Batman strode past Barry and the two kids, walking to the holographic keyboard in the Communication Room and pressed a few of the keys. The three other superheroes looked at him in confusion, following him into the room.

"Erm Bats, what are you doing?" Barry asked the question on all of their minds.

"I'm tracking Wally's comm to see where he is. There is a chance he may have taken it with him," Batman explained, a blue map appearing on the screen. A few moments passed before a red dot materialized above a square. "This must be Wally's home, it's in Central City. Wally must have taken his comm out then. Flash I want you to run over to the house and see if Wally, or any other member of his family, left any clues as to where he may be now."

"Alright, I'll be as quick as possible." Barry didn't even smile at the joke, pulling his cowl back over his face and shooting out of the cave. Robin and Artemis watched him go. Batman kept clicking on the keyboard, Robin watching him.

"Are you checking for credit or debit cards?" Robin asked his mentor. Batman gave a small nod. "Don't bother. There are several Wests in Central City, we could be here for a while, especially since this isn't the computer back in the Batcave. On top of that, Wally always uses cash, I'm pretty sure so does his parents."

"Robin, what else can I do? A member of the team I am responsible for, is being abused. I have to do everything to get him back to safety. We have two options; you can either go back to Gotham and uses the computer in the Batcave, though it will probably take a few hours for you to get there, or you can help me here." Batman kept his eyes on the computer in front of him, his fingers flying over the keys. Though hard to detect, Robin could tell that Batman was tense. Silently he pressed a button on his wrist, a computer appearing and he began to type commands into it, helping Batman.

"What about me? What can I do?" Artemis asked, wanting to help as much as possible.

"I want you to go back to bed," Batman told her.

"What!?" Artemis shouted. "Why would I do that? I should be here helping to find Wally, not sleeping!"

"Artemis, you're probably feeling helpless right now and want to help, but you don't know how to use computers to track someone down, you would just get in the way. You should get some rest; tomorrow we will start a search party with the rest of the Team. You'll need as much energy as possible." Batman stopped typing and spoke directly to her. Artemis opened her mouth to disagree, but shut it with a sigh. The rational side of her brain agreed with Batman. Robin and Batman could do so much more with computers than she could, she would just get in the way. But still, she really didn't want to sit around and do nothing, it wasn't in her nature.

"I'm sleeping on the sofa, and if you get anything, wake me up immediately," Artemis compromised, walking off to the living room without waiting for Batman's reply. Robin looked at her wide eyed, amazed she stood up to his mentor like that. Guess that's why Wally likes her so much.

"Bats, I'm in Wally's house. Nothing here that screams out where he's gone. Though I'm not as good a detective as you." Barry's voice flashed through the speakers.

"Have you tried the drawers for pamphlets promoting holidays?" Batman asked.

"Already checked. Nothing that could give us a clue to where they've gone. Although I checked the rooms. Wally's got at least a week's worth of clothes, probably more," Barry informed them.

"Check the answering machine, see if any holiday companies have contacted them recently. Afterwards try and find any bills." Batman ordered, going back to credit card details for a West family.

"Got it. I'll call again if I find anything. Flash out." The line went down, the only sound in the cave the tapping of keys.

Wally sighed and sat down on the wooden bench that stood in front of a large blue lake. Normally he would be zipping back and forth, sometimes across the water, but with the little food he had eaten, he knew he couldn't run even at the speed of an average man. Sighing once more, Wally put his head in his hand and massaged his scalp, trying to stop the oncoming headache that was fast approaching. He sat back up and looked out across the body of lake, picturing the rest of the Team with him. M'gann and Artemis would be laying near to the trees, books scattered around them whilst Conner and Dick tended to the barbeque. Kaldur would probably be in the water, back to the environment that he grew up in. Wally shook his head, dispersing the silly day dream. His friends were at the Cave, having more fun without him. They probably wouldn't even notice he was gone, in fact they probably would be celebrating.

Wally rubbed his temples, trying to get rid of the thought. He had managed to get away from his father but he wasn't sure how much longer he could stay here with the peaceful scenery. A pale hand cupped the back of his neck and the finger pads massaged the aching muscle underneath the skin. Quietly a groan left Wally's mouth. He had travelled in a small car from mid-afternoon yesterday till he got here, only stopping for a refill of petrol at a station earlier in the morning. His whole body was stiff from being in the same position for nearly a whole day and it didn't help he hadn't had any food since Artemis had cooked him a meal over twenty four hours ago..

His green eyes watched the birds sitting on the water surface. His sister had always been fascinated by them. He could still remember bringing her down with him to the lake, whilst him mother and father made a picnic or enjoyed an hour without them. Wally had always kept her safe, not letting her out of his sight or near to the water's edge in case she fell in. 'Kasta Lana. Good luck huh?'. After her death, Wally had looked up her name. It actually meant pain bringer. Which was ironic, after she died, that was all Wally had been given. 'You're a waste of space, no one on your team wants you. You mess up all the time!' Rudolph's words echoed through his mind and suddenly he was transported back three months, back to Iowa, back to that mission.

"It should be a simple mission. Get into the hideout, find the healing serum and get them out of there. We believe five vials of the serum were stolen over forty eight hours ago and the scientists at H.I.V.E Five are worried about what they can do to someone, they still haven't been fully tested get and could kill people instead of heal them. Your missions is to find them and get the serum off the thieves. Most likely this cave," Batman gestured to the map. "Is just a meet up point, the thieves are probably working for someone and are dropping off the serum in this location. We're not sure when exactly they will do this though, cameras have picked them up arriving for the past three days and waiting for different periods of time, to throw us off the trail. We do believe however, tonight is the night."

"It seems a little too easy. Do we know who sent them to steal the healing serums?" Robin asked, analysing the map in front of him.

"Unfortunately we're still unclear about who their employer is. Hopefully they'll tell us when you take them down, we'll interrogate them later tonight."

"We understand the mission and will prepare a full mission strategy on M'gann's Bio-Ship while we travel to the destination. One of us will report in once the mission is over," Kaldur calmly reported to the Dark Knight. Batman nodded and the Team turned around, walking out of the briefing room and to the Bio-Ship.

"So M'gann, wanna partner up?" Wally zipped over to the female martian and asked the question in a flirtatious tone. He was feeling better than ever, most likely because he had ate a big meal just fifteen minutes ago. He hadn't felt so full in, well forever.

"Erm actually Wally, I was hoping to pair up with Superboy," M'gann told him, blushing as she looked Superman's clone. "And anyway, you're probably not going to be with a partner, the plan was for you to run in and steal the stolen serums."

"Aww but babe, I get so lonely when I'm not with you," Wally tried to persuade her. M'gann just giggled and shook her head. Wally zipped over to Robin, knowing that M'gann was going to reject him from the start. Even a blind man could see her feelings towards Superboy.

"Looks like you just got rejected again KF. You must be underwhelmed." Robin smirked, teasing his best friend. Wally smiled back and elbowed him lightly.

The two were the last to board the ship, M'gann ordering it to fly out of the bay doors the moment Robin and Wally were strapped in. They flew in silence for a few minutes, until Kaldur broke the silence and asked for a map of the cave to be on projected.

"This should be a relatively straight forward mission, kind of like our first one as a team. We will attack all who are guarding the entrance, whilst Kid runs in and finds the serum and takes it off of them. This shouldn't take too long but remember Kid, the goal is to get the serums, not take out the guards. Get the serums and get out. Don't spend time taking anyone out." Kaldur gave the run down of how the mission should go, pointing to places where a member of the team would be fighting. He looked at Wally, making sure the point had gotten across to him.

"Yeah sure, I got it, take the serum not the guards. Don't worry Kaldur I'll do just that," Wally said, sliding down his seat slightly and sending a big smile to his leader.

"He's only making sure it's driven through your thick skull because the last few missions haven't gone exactly to plan, Baywatch!" Artemis snarled at him, glaring across the ship.

"Hey now, I've apologised for accidentally pushing you into the sewer at least a hundred times," Wally defended, laughing sheepishly and rubbing his neck. Artemis glared at him even more.

"I'm guessing she still hasn't forgiven you," Robin whispered into the speedster's ear. "It was kinda funny though."

"Artemis and Robin," Kaldur stressed Robin's name, regaining his attention. "Will be the furthest away from the entrance. They will use their long range skills and take out the closest guards to the entrance whilst M'gann, Superboy and I take the ones further away from the mouth of the cave. When the two positioned at the front of the cave are down, we will distract the rest, keeping them from the entrance. M'gann and I will be on the left and Superboy will be on the right, Robin and Artemis providing back up if needed.

"The moment the two guarding the hole are down you will run into the cave Kid Flash. Don't hang around and help us, you need to get in as quickly as possible. We are not sure if the cave is booby trapped and so will assume it is; there is a reasonable chance bombs will be stationed around the mouth of the cave, which may go off and seal up one of your escape routes Wally. This will help us fight the guards, the explosions will most likely be unexpected and will further confuse them. You need to study the map and know all routes in and out the cave, so spend the rest of the journey familiarising yourself with the tunnels in the cave. If you do get lost, Robin will try and guide you with Miss Martian's mental link."

Wally nodded and a miniature map appeared in front of him. For the rest of the journey, Wally kept his attention on the map, making several back up plans and trying to think which route would be the best. The conversation dulled down a bit, but Wally didn't bother trying to listen fully, putting all his concentration on the holographic map. Like Artemis had said, he had been letting the Team down and wanted desperately to do one mission successfully. He could never gain the approval of his father, but maybe making the Flash proud at how well he managed on a mission would heal the holes in his heart. He could already smell the meal Aunt Iris would make for him as a well done present.

Soon the Bio-ship landed onto the ground with a gentle thud. Kaldur was the first to stand up. Turning around, he addressed the others. "Everyone, I want you in your stealth mode costumes." Artemis, Wally and Kaldur all pressed a button on their costumes, turning their once colourful uniforms a dark grey. Miss Martian simply allowed her white top to turn black, the action captivating Wally. No matter how many times he saw it, he could never tear his eyes away. He would always wonder how she did it.

The Team disembarked, walking into the forest. A few minutes of silent walking brought them to the edge of the tree line. In front of them was the cave, guards patrolling it. M'gann and Kaldur split from the Team, heading to the left side of the cave entrance. The rest continued walking, Artemis, Kid Flash and Robin stopping once they were directly in front of the cave entrance. Superboy continued walking, eyeing the guards who were further away.

'Mental links are all up.' M'gann's voice gently spoke into everyone's minds. The Team waited patiently for Kaldur's sign, a 'Go' being barked from him a minute later. Immediately a green arrow and a birdarang flew across the air, hitting both the guards closest to the cave mouth. Even before they had crumpled onto the floor, Kid Flash was already running. The shouts of alarms were barely registered as Kid Flash ran across the space. He dashed into the cave, sparing a quick glance behind him. He could hear Superboy roars of anger and could just make out M'gann and Kaldur beginning to fight several armoured men. He couldn't see Artemis or Robin, the forest giving them good cover. Turning his head back, he concentrated on navigating the dark passages. He brought his red googles down over his eyes, setting them to thermal imaging. Turning the corner, he heard an explosion, the bombs scattered around the cave finally registering his arrival.

'I'm through,' he mentally told the others. Coming to a fork, he took the right one, smiling at how well he had remembered the map. He kept running, going left and right whenever it was right. Eventually he skidded to a halt in a big cavern. None of the other guards had noticed him, but he could tell they knew about his presence. Scanning the area, he found the five vials and sprinted straight to them, not bothering to take out any of the guards. With a quick "I'll be taking these!" He was gone, out of the cavern and back to the rest of the group. He smiled at himself, proud at doing his part so perfectly. He looked at the green liquid sloshing around in the test tubes, wondering if they really could heal people, his scientific brain racing with possibilits. If he hadn't had been looking at the vials, he would have seen several red blinking dots scattered along the walls. Kid Flash ran straight into the explosion, the force throwing him into the wall and scorching his costume.

Wally slowly blinked, trying to stop the ringing in his ears. With horror, he saw he was on fire. His body tried to drop and roll, but a big boulder over one of his legs stop him from rolling. With his hands he patted the flames out, relief flooding through him as the flames died down. A flicker of red caught his attention. The hungry flames were beginning to travel towards him, every second becoming dangerously closer. Wally sat up and began to push the boulder. Although not as strong as Superboy, he was strong enough to heave the boulder up enough to get his leg out. Standing up, he noticed two things. The agony that shot up his leg when he put his weight on his right foot told him he had probably broken it. The second thing he noticed was the green liquid splashed around him, glass scattered around it. With dismay he realised the vials must have broken during the explosion. His stomach fell as he became aware at how badly he had failed the mission.

Outside the others were fighting the ever dwindling amount of guards. Only three were left when the second bombs exploded. Superboy, who was closest to the cave, was thrown back tumbling to a stop near Robin.

"What was that?" Robin shouted, alarm lacing his voice.

"Is Wally okay?" Artemis cried, her eyes scanning the closed up hole, trying to find Wally. Robin placed his hand to his ear, talking to the Wally's comm.

"He's not answering is comm," Robin informed them, beginning to become rattled.

"I... I can't sense him in our mental link," M'gann said, her eyes filled with panic. By now the guards had been taken down and the Team were huddled around each other, trying to find out if the speedster was alright.

"M'gann, do you know what happened? Can you reach out and try and find him?" Robin demanded, worried for his friend.

"I'm not sure how I lost him in the first place, the only things that can break the connection is if I break the connection, someone is out of range or someone is hit on their head," M'gann told Robin. Her eyes turned green as she began to search for Wally. "I'm sorry but I can't find him, the fire is disturbing my telepathy and he may be too far away as well."

"Wally is sensible and is probably fine. We'll wait for a few minutes to see if he contacts us via his comm link. M'gann, keep your telepathy open in case he tries to reach us through that. Also, bring the Bio-ship to us, we'll wait beside it." Kaldur instantly calmed the panicked teenagers.

Back in the cave, Wally had limped his way to a wall. Leaning on it, he began to stumble away from the fire. He had smacked the cave wall hard and his head felt like it was in a vice. Spots continually danced across his blurred vision and he was feeling both dizzy and nauseous. His body was screaming in, his back ached from being smashed and every time he breathed he felt pain shoot along his ribs. The blast had burnt the uniform covering his chest away and the smell of burnt skin wafted up Wally's nose. With so many injuries, his speed healing was having trouble. Looking into his food compartment he saw no food. Berating himself for eating the bar on the journey, he struggled to a fork in the path. Wally struggled to remember which way to go, giving up when the pounding in his head became too much.

Picking the closest one to him to save him from working too much, he limped into the darkness. His googles had managed to almost completely survive the blast, with just a little crack in the left lens. Which was fortunate as Wally's left eye had swollen shut. The injured speedster twitched his top lip, trying to crack the dried blood. His right hand was covered in blood, some glass from the vial sticking out of his palm. His other hand was held tightly on his hip, trying to stop the blood. What felt like an eternity, Wally walked into something solid. Looking up fearfully, he hoped it was Superboy he had walked into, not a strong villain who would love to fight Kid Flash in the state he was in. What he saw was neither of those options. Instead it was a rock face. He was at a dead end. A high consistent beeping reached Wally's damaged ears. He whirled round in shock just as another explosion ripped through the tunnel he had walked down. Luckily he was far enough away that the explosion did not affect him but the shock wave did push him back into the rock face brutally. With the wind knocked out of his battered lungs, Wally slipped down the wall resting on the floor. His mind whirled over the explosion that had just happened. It obviously wasn't a disrupt the line and it'll blow type of bomb, otherwise it would have exploded the moment he went through the tunnel. Most likely it was either set to go off after several minutes, or someone was watching him and setting the bombs to go off. Wally shivered at the last thought.

Surveying his surroundings Wally instantly knew he was in trouble. He was stuck, injured in a blocked tunnel of a cave, with no help or food. Remembering his comm, his hand went straight to his ear. He hissed quietly in pain and checked to see if it still worked. Static was all he could hear. His head hit the wall with a dull thud and green eyes looked up into the darkness. He was stuck. His eyes closed in defeat. He could only hope and pray that the Team will find him. He felt so weak. He wanted to open his eyes, but after all he had been through, with his speed healing draining his energy away, he couldn't resist the sweet temptation of sleep.