A/N: This is something I came up with while doing some homework. This maybe related to the fic I'm working on. Here's the details. Barry is 17, Wally is 15 and Malcolm is 15. Hal is same age as Barry and Billy is 10. Billy and Batson are both different character.
I don't own any of these characters.
One question remains to all of you readers: Which faction do you prefer, Natural Brother or Imitation Brother.
Title: Natural or Imitation Brother
Summary: AU, OOC. Barry and Hal were on their way home. Then they encountered a 13-year old who looks a younger version of Barry. Wally finds this suspicious. Then things starts to get…personal.
Rating: T for sexual prefaces and language.
Barry accompanied Hal to the supermarket to buy some ingredients for dinner, Barry's right hand laden with heavy plastic bags, they walked on the street on a sunset. A natural smile plastered on Barry's face. Today was 30% off the normal price.
"Barry, are we having Beef Steak today?" Hal said happily in excitement. He was staying with Barry for two weeks and he managed to guess the menu.
"I vote for steak as well!" Wally chimed in through Barry's intercom.
Barry hummed as the corners of his mouth raised a bit, pondering what should he make. "Hmm…what should I make…?" Barry sang making both boys stomach grumbled in anticipation.
In front of them there was a boy who was at the same age like Wally. Wearing a cobalt blue sweat shirt and navy blue cargo short with racing white stripes and white shoes. Barry don't know why but it seems he has seen this boy somewhere.
"It's just like Ollie- I mean he told me." The boy recalled from a certain someone he know.
Barry turned Hal, "Do you know him?"
Hal shook his head. "No…"
The next thing they knew that the boy was running near to Barry. The boy looks at Barry with curiosity.
"Bro," The boy opened his trembling lips.
"Bro?" Barry repeats on what he heard.
"Bro?" Wally repeats after Barry through Barry's intercom.
There was brief silence, however the boy didn't reply, instead of running up he jumped into Barry's chest. He wraps around his torso as thought that he was deeply moved forcefully hugging him. "Big Brother!?" His eyes swelled in joy he had found his long lost big brother.
"Ha!?" Barry, Hal and Wally gasped in total surprise.
Upon reaching the door of the Allen household.
"Ohh, so this is where you live!" The boy said happily saying that sounds politely. Barry was starting to look at the boy skeptically. He recalled into his memories but he didn't know the boy. Wally approved of the boy through Barry's earpiece.
The self-declared Barry's brother, whose named seemed to be Malcolm Thawne.
Wally's approval had been given, one should suggest to bring Malcom to the Allen household, was Wally himself. Inside the Allen household, Malcolm was shaking Wally's hand happily. Wally was unsure on how to react, whether he should be happy or a bit disturbed.
"Nice to meet you!" Malcolm greets happily while Wally wears a perplexed yet with a small smile still shaking his hand. "Are you one of the family? Thanks for taking good care of big brother!" Malcolm said happily while Barry take care of the grocery and preparing some refreshments for there…unexpected visitor.
"What a surprise. I never knew Barry had another little brother." Hal was intrigued by the turned of events. Hal was sitting on the sofa with Billy and Batson. He know Wally was his only family left. Fate can really give unexpected surprises.
"Not a secret child yet a secret little brother! Good for you!?" Batson praised for Barry's dirty...secret
"Hey, knock it off I didn't expect this would happen." Barry scolded the puppet for his blabber mouth. "By the way, Billy what are you doing here?" asked the blonde teenager to Billy.
"Umm…sorry for intruding…" Billy apologizes in a low voice.
"No it's fine," Barry reassured to the young boy.
Both boys looks at the trio sitting on the dining table with glass of ice tea for each person. Wally was staring at Malcolm. Batson observed Barry and Malcolm intently. Malcolm was at the same age like Wally, has the same blonde hair and eye color.
"But both of you do look alike!" Batson says with glee.
Malcolm stared at the puppet, "Why of course, I'm his little brother." Malcolm states the obvious.
"What a coincidence." Wally chimed in to the conversation, "I happened to be Barry's brother as well," the red-haired teenager implies.
"Huh? Does that mean…" The blonde boy ponders a bit, staring at the ceiling. "You're my big brother as well?!" Barry leans closer to the red-haired teenager.
"Of course not!" Wally shouted in reflexively. "Barry was adopted by the Allen household a long time ago. So technically we're not biologically related." Wally states the truth. Wally was just Barry's adoptive little brother.
"Oh…so that's your relationship…" Malcolm understood Wally and Barry's relationship.
Barry stares at Malcolm. "Hey Malcolm, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, anything big brother!" Malcolm says with enthusiasm. While Wally huffed as he drinks his ice tea through a straw.
"I'm sorry. But I don't remember you at all," Barry says truthfully, not wanting Malcolm to look upset for not remembering.
Malcolm retained his smile at his face as if he wasn't affected at all. "That's no surprise to me all. To be honest, I also don't have any memory of my past either." Malcolm's statement made both Barry and Wally gasped in surprise.
Wally didn't hear it right. Malcolm has no memories of his past as well? Many question race through his mind. How can Malcolm tell that Barry was his brother? Or is it just messing with him. He immediately shook off unnecessary thoughts in his head. "What did you say? How long do you mean by "the past"?" Wally questions him.
Malcolm smiled in embarrassment. "About for the last couple of years and that's it."
"So do you remember our parents?" Barry asks if he Malcolm has memory of their birth parents. If he has Barry would get some answers.
Malcolm laugh sadly, "Regrettably, I don't." Barry anticipates that would be Malcolm's reply. So it can't be helped.
Barry raised an eyebrow in question. "So how can you tell Barry's your big brother?"
After Wally's word, Malcolm smiled sadly as he reaches a silver locket underneath his sweatshirt. When it was a discolored photograph. In that picture, contained figure of Barry when he was seven years old. Barry and Wally leans closer to look at the photo.
"Is that…me?" Barry points at the photo, referring it was him. Wally showed an expression of shock.
"Whoa. Rewind." Wally raised his hand to stop for a second. "In this photo," Wally points at the picture. "Barry should be seven years old right? At that time, should he have already arrived at our house?"
"Oh, now that you mentioned that is true." Barry scratch his head as he said so. However the boy in the photo looks like Barry no matter how you look at it, it was the truth. The weird thing was when he was seven years, he was at the Allen household. So how did he get that locket with a photo? Was it from after he was born, did she give him a locket for a reason?
"Is that so?" Malcolm looks at his locket. "This really is surprising."
Wally starts to twitch in irritation; he doesn't know why but he felt like to cling to Barry. "Unbelievable you say…could it be some person who just happens to look like him?" Wally says in as a matter a factly tone.
"No, there's no mistake. Big brother is big brother." Malcolm insists on his beliefs.
The red-haired teenager narrowed his eyes at Malcolm. "Why are you so certain?"
After Wally's question, Malcolm patted his chest while holding his locket. "This is called, the bond between siblings!" He said in adamant voice which made Wally speechless. Barry shrug with a speechless expression, letting out a tired sigh. For some reason he was somewhat relived.
However Malcolm closed his eyelids and continued to speak passionately. "No. I am quite unsure myself. But every time I saw bi brother, my was throbbing non-stop,"
Wally felt his eye lids twitch. "What's with that. IS it love at first sight?" Wally slammed the table with both hands.
"Ha! Perhaps it really is love at first sight." Malcolm said in total disbelief. Maybe he didn't realize it himself. Malcolm stood up with both hands on his chest. "Wally-san, let me have big brother!?"
"Like the hell I can! " Wally reflexively shouted which made the boys and Barry gasped. After which let out an unnatural cough. "Barry is my brother!" Wally barked with his voice dripping with possession. "If you dare take him away from him then I won't let you!"
"I have no intention of taking him," Malcolm's indifferent reply, Wally widened his eyes.
"For everyone in this family who have accepted big brother as a part of them, I am truly grateful. In other words, if big brother is happy here and that is more than enough for me." Malcolm smiles at Wally. "I can see that he has an adorable little brother so I shouldn't worry too much." Says truthfully. Malcolm reach Wally's hand. The red-haired teenager unhappily bent his mouth into a small frown.
"Hmm. It seems you do have some sense after all."
The young blonde release his hand from Barry, "But leave that aside, you're no match for his real brother."
Then an air slice an ice cube in the drink which could be heard and made Wally alarmed. Barry looks at Wally's face he can tell that a fight will happen soon.
"Hey, hey Wall-man." Wally didn't paid heed a bit of his older brother's words. The muscle on his face twitched, revealing a cramped smile.
"Heh…is that so?"
"Isn't that obvious. There's nothing that can beat blood ties." Malcolm said with eyelids closed with a smile creped in his face.
"But isn't there a saying that, 'A close relative is useless afar compared to a nearby neighbor.'" Wally countered Malcolm's statement. The instant Wally finished his word, Malcolm who was still smiling all this time her temple twitch for a second.
"Hahaha, What talking about? In the end, he still has to be with his natural brother am I wrong? There is a saying that 'Your destiny is set when you reach three years old'!" Malcolm grabs Barry's arm with a smug grin in his face. Truth be told, Barry and Malcolm were in the orphanage for three years till he was adopted by the Allen Family, since Malcom was too young to remember it. Wally's blood starts to boil in irritation, Malcolm is touching his big brother, only he has the authority to touch Barry and only him.
Wally laughed sadistically at Malcolm. "Guhehehe, You may be related. But it is the one who had been his little brother for a long time that has an advantage!" Wally points out that he had been Barry's brother for 12 years so time has advantage since already know what makes Barry tick.
Malcolm release a grip on Barry. Then an air slice an ice on his drink which made Malcolm frown. This is personal. "No, no. In the end you are still an outsider; an adoptive and imitation brother, a natural brother mean being his blood brother-related." Malcolm walks back to his sit. "In other words, blood I thicker than water." Emphasize by Malcom. A phrase that was totally unheard off. He grabs his ice tea and took a small sip.
Wally has both hands in his waist. "Why do you keep emphasizing that shit huh?!" Wally barked on a drinking Malcolm. "Blood ties, blood ties. So fuck them…" The red-haired teenager went on and on.
Two boys watched the conflict as Wally makes his point. They totally don't understood on what the boys were talking about.
"Natural…Imitation…" Hal repeats of what the pair was arguing about. "What are they talking about?" The brunette asks of what topic they are talking about. Natural or Imitation…Are they referring about Barry's brother, is it about food?
"Kinds of rice maybe?" Billy guessed referring to Batson in his arm.
"Ding-dong, ding-dong!" Batson chimed in to the conversation which made Hal and Batson looks at the unicorn puppet. "They say when putting the two together in a bowl can give you a taste of the forbidden fruit!" Batson implied on what the pair were arguing about. Since both of them didn't understand, what Batson means is…
"Oh! That looks delicious!" Hal thought it was about mixing natural and imitation rice would taste great. "Hey Barry can you make me two bowl of those?" Hal requested to Barry. The blonde teenager who still had his hands full.
"…sibling being separated from birth and reunited relying it on fate? What is this? The story of evil? Doesn't it touch your heart? This isn't a soap opera!" Wally continues is ranting about Malcom's continuous emphasis of being Barry's real brother.
"Oh, so you're making me the criminal here?" Barry points out that it was his fault because both can agree on something.
"Shut up!" Both Wally and Malcolm said in unison at Barry. "Why does it matter of blood-sibling relationship? I mean, Natural siblings can't marry each other!" Wally point the obvious.
"Huh?" Barry, Malcolm, Hal and Billy's voices overlapped. Wally looks at the boy in the sofa who had the same shock expression. Wally's cheeks dyed crimson, oh shit…it must've slipped under his tongue. He gains composure by slamming his fist on the table though she was trying to protest.
"More importantly, I'm Barry's little brother now!"
Malcolm finished sipping his drink. "You can't win against me, his blood brother." He settles the emptied glass on the table as he finished his statement.
"That's got has nothing to do with being his brother."
"Well, why don't we just calm down first, you two are…" Barry attempts to calm the pair down with his face damp with sweat, Both Wally and Malcom turned to Barry which made him flinch.
"Okay, Barry. What about you?" Wally points to his big brother.
"Natural brother or Imitation brother? Which do you prefer?!" Malcolm let Barry choose.
"E, Eh!?" Barry lets out a pitiful cry. He was overwhelmed by their question. He was thrown that was out of his expectation. Both his little brothers stare at him intently. It was obvious at first glance that no matter what side he choose he wouldn't be easy let off easily.
"Shit…what should I do?" Barry thought to himself on what to do.