Hi guys, I'm back! Welcome to the sequel of "Loveable Nerds and Superheroes" - and yes, I'm still really bad at coming up with title names ;) I've had ideas floating about my brain concerning this continuation for some time now, so I have at least a very rough idea of what is going to happen; unfortunately, there is a lot of chaos in my head (as per usual) and I'm still tinkering with a timeline and stuff like that... I have some scenes already written out though, which is kind of nice ^^

I don't know when I'll be able to post the next chapter (I try to write at least some sentences every day to beat down this stupid writer's block, but I'm also working on one-shots etc. and I'll write on whatever my brain allows me to, so let's hope it is going to root for this story ;) but I hope you'll enjoy this one anyway :)

Chapter 1

"I know that you didn't want to get back to school so soon, but I think you went a little too far just to stay in Central City for a few weeks longer, kiddo." Iris whispered, brushing a stubborn lock of hair out of her nephew's resting face.

Except that Wally wasn't exactly sleeping. He had been in a coma ever since that fateful Tuesday three weeks ago.

Iris still remembered it like it had been just yesterday: the sudden storm, the blinding flash of lightning and the immediate roar of thunder that had followed suit and of course, Barry's phone call informing her that her sweet, 8-year-old nephew just had been struck by said lightning bolt. The wave of sheer panic washing over her, leaving her disoriented and numb. She could barely recall Barry telling her that he would take her nephew to S.T.A.R. Labs and to meet him there; she couldn't remember anything from her drive to the research facility but a frantic "Wally's been hurt, Wally's been hurt" playing on loop in her brain. When she had arrived at the laboratories, Caitlin was already busy stabilizing the 8-year-old boy, Cisco assisting her. Close to the door, Barry was pacing a little faster than an ordinary human would, rubbing his temples nervously. He immediately came to a halt when he noticed Iris entering the med-bay: "Iris! I'm so sorry – I got Wally here as fast as possible; the lightning suddenly crashed through the skylight – again – and..." Barry's rambling became so fast that Iris couldn't make out the individual words anymore (at least not in the shocked state she was in) –

"He's stable," Caitlin announced, interrupting Barry. Iris wanted to let out a gasp of relief, when she heard the second part Caitlin's statement, "but he's... he's unresponsive."
"What?" The journalist couldn't believe what she was hearing

Caitlin looked at Iris, tentative look on her face, "Wally – he is in a coma."

Iris couldn't hear anything, think anything, feel anything in that very moment. Wally, her exceptionally bright, kind-hearted Wally was in a coma! She'd just seen him happy and in perfect health mere fifteen minutes ago!

It was Barry's disbelieving voice that broke Iris out of her numb state: "Are you sure?!"

Taken aback by Barry's wide-eyed look and the forceful tone of his question, Caitlin shot a glance of bewilderment at the CSI: "Yes, I'm sure..."

Before Caitlin could say much more, Barry began pacing about the room again, nervously running both of his hands through his hair and over his face, murmuring something under his breath.

Iris eyed Barry worriedly, then glanced at Caitlin, hoping that the brunette would know what to make of that strange behavior; but Caitlin had the same perplexed look on her face as Iris.

"Man, what are you talking about? What is going on with you?" Cisco exclaimed, preventing Barry from pacing a hole into the floor.

The speedster finally stopped and motioned to Wally who was lying eerily still on the examination couch: "This was not an ordinary lightning strike! Wally was struck by lightning at my crime lab, then crashed into the shelf where I stack my chemicals and got practically doused with them!"

Caitlin's and Cisco looked at Barry saucer-eyed: "Just like -"

"Yeah, just like my 'accident'! I mean – what are the odds of the same thing happening again?!" Barry exclaimed, exasperated.

"I think you are missing a crucial element here, Mr. Allen" Dr. Wells' voice announced from the entrance of the den, making everybody's heads snap into his direction, completely taken aback by the sudden appearance of the wheelchair-bound scientist, "the night you were struck by lightning and exposed to the chemicals in your laboratory, the particle accelerator - "

"Went kaboom" came Cisco's interjection.

Wells lifted a hand, gesturing at Cisco as if in affirmation, echoing the engineer's words: "Went kaboom." The brilliant head of S.T.A.R. Labs wheeled closer to the group currently huddled around Wally, his piercing blue eyes fixed at the 8-year-old boy with a calculating stare that made Iris's skin crawl: "How would you explain that?"

The young scientist trio exchanged helpless looks, apparently at loss for an answer.

"I'm not sure," Barry conceded, eyes traveling back to Wally, unreadable expression on his face, "but I can't help but feel there is some kind of connection," a thought crossed his mind, making Barry turn his attention back to Dr. Wells: "Maybe the anti-matter, the dark energy and x-elements that were dispersed when the particle accelerator exploded – maybe they did not all manifest themselves that night? Couldn't residues of them still have been floating around in the atmosphere and channeled by that storm cloud today? The thunderstorm had come about pretty suddenly. "

Barry could tell by the expression on Wells' face that his mentor wanted to disagree; before there was any chance for an argument, a beeping sound from the console drew everybody's attention to it. Caitlin, who was closest to the monitors, went over to check: Detective West was about to join them, very obviously distraught.

A minute later, Joe entered the den and Barry and the S.T.A.R. Labs Team did their best to fill the cop in on the current status of his grandson while Iris stayed rooted next to Wally, running a gentle hand through her nephew's hair.

Even three weeks later, Iris could still be found by Wally's side, talking to him softly: "I also have to call your mom tonight to keep her up-to-date about your condition; I'd really like to give her good news this time." Iris couldn't bear another night with a sobbing Mary on the other end of the line, consoling her sister-in-law with reassuring words which barely convinced Iris herself, "Your parents are really worried about you, Wally."

Calling Mary and Rudy to tell them the bad news had been the absolute worst; it had made the horrible incident even more real than it had already felt. Iris could still recall the terror in Mary's voice that soon had turned into panic and despite Iris's best efforts to stay calm, she had gotten so choked up that her dad had to take over the phone. She still remembered Barry's arms enveloping her in a consoling hug, steadying her in every sense of the word. "Wally is gonna be okay, I promise," Barry had said quietly but with such conviction in his voice that Iris had had no choice but to believe him. Iris had buried her face deeper into his shirt, drawing comfort from the soothing, familiar scent of just... Barry and the warmth and support of his arms around her trembling form and listened to the deep, strong voice of her Dad on the phone.

Of course, Mary and Rudy decided to drive over to Central City immediately. Wells was less than pleased with more outsiders coming to their crime-fighting base but Barry would hear nothing of it: "Their son just got hit by lightning! Of course they're coming over! They have every right to!"

The misty look in his eyes reminded Iris that Barry's own father had never gotten the chance to visit his son during his nine-month long coma. She gave Barry a comforting hug of her own, while Wells responded with a curt "can't argue with that", then turned towards Cisco, giving the engineer stern and precise instructions on how to 'prepare' the facility for the upcoming visitors.

Two hours later, Wally's parents arrived at S.T.A.R. Labs, both extremely anxious. Iris had used the time until their arrival to compose herself, to be strong for her brother and his wife but when Mary started crying as soon as she saw her son in his comatose state, her resolve began to crumble already. Pulling herself together, Iris walked over to Mary to give her sister-in-law a comforting hug while Joe and the others further explained what had happened to Wally. The kid's parents reacted very differently to the more detailed report – while Mary's sobs became even more violent, Iris could see the apprehensive look on her brother's face change into a stoic one, his posture turning rigid and his eyes cold; ever since their mother's death many years ago (it had been so long ago that Iris could not really remember her mom aside from the photographs and stories her Dad had told her; her brother on the other hand had been old enough to actually remember their mother's passing), Rudy had a tendency to close himself off completely whenever he was threatened to be overcome by his emotions – a habit that was the main reason for the emotional distance between Wally and his dad – and source of many fruitless and often frustrating conversations Iris had held with both father and son.

The only upside to Rudy's emotional detachment in moments like this was that Caitlin could relatively easily convince Rudy (and Mary, though to a lesser degree) that it would be for the best if Wally was to stay at S.T.A.R. Labs. After all, they were familiar with this kind of injury, the risk of multi-resistant bacteria going round like it sometimes happened in hospitals was practically zero and they had state-of-the-art equipment to treat their son with the best care imaginable.

Iris couldn't help but be impressed by Caitlin's impromptu but very competent list of benefits S.T.A.R. Labs could offer. It certainly did the trick, since both Mary and Rudy agreed to let their son be treated in Central City for the time being.

Until the end of the weekend, Mary and Rudy stayed over at Iris and Joe's place, visiting their son frequently (which had resulted in having to move the secret crime-fighting unit to another, more crammed room in S.T.A.R. Labs... and lots of glaring by Dr. Wells). After that, Rudy and Mary had to return back to Blue Valley for their jobs; Iris knew her brother well enough to know that he was burying himself in work to keep his mind occupied by anything else but the glaringly obvious matter at hand and Mary just couldn't take the sight of her only child in a coma anymore, at least not after the second week of Wally's unchanged, unresponsive state. Both parents visited every weekend but aside from that, Mary depended on Iris or Joe for semi-daily updates on her son's condition.

The clicking of heels startled Iris out of her thoughts; she looked up to see that Caitlin had entered the room and another glance at the clock confirmed Iris's suspicions that it was time for a 'change of shift'.

"Alright kiddo, I've got to go now; I'll leave it to McSnurtle and Caitlin to look after you," Iris gave Caitlin a grateful smile, before she gently tucked the plushy turtle under the boy's limp arm (the stuffed animal used to be hers – she had given it to Wally the first time he had come over to stay with his grandpa and aunt and he had been carrying around the turtle ever since).

She pressed a gentle kiss on Wally's forehead, brushed that stubborn lock of hair out of his face once more and shouldered her purse, ready to go.

The first two weeks either her Dad or Barry had had to pry her away from her nephew's side, dragging her home to get some sleep... only now she was finally able tear herself away from Wally, if only to not further worry the two of them.

Iris cast another look at the boy's unconscious form: "I just can't help but feel bad, leaving him like this."

Caitlin gave a sympathetic smile: "I'll call you immediately should something change, I promise," she reassured Iris for the umpteenth time, then added "his vitals look very promising, a lot like Barry's in that ninth month before he woke up... Children heal a lot quicker than adults, after all."

Iris returned the smile, grateful for Caitlin's encouraging words; she knew that the doctor never said what she didn't believe herself.

"Thanks, Caitlin. For everything." Iris was genuinely thankful for the doctor's calm but kind temperament; it certainly helped her to know that someone so skilled but also sympathetic was taking care of her beloved nephew.

"Of course."

"See you tomorrow, then."

Iris turned around to leave, when both women heard a silent groan form behind them: "Uuuh... Aunt Iris?"

The journalist stopped dead in her tracks, eyes widening: "Wally?!"

I hope that this first chapter did not disappoint... First time I've written Season 1-'Harrison Wells' so... (this gives me an excuse to re-watch season 1, though; research... ;)

I'd love to hear what you guys think about this (hopefully promising) first chapter!