Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash, or any of the other characters in this story.
(A/N: Set between the events of All-Flash #1 and The Flash #231. Many thanks to Hhgbh for beta work!)
Catching Up
They had to come back during the summer. They couldn't have come back, say, during the springtime? Even an ice cold winter would have made Wally happy. But no. Blistering, sweaty, makes-your-clothes-stick to you heat. It ticked him off, is what it did. Couldn't wear his costume comfortably. Couldn't run comfortably. Couldn't wear his favourite jeans, the ones he had missed wearing while living on an alien planet. Oh no, he had to wear these embarrassingly short shorts that seemed more reminiscent of a safari guide than a superhero. Linda's parents had bought them for him. He was never sure if they meant them as a joke or if they genuinely thought they would have looked good on him. The former option annoyed him, but the latter scared him. Genuinely scared him. That Linda's parents would think of him wearing these incredibly small things and think 'hey, that's a good idea!'
He wiped another bucket load of sweat from his brow, scowling as he realised he had just smeared grime and dirt over his forehead.
And to think, when he was a kid he used to look forward to coming to Central City because of the weather. Well, that and his favourite Aunt lived there. It was nothing to do with the fact that Central City was the home of the Flash, oh no.
Wally sighed. Oh, if only Barry could see him now. Sat cross legged in his back garden, wearing impossibly short shorts, a yellow t-shirt with the letters 'DBD' written in large orange font, and the scattered ingredients of what should in fact have been a swing set spread around him.
Linda had insisted he try and construct the thing at normal speed, since the last thing he tried to build for Jai and Iris (a tree house) ended up collapsing around them. Although neither he nor Linda were there to witness it, Wally was positive said destruction was down to Jai using his super strength as he chased Iris up the ladder, not construction error.
But, Linda was hearing none of it, and commanded that he, Wally West, construct a swing set for the kids in order to relax into being a family man.
Wally West, family man. He had thought at some point he would get past the point of being 'wow, I've got kids – what a concept!', and grow into the phase of 'wow, I've got such great kids'. But now, he was still pretty amazed that he was a Dad. Which was, incidentally, what the shirt he was now wearing was supposed to read, but apparently Jai's handwriting had been appalling to the point where the t-shirt store had thought the capital 'A' was in fact a 'B'.
Of course, Wally had taken the shirt without complaint, but it still irked him that his son had such bad handwriting. Especially since it was Wally that taught Jai and his older sibling to read and write (although technically, Iris and Jai were the same age, super-speed growth spurts aside). True, he had taught them in the space of one afternoon, but still… Iris handwriting was beautiful to look at. Her spelling wasn't, but hey. You couldn't have everything.
Linda knocked on the kitchen window, breaking Wally from his thoughts. With a cocked eyebrow and a smile, she pointed down to the blueprints/construction manual that lay before him.
"Stop daydreaming, and get to it!"
"Hey, it's not my fault," he grumbled irritably, scratching his cheek. "I'm getting sunstroke out here. Redheads don't tan well, you know."
Behind her, a whining voice called for her attention.
"Just a minute, honey. I'm talking to your Dad."
But Iris was having none of it. Linda looked back to Wally resignedly.
"Believe me, Wally. I know. Now, get back to work. Jay would be finished by now," she teased, going back into the kitchen to tend to their very sunburnt daughter.
Wally smiled as he heard Linda and Iris talk about the advantages and disadvantages of going outside to help Dad with his work. The smile quickly faded as he looked back down at the blueprints before him.
Part B? Which one was part B? Was that the yellow pole with the left sticky-out thing? Or the blue one with a hole at the end?
He groaned and buried his face in his hands. The phone rang inside the house. After five rings, nobody picked up, and Wally found his salvation. He scrambled to the door and to the phone just as Linda entered the kitchen. Wally tried not to look at her as he spoke into the receiver.
"Hello, West residence."
Wow, that made him feel old.
"Hello, Wally! It's John here!"
Linda's father.
"How're you finding things?"
Wally rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't sure how much Linda had told her parents about their little excursion. He knew for a fact that they hadn't seen Jai and Iris yet. At least, not as they were now.
"Everything's going okay. We've only just managed to get everything unpacked into the new house."
Linda pointed to his shorts as her father spoke to Wally. His only response was a mouthed 'what?'
"Yes, sorry we weren't able to help out. I had a business trip, and it was pretty short notice. But then again," he added, chuckling, "I suppose unpacking isn't much of a chore for you."
Linda repeated the gesture, this time angrier. He closed his eyes and nodded, waving her down.
"Well you've got a point there. And thanks for the shorts you sent, by the way."
"Do they fit?"
"Oh, like a glove," he laughed, hoping it didn't sound too forced.
It did. "Too tight, huh?"
"Oh yeah."
"I told Lisa. I told her they wouldn't fit, but she said that you'd appreciate them because you're a runner."
Wally paused, not quite sure how short shorts equated to running. "Well, you can't fault her logic."
John laughed. "No, I suppose you can't. Is Linda there? I need to talk to her about the arrangements for your visit."
"Our visit?"
"Yes, next week. We're looking forward to seeing how Jai and Iris have grown."
In response, Wally laughed far too loudly, making Linda jump. "Oh, they're," he paused to laugh a little more, "they're growing like weeds."
There was a deafening silence from the other end. "Right. So… is Linda there?"
"Yeah. Here she is," he said, tossing her the handset. He retreated back into the garden away from her accusing 'what the hell did you do?' glare.
All Wally heard was a far too cheerful 'Hi Dad!' before the rest of the conversation went over into Korean. Wally had always wanted to be able to speak in other languages. It was something that always seemed cool to him, even as a kid. He had no idea which languages he would have liked to learn when he was younger, but still… it was something that had vaguely interested him.
Linda had offered to teach him, but Wally was a notoriously bad study. Low attention span because of his powers, and all that. His wife had told him before their little intergalactic journey that such an attitude wouldn't cut it in front of the kids when they were older, because they were likely to have the same problem. Wally used to cite Bart as an example of a speedster who could learn quickly.
But now he couldn't. Because whenever he thought of Bart his whole body would just sink.
He sat down amidst the wreckage of the swing sit, crossing his legs. Feeling just that little bit heavier than before, he picked up what he guessed was part B and connected it to the slot in bar CA.
What made Wally feel worse was that, only a week and a half after learning of his death, he kept on forgetting about Bart.
He kept on forgetting about his own cousin.
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Wally smiled as Jai gaped out the window. He'd be the first to admit that he had the same reaction when he looked out of the Park's condo in Maui. Although he had been more concerned at the time with making a good impression. Unfortunately, at that time his metabolism dictated that he stuff his face like a pig every half hour or so, so that was good impressions pretty much out of the window within the first course.
But Linda, bless her heart, had been fond enough of Wally to ignore her parents' words of caution against going out with such a 'rude boy'.
Aunt Iris just called it a healthy appetite.
John and Lisa had been a little bit less than completely amazed when they first saw Iris and Jai. The two had been bickering about which one ate the last slice of toast earlier that morning as Linda rang the doorbell, so, naturally, things went downhill from there. When Lisa opened the door she saw Jai, torso rippling with muscles, trying to get a hold on his older sister, who had phased halfway through his stomach to evade him.
To her credit, Lisa didn't faint. She almost fell over, but she didn't faint. What impressed Wally more was that John just smiled and shook his head, giving Wally and Linda a 'what are you going to do?' look before offering to take their bags.
Naturally, Wally had politely refused and taken the some of the bags himself. Copying his father, Jai did the same, heaving up the rest onto his broad, broad shoulders. Wally had never understood what 'glowing with fatherly pride' meant until that moment.
Right now, Wally could smell Pulgoki wafting over from the stove. The first time Linda had cooked for him, it had been Pulgoki. Well, she had tried, anyway. After the fire was out, she had recommended a Korean restaurant just halfway across the world they could go to instead.
It was still Wally's idea of a good time.
"Dad?" Jai asked, quickly becoming frustrated with staying on tip-toes to see over the counter and out the window.
"Yeah?"
"What's Grandma cooking?"
"Pulgoki."
"Ew, what?"
Lisa laughed at the stove, but said nothing.
"Pulgoki. It's Korean barbeque."
Jai nodded, stewing on this for awhile. "Is it like Me'gook'chook?"
At this, Lisa looked over her shoulder at the boy, frowning but still managing to keep a smile on her face.
"What was that?"
"Me'gook'chook. It was something we ate-"
"At a Greek restaurant," Wally cut in. Jai tugged on his shirt, eager to correct him.
"It doesn't sound Greek," Lisa said, sensing something was up.
John walked past the doorway, palm pilot in hand as hummed some gentle tune.
"You want to show Jai something, John?" Wally said loudly. "That's nice of you." He smiled at Lisa, laughing. "We'll talk later, Lisa."
As fast as he could without creating a gust of wind behind him, Wally herded Jai out of the kitchen and into a very confused John.
Once he was gone, Lisa just laughed and got back to her cooking. These superheroes could be so strange sometimes.
"What's so funny?" Linda asked, a smile on her lips herself.
"Oh, nothing. Just your weirdo of a husband."
"Oh, you don't have to talk to me about that," she laughed, joining her over by the stove.
"And what were you laughing at?"
Her daughter smiled fondly. "Iris just asked me why Wally could call you by your first name but they have to call you Grandma and Grandpa."
"I see. What did you tell her?"
Linda shrugged. "That I said so."
"Good answer." She reached into a drawer beside her and pulled out corkscrew. "Grab some wine out of the cupboard there, would you?"
Linda didn't seem to understand her at first. The she blinked and smiled, going to the cupboard.
"Which would you like?"
"Any."
She took her time choosing, and Lisa spared as many glances at her as she could while she moved the pan around the fire.
"Are you all right?"
"Hm? Oh, fine. No problems." She sighed. "Just tired. This has been a busy two weeks."
"I can imagine."
"Is this one okay?" Linda asked, displaying it like a waitress would.
Lisa smiled, not even looking at it. "That's fine. You know, I don't think Wally knows you told us about your extraterrestrial visit. He's very cagey about it."
"I don't think I have told him, actually," Linda said in a way that suggested she had completely forgotten. She concentrated on unwinding the twine that encased the cork on the bottle.
"Maybe you should. Otherwise dinner table conversation is going to be awkward for him."
"All the more reason not to tell him." She smirked.
"You're an evil girl, Linda. Honestly, I'm not sure where you get it from."
Linda just smiled. "Would you like a glass?"
"Oh, just half."
They didn't speak for a few seconds as Linda poured, the only noise the sizzling of the beef in the pan.
"It's strange," Lisa said slowly. "I was looking forward to doing all these grandmotherly things. Helping you out with the terrible twos, giving you advice on teething, that sort of thing. And now, suddenly… it's gone. Just like that."
Her daughter nodded, concentrating on the red wine she was swirling around in her glass.
"What was it like?"
Linda looked up at her. "Hm?"
Lisa managed a kind smile. Linda's mind had to be racing all over the place at least as much as her husband did.
"Dealing with children that were growing up at a rate of knots. What was it like?"
"It was…" she sighed. "Well, actually, Wally did most of it. He was the only one who could keep up with the diaper changing." She took a sip of her wine.
"What about breast feeding?"
And then the wine came back up. Linda put a panicking hand under her mouth to catch it, futilely.
"Mom!" she admonished.
Lisa shrugged as her daughter tore off some kitchen towel and wiped her hand and chin.
"It's perfectly natural, Linda."
"I know, but… you don't want to talk about… that with your parents."
"They do on TV."
"Well I'm not on TV." Linda shot her a look before her mother could say anything. "You know what I mean."
They shared an amicable silence before Lisa spoke up again. "So... did you go through at least some of the usual stuff?"
Linda shrugged. "Like what?"
"Oh, I don't know…" She smiled. "What were their first words?"
"Jai's was nose, I think." The two shared an unsurprised smile. Even after only knowing the boy for an hour or so, Lisa held no doubt that that was his first word.
"And Iris?" she asked.
"Iris's was…" Linda stopped, frowning.
"What?" Lisa took her attention away from the frying meat for a Moment. "Linda, what?"
"Iris's was 'Dad'."
"Well how lovely for Wally!" she exclaimed, getting back to the food. When Linda didn't say anything, she looked back to her daughter worriedly.
"Linda? What is it? You don't agree?"
"Well, no, that's not it. I mean, obviously I'm happy about it, but…"
"You wish you had been there for them," Lisa finished for her, keeping her eyes on the cooking.
After a reluctant pause, Linda nodded. "I feel like I haven't been a mother to them because Wally took care of it all."
Lisa smiled.
"What?"
"Your father went through the same thing."
The smile that appeared on Linda's face had an incredulous edge. "He did not."
"He did! He was working all the time, and travelling around on business trips all over the place… he barely saw you for the first two years of your life. And then you were suddenly three years old and he felt like he hadn't been a father to you." She removed the pan from the fire and turned off the stove, giving her worried daughter her full attention.
"But ever since then, he was nothing but the best kind of father to you. It's not as if you chose not to bring up the kids."
"No." She sounded almost reluctant.
"And you're going to spend as much time as you can with them now, right?"
"Well, I have to. Their powers need constant supervision and regulating-" she stopped when she saw her mother's face. "I mean… yes."
Lisa put her hands up, shrugging. "Then there's no problem."
"No, I guess not." She smiled, genuinely. "Thanks, Mom."
"Easiest thing in the world to cheer you up. I just need to confront you with the facts and you feel all better." She reached over, picked up her glass, and took a sip of her wine. "I like to think that's why you became a reporter."
Within fifteen seconds of Linda shouting that dinner was ready, the entire family was present at the dining room table, Linda's father surprisingly arriving first, quickly followed by Iris, who had constant questions about the palm pilot to occupy him with. Jai and Wally entered at the same time, Wally rubbing the side of his head where what appeared to be an eight ball had struck him.
The food, as Wally expected, was delicious. The dinner table conversation was light, sometimes funny, sometimes interesting, sometimes just conversation. Iris and Jai had to be split up because of what Wally knew were the beginnings of a food fight, but other than that… it felt normal. Just an everyday, normal family sitting down for a normal dinner. Wally felt a feeling in his gut much like the fatherly pride, but slightly different. This was a sense of belonging. Something he only had with a select few people in the world.
And then Linda's mother just had to bring it up.
"So, you two," she said, looking to Iris and Jai, "since you've got superpowers yourself…"
Wally's eyes suddenly resembled balloons that were about to pop.
Oh, no.
"…are you going to be following in the family… business?"
Jai and Iris smiled excitedly, first looking at each other, then at their parents.
Wally and Linda spoke at the same time.
"Yes," Linda said.
"No," Wally said.
There was a brief Moment where all parties at the table were confused. Wally and Linda looked at each other, again speaking at the same time.
"No?" asked Linda.
"Yes?" asked Wally.
They both turned to Lisa, speaking in unison once more to the point where Iris was beginning to giggle.
"No," said Linda.
"Yes," said Wally.
The Wests looked at each other. Wally sighed inwardly.
And I was really enjoying the Pulgoki…
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"I can't believe you have you own museum!" Iris shouted excitedly, jumping up and down on the spot in front of the Flash statue.
Linda tried to grab their excited little ten year old and bring her back down to Earth. Literally, if she continued the way she was.
"Iris, while it is very exciting, nobody knows that this is your Dad's museum, so…" She put her finger to lips.
Enjoying the secrecy, Iris nodded and repeated the gesture. Wally smiled at the Moment, and then nodded to the entrance. "Okay, let's go."
Iris and Jai led the way.
"Stupid, getting too excited," he teased.
"You're stupid," came the well thought out, witty response.
"You're stupider."
"Stupider's not a word, stupid."
"Is too."
"Not."
"Too."
Sick of this game, Jai went to a higher authority. "Dad!"
"Don't ask Dad, he won't know."
Wally, now stood at the admissions booth with Linda, looked over at them with a frown.
"Why wouldn't I know?"
"Because you're a grease monkey. Mom said so."
"Oh, she did, huh?" he said, looking to Linda with much amusement dancing over his features. She just smiled like an angel and bypassed him, going to Iris with a whispered 'we were supposed to keep that secret' on her lips.
The lady in the booth, clearly having been awake for too long, knocked on the glass booth. "Here are your tickets. Enjoy your stay at the Flash Museum."
Wally, his super-speed mind now focusing on a way to get his wife back, took the tickets with a murmured thank you as gratitude. It still weirded him out, coming to the Flash Museum as Wally West. He had spent so much time as an 'outed' superhero that going back to covering his tracks, finding excuses to leave work… he looked down at the price of the tickets, and his eyes bulged.
Paying for tickets to his own museum…
What a crock, seriously. Paying to come to his own museum. Linda and the kids waited for him at the turnstiles, and he handed over the tickets. Having never used turnstiles before, the kids spent about ten minutes just on them, and probably would have spent all day going back and forth if not for Linda's 'we have to do other things now' glare. Still, Iris spared one more look inside the workings of the turnstiles before Wally subtly vibrated her out.
First stop was a 'Welcome to the Flash Museum' video in a smallish theatre area, presented by Dexter Miles himself. Wally so desperately wanted to skip it. Desperately. Mostly because of the ribbing he knew he would get once…
"…the Flash's sidekick, Kid Flash…"
"Dad, you looked so dorky!" Iris whispered. Jai giggled away next to her, saying something about 'big hair' before all coherence was lost.
"Why, thank you." He leaned to Linda in the next seat. "Please can we go the villains section now?"
"Oh, hush. I'm enjoying the view of your butt."
That indeed did the trick of shutting him up, although he wasn't sure whether to feel embarrassed that his butt was on show or full of pride that… well, his butt was on show.
A few hellish minutes later, the movie was over and they went for a wander. The kids wanted to see the Flash section, but Wally was adamant that they go and see the villains first. A bit too adamant, he realised, because Linda pulled him aside as Jai and Iris ran on ahead to laugh at a Gorilla Grodd display.
"What's wrong?"
"I…" He looked to the open archway across the foyer, where 'The Flash' was carved into a golden plaque. "I don't want them near Inertia."
"You said he was frozen."
He frowned, avoiding her gaze. "He is, but…"
A gentle hand grasped him by the chin and turned Wally's face. Their eyes met. "This isn't about Inertia, Wally."
There was no reply he could give that sounded good enough to his ears. While a small part of him was concerned about Inertia... Linda was right.
"This is about Bart," she said quietly, and Wally just nodded.
"Here we are, bringing them into this line of work, this life, and Bart's barely-"
She put a silencing finger on his lips. "You'll be there with them."
"But I can't be there all of the time. Maybe this is a bad idea. Maybe we should-"
"Leave it up to them?"
"We can't."
Linda just stared.
"Linda, seriously, we can't. They're just kids. They may look eight and ten years old, but they're only… I…" he exhaled loudly. "I'm really not sure about this."
"Let them find out about their cousin. Let them understand him and why he died. Okay?"
He nodded. "Okay."
"And scare the bejeezus out of them when you talk about the Rogues."
That managed to elicit a smile from him, which Linda took as a victory, and an end to the conversation.
"All right. Settled. Now, let's go and say hello to Captain Cold."
And say hello they did, quickly followed by the rest of the Rogues. Wally tried to suppress his scowl as he looked over those that had taken part in Bart's death. All the while, Jai and Iris snickered at the lame costumes like Captain Cold and the Top, and hiding from Murmur. Linda told the kids that Zoom was the worst one, and they agreed, just from looking at the statue. Apparently, Zoom looked creepy. Wally couldn't agree more.
Eventually, though, the kids got tired of Wally's stalling, and they went to the Flash section, their first step being the section dedicated to Jay's run as the one and only Flash. They had only met Jay once, and that was on the day of their arrival, so their recollections and impressions of him were fuzzy at best. They did ask if Jay was their Granddad when they first arrived, which made Wally smile so very much. He reminded himself to call Jay and tell him.
Next was Barry's section, which they responded to with what Wally could only describe as silent awe. Of course, Wally had told them a lot about his Uncle Barry, the legendary Flash who mentored him. Hard to find a more perfect superhero, or more perfect man, in all honesty. When the only bad thing you can say about a person is that they're late all the time, that says something.
Then Wally's section, which didn't elicit as many giggles and snickers as he thought it would. They thought his old shiny suit with the white eyes was cool, surprisingly, and they asked him why he didn't wear that one now. Alongside this section was the 'Friends of the Flash' room, where mannequins of the Justice League, the Teen Titans, and other non-affiliated superheroes stood proudly to attention.
Jai seemed particularly interested in Superman, and Iris spent a bit longer than Wally would have liked staring dreamily at Nightwing, so he ushered her long post haste before she could get any ideas. Wally himself looked up at the mannequin, thinking about Dick. They hadn't spoken in some time, even before Wally's little disappearing act during the crisis. But that always seemed to be the way with him and Dick. They would reunite, vow never to lose touch again, and then poof. Life would get in the way.
And then, much to Wally's dread, they entered the Bart Allen memorial. It was at that Moment that Wally realised he hadn't told his kids anything about Bart.
Not one thing.
So they spent almost ten minutes telling them about Bart's arrival from the future with Great Aunt Iris, his being named Impulse, forming Young Justice, becoming Kid Flash, joining the Teen Titans… and, finally, taking on the mantle of the Flash, which Wally only had a vague idea about based on what Aunt Iris had told him. And her information about it was in turn taken from Bart's grieving girlfriend. Hell, he couldn't even remember her name. Linda had to nudge him in the side and whisper 'Valerie' to him. What the hell was wrong with him?
Wally and Linda looked up at the two mannequins in the centre of the room. One Impulse, the other Kid Flash, running in opposite directions. While Impulse had that cocky look on his face that Wally knew oh-so-well, Kid Flash had a much more mature, focused look. It was something he hadn't seen very much in Bart. Or maybe that was just him not seeing Bart.
"This one's creepy," Iris said, and Wally tried to contain his gut reaction to scoop up his kids and leave.
Inertia stared blankly forward, his face looking ever so slightly fearful. The last thing he had seen was a cliff-face coming at him at speeds well over mach 3. And then he was here. The speed sucked out of him. Frozen in time, harmless. But that sure as hell didn't mean Wally wanted his kids near him.
"Kids," Linda asked gently, "come and look at these." She gestured to the mannequins of Bart in his two costumes.
After looking over the two sides of the same hero, the kids read the golden plaques beneath them.
"Dad?" Iris asked, still focusing on the plaque.
"Yeah?"
"What was he like?" she said, turning to look at him.
Wally smiled. "He was… he was a good kid. Reckless, headstrong, but his heart was always in the right place. Never thought about the consequences of… well, anything he did. But… yeah. He was a good kid."
"But that's Impulse," Jai replied simply. "What was he like when he was Kid Flash?"
"Yeah," Iris said. "Was he funny? He looks like he was funny."
He tried, but Wally's voice was failing him. "I, uh…"
Linda butted in. "Iris, your Dad-"
"Didn't know him."
They all looked at Wally, surprised. Linda seemed surprised that he had spoken, while Jai and Iris seemed surprised by the content.
Concerned, Linda turned to him. "Wally-"
"I'm the Flash. He was Kid Flash. And I didn't know him."
There wasn't much talking after that. As soon as they got home, Wally put his costume on. And he ran.
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It was late at Titans Tower. Only the ambient lights were on in the corridors to prevent some of the bigger team members falling over themselves on their way to the bathroom. If they used the bathroom, that is. The Titans always seemed to attract the weirdest and widest array of people, aliens, robots and clones more than any other superhero team.
It was probably why Wally felt so at home there. The computer still recognised him. Cyborg hadn't removed his DNA file from database, even after learning of what, to him, must have sounded like Wally's death. It warmed his heart and made him feel strange at the same time.
He wondered if Bart's DNA was still on file.
He wondered who was actually in the Titans. He only knew that Robin was because he saw him at Bart's memorial. Cyborg, assumedly, was still a member, simply because the idea of any team called Teen Titans without him seemed like an affront to nature.
Wally walked down the living quarters corridor as stealthily as he could manage, taking in names like 'Kid Devil' and 'Miss Martian' pretty easily, but then pausing at ones like 'Jericho' and 'Ravager'. Wasn't Jericho dead? And wasn't Ravager Deathstroke's frickin' daughter? Although… Bart had told him about the Titans' trip to the future. Meeting the Titans of Tomorrow, where Conner had become Superman, Tim Batman, and Bart… Bart had grown up to become the Flash. And, apparently, he had been involved with, dun dun dun… Ravager.
He shook his head and walked on, coming to the door he wanted. The lights were still on inside, and Wally couldn't help but smile.
Trust him to be a night owl.
Gently, he knocked on the door. There was a pause, and Tim, sounding a little out of breath, responded.
"Yeah?"
"Tim? It's… Wally."
There was another pause, this one longer, and then the door slid open with an almost imperceptible hiss. Tim was drenched in sweat from some vigorous workout.
"What's up?" he asked. Wally wasn't sure, but there might have been some animosity there.
"I, uh… I wanted to talk to you about Bart."
Tim stared at him, his face unreadable even without his small domino mask. "Meet me on the roof in a few minutes. I need to get changed and have a shower."
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Wally sat with his legs dangling off the edge of the building. It was a strange feeling, knowing you could fall from a skyscraper but feeling completely safe in the knowledge that you could survive it. He tried to remember what it was like as a normal kid being afraid of heights.
"Comfortable?" Tim asked, sounding a little bit cheerier than he had in his room. Which wasn't much, admittedly.
"Just reminiscing. Used to come up here a lot. Well, I did on the old Tower. This thing has been destroyed and rebuilt so many times, it's not really the same thing anymore."
Robin nodded and sat down next to him, observing the stars. Wally had to admit that blistering summers had their advantages. Like clear night skies, and being able to look at said night skies without freezing your ass off.
"So," Tim said. "You wanted to talk about Bart?"
"Uh, yeah."
"What about him?"
"Just… him."
Tim's frown was evident beneath his mask. "You might have to be more specific. What about him?"
"I don't know," Wally groaned, frustrated. "Just him, okay?"
"You're not making any sense. What-"
"Just tell me about him, Tim okay?!"
Yelling was not the right thing to do.
"What, Wally?!" Tim yelled right back. "Do you want to know how much I miss him?! Is that it? Jesus, Wally, he's only been gone for-"
"I know! I…" He sighed. "Tim… I didn't know him. I brought him into the world as Impulse, I worked with him, I… I passed on the Flash legacy to him, for God's sake…" Wally turned to Tim. "But I didn't know him. And…" He exhaled slowly, something he was not used to doing.
Tim, now a little bit calmer, spoke again. "What, Wally?"
Slowly, the Flash looked at Robin. "Tim, I… I don't miss him as much as I should. I keep on forgetting. And it's because I didn't know him. I always treated him like this inconvenience, this thing that was always in the way, and I pawned him off to whoever I could. Max, Jay and Joan, the Titans…" He sighed shakily. "And Barry never did anything like that. He always made time for me, always helped me with my problems, even though God knows he had enough on his own plate. I always told myself that I wasn't a mentor, that I wasn't the type… but now I've got kids, and I realise that it is in me, and that I can do it…"
"And now you wish you'd spent more time with him."
Wally nodded.
"That's what grieving is about, Wally."
"But don't you get it? I'm not grieving! At least… not as much as I should. Not as much as the Titans are. Not as much as Valerie is."
"Who?" Tim asked, frowning.
"Bart's girlfriend." He sighed again, this time gaining strength from the gesture instead of losing it. "I just… want you to tell me about him. What was he like? Was he funny? Moody? Angry? I don't know, Tim. But I feel like if I did know him better, than I could get some kind of connection to him, and…"
"Grieve."
The speedster said nothing, merely nodding. Tim said nothing for awhile, simply allowing the noise of the San Francisco bay to wash over them. A car honked its' horn on the Golden Gate bridge.
"Do you remember that time we fought Doctor Light? All of the Titans, together?"
Wally nodded.
"And Light blasted Bart in the kneecap?"
This made Wally wince, but then he smiled. "Bart insisted that he could keep on going, even on a busted knee."
"Right. And you took him to the hospital."
"Stayed with him until he was done."
"And you brought him back to the Tower."
Wally shrugged.
"What did you talk about?"
"Huh?"
"In the hospital, while you were sat around with him. What did you talk about?"
Wally thought about it, trying to remember. "Lots of stuff… Uncle Barry, the Titans when I was Kid Flash, the Titans now… why?"
"When he got home, he would not shut up."
Not quite sure if Tim was making it up or not, Wally looked at him with his eyebrows raised. "Really?"
"Yeah. 'Wally said this, Wally said that'. 'Did you know, that when Wally was Kid Flash, he did this, and he did that?'"
"I…" The smile was hard to fight down. "I had no idea."
"You did connect with him, Wally. You gave him his first taste of the superhero life. You saved his life the first time you met him. And your approval meant so much to him. You were like his cool older brother."
Wally grinned. Cool older brother. I like that.
"I remember that if he didn't shut up, Conner threatened to…" Tim stopped and closed his eyes.
"Tim?"
"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" The Boy Wonder rubbed a weary gloved hand on his forehead, as though massaging a headache.
"I never got a chance to say… I'm sorry about Conner. I only heard about it last week."
Tim nodded. "Must be kind of information overload for you, huh?"
"Tell me about it," he sighed, leaning back on his hands and staring up at the sky. "Arsenal's Red Arrow, Nightwing's in New York, Aquaman's God knows where…" He shot Tim a sideways glance. "Ravager's a member of the Teen Titans…"
A rare smile wormed its' way onto Tim's face. "I thought you'd be freaked by that."
"Not freaked," he said defensively, "just… surprised."
The smile faded as Tim copied Wally's position, looking up to the stars.
"I'm just tired of losing my friends."
The Barry thing to do would have been to put an arm around him. As it was, Wally could only manage words.
"I know. I'm sorry."
The pair both stared up a little longer.
"Tell me about them. Conner and Bart. What did you guys get up to?" He smirked. "It couldn't have been any worse than what me, Dick and Roy got up to."
"You want to bet?"
Wally was glad he didn't. He and his Titans never got up to anything like that.
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"Are you ready?" Linda asked from behind Wally. Her hands were clasped over his eyes, soft and gentle.
"Not yet," Jai said, struggling with something. "I can't get the stupid sleeve in the… place…"
His mother sighed. "Iris, could you cover your Dad's eyes for a minute?"
"What? I won't peek!" Wally promised, although he knew he would. And Linda knew he would too. She and Iris timed the switch perfectly, but Wally still got a flash of yellow.
"Ah, I yellow costume, huh? I like it."
"Mom! Dad peeked!"
"Stop peeking, Wally," Linda said in her 'talking to the kids' way.
"I didn't! I guessed."
"You know, for a superhero, you lie a lot," Iris admonished, sounding very critical.
"I do not."
"Do too."
"I'm not getting sucked into this," Wally said, crossing his arms, "Because I'm mature."
"See? You're lying again."
"Oh, that's it. I'm going to tickle you so bad once we're done here."
"You'll have to catch me first," Iris challenged.
"All right, we're done!" Linda announced, again switching with Iris.
"Are you wearing a costume too?" Wally teased.
"Would you like me to?" she whispered in his ear, silencing him. He could practically feel Linda smiling. "Thought so. Okay everybody, superhero poses in three, two, one…"
She released her hands, and Wally squinted at the blue lights of the lab. Then he started to focus, and he had to stop himself from gasping.
They looked great. They were dressed like superheroes, and they looked great.
"Guys, you're…" Wally looked back to Linda with the smile of a three year old. He took them in once again. "You're great. They look great!" he exclaimed, hugging them.
Linda pulled out a small digital camera from her jeans pocket, and flicked it on. "They've even got their own Flash rings, too," she said, focusing on the tiny screen on the back of the camera.
"You do?" he said excitedly to Iris, who nodded happily. "You do?" he repeated to Jai. His nod looked a little more unsure, having never seen his Dad look quite so hyper.
"Okay," Linda announced, "how about a picture of all the superheroes in the family?"
"Oh! Sure," Wally agreed, tapping his ring and leaping into his costume. He knelt between them, putting his hands on their shoulders. Linda brought the camera up.
Something occurred to him, and he put up his hand. "Oh, wait, wait!"
He zipped out of the basement lab and up the stairs. The remainder of the West family exchanged some confused looks in the few seconds he was gone. Wally returned, a framed picture in his hand. He bounded over behind the kids happily.
"Could you two hold this between you?"
Unsurely, they both nodded. "Who is it?"
"It's Uncle Bart when he was Kid Flash."
Linda smiled fondly, and brought the camera up.
"You know what, guys?" Wally grinned. "You would have loved Bart. He was great."
"Okay, on three, say 'Mister Zip!'"
Wally squeezed the shoulders of his kids. His kids. He may have missed out on Bart, but he would not miss out on these two.
"Three!"
Bart had looked up to him, and that was without Wally even trying. Hell, that was with Wally doing the opposite of trying. And still, Bart wanted his approval. His friendship. And even though he wasn't around to hear it, Wally hoped that Bart knew he had both.
"Two!"
But he would make sure Jai and Iris knew. All of his life, he had been afraid of what kind of a father he would be. Whether he would end up like his own father. But now he wasn't worried. He had a good track record, after all.
"One!"
He had Bart Allen.
"Mister Zip!"
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(A/N: This came to my head after reading The Flash #231 and thinking 'what happened to Bart being dead? That's important!'
Now, understand, I appreciate Mark Waid's reasoning for not lingering on Bart's death – I even agree with it. I'm not saying that Waid didn't do justice to Wally's reaction to Bart's death; he just took the most direct approach, that being Wally's vengeance against Inertia. But I wanted to focus on a more character driven piece that, I'll admit, really wouldn't work in a comic book without some action interspersed in there somewhere.
And really, what is fan fiction for if not to fill the gaps?
Anyway, enough of my talking! Reviews, please!)