Beta readed by my personal Robin xD Thank you for having the patience and goodwill to keep up with my mistakes. 3 Can't wait for Batman Live.
Now please enjoy! ^^
Around noon the next day.
Wally didn't even come for breakfast and M'gann figured it would be good to bring him something to eat.
"Recognized 04 Flash"
The martian looked over and saw not the Flash enter but Barry Allen. Hadn't it been for the voice, she wouldn't have recognized him. He was tall and handsome, with blond hair that radiated in the cold light of the trainings-area and eyes as blue as the sky gazed over to M'gann. She could tell his face was usually relaxed but right now his rather broad forehead was wrinkled. "M'gann?" he reassured himself on her name and the red haired alien nodded.
"That's right." she said and gave him an entreating look.
"Tell me you came here to look for Wally. We're worried about him." she said and the member of the Justice League walked up to her nodding. "I am. So he is here after all? Did he eat anything?" he asked with worry in his voice. M'gann looked on her tray and shook her head. "Not since he appeared here yesterday evening." she answered. That answer left deeper curves on Barrys forehead. "Not enough.." he said. "May I?" with that he took the tray from M'ganns hands, smiled at her and walked on.
He has been there when the...incident had took place. Of course he was it had been a family picnic. Half of the park witnessed how Rudy started to beat Wally. The blonde pulled a face and closed his eyes. He did not want to think about that right now. Instead he walked on to his nephews room.
He had been lying on his bed ever since yesterday evening. He felt stiff, his head, side and arm hurt. God it hurt so much. He didn't even know why he wasn't healing. He should have been okay in theory.
On the other hand he had not eaten since yesterday evening, his stomach growled but his hunger wasn't intense enough yet. He just did not wanted to move at all. Lying here and telling himself he just had a dream and those wounds came from falling out of the bed sounded fine. He knew he was fooling himself. His father battered him. And he could not deny it. Pulling a painful face, he remembered yesterday evening...
Wally was sitting on the blanket, had his head bowed down to the round belly of his aunt. He pushed his ear against the fabric of her cardigan, listening closely, his forehead in a deep frown. He had been sitting there for the past ten minutes, listen closely trying to hear ANYTHING. But he failed.
"Aw maaan!" he moaned, sitting up and crossing his arms. "You're so far along Iris and I can't hear anything. How much time is left? A month?" he asked now with a little excitement in his voice. He was going to have a baby cousin soon. And he had been excited for it ever since Iris approached him with the news for the first time. She had done this carefully. As if she was afraid to anger him. But Wally had just grinned broadly at her and how did Iris love this smile. This radiant smile that would lit up the entire world if it was needed the most.
"Yup", Iris nodded smiling and put a hand on her belly. "a whooole month until baby Elenor will come to life. Though Superman said he had heard her a lot."
"Yeah well Superman has SUPER hearing!" Wally said and rolled his eyes but Iris smiled, reached her other hand out and ruffled Wallys rust-red hair. "We won't forget about you though." she smiled and winked and Wally waved his hand.
"I know. I'll be all about little Nelly too." the speedster had said grinning and looked up when Barry took a seat next to his wife and his nephew. His face looked a little worried when he gazed over to Rudolph, Wallys father. He couldn't help but slip forward and a little in front of Iris just in case protection was needed. Wally looked over as well.
The man was already drunk and insulted people that walked by. Wally covered his face with his hand and stood up to walk over to his Dad. "Dad...don't you think you've had enough?" he asked and reached for the bottle of beer. But Rudy did not think so. When Wally wanted to get the bottle, his hand snapped out and grabbed Wallys arm with a surprisingly tight grip. It actually really hurt. Barry sat up a little. Wally let out a gasp of pain and tried to break free. "Dad! Let go, you're hurting me!" he called but Rudy was totally in the zone now. "No I will not. Young man you've pissed me off for long enough now!" Wally did not understand what was going on all of the sudden. Why was his father screaming at him? And why wouldn't he let go of him? He kept on ranting and Wally didn't even understand what he was saying. Barry had stood up as well and looked at the situation closely. If Rudy would do anything stupid he'd be there in the blink of an eye. But then everything happened very fast. Rudy pulled Wally close, screamed something and spitted into his face and suddenly slapped him. Slapped him so hard that Wallys lip burst open. The speedster stared at his father in shock and even Barry stared at the situation in bewilderment. The scene was quiet down. Iris had her hand reached out and Mary had her hand on her mouth. Yet everybody was too shocked to react. But Rudy did not appear to be done. "And suddenly everything is all about Barry and you are that Kid Flash guy and you're eating more then we can buy and you don't even thank us for that! You just drop your clothes in your room and leave again to see your super-hero friends and I'm tired of this Wallace, I'm tired!"
Wally wiped the blood from his lips and balled his fists.
"At least I'm not getting drunk every evening and punch my wife." he said with a deep growl. "Wally!" Mary called but Rudy was at his son again. "What did you say you ungrateful dwarf? What?" Wally straightened. Not willing to take this anymore. "You're batting Mom all the time! Do you really think I didn't notice?"
he screamed now just as angry as his Dad. Barry positioned himself behind his nephew. "Uncle Barry would never do that!" Suddenly Wally stumbled back and his view got hazy. Everything was spinning and his head started hurting incredibly hard. He moaned a little and felt pain pulling through his whole head starting from his eye. He couldn't even see properly.
Rudy kicked his side hard and Wally gasped again and would have got down to his knees weren't it for Barry, who hold him up and pulled him away from Rudy. "Iris come on, we're leaving." he said and Rudy got angry.
"What do you think you're doing? He's not your son!" the man called loud and rude and Barry looked at him calm and collected. Batman expression. "He's not." he said as he supported his nephew who was actually crying from pain and shock "But he is my nephew and I care about him." he said glaring. "Unlike you."
It started raining while Barry gestured his wife and his nephew away to take care about the giant bruise Rudy had done to his son by a single, very powerful punch in the face. Wally found himself back in track quite fast.
As soon as they were away from his parents, he freed himself from Barrys gentle grip. It had started to rain already.
"Sorry..." he whispered and pulled his hood on "Need to be alone." with that, he ran off. Iris nearly forced Barry to follow him but the Flash dropped the search after ten streets. He knew if Wally wanted to be alone, he needed to be. And he wouldn't let himself being found.
Wally thought he could handle the situation. He had been punched in the face thousands of times. It was no big deal, he was healing fast anyway.
But this was no ordinary, crime-fighting situation and he was not healing. In fact he was too shocked to even THINK clearly. His dad had punched him in the face and kicked him. For no apparent reason.
Using the Speed Force was a matter of mind. In order to run at the speed of light your mind had to be ready for it. You had to be clear about where you were running, you had to be aware about the speed you were moving with. Your eyes needed to be sharp to notice all the obstacles coming up. You needed to be sure about everything, especially about yourself. Wally had never been sure about himself. He could only be when he was Kid Flash. When he was Kid Flash he was practically living his dream. He had always liked being in motion. Sitting still was a torture. Always on his feet always around whenever anything happened. And he was always a troublemaker.
But not as Kid Flash. As Kid Flash he was a hero, he could run. He could do what he was best at. Moving.
Being in closed rooms made him feel uncomfortable. Because in closed rooms where he couldn't run he was useless. He was no longer Kid Flash he was just a Wally West in a spandex suit. Wally had never told anyone but since his childhood days he had been claustrophobic and it got worse when he became Kid Flash. Now even lifts made him uneasy. He'd step from one foot to his other, the world around him moving to slow to be possible.
And now, his mind was totally out of everything. He ignored the hunger that nagged his stomach, trying to eat him up from inside. He could only feel that hammering headache and the pain in his arm and the mental pain about getting punched by his Dad. His Dad, the man he had admired for so long. His father used to be an admirable man. He brought money in and he was good and well-respected at his job. But then uncle Barry came into Wallys life. To be frank, Wally at first thought that Barry was just a boring forensic which was slow in everything he did. God he was so slow. And he had always been late. But Wally tried to befriend with him because aunt Iris loved him and Wally would do everything for his aunt Iris. The only one who had ever really loved him and cared for him. At first it was hard. Barrys patience and calmness had brought kiddie Wally to the edge more then one time. But then one day, Barry had noticed Wallys childish admiration for the Flash. He had been a huge fan of the scarlet speedster ever since he appeared on the news for the first time. Had been? He still was although he was working at his side now. The day uncle Barry promised him he could make him meet the Flash - the two of them were friends he had said – was the day uncle Barry became his best friend as well.
"Wait here." Barry had said winking and left around the corner. Then he was gone. Wally had briefly wondered about his disappearance but he did not mind it long because just a minute later the Flash had appeared in front of him smiled at him with that bright smile that the Flash would wear whenever he had caught a villain. And Wally had beamed back with a smile that equaled his.
He had spent the whole day with the Flash eating a huge glass of ice cream and speeding around the city piggy backed. He still remembered this day as one of the best days existing. By the end of the day the Flash had even showed him all the chemicals he had used to become the Flash.
And destiny had called and had sent a flash down hitting the chemicals and spraying Wally with these. That was the way he had become Kid Flash. And his whole life had changed.
A sudden knock on the door teared Wally out of his thoughts and he winced, looking over to the door. Again his stomach grumbled. "I said I did not want anyone, Robin!" he called and pulled his blanket over his head. Barry outside frowned.
"Wally I can hear your stomach grumbling out here so open the door." he said and Wally winced again. His uncle was here. He sighed. Did he want to see him? Did he want to see anyone at all? With a deep frown Wally decided that if he wouldn't let his best friend in, at least his uncle should. He sped over to the door, unlocked it and sped back into his bed. Barry turned the handle and entered the room calmly. "Hey kiddo." he said and put the food on the bedside table. Then he turned the table light on. The room had been dark until then and Wally closed his eyes tight and moaned. "Headache.."
The mattress lowered when Barry sat down. "How's the eye? Let me see it." he asked him. Hesitantly Wally sat up and turned to face his uncle. The colour of the bruise had turned from a strong magenta to a deep purple and Wally twitched with every just light brush. Barry hold Wallys chin in his hand and gently pulling him into the light, scrutinizing the wound he had. It didn't really look good. Barry was especially able to tell since he was a forensic scientist. "Did you treat it in any way?" he asked him worried but Wally shook his head. "Didn't. Just got something to drink and went to bed right away."
Instead of doing anything else, Barry reached for the tray and shoved it into Wally lap. "Eat. Now." it was not a question, it was an order. And Wally knew his uncle was serious when he gave orders. And he had to admit that he was hungry.
The tray was emptied within minutes and Wally instantly felt better. Yet he did not start healing. Barry noticed it as well. "Not healing, huh?" he asked and Wally just silently shook his head. The blonde let out a sigh "Let's worry about that later. Come, we'll treat those bruises." he helped his nephew up and guided him into the kitchen.
At first Wally did not want to go and see everybody else. He was kind of embarrassed at his own weakness and the bruises he got. Connor stared at the snowy TV-Screen and turned his head when Wally entered in the shadow of his uncle, his face down to the ground.
The clone did not know how to treat Wally. He wasn't even sure if he entirely understood the situation. Wally had been hit in the face, so what? Was it a different situation if your father did it? Connor could kind of imagine, but he decided to leave Wally alone. Otherwise he might intimidate the already scared boy. He just looked at Wally for some seconds and then decided to refocus on the screen. But Robin was at Wally immediately. "Wally! You're out of your room! How are you feeling?" he asked and the red head took a step away from him. It was especially embarrassing in front of the Boy Wonder. Despite the fact that his parents were dead and Bruce Wayne was his warden, he did not seem to have any fights with Batman going on. At least not yet. Everyone in the Justice League knew – sooner or later Batman and Robin would crush. Their characters were too different. But for now it worked fine.
Barry reached his hand out and put it on Robins shoulder. "Robin? Hold your horses, Wally just woke up." he smiled and the black haired nodded, taking a step back. "Right..I'm sorry Walls." he apologized but unlike his usual self, Wally just shook his head "It's fine." he mumbled and took a seat on one of the kitchen chairs and waited for his uncle to prepare some stuff. Barry wrapped a cooling pad into a towel and handed it Wally who carefully put it on his eye, hissing while doing so. Flash sped off into the medical bay, returned in the blink of an eye with some bandages and a cream for his bruises. He gently took Wallys arm in his hands and creamed the bruises. Finally he wrapped his arm up. "Until you start healing, this should do fine." he said and Wally nodded silently. Robin took a seat next to him, bombing him with questions and Wally winced at every single one. Eventually Flash intervened "Robin." he said with a stern voice "Mind leaving me and Wally alone?" Barry said, helping Wally up and pulled his shirt up to look at the bruise with the size of a pineapple. Robin swallowed his comment and just stared at it. Wally bit his lip and didn't say anything, letting his uncle help him.
Barry decided it would be best for Wally to really be left alone. And although Robin was his best friend, right now the raven-haired acrobat was too much of a pest.
The blonde gestured Wally back into his room. "So? What do you think about a camping tour on the weekend?" he suggested. Wally looked up at him and a little smile broke on his rather pale face.
"The two of us? Just like in the old days?" he asked and Barry nodded. "Just the two of us like in the old days." he agreed and now Wally really smiled at him. "Great!" he said "Friday after school?" again a nod. "Friday after school."
Now Wallys mood had been lifted a little but it got worse as soon as Barry took his leave and he was on his own again, memories from yesterday flooding him.
He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the remaining three days of the week.