Chapter Twelve

The 14th floor of Wayne Towers was isolated, almost peaceful at this early an hour, and Wally was grateful for the solitude. Maxwell Lord had granted the speedster access to his former office until 12:00 noon the following Monday to gather his belongings. The colossal prick had even somehow managed to sound magnanimous about it.

Lord had said all the right things publicly, that his heart went out to the Washington family, that he would set up a scholarship in Marcus's name, and even went as far as telling several news agencies that he still fully supported Dr. West and his research. Whatever PR firm he had hired had done a masterful job Wally bemused, but behind the scenes Lord was furious, not caring so much about the youth as he did his company's reputation. He hadn't hired Wally for medical breakthroughs, he'd hired him to make Lord money, but the only way to get the redhead fully onboard, to think about breakthroughs that didn't necessarily have to benefit humanity, was to allow him to finish his little pet project he'd been working on since Stanford. None of that mattered now.

Less than twenty four hours after the funeral Wally had been fired. The official press release would state Dr. West had stepped down, that he would explore other avenues and continue his research elsewhere, but Lord knew almost to certainty the doctor's reputation would be tarnished forever and he didn't want that stigma associated with his company. Lord wanted Wally gone and deep down the speedster didn't blame him.

Lord was prepared for a hefty out of court settlement, but Wally doubted the Washington's would come after himself or Lord Omniversal Research, no amount of money would bring their son back.

Wally had quietly attended the funeral, sitting in the back hoping no one would notice, but Marcus's mother Irene had. She walked up to Wally at the burial, as he nervously prepared for the screams, the blames, perhaps an attack of some sort, but all she did was hug him, comforting the heartbroken doctor when it should have been the other way around.

They knew how much Wally loved their son, he wasn't some test subject, he was his friend. Irene held Wally as he cried, sobbing I'm sorry's every other breath. Marcus's dad held the speedster tight, and told him no matter what, he needed to keep at his research, to find a cure for other who had suffered their whole life like their son had. He promised them he would, but he knew it wouldn't be at Lords.

He'd kept a brave face among his teammates, being the jovial clown they expected, playing his role and vowing to himself he'd finish the mission, he wasn't about to let anyone else down. With the mission now over and the fact that Lord had already severed ties with doctor, it was time to move on.

With the office empty he easily packed his personal items at an inhuman speed before coming across the photo of him and Marcus clowning around, he couldn't recall the place. The kid always had a great smile. With kidney failure Marcus's life span would always be short, but Wally had stolen his remaining years and he'd never forgive himself for it.

The speedster had spent the days and weeks after Marcus's death going back over his formula, looking at every gene sequence, the precise order of each nucleotide, forensic identification of the delivery mechanism, everything he could think of. He retested the compound on donor tissues, watching for any interaction that might have affected or damaged the immune system like it had Marcus's, finding absolutely nothing. It just didn't make sense.

Science was Wally's religion. His powers, his abilities were a testament to man's mastery over it, Barry Allen's abilities were due to a freak accident, Wally's were a calculated, researched recreation. His high school physics teacher would always say that everything is achievable through science, and that had become Wally's mantra.

But as much as he'd hate to admit it, science is not based on absolutes. Physicists, chemists, and scientists all wish it were, but sometimes science lies, and sometimes it's just plain wrong, Wally realized this might have been one of those times and it made him sick to his stomach to think he'd had been so arrogant when an innocent child's life lay in the balance.

He was lost in those thoughts when his visitor walked in unnoticed, quietly clearing her voice and catching his attention. He frowned and tensed, unbelieving the snobby receptionist who guarded the office door like a prison guard would have even considered coming in this early, when he looked in her direction he found blue grey eyes meeting green.

"So you're leaving huh? Just like that. No goodbyes or anything?"

"Artemis?" he said quietly surprised. "Hey? What are you doing here?"

"We work in the same building genius; you're not the only morning person around here, and stop avoiding the question."

"This wasn't goodbye, not yet at least. I already bought a shirt and tie for Dick's big Christmas extravaganza at the mansion, took the tags off and everything, can't take them back now so I guess I'll just have to grace everyone with my presence one more time," he grinned.

She wasn't biting; over the few months they'd known each other she'd realized he could be like a boxer when it came to his feelings: bob and weave and do everything in your power to stay out of the corner. To a certain extent she could relate. She also knew there was a lot more to him than what you saw on the surface, and Artemis could see behind that goofy façade was someone in pain, She wanted to reach that guy, do the same thing for him he'd done for her, but there was one question she had to ask, one that had been nagging at her since that night at Pepolino's

"Wally is this why you talked me into coming back? So I could be your replacement?"

"Artemis you're nobody's replacement," he said with a serious but sincere expression, "this was going to happen regardless if you'd stayed or not. It's just a lot of things. I told you I excel at shitty timing."

"Why? Because of the kid?"

"His name's Marcus, NOT kid!" he snapped before regaining his composure and sighing. "I'm sorry, that's been happening a lot lately."

"I shouldn't have…" she tried to apologize, but the speedster cut her off.

"Artemis it's not you, it's me. And yeah it has a lot to do with Marcus, probably all of it to be honest. I can't believe I was so freaking arrogant, promising things that I couldn't hope to deliver."

She reached over and took his hand, a gesture she rarely felt comfortable doing with anyone, let alone the red head who had been the bane of her existence early on, but that was before she knew him, really knew him, and she could tell he needed it.

"Wally you didn't kill him, it was just a mistake. You gave him a chance, that's all anyone could hope for."

"See that's just it," he corrected, "He already had a chance. Doctors can't tell you how long a patient can live on dialysis, but it would have been a hell of a lot longer than what he got because of me."

Wally dropped back into his plush leather chair, rubbing his eyes tired eyes. "I've gone over the formula a hundred times since then. Every simulation, every permutation, all of it works on paper, but I've missed something and I have no idea what it is. It cost a little boy his life and his parents a lifetime of heartache. I can't let anyone else down, and I just keep waiting for it to happen. I can't live like that. I'm no good to anyone if I try and fake it, not my job, my friends, my other job. I think it's a good time to move on for a while, get my head right, and figure where to go from there."

"So what are you going to do?" she asked.

"We'll I've got no job, my lease is up so no apartment, and a resume that no one would touch with a ten foot pole, so my options are wide open right now," he chuckled.

"In all seriousness I'll probably head home to Kansas and spend some time with my folks, put my brain on auto-pilot for a while and just…be. My uncle Barry always seems to have the answers even when I don't have the questions, he'd be a good person to help me get my head on right. Who knows maybe I'll go back to school, study something like history or business and stay the hell away from science."

"Kansas huh? Never figured you for a farm boy?" she smiled.

He looked down and gestured to his body. "Are you kidding? With this physique and rugged good looks how could you not? It just screams manly chores, herding cattle, nervous sheep. I'm like every girl's farmer's son fantasy meets Neil deGrasse Tyson," he beamed proudly.

"….Meets giant ego," she chuckled.

"Yeah that too. No I'm just a city boy, closest I've come to farming is buying milk at the Piggly Wiggly. Lots of it."

The stood in silence for a moment, the archer's eyes rolling even before she spoke. "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm going to miss you."

Wally grinned wide. "Wow that must have stung."

"More than you'll know," she replied back in kind.

"Don't worry blondie, I'll be around if you guys need me, this team would fall apart without me."

"Undoubtedly," she rolled her eyes again to Wally's amusement.

"Well I'm not leaving just yet. I can't miss the Wayne Christmas party, you are going aren't you?"

"Dick made it sound kind of mandatory," she confirmed.

"He does that so he won't be stuck suffering alone. For someone who's had a silver spoon stuck in him for most of his life, he's not all that comfortable hanging out with Gotham's "elite" the speedster put in air quotes, "but once the stiffs leave, it actually turns into a pretty fun party. Seriously though it's a great chance for people like us to let our hair down and relax. You'll have fun, you do know how to have fun right?"

"Will you shut up," she groaned, hitting him in the arm. "I have lots of fun."

"I'll believe it when I see it," he laughed.

"God you're so annoying."

"I know, another of my gifts," he replied.

Artemis looked down at her watch and frowned inwardly, her day was about to begin and she had more things to do then fingers to count them on. As a rule, she never socialized in the morning, that time was her time to stay ahead of the game, but just this once she had decided to make an exception. "Well I better go, got a lot to do before seven o'clock."

"Yeah me too," he laughed, gesturing at the box holding all his personal belongings.

"I'll see you around Wally."

"Yeah, and uh Artemis….thanks for coming down, it meant a lot."

"You're welcome." She turned to exit when suddenly she stopped and swung around back towards him.

"What?" he asked, staring at her inquisitively?

"I had something for you, I just can't remember what it was," the blonde replied, looking through her backpack searching. After a few moments of rumbling through the many pockets she recalled what it had been all along.

"Oh yeah, here it is," she smiled, leaning in and kissing him.

Wally's eyes grew wide and he stepped back for a moment shocked, quickly composing himself and seconds later leaning back in and meeting the archer's eager lips with his. Her hands made their way around his neck, while his snaked behind her waist and pulled her in tight.

A minute or so later she delicately let go and grinned at the red head.

"What was that for?" Wally questioned his skin a flush.

"That's for saving my life," she smiled

"I need to do that more often then," he chuckled.

"Too bad you're leaving town hero," she needled him.

"I could see where that could be a problem….for anyone who couldn't break the sound barrier in their sneakers."

A sly smile crept on the archers face, encouraging the red head to lean into her just as before. Her hands ghosted his cheeks and Wally closed his eyes and went in for the kiss when seconds later he heard the smack and his cheek began to sting and burn. He opened his eyes to see the archer laughing.

"Sorry, one time deal. See ya around speedy," and she spun on her heels, ponytail whipping through the air and left his office for him to finish packing.

Wally rushed to the door. "I told you, don't call me that," he yelled in annoyance only to hear her laugher echoing throughout the hall. He touched his lips, unbelieving what had just happened, and smiled to himself. Along with being an opinionated, bossy, know it all, harpy - she was a really good kisser. For a few minutes thanks to the archer, all his troubles seemed a million miles away, and for a speedster a few minutes can be a lifetime.

xxx

Three days later, Wally sat alone in his nearly emptied apartment. Unbeknownst to the speedster until early that morning when the moving crew arrived, pounding on his door at 8:00 am, Dick had hired a company to bring the speedster's furniture and belongings back to Keystone, it's what best friends do.

He'd tried to talk Wally down to no avail, in all the years they'd been friends, the only thing that ever soothed or calmed the speedster was time. He knew Wally had never suffered a loss like that before, few people had thankfully, but unfortunately Dick was one of them and when he talked about death and the feeling of helplessness that came with it, he spoke from the heart.

The only thing that remained in his apartment was his laptop, two changes of clothes, and of course an almost fully stocked fridge. It was a good run between Keystone and Gotham, nothing taxing, but always made better with a full stomach. When he finally left for home, he had no doubt the fridge would be empty.

The speedster buttoned his collar and tied his Jerry Garcia with a perfect Windsor knot. For a man whose work attire consisted of vintage rock t-shirts and jeans, he could clean up quite nicely when he tried.

Wayne parties in general, despite the initial stuffiness, were usually a lot of fun once the CEO's and socialites finally left. Wally's memory was still a little cloudy on how they all ended up in the pool last year, but he was fairly certain the free flowing tequila had played a large part in it. For an event that started with such formalness and etiquette, it usually ended with a night of drinking, dancing, swimming, and someone passing out naked. He grimaced at how many times he was that person.

Damn Zatanna, he shook his head, remembering the usual instigator.

Wally looked at his watch, he still had a few hours to kill before he'd make his appearance, trying to give plenty of time for mayors, councilmen, and police commissioners to come and go so the real party could begin. It's not like this was going to be the last time he got together with his friends, it just might be a while before he'd even consider coming back, if at all. It was hard to walk away from people who'd become almost a surrogate family to him.

All he ever wanted was to be a hero and help those who couldn't help themselves. He knew he couldn't save everyone, but he never expected his biggest failure, his biggest loss would be outside of wearing the crimson and yellow. Now he had some big decisions to make about his future, and that both exhilarated and terrified him at the same time.

He was restless waiting for the time to go by and his TV and game system were on the back of a semi heading to Kansas, but fortunately he still had his laptop.

Maybe there was something new on Netflix he hoped.

He flipped through the menu, and began the latest episode of House of Cards when his phone chimed. He wasn't at all startled by the sender. It was no huge surprise to get an email from Ray Palmer. Ray had been a mentor to Wally most of his life when it came to the sciences. Barry Allen was extremely intelligent, but Ray Palmer was what most would consider a genius. Even at an early age the young speedster and the scientist would carry on conversations that would leave Barry's head swimming. Ray had seen potential in the teenager, knowing one day it would probably surpass his. From time to time Palmer would send articles from the latest scientific journals or mathematical puzzles just to keep Wally on his toes. Sometimes it was just to give the speedster an update on the latest thing the scientist was working on.

The email just stated in the body of the message - from the Office of Dr. Raymond Palmer - Ivy College, and open the attachment as its subject. His name wasn't on the main recipients list, that name and email address had been intentionally blacked, but Wally's had been CC'd along with a two other names he recognized but didn't know personally. The file was too large for the speedster's phone so he closed his Netflix app and opened the email on his MacBook

It was a large mp4 file, and once Wally hit play, he realized who the blacked out recipient was. Ray Palmer appeared on the screen.

"Hello Batman,

I finished analyzing the sample you sent me and let me tell you, this is some scary stuff. This compound is way too complex to be some street level drug. It has a sophistication to it that I've rarely seen in any drug, designer or otherwise."

The screen split into two, with Ray one side, and the other half filled with a video from the optical sensor of the large Electron Microscope at Ivy College.

"Once you go past the 50 pm resolution setting, you can start to see strands of DNA being re-written, but that's not the strangest thing. When I went even deeper I found a secondary reaction.…

Ray's dissertation began to fade into nothing more than background noise as Wally's mouth fell open and he stumbled back towards the wall, sliding to the floor. He rewound the playback fifteen seconds, all his attention focused entirely on the video images from the microscope. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, he didn't want to believe. Wally had witnessed this so many times he could literally draw it in his sleep.

At that moment all the questions that had haunted him for weeks, all the doubt and agony that had plagued him, all the pain and suffering it had caused now had an answer, and a face. He knew exactly what he had to do.

xxx

The annual Wayne Christmas party was always considered one of the highlights of the holiday season, a veritable who's who of the Gotham social elite. To score an invitation you had to either be somebody, know somebody, or be sleeping with one of the aforementioned.

The secluded home of one of the world's richest men was only open to the public one time a year, and for many just the chance to tour the mansion and its grounds was well worth the trip. Despite the invitation, people were not allowed into the party without either a gift or monetary donation to the Thomas and Martha Wayne Children's Foundation. Very few grumbled about donating to such a worthwhile cause, especially during this time of year.

The long driveway from the canyon road up to the mansion was tastefully decorated with ice sculptures with ever changing shades of LED lights. The small mansion staff was augmented by scores of contract workers to ensure this party would be the toast of season. The Brazilian Rosewood mansion doors opened to the marble entryway with a holiday orchestra on the balcony playing classical versions of Christmas songs. When Bruce Wayne threw a party, he threw it right.

While the guests enjoyed the champagne and the finest hors-d'oeuvres, the man of the hour sat alone in solitude hundreds of feet below the mansion. He'd been there for hours, unconcerned with the events above other than a desire for everyone to enjoy themselves. He still wore his battle suit sans the mask and remained focused on the image before him on the large monitor of the computer.

The private elevator arrived at the ground floor and opened silently. Dick Grayson exited the lift wearing the latest Ermenegildo Zegna Italian threads from his last trip to Europe. He carried two glasses of champagne and walked towards his old partner seated in front of the supercomputer. He handed Bruce the drink and nonchalantly glanced over at the image Wayne was studying.

"I thought you were coming up?" Dick stated.

"I am. I'm just trying to wrap up a few things." Bruce replied.

"Well wrap it up quick," Dick pleaded. "Everyone is asking about you and I'm about out of excuses. And if I have to listen to one more windbag go on about investing in some start-up with them I think I'm going to pull my hair out. I like my hair Bruce."

"Now you know how I feel. Aren't your friends here yet?"

"Well I tell everyone to come late to begin with to skip all this crap, but Kaldur already had plans, and now Wally's cancelled on me for some reason. So it's just you and me for the next few hours."

Dick finished his glass and sat down next to the Dark Knight, curious to see what had him so mesmerized. "What are you looking at?"

"Something Ray sent me," Wayne replied. "He's been analyzing the trace samples I sent him a few weeks back from the bodies of the overdose victims at the Inferno Club. He's made some interesting discoveries."

"Like what?" Dick asked

"Initially the drug somehow targets a person's biological makeup to seek out genetic vulnerabilities that can then lead to developing different types of addiction. Certain genetic factors can indicate the significance of epigenetic mechanisms, which have been found to occur in response to illicit drug use or underlying factors in chronic substance abuse and relapse."

Dick pinched the bridge of his nose wearily. Tonight was supposed to be a break, not only from the toils of Wayne Industries, but heroics as well, but he knew that as detectives, they were never truly off the clock.

"Epigenetics? I know the term, but how does it relate to something like this?" Nightwing asked.

"It deals with the inheritable and possibly reversible modifications in gene expression, ones that do not involve any natural alterations in the DNA sequence. Various types of epigenetic modifications can indicate predisposing factors responsible for developing addictions to drugs or abuse. This drug can find these markers and modify itself to match the host's DNA specifically, and for any users with existing predispositions, it tailors itself to become the perfect drug for an individual, first time user or not."

"Not to sound heartless, but that is kind of brilliant," Grayson stated darkly impressed.

"It is, but what worries Ray more is the side effects. This drug severely suppresses the immune system. It works on a completely different molecular level than something like HIV, and according to Ray the advance treatments they use for that retrovirus have no effect on this one. Once this drug gets in someone's system, for a large population of users, even the slightest contact with a rogue strain of bacteria or virus can wreak havoc on the body. It's difficult enough to fight off a drug as addictive as this, but when it shuts down or damages your immune system in the process, the prognosis isn't pretty. Ray isn't sure if the immune system is compromised permanently, or just as long as any current infections remain active, but most antibiotics have barely made a dent in fighting this, and even first time users run the risk of a long detox followed by hospitalization and antibiotic therapy, if they're lucky. There's just isn't enough information out there yet."

"Hopefully the amount of product that was destroyed along with having Kobra in custody will keep whoever was working for them from manufacturing any more of this anytime soon," Dick said hopeful.

"Or give them time to refine the compound and correct the flaws," Bruce added.

Dick rolled his eyes and sighed, "You know you're always a ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark and gloomy world."

Wayne smiled; he appreciated good sarcasm and Dick had always been a master of it.

"Let's go," Dick commanded, "You've got a lot of people up there waiting to hob nob with you."

Bruce sighed and sat up from his chair and walked to the weapons vault to change out of the Batsuit. Social events weren't something he particularly looked forward to, but were a necessary evil from time to time. The cost of doing business he supposed.

Dick finished Bruce's untouched champagne, leaving the empty flute on the console, smiling that Alfred's OCD would have it picked up and back in the kitchen within minutes.

Bruce inquired about the guest list, but Dick became distracted and didn't acknowledge the question, staring intently at the cell structure on the screen for some reason, watching it infect cell after cell.

….but it has a side effect of severely suppressing the immune system.

That thought resonated in Dick's mind. Where had he heard that before? Bruce emerged from the vault dressed in his finest Armani, finishing the knot of his tie.

"Shall we?" Bruce motioned towards the elevator. Dick rose from the computer and began walking towards the lift, looking back, still transfixed by the image.

"It suppresses the immune system and allows the compound to attach itself to the DNA," Grayson mumbled again to himself.

He grew frustrated with himslef as Bruce called for the high speed security car. Wayne stepped inside the elevator expecting his ex-partner to follow suit and join him when Dick's paused and his stomach dropped. He knew exactly where he'd heard that phrase before. He ran back to the monitor and maximized the image.

"What if the immune system degradation wasn't a flaw, what if it was designed to do that specifically?"

Suddenly Dick became distressed. "Oh shit Bruce, who else has seen this?" he asked urgently.

"What?"

"Who else has seen this?!"Dick asked more urgently and louder than before.

Wayne walked over and opened the original attachment.

"Myself of course, but Ray also carbon copied a colleague of his from a biotech lab in Bern, Kitty Faulkner over at STAR labs, and Wally West, given his genetics background and position over at Lord's lab."

"Fuck!" he cursed, fumbling into his pockets to find and activate his com unit. He punched in the key sequence and made the call, only to get an automated message. He went back and activated the tracking mode to no avail. The unit was either powered down or disabled all together.

Grayson run towards the weapons vault, stripping out of his tuxedo and searching for the extra battle suit he kept at the cave.

"Dick what is it?" Bruce demanded, running over to the vault as Dick changed.

"It mimics the DNA and suppresses the immune system, causing the person to be susceptible to every bacteria, every virus out there that most of us wouldn't even think twice about," he replied form inside.

Dick stepped out of the vault, holding his mask in one hand, still frantically trying to get through to someone on his on his com unit.

"What if were looking at this from the wrong direction? What if this is actually and infectious disease hidden inside a designer street drug?"

"Go on" Bruce urged.

"Most antibiotics on the market have lost their effectiveness over the years, so much so that companies are rushing new ones to market as quickly as the FDA will approve them. Most never make the cut and get approval, but I know one company that just recently did."

That's when Bruce finally saw the path Dick had laid out in front of him. "Lord Ominversal."

"That image up there, I knew I'd seen it before. It's Wally's. They've taken Wally's sequencing formula and reverse engineered it into a drug that tailors itself genetically to become incredibly addictive to a diverse population."

"All the while hiding the side effects of an immunity disorder that is resistant to most antibiotics." Bruce added

"All but one," Dick said coldly, putting on his mask and starting up his motorcycle. "Bruce, I need you to send out a priority one alert to my team. They need to find Wally and secure him by all means necessary."

"What should I tell them if they ask why?" the Dark Knight questioned.

"Tell them Wally's going to kill Maxwell Lord."