Spoilers for Endgame. AU. Before the mission, Wally seeks the advice of an old friend and learns of his shocking fate; meanwhile, three years prior, most of the Team and some of the League find themselves separated when teleported to a strange new land.

Look Both Ways

Team Year 5: 2016
Location: Unknown
June 16, 17:09 EST

Whenever Wally West got a bad feeling, that bad feeling usually meant something bad was going to happen to either him, Artemis, or any member of his family. This time, though, he felt it was going to be about him.

So, with a little convincing from a few members of the League, he was allowed to visit the one person who could tell him what that might mean.

Assuming, of course, he could find him.

The strange town was not what Wally had expected at all; in fact, if anything, he had expected vast forests and tall castles, since…well, that's a story for another time.

But if Wally knew anything about his target, it would have something to do with magic or gold.

And when in doubt, follow the explosions.

Team Year 2: 2012
Mount Justice
June 16, 15:37 EST

"Recognized: Nightwing B-01, Robin B-13."

"I cannot believe Batman made me do that! I thought I was a goner."

"Well, it worked, didn't it? I told you, Batman's plans never fail."

A young Garfield poked his head from over the couch; the two Bats had failed to notice him. "Hi, guys! Is the rest of the team back yet?"

"No," Nightwing replied, shaking his head. "But they'll be back soon – or most of them, anyway. Aqualad, Tempest, and Aquagirl are on a mission with Aquaman in the deep oceans, investigating some new lead on Black Manta; and Troia and Wonder Woman are still in Themyscira. Why do you ask…? Were you waiting for one of them?"

"No," a second voice sounded, and another head popped up from behind the couch. This one belonged to twelve-year-old Billy Batson, or as he was known in his other form, Captain Marvel. "He was sort of asking for me. Black Canary is going to call the rest of you to a meeting sooner or later. She wanted to know how many of you to expect."

Robin arched an eyebrow. "Expect? For what? Are Lieutenant Marvel and Sergeant Marvel going to be joining the team?"

Billy shrugged. "Batman says soon, but not yet. Besides, they're still a bit mad that they're not getting accepted straight into the League, even though I'm in it and we're all technically the same age… Anyway, no, this is something else entirely. And now, I gotta go. I'll see you later, Gar!"

With that, Billy vaulted the couch and made for the zeta tubes. As the computer announced "Recognized, Billy Batson A-05," Nightwing glanced over at Garfield. "So, what were you two doing?"

Gar grinned. "He was telling me about the mission you guys get to go on – but I can't tell you anything. It's a secret!"

Robin scoffed. "Secret like how Billy's got a crush on Perdita secret, or secret like Batman's identity secret?"

"The second one."

"Right," Robin muttered. "Well, what will you be doing?"

"Since M'gann is going on the mission with you guys, J'onn is going to take me to his place until you guys are done."

"Uh-huh…and uh, how many Leaguers are going on the mission?"

Nightwing arched an eyebrow at the slight malice in Robin's tone. "Is there something wrong with the League coming along to have our backs?"

"No," Robin defended quickly. "I was just curious."

"Uh-huh, sure you were," Gar said, laughter evident in his voice. "But to answer your question, Billy's going, along with Black Canary, and I think he said something about both Arrows and Flash coming too."

Robin seemed to mull it over. "I'm alright with that. Should be fun, huh 'Wing?"

Nightwing grinned. "It will be interesting, to say the least…"

Team Year 5: 2016
Location: Unknown
June 16, 17:11 EST

Wally was smart sometimes, and did not run straight to the explosions. Instead, he took a quick jog around the town to try and get a feel for it. It was much larger than one would expect, but looks are always deceiving.

Arriving back at the source of earlier commotion, he was relieved to find it had ended. That was always a good thing.

He opened the door to the shop he had arrived in front of; a little bell jingled slightly. The occupants, who had been discussing some matter quietly, looked up to stare at him incredulously. His eyes scanned them, recognizing some, confused by others, before he saw the one he was looking for.

"Mr. Gold, I presume?" Wally asked, stepping forward and offering his hand to the man with the cane. "Or do you still prefer Rumpelstiltskin?"

Team Year 2: 2012
Mount Justice
June 16, 15:42 EST

"Recognized: Flash 04, Green Arrow 08, Captain Marvel 15, Red Arrow 21, Kid Flash B-03, Artemis B-07."

"Is everyone here now?" Black Canary asked the teens and adults now assembled before her. At the nods she smiled slightly. "Good."

As several blurry and bright images appeared on the holo-screens, Black Canary continued; "There have been, according to Doctor Fate, fluctuations in our Earth's magical properties, or as they can also be called, ley lines. He believes that they are also the cause of these random portals that continue to pop up. So far, no one has gone missing as a result, but the portals all appear in a certain wooded area in Maine. Our mission is to investigate, and if we can find one of these portals, we are to go through it together to determine what is on the other side. Any questions?"

"What do you mean, 'our Earth'?" Wally asked. "I mean, there aren't really other dimensions…are there?"

"I told you, Kid," Flash answered before Black Canary could open her mouth. "The League has had some multi-dimensional incidents before. Doctor Fate believes that the fluctuations are being caused by a massive buildup of magical energy in another universe."

"Why are portals popping up, then?" Captain Marvel asked.

"It probably has something to do with the magical properties of this other dimension," Zatanna mused.

"Right," Black Canary nodded. "Doctor Fate said that the properties of this other dimension must be extremely great; he has a theory on what this is being caused by–"

"Well, here's a question: if Doctor Fate's the one doing most of the research into this, why isn't he coming with us?" Robin asked.

"I was getting to that," Canary said. "While Doctor Fate has a theory on the dimension causing this whole debacle, if he's right then he is forbidden from going there unless explicitly invited by the Reul Ghorm or the Dark One; and before anyone asks, apparently these two are the most powerful beings of this universe. The Reul Ghorm is the original magic user, and uses her magic for good, while in contrast the Dark One was created much later as a curse that could be passed from anyone who kills his or her predecessor with an enchanted dagger. As the name suggests, he practices dark magic, but depending on the host of the curse he could really be on the side of good while keeping up his dark appearance."

The assembled heroes were silent at this; Zatanna was musing the information over, as though trying to memorize it so she could later recognize the realm.

"Well, if there are no more questions, then we are all set to go," Canary announced.

Maine
June 16, 16:31 EST

The heroes disembarked from the camouflaged bio-ship, looking around the area where the reports of portals came in. Black Canary, the designated leader of the mission, surveyed the site and then turned back to face the team.

"All right, we'll split into three groups," she decided. "Artemis, Rocket, Miss Martian, Green Arrow, and I are Alpha. Flash, Nightwing, Red Arrow, and Superboy, you'll be Beta. Captain Marvel, Kid Flash, Zatanna, and Robin, you're Gamma. Stay within shouting distance, but try to cover as much ground as possible. Oh, and Miss M, if you'd be so kind as to link us up…?"

Miss Martian nodded, and her eyes glowed blue for a brief moment. "Link established."

"Good," Black Canary said mentally, the thought echoing in everyone's heads. "Now remember, us Leaguers are the designated leaders for you guys, but if for some reason you are separated from your Leaguer or Leaguers, the designated leaders are to be Artemis, Nightwing, and Kid Flash for their respective groups."

A chorus of "Yeah"s, "Got it"s, and a single "Can we just go already?" echoed in everyone's heads. At the nod, the teams split up and began to search for…something.

The something found them when the second the groups were only a mere fifteen feet apart, the ground rumbled and opened into an immense portal.

They were swallowed, without leaving a trace.

So yeah, I'm totally treading in untested waters here. But I've actually had this idea in my head for a long time; I could never get it out in writing until now though.

For those wondering, I did some research, and found that Jason's designation was indeed B-13; I also found that Billy Batson gets his own designation as A-05. Greg Weisman, the producer of the show, confirmed in an interview that during the time-skip we missed Garth and Tula (B-10 and B-11) and Jason, along with Donna Troy/Troia (A-12), and Lieutenant and Sergeant Marvel (B-14 and B-15; I'm guessing these were supposed to be Mary Marvel/Mary Batson and Captain Marvel Jr./Freddie Freeman. If not then oops whatever). So I am totally canon there. I don't know when Beast Boy joined the team, but by this time Gar's mother had died and he was living with the team, most likely in the cave.

In the Once universe, this takes place shortly after 2x16 The Miller's Daughter. However, the continuity of the Once universe is not something I'm really concerning myself with...at the moment.

So I think it's fairly obvious where this story is going, and I know what I want to do with it for the most part, but because of school updates will be slow. I will update as much as possible and as fast as possible though!

Until then, my friends, feel free to tell me whether or not you like the idea, what you thought of the time skip, or what your opinion is on the way Young Justice ended. As always, reviews are welcome!