A/N: Sorry that this has taken so long to write. I lost inspiration for a while and it finally returned. I know that many people are still waiting for Fighting Blind to update, and please take into consideration that that story requires me to follow the episodes closely to allow the story to become how I envision it. For this chapter of Memories, I ask that you please recognize that this was a difficult chapter to write, as not much is revealed about Bart's past before he time traveled, so his entire backstory in this is purely speculation on my part and has been made rather tragic to allow Wally to have a greater impact on Bart's life. Please let me know what you think in a review or in a PM. If you have any requests for characters reactions to add to this later on, please let me know. If someone wants me to post a list of who I have planned to add on later, please let me know in a PM, and I will send you the list barring an addition that I plan on keeping as a surprise until the end unless they are asked for in a review, If over five people ask for the list in either a review or in a PM, I will add it to my profile. Now, please sit back, relax, listen to the music of your choice, and enjoy the next installment of Memories.
Bart
Bart was from the future, that was common knowledge. It was also fairly common knowledge that he came to the past to stop the Reach invasion, what wasn't as well known was that he had another motive, to save his grandfather's life. In Bart's time, his dad and aunt were dead, they died when Bart was only 7 years old because the Reach found them. They had gone into hiding shortly after Barry died, and Bart's birth was the result of an unplanned pregnancy, and his mother died in childbirth. The Reach had hunted down all meta humans that they could find to either kill them or to study them, the only metas who were even remotely safe were those in hiding, or those with a 'useful' meta-gene and were placed into labor camps.
Growing up, Bart never knew his grandparents, as Iris Allen was murdered during the climax of the Reach invasion along with the majority of the Justice League; only the Bat clan survived that attack, and that was because they were dealing with the appearance of the Red Hood, and were slowly welcoming him back into the life of a hero. Don, Bart's dad, and Don's twin sister Dawn had been practically raised by Wally, as he had been named their godfather on the day they were born. For the first 7 years of his life, Bart didn't see much of Wally, as he was running the underground resistance, and was working closely with Dick, who had taken up the honorary mantle of Batman when Bruce retired despite there being no need for Batman as a crime fighter, the two friends were working closely with Nathaniel Tryon to find a way to stop the Reach invasion.
After Don and Dawn died, Wally filled in as Bart's father and mentor. Despite being 41 when Bart was born, the Speed Force slowed Wally's age, so that he was in his late twenties physically. It was Wally who taught Bart how to safely use his powers, and Wally who told him about the heroes of the Justice League who defended the Earth before the Reach. It was Wally who answered all of Bart's questions about his family, and Wally who taught him the most important thing, how to be a hero.
When Wally and Bart had been captured by the Reach, only days after Bart turned 13, he thought it was the end. They had been put into the labor force, and they worked in the factory that made the inhibitor collars that all captured metas were forced to wear. A month passed, and it slowly became clear that the speedsters could not survive long with the lack of proper food combined with the hyper-enhanced metabolism that no inhibitor collar could ever suppress. Wally suffered the most, because his reliance on the Speed Force was so immense, it came from the fact that the Speed Force was the only thing keeping Wally's disease at bay. Wally had been captured when the League had been destroyed, having taken on the mantle of the Flash from his late uncle. During his time in captivity, the Reach had injected him with a poison that would slowly eat away at Wally's body. The Speed Force fought the poison, but at the cost of Wally needing to take nutrient supplements daily, and needing to eat more. Needless to say, but when they were captured, Wally was barely holding on.
After another month passed, Bart noticed how Wally slipped into a light doze whenever he wasn't focussing on staying awake to complete a task, as soon as he lost focus, he dozed off. Bart's hope was slipping away day by day. Finally, a guard who owed the Bat family his life slipped them a note from the outside.
Dear Wally and Bart,
Don't worry, this guard is trustworthy. We have a plan, just hold out for another two day and you will be home safe and sound. The guard who gave you this note will cause a distraction at a predetermined time, and J will be there to break you out. Please hang in there, I'll see you soon.
B
The note from Dick was the only thing that kept them going for the next two days.
On the day of the breakout, disaster struck. The guard's head had been found mounted on top of the twenty foot gate that surrounded the factory. "Bart," Wally's voice was soft and gravelly, nothing like the voice that had lit up Bart's childhood. "Bart, I need you to listen to me. When I tell you, I need you to run, run faster than you ever have before. J will be at the exit, I need you to go with him and make sure you tell our people what happened." "What about you, you can tell them yourself when we get out of here. I won't leave you! I won't let my only family left die!" "BART! LISTEN TO ME!" Bart's mouth snapped shut, all protests died in his lips. Wally had never yelled at him before, not like that. Wally's voice was filled with desperation, something that Bart never would have imagined coming from his mentor's mouth. "Listen to me, you will be the only one escaping today. I don't want to hear you say anything. We both know that I'm not strong enough to escape, the poison has been spreading despite the Speed Force trying to save me. Nathaniel has a plan to fix this, and if it succeeds, then all the tragedies that the Reach has caused will never have existed. Listen to what I am about to say, and never forget it. These are my last words of advice to you. Nathaniel and the Bats have been building a time machine, you are the only person who can use it to stop this life from ever occurring. You can go back to stop the Reach, you can even go back and save Barry. If our calculations are correct, then this timeline will still exist, but you will create an alternate timeline, one where this suffering will never occur. It won't affect your existence at all, or ours, but you can ensure that there is a timeline out there where the invasion never leads to this. I'm counting on you Bart. Don't forget this timeline, but enjoy the new one that you will experience, live a happy life, and smile. My only regrets are that I wasn't there to save Barry, or Iris, or Artemis, and that you were never given many opportunities to smile. So, Bart, save them and smile. Live a happy life, and never forget any of us."
With that, Wally ran off away from the exit route, and proceeded to draw every guard after him as he attempted to free himself and others, while fighting as many as he could. Bart could only watch helplessly as the guards began to fight back, calling for reinforcements, and shooting at Wally. Bart saw Wally mouthing 'I love you' to Bart as he was gunned down. The image of Wally's smile as he mouthed those words would be burned into Bart's brain for the rest of his life.
With tears rushing down his face, Bart ran towards the exit. J was waiting there for him. "Where's Wally? Kid, where is he?" Bart could only cry even harder and shake his head. With a muttered, "Shit", J grabbed key from his belt, and took the inhibitor collar off. "Come on kid, let's get you far away from here" And they ran, they ran for miles until J led Bart into a hidden sewer entrance, and they made it down into the underground bunker where the resistance operated. Bart had not stopped crying since he escaped, J took the kid to the infirmary, put him on a bed and hooked him up to an IV that had been made with speedsters in mind, and left to tell Dick what had happened.
The next day, Bart was led into a room full of candles. At the base of the candles were plaques that had a name on them. Each candle represented those who died, the candles were left to the deceased's closest family member or friend to light. It was the only way they could honor the dead without holding a funeral, a ceremony that was considered too dangerous to even consider. It was left to Bart to light Wally's candle. The light from the candle seemed to shine brighter than the sun, and when Bart looked at it, he could see the light that seemed to have always surrounded Wally when he was alive.
Bart had never felt more helpless, but he held Wally's final words close to his heart, and he put on a smile, and threw himself into working with Nathaniel to finish the time machine so that he could go back and save his family. Wally had wanted him to go back to save Barry and stop the Reach, and that's what Bart wanted to do too, but when he really considered his purpose for traveling back in time, he couldn't see any reason than to give Wally the happy ending he deserved.
With his purpose in mind, Bart and Nathaniel finished the time machine in a month. Before Bart left, he met with Dick, the only connection Bart had to his family now that Wally was dead. "It's finished isn't it Bart. You're leaving soon?" "Yeah Dick, it's finished. After I leave, light my candle. There is no way I will be able to come back, and I'm not sure if I'll want to. Everything I see reminds me of him, or any member of my family. I can't stand it." "Of course, I'll have Nathaniel light it, I know that you two have become close." "Thanks" "Bart, before you go, remember that Wally would hate to see you so depressed, I know that's a low blow, but I think that it would make him happy to see you be happy over there. Stay safe, ok." Bart could only nod, and he sped off.
Bart was able to travel back with no problem, and was welcomed more warmly than he expected. When he went to save his grandfather, it was jarring to see Wally looking healthy and happy, albeit younger than he remembered. What was shocking though, was Wally's cold reception to him. Bart had to admit, that hurt a lot, especially since Wally had been like a father to Bart in the alternate timeline.
As time passes, and Bart became better acquainted with Wally, the two began to grow closer, and they began to spend more and more time together after Artemis's faked death. Bart had always heard whispers about how terrible it was when Wally found out that Artemis and Aqualad had had their covers blown and had been executed, but Bart had a feeling that that the two undercover agents would end up back into the arms of their friends and families safely when this was all resolved. Wally spent time helping Bart familiarize himself with his new life, and offered him tips on how to operate on the team and as Impulse. Bart was also able to befriend Blue Beetle, and help him break away from the Reach's control, hopefully saving the future.
Before the Chrysalis mission, Bart was overjoyed when Wally declared that Bart would make a good Kid Flash, and Bart hoped so too, because he had hoped that he would be able to take on that mantle and eventually work as Wally's partner when he inevitably took over the mantle of the Flash from Barry.
Then everything went wrong, Bart and Barry discovered a MFD gone Chrysalis in the Arctic. As the two speedsters gave it their all running opposite the direction of the Chrysalis, Bart knew in his heart that there was no way they could beat the Reach technology without a sacrifice. When Wally joined them, Bart allowed his hope to grow. Wally was there, and he had never let Bart down before. But that hope died when he heard Barry say, "Bart, we need to slow down and siphon off the energy attacking Wally." Bart couldn't hear what Wally said to Barry, but he knew it was bad as he saw his grandfather's face slide into despair. Bart could feel his expression change as he watched Wally die in front of him. For a second time in less than a year, Bart had watched his mentor, his big brother, his father figure died in front of him, and he could do nothing to stop it. Bart had done what Wally asked, and had saved Barry, but he hadn't kept the promise he made to himself, his promise to save Wally.
He had failed, but he had to keep smiling, and make sure to take care of Barry, Iris, and Artemis in Wally's stead. As time passed, Bart adjusted to living without Wally, and he never told anyone about the future that he had come from, because he had succeeded in the main part of his mission, making sure that there was a timeline where fewer people died. He enjoyed being Kid Flash, and slowly but surely felt less and less of an imposter in Wally's old Kid Flash uniform, but every time he ran with the Flash, he couldn't help but think about what it would have been like if Wally was in the red suit instead of Barry.
This timeline was saved, but Bart was slowly drowning in his grief, but no one saw through the smiles that he showed the world. No one saw through the masks that he wore until he met Linda. Linda was a reporter who worked under Iris for a time near the end of Iris's career, and she was the first person who saw the despair that Bart kept close to his heart. She slowly peeled back the masks, and helped Bart put his life back together. They never married, they didn't marry each other or another person, they were closer than anything, but they were never romantically attracted to each other. They did move in together after college, but they were more like siblings than anything else. Linda was there to help Bart keep smiling, and she helped his smiles become more and more genuine.
Linda could never replace Wally, though, and Bart never forgot his mentor. Whenever he ran, he could see the light of Wally's memorial candle, hear the sound of Wally's laugh that was so cheerful that it chased all traces of despair away, and he could feel the warmth of Wally's embrace, comforting him and lifting him up through anything. In his room, Bart had a candle that was always lit, and at it's base was a plaque that read, 'Wally West, the man who ran to save the world with a smile on his face. His memory will never be forgotten.'
A/N: Wow, that was more depressing than I had anticipated, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll try to update sooner. I'd love to know what you think. Please don't hate me for bringing Linda in, I think that she is an important character who deserves some attention, and I wanted to bring her in at some point, because in the comics she usually ends up with Wally. I wanted to pay homage to that, but I couldn't bring myself to write her as being a love interest to Bart. I you like the idea of her and Bart being together, then by all means picture them in a romantic relationship, it wouldn't change the message of this chapter all that much if they were in a relationship. Please leave a review, and let me know if you think I made a good call in not having Bart and Linda in a romantic relationship, or if you think that they should have been romantically involved. I'd love to see what you think. I'd also like to know if you figured out who J was, I think that it's fairly easy to figure out, but I'd still like to know what you think. Thanks for reading this. Bye!