The very best lies are truths you’re not willing to hear
Also posted here: community.livejournal.com/yj_anon_meme/689.html
Summary: The Flash deals with the doubt that's surrounding the teenage heroes as a crises requires the entire League to act.
Pairings: None
Word Count:670
Barry arrives on the scene as soon as he can, and he’s still too late. The building’s already collapsed and the rubble’s on fire - but some part of him must be darker than he likes to imagine - because his first glance brings him only relief.
That is - his first glance of Aqualad and Artemis - already on the scene - furiously and carefully digging survivors out of the ruins.
Barry throws himself into the work along-side them, grateful beyond belief.
After what he saw Superboy do, after hearing the things J’onn saw in Superboy’s mind, he’d almost started to doubt the team, to doubt Wally.
Normally he never would have given credit to what J’onn thought he pulled out of Superboy - before the kid had started singing two decades-old songs over and over in his head to block the Martian - but . . . but he’d seen Superboy do that, seen him turn to Superman like he wanted a gold star for doing it. It was enough to make anyone wary.
But maybe Superman and J’onn were right, maybe Superboy had just gone off the deep end, or maybe Miss Martian’s heritage wasn’t quite as insignificant as they’d been led to believe.
Because the things J’onn saw couldn’t be true.
And this only confirmed that; Barry was no Batman, but you didn’t need to be to see the concern in the two young heroes' eyes for each hurt survivor, the crushing guilt of being too late for every poor soul they hadn’t pulled out in time.
As they work, Aqualad informs Flash that Robin is still guarding Batman’s bedside, and Wally and Miss Martian are separately chasing leads regarding Superboy’s behavior and are at the moment under a necessary radio silence. Barry is just happy that Wally is not alone with Miss Martian.
Superman had just arrived and declared that there were no more living heartbeats in the rubble - Barry watches the teenager beside him share a look of remorse - when J’onn radios in from the Watchtower.
Some unidentified villain is ransoming the entire Eastern Seaboard. Apparently the previous explosion had been merely a demonstration, and dozens of other populated buildings have been rigged with explosives. The entire League is being deployed to search for the explosives and try to minimize the casualties in assigned areas.
Barry feels rage try to overtake him, at the evil people commit out of greed. He watches as Aqualad turns to Artemis with shocked and horrified eyes.
He doesn’t understand how the others could have doubted their protégées. Aqualad breaks the radio silence surrounding Wally and Miss Martian in light of the emergency. He contacts Robin, who agrees to leave Batman’s bedside. Barry feels vicarious pride as Kaldur and Artemis request a region to be put under the jurisdiction of the teenage team.
A couple hours, about a dozen explosions, and surprisingly few casualties later, someone realizes that there were never any explosions in the region assigned to Aqualad and his team, and that none of them have radioed in about stopping any explosions. Someone else points out that the Watchtower’s been silent since before the second wave of explosions started, and the teleporters aren’t working.
By the time Hal and John get to the Watchtower, Superboy isn’t locked up anymore.
Barry remembers Aqualad and Artemis’ guilty, miserable faces, and how they were well under way pulling out bodies by the time the first League responder - Barry - had made it to the scene, speedster that he was.
When Oliver reports in a message from Roy about Wally, Barry wants to question the rogue protégée’s report, wants to punch Green Arrow in the face for saying that about his nephew, but realizes he’s swallowed enough lies tonight to realize that this - unimaginable as it seems - is probably true.
To be fair, the teenagers - whatever else they had become, they were still teenagers - had only lied to them with the truths they weren’t willing to hear.
Summary: The Flash deals with the doubt that's surrounding the teenage heroes as a crises requires the entire League to act.
Pairings: None
Word Count:670
Barry arrives on the scene as soon as he can, and he’s still too late. The building’s already collapsed and the rubble’s on fire - but some part of him must be darker than he likes to imagine - because his first glance brings him only relief.
That is - his first glance of Aqualad and Artemis - already on the scene - furiously and carefully digging survivors out of the ruins.
Barry throws himself into the work along-side them, grateful beyond belief.
After what he saw Superboy do, after hearing the things J’onn saw in Superboy’s mind, he’d almost started to doubt the team, to doubt Wally.
Normally he never would have given credit to what J’onn thought he pulled out of Superboy - before the kid had started singing two decades-old songs over and over in his head to block the Martian - but . . . but he’d seen Superboy do that, seen him turn to Superman like he wanted a gold star for doing it. It was enough to make anyone wary.
But maybe Superman and J’onn were right, maybe Superboy had just gone off the deep end, or maybe Miss Martian’s heritage wasn’t quite as insignificant as they’d been led to believe.
Because the things J’onn saw couldn’t be true.
And this only confirmed that; Barry was no Batman, but you didn’t need to be to see the concern in the two young heroes' eyes for each hurt survivor, the crushing guilt of being too late for every poor soul they hadn’t pulled out in time.
As they work, Aqualad informs Flash that Robin is still guarding Batman’s bedside, and Wally and Miss Martian are separately chasing leads regarding Superboy’s behavior and are at the moment under a necessary radio silence. Barry is just happy that Wally is not alone with Miss Martian.
Superman had just arrived and declared that there were no more living heartbeats in the rubble - Barry watches the teenager beside him share a look of remorse - when J’onn radios in from the Watchtower.
Some unidentified villain is ransoming the entire Eastern Seaboard. Apparently the previous explosion had been merely a demonstration, and dozens of other populated buildings have been rigged with explosives. The entire League is being deployed to search for the explosives and try to minimize the casualties in assigned areas.
Barry feels rage try to overtake him, at the evil people commit out of greed. He watches as Aqualad turns to Artemis with shocked and horrified eyes.
He doesn’t understand how the others could have doubted their protégées. Aqualad breaks the radio silence surrounding Wally and Miss Martian in light of the emergency. He contacts Robin, who agrees to leave Batman’s bedside. Barry feels vicarious pride as Kaldur and Artemis request a region to be put under the jurisdiction of the teenage team.
A couple hours, about a dozen explosions, and surprisingly few casualties later, someone realizes that there were never any explosions in the region assigned to Aqualad and his team, and that none of them have radioed in about stopping any explosions. Someone else points out that the Watchtower’s been silent since before the second wave of explosions started, and the teleporters aren’t working.
By the time Hal and John get to the Watchtower, Superboy isn’t locked up anymore.
Barry remembers Aqualad and Artemis’ guilty, miserable faces, and how they were well under way pulling out bodies by the time the first League responder - Barry - had made it to the scene, speedster that he was.
When Oliver reports in a message from Roy about Wally, Barry wants to question the rogue protégée’s report, wants to punch Green Arrow in the face for saying that about his nephew, but realizes he’s swallowed enough lies tonight to realize that this - unimaginable as it seems - is probably true.
To be fair, the teenagers - whatever else they had become, they were still teenagers - had only lied to them with the truths they weren’t willing to hear.