A/N: I do not own Smallville, its characters, or their main development.

Chapter One: Bart Allen

Chloe Sullivan pulled her car into Keystone Motors, a smile on her face and determined look in her eyes. After two weeks of dead ends, she finally found Impulse. He was working underneath a jeep, ripped jeans stained with black visible.

Chloe called out in a formal tone "Bart Allen?"

"Who's asking?" he replied, fatigue in his voice. He glanced at Chloe, saw the heels and charcoal gray skirt suit, and smirked to himself.

"An old friend" Chloe responded.

Bart wheeled away from the car as Chloe took a few steps back.

"Chloe! What can I do for you?" Bart asked enthusiastically.

Chloe looked at Bart closely. He was tired, but it was the newfound serious look and aging face that made her worried. Where was the laughing teenager that wouldn't stop hitting on her?

"Lunch. I'll pay" she said.

"If you're sure", he replied, a small glint of mischief in his eyes.

He got in the passenger seat of her car and Chloe drove to a nearby restaurant. She chose to sit in a booth separated from the rest of the crowd. The waitress came over and handed them menus.

"Order whatever you want" Chloe told him.

Bart smiled widely and ordered 7 meals from the menu. The waitress was astounded, but took the order nevertheless. She walked away after pouring two glasses of water.

"Bart, how are you?" Chloe asked, worry plaguing her face.

"I'm doing alright. I'm working honestly, if that's your concern", Bart said after a moment.

"I think after all this time, you can do better than that. How are you living?" Chloe asked, tentatively.

"Not so great. I won't bore you with the details." Bart told her, with a sense of finality.

"I want to know", she persisted.

"Fine. I've been honest. I haven't been stealing anything, and I took up a job as a car mechanic. It's…fairly modest pay. I live in a two room apartment, I haven't eaten a full meal in months. Because of that, I don't have my powers anymore."

"Your powers are gone?" Chloe said in disbelief.

"My powers work in two ways- an elevated metabolism helps with the acceleration. Just recently, I learned that you can't have one without the other, and when I stopped stealing and eating in excess, I lost my powers too." He explained.

"Is the aging permanent?" she asked.

Before Bart could reply, the waitress came to the table with some extra hands and set all of the dishes on the table.

"I don't know" Bart responded, almost the moment the waitress was out of earshot.

"Eat. All of this is for you- let's see if a full stomach will help your powers"

Bart smiled weakly and ate silently. As time passed, the serious face was replaced with a content one. He looked like Impulse again, and with a smile, Chloe paid the bill and they left the restaurant.

"Try your powers."

Bart did, but nothing happened.

"I guess your metabolism needs to speed up instead of having an instant boost. Since your powers had a gradual decrease, maybe it will take time?" Chloe asked.

"It was a gradual decrease. Maybe it's good that my powers don't operate like an on/off switch." Bart reasoned.

"We have to make sure that you stay well fed. I'm staying in the Keystone Hotel for the week. I'll check on you."

"Chloe, what did you come here for?" Bart asked, as Chloe turned around.

"Check up on you." Chloe stated.

"Is that what this is for?" Bart asked, as he reached in his pocket and pulled out the tracking device. "Found it in my jacket", he said.

Chloe froze. "Bart, let me explain".

"Okay", he said slowly.

"After he died, you all went off the grid, and I assumed the worst. I need to bring you all together now."

"You couldn't have done that earlier? If we got together a month ago, I would probably still have my powers." Bart said, angrily.

"I was a bit…out of it for a few weeks. I'm getting better now- the League is all I have. It's all we have." Chloe explained.

"You're trying to get everyone together? We all turned on each other, Chloe. Who's going to prevent it from happening again?" Bart asked.

"It's my fault. I'm trying to fix it. You all turned on each other because of me. We've all changed, Bart. Lois went into the future, and I don't know what she saw, but a Kryptonian came back with her, telling Clark that he would be responsible for the end of the world."

"Clark wouldn't- you know that" Bart said loyally.

"He changed too- who are we to decide what direction he will go in?" Chloe questioned

"I am not going to plot against Clark. He is not the enemy", Bart decided.

"I'm not asking you to!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Then what are you asking me to do?" Bart asked impatiently.

"Help me get everyone together. Haven't you wondered how everyone else is doing? I don't know how Victor, Dinah, or AC are right now, but if they're even remotely similar to Oliver right now-"

"What's wrong with Oliver? What happened?" Bart cut her off.

"Long story short, identity crisis: He feels responsible for breaking up the League and Jimmy's death. He's the stereotypical billionaire's son once more. He's always drunk and with a new girl every night. I installed the tracking devices because I was worried about him, and was terrified of what could be going on with the rest of you. I've been keeping an eye on all of you day and night- making sure that you aren't in trouble and that I can bail you out of jail if it came down to it. You have every right to be mad at me, Bart. But I need to help him, and to do that I need your help. And to do that, I need you to be happy and zipping around here." Chloe said all of this very fast, blinking quickly as well in an attempt to hold back the tears.

"He killed Lex."

"Lex had you in a chamber and forced you to run for hours. There was blood coming out of your nose, Bart. His doctors have experimented on me more than just once. Lex was no saint, and I understand why Oliver did it. You know Oliver, Bart- you know that he regrets it every single day. He wouldn't be able to kill shamelessly like Lex did."

"I know, but what happens to the League after we get Oliver back? We have no main project, no 33.1." Bart asked.

"Tess Mercer's no innocent lamb. She's involved in whatever is about to come- I know it. And if that fails, there's always the routine crime." Chloe said with a smile.

"I'm in. But I don't have powers to help you with," Bart reminded her.

"I'll feed you. By the end of the week, hopefully you'll have your powers back. Then, we can track down the rest of the team. Bart, come home." Chloe said.

"Find the rest of them? Why Miss. Sullivan, I'm honored that I was your first choice", Bart said suavely.

Chloe laughed. He was back.

Every day for the rest of the week, Bart woke up to find an envelope on his nightstand. The envelope contained a thick wad of bills and a note containing two words, "From, Chloe". He continued to work as a mechanic, and at first, had three very satisfying meals. Two days later, his food intake start increasing exponentially until his face was young once more and he started to run. He started off with a light jog, and within the week, Bart was familiarizing himself with the speed of light once more.

After his speed was restored, Bart continued to work at Keystone Motors. One night, after a long day at work, Bart's arms were so tired that all he could think of was going back to the apartment and enjoying a good night's sleep. He was walking back to his apartment, when all of a sudden, he heard alarms go off.

Bart turned around to where the noise was coming from and saw three men run out of the jewelry shop across the street. It was almost pathetic- they had no getaway car and were just running away from the scene of the crime, bags filled with diamonds in hand. Bart scoffed to himself, thinking about his old life of robbery. He didn't have a getaway car either, but at the time, he didn't need one.

Bart sped over to the criminals and took the bags away from them. He went into the store, and dumped the bags on a counter. He ripped off the lights that were decorating the interior of the shop and sped back to the criminals. He knew a knot or two that would keep them in place, so he tied them to a telephone pole, and called the police, while speeding away from the scene.

He returned to his apartment, and sat thoughtfully. It had been a while since he had fought in the name of justice, but Bart still felt rush that came with saving the day. He started searching through his things, and didn't stop until he found a small key underneath a floorboard. He unlocked a drawer in his bedroom and grabbed the small earpiece inside. He wrapped the earpiece around his right ear, pressed it with his finger, and said clearly "Impulse, online."