Disclaimer: I don't own Batman Beyond or the Justice League Unlimited.

Author's Note: I had originally started to post this story under the Batman Beyond section, but I decided to post it here instead as it will end up being more of a future JLU fic than just Batman Beyond.

Resurrecting the Red

Chapter 1: First Encounters

The Universe, David Kae decided, did not share his unique sense of humor.

Actually in fact, it seemed to be laughing at him today.

Stupid, damnable...

FIRST his alarm had failed to go off at the designated time. (Okay, so like that was a major setback.) THEN he'd lost his shoes. (He was still trying to figure that one out.) And FINALLY came the last crutch to his already ill-fated (or so he thought) day.

Eighteen year old David Kae scowled up at the sign that read 'Hamilton Hill High School.'

Stupid, son of a...

The teenager sighed as he trudged slowly up the steps to his new school. He'd known this move was coming, his uncle had forewarned him. Even so, transferring his senior year to a significantly larger school in Gotham City didn't just bite. It sucked. Really bad.

David paused only long enough to make a futile attempt to straighten his wind blown hair. He'd had to run extra fast (and take a few detours to hide his incredible speed) to make it to school on time.

The grandson of Wally West threw open his locker and jammed a few books into it before going off in search of his first class. The red haired young man had taken no more than two steps when he ran, literally, into a black haired, blue eyed vampirish looking zombie.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" the zombie yelled. The jolt of impacting heads had sufficiently served to wake him out of his sleepless stupor.

"How about YOU watch where YOU'RE going?" David snapped. The two young men glared at each other until the bell suddenly rang.

Oh yes, his first encounter with Terry McGinnis had certainly gone smoothly.

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Terry McGinnis rubbed his now bruised forehead as he slumped down into his seat. Damn red head, should watch where he's going.

"Hey, wake up!" The eighteen-year old groaned as Dana Tan poked him in the arm. His girlfriend peered at him in agitation. Terry blinked his eyes (which he was reasonably sure were bloodshot) as he tried to stay awake.

He failed. Miserably.

"Mr. McGinnis!" the old crone in the front yelled. "Since you are so attentive today, please inform the class about chapter twelve, section five."

Chapter twelve, section five? What the hell...Slag it! Was he SUPPOSED to have read that?

"Uh..." Terry muttered sleepily.

"Mr. McGinnis, chapter twelve, section five."

Oh shit.

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The red head slumped in his seat. Please don't call on me please don't call...

"Mr. Kae is it? Please answer this equation."

Slag it. He hated algebra.

"Uh..." David muttered.

"Mr. Kae," the teacher tapped her finger in a no nonsense action. "I realize this is a new school for you, however, please answer the question."

"Uh..." Damn! He wasn't good at math!

"Mr. Kae..."

Oh shit.

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David sighed as he sat gloomily outside during lunch hour. This school was a lot than he was used to. He and Uncle Evan had lived in the large town of St. Anthony, Iowa before moving here. He hadn't wanted to move, but his uncle hadn't had a choice.

His uncle...

Technically Uncle Evan wasn't even his uncle; he was actually his dad's second cousin. David had been placed into his relative's care after his parents had passed away.

He reluctantly took a bite of his sandwich. He didn't really feel like eating, but his stomach was roaring in protest.

Damn his hyperaccelerated metabolism.

Sigh.

This sucked.

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"So..."

"So what?" Dana asked. Maxine Gibson grinned mischievously at her while Terry pointedly ignored them both.

"So..." Max continued. "What do you two think of the new guy?" Max, being Max, had already proceeded to check out the new residential red head.

Terry grunted incoherently.

"Oh be quiet," Dana ordered. Terry shoved a fork full of some as of yet undefinable piece of school food. Making a face, he decided not to risk the rest.

"What's his problem?" Max asked.

"They ran into each other this morning. Terry was so asleep that he walked right into him."

"He walked into me!" Terry protested. Dana rolled her eyes and Max snickered before continuing.

"He's got really schway gray eyes," Max said. Terry muttered again and Dana smacked him in the head.

"What'd he say now?"

"You don't want to know," Dana answered.

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"Mr. McGinnis, I know you're bored, but please pay attention," the portly woman commanded. David smirked. So the zombie's name was McGinnis, was it? He preferred the nickname he'd already given to Terry. The Delinquent.

David watched as Delinquent yawned mightily as he struggled to sit up. What had this guy done all night? Dance, drink, and party? More than likely, he thought.

The portly woman sighed before turning her attention to the new red haired student in the back. (Not yet knowing her name, David had silently given her the nickname of 'Puffers'.)

"Mr. Kae, have you ever read any of The Illiad at your old school?" Puffers asked. Actually no, he'd read it on his own. Math and science he might hate, but David was an avid reader. (Although bookworm might be a more accurate term.)

"Yes, Mrs. Pu...ah..." he'd almost called her Puffers.

"Mrs. Lenfesty," she answered.

"Uh...yeah, I've read it," David answered modestly. Yeah, he'd read the whole thing in under two minutes flat.

"Mr. Kae, please tell Mr. McGuinnis here the reason for Achilles's hatred," she said. David answered her instantly.

"Hector had killed Achilles's best friend, Patroclos. It was what finally motivated him to join the battle against Troy."

"Very good," Puffers beamed. The Zombie Delinquent glared across the room at him.

David ignored him.

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"Can you believe that guy?" Terry asked in irritation. That Guy, as Terry now referred to him (also known as That Guy with the Red Hair), had quickly, and mysteriously, become a source of irritation to him.

"So he gets Literature class, big deal," Max said. "What's your problem any way? That guy seems pretty nice to me." And he also looks pretty damn fine.

Terry grumbled at that. He hated to admit it, but Max did have a point. His irritation was probably just due to a severe lack of sleep.

"I'm just tired, that's all," Terry admitted. "I had a really late night last night."

"So I heard," Max smirked. Terry had rescued some rich heiress last night. It was all over the news.

Terry flipped open his locker as he checked his cell phone. To his dismay, there was a text message from the Old Man himself.

Expect another late night.

Bruce

Damn. No sleep tonight.

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David thumbed lazily through the television channels as his gray tabby cat, Spock, purred contently in his lap.

Sports, Batman, cartoons...hey, Star Trek! Batman, Batman...

He finally settled on a news story about Batman. (He'd already seen that Star Trek episode numerous times before.) David watched it with interest for several minutes. He knew his grandfather had been the Flash, and so had his Mom after him. David also knew that his grandpa's uncle, Barry Allen, had been the second Flash.

David also knew that he'd inherited their super speed.

But what he didn't know, for his Uncle Evan was ignorant in the matter, were the identities of the other, former, members of the Justice League.

The eighteen year old knew he'd been hidden after his mother had been killed. His remaining relatives had decided it would be best to hide him from the public eye.

A rustling sound drew him from his thoughts as he looked up. Unopened boxes still littered their new apartment.

"David?"

His uncle came walking into the living room. Spock mewed softly, but refused to leave his perch in David's lap.

"Yeah?" David asked.

"How was school?" Evan Kae asked.

"It sucked."

"Give it a chance, you've only just started," his uncle reassured him. Weary brown eyes regarded his adoptive nephew as he ran a hand through his graying brunette hair.

"Yeah yeah, I will," David promised. He turned off the television and picked a protesting Spock up with one hand as he grabbed his school bag with the other. The teenager walked into his room and tossed the bag onto the bed. Spock immediately jumped out of his arms and made a beeline for David's pillow.

"Hey! That's mine!" David protested. Spock merely began to clean his paws as he ignored his outraged owner. The teenager gave up and took out his algebra book and opened it. He glared menacingly at it.

He really really hated math.

His gray eyes flickered up to the photograph on his desk. A grinning red haired man was standing next to his wife, daughter, and son.

You know, Uncle Evan is right, David thought. Except for my eyes, I really am the spitting image of Grandpa West.

With a sigh, the teenager began to work on a set of hated algebraic equations.

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Author's Note: I hope the personality that I'm giving David is okay. I didn't want to make him a carbon copy of Wally. Also, I'm really just focusing on Terry and David at school for the first two chapters before I start branching out and getting into the real plot of the story.

I hope you enjoy it.