When the five young heroes limped across the Metropolis line, lights started flashing, an alarm blared. Static, Robin, Wonder Girl, and Batgirl all whipped out their weapons, while Bart just looked around, confused. They were tired from the long walk/fly. All of them were in mismatched clothes from Light soldiers they had ransacked a few days before. Bart saw them do things he had never guessed people like them would do. Robin snapped a couple necks, Virgil electrocuted someone. Whatever happened in the last five years changed them. He almost didn't recognize his old friends. Robin and Cassie reminded him of a friend he had…when he was young…well he guessed that made sense.

"Do you think…?" Robin trailed off, looking to his leader. Only Tim's eyes were visible, contrast to his former identity. They were of someone who had seen his greatest friends die. They had all changed so much. The reason everyone had survived so long in his childhood was because they had stayed together. But here wasn't the same. One of his fonder memories was seeing Artemis, Barbra, and Raquel laugh together, even in the hardest times. The trio hadn't seen each other in years in this timeline.

Barbra pursed her lips "I don't know—" But she was cut off by a booming voice surrounding them.

"Drop your weapons and we won't hurt you." It sounded familiar, but Bart couldn't place it. "You are surrounded. I repeat, drop your weapons."

"Maybe we will, that depends on who's asking." Virgil found his voice.

"That doesn't work out for us." The same voice said. It was masculine, and probably from someone big. Robin was scanning the area with his eyes, looking for the source. The surrounding buildings were in ruins, but some places had spaces perfect for a sniper rifle. The ground was covered in snowy ash and the air was cold.

"Wait," this one was littler, and obviously female. "They might be friendlies."

"And what if they're not?" The first voice asked. Robin snapped his head to Barbra and tilted his head ever so slightly to the small crevice in the bowels of one the buildings. Batgirl gave a little nod and put her hand in her pocket.

Bart heard a little click. A sound he hated, the sound of a safety being turned off a gun. No way, he thought, impossible!

But sure enough Batgirl, protégé of Batman, pulled out a small pistol and fired three shots into the crack. There was the distinct sound of a splatter of blood. "That was a warning."

In an instant all hell broke loose. About half a dozen soldiers sprang out of their hiding places. The four others jumped into action, leaving Bart still standing in shock. Even in his day the Bats retained a code of honor. Damien had branched out with weapon choices, but there was two rules, no guns, no killing humans, the Reach was fair game. The people in his day had stayed connected. With a common enemy, even supposed villains had hated the Reach, they managed to stay strong. The Light succeeded in this timeline because the heroes stopped trusting each other. In the original time at least he had the memories of the jubilant gatherings of his family. When they would all dance and sing around a fire. And he vaguely remembered Lian and Damien's wedding when he was very little, or maybe just the swell of stories his father told at their funeral. Those were the times to reminisce. He especially had loved Uncle Dick and Aunt Artemis's stories of the old team, back in the good old days.

Bart was jostled out of his stupor by a loud buzz. A familiar blue shape flew overhead, watching the battle, watching him. None of the others acknowledged him.

Wait…the people. "Some of the regulars are Rocket and Blue Beetle, but like everyone we know has been on heroes mostly" Son of a bitch.

"Hey, heyyyyyyy stop!" Bart called in vain. He pulled off his ski mask. They all froze in shock.

"You idiot!" Cassie screeched. She was going toe to toe with a man, taller, but skinnier that her.

"Wait, wait!" The second voice from before called. "Stand down," when nobody did, she too removed her the piece of cloth covering everything except her eyes."I repeat, stand down." Her voice was harder than he had ever heard.

"Bumblebee! It's the resistance!" Virgil cried, his eyes were alight with joy.

Tim looked hesitant, "How do we know this isn't a trick?" he still had his gun pointed at someone who he had pinned on the ground.

"Robin?" the man under him asked. It was the same voice from before. "Are you holding a gun?"

"Mal?" the third boy wonder's voice cracked. "Seriously, guys?"

Bumblebee, who had been standing on a piece of rock trying to assess the situation, slide down, "Everyone take off their masks." And they did, some, such as a short boy with a Hispanic complexion, did so begrudgingly. "Holy shit, Bart?"

"Yep, I'm alive, so is Barry and Wally, blame the damn speedforce. Got any food?" This all sort of hit close to home for the ginger speedster. He had to keep up his persona. He had to make sure they all stayed together.

"Wait Wally as in Wally West and Barry as in the Flash?" Said the man that Cassie was fighting, who Bart later identified as Black Lightening when he and Static embraced.

"Who else? We need to use your radio." Bart grinned as the others stared in shock. Blue Beetle had landed at the top of one of the ruins, looking down at them. His eyes were glued to the black blur of his old friend as he jumped up and down with excitement. They seriously need to get the word out.

:::

Artemis Crock should be Artemis West. She was so close to her happy ending. She had had a wonderful, caring boyfriend and a little baby, that she had a feeling was a little girl, on the way. She had been in a good place with her mom and Ollie, and even on speaking terms with her sister. Her niece, Lian, was safe with Roy and Jade, and Barry and Iris had been expecting twins. Her life was the closest to normal that it had ever been and she liked it. The only thing that would make it better was if she could set up Zatanna and Dick again and make M'Gann and Conner make up, which she was working on. The world was almost safe, until he had to be so damn heroic.

He died, and left her to chase a hyperactive developing speedster. She loved her daughter. Iris Paula West was exactly like her father, with orange hair, emerald eyes, and his very unique attitude. Irey reminded her more of the Wally she knew years ago, back when she first came to the team. He, like them all, had hardened with age. Part of Artemis was so glad he didn't have to go through the change of the Light taking over, then again, it might not have happened if he hadn't died.

She thought of him every day, so it was no surprise that when she was sitting on the old worn couch, braiding Irey's hair, her thoughts wandered to Wally, as usual.

He would be so proud of their baby. Irey was kind and never whined about the conditions she was forced to live in. All she cared about was having her whole family around her. She was too young to realize that there was barely a fraction of her family there.

Roy sat across the room fiddling with the radio. It was a tired thing, small and old-fashioned, but it worked. Their connection to the Station was the only way they knew about the world outside the bunker.

Paula sat in her chair, quietly reading. She had been welcomed into the Arrow family with open arms. After all, she had basically been part of it since Artemis got involved.

Ollie and Dinah dumped little Anna on them, which they were all surprised by. Anna and Lian were doing an old hand drive that Artemis and Jade used to do. "Abc, it's easy as 1, 2, 3. My momma takes care of me. My daddy watched MTV…" they chanted. By squinting really hard Artemis could almost image that the girls were living in the time that Artemis and her sister grew up in.

Jade was punching a punching bag in the corner. Training was how they kept sane. Even Paula broke out the old crossbow for practice.

Jake, Roy and Jade's two-year-old son, was playing silently with Irey's old Batman toy she got from Dick and Zatanna. It reminded Artemis of the fact that she had not seen them in years, they had been separated ages ago. It always hurt to think of them. But sometimes the pain was worse, like when the Station announces deaths.

"Wait, it's on." Roy proclaimed, he had worked very hard to get it to play.

"Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?" A voice erupted out of the box.

"Cass, no need to be so loud." Artemis narrowed her eyes. Wonder Girl and was that Batgirl?

"Mom, have you heard them before?" Irey asked. Artemis had to wave her away. It was the first time she had heard her old friends' voices in years.

Someone laughed, "We have a couple guests if you hadn't noticed." Artemis could tell it was Rocket. They were all giddy with joy.

"A couple? We can't fit anyone else in here." Black Lightning joked. Not many people joked anymore.

"Roll call!" Rocket cried exuberantly.

"I'm Wondergirl!" Someone that used to have the name Cassandra Sandsmark said.

"I'm Batgirl." Someone that used to be known as Barbra Gordan said.

"I'm Robin." Someone that people had once known as Timothy Drake said.

"I'm Static." Someone that was called Virgil Hawkins said.

"And I'm Kid Flash, the second, and I'm alive, if you hadn't noticed. Wally is too. Oh and so is Grandpa! Yeah!"

Artemis didn't hear anything else. Her brain was trying to register what she just heard. She stood frozen, staring at the radio. She couldn't help but remember the last time she saw him.

"Babe, come back to bed."She made no reaction to his soft voice. She was sitting on the toilet looking down at her hand. Her long blonde hair was splayed out around her shoulders and she had small tears rolling down her cheeks.

"You okay?" He crouched down next to her and pulled her hands into his. "Artemis? What…?"

In her hand was a small stick with a little pink positive sign. "Wally…" she mumbled and looked up at him.

"Is that—um?"His face was pale.

"Yeah." Her boyfriend just found out that she was pregnant and all she could think of to say was 'yeah.'

"Artemis," suddenly her scooped her up into his arms bridal style and kissed her square on the mouth. "This is wonderful!" he laughed. Wally gently set her down and kneeled before her soon to be bulging stomach. "Hey, baby. I'm your daddy." He kissed her belly button. "I am the father, right?"

Artemis gave a weak laugh "Who else, Baywatch?"She motioned for him to stand up. "So you're not mad?"

"Mad, why the heck would I be mad? Scared? Yeah, out of my wits. But we will do this together."

She sat down on the bed. "Wally, we're not in the slightest parents. We're heroes. Our lives are dangerous. This world is going to hell. And we're bringing a little baby into this life."

"Babe, think about how Clark must have felt. Or Barry. Or Bruce. Hell even Jade and she's as hard as nails. We will protect her. And if there comes a time that she wants to continue the family business, we are going to make her ready."

His blind faith in the world brought tears to her eyes. "Her?"

He smiled Kid Flash's trademark goofy grin. "I've got a feeling." He took her hand. "If I'm right, can we name her Iris?"

"Irey for short." Artemis murmured as she buried her head in his chest. "Then if it's a boy?"

"Jaiden, for the original Flash, we can call him Jai." Wally was on a roll now. "If they're twin girls: Megan and Irey. Two boys: Jason and Jai, those fit. Triplets—"

"Don't even go there." Artemis interrupted. They both laughed like the world wasn't about to end and stayed there, holding each other, for a long time.

As they fell asleep, Wally whispered to her, "No matter what I'm not leaving you."

Hours later there was a call from Dick and reality started again.

Irey never knew that her father had predicted her gender and named her. She didn't know how much he really loved them. She never had a real father. He promised never to leave her. And now he was going to keep his promise.

:::

Jason was pushed into the mess hall, surrounded by all of the heroes he had known forever. He wasn't hallucinating when he saw Wally, but the first Kid Flash had been immediately carted to some other place when Luthor was done with whatever he was doing while he was poked and prodded away.

"F***" he had been bad-mouthing the Leaguers the supposedly skipped out when they had actually been in here for the entire time. Almost everyone he knew was in the crowd. There were only the guys there thought. They were all wearing inhibitor collars, like his own and depressing frowns.

He slowly sat down at a table with ex-mentor and former members of the strongest society on Earth. "Why hello, Leaguey." He back in his chair. "Now, how we gettin' out?" The table held most of the powerhouses and ones that he had known the best.

"Todd," Bruce nodded curtly, "You too?"

Jason almost throttled his former mentor. How many years? The least he could say was 'hello.' He glanced at a guard he vaguely recognized who was staring straight at him. Jason got the feeling that it wouldn't be preferable for the prisoners to kill each other, so he decided to respond with his next best weapon, his mouth. "Naw I'm here by choice, how about you? Yeah of course they got me." He raised an eyebrow "Now how are we getting out?"

"We aren't." The Green Lantern John Stewart had apparently been stripped of his ring somehow, or maybe he was out of juice, or maybe he lost the will. The man was sitting next to Batman; his arms were stripped with the marks of a whip. "We've tried hundreds of times, it's inescapable. Right now we're surviving."

"Seriously? Yeah, not gonna happen." Red Hood sighed, "Maybe if we just—"

But he was interrupted by the Atom, sitting two seats to the right of Jason, who had been tinkering with what looked like a radio that had been thrown together in five minutes. "I think I've almost got it on."

It took Jason a minute to understand, "You're trying to tune into the Station. You'll only get bad news."

Clark looked at him, confused. "The what? We're just trying to get some news. Is there a broadcasting station?"

"Umm, yeah, basically the only one you can trust, The Station." At their blank stares he continued. "It's run by a couple rogue heroes. Anyone they can scrounge up. They announce deaths and stuff. It's useful, but dreadfully depressing."

But the radio was already blaring, "Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?" Jason seemed a little taken aback. He'd heard almost everyone, but never Wonder Brat.

"Cass, no need to be so loud." Really? Babs now? Bruce's eyes were wide with hope. Hearing two of his protégés in one day, it was like Christmas.

There was chuckling on the other line "We have a couple guests if you hadn't noticed." Icon, in the seat just to Red Hood's left, was actually smiling, proud of Rocket, he guessed.

"A couple? We can't fight anyone else in here."

"Black Lightning, boy it feels good to hear his voice." Superman's lip was quivering.

"Roll call!"

"I'm Wondergirl!"

"I'm Batgirl."

"I'm Robin."

"I'm Static."

"And I'm Kid Flash, the second, and I'm alive, if you hadn't noticed. Wally is too. Oh and so is Grandpa! Yeah!"

They all gasped.

Barry, too? Jason himself was getting choked up , this was huge.

"Hi everyone." Bart's voice pierced the silence. "Yeah, I'm alive. I'd rather you not freak out…or get mad…or try to kill me. Yeah, all of those would no-nos." He sighed. "Wally, Barry, and I were trapped in the speed force with no conception of time. Sorry everyone."

'Sorry, Allen? Sorry?' Jason thought. Bart was gonna have to work really hard to make up all the grief he caused them.

"I am going to do my best to fight for our people." Bart finished.

"Right now we need to find people. We are opening our lines for the first time. We activated Robin's comm. and are asking people to contact us if you know where Wally or Barry are." Bumblebee explained. "Our first priority now, even beyond hiding, is fighting. It is our time. The Flashes returns were a sign that we all need to get off our asses and attack. Take back our home. There is no way that we can prove that this is real. Everyone has to go on the blind faith in each other. That is something we lost years ago when the source of our trust, and don't try to deny it, the Flashes, disappeared."

Many of the other prisoners in the mess hall started to gather around the radio. The guard that Jason had noticed before was watching them with keen anticipation that made the former member of the team wonder if this broadcast was for real.

"We might have been abandoned by the damn League when they ran for their mommies."

All of the superheroes around him looked at each other, then him in shock. "Did I not mention that?" He said quietly. "They all think you did just that."

"Hey!" Black Lightning said on the radio.

"Sorry, most of the League and some of the Team." Kaldur looked down. "They are all sons of bitches, for leaving their damn families."

"Robin, don't get on this again. We all know they're all horrible people, terrible, ect." Babs said

"Hey, hate to interrupt, but we've got a hit on the comm." Rocket said.

"Raquel, man it's good to hear your voice, all of yours."

"Nightwing!"

Batman's first son laughed, "Hey guys."

"Daddy?" a tiny voice said from the phone.

Jason fought the urge to smile. Cara.

He laughed aloud when he saw Bruce's face. Dick and Zatanna sometimes went overboard protecting the kids. John Bruce Grayson brought Dick back when he was slipping. Nightwing had made sure he would never put the kids in the same danger he put Artemis and Wally in. Bruce had decided when he heard that Zatanna was with him that he didn't need to look over the boy's shoulder. Dick only stayed in touch with Artemis and Jason, because he thought they were the ones that really needed someone to lean on.

"Dick! Someone can call you daddy now?" Barbra asked incredulously.

"Actually, someone has been for nine years." The calm, clear voice of Zatanna erupted from the junk radio. Zatara, who's Helmet of Fate was in fact absent, had large tears rolling down his face. "That's Cara."

"We have news." M'Gann said.

"Hello everyone."

"BARRY!" All of the prisoners assembled cried.

"Hey Gramps." There was an obvious amount of relief in Bart's voice. "No Wally?"

"Not yet."

"Say what you have to say, Barry." The new voice of Conner urged.

"I can't believe how much hell everyone has been through. I will help with everything I can. But now I ask for a call to arms. Anyone, anywhere please come to the ruins of Central City so we can fight together. If you cannot make it there call in. We need the most we can get. I have missed my family, all of you. We will take back our home, once and for all."

After Barry's inspiring speech, the group around him started talk all at once. Most of them were yelling at him, the newest inmate, for answers. The guard finally came over, a smirk on his lips, and told them that lunch hour was over.

As he was about to leave, Bruce grabbed his arm and hissed in his ear, "I'll get the info to the girls. You get it to Wally."

Jason didn't even bother to ask how Bruce knew, he was the first bat after all.

Red Hood was escorted by armed prison guard to a small cell with a bunk bed. Sitting on the top bunk with his legs hanging over the side and downcast look on his face, was Wallace West. He was dressed in the same orange jumpsuit as the rest of them and he had his head in his hands.

"Wally?" Jason's voice cracked.

"Jase?" As he looked up, Jason noticed his vivid emerald eyes were wild with fear and a hint of darkness. He had been gone too long to not be affected by change. "You're alive?"

"I could say the same to you, man." The redhead jumped down and the two embraced. "It's good to see you." He grinned. "Artemis is gonna kill you."

Wally looked down, "Have you heard from her?"

"Once in a while, you know about Irey…?" he trailed off.

He smiled lightly, "So it was Irey. Who's she like?"

Jason was so glad to know that his old friend had had chance to know that his child exsisted before he died for the Earth's safety. "I don't know how Artemis stands it. That girl is just like you."

Wally choked back tears, "How have you been, how's the world?"

"Hell. It's gone to hell while you were gone. You know something's wrong when I see more of people than Dick does."

Wally sighed. "I figured as much, you guys just can't handle it without me."

Jason laughed. It felt good to laugh like that. It wasn't a forced bitter laugh, but something that was real and true like the Flash before him.

"You know we need to get out of here." Wally nodded along with him. "I heard a broadcast from a radio station that tells the news. They announced a call to arms today. They might attack here and we need to be ready." Jason looked out the cell door where all of the other prisoners were looking out their window directly at them. They had all been drawn by the sounds of their conversations. He faced them all.

"Now is the time."

WOW I really need to work on this whole updating thing. It had been sooooooooooooooo long and I am sorry for that. Thank you everyone who reviewed and favorited and followed. Getting those emails make my day. I have something really big planned next chapter and my mind has been peicing that together. This chapter I think is my longest and I am very proud of that. A four day vacation with very little wifi access (the cabin I spent two of those four in had terrible reception) motivates me to work. One note in this chapter, I know it says that Artemis told Wally about Irey in Paris but this chapter completely messes it up. I'm just gonna say they talked about it in Paris and because Wally's brainwaves were sort of fried there in the speedforce he mixed it up. Also, did any of you notice that this chapter was sort of the home of inspiring speeches, we had like three. I guess that sort of cements the fact that they aren't messing around. There was so much family feels. I'm sorry if I mentioned that Artemis was with Oliver and Dinah in Star because they were in the original draft of this. I'm kind of waiting for Artemis to come on the radio to give her pep talk to the masses for more GA and BC.

Get ready for next time because its gonna be awesome. I'm going to stop doing the "next time:" thing because, come on it doesn't really work.