Chapter One

"You can't catch me!"

Barry laughed as he chased a small red-headed boy across his backyard. It was a gorgeous summer day. The sky seemed an unreal shade of blue without a cloud in sight. He could hear the sounds of sizzling coals from the grill and the laughter of his wife and his sister-in-law.

His brother-in-law, Rudy called out to him jokingly, "You'll have to be faster than that to catch him, Barry!"

"Really?" he asked the toddler ignoring Rudy's comment, as he tried to catch him. The boy evaded his arms with a squeal, and went to hide behind a nearby tree.

He pretended that he didn't see the boy's mop of red hair clearly visible from behind the tree. He scratched his head and fought back a smile.

"I wonder where he went?" he asked aloud, ignoring the giggles coming from behind the tree. "I know maybe he's behind the tree!"

He crept behind the tree. He found the little redhead sticking his head out from the other side of the tree. He pounced on the unsuspecting boy wrapping him in his arms and lifting him up.

"Uncle Barry!" the boy cried. "You caught me!"

He set the boy down and got down to his level. He looked the little boy in his green eyes. Something about him seemed so familiar, so precious. He felt compelled to say something to him.

"I will always catch you, kid," he said solemnly.

The boy threw his arms around him, enveloping him into a tight hug. Barry returned the hug, closing his eyes and savoring the moment.

"I love you, Uncle Barry,"the boy said, his face buried in Barry's shirt.

"I love you too,-" he began but stopped. He was going to say this boy's name. He knew it, but why couldn't he remember? What was his-

xxxOOOxxx

Location: Central City

August 7, 2011 02:09 CDT

Barry Allen woke with a start. He had been having the same dream for the past four nights. He was always chasing the same boy every night. And every night, he woke up before he could say the boy's name, before he could remember it.

He sat up to see the clock. It was a little past two in the morning. It was pitch dark outside, save for the light of a street lamp glowing eerily on the empty street.

He felt the cold sweat on his hands and the rapid beating of his heart. The dream wasn't a scary one, but for some reason it deeply disturbed him. Maybe it was the fact that he was willing to make such a serious promise to a kid. He wasn't one to thrust himself into a commitment without being one hundred percent sure.

Next to him, his wife, Iris, groaned softly and and slowly sat up. Her ginger hair was pulled into a messy bun framed by a halo of frizz. She rubbed her eyes, as if she were trying to rid the drowsiness from them. She yawned and looked at the time.

"Barry, it's two in the morning," she yawned.

"I know" he replied in a whisper. "And, I'm sorry, sweetheart."

She smiled sleepily at him. Her green eyes were still clouded with sleep, bags evident under her eyes.

"Was it that dream again? The one with the little boy?" she asked, her eyes suddenly more alert.

He didn't respond. He knew that Iris wanted him to talk to Dinah, the official League therapist, about his dreams. He had been avoiding the subject around Dinah, much to Iris's displeasure.

"Barry," she sighed. "You need to tell someone about this, and not just me. You need to tell someone that might be able to help you make sense of this. A dream like that must mean something."

He sighed. "I know Iris. It's just...I feel like I know the kid in the dream. He felt so real, and me not knowing..it's driving me crazy."

Iris wrapped an arm around him. Her presence comforting and warm. He loved that about her. She could take whatever kind of crazy his superhero life would throw at her. She understood that there would be a lot of difficult moments for both of them, and she took it in stride never loosing her gentleness and warmth. He knew that many people considered him to be a hero, but Iris was the stronger one by far.

"I know, babe,"she murmured. She faced him and looked him in the eyes. "Talk to Dinah or J'onn or, heck, talk to Batman. You need to get this off your chest."

He nodded, slowly. He would have to face the inevitable truth that he had tried so hard to avoid. He had a problem that needed to be addressed. He couldn't write it off any longer without it becoming harmful because he wanted to know that boy. That desire to know was powerful and disturbed him to no end. He knew deep down that he would do whatever it took to find out who that child was, and he was okay with that. It was disturbing.

"Okay," he replied. "I'll talk to someone, if you agree to let me go back to sleep."

She gave a soft laugh and kissed him on the cheek.

"Alright," she said as she lied down. "Good night, Barry."

"Good night, Iris."

xxxOOOxxx

Location: Blüdhaven

August 7, 03:17 EDT

Wally had forgotten how cold Bludhaven could be during the night, even in the middle of summer. Dick had brought him here once and showed him around the Gotham suburb. It wasn't as bad as Gotham in terms of crime, but wasn't better off either.

He shivered as he watched Robin typing away on his digital gauntlet. The hacker was still hunting for any trace of their existence. Kaldur stood over him, his brow furrowed. Artemis sat by a moonlit window sill, sharpening arrows absentmindedly. He remembered how devastated she had been when she wasn't recognized by her mother.

He could relate, though. He remembered the blank looks from his parents, aunt, and uncle.

M'gann and Conner had retreated to an empty room. Conner had been quiet and withdrawn. He had been making progress with Superman lately. And he had just lost it. M'gann rubbed circles on his back and whispered words to him. She had also been incredibly quiet. No matter how much she tried to mentally reach out to J'onn, he didn't seem to recognize her.

Zatanna was over in a corner sitting in a meditative state. She was studying a spell book concerning memories. She said she was almost positive that Klarion was behind all of this.

Rocket was standing closer to Kaldur. She had been in silent shock when her parents didn't recognize her. She had been pacing and messing with her belt the whole time.

His attention was brought back to the Boy Wonder by a string of curse words. If he wasn't so worried about the situation, he might have playfully reprimanded him.

"Anything Dick?" he asked, although he knew better. Any trace of their existence had been wiped. It was like they hadn't existed.

"Nothing," Dick replied. The Boy Wonder had since ditched his domino mask and sunglasses and insisted that he instead be called by his name: Dick Grayson. He explained it made him feel better...made him feel remembered. "No trace of our hero or civilian identities. Apparently to the rest of the world, we don't exist."

Wally could hear bitterness seeping into Dick's voice. He was familiar with that tone. He would hear it when Dick was frustrated trying to solve a complicated math problem or pissed by a decision Batman made.

Zatanna, who had since abandoned her meditative pose, put a hand on Dick. Her gaze was sad yet inquisitive, as if trying to read more into Dick's mind. She had a calming effect on him, though. He relaxed a bit, and instead of seeming frustrated and pissed he seemed tired.

"I haven't found anything either," Zatanna confessed. "And honestly, even if I found anything to go on, there's no guarantee that I could actually fix this. The type of magic needed to perform a memory spell like this is insane. I'm just not on that level."

The sorceress flushed a pink hue in embarrassment. Wally could understand the feeling, not being good enough to help.

"I have not been able to contact the League, as well," Kaldur added. "In addition to that, Roy hasn't responded to any messages I have sent him. We have to face the fact that Roy may not remember us."

Wally's heart sank as Kaldur spoke. He had been hoping against hope that Roy had remembered them. The archer had been like an older brother to him. The fact that he didn't remember him pulled at his heartstrings.

Artemis let out a sigh and leapt down from her windowsill seat. Her blonde hair was windblown and down. Her steely grey eyes were unreadable. Her bow was slung around her back and her quiver was restocked with new arrows.

"So what now?" she asked. "We can't just stay here. We need to go back out there and kick the crap out of whoever's responsible."

He was taken aback by her outright statement. But, it was something he admired about her. Artemis wasn't going to sugarcoat her thoughts for anyone. She was bold and (seemingly) unafraid.

"What choice do we have?" Conner asked, he too sounding bitter. "We don't have any resources, no money, no weapons, no shelter."

"We'll get by," Rocket said trying to sound confident. The girl had been quiet for some time. Kaldur had spoken with her for a time in an attempt to coax her out of her solitude. Apparently, it worked. "We've gotten this far."

Wally had to admire her. She was trying so hard to be optimistic about a pretty drastic situation, one that wasn't in their favor. Magic, or whatever scientific phenomenon actually caused this, was hard to fix, especially if they could get any powerful spell casters (or illusionists) on their side.

Kaldur nodded in agreement.

"We have no choice but to continue surviving," he said, the unsaid words by any means necessary hung in the air unspoken. "We still have access to League funds, correct?"

Dick nodded while pulling up something on his holowatch.

"The League may have forgotten us, but they still haven't changed their passwords," Robin mumbled. "If we don't want attract League attention, we should avoid drawing huge amounts of money. The last thing we need is to get trapped in League custody."

Wally didn't want to know how the League would react to a bunch of super-powered teenagers.

"I've got a couple places we could get money from and be relatively unnoticed," Dick announced as he typed away at his holographic keyboard.

"Relatively?" Artemis asked.

Dick shrugged. "Beggars can't be choosers. And to be honest, there is no place we could get money from without attracting a little attention."

Artemis grimaced but said nothing. None of them were extremely happy with that. But, they didn't have any other options. Without access to the Cave, mentors, or civilian identities, their resources were severely depleted save for Dick's hideaways.

Dick, to everyone's awe and slight alarm, had the foresight to put together secret stashes of weapons, foods, and clothes at various locations in the event they lost League support. He explained that Batman or Bruce as he referred to him now that his civilian identity was out in the open preached constant vigilance. So naturally, Dick put together a couple of secure locations just incase.

"Okay so the money's taken care of," Wally remarked. "But, what now? What do we do? We have nowhere else to go and no one to help us fix this."

He was aware of Zatanna blushing again and mumbling an apology.

"No offense Zee," he added hastily.

"We lay low," Kaldur said his steely gray eyes surveying them. "And we find our own solution."

"If worse comes to worse, we can always try a bit of cognitive recalibration," Dick commented a playful smirk on his face despite the dire situation.

"Cognitive recalibration?" M'gann asked. She and Connor looked very confused at hearing Dick's comment.

Wally snorted, "He means that we hit them really hard on the head."

There were a series of laughs shared around the group, but they seemed muted. It was hard to enjoy a joke when the world around felt like it was trying to make your whole life a joke.

It was honestly a bit difficult for him to see how this whole situation could improve. Even if they were able to successfully get money from Dick's account, which was technically under Bruce's control, there was only so much they could do. Wally knew how the League worked, and as much as he respected them they could be stubborn and hard to change.

"We can do this," Dick added. "We'll get the money. Get to the hideout. Convince the League. Defeat whatever's behind this."

The Boy Wonder gave a hard, determined smile. It was hard to believe sometimes that Dick was only thirteen. It was moments like these that were a reminder to him and the rest of the Team that he was born to be their leader.

Wally returned his smile. The others did the same. They had to believe that could succeed if they had any chance at reestablishing their identities.

xxxOOOxxx

Location: Watchtower

August 8, 2011 07:34 UMT

Batman stared bleary eyed at the holographic screen, not that anyone would notice behind his dark cowl. He had been at the Watchtower since late that night or early that morning depending on how one looked at it.

It hadn't been his night for monitor duty, technically speaking. Green Arrow had been assigned to monitor duty, but he had ducked out early due to a emergency in Star City. Batman had just dropped by the Watchtower to go through the archives but had reluctantly agreed to cover Green Arrow.

He resisted the urge to remove his cowl and go home. He could already imagine the lecture he would receive from Alfred about taking proper care of his body and at least attempting to get a decent amount of sleep.

He looked out at the vast expanse of space surrounding the earth. It was yet another reminder of his smallness, his mortality.

'Wow, way to keep it light.'

His eyes widened. He shook his head. That wasn't the type of thought he would normally have. He had been having more snarky comments float through his head lately. It was almost as if he could almost hear the voice that would have said the comment out loud. He just couldn't place it. The thought of him not knowing filled him with an unforeseen sadness, but why?

Recognized Captain Atom 12, Icon 20.

The arrival of the two heroes broke him out of the reverie. It was probably time for the next shift.

Batman got up from his seat at the empty meeting room and made his way to the main entrance. There he found Captain Atom and Icon glancing up at a large holographic screen with the image of Cat Grant plastered across it and running headlines and stats down below.

"Batman," Captain Atom said while giving him a firm nod as he walked past the pair.

Icon didn't seem to notice him, appearing lost in thought. The man seemed troubled though over what he couldn't begin to guess.

"Captain Atom," he returned the greeting. "Icon."

He decided to stop beside the pair despite his desperate need to go home, sleep, and enjoy Alfred's cooking. He had already made up his mind about calling Lucius Fox to take care of the daily activities for Wayne Enterprises for the day because he was taking a sick day.

Icon looked up at him from the spot he was staring at so intently at the corner of the screen.

"I didn't notice you," Icon said to him. "My apologies."

"You look like you have a lot on your mind," he commented in return. "Care to share?"

The alien hero appeared pensive. Icon, from what Batman had seen of him, was a private person. He didn't have the loud personality of the Flash or Green Arrow or the gung-ho attitude of Hal Jordan. Batman didn't really expect him to share his thoughts.

Icon sighed, "Something has been troubling me for some time. I don't really know what it is. I just feel like something or something is missing. Normally feelings like this would disappear after a while, but it keeps returning."

Captain Atom turned his attention from the screen to Icon.

"Have you talked to anyone about this?" Captain Atom asked Icon.

Icon shook his head in response.

"I thought that the feeling would disappear overtime, but clear that's not the case," Icon replied. "Maybe there is a deeper meaning to that feeling."

Batman nodded. He wouldn't admit it, but he felt like Icon. Something was missing. Like the random voice he heard every now and then, he knew deep down that something wasn't right. It felt that life as he knew it was terribly different and wrong.

"Maybe you should talk to Dinah about it," Captain Atom suggested to him.

Icon nodded in agreement.

He wasn't quite sure how Dinah had become the official therapist of the League. Sure, she studied psychology in college, but she wasn't a therapist by trade. She was a skilled florist working out of Star City.

To her credit, Dinah did quite well with therapy sessions. She held a strict code of patient confidentiality and was open to hear about any issue. She was a soothing presence and, on the flip side, was capable of holding her own and whipping fellow League members (particularly Green Arrow) into shape.

Batman was about to added on to Captain Atom's suggestion when his communicator beeped. He pulled it out of his utility belt and peered at its screen. It was a message from Alfred. The butler had messaged him asking him to return home, have a proper meal, and rest. He was also reminded of a gala he was attending later that day.

"I have business to attend to back on earth," he said to the pair.

"We'll see you later, I suppose," Captain Atom said as the Dark Knight made his way to Zeta-tube.

Icon gave him a nod as they made eye contact as he left.

He hoped Icon would reached out to Dinah and get things sorted. It felt a bit eerie that both he and Icon were experiencing the same feeling of forgetfulness.

'Your Bat senses are tingling!'

There it was the same voice from earlier. He could imagine the voice- no the boy- saying it aloud. He could almost picture the teasing grin on his face and that laugh.

He shook his head as he stepped in the Zeta-tube. If he wanted to figure out anything, he had to focus which meant ignoring the random comments and thoughts surrounding this mystery boy. And for some reason, as the swirling lights of the Zeta-tube whisked him back to Gotham, the idea of ignoring the comments made him sad.

He didn't quite know why.

xxxOOOxxx

AN: In honor of Young Justice finally coming back, I'm back to writing. I'll probably have to get back to my other YJ stories, but I just really wanted to post this!

To be honest, I'm not exactly happy with this chapter. I'm trying to improve my characterization of the various members of the Team and League. So, if you have any advice, please leave it in the comments. And please excuse any grammatical errors in this chapter, I finished writing super late.

Thank guys!