Reset! - Chapter Four

[randomality]

Summary: Faced with being shipped out to Denver to live with Jay Garrick after the disappearance of Max Mercury, Bart argues to remain in Manchester with Helen. Impulse begins to search for ways to save Max on his own and reaches out to friends and allies. AU.

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

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Reset! - Chapter Four: Convictions

Bart set to cleaning the clutter off of his bedroom floor before Helen could see the mess. He looked to the closet, but knew better than to try to throw everything in there again. It didn't work the first time and Helen was certain to check there again. Dirty clothes were tossed into the hamper, while games and videos put away in no particular order in the organizers that Helen had bought for him. Under a discarded jacket, he found his guitar. The strings were broken on it again and he had none to replace them with. After setting it back on its stand, he started on cleaning out the habitat for the two white rats he kept. It was abandoned since the rats had escaped. Bart had searched the entire town for them, but came up empty handed. By now, he was sure that he wouldn't see them again. It was time to put the habitat away and free up space.

It took a while to make space in the storage closet in the garage, but he managed to fit the disassembled habitat in there. A draft breezed across his back, bringing him out of a crouch. Closing the closet door, he turned, but only saw an empty garage.

He finished tidying up his bedroom, believing that Helen would be pleased to see it. That would prove that he could keep up his end of the deal and he wouldn't be shipped away to live with Jay Garrick. Tonight was Helen's night to make dinner, which he didn't mind, since that usually meant pizza, takeout, or a prepackaged freezer dinner after she came home from work. Both Bart and Dox heard Helen's car pull into the driveway and the garage door open. Dox hopped out off of the couch and trotted to the door to wait for her.

Dinner was prepackaged fettuccini alfredo that took under fifteen minutes to cook in a skillet. It took even less time for Bart to eat. As Bart washed the dishes at slightly-above-normal speed, there was a soft knock at the back door. Helen turned off the television and answered it. There weren't many people who would go to the back door of the house.

The red costume of the Flash was unmistakable. Once safely inside, he pulled back his cowl and glared at Bart. "You're not supposed to go on any patrols without either Jay's or my supervision, Bart."

"I didn't!" he retorted.

"Impulse busted up a robbery in Des Moines this afternoon in typical Impulse style."

"It wasn't me!" Bart insisted, "I wasn't there! Whoever busted that robbery wasn't me!"

Wally crossed his red clad arms. "If it wasn't you, then who was it? He looked like you, sounded like you, and acted like you. He even caused your typical disaster zone. Half that block was blasted to pieces."

"Wally, you're not listening! It! Wasn't! ME!" Bart's fists were clenched, ready to deck his cousin out of pure frustration. "It was somebody else!"

Rubbing at the space between his eyes, Wally sighed. "Then can you at least tell me where you were when this happened?"

"Yeah." Bart thought back for a brief moment. "I was cleaning my room so Helen wouldn't flip when she came home. I wasn't in Des Moines!"

"Was anyone else here with you?"

"Dox."

"Anyone who can speak."

"Dox speaks. He just speaks in dog."

"Bart." The tone was a warning.

"Nobody else."

A frown deepened across Wally's face, changing his expression to a scowl. "Go to your room, Bart."

Bart bared his teeth and clenched his fists. "What?! Hey, who d'ya think-"

"Go!" he barked.

Helen's voice was gentler. "Bart, don't you have homework to do?"

Yellow eyes darted glances between the adults. "Fine." Bart sulked off to his room and slammed the door. A few moments later, he vibrated through the wall and positioned himself to eavesdrop on the conference in the kitchen.

Wally's voice carried well, making it easier to overhear. "At least he's not trying to blame it on spacemen this time. But I don't think this denial thing is any better."

Helen's voice was a little harder to hear. "With all of the weird things I've seen happen around him and Max, it's not impossible that he's telling the truth." There was a pause, followed by, "I think you should at least look into it before convicting Bart."

"Convicting? I'm not-"

"Then reserve your judgment until you have better proof." The kitchen went quiet briefly. "He had a doppelganger clone take his place before and no one knew the difference. He also has frequent flyer miles when it comes to time travel. On top of that, he can create those duplicates. Maybe the Impulse that's botching on those patrols is a scout that he lost track of? I'm just saying that it's entirely possible that Bart is telling the truth."

"Helen, I understand what you're saying, but it's hard not to think that it was him." Wally's voice became a little quieter. "Can you verify that he was in bed between two and four in the morning last night, local time?"

"No, I was asleep then."

"Well, Impulse was busy on the west coast between those hours. With the way he was running around and acting, he might as well change his name to Collateral Damage Boy. It almost looks like there was another riot in east L.A. I'm getting the fifth degree from both the local authorities and the JLA. Impulse isn't supposed to do anything without my supervision and I can't keep a leash on the kid."

"It's also possible that perhaps he is doing what you said he did, but doesn't remember it."

Bart's jaw dropped at that. He wasn't anywhere but in bed during that time, he was sure of it!

Wally's tone was skeptical, but intrigued. "Sleep-running?" He paused in thought. "What could cause that?"

"I don't know," Helen replied, "That's up to you figure out, if that's even the case."

"Until then, I want Bart to stay with Jay. He can keep an eye on him better than you can. No offense."

"Isn't there some other option than relocating Bart? I know that you mean well, but I don't think that will be the best for him."

"It's that, or I steal his speed. That would make sure that he can't go anywhere fast."

Bart's eyes widened and he felt his blood chill. Helen's voice seemed to share his sentiment. "You can do that?"

"I don't want to, unless it's a last resort."

"Then we'll leave that as a last resort," Helen stated. "Until then, just look into the other possibilities before you do anything to Bart."

"Sure, fine, but I don't like this. Bart's a loose cannon. He's a good kid and his heart's in the right place, but I don't much believe in his ability to control himself."

Bart heard Wally walking towards the kitchen doorway and slipped back into his room. After a while, Helen knocked on the bedroom door. "Bart?" She opened it and stepped inside. "You did clean your room! I almost forgot what kind of floor was in here." Seeing that Bart didn't think her joke was funny, she continued, "Wally's going to look into what's going on, in case it's another doppelganger or a lost scout. You don't have any scouts loose, do you?"

"I don't think so." He was certain that all of the scouts he had sent out had returned. Just in case he was wrong, he closed his eyes and sent out the command to call his scouts back. When nothing happened, he shook his head. "Nope. If there's a scout out there, he's not listening to me."

"Is that possible?"

He shrugged, "I guess. I dunno." Truth be told, he still didn't know exactly how the scouts worked.

"Well, don't worry too much about this tonight," Helen reassured him, "I'm sure we'll get this straightened out soon. Just do me a favor, would you? Stay home and let Wally handle it. If you and the fake are running around at the same time, it will make things harder."

Sullenly, Bart nodded and climbed up to his lofted bed. As soon as the bedroom door closed and he was alone, he reached for his phone. He called Kon, and then Robin's civilian line, but did not get a reply from either of them. That wasn't much of a surprise for him; they were often busy with their own social lives, let alone their duties. He called Cassie, wondering if Wondergirl was also busy. To his relief, she answered, "Hello?"

"Cassie? It's Bart."

Her tone was surprised and a touch apprehensive. "Bart? What's up?"

"I'm grounded."

Now her voice was tinged with exasperation. "What did you do this time?"

Bart frowned at that. "Nothing!" Then he heard a couple of familiar voices from the other side of the line. "Are you with Anita and Cissie?"

"Yeah, we're on our way to see a movie. Mrs. King-Jones is taking care of Anita's parents for the evening. I'm thinking she wants more quality time with Agent Maad."

"Oh." He really didn't care about any of that.

Cassie continued the conversation. "So, I guess we should hope that we don't need fleet feet anytime soon. Thanks for letting me know." She chuckled and said warmly, "That was responsible of you, Bart."

"Yeah, no problem." His frown twisted into a pout. That wasn't what he why he called. "Cassie, I'm stuck at home 'cause Flash thinks that I'm running around and botching patrols real bad and wrecking stuff, but it's not me that's doing it! So, if you see me tonight, it's not me, okay? Make sure you beat him up good for me, 'cause he got me in trouble."

"Are you serious? Have you told Kon and Rob yet?"

"Yeah, I'm serious!" Then he added, "Kon and Rob didn't pick up when I tried to call them."

"I'll try reaching them." There was a brief pause, and then, "So, you're actually staying put?"

"Yeah. Helen said that if I'm running around too, it could be harder to catch the fake," he answered, "Besides, what if the fake shows up here? What if he waits for me to leave and then tries to hurt Helen and Dox?" The idea hadn't occurred to him even seconds before, but now he realized how important it was for him to stay. A cold jolt sent his heart racing. He dropped down to the floor and moved to check up on his foster mother. She was curled up on the couch in front of the television and playing one of his videogames. Dox was on the floor, lying on top of the controller's cable. Safe. With a sigh of relief, he spoke to Cassie, "Keep an eye out and let the guys know for me, okay?"

"I'll do that," she replied, "If you need any help, give me a call."

After they said their goodbyes and hung up, Bart joined Helen on the couch. He watched her navigate her character through a perilous dungeon. Drawing his knees up to his chest, he sighed. "I miss Max. He could help me fix this. He would stick up for me and then he'd scan the Speed Force and then we'd go track down the fake. Max would have a plan and everything and then this would be over and I could go running. I hate this!"

Helen's expression softened under the flickering light of the screen. "I miss Max too."

Bart got an idea from his own tirade. Sitting cross-legged on the couch in imitation of what he had seen Max do when he meditated, he touched his forefingers to his thumbs and closed his eyes. Now what?

He heard Helen's voice beside him. "Bart? Are you trying to commune with the Speed Force?"

"Yeah," he answered.

"Are you sure that's safe?" A worry crease formed between her eyebrows. "That's how Rival was able to possess Max in the first place."

"I know, but I gotta try." All he was aware of right now were the sounds of the room. He tried to sit quietly and contact the source of his powers. Nothing happened. This was getting boring. His leg was getting twitchy. He had an itch on his nose. He was a little hungry. Squirming on the couch cushion, he tried to ignore all of those distractions, which only made them stronger and more insistent. He scratched at his nose and flexed his leg. "This isn't working. I'm gonna go make a sandwich."