A/N: Hello there. It's been a while... hasn't it? Unfortunately, I have to say that I have no big excuses for the four months I've been gone. In truth, I really did think I was probably just going to throw in the towel on the whole fanfiction thing... and then I realised just how much I missed it. So, here I am. I'm back but this time I'm not going to promise a regular updating schedule. I'll upload sporadically. Perhaps I'll upload a couple of chapters in a day, perhaps you won't hear from me again for about a month (I'm going to try not to go that long, however).

I only ask that the fans of this are patient. I've had messages from a few of you about this fanfiction, asking me to continue and I can honestly say that you really didn't influence my decision in this. If anything, you made the wait even longer because I felt pressured to get this together. If you'd like to ask questions about the storyline, give feedback (both positive and negative), etc, I will be willing to spend some of my time replying to you but please don't try to push me to get chapters out quicker. I have enough pressure irl, I don't need it online too. Thank you and enjoy!

Central City | DC Universe

2 Months Later...

Wally had dove right into his role as The Flash. It was good for everyone to see him doing something other than sulk. Barry had his suit tailored to fit the younger speedster's measurements and Impulse had even taken up the role as his (rather annoying) sidekick. This, unfortunately, meant that Wally had to spend a lot more time with his first cousin once removed.

"This is so fun," the new Kidflash exclaimed one afternoon after the duo had taken down Gorilla Grodd. "I really don't understand why you gave this up. I mean, working with the Team is fun and all but this whole hero-sidekick thing is so much funner."

Wally ruffled his hair jokingly, chuckling. "Funner isn't even a word, dude," he replied.

"Why not? It makes sense. Like the fact that I'm a lot funner than you." Bart stuck his tongue out.

The Flash gave a roll of his eyes. "You act like such a kid."

"That's because I am a kid. Hence the name KidFlash." He seperated the words out with a gesture of his hands. "KID Flash."

It was how most of their conversations went nowadays. Bart loved it and it seemed as though the role distracted Wally enough for him to actually have fun again. Patrolling the streets, helping people out; it was like he was back to the old him. Except, he was the boss now, with his own sidekick to help him out. It certainly made him feel more of an adult.

Barry had officially hung up his suit and retired. The twins needed him and Wally completely understood. Fighting villains was dangerous. Who knew when something may go wrong? Though, Wally did kind of miss fighting with him. Going around to his Aunt and Uncle's house for dinner in the evenings wasn't exactly the same as fighting crime with The Flash.

It wasn't as if there were many dangerous villains around to bother them anyway. There was Bane, who had showed up once whilst stealing from some kind of warehouse. Riddler had been a long way from Gotham when he had decided to break into a bank. Everything just seemed off about the situations.

It was Dick that pointed out something that they should have been noticing.

"I'm worried," he told Wally as they trained in the Watchtower. It was something they had been regularly doing since their reunion. It was a way for them to hang out without looking as though they were doing nothing.

"About...?" asked Wally.

"I haven't heard from Batman since last week."

Wally raised an eyebrow. "Is that new?"

Dick shrugged, throwing another blow towards Wally's shoulder which he narrowly avoided, teasingly close to letting Dick hit him. "He usually checks in every couple of days."

"Dude, he's the Bat. What could possibly happen to him?" But, if Dick was worried, then something had to be wrong.

Nightwing gave a small shrug in reply.

"Come to think of it..." Wally added. "I haven't seen Superman around in a while either. Maybe they're on some kind of mission together?"

"We should ask someone."

It turned out that, no, they had not planned a mission together. Dick had called Alfred and apparently Bruce hadn't been home since last Saturday. It was now the following Sunday.

Then it hit closer to home.

Wally was sitting, watching TV with his mom, waiting for his dad to come home.

"Wolfgang Von Strucker is here for an interview with us," it spoke but Wally was barely listening. He had other things on his mind. Then, his mom's phone rang and he watched her answer it.

"No, Rudy hasn't gotten a new phone. Are you sure you've been dialling the right person?" asked his mother in response to whatever the other speaker had said. She listened for a moment before frowning. "He texted me an hour ago to tell me he was leaving the building. His car can't possibly be there." She looked across at Wally. "Would you mind just calling your father? There seems to be a bit of an issue here."

Wally nodded and picked his phone off the side table, dialling his father's number. "This phone no longer exists," said the voice on the other end. That was impossible. His father had not bought a new cell.

[-]

Something was happening here and the League needed to figure out what. An urgent meeting was called at the Watchtower, where a long list of missing people and heroes was shown on the biggest screen. There were far more than Wally could ever have imagined.

"It seems that something is happening to the citizens here," said Martian Manhunter. "Superman, Batman, many of the part-time heroes and even more regular humans have been going missing. At first, we thought this was purely to do with our comrades. But, after further investigation, it turns out that many regular civilians have also disappeared. "

He pressed a button on the computer and a newspaper report appeared on all screens. Then it began to scroll through others. "There have been many reports about people disappearing completely. One moment, they are walking down the street, the next they are just gone. M'Gann has a theory regarding this."

The younger Martian stepped up to speak. "Well... what I was thinking... umm... maybe it's something to do with the dimensions. Perhaps something that was done last year has caused cracks in the dimensions? Just a thought."

"It makes sense," said Nightwing.

There was a spurt of murmuring from other members, including Wolverine, Antman and Black Widow, who looked somewhat hopeful. Wally didn't blame them. If there was a possibility to get home then of course that would give them hope.

"But why would it take a year to manifest?" Wally questioned.

"It's been happening over the past six months," replied the Manhunter.

Wally shrugged. "That's still half a year without anything."

"Perhaps there was a delay. If only Christina were here. She'd probably have some kind of explanation for it all." J'onn sounded almost wistful, shaking his head a little before turning off the screens. "Regardless, we need to find a way to stop it."

"How do we stop something like this?" Nightwing asked.

"We can't," Wally muttered.

[-]

It just kept happening, seemingly more and more, as the weeks went on. The league tried to work on ways to stop it, but there was nothing. There was stuff happening within the government, too, as if something was manipulating them and pitting them against the heroes. "Is this a new so-called "superhero"?" was the titles of many newspapers, all with the same face; Wolfgang Von Strucker.

Heroes were no longer welcome in many situations and the public began to grow wary of them. More than once, Wally and Bart were told that they "needed to let the police handle it" and that the people "didn't want their kind here".

It wasn't until this point that the League finally did some research and found that Von Strucker was part of an organisation named HARDY, who had been founded right at the same time that the disappearances had started, that they finally knew the cause. It couldn't have been a coincidence.

The straw that broke the camel's back was when Black Canary was tasered by one of the cops after helping them catch a crook. Green Arrow had helped her get out of there but it became quite obvious that the heroes were no longer wanted.

[-]

Watchtower | DC Universe

Present Day...

"Man, this sucks," grumbled Bart as he flopped back onto a couch. "Manhunter says we shouldn't go out again until we're given the all clear."

"I know. I've already talked to him," Wally replied.

"And you're actually listening to him?"

"Yeah."

The boy leapt to his feet. "Come on, Wally," he whined, jumping around and throwing fists towards imaginary foes. "Let's go fight some bad guys. You and me, Flash and Kidflash, fastest fighting duo. Just because Canary got whooped by a cop doesn't mean we have to be on house arrest."

"Dude."

"Well, you know, she doesn't have real powers, just that stupid scream thing," Bart pointed out. "That means she's a lot easier to take down than us."

Wally may have failed to tell him about the approaching Black Canary from Bart's rear. Within a few moments, she had the kid pinned to the floor as he squirmed and whined under her. "Easy, am I?" she asked, eyebrows raising, letting up on her grip.

Bart flitted away in a flash of lightning, appearing at the other side of the room and looking notably embarrassed.

"You feeling okay?" Wally asked Canary, ignoring the sulking Bart.

"It was just a taser, easy enough to shake off," she replied with a nonchalant shrug.

Wally nodded. "But what would they have done if they caught you?"

"Who knows?" she replied. "For all I know, they'd have locked me in a jail cell, but it's not like I would have been there for long anyway."

"Yeah, I guess."

"This Von Strucker guy better be preparing for war because that's what he's going to get if he continues like this," Canary pointed out.