Disclaimer: I don't own DC Comics (unfortunately).
This chapter deals mostly with events that were discussed in Chapter nine, Vanishing Point. I write this as a reminder in case anyone feels the need to check back and read anything they've forgotten.
Recap: David and Terry have managed to rescue Bruce and Evan, as well as J'onn J'onzz and Kara Kent. Rex Stewart and Donna Troy arrived to help, but were a little late.
Resurrecting the Red
Chapter 16: The Day After
Bruce and Dick sat silently across from each other, not knowing what to say.
It was nearly seven in the morning now and both men had been up early. Bruce had been surprised to learn about Dick's involvement, but hadn't had a chance to think more about it until now. After their initial rescue, everyone had been transported up to the Watchtower so that the boys could have their injuries looked over. Bruce and Evan had done their best to shield David from curious eyes, but it was the two teenagers themselves who had finally chased off the other Leaguers.
Despite their injuries, both teenagers had insisted on returning home so they could get their homework done for the next day. David and Terry had both become very irritable as a result of exhaustion and the realization that they still had to get up the next morning for class. After ten minutes of trying to talk to them, Clark had finally given up and retreated from the room. David perhaps had a bit more of Linda Park's temper than Bruce had originally thought.
Bruce had talked them into staying the night as his house, although this was mostly to hide Terry's still swollen face from his mother. Terry had called home to say that he was staying the night at a friend's house. Then the two teenagers had stayed up to four in the morning to get their homework done. Bruce strongly suspected that they had ended cheating off each other.
Evan had gone home after returning to Gotham. Bruce knew that he would be returning later in the evening to discuss David. The teenager hadn't said anything, but both men knew that he was going to want to continue as the Flash.
"Why didn't you tell me Bruce?" Dick finally asked. He met Bruce's eyes for a moment and the older man could see the hidden pain in there.
"I was going to," Bruce admitted reluctantly. "I didn't right away because I didn't want the boy to be overwhelmed. The League was practically fighting each other to even get a glimpse of him last night. Barbara only found out because she saw him after someone had tried to kill us. You can't blame her for asking questions."
"No," Dick said quietly. "He looks so much like Wally." They were silent for a long time at that. Bruce remembered when he had first seen David. At first, despite how illogical it was to think it, he had thought it was actually Wally standing there.
"I'm sorry Dick," Bruce mumbled. Of all the people who should have known, Dick should have been the first. He and Wally had been best friends. Dick's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected apology, but only nodded his head in reply.
"I...do understand your reasoning Bruce," Dick said hesitatingly. It was a peace offering and both he and Bruce knew it. "The kid wasn't ready to be thrown headlong into the League." Dick paused suddenly and looked at his watch. "Shouldn't they be up by now?" he wondered. "I think school starts in an hour."
He and Bruce looked at each other before looking up at the stairs. Both of them had vivid memories concerning tired teenagers in the morning. None of their memories were very pleasant.
"Do you want to wake the Living Dead or should I?" Bruce asked dryly.
"You've already volunteered," Dick said quickly, becoming very interested in his cup of coffee. "I don't feel like losing my head this morning."
Bruce sighed as he made his way up the stairs. He'd had a hard enough time getting Tim and Dick up the mornings when they were younger. He had a feeling that Terry and David were going to be much worse.
He was right.
"McGinnis! Kae! Get out of bed!"
The two teenagers groaned in the room that they were sharing. They had ended up crashing in one of the spare bedrooms that had two beds. Terry placed a pillow over his head while David pretended not to have heard him. It was likely that he hadn't. Neither of them were fully awake yet.
Bruce walked over and ripped the bed covers off both of the boys, causing a chorus of complaints. He brandished his cane at them until he successfully managed to get them to roll out of bed with the speed of a couple drunken sloths. Bruce stood there a moment to glare at them, but then realized that his effort was wasted since they were too tired to notice. He went back downstairs to the kitchen. One minute later, Ace came bounding up the stairs to begin shepherding the two young men into getting ready.
"How do they look?" Dick asked cautiously as Bruce returned..
"Not human."
Fifteen minutes later, both of them came trudging down the stairs, followed by a vigilant Ace. David had ended up borrowing one of the extra sets of clothes that Terry kept at the mansion. Terry and David stumbled into the kitchen and ended up drinking an entire pot of sugar enriched coffee between them. Bruce and Dick exchanged amused looks.
"Perhaps...I should drive them to school," Dick suggested.
"That might be wise," Bruce agreed. Ten minutes and three threats later, Bruce and Dick managed to get the two of them outside to the car. Bruce thought that perhaps fighting Brainiac had been easier than this. The car finally pulled out of sight and Bruce headed back into the mansion with Ace. His cell phone rang a minute later.
"What is it Shayera?" he asked.
"How are our two heroes doing this morning?" she asked.
"Dick just left to take the Walking Dead to school." Shayera laughed a moment before turning serious.
"Clark's called a meeting.. Do you want to come here or stay at the mansion and listen in?"
"I'll come there. Bye Shayera." Bruce clicked off the phone and prepared to leave.
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When Bruce arrived at the council room, nearly everyone else was already there. The three Stewarts were sitting next to Virgil, Richie, Oliver Queen and his son. Red Tornado was seated by Clark, Kara Kent, and J'onn. Bruce's eyes paused on the Martian, who was currently eating his way through a bag of Oreos.
"Have a seat Bruce," John said. Bruce sat down next to John as he surveyed the group.
"Who else is coming?" Bruce asked. He was answered a second later by the strong figure who strode gracefully into the chamber.
Diana swept her eyes around the table before choosing a seat next to Ethan Queen. Bruce covertly watched the Amazon beauty as her eyes studied the group before pausing on him.
"Bruce," she said, somewhat surprised.
"Diana." There was a pause.
"I see you've adopted another one, old man," she said with a smirk. Bruce's mouth quirked slightly in reply.
"He's the first one with super powers," he answered dryly.
The others exchanged looks but didn't say anything about the subject of David. They had tried confronting Bruce about it the other night, but the aging billionaire had railed into them instead. He'd made it quite clear that he was protecting the young man from a life that had been unexpectantly thrust on him. An angry Bruce had quite bluntly told them that the Justice League and the legacy of the Flash was a decision that the teenager was going to have to make on his own. He wasn't about to let the young man feel pressured into taking up a mantle that he might not want or be ready for. With Evan Kae watching silently the whole time, the other Leaguers had to grudgingly admit that Bruce had a point.
That of course still didn't mean that they weren't still sore about it. They all, however, held in their complaints out of fear of Bruce.
"I think everyone who needs to be here, is here," Clark said. "Virgil, why don't you tell us what you found?" Static Shock stood up and moved to where everyone could see him. His fingers tapped a computer console and opened up a holographic image. Bruce studied what were obviously different samples of skin cells before looking at the younger man.
"The sample on the left is Martian DNA," Bruce stated. "The one on the right is Kryptonian and the one in the middle shows traces of both genetic streams." The others gave a start at that. Virgil grimaced, but wasn't the least bit surprised that the Gotham billionaire had already jumped ahead of him.
"You've all heard about my fight with the shapeshifter in Waller's house, right?" he asked. All heads nodded and Virgil continued. "This skin sample in the middle was on my clothes and it came from him. The League's computers analyzed the sample and it appears that his genetic structure is a mix of J'onn's, Kara's, and Lex Luthor's DNA." Both Kara and J'onn's lips tightened noticeably.
"That explains some things," Ethan Queen said. "But I still don't understand how Kara and J'onn even ended up in that cryochamber."
"Yes, that's true," Diana said. "You two disappeared about twenty-five years ago during the fight with Solus and the Key. I remember. Wally had defeated the Key and disappeared into the speed force and you two vanished a few hours later during your fight with Solus."
"Yes," J'onn said quietly. "I'm afraid that I remember little about it."
"Yeah," Kara added. "I remember killing Solus, but after that, it's blank." Everyone was silent for a moment.
"Lex must have been behind it, perhaps he and his daughter were even working together. Alexandra would have been in her early twenties, if I recall," Clark said bitterly.
"She would have been nineteen," Bruce corrected. He'd checked up on this before arriving. "And Kent...don't forget that clone I saw."
"Jon-El," Clark said quietly. Bruce nodded. The Kryptonian was silent for a long time. He was disturbed by this apparent clone of his dead son.
"Waller's still missing as well," Shayera pointed out. "Luthor has her somewhere."
"And knowing Luthor, she and this Jon-El managed to escape the compound," Oliver Queen pointed out. Bruce rubbed his eyes a moment as he thought. There were far too many unanswered questions for his liking, and he said as much out loud. The others nodded in agreement.
"Bruce," Clark said hesitantly, knowing he was treading on delicate ground. "We may need Terry on this...and David, if he's willing. I mean, if it's okay with his uncle that is." Bruce nodded his head, which Clark knew meant 'We'll see.'
"Do you..." Shayera started, and then paused. Everyone looked over at her and she continued. "Do you think it's possible that Wally survived? J'onn and Kara are alive and we had all thought they were dead." There were some looks of hope around the room.
"No," J'onn said quietly. "I saw him. He disappeared into the speed force."
"Yeah, I was there too," Kara said just as quietly. Her voice shook as she continued. To her, it had all happed only yesterday. "I saw it happen. He...he smiled at me and told me it would be okay. Then he disappeared." She swallowed a hard lump in her throat.
"Wally!"
"Get back Kara! You have to stop Solus!"
"But Wally!" Kara pleaded. Her eyes were fastened on the red garbed man in front of her, whose body was quickly fading as they spoke. J'onn couldn't help because he was too busy fighting the ex-Linear man nearby. Wally smiled warmly at her. It was one of his infamous smiles that made you want to smile back.
"It'll be okay Kara," Wally said. "Everything's going to be okay. Just...tell Linda and the kids that I'm sorry. Iris's twentieth birthday is tomorrow. Tell my little girl Happy Birthday, okay?"
"WALLY!"
"Goodbye Kara."
Kara closed her eyes. Her mouth trembled as tears slowly began to leak down her face.
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"You two look like hell."
David and Terry picked their heads off of their desks enough to look blurrily up at one of their classmates. Jamal Armstrong had been one of Terry's friends when he had still been on the wrestling team. The African-American teenager shook his head at the other two, who seemed to barely be alive.
"You two get into a fight with some Jokerz or something last night?" he asked. David mumbled a reply. Terry quirked a smile at him, but broke off whatever answer he was going to give when Dana came storming up. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at the two, especially Terry. Jamal inched his way away from the brewing storm and retreated to his desk.
"Okay Terry, what's going on?" Dana demanded. "You two disappeared during lunch yesterday and never came back. Then the power suddenly went off in the school around the same time that Max disappeared. Then you two show up this morning, looking like this." She glared down at them, causing the two of them to groan.
Damn you McGinnis, David thought. I told you that you should have told her. Now you're girlfriend's going to kill us.
"I had a family emergency," David said instead. It wasn't exactly a lie; it had been a family emergency. "Terry gave me a ride home."
"You don't drive to school?" Dana asked suspiciously.
"Unfortunately, no," David replied tiredly. "I don't have a car." I hope she buys this. You're going to owe me for this one McGinnis.
"Okay," she said. "Then why do both of you look like you've been in a fight." McGinnis, I'm going to kill you, David promised silently.
"I got into a fight with some Jokerz," he lied. "They were trying to pick a fight with me and I..er...didn't walk away. McGinnis had to come save my butt." Dana raised an eyebrow at him before looking at her boyfriend.
"Terry...is this true?" Terry mumbled and nodded his head. Dana stared down at them for a long moment before sighing in exasperation.
"Men," she complained. Dana then smirked suddenly as she kissed Terry on the cheek. "So..." she said slyly. "Did you teach those Jokerz a lesson?"
"Oh yeah," Terry said dryly. "And I think we pissed them off really good."
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Alexandra Luthor was not happy. She hadn't been pleased when Bruce Wayne and Evan Kae had escaped. She had been very unhappy when J'onn J'onzz and Kara Kent had been rescued. She had most unhappy when her compound had been destroyed, nearly with her still inside. Jon-El had gotten the two of them out at the last moment.
Luthor looked down at the picture of Terry McGinnis and David Kae getting into Bruce's car. She had been surprised when the half-Kryptonian clone had told her about his fight with the Flash. After some thought, it hadn't taken her long to connect the dots.
Evan Kae had been with Bruce Wayne because his nephew was the new Flash.
Alex had compared the boy's image with that of Iris West Cullen and Wallace West. She could tell that the boy was related, but as far as she had heard, Iris West had died before giving birth. That obviously wasn't the case.
She knew she couldn't move against him, or Bruce and McGinnis. The Justice League would be on guard now and would be monitoring those two boys. After a moment, she pushed away from her desk and stood up. Perhaps it was time that she spoke with Amanda Waller again.
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"How was school today?" Bruce asked. It was nearly eight o'clock. Terry and David both came in with Evan Kae at the same time.
"The Dark Lord of Sith gave us a pop quiz in chemistry," Terry muttered. David had an equally dark look on his face and Bruce decided not to ask.
"McGinnis, I'm giving you the night off," Bruce said. "But I expect you to do your school work and to get some sleep. You'll need to catch up on both. It's going to be rough for a while."
"But what about..."
"J'onn volunteered to watch Gotham for you tonight," Bruce answered. "You can thank him later."
"Um..." David said. "About that...I want to help." The other three looked at him. Evan pushed down a wave of anxiety.
"David..." he said.
"I want to do this Uncle Evan! Look, I know it's dangerous, but I want to help people," David said stubbornly. Bruce chose not to say anything yet. He had seen that same look of stubbornness on Linda Park West. The boy wasn't going to be persuaded out of this. Evan looked at him for a long moment and finally sighed as he came to the same conclusion.
"Actually," Evan admitted. "I was expecting this." He paused and glanced at Bruce and the other man nodded. "All right you can do it..." David's eyes lit up. "But only...only if you listen to Bruce. You are to consider him your guardian when you're wearing that mask. You are also to keep up on your grades. Is that clear?" he asked sternly. David grinned one of the infamous West grins in reply.
"Schway," Terry said. "But what about a costume? He tore up his grandpa's suit." Bruce smirked a bit at that before reaching down under his desk.
"An..associate gave this to me," Bruce said as he pulled out a box. "I wasn't going to give it to you unless you decided on your own that you wanted to do this." He handed the box to David and the teenager tore it open.
"Whoa," he said. It was a new Flash suit.
"Try it on," Terry urged. David zoomed around a corner and zoomed back a second later. He grinned under his mask as he showed off the new suit.
Unlike the old Flash suit, the mask covered the entire face, like Terry's cowl. The mask also contained a radiolink and a videolink, like the new bat cowl. Other than that, the suit was basically the same as the old one except for a few small updates. The red was a shade darker than the old suits. The lightning bolts on the mask were also slightly smaller than the originals.
"This is schway," David said. He turned his wrist over and the time and date appeared digitally on his suit.
"There's an internet link in your mask, like Terry's," Bruce explained. "You can access it if you need to. Your mask will also allow you to use infrared vision and night vision."
"Schway." David zipped upstairs to look in a mirror. He came back down a few minutes later.
"When do I start?"