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Impulse runs around the city, Flash giving him orders through the comms in his suit as the two try and capture Central City’s villain of the week. Impulse’ legs feel as if they’re on fire, but that’s been happening more recently so he pushes through the pain, following Flash’s directions.
“If you turn left at the corner near City Hall, they should be on the roof across from it.” Flash yells, the sound of wind pushing against the speaker of the comm, muddling his voice slightly. Even though they’ve found ways to muffle the wind, it isn’t entirely possible, especially with the speed in which they run at, but thankfully they can muffle it enough to hear the people on the other side of the line. Impulse hums an affirmative, turning left where Flash instructed him to and, when he looks up, he spots the kaleidoscope-esque suit atop the building across from City Hall; a bar that might be a gay bar, but it’s unclear and also unrelated, so Impulse ignores the contents of the building.
The colourful villain is giggling atop the roof, jumping around happily. They probably think that they lost the speedsters, but Impulse smirks from below. Clearly, this person underestimates the power of their team (and their own ability to outrun the fastest people in the world). Impulse take a deep breath, digging his feet into the ground hefore he takes off, scaling the building like a spider. He stands behind the villain, staying silent as the villain continues their (weirdly long) happy dance.
“Oh my gosh when did you get here?!” The villain yelps when they spot Impulse.
“Like, forever ago. You really shouldn’t draw attention to yourself buy dancing on a roof in a brightly coloured suit.” Impulse remarks. The villain pales.
“I thought I lost you!” They exclaims. Impulse hums, trying to ignore the shakiness in his legs.
“That seems to happen a lot.” Impulse smirks, running to capture the villain, but his legs tops working and, within seconds, he’s on his knees and he can’t move his legs. The villain freezes, confused. Impulse reaches for his comm. “I can’t– I can’t move my legs! Something’s wrong, I can’t–” he cuts himself off with a panicked sob. The villain’s eyes widen, looking around before bolting for the other side of the roof. Impulse grunts. “No! Don’t leave, you’re not allowed to!” Impulse tries, cringing at his words and staring at the spot where the villain escaped, He hears a woosh of air and Flash stands in front of him, worry in his eyes.
“What happened? Where did the person go?” Flash looks around the roof, clearly noticing the lack of bright colours. Impulse whines, pointing uselessly to his legs with desperation. Flash bends down, both of them ignoring the questions ringing in their ears from their comms.
“I can’t feel them!” Impulse repeats. Flash purses his lips, checking over Impulse’ legs.
“We need to get you back to the lab, I’ll carry you.” He determines, picking Impulse up and speeding them to the lab.
~~~
Bart looks around the familiar lab room, machines beeping in a strict pattern. A white sheet covers his legs, and as memories start flooding back, Bart starts to panic. The pattern in the machine breaks, the beeps quickening. A doctor rushes in to the room.
“Did you take my legs? Did I get them amputated?!” Bart asks, terrified. The doctor freezes, but shakes their head. “I can’t feel them, and,” he hiccups, “I can’t see them, so they’re gone!” Bart (falsely) connect the dots, gesturing wildly around the room with his arms as he speaks. The doctor merely shakes their head again.
“You still have legs–” Bart inturrupts the doctor.
“Then why can’t I feel them?!” He cries. The doctor sighs.
“We’ve found that, because of how often you’ve run without giving your body proper time to recover, your legs are permanently damaged. It looks like there’s nerve damage, as well as, your superspeed healing seems to be… say, missing from your legs.” The doctor explains. Bart stares at them.
“What does that mean?” He asks after a moment, horrified and his voice small. The doctor takes a breath.
“You can’t walk anymore. Your legs are akin to those of paralyzed people.” The doctor answer. Bart’s breathing stutters.
“I can’t… I can’t walk?” Bart clarifies. The doctor nods solomnly.
“You’ll be in a wheelchair for the rest of of your life.” They add on.
“Oh.” Bart gulps. “But, but you’ll find a way to fix them, right? You have access to such advanced technology, so you’re bound to be able to fix my legs, right?” He desperately tries. The doctor shakes their head.
“I’m sorry, there is truly no way to fix this.” They inform him, despite Bart’s cries.
~~~
Bart looks at the Zeta tube, his hands resting gently on the wheels of his wheelchair. Barry, wanting to spend more time with him, has been the one by Bart’s side through the entire process. He tries to understand what Bart is going through, but he can still run, and walk, and do things without having to worry about if it’ll be accessible, and he’ll never truly understand the feeling of helplessness that Bart feels every time he wakes up and every time he has to get help for something and every time he has to go andifferent route because there are stairs and no ramp or elevator.
He appreciates how helpful Barry is being, but he doesn’t think thay anyone could really feel what he feels, now that he can’t do anything without help. He knows that, eventually, the feeling will go away and he’ll find out how to be independent despite his lack of mobility.
Barry said that it might be a good idea to talk to his friends, and now that he has a wheelchair that actually fits him (and that he decorated), he feels at least a little more confident. Enough to hopefully stop ignoring his best friends.
He rolls up the ramp and calls out to the tower, knowing that they will all be there that day, them placing it in the groupchat and Bart lurking.
When he arrives, the tower is silent, which he finds odd. Sure, the common rooms aren’t really close to the Zeta, but sound usually travels pretty far in the hallways. Curious, Bart rolls away from the Zeta and follows the familiar route to the living room.
Bart peeks around the corner, surprise painting his features when Kon, Cassie, and Tim all sot on the couch, staring at each other silently. Cassie locks eyes with Bart and gasps, startling and jumping up.
“Bart I–” she cuts herself off when Bart reveals himself in his wheelchair, nervous.
“Sorry for being gone for so long, I uh, was still recovering and, y’know, learning how to work a wheelchair.” Bart laughs bitterly, his gaze locked on the floor.
“What happened?” Tim asks after a moment.
“My legs burnt out. Quite literally. They didnt heal right for a long time that it gave me permanent damage.” Bart pauses, blinking away his tears, “I’ll never be able to walk again.” He whispers. The other three stare at him, unreadable expressions on their faces. Not that Bart could read them if they weren’t, given that his eyes were still on the ground.
“Do you want to come sit on the couch with us?” Cassie finally speaks up. Bart nods, gulping as he wheels his way to the side of the couch. He places his hands on the arm of the couch and pushes himself up, faceplanting into the cusions with his legs hanging over the side, still in his chair.
“Do you, uh, want help?” Kon asks, unsure.
“No, I’m okay, I’ve done this plenty of times before,” Bart grunts, pushing himself further on to the couch like a worm, flipping himself around and knocking his legs off so that he can sit straight up. He gives them a breathless smile, but it’s strained with unshed tears, and his best friends can tell.
“Are you… okay?” Tim asks hesitantly.
“Yeah, I’m… fine. I’ve come to terms with it.” Bart lies, They can see through his facade, and Cassie scootches closer, wrapping Bart in her arms.
“I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you.” Cassie says, sincerity heavy in her voice. Bart nervously laughs.
“Guys, it’s okay, really. I’m the one who ignored you!” He tries, but his voice breaks halfway through, tears crawling freely down his cheeks.
“You shouldn’t have had to go through this alone.” Tim states, placing a hand on Bart’s shoulder.
“I had Barry, and he helped, really… he just doesn’t get what I’m going through…” Bart trails off, sniffling.
“You’re allowed to be sad about your loss.” Cassie says into his hair. Bart hums.
“I know, I just… he’s doing so much and he’s trying to be understanding but… he doesn't know what it's like to lose the thing that makes you who you are. He doesn't know what it's like to lose his speed, to lose his entire identity, to know that he'll never be able to get it back. He’s trying, but I don't know what it’s like and I don’t who I am without my speed. He doesn't understand that, cause he's still the Flash. I feel bad, because he’s doing his best, but I…” Bart cries, nuzzling his head into Cassie’s shoulder.
“That’s understandable, but Bart, you’re still you, with or without your speed, you’re still Bart Allen, gamer with a black hole as a stomach,” Cassie teases.
“You’ll still be a part of Young Justice, no matter if you can walk or not.” Tim says as a weight settles against his back, the smell of Kon’s shampoo tickling Bart’s nose. Kon hums.
“You’re not allowed to leave us quiet yet, Bartholomew,” He states happily. Bart huffs.
“Don’t call me that.” He demands. Kon merely smirks into his back in response. Despite the use of his legal name, Kon’s words quell many of Bart’s insecurities, and that night, surrounded by his friends’ gentle chatter, he’s able to sleep better than he has since the accident.