Pain and hunger.

Those were the first two things he felt when his conscious mind was dragged back from whatever abyss it had been thrown into. He distantly knew there were voices talking- more than two voices (but why was that significant? More than two? Why does two matter?). That noise wasn't important- not important enough. But the noise his stomach was making?

That was very important. That was hunger, and hunger was more important than the pain. No, the hunger was pain.

He couldn't remember how to open his eyes, but as he grew more aware he compensated for the lack of sensory. He felt strapped down (that was bad. He could remember it was bad.). Something was in his arm, something causing a dull pain, but not like the hunger in his belly. And he was warm- too warm even though he couldn't feel a blanket. (he knew what a blanket was, what it was for, but he realized he'd never used one- or couldn't remember using one)

Wally groaned as another wave of fury echoed from his middle, weakly curling and trying to move, to trick the stomach into thinking there was something moving inside it.

The voices stopped briefly, then grew closer and more excited. He felt hands on his forehead, on his arm that had something sharp in it. More beeps and voices echoed uncomprehendingly in his mind until he started to grasp some of it- the garble becoming words.

"…ly, Wally? Are you awake this time? C'mon cousin, wake up!"

That voice was familiar, but why? (fast, super fast, wolf fast? Too fast.)

"He doesn't look too good." Another voice, higher, different. (a girl, that's a girl's voice)

"He's been out for four hours, somebody grab a glass of water!"

Water? Water, drinking, pouring into your mouth and down to your stomach- like food. His stomach roiled at the reminder, and he couldn't hold back the whimper. He needed food, he needed it now. "…ewd…" He whispered hoarsely, desperate for someone to understand. (his eyes wouldn't open, he had to tell them! But food first, hunger first.) "Hun… ree…"

"What? Say it again Wally, try again, man." That was the first voice he had understood.

He fought for control of his mouth, his vocal chords. Anything to make it stop hurting. "P-please… food…"

A string of furious swear words echoed in the room- it must have been a big room. But that was the last thing he heard, because the noise suddenly burred again, tunneling as his thoughts fell away and he forgot even the pain and hunger.

-xxx-xxx-xxx-

Something was being shoved in front of his face, and at first he wanted to fight to get away- it was blocking his breathing. But then he bit into the soft texture, felt the spongy goodness, and heard his mind scream BREAD! Suddenly it wasn't close enough, and he chewed and swallowed as fast as he could- relishing the feeling of foodfoodfoodfood in his mouth.

It stopped though, and he let out a loud groan at being teased, he neededneededneeded food and now it was gone and he needed more and-

Something was back in his mouth. Hard, cylinder like, and not easy to chew. It was taken and a jumble of words were spoken, but he didn't understand. The object came back and he went to chew it again, but as he inhaled, trying to draw it closer, it leaked a sweet tangy liquid that once again set his taste buds alight. Juice! His brain reorganized, finally recognizing the straw and ordering his mouth to pull in for all its worth at the sustenance.

Eventually the straw left too, but it was okay. It didn't hurt as much anymore, his body finally settling. He tried to stay awake even as his eyes remained closed, hoping more would appear, but soon fell under the guise of black again.

-xxx-xxx-xxx-

-"Oh so I'm the one who supposed to hold everyone's hands!" He watched as the black haired individual grit his teeth, seething at his lack of control. He could understand, the boy- Robin, had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, some that he was not yet ready to take. "Who am I kidding?" The young hero turned back to him, a ruthful smile unfurling under his mask. "You should lead us Kaldur, you're the only one who can."

Him? He would admit that he had considered it, but the fact that Robin thought so too-

"Please," he turned to the scorning voice, knowing there would be opposition. His eyes connected with the belligerent green, already seeing where his fellow hero's argument was stemming from. "I can run circles-"

"Wally, come on! You know he's the one- we all do." He wanted to remind them that this was still an enemy base, and while his name was not in danger of being known, Kid Flash's certainly was to remain secret. But the others had already looked past it.

"Hello Megan! It's so obvious!" M'gann smiled winningly, her honest personality shining through.

Superboy shrugged one shoulder, as if it was clear as day. "Coulda told ya."

He felt overwhelmed by their acceptance. He- the leader of their team! Years of being a soldier did not prepare you quite for this… feeling of happiness. But, they had not all accepted. He turned to face Kid Flash- Wally. The green eyes met his, considering. For a brief moment he feared that he would still reject him as leader, still not see him as an adequate person to guide his friends. But then their group's speedster smiled, an expression he felt overwhelmingly grateful for.

"Okay."-

"Okay…" Wally murmured out, opening eyes he hadn't known were closed. He froze for a moment, reorienting himself after the latest memory, wondering at the latest reveal. Maybe it was a dream? The memory had been so long, perhaps they would get longer as he kept going? It seemed as though he'd never get the hang of these 'memory attacks', or whatever they were.

Still, it wasn't just the length of the dream either. The intensity of the scenery, the contrast of strange lighting, and all those people…

Five.

Five other people were in the dream, well, four other people and then himself. He knew four other people. Not just people, he thought with frightening clarity, a part of his brain sliding in another piece to the ever growing puzzle. Heroes, superheroes. I know superheroes. How was that even possible? He remembered who Superman was, but not- not like that. Not as a friend. But it had all been there- the costumes and powers and codenames-

Wait.

Kid Flash, was Wally?

So he-

That meant-

No way.

… But actually, it made things a lot easier to believe. Waking up in a freaky lab, the masked guy- Red Arrow- knowing who he was. Maybe this didn't have anything to do with Wally at all.

And everything to do with Kid Flash.

Before he could muse on the possibility further, his ears took in the familiar lilt and tilt of voices not too far away. It brought him to finally acknowledging his surroundings- which were (thankfully) a hospital room of sorts, rather than the lab he recalled his panicked mind earlier believing.

That's right. However I ended up here, the people saved me. Maybe it was those kids from the dream? Carefully, righting himself with his untied hands, he strained to hear what was being said.

"… explains why they were guarding that area so heavily. And their brutal counter measures." The voice was lower than the other, older.

"Did Red check in yet?" Wally felt his brain wracking to recall why that voice was familiar, but couldn't place it.

"No, but scans show they are still actively doing sweeps- I don't think they have him."

"What do we do if they do find him?"

"What we agreed to do if that ever happened, Bart. Stop being a pessimist, Roy knows what he's doing."

Roy. That name struck a cord in him, sending out a vibration of several different images- mostly of a tall masked figure in a yellow hat. Speedy. Why did that word come up? Was he fast? Was he-

Red Arrow.

The images conjoined in his head, cementing the idea into reality. Speedy, Red Arrow, Roy, all the same person. How many of these crazy suit wearing vigilantes did he know? But if Roy was Red, then…

He hadn't returned yet.

No, that wasn't possible. That guy- whoever he was to whoever Wally was back then, was the reason he escaped. He gave himself up for Wally's safety- he had to get away!

Shakily, he propped himself up. He need to ask, needed to know about the man who had done this for him. He felt the tug to the chords attached to his head and chest, and jerkily removed them so they wouldn't impede his progress.

Instead, though, he set of a series of panicking hospital machinery. Which he would just take credit for meaning to do- and pretend he didn't almost fall out of the bed in fright. It was a rather effective alarm, because less than a second after it started and his body jerked precariously over the edge, a slightly smaller hand appeared, bearing his weight and carefully balancing him.

"Don'tmove, don'tmove! You'rehurt- youneedtostaystillforrecovery."

Wally's brain staggered at the incredibly fast speaking, but even more mind boggling, he understood. His brain could replay it in his mind's ear, slowing it down till it kept pace with his own thought waves.

"Red Arrow- where's he?" The befuddled red head tried to hold onto the kid who had come to his rescue, needing answers. "You said- not back? Where…?"

"Bart, fix the machinery." Came the gruff voice. Wally looked up, but before he even got a fraction of the way to seeing the second figure, the wires and receptors had been placed back into their original places. How fast is this kid?

Fast enough to save him from that car. Super people- right.

The second figure, who Wally had absolutely no recollection of, sported short white hair on an aged but well muscled body. Based on his appearance, he wasn't old enough to have a reason for the white hair, but there were wrinkles- built into his face from stress and too much frowning. The blue eyes are what hit Wally most- cold and icy, the frosty look not revealing anything. Giving Wally another assessment, he spoke a second time. "Glad you're awake- now what do you know, Kid?"

Huh, that seemed to be the question of the hour, wasn't it? What did he know? And what was safe to let them know he knew? Blurting out the first thing on his mind- tempting though it was- could very well end him in a worse situation. "Who are you?" He countered; hoping against hope whatever came out of the man's mouth next would trigger some kind of recognition.

"Well, that answers that question, at least." The man didn't shift, didn't sigh in disappointment and soften in relief, merely stayed the same icy statue of interrogation. "The kid is Bart, and you'll call me Snart."

Wally choked back a scoff, because really, that was a horrible name.

"Now," The white haired man strode forward, carefully pulling the kid- Bart- back to his side so he couldn't fuss with the things around Wally. "What do you know."

"Why should I tell you?" The red head bit out, feeling cranky as his stomach silently reminded him that it was hungry- and when was the last time he ate? Besides, he didn't want to be asked that anymore- the more people asked, the more he realized he was in really, really bad shape.

"You can trust us, Wally!" The boy- Bart, looked at him with eyes that were borderline crying- maybe they had been like that this whole time and Wally just hadn't noticed. It made the amnesia victim immensely uncomfortable. "I promise- I don't know what they did to you- but you have to remember us!"

The kid's plea broke through to Wally, in a way the man giving him the cold shoulder would clearly never be able to. "I'm sorry, Bart. I… I don't think there's a lot I do know. You found me in the woods, right?" Or perhaps Bart had trailed him since Cadmus- whoever Wally was before this, he was glad for the ingrained strategy tactics his mind followed.

"Yeah! I heard you call, and saw you run, and thenyoualmostdiedbeforeIrealizeditwasyouand-"

"Speed-talk when I'm not present, shrimp." The man growled, but while it held serious warning, there was no real malice behind it.

The fast kid ducked his head. "You- you thought I was going to take you back to Cadmus- and I would never- I didn't even know you were alive!"

"W-What?" They had thought he was dead? 'The hell! This was insane! Well, that's comforting. It means everything's insane, and not just me. Clearly, they knew who Wally was. But Bart had the same reaction as Roy- why did everyone think he had been dead? Had someone- when he was apparently that Kid Flash hero, offed him? Or tried to? Or maybe civilian Wally disappeared?

"I didn't know I was dead." He tried to joke, but it fell flat. "Uh… Roy, he's the one who found me- in the Cadmus building. He got me out and sent me away when he realized we were being tracked." His hand- the one not attached to the machinery- rose up to carefully massage his head. "I keep having these weird memories- flashbacks? I think I'm… a hero?"

"Yeah. The mushiest kind. Those memories- they're about when you were in Cadmus?" Snart pressed.

"No," Wally thought about it, "well, actually one, the first one- me and two other guys found someone in Cadmus." Superboy, his brain now put to the faces he had seen before. That's when I first met him. "Then I was in a kitchen, and then with- with my team on a mission."

"Tell us about the mission." Bart urged, his body having gone tense when he mentioned the word team.

Wally pursed his lips. What could he say? They were in a dark room- tunnel? What had they been talking about? "One of the heroes… Robin…" he saw his audience visibly tense, but kept going, filing away their reaction for later, "uh, he… he said Kaldur should lead the team, and everyone agreed." Well, he didn't at first, but that was beside the point. "That's what helped me make the connection- about the other me. I'm, uh… Kid Flash?"

"You were." Snart asserted, before glancing down at Bart. "When did that take place?"

Bart frowned. "Kaldur led their team in the very beginning- on their first official mission. But that was…" He looked at Wally, pausing in his word choice. "… awhile back. It's not relevant to the present."

Then what was? Wally felt like the farther he was from that safe gray haze in the Cadmus pod, the more confusing and intimidating the world became. How long had he been there? If these memories weren't relevant to the present, what was?

Another thought struck him, one that made him feel even sicker than when he realized Roy was still missing.

"My team!" The two started from whatever quiet conversation they had been having, looking at him with equally worried expressions. "I woke up alone- there were no other pods by me. But- but what about them? The ones in my memories?"

After he clarified what he meant, Snart's face melted to a stony anger, while Bart seemed to wilt sadly. What did that mean?

"They're fine, Kid." Snart ground out the words, making it seem like he wasn't particularly happy with the answer, but was willing to humor the invalid. Bart kept quiet, not looking Wally in the eye. "Not in their own cozy science labs, if that's what you're worried about."

It was. And while he didn't exactly feel like he could trust this man with his life, he clearly didn't have much of a choice. "Do you know where I can find them?" They were the only things that made sense- the only pieces he could remember in this crazy world.

Bart hunched further into himself, still not looking up. It struck Wally how young he looked right then- and made him wonder how old he was. How could this kid be a super hero? How could his team be heroes- at such young ages? He waited on in the silence, but Bart couldn't face him, and Snart had decided to give him the cold shoulder- like he had personally offended the guy.

Eventually, other pressing questions had to be asked. "Can I have some food?"

Bart's head shot up, and in a blink his lap was suddenly filled with cool refrigerated fruits and sandwiches- bags of snacks and granola bars mixed with bottles of juice and water. Wally bulked slightly at the sheer amount- was he expected to eat all this? But his stomach took over, advertising loudly 'YES YOU ARE' and he had no further say in it. He managed to look up half-way through his third sandwich in the last two minutes to offer a "Famk Foo." to Bart and witness the smirking adult behind him before diving back in.

The chilly man chuckled, "You speedsters never change."

He hadn't realized it was even possible to eat this fast, but incredibly; he finished eating all of it within the next five minutes- plastic bottles and wrappers haphazardly littering the hospital floor. Bart had managed to snag two of the granola bars, and seemed to have recovered from whatever funk Wally had accidentally put him in.

Feeling satisfied, and better than he had felt in frankly- well- as long as he could remember, he looked back up to Snart. "So… what now?"

"Now," Snart turned from the door, beckoning to Bart. "I think it's time we alert the rest of our group that you're awake. We'll be right back." he glanced again to the bemused red head. There was something, now that Wally looked closer, that could be seen past the cold exterior. The man still glared icicles at him, but behind that look he seemed… sad? "Wish you could remember enough to know how ironic it is when I say it's good to see you, Kid Flash."

The tone hit Wally, reminding him that whatever was going was clearly bigger than he could imagine. "Thanks for saving me… I feel kinda useless for all the effort you guys are putting in for me."

"You'd have done the same- sickeningly enough." Before Wally could comment on that, he started walking away again, calling once more over his shoulder. "And though you can't recall it now, I think you are holding the answers we need."

Of course there was a catch. "Need for what?" He called.

"What answers do heroes ever look for?" The white haired man sent back. "To save the bloody world."

So… its been awhile… hi?

Kudos to those who know Snart. I tried to lay it on there pretty thickly, but in case it still escapes you, I'll drop more hints later on. ;) I'd love to hear if you knew or not though who he is.

Thanks again to Snowdevil The Awesome, Obsessivebookdiva, Winter-Freak, Peanut Butter Rules and five guests who reviewed! Not gonna lie, kinda held the story hostage until I had more feedback, so thank you! So if you want more, please do review!

Sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes. I held onto this long enough!

Up next- more things going over Wally's head, more Bart love, reminding about powers, and that awkward moment when he finds out how he died. ;)