Part 2: Unnatural Disaster

Chapter Rating: PG-13

Summary: Wally West struggles through his recovery but what happens when he gets an offer he can't refuse? What will it mean for him, for the world and for his future with the League?

Disclaimer: The DC characters are not mine. I'm just playing with them. They'll be returned…eventually, not in good condition but that can hardly be blamed on me!

Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews! The later chapters are slowly being written. Hopefully I'll finish them soon so there won't be any delays in posting. Here's Chapter 2!

Chapter 2 - Non Ut Optimis Par Sim Sed Ut Malis Melior

Twin red beams struck the pavement kicking up a cloud of dust and debris and moved towards the fake Superman who had to jump back in order to avoid the lasers. The red beam cut between them and Wally stumbled back, a little to close to those lethal lasers for comfort.

Superman flew straight for his impostor but before he could reach him, the man faded away in an unusual sequence of stripes. The real Superman landed next to Wally who was still staring at the empty air.

"Wally? What happened?"

The young man looked up at him from where he sat. His eyes held confusion that was mirrored in the dark eyes of the Man of Steel. Clark went to one knee next to Wally. He watched as the trembling lips opened and closed but no words came out.

Superman didn't know what to say either. He'd seen what had happened –watched from distance as he leaned into the touch of his captor. Clark suppressed a shiver of something cold and disturbing.

"I…I have to get to the orphanage." Wally's sudden statement had Superman struggling to catch up. That's right, the orphanage was under attack. Stargirl, S.T.R.I.P.E. and Booster Gold had already been dispatched to the scene and he didn't doubt that they'd be able to handle it but he knew Wally would want to help and he'd come specifically to make sure that Wally stayed out of harm's way.

"No, you don't. We've got it under control," Clark told him. "Come on." He pulled Wally to his feet and with a hand around his waist, took to the air and flew them away.

+JLU+

"We could use a little help here," John Stewart said over the background noise. "Where's Superman?" Behind him a loud crash of thunder announced another mini eruption of the previously deemed 'extinct' volcano, Loloru. In the distance the active volcano, Bagana a few miles away, had created a cloud of gases but had not yet erupted.

"He's busy," came Batman's reply from the Watch Tower nearly half way around the world. J'onn was already in the South Pacific helping out with the evacuation of the outspread municipalities around the volcanoes. Mr. Terrific couldn't handle co-ordinating all the missions at once and Batman had taken it upon himself to help out. If he also wanted to make sure that Mr. Terrific wasn't under the influence of Dox, he kept that to himself.

"The seismologists said the main eruption is going to occur very soon. We won't be able to stop the pyroclastic flow and the lava on our own. There's also a risk of a tsunami if the there's a land slide."

Batman contemplated the situation. The evacuation was going as well as could be expected given the late warning they'd received but at this rate they wouldn't be able to save everyone. He made a decision.

"Superman is on his way." He cut the link to the Green Lantern and contacted Superman. "You're needed in Papua New Guinea. The volcanoes have stepped up their schedule."

"I can't right now," came the terse reply. Superman glanced to Wally who was staring blankly down at the ground far below them. He didn't want to leave him alone right now. Not after what had just happened.

It had been his idea to keep an eye on Wally when the report of the attack on the Keystone Orphanage came in. Superman had volunteered readily for the little mission, thinking that the situation in New Guinea would not require his presence.

"Is he okay?" Batman asked.

Superman's reply was quick and sure. "No."

"Put me down," Wally suddenly demanded without looking up. He knew that there was an emergency. He'd seen the news reports in the morning about the unusual and sudden activity of two volcanoes in the south pacific. Superman was needed there.

Superman didn't argue. He landed at a secluded area of the park that stretched along the Missouri River separating Keystone and Central City. As soon as he was set down Wally moved silently away from his friend.

"You better go," the younger man said without turning.

"Leave him be," Batman said, unaware of what had just transpired in an alley a few minutes ago.

"I'll be okay."

The Kryptonian didn't believe that for a minute but he had no choice. It was Wally or 175, 000 people. It shouldn't have been such a tough decision but in the end the needs of many outweigh the needs of one, even if the one was the Flash.

"Be careful," Superman warned. There was worry in his tone and expression and West gave a weak smile and wave as the other hero took to the sky.

When he was alone, Wally glanced around. He could hear activity from around the river bend but he didn't want to be around people. He sat down, observed the river, and did his best to ignore the rest of the world.

+JLU+

"Extinct my ass!" Supergirl raged as she felt and heard another blast from Loloru. Estimates put the last eruption at three thousand years ago. The people of the island of Bougainville had built their communities on the fertile volcanic soil. And though the major centres were some thirty kilometres away from the volcano, they were still at risk. It was expected that Loloru would produce the destructive torrent of superheated ash and a rock known as a pryoclasitc flow and it could easily reach the coast where the majority of the populace resided.

"It's like the whole island is gonna blow," said Hawkgirl as she flew up to join Kara Kent.

"There's not way we can save everyone."

"We have to try."

Not far below, the Green Lantern was directing the numerous inhabitants towards the evacuation crafts. The language barrier hadn't been scaled but some hand motions were universal and once the crowd was headed in the right direction the rest of the people followed.

In his peripheral vision John saw Hawk run over. His red and white costume stood out against the thin layer of ash that had settled earlier during one of Bagana's mini eruptions. "We're not going to have enough room for everyone," Hawk said quietly. They didn't want to incite any further panic but not many of the residents spoke English anyway.

John looked forlornly at the mass of people. "I know."

"What if we built a trench or a wall to redirect the lava?"

"Fire, J'onn and Captain Atom are already leading teams to do that around Bagana, but Loloru is s different type of volcano. Walls and trenches won't help."

Hawk shook his head stubbornly. "We've got to do something." He knew that there was no real way of stopping Mother Nature. Redirecting and maybe stalling the inevitable was possible but natural disasters would still occur and people would still die. But this situation didn't seem natural. Why now would two very inactive volcanoes suddenly decided to erupt, and at the same time no less?

"Lantern!" Superman's voice burst onto John's comm line. "What's the situation?"

"Bad. We may not have enough time or enough resources to get everyone out of harms way."
"I'll try and redirect the magma." Superman flew at supersonic speed towards the conical peak spewing clouds of hot gas. On the ground a sharp bang marked his passing and a moment later the spec in the sky vanished into the side of the volcano in a cloud of debris.

Creating new magma channels to reduce the internal pressure was nothing he hadn't done before. He practically had a standard procedure for the whole operation. If he did it right and if they were lucky the eruption would not be as powerful. The heat was uncomfortable but he trudged his way through the rock with the red-hot liquid rock on his heels directing it to previously isolated and empty underground chambers. He managed to do this four times before he felt the sudden shaking of the entire mountain but it wasn't his volcano that was about to blow its top.

"This is it," Supergirl intoned grimly. As the rumble became more violent and disconcerting she stepped off the ground to hover in the air safe from the vibrations. Others didn't have that luxury and panic spread through the hordes of people.

"Shayera to Green Lantern! We're going to need you over here!"

John was already en route having felt the tremor. He arrived just seconds before a loud crack split the air and the once forest covered dome exploded sending a huge column of ash into the sky. The crescent shaped lake around the peak was lost, vaporized by the almost glowing surge of hot ash and rock that cascaded down the eastern side of the peak.

Through the darkened sky superheroes darted to the path of the pyroclastic flow, regrouping in order to protect those most at risk. The violent grey slide careened over the landscape incinerating everything in its path. It flooded valleys, engulfed peaks and wrapped its way around even the sharpest of turns. Directly in the path of the flow was Aropa, one of the major cities of the island and it was here that the heroes grouped.

Green Lantern used his ring to create a large wall. When the flow struck it beads of sweat broke out over his face as he struggled to hold the projection together. Relief came when Ice used her power to reinforce the green wall with a wall of ice and Red Tornado used his abilities to push the flow in the direction what Stewart had already begun to divert it. Soon however the strain was too much. The glowing green wall disintegrated and the wall of ice behind it vanished almost immediately after.

"The main flows been diverted," Shayera said from her overhead vantage point. "But there's another wave headed to the city."

"We're on it," came a reply. It was a girl's voice but through the noise and the static in the transmission Shayera couldn't figure out who specifically it was.

Supergirl stood directly in the path of the flow, seven kilometres before it would hit the city and took a deep breathe. On the exhale her breathe froze the air and cooled the oncoming flow. Ice arrived next to her a second later. The white-haired woman used her powers to further cool the oncoming flood of ash and rock slowing but not stopping it. It rushed towards and engulfed them to the horror of the onlookers.

Captain Atom sent a powerful blast of crackling blue energy at the oncoming flow. Red Tornado joined him a moment later and not a moment too soon they managed to divert the land hugging cloud away from the city.

"Supergirl and Ice are still down there!" Shayera announced. She descended to fly low over the settling earth. Not far behind her, Green Lantern was using his ring to try and see through dirt. It was low on power so his viewing rang was limited to about three feet into the dirt, not highly effective as the layer from the flow was at least fifteen feet thick.

"I can't see them!" Lantern called. "You got anything?"

Shayera slowed down near an abnormality in the surface but closer inspection found nothing. She informed the others that she'd been unsuccessful. "I'm going to-"

Whatever she was going to do was interrupted by a sudden burst of still warm soil. From the grey-brown cloud of sediment two forms emerged, Supergirl and Ice. Both were coloured brown by a thin layer of earth. Patches of the caked soil dropped from them as Supergirl flew them away from the sediment. Her previously bright blonde hair and Ice's shiny, platinum-white were dulled to a drab grey.

"Never been buried alive before," Ice said softly, a cough punctuating the end of her sentence.

"Well, now that you have there's no need to go do it again," said Captain atom, only too aware that if Supergirl hadn't been there, they may not have found ice soon enough to save her. As it was she didn't look to be in great shape. No doubt she was sore all over and if the slight wheeze in her breathing was any indication she'd need a trip to the infirmary.

Stewart must have been thinking the same thing because he ordered Ice back to the Metropolis Watch Tower. Supergirl was fine, dirty but fine. There wasn't much she couldn't take and she didn't seem any worse for wear.

"The main eruption seems to be over," said Shayera. They glanced at the peak which was now weakly burping clouds of ash that would fall as flakes within a few minutes. "But we've still got work to do."

+JLU+

He was beginning to think that perhaps this wasn't such a good idea after all. The looks, the whispered words where locked outside the door. So why could he still feel their eyes on him and hear their words in his ears.

"Wally?"

The concerned voice of the head of the department brought him to the present. "Sorry," he apologized. He tried to come up with an excuse but his mind was blank.

The middle-aged man sighed. "Wally, go home, get some rest. Come back when you're feeling better."

"But, Jay, I'm okay now. I need this job," he protested immediately.

Jay Mackinaw sighed. "When you're ready Wally, your job will be here. But you need to take some time off." He'd been a CCPD mechanic for over ten years head of the garage for four of them, so he knew the look in West's eyes. He'd seen officers who'd been traumatized and tried to come back to work to often. Somehow they always wandered down to the garage to visit their third partner, their squad car.

"You need to talk to someone."

"I am," Wally lied.

"That's good. And when you're ready, I mean really ready, there will still be cruisers to fix. Those guys can't drive worth crap."

The joke brought a weak and forced smile to the younger man's face and Jay's good cheer diminished at the sight. The jovial, quick to laugh Wally West he knew wasn't there.

"Alright," Wally finally agreed. He seemed as though he wanted to say something more, maybe argue a point but he held back. "I'll see you around then."

"I'll see you soon."

Wally stood from the old chair the, the wheels on the bottom releasing a squeal of ease as the weight vanished. Just before he opened the door to the small office the other man spoke.

"If you need to talk to anybody else, you know where to find me," the head mechanic offered. Wally glanced back not sure if Jay was calling his bluff but there was nothing but concern in the opened and somewhat lined face.

"Thanks," Wally said and meant but he knew there was no way he'd take up that offer.

The walk through the short corridor and the garage to get outside seemed almost as impossibly long as it was when he was going in. It was with a sigh of relief that he stepped into the temporarily blinding light of the bright sun. His next stop was going to be the university. He had missed a lot of class and probably a couple of tests but he didn't want to have to retake the courses. He wanted to get his life back on track. He desperately needed a distraction and the rest of his life had seemed a convenient place to start.

However, when he arrived at the main entrance to the campus he paused. From across the street he watched the many people walking around and milling about. He wanted to be them again, he wanted to go back to the way things were. Another pedestrian bumped him as he walked by. Unaware of the unnatural startled reaction the minor collision had caused the other person gave a short apology and continued on his way.

Wally glanced once more at the buildings, the students and knew he couldn't go there, not yet. He walked on as though he had another destination in mind but his only goal was to get away.

+JLU+

"You just left him?" The grey ash on his face detracted from the angry expression but the glowing green eyes stood out more, especially since the rest of the landscape and the people littered on it were covered in a similar coating of soot.

"I didn't have much of a choice! I was needed here!" Superman defended.
He was tired and certainly not in the mood to defend his actions to the Green Lantern.

John seemed to realise he was unfairly blaming the other man and didn't say anything more but the anger was still there. The anger was directed at the two volcanoes that had pulled them away from where he wanted to be but being mad at nature just wasn't as satisfying.

"There's still no clear indication of why they suddenly became active."

Green Lantern shrugged. "Geophysics and tectonics aren't really my specialty but I doubt even the experts could give us more than a general reason." The planet was just too complicated, too many forces working all the time and in ways they could only imagine. And John had stopped looking for reason in the world a long time ago.

"I'm going to help with the effort," Superman announced and took off without waiting for a response. John noted that the man of steel wouldn't call the "effort" what it really was, a salvage mission. Despite their efforts there were still fatalities and such catholic property damage that he couldn't even begin to estimate how much it would cost to rebuild. Many of the residents were leaving the island, but in New Guinea that just meant moving from one volcanic island to another and if these were examples of extinct and dormant volcanoes then they wouldn't be any safer elsewhere.

He just wanted to go home and shower. His ring was nearly dead but he was needed here. There were still people in danger and the Marine in him wouldn't let him leave until either he collapsed from exhaustion or the mission was over.

+JLU+

Black Canary knew better than to ask an obvious question. This was Batman after all. Had it been anybody else hunched tensely over a console glaring at the report streaming across the screen she would have asked the useless but widely accepted question, "Is something wrong?"

Batman would have taken the question literally and would not deigned to answer the almost rhetorical inquiry since it was clear by his posture that, yes, something was wrong. Instead she saved her breath and saved them both any other misguided 'pleasantries' supposedly entailed in small talk. 'Awkwardies' seemed more apt.

"Trickster is still on the loose," Batman said without prompting.

"One of the guys from the Keystone Orphanage attack?" She'd been busy elsewhere but the news had eventually made it too her –along with all the talk about the curious absence of the Flash.

"There's been no sighting reported on the local police scanners but he won't be in hiding for long."

"You sound awfully sure of that." The blonde woman leaned nonchalantly against the console. Trickster must be pretty small time because she hadn't heard of him, so she wasn't worried.

"He's young and brash, and now smarting from a very public defeat."

"You're thinking retaliation."

Just as the words left her mouth a blinking alert in the corner of the monitor caught their attention. There was a sighting of the Trickster in Central City, but he wasn't alone. The Flash was there too.

+JLU+

He'd only just barely rustled up the courage to find out the conclusion of the stand off at this old home. Weather Wizard was caught but Trickster was on the loose. It was his worst nightmares coming to fruition. His enemies were going after innocent people and it was all his fault.

He could only remember the mounting rage and then speeding through the twin cities looking for the fugitive. In his gaudy blue and yellow attire Trickster wasn't hard to spot even with his pursuer moving at incredible speeds.

"You!" He paused only a moment before darting straight at the young criminal. A smug comment was on his lips and some innocuous-looking but dangerous gizmo in his hand. Before he had a chance to use either The Flash struck him. There was a streak of red and then suddenly the young man flew into a parked car. The glass shattered on contact and a dent was left in the rear door.

Flash suddenly appeared before the dazed man. Trickster mumbled something when he saw the unmistakeable yellow boots but Flash wasn't even trying to listen. The white eyes narrowed to dangerous slits and he grasped the blonde man by the collar of his loose-fitting shirt.

"You were looking for me?" He bit out the words. "If you've got something to say then say it to my face! Leave everyone else out of it!"

Any number of rude comments would have done but Trickster was having a bit of trouble thinking clearly. The best he would do was attaching a small object to Flash's red uniform.

"What-" A sudden a painful shock racked his body. When it ended he collapsed to one knee and one hand on the ground to keep him somewhat upright. Standing over him Trickster smirked with teeth stained red with his own blood.

"That's my version of crackling wit," He said with a slight rasp. He pulled his foot back to deliver a kick to the hero but just an inch before he made contact with the exposed flank, there was a flash of red and his foot was caught in a vice-like grip.

"You'll have to do better than that," Flash said as he looked up at his opponent. In one smooth motion he threw the Trickster and milliseconds later he caught up with the airborne man and slammed him into the ground.

He breathed heavily for a few seconds, mentally urging the other man to get up so that he could hit him again but he was still. The rage began to recede and panic slowly began to creep forward. He dropped to his knees and with shaking hands turned Trickster over to see his face.

He held back a gasp when the face was revealed. Partially opened eyes stared up at him from a bloodied face. Rivers of red trickled down his cheeks from his nose and weak, gurgling breaths produced a red froth from the mouth. All he could hear was the laboured breathing, the slowly growing crowd didn't exist.

"Oh, no," he breathed with almost as much difficulty as the man on the ground. "Help," His voice was not above a whisper but in his mind he was screaming for someone to do something. He begged and pleaded but he was choking.

The dull blue eye shifted to him and Flash's stomach lurched. His breathing started to become more laboured, his chest jerking as he tried to say something. His eyes begged him to help, to save him, all animosity forgotten.

"You'll be okay," Flash croaked. He was shaking all over now the panic encompassing him because of what he'd done. Trickster, Axel, was too young to die. He was just a boy. He'd killed a boy. "Oh God."

From out of nowhere there was action. People were working on the injured young man while firm hands gripped Wally's shoulder. A voice was calling to him telling him something and suddenly he found himself pulled from his abyss.

He jerked violently away from Batman who'd been trying for nearly a minute to get a response.

"I killed him," he confessed softly.

"He's going to be okay," Batman assured as he took a step closer. "The paramedics are going to take him to a hospital. He'll be okay." It would be a while before Axel was up to his tricks again but with proper medical care he'd survive.

Batman could see a faint sparkle of moisture along the edge of Flash's mask. He could hear the uneven and rapid breathing. He could almost feel the agony portrayed so clearly in the speedsters body language.

"I'm sorry." There were tears in his voice.

"It's okay, Flash." Batman tried to assure him.

"I'm so sorry." The words barely passed his trembling lips. For a moment Bruce thought he could see through the white, through the red spandex, and all he saw was guilt, guilt of the heaviest kind. A protector who'd caused harm.

There was a sudden gust of wind and then Batman was alone in the middle of the road. Around him onlookers glanced around in confusion and disbelief.

He couldn't run far enough or fast enough to get away from his own remorse. It weighed each next step until finally he fell to his knees. The cool earth did nothing to sooth his burning shame and a sob briefly choked him. Desperate hands pulled viciously at his red costume. The resilient material eventually gave way and tore apart. He ripped off the red mask throwing it away with as much force as he could muster but the light material didn't go very far before drifting to the ground.

He freed his upper body from the clingy fabric exposing his skin to the chilly air. He couldn't wear it anymore, not after what he'd done. He looked up at the watery view of grey sky and screamed. He raged over everything, everything that had happened to him and everything that he'd done. His strangled cry carried on the still air but no one was around so maybe he hadn't made a sound at all.

His breath soon ran out and the silence returned, no different that how it had been hours before but Wally was. He remained kneeled, his chest, back and arms free from all but a few shreds of red but his hands were still coated in red, his gloves. When he stared down at them, however, he saw blood dripping from his fingers, saw blood gurgling from Axel as the blue eyes began to fade and die.

"I'm sorry," he mouthed silently, knowing that there was nobody around to hear his apology or grant forgiveness.

A faint yellow light briefly coloured the ground before vanishing but Wally didn't stir. When a hand was gently placed on his head and a figure knelt next to him he still didn't move. Another hand, this one in a gold glove from a blue arm reached out and grasped his hand nearest hand.

"I'm sorry."

"I know," a hollow but kind voice replied.

Wally turned to face the interloper and found himself staring at the reflection in Dr. Fate's gold helmet –staring at himself and whatever it was he'd become.

Dr. Fate pulled his hand away from Wally's but left something behind. It was a gold piece, small enough to fit four comfortably in the palm of his hand. It was made in Dr. Fate's symbol –the 'T' with a loop at the top –an ankh.

"If you need a place to go when you are lost," Fate began softly. "We will not judge. You will be safe. You can find your peace, restore your balance."

With his mentally bloodstained hands Wally traced the object, the tips of his right index finger flicking repeatedly over a smooth corner. Distracted and numb he didn't notice Dr. Fate pull him to his feet or walk him into the strange portal. He was still shaking, whether from shock or from the cold climate of the Siberian tundra Fate wasn't sure but he'd take the young man home.

+JLU+

"I think it's best that he be alone for a little bit," Dr. Fate had said with finality and avoided answering any questions by walking away, but Batman didn't take orders from him or anybody. So, that night he remained near Wally's new apartment in Central City, the one Bruce Wayne was paying for. Personally, he'd feel better if Wally were living in a better part of the city but they needed privacy and he wasn't going to impose his judgements on Wally's life.

It was nearly two am when there was sound from the alley. The lights in the West apartment had turned off about ten minutes earlier but in the dim moonlight Batman could make out the red-head. From the roof of the adjacent building he had a bird's eye view of alley and he was hidden well enough in the shadows that Wally wouldn't see him.

He watched patiently as Wally threw something in a metal trash bin and then lit it on fire. The flames danced within the confines of the metal cylinder and illuminated the haunted face with flickers of orange light. Wally stared stoically down at the fire, watching until the last flame died and the last ember faded away. He replaced the metal cover and without ceremony walked back into his building.

Though his heart was racing Batman waited for several minutes, until he was sure Wally had settled back into his flat before descending. He landed soundlessly on the alley floor. It was practically a habit and he did it without conscious thought. With heavy steps he approached the bin. He grasped the cool metal handle of the cover and with a quick motion he silently removed it. Some smoke rose up into the night air bringing with it a smell of burnt clothes, just acrid enough to let him know that the fabric had been a synthetic.

He used a small light to examine the remains and his heart lurched at a discovery. In his shock Batman stilled completely, his whole body blending with the shadow except for his wide eyes. He pulled an object from the black ashes and wiped off some of the black residue with his thumb.

The once proud symbol of the Flash had been discarded. Left in an alley covered in soot, abandoned without a look back. The fabric Wally had burned was probably red, some of the ashes might even have once been yellow boots. Ravenous flames had engulfed the simple, world-recognized yellow crest but through it all this remained, possibly the last remnant of a great hero.

A lightening bolt, that had once crowned the head of the Flash.

Chapter 2 – Not to be Equal to the Best, but Better Than the Bad

Sagga…