"
"Uh...should I really be telling you that?" Wally looked to Lian for help, who only shrugged.
"Don't look at me. This is my first time visiting another dimension."
Wally huffed. "Y'know, Dad's been to another dimension."
"So has my Daddy!" Ellie added.
"This is...too weird," Green Lantern sighed.
"You're telling me," Flash agreed with a nervous laugh.
"Well, you don't have to be weirded out much longer," Lian assured them. "We should probably get back to our own-"
The computer was beeping again. J'onn began typing away, eyes widening after sorting through the screen. "The anomaly. It's coming here this time. It's-"
There was something like a bang, a bright light, and suddenly yet another kid appeared. This one was a young teen boy, around twelve or thirteen, wearing a simple hoodie and dark sunglasses. And he was yet another ginger.
"James!" Ellie squealed, sliding from Wally's grip and racing over to the boy.
"Hey Little Wing!" the boy exclaimed, letting her run into him and wrapping her up in his arms. He was too small to lift her, so he simply held her tight for a moment before straightening to look about the room.
"Heya James," Lian said. "We were just about to get back. What's with the sunglasses?"
"Do you think your brother will ever speak to me again?" Wally added.
"And how did you show up here? We got dumped in the middle of nowhere!"
"Uh...John doesn't know yet 'cause he's in, like, Russia or something on a super secret mission," the boy, James, answered. "So who knows. I was able to teleport directly here because I recalibrated the dimensional coordinates to drop next to your guys' location. And the sunglasses are because I just came from the Watchtower," he continued. He reached up and took the sunglasses off, before folding them and storing them in his jacket pocket. "You know how Gramps is about secret identities. Speaking of-" He turned to Batman and said, "Hey alternate dimension Gramps! I'll tell the whole family you said hi."
"Yeah, I've got to know," Green Lantern cut in. "Batman has a kid...and grandkids?"
"Look, I'm not gonna spoil anything in case this dimension goes the way ours did," James replied with a snicker. "But I will say this: Batman has a habit of adopting stray orphans."
Everyone turned to stare at Batman, and it was suddenly a lot easier for Flash to stop focusing on the redhead in the room who was apparently his son. No, not that redhead, the other-why were there so many redheads?
"It's like a...ginger invasion," the Flash muttered.
"What was that?" Hawkgirl asked.
"These kids! It's like a ginger invasion!" he repeated, this time louder.
"Huh," Wally commented. "You're right...cool!"
"We have to get the rest of the gingers," James added. "My mom, your dad, Lian's dad, Lian's not-dad, Aunt M'gann, Don and Dawn...am I missing anyone?"
"Hawkwoman and Green Lantern-Guy Gardner Green Lantern, obviously," Wally added. "And Jon sometimes has red hair, depending on his mood."
"Oh my god you guys are ridiculous," Lian huffed. "Let's just go home before someone else decides to-"
The beeping was back.
"Why do I always have to be right?" Lian sighed.
Again, there was a bang, a bright light, and then…
Well, she wasn't ginger.
But she was angry. And blonde. And she had a bow on her back. So...
"Wallace Bartholomew West!" the woman shrieked, marching over to him.
"Oh." Wally gulped. "Hi...mom."
"Don't you 'hi mom' me!" she growled. "You went off and zapped yourself to another dimension after you were expressly ordered not to!"
Lian snickered. "Somebody's in trouble," she singsonged, until the woman reeled on her.
"Don't even get me started on you, young lady!" she shouted. "Not only were you ordered to stay put, but I expressly remember you being grounded!"
She turned again, this time facing James and Ellie, ready to chew them out at well…
But then her face softened and she said, "Ellie, sweetie, I'm glad to see you're alright. James, everything is okay?"
James nodded, a smirk on his face. "We were just planning our ginger takeover."
"Ginger...what?"
"We're all ginger, Mom!" Wally exclaimed, hoping to distract her from her rage. "Where's Dad? He needs to be here 'cause he's ginger too! And he could meet Dad!" He pointed to the Flash, who still had his cowl down and a look of absolute bewilderment on his face.
The woman (they still hadn't caught her name), rolled her eyes. "Wally, you know that your father is off-world with Nightwing. Now let's get going. I think I'll let Damian decide your punishment…"
"What? No, Mom, you can't!" Wally cried. "He's worse than Batman! He'll send us to hell! Or worse, he'll send his legion of assassins to hunt down!"
"He doesn't have a legion of assassins. Now, let's go! James, you got the devie?"
"Right here!" the boy replied with a grin, tapping something on his wrist. A portal suddenly opened up behind him, similar to a boom tube. "Bye everyone!" he yelled.
"Bye-bye!" Ellie echoed, and the two of them jumped in.
"This is all your fault," Lian grumbled to Wally as they stepped through.
The woman paused before entering, turning to face the Justice League. "Sorry for the commotion," she said. "And thanks for not being evil or something. And Wally!" She turned to the Flash, a smirk on her lips. "My name is Artemis. Artemis Crock. Call me!" With that, she disappeared, and the portal gone behind her.
A dopey grin spread across the Flash's features. "Guys, I think I'm in love," he declared, before marching out of the room.
I originally had a much sadder version, where Wally never came back from his...ceasing and then when Justice League Flash pulls back his cowl Wally Jr. would just kinda freeze before running away because that was his dad but not actually and he'd never actually met his dad and then Lian would run after him leaving six year old Ellie to tell the story of her "Daddy's best friend." If you're interested in that version, maybe I'll finish it and post it. I dunno. We'll see how I feel.