Title: Thieving
Word Count: 721
Pairings: None.
Summary: When you get down to it, Wally West was a thief and Kid Flash was his chance at redeeming himself.
Kid Flash and hero, some people say, are synonyms. They mean exactly or nearly the same as each other. They could be exchanged without changing the meaning of the sentence. Some people say that. Some people that say that, those people don't include Kid Flash himself.
Kid Flash, as weird as it sounds, always thought of himself as a man trying to make up for his crime. He saw himself as a thief, a criminal, one of the men that he constantly put behind bars. He was like them, but unlike most of them he was trying to make up for his crime.
His crime, you ask? Him a criminal, you say in disbelief? He's a hero after all. But that's exactly his crime. Or rather that was the profit from the crime, his thieving crime. He stole his powers, he took them and now he's paying for it, now he's trying to make up for it.
Most metahumans were given their powers and abilities. They gained the powers through simply chance of fate because they were deemed worthy by whatever force that bestowed their gift. Hal Jordan was chosen. Barry Allen was given his by accident.
Kid Flash was different. Wally took his powers. He was tired of being plain old, not-good-enough, Wally West. So when he learned of who his uncle was and how he became the Flash, Wally took the chance and took his powers all in one go.
The speed force didn't choose him like it did Barry, and Wally was damn lucky when the speed force accepted him instead of leaving him to die because he was in the middle of the combustion explosion and extent of the lightening that he created.
Now he has to live with his thieving. The reward he has reaped.
He loves his powers. There is no doubt in his mind about it. They're the best thing to have happened to him, but at the same time they're the worst too. His powers scare him as well as isolate him.
The worst part is being too slow. As fast as he is sometimes he's still just too slow. But he'll always have trouble pushing himself because what happens if he goes to fast? If he goes too fast will the others, his friends and family, ever be able to catch up to him? Every time he runs, everything he takes a step forward these fears are there in his mind guiding him. He can't out run them.
Then there is the isolation. No matter how much his team tried they just didn't understand the ways his powers, the ways the speed force effect him. His mind as well as his body. Sometimes they forgot, didn't notice, didn't get how his powers effected his needs, his thoughts as well as his body. The only people that really understand Wally are his uncle and Jay. And then even then there was distance between the three. After all Wally was still a teenager and the other two were well cultured adults. Wally got his powers in his early teens; the speed force effecting him differently because of this. In ways the other two just didn't ever have to deal with.
But Wally would not complain about these things. After all, this fear his mindful consequence was his reminder of his guilt, this isolation was his punishment, solitary confidant. And using what he took and could not give back - did not want to give back - Wally West did his community service. He served his town, state, nation, and world. He served the good. The people that were kind enough to give him a chance to redeem himself.
Most days, though, Wally wondered if he would ever be able to fully redeem himself for taking what he took, for taking power from the speed force. Other days he has no problem thinking of himself as a hero instead of what he really was. Wally West, Kid Flash. One day he hopes to stand beside the greatest hero of his time but he isn't sure he'll ever stand equal.
After all he was a thief in a hero's clothing.
A/N: Don't know where this came from, but I enjoyed the concept.