Warnings: While it doesn't classify a 'M' rating yet, this story is being given a high 'T'. If you are uncomfortable with sexual content or any level of violence and gore, this story isn't for you.
Disclaim: I do not and will never own any of the characters mentioned. They are the property of DC Comics and their respective creators.
~~~~~.~~~~~
The first time Wally West packed up his car with all his belonging and left home, he'd thought that he wouldn't see Central City again for a long time. With high school finally behind him, he planned to hit the road and head to California, where he'd waste some of the best years of his life on the beaches and boardwalks, surrounded by parties and bikinis before heading to college.
Getting into college, no matter how long he waited before going, would've been no problem; Wally was more than smart enough to have first pick of more or less any campus he chose. Hey, he was practically a certified scientist even without a college education, and he never missed the opportunity to point this fun fact out when introducing himself to a pretty girl.
During his senior year at Keystone High School, Wally had set his sights on getting into Stanford, but he hadn't put that much thought into going back to school since the day he got his high school diploma. He was looking forward to a couple years off and enjoying the freedom of his youth before adulthood sapped it away from him.
It was almost funny, in a dark way, how a car crash could tear everything apart so easily...
He'd gotten the grim call from the Central City police department about two weeks ago; A semi-truck had run a red light at an intersection, hitting his Uncle Barry's car and flipping the vehicle over two lanes and into a ditch. His aunt Iris was killed in the crash and Barry was announced dead at the hospital three hours later.
Even though he almost hated himself for it now, Wally didn't grieve for long when it had happened. He'd lost so many people in the past few years that, in the back of his mind, he'd almost expected it. The Garricks, who had always been as good as grandparents to him, had died a few months apart, roughly a year before he'd graduated high school. A strong bout of pneumonia had taken his mother a year or so after that, and trying to escape from the pain of losing so many loved ones had taken his father.
If it wasn't for his younger cousin Bart, Wally probably wouldn't have even gone to his aunt and uncle's funeral.
Don't get him wrong, Wally had loved his uncle and aunt dearly. At times they'd been better parents to him than his actual mother and father were. But he'd had to learn quickly that people died, there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it, and crying didn't bring anyone back.
Wow… Only 20 years old and he was already so bitter…
But with both of his parents suddenly gone and no other relatives to turn to, Bart needed someone in his life, so Wally was going to be that someone. As soon as he'd returned from the funeral, he'd made arrangements to move back to Central City and had started packing the next day.
It looked like the babes on the coast and college would have to wait, but he was the only family his fourteen-year-old cousin had left. He was an adult and now he had to act like it.
~~.~~
"Home sweet home," Wally mumbles as he drives past the broad 'Welcome to Central City!' billboard on the side of the road. The warm, bright colors on the sign contrast terribly with the dark rain clouds rolling in the sky.
He hardly has to think about the directions as he drives through the streets of the city; he knows this place better than he'd known the last three places he lived in. Soon the small skyscrapers and supercenter stores of downtown are behind him and he enters the more suburban outskirts of the city. The streets become lined with small houses separated from one another by rows of trees and a few wooden fences. Wally almost smiles; Barry had always hated driving around these kinds of neighborhoods; "Every house is different, but they all look exactly the same!".
He slowed down once he finally found and turned onto Marrs street, and he looks for a house with red siding and "'B05' painted on the mailbox, you can't miss it!".
It didn't take him long to find the house that belonged Megan Morse. If the small collection of crooked lawn decorations didn't give it away, the bright red-and-purple mini-van in the driveway did. Wally also knew now that she lived on a dead end street and hers was the last house on the right side.
He couldn't help but smile fondly at the sight; Megan was probably his oldest and closest friend from high school that he was still in touch with. He'd met her in the fifth-grade after she transfered from who-knows-where, and it was in high school he finally realized, or rather he accepted, that she would only ever love him as she would a brother.
But as it turned out, having Megan as a platonic best friend made him just as happy, and with their matching red hair and freckles a lot of people always assumed they were siblings anyway. Neither Megan nor Wally ever saw a reason to correct any of them.
He pulls up into the driveway and parks beside her van, turning the engine of his old yellow-and-red car off with a sigh. But instead of getting out and attempting to take all of his stuff inside before the rain started falling, Wally just sits there. He'd be sharing this home with Megan and her adoptive brother Garfield for a short while, just until he found a halfway decent place for Bart and himself.
He was glad Bart was at least staying with his best friend's family for the time being, the Sandsmarks or something like that, and that Megan's uncle John had moved into his own apartment a couple months earlier, at least. The five of them all stuck under one roof? It sounded like the tagline of a tragically funny sitcom.
With another sigh, Wally finally climbs out of his car. The sooner he gets used to all of this the better. He takes a moment to stretch his arms and legs, tired from the long drive, and he's reaching for the door handle of the backseat when he spots them from the corner of his eye.
Two people are standing by the mailbox of a vacant brick house across the street, which wouldn't have caught his attention if they were staring directly at him.
The shorter of the two is a young woman with the thickest mane of blonde hair that Wally had ever seen, but her sharp eyes and darker skin hint at at least one Asian parent and the genetic improbablity nearly makes his eye twitch.
The other one is a broad-shouldered man, with short-cropped black hair and disturbingly bright blue eyes. He's scowling at Wally like he'd just run over his dog, and even from here the redhead can tell that this guy's built like a tank.
Wally's a little disturbed by the two, to say the least. It isn't as if they're just giving him a passing glance either; they're both standing still, hands shoved into the pockets of matching black windbreakers, and gazing at him with such intensity that Wally can't help but tense up.
"You guys need something?" Wally calls out to them, and he's grateful that his voice doesn't crack like it usually did when he gets nervous. The tall man narrows his eyes, but the blonde woman just smirks like he'd told them a joke.
Wally swallows and takes a small step away from his car, suddenly wondering if these two were about to pull a gun on him or something. This wasn't Gotham City or anything, but he'd learned long ago that every town still had it's nut jobs.
The still-smirking blonde woman leans over to the tall man and whispers something in his ear, but his blazing eyes remaining fixed on Wally. He scoffs at whatever the woman says, crossing his arms over his wide chest and nodding back at her.
Wally scowls when he feels heat suddenly creep up to his cheeks, and he opens his mouth to tell the odd pair off when a familiar voice chirps "There you are!" behind him.
Wally turns away from the two across the street and grins when Megan practically flies down her driveway and wraps him one of the two-armed hugs that have always seemed way too strong for someone as bubbly her to give.
"Hey Megan," he grins once she's finally satisfied with the hug, and he takes a step back to look her over. She looked overall the same since he'd last seen her, except her once long red hair is now cut and styled into a short pixie cut. But the warm glow in her amber eyes is the same as ever. "Sorry I didn't call you or anything, I was…looking around." Megan blinks at his reply and then glances into his car, suddenly looking puzzled.
"You're alone? I thought I'd heard you talking with someone.."
"Just some –" Wally starts to reply, but when he looks back at the brick house the yard is empty, and there's no signs of the two strangers anywhere. "There were people over there a minute ago..."
"Really?" Megan says with surprise, "That old house over there has been empty for so long.. I didn't think any one was ever going to buy it."
Wally starts to explain that the people he saw weren't actually in the brick house, but Megan is already taking boxes out of his backseat to be brought inside, the conversation forgotten.
"Your room's the farthest one down the hall from the kitchen," she says as they carry the majority of Wally's belongings up the driveway, "I'm afraid it's the smallest too; It used to be Garfield's but when uncle John moved out Gar moved into that room while I was at work. I couldn't talk him into trading back -"
"No worries, Megalicious," Wally replies sincerely, and he grins when she rolls her eyes at the cheesy nickname he'd given her in high school, "You guys are doing so much for me just by letting me stay here."
"You're family, Wally." Megan replies warmly, nudging the front door open with her foot and stepping into the living room. Wally follows right after her and he's greeted by a blast of warm air and the sweet scent of spices.
Her living room is small but nice, with a thick carpet and two large plush couches that take up most of the space. The walls are covered with photos of friends from school and Megan's many distant relatives, or lined with shelves of little knickknack souvenirs that her uncle John has no doubt collected for her during his many business trips.
It was all so cozy and warm and so…Megan. Wally didn't think that anyone could step into this house and not feel instantly at home.
"Garfield's going to stay at Cassie's house with Bart tonight," Megan is saying over her shoulder as she leads him down a hallway and into the scarcely furnished room that Wally would be living in. She sets the boxes down at the foot of the bed and steps back so Wally can put his down beside them, "It'll be pretty quiet here so you can get some rest."
"Thanks again, Megan," Wally smiles as he sits on the edge of the bed, running a hand over the soft white comforter before laying back. He didn't even realize how tired he'd been until his head hit the pillow, "You're a real life-saver." Megan smiles again and heads for the door, but then pauses and looks back at him.
"Oh, and Wally.." she bites her lip briefly as he looks over at her, and for a moment she seems uncertain about whether or not she should continue, "I know you're just putting on a brave face for Bart's sake right now, but I'm really sorry again about your uncle and aunt… I know you must really miss them."
"...Yeah… I really do," Wally replies quietly, and he's a little surprised by his own sincerity. Megan gives him another small smile and walks out, quietly shutting the door behind her.
The rain starts to fall about ten minutes later, but Wally West is fast asleep by then.
~~.~~
"What's wrong, Conner?"
"Huh? Nothing's wrong, Artemis.."
"Lies. Seriously, Con, what's up?" Conner sighs, running a hand through his short black hair before looking over at Artemis, his blonde companion.
"I'm just wondering what was so special about that guy?" he huffs as they head further away from Megan's house, "He didn't look like more than a scrawny nerd to me."
"Dick told us to check him out so we did," Artemis replies, shrugging as they walk around a corner, "We have to check out everyone that moves into this neighborhood, Conner. It doesn't really make any of them special, at least not to Dick."
"Maybe not to Dick," Conner grunts, "But it seems like you certainly kept your eyes on him long enough."
"Easy with the accusations there, big guy." Artemis replies and nudges him with an elbow. Conner looks down at her with a hint of a smile on his face. "You know it'd take more than freckles and green eyes lure me in."
"If you say so," Conner shrugs, half-smile fading, "But Dick sent the two of us to check it out this time. He wouldn't do that unless he expected trouble, right?" Artemis sighs quietly, her brow furrowing at Conner's question.
"To be honest," she finally answers, "I think he just wanted us to make sure that no one was moving into the brick house." Conner's expression softens and nod in understanding, looking away from Artemis.
"Right," Conner mutters as they turn around another corner and in an instant his usual scowl is back, "He just happened to move in across the street, with Megan Morse of all people..."
"We're not in high school anymore Con. You can't dwell on your old girlfriend forever," Artemis sighs, "Hell, you're not even the same species as her anymore and you know Dick's rules about that."
"Dick knew the rules, but that didn't stop him from turning Zatanna last year," Conner replies grumpily, glancing up at the sky as the first few raindrops start to hit him.
"Hey, that was different Conner. He didn't have a choice with Zee," Artemis reminds him in a warning tone, but Conner's indifferent shrug tells her that he was bored with the conversation anyway.
The two walked down the road in a comfortable silence, neither of them paying any attention to the cool breeze that's steadily picking up. The houses they pass slowly become less frequent and before long the street is surrounded by thick patches of trees on both sides, and at the far end of the street is a white-and-gray Victorian-style mansion surrounded by a cast-iron fence.
"Y'know Artemis," Conner says with a grin as they finally reach the mansion and started to ascend the short staircase leading up to the wide front porch, "If the storm doesn't clear up too much, tonight might be a good night for a run."
"You're right," Artemis replies, glancing up at the dark sky with another smirk, "And if Dick is still hesitant to let us go out after last month's little fiasco, I'll have Zee persuade him again."
Conner chuckles and walks into the house, but Artemis pauses just outside of the door, closing her eyes and breathing in the cold, crisp air that came with the rain. It was still a few hours to go until sundown, but she was already itching to go into the woods and run.
After all, even if they couldn't see it behind the clouds, tonight was still going to be a full moon.
Wally West had sure picked one hell of a time to move back to Central City.
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