A ten year old Wally ran into the kitchen, aiming for the pizza box. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten. He quickly looked around; satisfied that he didn't see his dad anywhere. Wally tore open the box and grabbed a pizza slice. It was cold and stale, but to him, it was the best food he ever tasted.
Suddenly, someone harshly cleared their throat behind him. The ten-year-old spun around, his eyes fearful and panicked.
He let out a small gasp when he saw his father, hovering in the doorway of the house. He wore a furious expression, which scared Wally even more.
"Look at the mess you made!" he barked, gesturing to the crumbs that dropped off the pizza Wally was holding.
"I'll clean that right away, s-sir" Wally stuttered, starting to shake.
"You better," the man growled. He seemed to be contemplating a decision in his head.
Wally let out a silent sigh of relief, hoping that his father wasn't going to hurt him tonight. He was about to get the broom, when his father yanked him up by his collar.
Without saying anything, the man threw him at the wall.
The poor boy fell to the ground and curled into a ball. "I'm s-so, so-orry" he stuttered through his tears, "I'm sor-ry da-d, ple-ease don't hurt me."
His response was the cruel man, lifting his hand to strike-
"Baywatch, wake up!" a familiar female voice yelled and he shot up, panting.
He looked around wildly, and found he was on the couch at Mount Justice,his teammates, wearing worried looks all around him.
...an hour earlier...
"Wait, you can see me?"
The team was having a movie night, after instant begging from M'gann. They had all decided (after begging from M'gann to watch Twilight, which they had quickly extinguished) that they would watch the movie, "Rise of The Guardians."
Wally who had just come back a hard mission with the Flash, fell asleep instantly, sprawled out on the couch.
They were at the part where Jamie sees Jack and Jack is finally believed in after so many years. The girls (yes, even Artemis has a heart) were crying at the scene. the boys were almost crying. ALMOST.
Suddenly, they heard a small whimper. Thinking it was just their own imaginations, they ignored it.
Then three minutes later it was heard again, this time a bit louder. Kaldur, who was nearest to the remote, paused the movie as the whimper was heard once again. Everyone's heads whipped towards the source of the noise, and found it was Wally.
"I'm s-so, so-orry" Wally said. They could hear the sadness and fear in his voice. The team stared in shock, all except Robin, whose face had a mixture of anger and sadness hearing Wally's pleads.
Artemis tried to wake Wally up by shaking him, a bad feeling rising up in her chest. Before anyone could do anything else, he cried out again.
"I'm sor-ry dad, ple-ease don't hurt me!"
Gasps were heard and Artemis's face changed to shock and empathywhile she unconsciously rubbed her arm, where a bruise had once been formed.
She shook him again. "Baywatch, wake up!"
Wally shot up panting looking around wildly.
…End of Flashback…
His first thought was 'where's dad? Where am I?
Then he realized he was at the Mountain, not the house.
Not his home, the house.
Tears pricked his eyes as he remembered the beating. Ever since his mom died, his father started drinking.
This led to beating.
That night was the night he ran away, to his uncle's house, injured greatly. He remembered his uncle's surprise, then anger when he had told him, why he was at their house at four am, with a broken wrist and huge bruises on his body. The next week, he was adopted.
Rudolph west, was put in jail for five years, and had just come out.
He would have this nightmare frequently now, at least 3 times a month.
Except in this version, no one saved him.
Wally felt a sinking feeling in his chest. 'They knew, they're going to treat me differently' he thought, He bolted to his room and locked the door.
Megan broke the silence. "How? How could he be so happy?" She said, starting to cry, remembering the pain and sadness that rolled off of the speedster.
"KF, has always been good at hiding his feelings," Robin said, his eyes shining darkly behind his sunglasses.
Connor and Kaldur stayed silent but, Kaldur looked worried and Connor well…. He looked like he was about to rip someone's arms off.
Artemis was the first one to move, and she stood up. "I'll be right back..." she said and headed for Wally's room.
She knocked on the door and rest of the team heard a muffled 'Go away' and 'Wally let me in'.
To their surprise, they heard a click of a lock opening and a door opening. Artemis walked in and shut the door.