Redid imposters because the first was hella gross and not ok so im fixing this into something better? hopefully
…
Stab the body and it heals, but injure the heart and the wound lasts a lifetime. -Mineko Iwasaki
…
Wally bolted up, drenched in sweat, as the remnants of his nightmare slipped away into the night. He let out a heavy sigh and tried to relax against his bed. Another nightmare on a school night.
Wally stared up at the ceiling and strained to remember what it had been about. Auburn brows furrowed in thought and he frowned. Something about a magic portal…? The thought brought a snort of derision out of Wally and he shook his head. Magic was the last thing on his mind and he was surprised that the nightmare hadn't been worse. What with the Incident and all that.
Memories of the Incident crossed his mind and he shuddered; Wally never, ever wanted to have that happen in real life.
A few minutes passed as Wally tried—and failed— to fall back asleep.
Wally groaned aloud and said, "Come on, can't a guy catch a break?" He pulled himself out of bed and checked his phone. After swearing a bit at the brightness of the screen he saw that it was 2:00am and that he'd missed two calls from Dick and Alfred. That had him moving with inhuman speed to call back and get downstairs and to the nearest zetatube.
Wally had the ringing phone to his ear and had made his way to the stairs when he was intercepted by his uncle. Dropping his phone, Wally steadied himself against the railing. He picked up his phone, saw that that his call hadn't been answered, and held it by his side.
Uncle Barry was standing on the stairs and he looked at Wally like he'd just seen a ghost. Wally watched his uncle carefully on the off chance that this was somehow a test designed by Batman to see if Wally could catch an imposter. Then Uncle Barry grinned shakily and ran a hand through his hair.
It's been one of those missions, Wally, the smile and gesture seemed to say. What his uncle actually said was different, though not quite.
"How're you holding up, buddy?" Uncle Barry whispered tiredly, leaning against the wall opposite the railing. His entire body sagged with exhaustion, but his eyes remained alert and locked onto Wally's face.
The question wasn't unexpected, Batman had probably filled the other mentors in on the Incident, but Wally still hesitated. How much did he know about it?
Uncle Barry saw Wally's hesitation and lowered himself onto the stair steps. He patted the space next to him and Wally obliged. Almost instantly, Wally's nose was assaulted with the stench of something rotten and he gagged. Next to him, his uncle started to snicker.
"Really, Uncle B? Don't tell me you forgot to shower before you left the Tower," Wally said, and glared at his uncle, who continued to laugh quietly at his nephews suffering. "Come on, you stink! What even happened for you to smell so bad?" Wally was grinning himself, but the question silenced his uncle. Looking at him, Wally could see grief take over for a moment before a blank mask took its place.
That grief, it surprised Wally; scared him, even. There wasn't anything Wally could think of that had happened that had ever made Uncle Barry look so sad. Unless… Wally's eyes widened in alarm and he spoke quickly.
"Did something happen? Is everyone OK? Was there an attack that hurt somebody? End of the world Doomsday stuff? Uncle Barry!" Wally's voice cracked at the end and he felt like crying. His uncle was back to looking sad, and panicked, again and Wally just wanted to know what had happened, dammit.
Uncle Barry turned his body towards Wally and shook his head, side-to-side, rapidly. His hands were up in a placating move and he looked even more upset than before. Good going, West, you made your uncle feel even worse.
"No, Wally, nothing like that happened!" He said soothingly. "I was just thinking about when you came to live with us." Uncle Barry put a hand on Wally's stiffened shoulder. "I'm sorry if I made you think something bad happened, kiddo," he apologized.
Wally felt himself go lax and rested his head in his hands. It made him uncomfortable to think about the reasons for his stay in his aunt and uncles' place, but… He glanced at his uncle from the corner of his eye and smiled at him. "Don't do that to me, Uncle Barry; I really thought someone had died or something!" Wally closed his eyes and missed his uncle's expression. Though Uncle Barry was quick to pull Wally into a smelly, bone-crushing hug that had him squawking into his uncle's shirt, then hugging him back.
"You still smell, Uncle B," Wally mumbled into his uncle's shoulder. Uncle Barry shook with repressed laughter and pulled Wally closer.
"All right, buddy, I'm going to take a shower and then catch some Z's. Get some rest." Uncle Barry released Wally and directed him back towards his room. Wally tossed himself, and his phone, onto the bed, and began to drift off to sleep.
…
Wally's door opened and he opened his eyes groggily and squinted up at his uncle. "Wha's happne'n, B?" Uncle Barry ran a hand through Wally's hair and he closed his eyes. On the verge of sleep, Wally felt a prick behind his left ear and his uncle's whisper.
"Goodnight, kiddo."
…
Wally slept peacefully for the rest of the night and awoke to the smell of readymade waffles coming from downstairs. He was practically drooling as he readied himself for school. He was almost ready to go aside from the fact that he couldn't find his phone.
Wally looked everywhere in his cluttered room for it, all the while the scent of waffles drifted upstairs. I'm gonna be late, man, where is it?!
"Wally!" said Aunt Iris, "Are you still asleep?"
Wally raced out of his room and met her at the entrance to the kitchen. He'd scanned the stairway on his way down but hadn't seen the device.
"Sorry, Aunt Iris," Wally said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was looking for my phone. Have you seen it?"
His aunt gave him a blank look and Wally pouted at her. She rolled her eyes and sighed, shaking her head, but smiled at him. "How did you lose your phone this time, Wally?" she said teasingly.
"I didn't lose it, I swear! I had it last night, but now it's gone." Wally slumped a bit at that and Aunt Iris took pity on him.
"Maybe your uncle has it, Wally. You know how he is; he probably found it, pocketed it, and forgot to give it to you before heading to work," Aunt Iris explained. She reached out and grabbed his hands, patting them soothingly. "Don't worry, honey; you can do without your phone for a day. Besides," she added, seeing Wally's mouth open. "You've still got your communicator in case of an emergency."
Wally sighed, and then nodded. "Yeah, still got my comm."
"Good. Now, eat up, you've got to get going soon if you want to make it to school on time." The look on Aunt Iris' face made it clear that being late wasn't an option.
Wally nodded and hugged his aunt goodbye. The front door shut behind her and Wally started inhaling his food.
Being late isn't an option.
After eating the last of his food, Wally gathered his things and set off, locking the door behind him. He set off at a jog to school and frequently ducked into alleys and onto rooftops to get to school on time. The end result was Wally's hair looking like it went through a hurricane and Wally himself smelling like rotten food after landing in a dumpster.
An apple core connected with the back of his head amidst a chorus of laughter. Wally sighed.
Today just isn't my day, is it?
…
After second period Spanish, Wally started to feel sick; his stomach churned from the three Twinkies he managed to snack on, and his head ached. The combined sensations of pain made him dizzy but with gritted teeth and dark sunglasses—courtesy of Dick— Wally was able to make it through third and fourth period.
By the time lunch rolled around, Wally was done. The noise from his classmates was deafening, the bright lights were blinding, and Wally's headache had only gotten worse. He knew he wouldn't make it to fifth period, let alone the end of the day.
Wally had to call Aunt Iris; or Uncle Barry. Someone who was an adult and could take him home because he was pretty sure that he was dying from some weird disease.
Winding his way throughout the halls of his school Wally came to a stumbling stop at a bathroom. His stomach was twisting itself into knots, and he could taste the Twinkies from earlier rising up in his throat. Going as fast as he dared Wally made his way into the bathroom—dimly he realized it was the girls' restroom; there were zero urinals in sight— and into the nearest stall.
He didn't bother locking the stall door behind him; he was too busy vomiting into the toilet. It was an agonizing few minutes as he gagged into the bowl. Wally gripped the sides of the toilet bowl while breathing heavily.
Wally tried to stand, but barely made it off the ground before his knees connected harshly with the tiled floor. He groaned and closed his eyes, back leaning against the stall's wall. He swallowed thickly, mucus suddenly clogging his throat and nose.
Wally didn't remember how long he sat there on the cool tile of the girls' bathroom, a toilet bowl full of vomit next to him. He did remember the strange warble he heard from the stall's entrance. And the girl behind it.
She was five foot nothing, dark sinned and chubby, and Wally could recall her from AP Bio, a shy, quiet girl who spoke very little to anyone. Now, she stood before Wally, hands half-raised in a helpless gesture.
Her lips parted briefly before closing and then opening again. "Are you- are you okay?" Her voice was deeper than he expected and Wally wanted to listen to her for the rest of time. He hadn't realized he had shut his eyes again until the girl—Cynthia?—shook his arm gently. The motion startled Wally and his stomach causing him to lean over the toilet bowl and retch noisily.
Cynthia hovered beside him, patting his back awkwardly.
"Nurse, office?" When he spoke, Wally's voice was stuffed to the max, and he had a hard time hearing it. "Take to nurse?"
"Take you to the nurse? Okay. I can do that, don't worry." Cynthia talks while she lifts up both of Wally's arms and drapes them over her shoulders. "I've got you. Baby steps, Wally; right foot, left foot," her instructions made his head spin and he almost threw up on their feet.
Luckily, Cynthia was fast on her feet, even with a guy nearly a foot taller than her leaning with all his weight against her.
They make quick progress to the nurse's office and Wally realized that he'd been heading in the wrong direction. Somehow, Wally had gotten lost on his way to the nurse.
"Here we are," Cynthia's voice broke through his thoughts. Wally didn't waste time in looking around. As soon as Cynthia let go of him, Wally tripped and fell onto the ground.
He remembered loud voices and someone hauling him up into a chair, and then, nothing.
…
Hmm that's the end of chapter one and I know it was short but whatta gonna do? So here it is, revised and hopefully not as bad as the first
Cynthia is an OC of mine, she's not a main or secondary character, I just needed to use someone to get Wally to where he needed to be, she won't be showing up again