Disclaimer: And once again I tell you all that I do not own Young Justice in any way, shape, or form. I only own my plot.

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Mist: I'm running out of things to say in the disclaimer…

Whistle: Perhaps, but I'm more surprised that you haven't run into writers block yet, or at least strained your mind sick. But then again… you are looking a lot paler than usual.

Mist: I'm fine; I'm just not sleeping much lately.

Whistle: *Unconvinced* you're taking a break after this chapter. Last thing we need is you getting the flu again.

Mist: Fine…

Whistle: We'll be taking a short break over the weekend. We'll resume again on Monday. Assuming Mist doesn't do anything stupid and gets herself sicker.

Mist: I'll be fine.

^o^

Chapter 20: Kid Flash Returns!

^o^

(Wally/Blitz's POV)

I glared hatefully at my former friends from my spot on the bioship. Those jerks look so proud of themselves, so happy. Well good for them, 'cause I'm freaking miserable! They also keep on looking at me with these stupid smiles. They tell me that everything going to be all right, that I'm safe now.

Lying bastards.

They think they know everything. They act like they understand my situation, but they don't know anything. If they really cared about me, and understood me, they'd let me go home.

All I want to do is go home!

I growled in frustration, grabbing at my hair.

"Is something wrong?" Aqualad asked me.

I turned attentively to my former leader, giving him the full force of my glare. "Oh, is something supposed to be right in this situation?" I snarled at him angrily. "Because last time I checked, being kidnapped sucks!"

Aqualad sighed disappointedly. "Wally," he said, "Please don't act like this. We are only trying to help you."

My glare intensified. "Fine," I said, "Then help me. Help me by giving me a lift back home."

Aqualad sighed again before turning away from me.

There were a few moments of bitter silence. It felt strange. I remember that back when I was on the team, the bioship would always be filled with chatter. We used to get each other psyched up for the mission, and then we would congratulate one another or decide who was going to tell Batman about our latest screw up.

The silence quickly change from bitter to unnerving.

I tried to deal with it, but I just couldn't stay silent any longer so I decided to do the unthinkable.

I decided to strike up a conversation.

"Hey, Robin?" I called over to the other boy. Robin was the most obvious choice to try to converse with. We were really close friends before all of this, so he should be the easiest to talk to.

Robin's head jerked up when I said his name. "Ya, Wally?" he asked me, sounding glad that I was talking to him.

This probably had something to do with the way I treated him earlier…

This was about when I realized that I didn't know what I wanted to talk about. I really just wanted attention.

"Well… umm…" I searched my mind for something to talk about. "You don't have to worry about your secret identity. I didn't tell anyone."

Robin smiled at me. "Thanks man," he said, "You're a good friend."

I huffed and turned away from him. "I'm not your friend," I objected. "I just… I just know what would happen if people like the Joker found out your identity. So I decided to keep it a secret."

Robin chuckled at me. "You keep telling yourself that," he told me. "But you're still my best friend."

I twitched at his words. "Hartley and James are my best friends now," I growled at him. "I don't care what you people do to me. You are never going to change that."

Robin turned away from me, opting instead to type away on his wrist-computer.

Umm… maybe I should have been a little friendlier, now I have no one to talk to…

Disappointed, I went back to silently moping and glaring.

Well, for a few moments. Then, I got bored again.

"So…" I began; I almost did a happy dance when Robin once again turned to look at me. "I learned how to pick a lock. I'm actually pretty good at it. Haven't got around to cracking safes yet, but the other's think I'll rock at that too."

"Sounds like the Rogues have been keeping you busy," Robin responded distractively.

"Well, not busy so much… as just teaching me things," I corrected, "They're all really great teachers. I've learned a lot from them. They're actually cool people to hang out with when you get to know them. Especially James, I can't believe I never wanted to hang out with him before all this."

This continued for a little bit. Me just telling Robin random facts, and him occasionally responding in one way or another.

Robin laughed at me as I rambled on. "Ok, now you just sound like you want attention," he told me.

I laughed nervously. "Maybe just a little," I admitted, scratching the back of my head. "I've gotten used to having constant attention. Between James and Hartley, the only time I'm alone is at night and early morning."

Robin looked at me with a sad expression. "You have to stop thinking about them," he told me, "It will only make it harder to turn you back to normal."

I clicked my tongue in thought. "That reminds me," I mussed, "What exactly are you weirdoes planning on doing to me? I'm not actually being brainwashed, so there's nothing for you to cure. Why don't you tell me about your stupid plan?"

Robin shook his head sadly at me. "You have to pull your head out of the clouds," he advised me. "You ARE being brainwashed. The proof is all around you; yet you continue to ignore it."

I rolled my eyes at him. "What proof?" I growled, "All I see is a thousand lies. Stupid coincidences that barely stack up to anything."

"The Pied Piper hit you," he reminded me.

I lowered my head at the memory. It was so stupid of me to let them find out about that… But at the same time I feel… glad that they know about it. It's probably not that it's them though. I'm probably just glad that I told someone at all. After all, it's a good thing to get stuff off your chest every once in a while.

I looked up again to find Robin standing in front of me. "What exactly happened?" he asked me. "Why did he hit you?"

I wanted to ignore him. I wanted to tell him that it was none of his business. But something in my mind clicked into, or out of, place and I found myself tearfully recounting the events of this morning. I told Robin about how scared and terrified I was of what Hartley might do next. I even told him about what James said that this wasn't the first time he's done that.

'It's because we used to be good friends,' I told myself, 'That's the reason I'm confiding in him! Not because I trust him. Or that I distrust Hartley…'

Maybe if I keep repeating it, I'll start to believe it.

"Wally, it's ok," My former friend was comforting me. "You're safe now. He can't hurt you anymore. We'll never let him so much as TOUCH you again."

I pushed Robin away from me and glared at him through my tears. "He's my friend!" I objected, feeling the need to defend my friend. "He just has some problems…"

"You don't really believe that," Robin said.

"Yes," I growled, "I do."

"Sorry to interrupt," Aqualad spoke calmly. "But we all couldn't help overhearing your conversation-"

Damn, I have got to learn to talk quieter.

"-And we all agree with Robin," he said. "Wally, you know somewhere in your mind that the Pied Piper is not your friend. You just need to let yourself remember who your true friends really are."

I glared at each of them. They must have been talking telepathically while I told Robin about what happened. I guess they felt that I would have gone back to my bubble again if they tried to say anything.

Which… I would have.

Everyone let out a sad sigh when I refused to answer.

After several minutes of silence, M'gann spoke up. "We're about to land," she alerted everyone.

That's when a thought occurred to me. "Who's all gonna be here?" I asked them.

"Just the Flash," Aqualad answered me. "This mission was covert. Not even the rest of the league knows about it."

"Even Batman has no idea what we are up to," Robin chimed in.

This confused me greatly. "Why are you keeping all this a secret?" I questioned them, wondering what they were planning.

"Isn't it obvious?" Red Arrow asked me.

I shook my head in response, finding myself growing more and more curious by the second.

"We're doing this for you," Red Arrow told me. "If the league found out, they might not be as understanding. You'd probably wind up with a criminal record, maybe even be arrested. They wouldn't let you be a hero anymore."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Well, I guess it's a good thing I'm a Rogue then, now isn't it," I spoke icily.

Red Arrow did not respond.

^o^

As we stepped out of the bioship I was immediately pulled into a bear hug. I knew right away that it was The Flash, as my vision had become entrapped by the sight of his trademark red costume. I was about to pull away from him, but then I thought about how much he must of missed me. I know it sounds stupid, but I feel a little bad for him.

Because of this pity (Because I did not, I repeat NOT miss him) I allowed him to hold me.

When he finally pulled away he kept his hands on my shoulders, as though he was afraid that if he let me go, I'd disappear forever.

Which, I would very much like to do right now.

He smiled softly at me. "I've missed you," he said.

I glared half-heartedly at him. "Well I didn't miss you," I told him, trying to sound as indifferent as possible.

The Flash winced at my words. "So I take it that he isn't back to normal yet," he sighed sadly.

M'gann shook her head. "We wanted to get him as far away from the Pied Piper as possible before starting," she told him. "We also had hoped to talk some sense into him to make it easier to free his mind."

"That didn't work very well either," Aqualad added sadly.

" Oh…" The Flash looked disappointed.

"But we got him to tell us a bit about what happened to him there," Robin chimed in hopefully.

Oh no… he wasn't going to bring that up with the Flash…. Was he?

The Flash looked up, alert and focused. "What happened?" he asked quickly.

"Don't you dare tell him about this morning or I swear I will-"

Before I could finish my threat Red Arrow clamped a hand around my mouth, muffling my protests. "Continue," He told Robin once he was sure I couldn't get out of his grip.

Robin cleared his throat before continuing. "Some part of Wally's real self managed to slip through, and argued with the Pied Piper again his obsessive control," He started, ignoring my hate filled glare. "The Pied Piper didn't like that. He yelled at Wally… and he hit him…"

Robin trailed off as he saw the growing fury on the Flash's face.

My uncle immediately pulled me into his arms, as though to protect me from further harm. "That bastard hit him?" he growled, clenching me tighter as he spoke.

"He's pissed," Robin muttered.

I rolled my eyes and attempted to wiggle out of my uncle's grip. "Ok, I get it, you're worried for my safety," I grumbled. "No reason to squeeze me to death."

The Flash loosened his grip on me slightly, but not enough for me to get free.

"And while we're bringing about the bad news," Artemis said. "As you've most likely noticed; we failed to get the Trickster."

"Ya, how did that happen?" The Flash asked them.

"I agreed to go with them without a fight, as long as they leaved him alone," I answered, wanting to get my side of the story out this time. "There was no way in hell that I was going to let them steal him away from his family for some sick twisted revenge."

My uncle winced at my harsh words. "Haven't you explained the situation to him yet?" The Flash asked the team, sounding confused.

"We have attempted to," Aqualad answered. "But no matter what we say, he just refuses to believe us."

"That's because I hate all of you, and want nothing to do with you!" I growled at them.

"Please don't be like this," Aqualad spoke to me calmly.

I glared at him, uncaring.

Most of the members of the team sent a pleading look to M'gann. Said Martian let out a sigh at this.

"Alright," She said, "I'm on it. Flash, can you hold him steady for me while I enter his mind?"

The Flash nodded at her and angled his embrace to hold my head still.

I felt myself growing more and more nervous by the second. I don't know what they plan to do to me… Why are they going in my mind? Omygod they're going to try to brainwash me!

"Stay away from my head!" I snapped at M'gann as I tried uselessly to escape from my uncle's grip.

"Don't fight it," M'gann advised me. "It will hurt if you do."

She walked closer to me so I kicked at her to make her back off.

"Wally," Aqualad said in his 'leader' voice. "You agreed to this, remember? This was a part of our deal to leave Trickster alone."

I shot him a glare. "Lying, manipulative, bastard…" I growled at him under my breath.

"Don't be scared," my uncle told me, holding me a little tighter. "It will be over soon."

M'gann approached me again, but this time I didn't kick at her. I'm a Rogue of my word. I will not break my promise, even if it means loosing my freewill.

I felt her hands on my head and clenched my eyes shut, panic rising inside me. "Please, don't do this," I pleaded.

I was ignored.

I felt a strange pressure in my head.

Then, the world went black.

^o^

(Mist: Ok, before I continue. I do have an idea for M'gann's trip into Wally's mind. If wanted I will add it in as a special, but if no one is interested in reading it I will simply skip over it)

^o^

As the world slowly slipped into focus I became aware of a searing pain in the back of my head. My hands instinctively tried to clench my head, but to my horror I found that something was holding them back.

I shut my eyes to block out the blinding light, vaguely aware of voices speaking around me, and attempted to move other parts of my body. It quickly came to my attention that I was being restrained.

"Hey! I think he's waking up!" A familiar voice declared somewhere to my left.

I blinked open my eyes again and found Robin staring down at me, a large grin spread out on his face.

I continued to stare and soon my vision was filled with several other familiar faces; my team, and Uncle Barry.

'What happened?' I thought to myself. 'Why am I being tied down?'

"How are you feeling?" Uncle Barry asked me softly.

"Head hurts…" I answered weakly, my head feeling like it was going to split into a million pieces.

"Sorry about that," M'gann apologized sheepishly. "There were some… complications when I was trying to fix your mind. You may experience mild amnesia of these past few weeks for a while."

"What are you… talking about?" I asked her, my eyes trailing over her face for an explanation. "What happened?"

"What do you remember?" Roy asked me.

I searched my brain for my most recent memory. "We were… looking for some stolen tech, right?" I tried to remember what happened, but for the most part I came up empty. "I remember an explosion… then Klarion mocking me. Then Flash showed up… I don't remember anything after that though…"

Everyone looked around. Some looked relieved, while the other's looked concerned.

"Wally…" Uncle Barry started slowly. "That was a few weeks ago."

My eyes widened in horror. "I've been asleep for that long?" I exclaimed.

Uncle Barry shook his head and turned away. "No… no… you were, umm, you were…"

I listened as my uncle continued to stumble over his words. What could be so horrible that he couldn't bring himself to tell me?

"What the Flash is trying to say," Roy interrupted my uncle's stumbling. "Is that you were kidnapped by the Rogues."

"What?" I squeaked out. "Oh god. Please tell me I didn't tell them anything!"

"We don't know what they found out," Robin told me. "We've been to focused on bringing you home."

"Well what the hell did they do to me?" I demanded. "And why am I being restrained?"

My uncle let out a sad sigh. "We restrained you incase the mind correction didn't work," He told me.

"Mind correction?" I questioned.

"The Rogues, they…" My uncle trailed off and looked around at the other's, as though he was hoping someone else would answer.

Aqualad let out a tired sigh. "The Rogue known as the Pied Piper used hypnosis to brainwash you into joining them," He told me. "You've been under their control this entire time."

My eyes widened even further. I waited a moment to see if someone would tell me that this was all a joke.

It never happened though…

"We also learned that the Trickster is being controlled by the same brainwashing technique the Pied Piper was using on you," Aqualad continued. "But we failed to rescue him."

I felt faint.

"Are you ok, Wally?" Robin asked me.

I shook my head. "This… this can't be happening…" I muttered, more to myself than anyone else.

In the blink of an eye my restraints were removed and my uncle was holding me. "It's ok," he told me in a near whisper. "You're safe now… I'll never let him take you away from me again."

Safe now.

Someone else… said that to me.

I winced as I felt the headache increase. Within seconds, I screamed as images flooded my mind.

Memories of these past few weeks…

I was barely aware of anyone around me asking if I was ok.

As the bombard of memories stopped I felt like I had a rock in my throat. "Oh god…" I muttered. "What have I… what have I been doing?

"I think his memories just returned to him…" M'gann muttered.

I looked around at my friends and uncle. "I said… horrible things to all of you…" I hung my head in shame. "I DID horrible things…. I'm so sorry…"

Uncle Barry tightened his grip on me. "It's ok," He told me, "It wasn't your fault. You weren't in control of yourself."

"But I… I was at first," I all but whispered, "I went with them… I…"

"They kidnapped you," Robin corrected me. "You didn't have a choice."

I shook my head. I knew better than that. I wasn't being brainwashed in the beginning. I went with them because I was angry and being stupid….

"It's all my fault…" I whimpered out.

Well… maybe not all my fault. Pied Piper, Hartley, he did this to me! He made me fight my friends! He controlled and manipulated me! He changed me!

I will NOT let Hartley get away with this!

^o^

Mist: Wally's moved from confused, to sad, to angry pretty quickly, I know. But I always imagined that his hyperactive brain would move through the stages of depression pretty quickly.

Whistle: Here's your clue for the next chapter. Sad's next. And he wont be around the team or his uncle when he switches.

Mist: But he will be around A team.

Whistle: That a big enough hint for you all?

Mist: Also, this is officially the longer chapter in this story.

Whistle: Good job Mist. Now go take your nap.

Mist: Fine…

Both: Please review!