Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. If I did, you'd all be watching this as a show arc instead of reading it as a FANfic.

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Mist: And we're back! Sorry for the delay.

Whistle: Mist's become obsessed with Harvest Moon: animal Parade. She was playing it all weekend.

Mist: It's fun!

Whistle: *face-palm* Just write the story…

Mist: OK!

Whistle: Please excuse the insanity/torture that is about to follow.

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Chapter 24: Welcome home

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(Third Person POV following Hartley)

Hartley smirked to himself as he lowered his flute, his eyes glued on his little prize. Everything had gone according to plan –the child was once more under his hypnotic control. Only this time… the child had willingly and knowingly submitted to the control.

Sure, Hartley had lied quite a bit to the little boy to gain that level of trust. But he's never claimed to be a truthful person. Besides, it's not like the little boy would have agreed to this if he had known what exactly he was getting himself into.

At this level of control, Wally had no chance of ever breaking free –even with help from that Martian girl.

"And now those bratty sidekicks won't ever be able to take you away from me again…" He told the unconscious child possessively as he stroked the little ones hair. "You will be under my control for the rest of your life."

What the child did not understand was that he had just fallen into a trap.

"You're so gullible, little Wally –yet another reason why I should have control over you're decisions," he continued gloating as he stood up. "To think that you so easily believed everything I said to you. 'Guidance System'? How stupid can one child be?"

He laughed as he continued to watch the child sleep. The little one looked oh so very cute –and oh so his…

Speaking of things that belong to him… "I really should go tell James that you're home," Hartley decided as he walked over to the door, "He's missed his best friend."

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(Wally/Blitz's POV)

Consciousness returned to me in a wavy haze. The whole world felt like it was twisting and turning at unreal angles and for a moment I feared I would be sick. But ever so slowly the world returned to it's normal pace and I felt reality return to normal. With that I carefully opened my eyes, as not to be blinded by the intense light, and looked around.

What happened last night? I remember James coming to my room, complaining about zombies wanting to eat his brain, then… nothing. After that everything's a total blank. It's as if the rest of the night has simply vanished from my mind.

I shakily sat up in my bed and looked around. I'm still in my room, that's a good sign. But why cant I remember what happened to me?

My head slowly began to hurt, so I stopped trying to figure it out. I'll go find Hartley and ask him what happened –he always knows. That's why he's the smart one.

With that I pulled myself to my feet and began to make my way to the door, but before I could reach it, it was swung open, nearly hitting my nose. I looked at who had opened the door and saw James. But something was wrong…. His eyes are red, he has dried tears on his face, and his hair was an even bigger mess than usual.

Before I could ask him what was wrong he lunged at me and started hugging me. He hug was even more smothering than usual.

I could barely breath but I stayed still in the hug, confusion having frozen me to the spot. What happened last night to make James cry like that? And the way he was clinging to me… did something happen to me last night?

Just then Hartley walked in.

"Let him breath, James, Wally's been through a lot," Hartley told the younger boy.

James loosened his grip on me, but did not let go. "I'm never letting go of you again!" he promised me. "Those bad people will never steal you again!"

This caught my attention. "Pardon?" I asked him, wondering if I had heard him right.

"You don't remember, do you?" Hartley asked me.

I tilted my head in confusion. "Remember what?" What were they talking about? Who stole me? Just what the hell happened to me?

"Those mean former teammates of yours broke into the hideout and kidnapped you!" James wailed, once more clinging to me full force.

My head jerked up at the news, and the tight hug. "They what?" I squeaked out.

Hartley nodded at me. "They tried to get that Martian bitch to mess with your mind and turn you against us," Hartley explained to me, his voice was calm but I could sense anger in his tone. He took a deep breath before continuing. "But you managed to snap out of it enough to come home. I then used my hypnotic music to erase the residual mind control from your mind. You should be fine now."

I was not fine –I felt sick to my stomach. I knew my former friends wanted me back, but I had no idea they would take it so far…

"And that's not all!" James added.

"There's more?" I asked him in horror. I wondered for a moment exactly how long I had been under for, and what exactly I had done while under.

"They tried to kidnap me too!" James answered me, clenching my shirt as he did. "They seemed to think it would be funny or something, if they turned me against the Rogues too…"

"But you sacrificed yourself and agreed to go with them as part of an agreement for them to leave James alone," Hartley told me as he pulled James' and me into a hug. "I'm so sorry the two of you had to go through that. I should have been keeping a better eye on you…"

Hartley blamed himself for me getting kidnapped? That's not fair to him. How could he have known what those psychos were willing to do? "Don't blame yourself," I told him. "It's ok. I'm home now, and I'm back to normal!"

Hartley smiled at me. "And I'm going to make sure it stays this way," he promised me. "If those stupid sidekicks dare come here again. We'll get them, and we'll make them sorry they ever dared mess with our family."

I smiled back at him. "I can't wait to get revenge on them," I told the older boy.

"No one messes with the Rogues and gets away with it!" James agreed with me.

My former friends have gone too far this time. Next time I see them, I will show no mercy.

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It took us a while, but eventually we managed to assure James that I would not magically disappear if he stopped hugging me. Then I spent a few minutes trying to regain feeling in both my arms.

James really needs to hug lighter…

After that was done Hartley filled me in on what I missed, which was luckily not much. Turns out the sidekick team only managed to keep me for a day. After that I had, apparently, snuck away when they weren't looking and returned home to the Rogues and passed out in my room –where Hartley found me, and returned my mind to normal.

And here I am.

"Welcome back, Wally," Captain Cold greeted me as we entered the living room.

I smiled and waved. "Good to be back," I replied, "Can't really remember where I've been though."

While I was still fast asleep Hartley had told the Rogues that I was back. That's good, because I'm pretty sure I'd be getting some pretty weird looks if he didn't.

"Good to see ya kid," Captain Boomerang said. "And just forget 'bout what happened there. The bloody idiots ain't worth your time."

I laughed. "Sure thing."

"We're putting bars on your window," Weather Wizard told me.

"I can live with that," I replied, already knowing that any arguing would be pointless.

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After all the Rogues had finished welcoming me home and making sure I was mentally sound, we all had dinner together.

It felt strange, in a way; almost like it had been many years since I was last there. I felt so out of place, despite everyone's attempts to make me feel welcomed. When James picked up on this he had burst into tears, terrified that my kidnappers really had changed me. Fortunately Hartley managed to calm him down by explaining that I had just gone through several types of mental trauma –that I'll take time to recover.

James, being James, had then asked if my mind had been broken.

"We'll see in time," Hartley answered him. "I know that it wasn't my correction that did this to him –but it's possible that the bitch Martian damaged his mind while she was manipulating it."

I wrapped my head in my arms. "I feel mentally violated," I complained.

Hartley laughed at me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "There, there Wally," He told me soothingly. "We'll keep the big bad Martian away from you."

I smiled up at him. "I know," I said. "You always protect me."

How did I ever manage to get by without him again?

"Which reminds me," Captain Cold interrupted. "Hartley, I need to talk to you for a moment. It's about that project we were talking about earlier."

"Of course," Hartley said, nodding. "I'll only be a minute. Wally, how about you and James go play upstairs for a while?"

I nodded at him. "Ok."

Hartley grinned and ruffled my hair. "Good boy," he told me.

James grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. "Come one, Wally!" He told me. "Let's go play 'Go Fish!'"

I laughed at my friend as he dragged me. Barely taking note of a small smirk that had formed on Hartley's face.

A trick of the light?

Awkward angle?

It can't be real.

Can it?

My head hurts, so I stop thinking.

Thinking hurts.

Thinking is bad.

Why?

Because Hartley says so.

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Mist: Sorry for the short chapter size!

Whistle: The next one will be longer, we promise.

Mist: I really like the ending of this chapter. It really shows how far in Wally's gotten.

Whistle: Which is completely under.

Mist: Wally's in too deep. Not literally, but figuratively.

Whistle: Poor Wally… little guy never stood a change against Hartley.

Mist: Could have been way worse. Everyone, imagine right now how this story would have gone if Impulse had been introduced in the first season instead of the second, and had therefore been a character.

Whistle: That would through Hartley the advantage.

Both: PLEASE REVIEW!