Fanfic - Time Will Tell - Ch 2
Title: Time Will Tell
Fandom: Justice League, DCAU
Rating: T
Pairings: Bruce/Wally
Summary: Lex Luthor has created yet another diabolical device. It seems that Batman is going to be stuck with the Flash for quite a while...
Excerpt: "Wally." his name came once again from her plump, parted lips. The King couldn't help but forgive her foolish nature. His face was only a few inches from hers. Everything about her was so enticing. The way she said his name. The smoothness of her skin. The five-o'clock shadow... Wait. Five-o'clock shadow? "WALLY." The deep voice made his eyes widen far bigger than he thought possible as he let out a scream. The woman had morphed. She still had the curvy, voluptuous body, same as before, except that now her head was replaced with Batman's. Wally shut his eyes tightly, the image scarring his mind.
"GYAHHHH!"
"More wine, please," demanded King Wallace the Third. A busty servant woman padded over to the gold covered king and proceeded to fill his goblet with crimson liquid. He thanked her and drank it all in one mighty gulp. The air was thick and humid this day, so the king clapped his hands twice. Two bulky men in loin clothes immediately appeared at either side of him and began to cool him off with the waving of giant palm leaves. This was the life. He didn't have a care in the world and felt completely relaxed. So relaxed, that his very thoughts were blurred. Surely it was the haze of ecstasy.
"Wally." The busty woman had returned. She was leaning over, hands on her knees, as if to exemplify the gorgeous view between her arms. "Wally."
"That's King Wally, babe." His grin widened as he leaned towards her.
"Wally." his name came once again from her plump, parted lips. The King couldn't help but forgive her foolish nature. His face was only a few inches from hers. Everything about her was so enticing. The way she said his name. The smoothness of her skin. The five-o'clock shadow... Wait. Five-o'clock shadow? "WALLY." The deep voice made his eyes widen far bigger than he thought possible as he let out a scream. The woman had morphed. She still had the curvy, voluptuous body, same as before, except that now her head was replaced with Batman's. Wally shut his eyes tightly, the image scarring his mind.
"GYAHHHH!"
"WALLY! Snap out of it!" After what seemed like minutes of writhing, Wally finally regained the courage to open his eyes again. Blurred colors came into focus. Batman was crouched over him with his hands on Wally's arms, as if to hold him down. It took a few moments to regulate his heartbeat in order to breathe properly. Once he seemed to be calm enough, Batman spoke again. "You were having a nightmare. It took me nearly five minutes to wake you up." His grip on Wally loosened and he stood up. Wally didn't want to move just yet. The image before him was certainly picturesque. A tall, vandalized building stood behind Batman as his tattered cape tossed in the wind. He half expected lightning to strike behind him, just for effect.
With a grunt, Wally pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked around. It looked like they were in Gotham City. At least, he was pretty sure it was Gotham. The main difference was that it looked far worse. There was trash literally everywhere. Obscene graffiti painted all the buildings as far as he could see. Dozens of homeless men and women littered the streets. All the storefronts had thick black bars protecting the windows. "I must still be dreaming... This is the last time I eat fifty-five taquitos before hitting the hay."
"It's no dream." The darker one said, as he surveyed the area.
"What happened here then?" Wally had stood and was rubbing a spot on his back that was sore from laying on a crumpled soda can.
"I'm not sure. But it looks like we've already got trouble." He gestured to a woman that was fighting to get her purse back from a masked mugger. The Flash didn't need to be told twice. Before the criminal could even blink, the red hero was standing right next to him, holding the purse in one hand while the other was put around the man's shoulders.
"Hey buddy. I don't think this is really your color." The Flash tilted his head with a smirk. The mugger was staring at him slack-jawed, as if he had just seen a religious icon's face winking in his alphabet soup. The man gritted his teeth and put a gun into Wally's side, as if warning him to back off. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. 'Cause then you'll have to answer to him, and I think that's a worse fate than any prison could offer." The mugger turned his head to see who the Flash had been referring to and let out a scared yelp when he saw a giant bat standing next to him. The man didn't get very far when he tried to run. With a crash, he fell, his legs tied together. He started screaming for help. Batman loomed over him for a moment, as if to scare him a bit more, before handcuffing him and leaving him tied to a tree for the authorities to handle. "Here you are, ma'am." The Flash held out the purse to the woman they had rescued. She shakily reached out and took it.
"Th-thank you..." She looked incredibly frightened.
"You don't have to be scared," the Flash put his hands on his hips, his smile never faltering. "With me and Bats here, you got nothin' to worry about!" The woman's gaze switched from the Flash to Batman before she turned and ran down the street. "Huh. She must be new here." He looked over his shoulder at his partner. "Now what?" Batman put a finger up to his ear.
"The communication with the Watch Tower is gone. I'm not even sure how we got here in the first place..." He took another look around. The Flash saw something wavering on Batman's expression. Almost like... this was a new city to him or something. "Let's get to the cave. We have a better chance of figuring things out there." Wally nodded in response and followed Batman's lead.
When they had reached the cave, it was exactly that: a cave. Nothing more, nothing less. It was just after sunset and it was impossible to see in the cavern past a few steps. Batman had turned on a flashlight and shone it inwards, causing a family of bats to screech and fly out overhead. Wally tried to hide how much it freaked him out, but he couldn't help but bend down a bit to further himself from the creatures. He hesitantly followed Batman in, only to stop short once he realized this probably wasn't the right place. The walls were damp and smelled strange. Batman circled the first few feet of the cave before heading back out into the night air. "It's not here." He said as he emerged.
"What do you mean, Bats?" Wally asked, even though he could clearly see it was true.
"We should check the manor. There could be some sort of clue." He had already started heading up the winding hill that lead to home.
When they reached the gate, Batman reached out to touch the rust that had overtaken it long ago. It easily swung open with a great groan. Wally had begun to feel uneasy. He didn't like the looks of this. He kept quiet, though, because he was sure that Bruce was far more bothered and just didn't want to show it. Dried weeds crunched under their boots as they walked, threatening to trip anyone who wasn't careful.
The manor was old. The paint was cracked and peeled and the wood looked rotted. Half of the windows were broken, from looters no doubt. Wally frowned. The house reminded him of a haunted mansion that would be in some horror movie, like that Vincent Price movie House on Haunted Hill. Nothing here was making any sense to him, but he had certainly been in stranger situations. Batman grabbed the door handle, but the door wouldn't budge. He silently walked over to the nearest window and jumped in. The Flash followed suit, careful not to get sliced by the jagged glass.
There was dust everywhere and the furniture and decorations were in shambles. A few things were in pieces on the floor, while other items had seemed to have been tossed aside. Batman turned to the Flash. "Wait here. I'm going to go look around." Wally gave him a thumbs up.
"Sure thing, Bats. I'll be right here." With that, he plopped on the couch that had been untouched, sending a large cloud of dust into the air. Batman walked out of the room, the sound of Wally's sneezes echoing through the empty house.
Wally leaned back after the sneezing fit was done. He surveyed the room, thinking. With a huff, he shuffled in his seat, uncomfortable about the entire situation. The sound of glass crunching under his boot made him look down at the object he hadn't noticed before. It was a brown photo frame, face down. Wally reached down to examine it. The glass in the frame was horribly cracked, so he pulled the actual photo out from the back. It was a picture of an eight year old Bruce Wayne, smiling with his parents at a carnival. He stared at the picture for what felt like a very long time. The look on Bruce's face was so beautiful and innocent. Wally felt his eyes water a bit. "You've been alone a long time, huh, Bats?"
By the time Batman had returned, Wally was completely passed out on the couch. The room was also much tidier. It seemed that the younger hero had picked up everything and dusted before falling asleep. He wondered if Wally had some form of obsessive compulsive disorder or if something had just stirred him to clean out of nowhere. Whatever the case, he didn't want to wake him up, considering that he was probably exhausted from not getting his usual caloric intake for the day. He pulled a pen from his utility belt, but realized he had no paper to write the note on and began searching for something that would suffice. On the mantle of the fireplace, he found the picture of him and his parents. He stared at it for a moment, before turning it over and scribbling. He left it on the cracked coffee table that was near Wally's sleeping form and headed out.
Being on the dark streets of Gotham alone was something Batman reveled in. It had always felt right to him, probably in the same way someone feels about walking through a familiar street in their hometown. Even though the city was different, he could still navigate with ease. It didn't take him long to find a phone book, considering the amount of trash that was all over the city. He flipped to the P section and began thumbing through the pages until he found the name he was looking for.
It took him hours to find the right place. It was a small apartment complex near a convenience store that was constantly being robbed. After scaling the wall, he entered the window silently. The room was dark, save for the light that came in through the small window. Just as he had begun to snoop around, the light flashed on and a voice came from behind him. "Stop right there, you devil!" Batman turned around to face the man.
"Alfred?" Batman asked softly.
"Who are you and what are you doing in my house? And how do you know my name?" He was brandishing a baseball bat.
"Alfed, it's me." He slowly reached up and tugged the cowl off his face. "Bruce." Alfred turned a ghostly shade of white as he dropped the bat.
"Master Bruce? But... how?" He was shaking as he spoke. "You died when you were just a boy..."
The growling of Wally's stomach forced him out of his slumber. "Mnnf?" It took him a moment to gather his surroundings and remember everything that had happened. "Bats?" He sat up, looking around. His eyes stopped on the photograph.
I'll be back soon. Stay. Here.
-B
"Jeez, you don't have to tell me twice." Wally pouted as he put his head in his hands. He was awfully hungry, but was certain that there wasn't anything edible in the manor. He couldn't leave, because if Batman came back when he was gone, he'd get lecture, or a spanking, or whatever bats do when they're pissed. With a sigh, he stood and took another look around. The sight of Bruce's manor being so messed up made him depressed. He could only imagine that it made Bruce himself feel even worse. So he decided that until Bruce came back, he would busy himself by cleaning up the entire mansion so that maybe, just maybe, Bruce would feel less lonely and more like he was at home.
When Batman returned, he found Wally in the same place he left him. The main difference was that the entire house looked as clean as possible, considering that Wally couldn't fix the broken windows or give it a fresh coat of paint. The corner of his mouth tugged up a bit.
"Is this your friend, sir?" Alfred questioned, when he saw Wally. Apparently Wally had only been resting because he jolted awake at the sound of his voice. He sat up and leaned in towards the older man, his eyes wide.
"Jeeves! You're okay!" Despite Wally giving him his best smile, Alfred's eye still twitched. Wally looked to Bruce. "Did you find out what's going on?"
"No. I'm trying to piece it together, though. I think we may be in another dimension or something similar." His gaze fell upon Alfred. "I found Alfred living in an apartment downtown. According to him... I was killed along with my parents." Wally's face fell.
"Bats..." His voice cracked. He couldn't imagine what Bruce was feeling. He was already an outcast in his own world, but to be a ghost in another?
"The reason that Gotham is in such a state is because in this world, there is no one to stop it from becoming so. There is no justice. There is no... Batman."
Fandom: Justice League, DCAU
Rating: T
Pairings: Bruce/Wally
Summary: Lex Luthor has created yet another diabolical device. It seems that Batman is going to be stuck with the Flash for quite a while...
Excerpt: "Wally." his name came once again from her plump, parted lips. The King couldn't help but forgive her foolish nature. His face was only a few inches from hers. Everything about her was so enticing. The way she said his name. The smoothness of her skin. The five-o'clock shadow... Wait. Five-o'clock shadow? "WALLY." The deep voice made his eyes widen far bigger than he thought possible as he let out a scream. The woman had morphed. She still had the curvy, voluptuous body, same as before, except that now her head was replaced with Batman's. Wally shut his eyes tightly, the image scarring his mind.
"GYAHHHH!"
"More wine, please," demanded King Wallace the Third. A busty servant woman padded over to the gold covered king and proceeded to fill his goblet with crimson liquid. He thanked her and drank it all in one mighty gulp. The air was thick and humid this day, so the king clapped his hands twice. Two bulky men in loin clothes immediately appeared at either side of him and began to cool him off with the waving of giant palm leaves. This was the life. He didn't have a care in the world and felt completely relaxed. So relaxed, that his very thoughts were blurred. Surely it was the haze of ecstasy.
"Wally." The busty woman had returned. She was leaning over, hands on her knees, as if to exemplify the gorgeous view between her arms. "Wally."
"That's King Wally, babe." His grin widened as he leaned towards her.
"Wally." his name came once again from her plump, parted lips. The King couldn't help but forgive her foolish nature. His face was only a few inches from hers. Everything about her was so enticing. The way she said his name. The smoothness of her skin. The five-o'clock shadow... Wait. Five-o'clock shadow? "WALLY." The deep voice made his eyes widen far bigger than he thought possible as he let out a scream. The woman had morphed. She still had the curvy, voluptuous body, same as before, except that now her head was replaced with Batman's. Wally shut his eyes tightly, the image scarring his mind.
"GYAHHHH!"
"WALLY! Snap out of it!" After what seemed like minutes of writhing, Wally finally regained the courage to open his eyes again. Blurred colors came into focus. Batman was crouched over him with his hands on Wally's arms, as if to hold him down. It took a few moments to regulate his heartbeat in order to breathe properly. Once he seemed to be calm enough, Batman spoke again. "You were having a nightmare. It took me nearly five minutes to wake you up." His grip on Wally loosened and he stood up. Wally didn't want to move just yet. The image before him was certainly picturesque. A tall, vandalized building stood behind Batman as his tattered cape tossed in the wind. He half expected lightning to strike behind him, just for effect.
With a grunt, Wally pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked around. It looked like they were in Gotham City. At least, he was pretty sure it was Gotham. The main difference was that it looked far worse. There was trash literally everywhere. Obscene graffiti painted all the buildings as far as he could see. Dozens of homeless men and women littered the streets. All the storefronts had thick black bars protecting the windows. "I must still be dreaming... This is the last time I eat fifty-five taquitos before hitting the hay."
"It's no dream." The darker one said, as he surveyed the area.
"What happened here then?" Wally had stood and was rubbing a spot on his back that was sore from laying on a crumpled soda can.
"I'm not sure. But it looks like we've already got trouble." He gestured to a woman that was fighting to get her purse back from a masked mugger. The Flash didn't need to be told twice. Before the criminal could even blink, the red hero was standing right next to him, holding the purse in one hand while the other was put around the man's shoulders.
"Hey buddy. I don't think this is really your color." The Flash tilted his head with a smirk. The mugger was staring at him slack-jawed, as if he had just seen a religious icon's face winking in his alphabet soup. The man gritted his teeth and put a gun into Wally's side, as if warning him to back off. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. 'Cause then you'll have to answer to him, and I think that's a worse fate than any prison could offer." The mugger turned his head to see who the Flash had been referring to and let out a scared yelp when he saw a giant bat standing next to him. The man didn't get very far when he tried to run. With a crash, he fell, his legs tied together. He started screaming for help. Batman loomed over him for a moment, as if to scare him a bit more, before handcuffing him and leaving him tied to a tree for the authorities to handle. "Here you are, ma'am." The Flash held out the purse to the woman they had rescued. She shakily reached out and took it.
"Th-thank you..." She looked incredibly frightened.
"You don't have to be scared," the Flash put his hands on his hips, his smile never faltering. "With me and Bats here, you got nothin' to worry about!" The woman's gaze switched from the Flash to Batman before she turned and ran down the street. "Huh. She must be new here." He looked over his shoulder at his partner. "Now what?" Batman put a finger up to his ear.
"The communication with the Watch Tower is gone. I'm not even sure how we got here in the first place..." He took another look around. The Flash saw something wavering on Batman's expression. Almost like... this was a new city to him or something. "Let's get to the cave. We have a better chance of figuring things out there." Wally nodded in response and followed Batman's lead.
When they had reached the cave, it was exactly that: a cave. Nothing more, nothing less. It was just after sunset and it was impossible to see in the cavern past a few steps. Batman had turned on a flashlight and shone it inwards, causing a family of bats to screech and fly out overhead. Wally tried to hide how much it freaked him out, but he couldn't help but bend down a bit to further himself from the creatures. He hesitantly followed Batman in, only to stop short once he realized this probably wasn't the right place. The walls were damp and smelled strange. Batman circled the first few feet of the cave before heading back out into the night air. "It's not here." He said as he emerged.
"What do you mean, Bats?" Wally asked, even though he could clearly see it was true.
"We should check the manor. There could be some sort of clue." He had already started heading up the winding hill that lead to home.
When they reached the gate, Batman reached out to touch the rust that had overtaken it long ago. It easily swung open with a great groan. Wally had begun to feel uneasy. He didn't like the looks of this. He kept quiet, though, because he was sure that Bruce was far more bothered and just didn't want to show it. Dried weeds crunched under their boots as they walked, threatening to trip anyone who wasn't careful.
The manor was old. The paint was cracked and peeled and the wood looked rotted. Half of the windows were broken, from looters no doubt. Wally frowned. The house reminded him of a haunted mansion that would be in some horror movie, like that Vincent Price movie House on Haunted Hill. Nothing here was making any sense to him, but he had certainly been in stranger situations. Batman grabbed the door handle, but the door wouldn't budge. He silently walked over to the nearest window and jumped in. The Flash followed suit, careful not to get sliced by the jagged glass.
There was dust everywhere and the furniture and decorations were in shambles. A few things were in pieces on the floor, while other items had seemed to have been tossed aside. Batman turned to the Flash. "Wait here. I'm going to go look around." Wally gave him a thumbs up.
"Sure thing, Bats. I'll be right here." With that, he plopped on the couch that had been untouched, sending a large cloud of dust into the air. Batman walked out of the room, the sound of Wally's sneezes echoing through the empty house.
Wally leaned back after the sneezing fit was done. He surveyed the room, thinking. With a huff, he shuffled in his seat, uncomfortable about the entire situation. The sound of glass crunching under his boot made him look down at the object he hadn't noticed before. It was a brown photo frame, face down. Wally reached down to examine it. The glass in the frame was horribly cracked, so he pulled the actual photo out from the back. It was a picture of an eight year old Bruce Wayne, smiling with his parents at a carnival. He stared at the picture for what felt like a very long time. The look on Bruce's face was so beautiful and innocent. Wally felt his eyes water a bit. "You've been alone a long time, huh, Bats?"
By the time Batman had returned, Wally was completely passed out on the couch. The room was also much tidier. It seemed that the younger hero had picked up everything and dusted before falling asleep. He wondered if Wally had some form of obsessive compulsive disorder or if something had just stirred him to clean out of nowhere. Whatever the case, he didn't want to wake him up, considering that he was probably exhausted from not getting his usual caloric intake for the day. He pulled a pen from his utility belt, but realized he had no paper to write the note on and began searching for something that would suffice. On the mantle of the fireplace, he found the picture of him and his parents. He stared at it for a moment, before turning it over and scribbling. He left it on the cracked coffee table that was near Wally's sleeping form and headed out.
Being on the dark streets of Gotham alone was something Batman reveled in. It had always felt right to him, probably in the same way someone feels about walking through a familiar street in their hometown. Even though the city was different, he could still navigate with ease. It didn't take him long to find a phone book, considering the amount of trash that was all over the city. He flipped to the P section and began thumbing through the pages until he found the name he was looking for.
It took him hours to find the right place. It was a small apartment complex near a convenience store that was constantly being robbed. After scaling the wall, he entered the window silently. The room was dark, save for the light that came in through the small window. Just as he had begun to snoop around, the light flashed on and a voice came from behind him. "Stop right there, you devil!" Batman turned around to face the man.
"Alfred?" Batman asked softly.
"Who are you and what are you doing in my house? And how do you know my name?" He was brandishing a baseball bat.
"Alfed, it's me." He slowly reached up and tugged the cowl off his face. "Bruce." Alfred turned a ghostly shade of white as he dropped the bat.
"Master Bruce? But... how?" He was shaking as he spoke. "You died when you were just a boy..."
The growling of Wally's stomach forced him out of his slumber. "Mnnf?" It took him a moment to gather his surroundings and remember everything that had happened. "Bats?" He sat up, looking around. His eyes stopped on the photograph.
I'll be back soon. Stay. Here.
-B
"Jeez, you don't have to tell me twice." Wally pouted as he put his head in his hands. He was awfully hungry, but was certain that there wasn't anything edible in the manor. He couldn't leave, because if Batman came back when he was gone, he'd get lecture, or a spanking, or whatever bats do when they're pissed. With a sigh, he stood and took another look around. The sight of Bruce's manor being so messed up made him depressed. He could only imagine that it made Bruce himself feel even worse. So he decided that until Bruce came back, he would busy himself by cleaning up the entire mansion so that maybe, just maybe, Bruce would feel less lonely and more like he was at home.
When Batman returned, he found Wally in the same place he left him. The main difference was that the entire house looked as clean as possible, considering that Wally couldn't fix the broken windows or give it a fresh coat of paint. The corner of his mouth tugged up a bit.
"Is this your friend, sir?" Alfred questioned, when he saw Wally. Apparently Wally had only been resting because he jolted awake at the sound of his voice. He sat up and leaned in towards the older man, his eyes wide.
"Jeeves! You're okay!" Despite Wally giving him his best smile, Alfred's eye still twitched. Wally looked to Bruce. "Did you find out what's going on?"
"No. I'm trying to piece it together, though. I think we may be in another dimension or something similar." His gaze fell upon Alfred. "I found Alfred living in an apartment downtown. According to him... I was killed along with my parents." Wally's face fell.
"Bats..." His voice cracked. He couldn't imagine what Bruce was feeling. He was already an outcast in his own world, but to be a ghost in another?
"The reason that Gotham is in such a state is because in this world, there is no one to stop it from becoming so. There is no justice. There is no... Batman."