Much gratitude deserves to be given to Alexandria-likethecityinEgypt and bracteantha for their kind words and advice as I was working on this story. Not sure it would have been put together and ready to post quite this soon without their input driving me onwards.

Chapter 1

The aliens came, took over the world, and bled it dry. After two generations born into the misery Earth had become, one family was able to give their youngest member a chance to fix things: to save the world. He was sent back in time, carrying few tools but wielding a mind full of knowledge and stories passed on by older relatives and old friends. The kid's tasks began and ended with saving lives - his grandfather, his mentor, and the boy who was supposed to be turned into a monster to betray his race, just to name a few.

He joined with the heroes of that era, and indeed changed enough events to rescue humanity from its fate.

But that's the thing about timelines... When they are altered, history can end up going in some drastically different ways... Such as the incident at the North Pole. Sometimes, though, the universe knows that certain things were always meant to be - and that some lives were never meant to be lost.

And occasionally, time travel is a means not of changing the future, but simply promising that things will get better in the end.

"KF, are you in position yet?"

"Affirmative, Robin." Bart whispered through his comlink. "Ready to more whenever Blue gives the signal." Six teens were gathered around the edges of the mountain-top facility in South America, where Nightwing had learned that terrorists from several Middle East countries had come to collaborate on weapons development with local crime lords. Robin, Kid Flash, Blue Beetle, Wonder Girl, Static, and Beast Boy were preparing to slip inside, take down the militants, and destroy any work they'd already completed.

"Okay, hermano... Now!" Once Jaime gave him the go-ahead, Bart vibrated through the fence, raced past a pair of guards in his stealth tech, and slipped inside the main building. He needed to scout the opposition in order to send a report back to the others, who would come in less quietly.

Crouching behind some metal storage crates, Bart glanced around the interior of the building, counting at least twenty more guards and a minimum of eight tech people busy working. He sent the info out, then shifted position to stand in the shadows by some giant test tubes-

Seriously, glass containers large enough to hold a human, from kid size to fully grown. Bart frowned at them, wishing he'd paid a little more attention to Kaldur's briefing about what the terrorists were trying to develop here. His apprehension grew at the sight of rings set in the tops and bottoms of the tubes - perfect for attaching manacles or similar restraints.

Shaking his mind back to present, Bart prepared to race out and start taking down targets once his teammates attacked.

He froze upon seeing the cage sitting on the floor behind one of the main tables, and the small human form curled up inside of it. From his previous position, the hero hadn't been able to spot it, but now he realized that if the others came crashing in, the guards would easily be able shoot the occupant before any of them could get there.

Well, before any of the other teens could get there.

"Robin, come in, we've got a slight problem." Bart hissed into the comlink.

"What's wrong, Kid?"

"That's just it! There's a kid in here!" A few seconds of stunned silence, and then nearly all of them were asking what he meant. "I couldn't see him from where I was before, but you guys need to give me a three second advance warning for your attack."

"Can you get the little guy out in that time?" Static asked, concerned.

"Yeah, as long as I vibrate him out of his cage and take off for the far wall without stopping."

"That's fine, KF, we'll handle the guards. Moving in ten seconds."

Silently, Bart counted down inside his head, muscles tensing. At the three second mark, he took off like a shot, blurring past startled guards and vibrating his hands in anticipation of sending them through the metal bars of the cage.

Except, that's not what happened. Instead, the thing sparked with a dark purple energy, and rather than going through the thing, Bart was blasted backwards. He landed several yards away from the cage, flat on his back with a massive oomph!

"Ah..." The hero blinked up at the half a dozen gun barrels suddenly aimed at his face. "Hola, amigos. What's up?"

Before anyone could respond, or shoot him, several sections of the roof caved inwards, the rubble followed by Jaime, Cassie and a gorilla-form Gar. The front doors blew up, and out of the smoke Tim and Virgil launched themselves at the nearest guards.

Reacting on instinct, Bart threw himself out of the path of bullets that came hurtling towards his prone body. For the next few minutes, he was too focused on throwing punches and dodging gunfire to worry about the kid he'd seen.

Beast Boy joined him in circling the perimeter, keeping any of the guards or scientists from fleeing the building. Static and Blue Beetle stayed airborne, the latter taking aim at some of the less delicate machinery while the former used his lightning to zap away the metal weapons. In the center of the melee, though, Wonder Girl and Robin were a force unto themselves - birdarangs and the coils of enchanted lasso were flying constantly, while the pair of teens themselves remained in motion as they took down all their opponents. Tim's punches might not have packed as much power as his girlfriend's, but his mid-air flips and high kicks more than made up the difference.

Eventually, though, they were all done. The guards and tech people were down, weapons disposed of, computers and written records trashed, and the six heroes had gathered around the barred cage. Still crouched inside of it was a small boy wearing a grimy grey jumpsuit much too large for him, face pressed into the tops of his bent knees and thin arms wrapped as far around himself as they'd go.

He hadn't moved during the fight. And he wasn't stirring now, as the heroes tried talking to him while Robin worked on hacking into the electronic lock. Not until the Gotham teen had gotten the door open could any of them even tell if the child was breathing.

The Boy Wonder reached into the cage, and then a few things happened in quick succession.

First, the kid sucked in a lungful of air. A second later, he launched himself out of the cage at superspeed, bowling over the startled Robin, and making a beeline for the open doors. Bart had barely blinked before he raced after the kid, slipping an arm around his skinny waist and lifting the boy off of his feet just outside the doorway.

"No! Let me go!" The little guy screamed, sending an elbow behind him aimed at Bart's face. He managed to avoid it by tilting his head, and then the teen just held on through his captive's struggles and yells.

"Let go! I've gotta go find her! I need to find my sister! Dad, Mom, please, let me go, I need to find them, I have to- please! Just let me go!" Gradually, the kid's shouts died down into broken sobs, and as his high speed struggling slowed Bart shifted in order to hug the boy close. He was aware of the others hurrying out after them, and at least one of the teens was calling for a bioship pickup, but Bart's entire focus was on calming the child in his arms.

"It's okay, kid," The hero whispered as the mop of greasy blonde hair was tucked under his chin. "I'm Kid Flash, one of the good guys. We'll find your family, I promise."

"B-but, you- you're not D-Don." The boy gulped out. Bart felt his heart freeze in surprise.

Don Allen was his father's name. A man who, while never being a bona fide superhero, had used his superspeed to try and help a handful of humanity fight back against the Reach in the future Bart was from.

"No... No, my name is Bart." His voice caught, knowing that secret identities were risky things to reveal. He could sense the other teens stiffening behind him, and knew at least Robin would later be berating him for that admission, along with his cowled mentor once Batman heard the de-briefing.

But at the moment, he was more concerned about the confusion on the boy's face as he twisted to look up at him. "B-Bart? But... You're too young. Y-you can't be..." His jaw and lips continued to move, though no more words were making their way out.

"It's alright, don't worry about that right now. Hey, since I gave you my name, how about you share yours, huh?"

"I-I-I'm Jay..." The boy said, muscles going limp as his eyes started to dim. "A-and I think, I think... That rift... Was more... more than just a, a zeta, portal." Slumping in Bart's arms, the exhausted kid just had time for one last question before he passed out. "P-promise you- you'll find her? My sister?"

"I promise," Bart told him, even as Jay's eyes fluttered closed and he dropped into unconsciousness. Turning, the teen looked at his teammates, who's expressions ranged from deeply worried to outright shock.

"Guess we need to figure out where these creeps could be holding another prisoner."

-FnR-

"Don't tell me - you think he's another time traveller." Nightwing sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with forefinger and thumb. "Just what we need, more spoilers."

"Hey!" Bart protested. "My spoilers helped saved the world, remember?" Jaime rolled his eyes and gave the speedster a gentle swat upside the head. The others just ignored his outburst.

Gathered in the briefing room of the Watchtower, the returning squad had met up with Nightwing, Tigress, Aqualad, Flash, and Zatanna. It had taken a fair amount of coaxing for Bart to turn the still-slumbering Jay over to Black Canary, who'd taken the boy first to get a bath, and then some new clothes. At the moment, though, the rest of the heroes were more concerned with how to handle another speedster from the future - and the possibility that there was a second one still in enemy hands.

"Regardless, intel never showed any signs of another collaborative base. If the child's sister is being held by one of the organizations involved, she could be in any of half a dozen countries." Kaldur stepped in. "We may want to arrange for a joint operation involving the Team and League to simultaneously enter and search as many known locations of the terrorist activity as possible."

"And if the girl isn't in any known locations?" Tigress interrupted.

"Then we search their records to see if there's any mention of prisoner transport, or track down any cages like the one this boy was in." Nightwing turned to glance at Bart. "You said that when you first tried to vibrate through the metal, it reacted with an energy blast?"

"Yeah. I didn't recognize the type, but it was definitely made to prevent speedsters from getting through. Which, made more sense after Jay tried to bolt from us."

"And he called you Don?" Flash was frowning, just as concerned over that particular point as his time-travelling grandson. Bart sighed, nodding.

"And then he seemed really confused when I told him who I actually was - saying that I was 'too young', which is really what seemed to hammer home the idea he's from a different time." Aqualad opened his mouth to ask another question, but was cut off by an alert coming over the Watchtower system's.

"Black Canary to Team, he's running!" Everyone stiffened, instantly knowing who the adult hero meant. The speedsters were already moving for the doors to the lower level, though they needn't have bothered - seconds after the alert, a small figure in a red shirt and black shorts came shooting through, skidding to a halt upon spotting them.

"Dad!" Jay launched himself at a shocked Barry, grabbing onto him and babbling at superspeed. "I'msorry, I'msosorryImpandIranoffwithoutwaitingforinstructionsIknowwe're notsupposedtodothatbutwefoundthebadguysand thentherewasthisglowingholeandwefell throughandtherewere thesesoldierseverywhereandthey shotuswiththis weirdpurple stuffandwhenI wokeupIreywasgoneandI'msosorryIlostherandit'sbeensolongIdon'tknowwheretheytookheror how long I- I..." He started trembling as the words came to a halt. "Y-you're not Dad." Jay backed away from the frozen Flash, finally turning his head to take in all the other heroes in the room. "N-none of y-you are who y-you're s-supp-posed to b-be!"

Seeing another wave of tears coming on, Bart quickly moved forward to kneel in front of the kid. "Hey, take it easy Jay, we're friends, don't worry."

"But you're not the right friends!" The boy wailed. "I don't know what's going on!"

"We think- I think- that you've come back in time." Bart offered. Jay just stared at him, before understanding dawned in his eyes.

"Oh." He said in a very small voice. "That's not good."

"Do you remember how it happened?" Flash said carefully, joining Bart by sitting on the floor, and slipping the hood of his costume off as well. Jay rubbed his hands up and down his upper arms, looking at them cautiously.

"D-Dad and, and me, and Impulse, w-we were looking into earthquakes on the Brazilian coastline." He mumbled. "No tectonic fault lines there, so Unc- Batman was suspicious, a-and Dad wanted to give me and Imp a chance to run over the ocean water." A small grin briefly appeared on Jay's face, before his continued words wiped it away again. "There were scientists working on some glowing portal thingy in a bunker near the beach, and me and Impulse ran in before Dad was finished scouting - he gets really mad when we do that, but Mom says he used to do the same thing all the time too. Anyway, the people in there had guns that didn't shoot the usual kind of lasers, they fired these beams of purple energy, and one of 'em clipped my sister and she lost, like, half her speed in a split second. I tried to catch her, but we fell through the portal that they were making, and then there were soldiers everywhere, and they all had those energy weapons too, and we both got hit, at least I think we did, I pushed Imp behind me, and when I woke up she wasn't there."

"How long ago was that?" Flash asked quietly, gently interrupting the kid's monologue as he slowed down to breathe.

"I dunno. A few days, I guess? They only gave me a bit of water, and took away my suit, which had extra food in it."

"You haven't eaten in days?!" Bart exclaimed. "How are you able to run at all?!"

Jay shrugged. "It helped that I didn't move much, even when they were poking at me." He repeated the motion of rubbing his arms, and Bart's heart sank at the memory of those human-sized test tubes.

"In that case, Jay, why don't you go down the kitchens with Bart? We're coming up with a plan to try and track down your sister, but you need to eat now."

"Okay." The kid allowed his hand to be taken by the teen speedster, but they paused in leaving to answer a question from Nightwing.

"Is there anything you can tell us to help calm your sister down, when we find her? We don't want her running away on us like you tried to do." Jay thought for a moment.

"Yeah. We go by Impulse and Haste, but our real names are Irey and Jay West."