This is story made of six short stories, each focusing on a Lord. We will see new identities forged, old personas fall…and redemption that can only come from death. It will not always be happy, but in the end, each of them will find what they need.

The Father becomes the Son, The Son becomes the Father.

Wally

'God…this place is a mess.'

John Stewart looked around apartment, emotions flooding through him. Anger, sadness, regret, longing, guilt, rage, fear, and just a hint of joy. He always felt a touch of joy here…just a bit. It was here that he could feel the ghost of his friend the strongest, standing just out of sight.

The others thought he was crazy. Not at first, at first they simply agreed, said they felt the young man named Wally West too. That it was natural. It was…they had all felt it when Superman had supposedly died at the hands of Toyman. The feeling that the departed was an angel on your shoulder, guiding you and comforting you.

But as the months had gone by, and the others turned to establishing their new order, still John Stewart felt the ghost of his friend, Wally's spirit drifting around him. Sometimes he was soft and gentle, like a breeze. But as time wore on, he became harsh, angry. As they lost their way, as they turned into the types of heroes Wally could never agree with, the feeling that his friend was yelling at him, begging him to stop was always there.

Diana had suggested they do an intervention. J'onn said it was all in his head. Batman wanted John kicked out. No room in the Justice Lords for someone loosing their nerve and hearing voices. Not that it was voices…but at times John worried that would be next.

So, he had done what he needed to do to carry on, to do what he felt was the only way to honor Wally. To create a world where no young man would be killed by a fascist.

He had ignored the feeling.

The first time he had been forced to kill, it felt like a knife had been shoved into his brain. Later, he would whisper to Shayera that he swore he saw a flash of red, crumpled on the ground as his ring sliced Copperhead in two. A flash that seemed to protect the villain. Shayera said it was shock.

Why then had it felt so real?

He had ignored the sensations, and soon, they had left him, making it easier to fall down farther, fall down deeper into the darkness. Thoughts of making the world a better place for the Wally of the world turned into him hunting down those like Wally, forcing them to conform or be punished. It wasn't just that the world was a dangerous place, it was that these people were letting themselves be put in danger! They were so stupid…so foolish…

Now, as he stood in the messy apartment, dust covering everything in sight, John Stewart shook his head.

'I am the stupid one…I was the fool.'

&&&

As he poured himself a bowl of cereal, John couldn't help but stare at his hand, and his bare ring finger. His brown eyes closed, his skin throbbing, longing for the return of his strength, his power, his ring.

It had taken only 3 hours after their return from that terrible trip to the other realm for them to come. The Guardians had found the League sitting in the middle of Bruce's house, where the Dark Knight was raging against them. Seems Superman had decided that it was ok to kill the other Wally, because he was in his way. Because his pride was hurt. Batman had gone ballistic on all of them, especially after Diana questioned what the big deal was. Without their powers, Diana and Clark had found themselves being assaulted both verbally and physically.

If had been untied, John would have helped.

Mid rant, the Guardians had appeared, along with most of the Green Lantern Corp. John held no thoughts that they were there to help him get a new ring. No, they were ready to have him killed for his actions on Earth, for his failure.

In the end, he had been lucky. Kilawog, later telling John he had only done it because John was Wally's friend, said that they should allow the next Green Lantern for Earth decide his fate. Sending out the ring, it had only take 10 minutes for the new Lantern to appear. Another African American. Another John.

John Henry Irons, aka Steel.

The man without powers, who fought with just his brains and inventions, had been named the next Green Lantern. His costume had been an odd choice, a green version of his old Steel armor, complete with a glowing hammer that was shaped like a lantern. But the Guardians had been pleased, and offered him to make the decision.

John Irons had spoken quickly. He had condemned John Stewart to remain on Earth forever, and then demanded that the same punishment be given to the rest of the League. J'onn would be sent to Mars, Shayera back to Thanagar, the rest to their own homes. And none of them would be allowed to communicate with another…again.

That had hurt the worse.

Before he had left the mansion, before he had entered the world to be all alone for the first time in decades, he had requested one thing from Bruce. The Dark Knight had seemed slightly amused by his request, but granted it. He understood how hard it would be for John Stewart to be out in the real world. A new identity was needed.

Shaking himself from his musings, John quickly ate his cereal and then grabbed his coat. Snatching his ID badge, emblazoned with his new name, he pinned it on and headed out the door.

'Walter Barry West' had to get to work.

&&&

He didn't know what had possessed him to do any of this. Maybe it was his conscious, trying to make up for his sins against his friend. Maybe it was him leaching onto the one last pure thing in his life.

Maybe there really was a ghost.

Whatever the case may be, after he had requested that Bruce create the man known as Walter Barry West, he had travels, hitchhiking across the country, watching as the world was torn down then rebuilt. He saw the new lantern clean up his hometown of Detroit in mere days, rallying the citizens and driving out the corrupt. He heard of Superman's replacement, Power Girl, who worked with the government to insure everyone that she would never become like the Kryptonian. She became an official member of the police department, under the watchful eye of Jim Gordon, former Gotham police commissioner, now in charge of Metropolis. The mysterious Supernova, along with the new Blue Beetle, rapidly began to find lost heroes and work with them to establish a new, better order. The Question and Huntress went public, making it clear that they were different from the heroes of the past.

His travels brought him to Central City, the home of his friend, and he was saddened to see what had happened to it. When Wally had died, none of them had been able to stand being in the city, and thus left it alone. Now, he could see the damage. The city looked almost as bad as Gotham in its darkest days. The streets were deserted, buildings crumbling, dirty and litter covered alleys all around. John had broken down in tears when he saw the ruins of the memorial to The Flash, the statue broken into chunks, the loving stone scratched out and a new message written: "ALL YOUR FAULT!"

His need for a place to sleep had brought him to Wally's apartment. The landlady had been amused by the similar names, saying she should remain it the "Wally West Suite". John had nodded, agreed with that, and then settled in, spending the last of his cash on the first rent check.

His need for a job had sent him pounding the pavement, and right into another ironic twist. The crime wave that had hit Central City meant that the police department had expanded, and while John was not qualified to carry a badge or even answer phones, he could push a broom.

It took him 3 days to realize that he had taken Wally's old job.

As he currently worked on cleaning up one of the labs, his mind went back to Wally West. After that horrible trip to the other world, he had tried to reach out to his friend, praying that he hadn't been crazy, and that his old friend was truly trying to to reach out to him.

No luck.

No voice, no feeling…nothing.

'Is that so?'

John whipped around, startled out of his thoughts, his janitor's hand falling from his bald head as he twisted about. 'There is no way…no way…'

'No way, what, GL? That you can hear me? Geez, been trying so hard to contact me…'

'Wally?"

'Maybe.'

John frowned. 'What do you mean, maybe?'

'Maybe I am Wally. Or maybe I am just your conscious trying to get through to you, and this is the last resort!' The voice said in frustration. 'God, you are so think sometimes GL.'

'Don't call me that…I'm not a Green Lantern anymore.'

'I noticed. The lack of green eyes, no power...sucks, don't it.' Wally's voice, be it real or just in John's head, continued. 'So, what's your next step?'

"Next step?' John questioned.

'Don't tell me your that brainless….geez…' The voice groaned. 'Think about this: You've taken the name Wally. You've taken Wally's apartment, his job, maybe even his insanity, considering this conversation.'

John shook his head, leaning on his broom. 'Maybe I have lost it…and considering you're in my head, you just heard that, didn't you?'

'Yup' The voice said, popping the 'p'. 'But really, I don't need to spell out for you what needs to happen next, do I GL?'

'I told you not to call me GL. I'm not a Green Lantern…I'm not a hero.'

'You're right, you aren't a Green Lantern. But you can be a hero again.'

With that, the voice went silent, with as John tried to get it to speak, to open up and let him know what he was suppose to do.

'What do you want, Wally? What is the next step?' He closed his eyes, trying to think logically. 'Wally is dead, gone. You've taken over his life, his name, his job, his home. You live in the same city, which has gone to hell because there are no more Justice Lords, and even when there were Justice Lords, we couldn't bring ourselves to come here because his was Wally's home and the only one who protect it was…'

John's eyes snapped open, coming to rest on the different containers that sat on the shelf near him. His mind whirled as he remembers Batman's autopsy of Flash.

'This powers are what interest me most.'

John frowned. 'He's our friend, not a guinea pig. Stop experimenting on him and just let us bury him.'

'Understand how he gained his power can help us insure no criminal is able to do the same. Do you want to dishonor Flash by letting some punk take his name and powers and use them to commit crimes?'

'…no.'

'It seems his powers were created when highy unstable chemicals came in contact with his skin, probably…'

"During some freak accident." John whispered.

&&&

4 days later

"Hurry up! Put it all in there!" The robber grinned as the teller shoved the money into the grocery sack. "Come on, come on…yea, that's it." He turned to his partner. "What I tell you, no one with a cape steps foot in Central City, makes it the perfect fishing grounds. Our own private money tree!"

"Got that right!" The other man said with a laugh. "Think we should do this tomorrow?"

"You know it!" The other man said, grinning like mad.

"There won't be a tomorrow for you monkeys." A voice called out. Turned their guns towards its direction, they found…nothing. "Haven't you guys heard yet?" The whipped up, towards the stairs that lead to the second floor, again finding nothing. "Central City does have a hero. His name is The Flash."

One of the robbery rolled his eyes. "The Flash is dead." He felt a tap on his shoulder, and spun around, coming face to face with the intruder. Dressed in a tight red suit, yellow lightning bolts adorning it, the only piece of dark skin that could be seen was where the man's mouth was.

"Boo." He said, punching the robber. Before the other one could come at him, the speedster raced away, then back, striking into him and his stumbling partner 50 times in 30 seconds. The two of them wobbled on their feet as the hero grinned, holding out his hand and flicking them each in the forehead, sending them down to the ground. "Well, that was easier then I expect."

The patrons of the bank stared for a moment before bursting into cheers and catcalls, fisting pumping into the air as the swarmed the man in scarlet.

"Who are you?" One man asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" The man once known as John Stewart asked. "I'm The Flash. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have crime to foil!"

Rocketing out of the bank, John raced through the streets of Central City, nabbing 2 purse snatchers and rescuing a kitten in a tree in 3 minutes flat. Letting out a whoop of joy, Stewart took off in a dead run.

'Your city will never go unprotected again, Wally.' He thought as he raced down main street. 'No one will ever forget The Flash...and I will never let your sacrifice go in vain again. I promise you…I will never forget again.' Glancing to his right, he wasn't surprised to see another figure in red racing with him.

"Thank you, John." Wally West whispered, before shooting past him, joining with the spirits of all the speedsters to come before him, fading from sight. The Ghost of Wally West could finally rest.

"No…thank you."