Cousin Bonding

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice: Invasion or any characters mentioned.

Pairings: Implied Spitfire, but Artemis is only mentioned.

Continuity: Spread out through 'Bloodlines' to 'Summit'. They're supposed to be chronological, but most of them don't actually have specific dates so you can put them in another order if you want.

1. Entertained

"So I'll be staying here for a bit?" Bart bounced on his heels, looking in at the guest room at the Garrick's place. "Crash! Thanks!"

The other three speedsters, Iris and Joan looked at the boy as he jumped onto the bed.

"This is so crash!" Bart cackled, falling back down onto his back. In an instant he was off the bed and hugged Joan, then Jay. "Thank you!"

"No problem." Jay said, reaching to put a hand on his shoulder but Bart had already raced off, flicking the light-switch.

"Whoa! Light goes on, light goes off, light goes on, light goes off."

"At least he's easily entertained." Iris said with a slight smile.

"Not for long." Wally commented as his cousin-once-removed shot to the bookshelf, looking at the books the Garricks had placed there for lack of anywhere else to put them.

Bart stopped and gave a sheepish smile to the redhead. Then he shrugged, grinned, and continued exploring his new room.

Wally had to smile at Bart's childish glee when he discovered a spinning top. "Hey, cool! …What is it?"

"Here. I'll show you." Wally shot forwards, picking it up. He put the spinning top on the desk and spun it.

"Wow!"

Yep. Extremely easily entertained.

2. Education

"I have to go to what now?" Bart blinked up at Joan.

"School."

"…What's school?"

"Be serious or don't answer that, Wally." Jay cut in before Wally could open his mouth.

Wally smirked. "Kay."

Then he paused. "Wait. You don't know what school is?"

Bart shifted uncomfortably. "I might. What is it?"

"It's… a place kids go to. To learn." Joan explained. "And socialise."

Bart didn't look much more clued in.

"Where adults teach kids things like science, math, geography, English, that sort of stuff." Jay added.

"Oh. A Learning Centre." Bart nodded. "Yeah, I know what that is."

"Good." Joan smiled. "I'm sure you'll have plenty of fun."

"If you say so. Hey, did you go to school?"

"When I was younger, yes. So did Jay. And Barry and Iris. Almost everyone."

"And you, Wally?"

"I'm at college." Wally answered. "Studying science, with a couple of minors thrown in."

Bart blinked. "Um… crash?" It was a question more than anything else. "Or is that mode?"

"Assuming I've figured out your lingo right, it's crash. Most of the time. College can be a drag sometimes, but I mainly like it."

"Crash, then. What is college?"

"It's like… an optional school for when you're older. To study a particular subject more thoroughly so you can get a better job when you graduate."

"Oh." Bart still looked a little confused, but his expression was clearing. "Got it."

"We are going to have fun getting him up-to-date, aren't we?" Jay commented to Joan.

"Oh yeah." Wally agreed.

3. Favour

Bart shifted his feet, politely tapping on Wally's door.

Wally glanced up from the books he was studying. "Okay. What do you want?"

"What makes you think I want something?" Bart countered.

"You're not rushing in and making a mess. You knocked. So, either you're not Bart Allen, or you want something."

Bart sheepishly smiled. "Well, yeah. Actually, I wanted to ask you for a favour."

"Ask."

Bart shot to the back of the couch. Wally spun around to face the younger speedster. "See, can you…" Bart mumbled something.

"Didn't catch that."

"Can you teach me how to write?" Bart blurted, holding out a pen and paper.

"What?" Wally jerked around. "You – you can't write?"

"It's not that I'm illiterate or anything. I can read and type and that sort of stuff. But we don't use these things in my era." Bart waved the pen.

Technically, that was all the truth. His parents had taught him to read – one of his (precious few) fondest childhood memories was curling up next to his dad as he read a story to him. And you can't build a time-machine out of scavenged parts without having a decent grasp of computers.

"So… please?" Bart pleaded.

Wally stared, and then smiled. The older speedster moved his books and put the paper down. "Okay. So, you know the letters?"

"Yep. A, B, C, D, E, all that stuff. Just can't write them."

Wally wrote a capital letter 'A'. "Okay, you know which this is?"

"Yep. A for Apple, Awesome, Aster – which I still don't think is a real word, by the way, whatever Nightwing says – and all sorts of other 'a' words."

"Kay. Now, you try and copy it."

Bart cautiously took the pen. Wally had to take his cousin's hand and forcibly curl the fingers into the right position.

His handwriting was as horrible as was expected, but it was legible an hour later. Once Bart finished re-learning the alphabet, it went quickly.

"Wally?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

4. Title

"So doesn't the team have a name?" Bart asked.

"Not really." Wally shrugged, flipping through the channels. "We've gone by Junior Justice League a few times. I tried to get us called 'Young Justice', but I was vetoed."

"Oh. So, can I try and make up a new name?"

"Knock yourself out."

"Hmm… ooh! I've got one!" Bart bounced on his toes. "Super Heroes In Training."

Wally paused for a moment, and then laughed. "And how would we abbreviate that?"

"Um, S, H, I – ohhh…" Bart stopped. "Um… yeah. Young Justice works. YJ. Cool."

5. Comfort

Bart wasn't sure what the problem was. He was just looking around at the lightly chatting heroes, all perfectly happy and just hanging out and…

These people are all dead in my time.

Bart's breathing hitched in his throat.

"Bart?" Robin looked at him curiously. "You've gone pale…"

"I… I have to go." Bart mumbled in a strangled voice, turning on his heel. The world slowed down as he raced away as fast as he could.

He wasn't sure where his feet were taking him, but suddenly he found himself in his room at the Garrick's place. Joan and Jay had said they'd be gone today and the house was quiet so Bart felt totally safe in collapsing onto the bed.

His eyes were blurring. He was crying, curled on the bed. But maybe that was okay because all his friends, the people with which he now trusted his life to were dead (and yes, all of them, because Bart had met Jaime in this time and if that was Jaime then Jaime was dead in his era).

A soft, warm hand was placed hesitantly on his back. "It's okay…" Wally said slowly, softly.

Bart looked up. His cousin was looking at him in confusion and worry, biting his lip hesitantly. "Do you… want to talk about it?"

Bart shook his head vehemently because, yes, he actually did want to talk about it but he couldn't. "I… just… my time… in my era…" Bart mumbled out.

"It's okay." Wally whispered, sitting down on the bed. He moved his cousin into a warm embrace. "It's okay. You might not be home, but… we're here for you."

And so maybe Wally thought Bart was upset because he was lost in another time and he was homesick. But that was okay, because he was there and holding him. Bart hugged Wally tightly, and then relaxed, listening to the heart-beat that was faster than regular humans but slower than his as the tears still fell.

6. Brother

Generally, if a thirteen year old feel asleep watching TV, they were too heavy to carry to bed. But Wally had a tendency to carry Artemis to the movies or a restaurant or wherever when the weather was too beautiful to stay in a stuffy, slow car. Wally was confident that if he could carry his girlfriend – who, incidentally, was almost solid muscle – halfway across town, he could carry the tiny speedster to his guest room.

Wally easily scooped Bart up in his arms. Bart stirred slightly. "Huh? Wally?" He mumbled.

"Yeah." Wally smirked, walking.

Bart didn't move, his eyes falling closed again. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"You're a pretty good brother." Bart murmured.

"Um… I'm not your brother."

"I thought super-hero relations didn't matter about blood?" Bart mumbled.

"Well, no…" Wally conceded, opening the door to the guest room.

"And if you're my cousin-once-removed, does that make you my brother-twice removed?" Bart said sleepily.

"I don't think it actually works like that." Wally had to smile, gently placing Bart down on the bed.

"Kay." Bart curled up. "But you're a crash cousin."

7. Bribery

"Shut up, just shut up." Wally slumped his head.

"Huh?" Bart cocked his head to the side. "Hey, I'm just saying that these out-dated history books are stupid. I can't believe they really happened."

"That's because Black Beauty didn't happen, Bart. It's a classic fictional book. Come on, a horse is telling the story. That didn't tip you off?"

"Oh. But what's the deal with reading something written a gazillion years ago? I mean, I get learning about the past. I've gotta be a world authority on why you should know about the past. But why in English class? Why not just read whatever classifies as modern back here?"

"Bart. I do not actually care about your gripes with the English language. Go talk to Nightwing about that."

"…Why Nightwing?"

"Nightwing rips apart the English language. I'm not going into detail, ask him. Or Robin, I've heard him say that I was being 'creet' instead of discreet. Really, anyone but me, as I have my own studying to do. Just read the stupid book."

"But Waaaaaaalllllyyyyy…" Bart whined.

Wally sighed, paused, and then shot to his kitchen. He appeared with a bag.

"Uh, what's that?"

"These are Chicken Whizzees."

"Okay. I repeat, what's that?"

"A food." Wally opened the packet and threw one at Bart.

Bart caught it, looked at it hesitantly, and then bit it. "Hmm. Tasty."

"Good. Now, every minute you go being quiet, I will give you another three."

"A full minute?"

"Yes. And if you get through the full bag in a row, I'll give you another bag."

"But… a minute?"

"Fine. I'll be generous. You can talk or watch TV or whatever, but you can't disturb me. Maybe even read your book."

Bart pouted, but looked at the coating still on his fingers. He licked it off, thinking. "Deal."

Bart managed to get through the entire bag, only distracting Wally five times (and every time Wally had to throw him the Whizzees, but hey, super-speed meant a minute could be enough for a chapter). As such, Wally decided Bart did indeed deserve another bag.

8. Call

Wally paused eating his lunch and reading his textbooks (he could too multitask) to fumble for his phone. "Yeah?"

"Wally!"

"Oh, hey Dick." Wally swallowed his mouthful of sandwich. "What's the problem?"

"Where is your insane cousin?"

"I… what?" Wally had a sinking feeling in his stomach. "It's lunchtime on a Wednesday, so, school, right?"

"Apparently not. The real issue is that my brother isn't at school either."

"Huh?"

"Apparently Tim was sitting calmly in school when a blur raced in and abducted him, dragging him out."

"Oh no…" Wally groaned. He hoped it wasn't Bart, which was immediately squashed when he realised that if it wasn't Bart, it had to be someone else and whatever Bart had planned, it could probably be worse.

"And that's not all." Dick continued.

"Do I want to know?"

"Nope, but I'm telling you anyway. Jaime's missing class for the same reason. And Gar's gone."

"Crap." Wally swore. He rested his hand on his face. "So what are you calling me for? I don't know where he is."

"You have any idea where he might have gone?"

"Not really." Wally glanced at the studying he really needed to be doing. "Don't tell me Tim doesn't have a tracker in his belt or something."

"He does. Unfortunately, it's not sending a signal. Either he's out of reach, something's jamming it, or he doesn't want to be found."

"Damn." Wally sighed. "I'll help look." He hung up, trying to think where Bart would go.

A moment later he sped off at super-speed, arriving outside the arcade. It was empty but for four boys. Good thing too, considering one of the boys was green and all.

Robin had his glasses on and had somehow gotten out of the uniform Wally was reasonably sure he had to wear at school. The Boy Wonder was also playing pinball. Judging from Jaime and Gar's encouragement, his hacking skills were coming in handy. Bart was eating something that Wally couldn't quite identify, some type of pastry.

"Ahem."

The four boys looked up instantly. Sheepish looks crossed each of their faces.

"So…" Wally said, leaning against a wall as Robin's game died. "Is this how you spend your day skipping school?"

"Bart's fault." Gar said instantly.

"Hey!"

"It was!"

"I know." Wally raised an eyebrow. "Nightwing called. Something about being abducted from class?"

"Not our fault!" Jaime protested. "Me and Robin were both in class when Bart just turned up."

"And I was studying, I swear!" Gar added.

"I know it wasn't your fault, although you probably could have called someone." Wally said, glancing at the other three. "Instead of, you know, staying here."

"Like you never skipped school." Robin muttered.

Wally turned his attention to his cousin. "You did remember the whole thing with secret identities, right?"

"Yep! I grabbed some clothes and his shades for Rob first before dragging him to a zeta." Bart said proudly.

"So the fact that two of them got stolen from class by a speedster isn't going to raise any alarm bells?" Wally raised an eyebrow.

Bart blinked. "Ummmm…"

Wally sighed, massaging his temple. "I'm just going to let Nightwing give you a lecture later. For now, just… go back to school."

"Right!" Bart nodded, looking deeply relieved at the temporary reprieve. He shot off.

"You need a lift?" Wally glanced at the other three boys.

"No, we caught the zeta." Gar shrugged.

"Instead of turning back and going to school, you let him talk you into this?"

"Uh…" Jaime blinked. "Kinda?"

"I figured it'd be quicker to do what he wanted. Otherwise he'd keep coming back and not stop until he succeeded." Robin shrugged.

"…That is an accurate assumption." Wally commented, as the three younger boys left.

Wally was tempted to ask Dick if he could sit in on the tongue-lashing Impulse was sure to get. For someone who tended to mangle the English language, Nightwing was incredibly good at lectures.

9. Age

"So, how far in the future are you from, anyway?" Wally asked curiously.

"Hmmm? Oh… about forty years from when I left." Bart said absently, raiding Wally's kitchen.

"Wow." Wally shook his head. "So you're not going to be born for another forty years?"

"No… twenty seven."

"Huh?"

"Well since I wasn't a baby when I turned up here…" Bart grinned at the elder speedster. "I had to age first, didn't I?"

"Considering you were born with super-speed…"

"I'm thirteen years old if you don't count the already mentioned twenty-seven-years-from-birth thing, thankyouverymuch, and I did not just suddenly grow."

"Hey, we haven't had any speedster babies yet."

"Oh right, you weren't born with super-speed."

Wally glowered. "No, I got my powers through hard work."

"Right, right." Bart grinned. "Look, chill. We're all very impressed that you managed to secretly develop super-speed when you were the tender young age of eleven without anyone even knowing about it… and actually I am pretty impressed by that. Good job."

10. Bad

"You ate my sandwich!" Wally glowered at the boy.

Bart grinned happily. "Yep. It was tasty, too. Do you have any more?"

"No." Wally folded his arms and glowered at the grinning boy.

In a second he'd sped off.

"Gone to sulk?" Bart blinked, surprised. Before he could say anything else, though, the elder speedster returned.

Holding a spray bottle.

"Bad cousin-once-removed!" Wally sprayed him. "Bad cousin-once-removed!"

"What?" Bart stumbled backwards. He stared at the red-head. "…You have the weirdest traditions in this era…"

"It worked on Nightwing."

"It did?"

"Technically he was Robin at the time…" Wally pointed the bottle again. "Bad cousin-once-removed!"

11. Media

Impulse didn't have a clue what to do when suddenly there were five, ten, fifteen (where were they coming from?!) people with microphones and cameras running up to him.

This wasn't what he'd expected to happen after running into a burning building to rescue people. If he'd known this was what was going to happen, he might have called his grandfather from work and asked for back-up. Really, the only thing stopping him from running off was spotting his grandmother amongst the crowd.

Iris caught his eye, winked, and placed a finger against her lips, signalling for him to keep quiet about seeing her. She was pretty quick about it – years of living with speedsters had done that.

The people were all gabbling at him. "Um… hi?" Impulse squeaked.

"Who are you?" One particular person managed to get their voice above the crowd.

"Um… Impulse."

"How'd you get here?"

"Where are you from?"

"Where's the Flash?"

"Do you know the Flash?"

"How old are you?"

"I…" Bart was frozen.

Suddenly yellow draped arms wrapped around his shoulder. Kid Flash smiled at the crowd. "Hey, everyone."

They lapped it up, calling out to the red-haired speedster.

"Flash Boy!"

"We haven't seen you in a while!"

"Where have you been?"

"Where's the Flash?"

"Who's the new kid?"

Wally smiled warmly, raising a gloved hand. "One at a time, please." He grinned, completely comfortable as the media obligingly quieted.

Bart stared at his cousin in awe.

"Just go along with it." Wally murmured softly, faster than a regular human could make out. "Central City loves speedsters."

"What?" Impulse glanced at him.

"Flash Kid, where have you been?"

Kid Flash ignored the mix up with his name. Really, he was used to it by now. Flash Kid was closer than most.

"Sorry." Kid Flash shrugged lightly. "I've been away for a bit."

"Are you back again? For good?" A woman asked, pointing her microphone towards him.

"Can't say anything for certain, but probably not." Wally shrugged, still smiling. "Still, I might turn up once or twice again."

"Flash Kid, who's the new boy?" A reporter called.

"This is Impulse." KF gave the brunette's shoulder a squeeze.

"What's your relationship with him? Is he your brother?"

"Love to tell you, but, the mask is here for a reason." Kid Flash smiled, tapping the goggles across Bart's face. "What I can tell you is that Impulse is the newest member of the Flash Family."

"Why is he called 'Impulse'?" Another reporter asked.

"For one thing, no-one seems to remember my name – which, for future reference, is Kid Flash. We theorise that maybe the name 'Impulse' will be easier."

The reporters laughed, eating it up.

"And, also, it's incredibly appropriate." Kid Flash smiled warmly at his cousin. "He does everything on impulse, so, that's his name."

Impulse smiled weakly back, turned to the crowd, and raised a hand in a cautious wave. Cameras flashed. He blinked behind his goggles.

"Can we go?" Bart asked, his voice low and fast.

"Sure." Kid Flash murmured back, then turned to the media again. "Sorry everyone. But, you know, hero stuff to take care of. See ya all later!"

With a casual wave, he vanished in a blur of yellow. Bart followed, making sure not to overlap his cousin.

"That – that was crash, KF. How did you do that?" Bart asked, stopping next to his cousin as they arrived at the Garrick's place.

"Oh, practise." Wally shrugged. He absently touched his symbol on his chest, not noticing it turning to camouflage. "The Flash Family talks to the media a fair bit. I can sympathise, believe me. I freaked out the first time I got caught by them. Flash came and rescued me. I figured I should probably do the same for you."

"Oh. Cool. Thanks."

"No problem."

12. Scar

"You're soaked." Wally stated.

"Your powers of observation aren't as good as you think, Wally." Bart shivered.

Wally appeared with a towel, cautiously wrapping it around the time-traveller. "So what happened?"

"I… tripped over my feet. While running over the ocean." Bart mumbled, not meeting his cousin's eyes. "You were closest."

Wally really did try not to laugh.

"Okay." Wally managed to hide his mouth. "I think I've got some clothes that'll fit you. Better than what you're wearing now."

"Thanks." Bart muttered, wrapping the towel tighter.

"Here. Let's get that off before you catch a cold." Wally tugged on Bart's shirt. Bart reluctantly pulled it off.

Wally froze.

"Uh, what is it?" Bart blinked up at the older speedster.

"What…" Wally trailed off, unable to put it into words.

"What 'what'?"

Wally gently reached out, trailing a finger along a scar that slashed across his chest. There were multiple smaller scars criss-crossing his body.

Oh. That. Bart didn't meet his cousin's eyes for another reason this time.

"Bart. What happened?" Wally breathed.

"I…" Bart bit his lip. His super-speed kicked in, giving him a moment to think of the answer the time-travelling tourist could give. "I ran through a glass door when I was little."

"…What?"

"Yeah. Kinda embarrassing." Bart smiled weakly. "Totally felt the mode at the time, but hey, you know, it's crash now."

Wally smirked slightly. "I did that when I first got my powers."

"You did?"

"Yep. But it didn't leave scars like this."

"Oh…" Bart froze for a moment. "Kay. Maybe these aren't scars from that. I'll be honest, as a kid I was kinda klutzy and got hurt a lot. I've lost track of where these scars where from. Plus, you know, super-speed healing, it's almost impossible to tell how long ago they're from."

This was actually the truth, if abridged.

Wally shrugged. "Anyone else might be stunned that you could lose track of what happened to your body like this. The sad thing is, I can kinda relate."

Bart smiled weakly. "Good to know."

"So, anyway, let's see if there is anything you can wear. It'll probably be big on you whatever it is, but it's better than nothing."

"Crash."

13. Marathon Sprints

"Hey, Wally!"

Wally looked up from his notebook without hesitation. Yes, he needed to study. Yes, a distraction – who was he kidding, a procrastination – was welcome. "Yes, Bart?"

"What's the longest distance you've ever gone?"

"Huh?"

"How far have you gone?"

"Um…" Wally paused. "I suppose that would have to be… probably from Mount Justice to Seattle when I turned sixteen. I think."

"Wait… Seattle?" Geography wasn't exactly Bart's strong point, but he knew where Mt. Justice used to be, and had a general idea Seattle was."How long did that take?"

"Well…" Wally thought hard. "I barely made it in time for the heart… and I think I had three hours? No, four. I made it in a little under four hours."

"You were running for four hours straight?" Bart stared at his cousin in amazement, too surprised to ask about the heart. "That includes food breaks and resting and whatnot, right?"

"Nup." Wally had to grin at the time-traveller's shock. "Didn't have time to stop for anything. They'd had to clear the roads across the country for me."

"And no stopping? No eating, no anything?"

"Well, I fought Vandal Savage on the way." Wally knew he was boasting a little, but Bart's incredulity made it difficult to stop. "Think I spent about fifteen minutes with him. Oh, then I had to tackle a couple of villains to get the heart back."

"Wow." Bart whispered.

"I'll be honest, I collapsed from hunger right afterwards. Good thing I was playing delivery boy to a hospital."

"Delivery boy?"

"I had to carry a heart for a little girl who needed surgery across the country. Zeta tubes were out and she needed that heart."

"Oh." Bart waved it aside. "You… I don't think I could do that."

"I'm sure you could." Wally tried to keep any trace of bitterness from his voice.

"No way." Bart shook his head rapidly. "Longest I can go is two hours without stopping, and that's if I'm not carrying anything, and if the conditions are right and everything. I… just… wow."

"Just two hours?" Wally was surprised.

"Yeah." Bart shrugged, biting his lip. "How long can Gramps go?"

"I… I don't know." Everyone had always been more concerned with speed rather than stamina.

"Probably not four hours." Bart grinned at his cousin.

"Maybe not, but Flash – and probably even you – could get to Seattle in half the time anyway."

"I dunno. Look, I can't speak for Gramps – or Jay, for that matter – but anyhow, I'm a sprinter. I can go really fast for a short distance – well, you know, short distance for us speedsters. You're more of a marathon runner."

"You reckon?" Wally paused. He hadn't really thought of this before. For speedsters, speed had always seemed the more important part. But really, being able to go for a long time was just as – okay, not just as important, but it still mattered.

"Totally!" Bart through his hands up. "And – and you can also carry people, right?"

"Right…"

"I can't! Seriously, I have like no upper body strength."

"I've seen you throw some pretty hard punches."

"I put momentum behind it. I mean, a fist going faster than a bullet hurts. Don't tell me you've never tried it."

"True." Wally was trying to hide his smile.

He'd been pretty jealous when he'd realised how much faster Impulse was, but if Kid Flash had better stamina, then… after all, it wasn't like Kid Flash was really coming out of retirement all that often.

"I'm sure you've got the ability, but." Wally smiled. "Maybe just a bit more practise?"

Bart had to smile.

At the time, the idea that he could lap his cousin-once-removed, the famous Kid Flash, one of the heroes he'd learnt so much about… that had just been thrilling.

But then it had occurred to him that from the other side, Wally had seen that a boy had randomly turned up and almost instantly outstripped him. For a speedster, that had to hurt. So he was glad that it turned out Wally still had several things over him – well, he had so many things over him because he was Kid Flash.

Bart decided it was about time for a change in subject. "Whatcha doing, anyhow?"

"…Studying." Wally grimaced.

"Ah. Feeling the mode then? I know you normally like your studies and whatnot, but I guess that it's pretty easy to have too much studying, or not like the topic, or not feel like it."

"…Yeah, pretty much."

"I'll leave you be, then?"

"If you must."

"I can stay if you want! That would be crash for us to hang out, and-"

Wally glanced at his cousin.

"…Kay. I'll go now. See ya!"

14. Retro

"Hold up. Your TV has how many channels?"

"Count em and see." Wally said, annoyed.

Bart rolled his eyes with a sigh. "You twenty-first century people are so primitive."

"Hold up, I thought you were from forty years in the future."

"Yeah, so?"

"Forty years from now is still in the twenty first century."

"Oh." Bart paused. "Well… now I feel stupid."

15. Infant

"Thank you for helping us with this, you two." Iris said as Bart and Wally darted around, baby-proofing the Allen's house. "Barry was planning on doing this when he got home, but…"

"No problem, Grandma Iris." Bart smiled, hammering in poking out nails at super-speed.

"So they're definitely twins?" Wally asked.

"Yep." Iris rested a hand on her stomach.

She'd be perfectly happy to help put together the house, but had come to the conclusion that the speedsters could have it done far faster if she didn't help.

"Speedster twins?" Wally asked with a weak smile.

Iris sighed. "We're hoping the speed kicks in at an age older than infancy…"

Bart shook his head.

"It doesn't?" Iris glanced at him.

"Well, can't be totally sure, since, you know, my memory of it is pretty fuzzy. But I'm pretty sure the speed comes up really soon."

"Great." Iris sighed. "I don't suppose you two will be available for a bit of baby-sitting duty from time to time?" She asked weakly.

"I'll try, Aunty Iris, but I'm already babysitting him half the time." Wally jerked a thumb at Bart.

"Hey, I'm responsible! I'm trusted out on dangerous missions, remember?"

Wally rolled his eyes as they finished baby-proofing the environment. "Yeah, you are."

"Exactly! Um… what are the leashes for, though? This some sort of custom for the early twenty-first century?"

"Leashes?" Wally blinked.

Bart lifted up a selection of leashes. Mostly baby-leashes, but a fair few were dog-leashes.

Iris shrugged. "We're getting ready for two speedster babies. We need all the advantages we can get."

"…Got anything large enough for him?"

"Hey!"

16. Mourn

"How did you meet her?" Bart asked softly.

"Huh?" Wally didn't look around from the photo he was looking at on the wall.

"Artemis. How did you meet her?"

Bart had steered clear of his cousin for about a week after Artemis had died, and afterwards had avoided the topic. After all, he didn't really know either of them at the time, and figured people like Flash and Nightwing were better off to comfort him.

He'd also had the idea that Wally would have preferred something normal, that hadn't changed, even if it was a hyper-speedster cousin. But there was no real point in pretending the archer never existed.

Wally sighed, then turned to look at his cousin. "She joined the team." He said with a shrug. A slight smile played on his face. "We argued non-stop when we first met."

"Oh?" Bart said politely, trying not to push him further then he wanted to go.

"Yeah. But the others… they could all tell we were meant for each other. Apparently Nightwing – Robin, whatever – started up a bet at about 'ninja boyfriend' on when we would get together."

"Who won?" Bart decided to come back to what 'ninja boyfriend' meant later.

"Superboy, I think." Wally smiled absently. "Have people told you about when the League was under mind-control?"

"Yeah, Robin explained about that when I asked where the League was and they said they were on trial." Bart nodded.

"Well, that's when we first started dating. New Years Eve, stroke of midnight. We kissed and it snowballed from there."

"Wow. That sounds like a cheesy romance novel." Wait, did he actually say that aloud?

Wally smiled. "Remember there was alien technology and super-heroes under mind control involved too." He added casually.

"Oh. Right." Bart shrugged. "What was she like?"

"I think the best way to describe her would be how Kent Nelson did it. She was a spitfire." Wally said, sitting onto his couch. In a flash his cousin was next to him.

"Well, she sounds crash. What's a spitfire?"

"Yeah, she is pretty awesome." Wally looked at the brunette boy. "You'll like her. And she'll probably give you some scathing comment then point out your good qualities to bring you up again."

Wally realised too late he was speaking in the wrong tense. But it was so much easier to speak about Artemis in present tense, to remind himself that whatever everyone else thought, she was still alive. He'd done it before. No-one had been willing to correct him yet. Bart didn't break the tradition.

"Oh. Um, cool. So… again, what's a spitfire?" The brunette asked. "Of course, if you don't want to talk about it, that's crash too." He hurried to add.

"No, it's okay."

Wally spent the next hour or so telling Bart stories about Artemis, beginning with Kent Nelson's advice on dating and moving onto more details about when they first met, the first time she tried making cookies and almost burnt down the cave, the time he'd discovered she was almost fluent in French, when he found out who her family was, the pregnancy scare of freshman year in college, the ninja-boyfriend incident, the time he accidentally dyed her hair purple, when she had run to put his arm in a sling during battle, and by the time he finished his throat was sore.

Bart had barely moved during the story-time, and had come to the conclusion that he really did wish he had met Artemis. Wally had come to the conclusion that he wanted to be there when they did.

17. Surprise

By now, walking into his house to find his cousin-once-removed in there was a pretty usual occurrence. Generally Wally would say a quick 'hey Bart', before digging into the pantry and starting on his homework. He'd somehow managed to learn how to actually get work done with the younger speedster there.

However, finding Bart duct-taped to the ceiling like some weird, colossal duct-tape spider had caught him was new.

Wally was instantly on high alert, his eyes scanning for whatever had attacked his cousin. Slowly, he cautiously walked towards Bart, ready for something to jump out at him any moment now.

Bart was struggling against the duct-tape, but there was no real sense of urgency, which maybe Wally should have noticed earlier, but he was happy just noticing it all. In a quick movement the red-head ripped the duct-tape off his mouth.

"Owwww!" Bart winced, pouting. "But thanks." He muttered.

"Who did this?" Wally asked, consciously making an effort not to relax his guard.

"Um… well, Wonder Girl."

"Cassie?" Wally repeated, startled. "Wonder Girl tied you up in my house?"

"Okay, that might have been unfair. It wasn't all her idea, she was just the one who caught me with that rope, and…" Bart trailed off with a sheepish look.

Wally had relaxed, and then sighed. "So why my house?" He asked after a second.

"Well… I think Batgirl's exact words were that I'd be safe here but you were unlikely to take pity on me and let me go. Or something like that, I'm not actually so good with direct quotes, but anyway you will be letting me out anyway right?"

Wally paused for a moment, then smirked. "Sure I will."

"Great!"

"Eventually." Wally walked past him, heading to the pantry.

"Wait, what?" Bart yelped, looking after him. "Hey, wait! Waaaaalllly!"

18. Captured

"Again?" Wally's voice sounded faint to his ears.

"Yeah. Again." Dick sighed, collapsing on a chair. "This time with most of the team."

"And… Blue Beetle did it?" Wally asked, trying to wrap his mind around it. He'd always liked Jaime.

"Yes. No. Sort of. I don't know, Wally." Dick just looked sad. His blue eyes, so rarely uncovered when talking about hero stuff these days, looked a little watery. "From what Bart let slip from before he… um, it was Jaime that did it, but he wasn't in control of himself."

"Like that time with Red T?" Wally asked.

Dick nodded. "Yeah. Like that." He admitted. "I just… I figured you should know. He is your cousin."

"Geez." Wally ran a hand through his red hair. He felt sick, wondering what was going through Bart's mind right now. He'd been taken by the Reach again…

"And they got everyone?" Wally asked, more for something else to focus on than anything else. "Who's left?"

"Well… there's La'gann, but he's still recovering from his broken leg." Dick chewed on his lip. "Red Arrow could help, but he's having his own problems what with just getting back into the hero thing properly. M'gann was caught by Artemis, so she might be safer than the others, but that's no guarantee." His voice wavered slightly.

For the first time in a long time, Wally saw a glimpse of the boy he had first met so many years ago, the cheekily acrobatic Boy Wonder, barely over eleven years old and yet with two years more experience than he had. Or more accurately, he saw the twelve year old who had been desperate to have someone other than Batman know both his names, the thirteen year old who had taken the job of leader after seeing his father-figure die in a way-too-realistic invasion, the fifteen year old who held back the scream when he was shot through the arm during a mission, the nineteen year old who had already buried one brother and was desperate not to do it again.

Wally sat next to him, sliding an arm around his shoulder. "They'll be okay." The speedster murmured. "We'll get them back, you'll see. Tim and Barbara, and Bart, and Connor, and everyone."

Dick took a deep breath but didn't push away. Wally held him a little tighter. "Artemis and Kaldur will finish off their mission and we'll send the Reach packing. We'll prove the League innocent, and while we're at it we'll fix Jaime, and M'gann'll come back, and it'll all be okay."

"Wally." Dick said softly, blue eyes meeting green. "I know you're retired, but you were in the game long enough to know that might not be true."

"But it goes both ways. It might be true. And you'll track them down. You're the protégé of the World's Greatest Detective, aren't you?" The speedster pointed out with an encouraging smile.

"But I'm not Batman." Nightwing muttered.

"I never said you were." Wally punched him on the shoulder. "You're Nightwing, and you're plenty able to do the detective work anyway. And you know what? I'm trusting you to be the one to track down my annoying little cousin, so you had better bring him back."

19. Confess

Wally ruffled his cousin's hair. "I'm glad you're back."

"Thanks." Bart smiled, collapsing on the chair. "I'm incredibly glad to be back. That place was mode."

"Yeah, I figured." Wally smiled warmly. "So Jaime's back to normal, too?"

"Yep!" Bart nodded, satisfied with the past few day's results.

"So, that means that your apocalyptic future isn't going to happen?"

Bart started, staring at his cousin with wide eyes. "Hold on. You knew? About my time?"

"Well, yeah." Wally rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, it didn't take that long to be obvious you were hiding something. And so, I kinda figured you purposely came back to fix something or another. Nightwing confirmed that while you were gone."

"Oh." Bart wasn't really sure what to say to that.

Wally hesitated, and then decided to ask the question that had been pressing on his mind. "If you do manage to fix everything, will that mean you…" He trailed off.

"Will I what?" Bart asked, not getting it.

"You know… be written out of existence?"

Bart's eyes widened with realisation. "Oh, that? No, I won't. I'll stay right here."

Wally let out a breath of relief. "Are you sure?"

"Positive." Bart smiled reassuringly, zipping over to sit next to him. "My model of time-travel? Well, it means if my parents get killed before they give birth to me, I'd still exist. However, if that doesn't happen or anything like it, someday in the future my parents will give birth to me. Another me, who won't go time-travelling."

"So there'll be two Barts?" Wally smiled, wrapping an arm around Bart's shoulder. "That's a scary thought."

Bart shrugged, grinning. "Hey, we'll have the same DNA, but he'd have grown up completely different. Although the other timeline me will have an interesting experience, knowing another version of him. You know, if my parents still meet in this timeline and all that, which is a real possibility that it won't happen."

"Because in your time, your dad would have grown up with Barry dead?" Wally guessed.

Bart's eyes widened. "How-"

"Again, it was pretty obvious." Wally smiled sheepishly. Then he paused. "Or at least to Aunt Iris, once she found out about your timeline. She had to point it out to me."

"Grandma knows too?" Bart asked, surprised. "And Grandpa?"

"Yep."

"Oh." Bart didn't know what to say to that either. "Well, there goes my secret, I guess."

"Yeah." Wally smiled slightly. "Hey, you know what? I think it's time I should let you in on one of mine."

"Will I have to keep it? Since, you know, my mouth is kinda on mode a lot of the time, which isn't really crash, but that was pretty much the longest I've ever kept a secret for."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure this one is going to be common knowledge soon." Wally smiled slightly. "It's about Artemis. And Kaldur, too."

"What's Kaldur?"

"Oh, right, you wouldn't know. Kaldur is Aqualad's real name."

"Um, okay. What about them?"

20. Inherit

Bart's eyes locked on a blur of yellow and red. Kid Flash was running in circles around what Impulse was pretty sure had been referred to as 'The Brain' (super-villains tended to be so unoriginal in their names – it wasn't exactly hard to tell that it was a brain).

Well, no-one else really looked like they needed help. Wally didn't either, for that matter, but still.

"Hey there, KF!" Impulse caught up to him. "Whatcha doing?"

Kid Flash caught his eye and grinned. "Same old, same old. Driving the bad guys nuts. Nice look, by the way."

Impulse laughed, tugging on the guard-uniform Nightwing had mysteriously acquired for him. Where he had gotten it from was a mystery. "You think?"

"Yeah." Kid Flash's eyes were smiling. "Though, honestly, I always figured you wind up in something with a little more… yellow and red."

Impulse spluttered. Yellow and red? As in, the Kid Flash uniform? "S-seriously?" He managed.

Kid Flash grinned, still running. "Hey, once this whole 'invasion' thing's over, Artemis and I are going back into retirement. Someone needs to carry on the family tradition."

Yep. He really was saying what he thought he was saying.

Impulse actually fell behind him in shock. A moment later he managed to jump forwards, catching up to his cousin. "Dude, that is so crash!" He hadn't dared hope for something like that. "You watch, I'll make you proud! I'll-"

"Start with the Brain." Kid Flash suggested, grinning.

"What?" Impulse had genuinely forgotten they were in the middle of a battle. "Oh, right!"

Wally had to grin as he saw his cousin-once-removed take down that big ugly thing without even bothering to worry about the lasers. He honestly couldn't imagine anyone better suited to the job of being Kid Flash.

Cocky, loyal, a little impulsive – okay, plenty impulsive, and not just the one named after the trait – joking with a serious side, hero worship of the Flash, and of course, a speedster…

Yep. Bart was definitely Wally's cousin.

#10 is a reference to my story Bad Team! which involves Wally getting a spray bottle and spraying Robin.

Reviews are, as always, very much appreciated.