Author's Note: A little treat for you all on Halloween. I hope you enjoy it. Just a little something for me to feed the hungry masses. I'm having some writer block issues with Dynamic at the moment, but I still want you guys to enjoy something. So I thought of the Humorverse that I started last year and decided to work with that, particularly with costumes. I originally imagined it to be a bit longer with all of the Team so far, but I only had enough time to focus on the West household. Be warned...hehehe. There will be a brief reference to Young Justice Issue #1 where Wally lets Conner, aka Superboy, stay at his place while Batman figures out where he can stay.
Disclaimer: All Rights to Young Justice Belong to DC Comics and Cartoon Network
October 31st, 2010, 17:37 CST
Bang! Bang! Bang! Rudolph West hammered at his son's door, his patience wearing thin by the minute. What is it with teenagers and staying cooped up in their rooms all day? He stood back and sighed heavily. It was never easy dealing with Wally, especially after...that accident several years ago. He refused to refer it in any other way, that was the unspoken rule in the West household. It was an accident. A happy accident in the distant-distant future possibly, but an accident nonetheless. An accident that gave his only child the appetite of an elephant with room for more and the speed of the Roadrunner. Though he supposed it could have been worse having a 15-year old running faster than a toddler on a sugar hive. At least it helped teach Barry responsibility with children and it gave Wally an outlet to burn his infinite amount of energy. Rudolph often wondered what their grocery bills would have looked like if they never received those "anonymous" checks every week. Once in a while, he could swear that he heard some high-pitched giggle in the background whenever the mysterious checks were delivered to his doorstep. Then he's close the door really slowly while making a mental note to call the nearest mental institute.
Weren't the psychos supposed to reside in Gotham, or did they migrate up north too?
"Wallace!" Rudolph only referred to his son as 'Wallace' when he was serious, and boy was he serious, "Wallace, you have one minute to get your butt out of that room of yours before I come in after you!"
A muffled response came from the other side of the door with an air of urgency beneath it, "I, uh, can't. I'm...not dressed yet."
"I will repeat, you have one minute to be ready to dash out the door before I make through with my promise." Rudolph repeated in a tone that most would consider to be a calm one, but would be seen as a dangerous tone among close friends. Not that Rudolph was violent, he was what Wally says-and he quotes-"almost as scary as Batman without sleep."
"That's not enough time!" Wally protested through the wooden barrier between him and his father. Rudolph tried everything from reasoning to negotiating to even, yes, begging. Mary always did say that Wally got his stubbornness somewhere and it wasn't from her side of the family.
"Wallace, you and I both know that a minute to me is more like an hour by your perspective. Which, by the way, is a very long time for you," Rudolph pinched his nose in frustration-why did Mary have to handle the trick-or-treaters right now?-and spoke again, "What's the hold up in there? Barry's going to be here in 5 minutes to pick you up and I don't want you to keep him waiting!"
"Well make him wait!" Wally shouted through the door, "The only way I'm coming out is if the party's cancelled!"
Rudolph raised an eyebrow at the last comment. If the party was cancelled?! Before today, Wally was talking nonstop about the party being held around the Team's HQ-he couldn't tell either of his parents the location, stating that Batman was the excuse-was it a full moon or something?!
Before Rudolph could investigate further on his son's strange behavior, he heard the door downstairs being knocked. Not ringing the bell like any other kids trick-or-treating, knocking. It sounded like a jackhammer on concrete and only one person was capable of making that sound on wood aside from his son. At least Barry wasn't screaming "Penny, Penny, Penny" all over the place-damn that sitcom for giving his brother-in-law and son another thing to pester him with!
Good Lord, why couldn't that Speedster try being fashionably late like most people for once? Rudolph almost sighed with relief when he heard Mary in the background.
"Don't worry Rudy, I got it."
He heard the front doorknob turn slowly downstairs. New footsteps connected with the hard wood floor-mahogany, Rudolph proudly thought-and started pacing back and forth nonstop while Mary made small talk, her way of stalling for time. But not enough to stall a Speedster as he quickly found out two seconds later.
"Heyrudyoldbuddyoldpalhowsitgoingiswallyreadydidyouhaveagooddayisthatanewshirtisthereanycandyleftover-"
"Good to see you too Barry," Rudolph greeted his brother-in-law tiredly.
All noise behind the door that Rudolph was trying to get into seemed to stop with the mere mention of the word, Barry. Said person shook his head dramatically before turning towards Rudolph.
"Having trouble with your resident Speedster?" Barry grinned, already knowing the answer to his question.
Rudolph sighed, "All night. Can't you phase through the door or something and get him out?"
Barry chuckled, "Sorry Rude-"
God, how he hated being called that. He wasn't that rude all the time.
"-but if there's one thing I've learned about my nephew, it's that you never and I mean never break into a teenager's room unless you're bold enough or dumb enough to take on what lies behind their doors."
"Don't be so dramatic with me, Allen, just get my son out here!" Rudolph interjected, he couldn't be patient any longer. Hence why he used Barry's last name. All of those things he heard about teenagers and rooms just seemed to be rumors. It wasn't like there was a stink bomb waiting for him on the other side of that door.
"Your funeral," Barry muttered before he grabbed a hold of his brother-in-law's arm and placed his other arm on the door itself. Rudolph felt his body shake like gelatin-he prayed that his heart would take the new sensation well enough-and almost yelped when he saw Barry's body start dissolve into the framework of the door itself. He didn't have any time to scream at all when his body went through the solid matter too.
The first thing that he noticed was the smell-dear God! When was the last time that boy did some actual cleaning in here?!-as if there were animals that died long ago in here. The second thing that he noticed was that it was dark, there was no light aside from the moonlight streaming through the window. Rudolph nearly tripped over something at his feet; it felt squishy and he would make Wally deal with that later. How on earth did Wally's friend with the S symbol deal with this?!
"Didn't I say I warned you?" Barry's voice came from the darkness, it was clear that he could feel Rudolph's squeamishness and was grinning like a lunatic as always.
"Shut up, Allen," Rudolph grumbled, confirming Barry's assumption.
"UNCLE BARRY!" Wally's voice practically screamed in the near pitch-black with horror, "You swore you'd never go into my room without permission!"
"Wally," Barry started patiently, "The others are waiting at Mount Justice, it wouldn't be fair to them if you kept them waiting. So here's what's going to happen: Either you turn on the lights in five seconds or I do-and I really hope you do this yourself-and then we're going to try and talk about why you're suddenly having a change of heart about this whole thing like adults. Alright?"
Rudolph counted in his head: Five. He thought he felt the wind brush past him, but it was too fast to be natural.
Four. The sensation of wind came from where Barry was standing, as if there were opposite forces trying to outdo the other.
Three. Rudolph could swear that he thought he heard feet pattering like rain, only it was too fast to be certain.
Two. Something collapsed onto the rug with a thud! before scampering away into the darkness.
One. Tired of waiting, Rudolph groped at the wall with his left arm before he could feel what he assumed to be the light switch and flipped it on. His body jolted as if electricity were coursing through his body as the sudden noise filled the room. Just because it was Halloween didn't mean that Wally had to sound like that woman in the shower from Psycho.
"Oh. My. God!" Barry's voice was suddenly quiet as if he had realized that they were all in some sacred area and should give it the proper respect it deserved. Rudolph felt his heart's tempo go higher as he pondered at the meaning of his brother-in-law's words. Was Wally injured? No, he had a high healing rate, whatever that meant. Was there someone else in the room, like that Artemis that Wally kept on complaining about everyday while Mary shared a secret smile with her husband? What was wrong?
"Wally," Rudolph tried to keep his voice level, but still felt his throat tighten as he spoke, "Are you alright?"
"No," a muffled voice came from underneath the covers of Wally's bed, "I'm not alright, I'm terrible and I'm not coming out of these sheets."
Barry was suddenly by Wally's bed-where was that man before?-and spoke softly in a voice that Rudolph sometimes forgot that he was capable of using, "Wally, I know you don't want to come out from under there, but you're not a little kid. Whatever it is you're afraid of letting us see, don't be. Your father and I won't judge you, we both care about you. You know that if there's someone bothering you, that we'll be there to support you for better or worse. But the only way we'll be able to help you is if you let us see what the problem is. Or if you're not comfortable, you can stay where you are and tell us as best as you can. Alright?"
Wally's muffled voice sounded fearful, "You both promise not to react if I come out from under here?"
Barry patted the lump of sheets that was his nephew and chuckled, "Promise, Kid. Right, Rudy?"
Rudolph cleared his voice before speaking, "Your uncle knows what he's talking about, son. I promise not to react."
Slowly, but steadily, the sheets started to slide off as Wally's form became more and more definite. There was his red hair, now his freckles. It wasn't until his torso was shown that Rudolph struggled to do everything in his power to remain stoic for his son's sake. That didn't stop him from turning away to unlock the bedroom door however.
"Dad, I'm visible again." Lord, let him stay stoic.
Rudolph took a deep breath and turned to face his son. His face was relatively normal, but it was everything else downwards that would want to make people go see an eye-doctor. The red vest with green sleeves looked childish at best. The boots looked as though they were made of cloth and shone bright yellow too. The R that was placed over the left side where Wally's heart would be was nothing compared to what the pants looked like. Or should Rudolph say lack of pants since it looked like Wally forgot to put them on after the green underwear.
It seemed like his face wasn't calm enough though, as Wally had begun screaming dramatically again, "DON'T LOOK AT ME, DAD! DON'T LOOK AT MY SHAME!"
"Wally," Rudolph struggled to keep his voice level as he spoke, "What happened?"
"Itwaszatannashewantedtogetevenwithmeforsayingthatmagicdidntexistandiguessthatthewonderwomanoutfitwasntgoodenoughforhersoshesneakeduponmeandsaidsomethingandijustknowdickhadahandinallthispleasedontmakemegoicantgetitoff-" Wally's tirade was stopped by Barry's embracing arms.
"Don't worry about it, Kid," Barry ruffled his nephew's hair affectionately, "We'll just go to a costume store so we can be a matching pair."
"I don't think Bats would like that," Wally buried his head into his uncle's chest.
"Oh God, not a Batman costume, he'd kill me for sure!" Barry laughed, "I meant I'd get a Boy Wonder costume my size so you wouldn't be the only one being made fun of."
Wally looked up in surprise, "But what about your RoadRunner costume. We were supposed to go as the Coyote and RoadRunner together!"
"There's always next year," Barry wrapped an arm around Wally's shoulder and proceeded to guide him out of the room, "Come on, I'm sure there's an old domino mask back at my place that we could use."
"Don't let him have too much candy," Rudolph called out to his brother-in-law before he and a more chipper Wally disappeared into the hallway, "Be back safe."
"Love you too, Dad," Wally called back, "I'll be home by midnight."
"Say hi to that Artemis girl for your mother," Rudolph replied.
"DAD!" Wally sounded indignant, but Rudolph only laughed.
What happened to his son was an accident. That was the unspoken rule in the West household. But not all accidents were bad. In the not so distant future-no-right now, it was a happy accident that Wally got his powers. It was moments like this that Rudolph was proud to call Barry a member of his family, happy that his sister, Iris, meet that impulsive man. He reminded Rudolph that Wally didn't need just his father as a role model. He helped him sleep better at night knowing that his son was safe with his uncle. It gave Wally more than just an outlet for his infinite energy or Barry responsibility over children. It taught Rudolph how to help his son grow into a hero.
Wasn't a part of my original plan, but I still got some bonding/fluff in there without being OOC. I'm pretty proud of it too. This was actually the first time I did a one shot with that sort of thing in it. Happy Halloween Everyone! ...Okay, it's now November 1st, but close enough so don't sue me.