It Takes 5 Rogues To Raise A Piper

Chapter 4: Flash

Barry Allen was not having a very good day. Iris had gotten mad over something trivial (so what if he had joked about her weight?) and as a result he had actually been late to work then there was that whole mess with the Rogues being kidnappers. He had been very tempted to run over there as Flash but since he was confident that the Rogues wouldn't actually hurt the boy he had just stayed at his desk and continued working. His boss was demanding a DNA sample that wouldn't be finished testing for another three hours and then he had to swing by the hospital to wish his co-worker Patty Spivot well as she had broken her leg two days earlier. He was his way out of the hospital when he happened to hear someone cursing from the other side of the door. Relatively curious he threw on his costume and flung open the door just in time to see Mirror Master disappearing through a bedpan. "Oh no you don't!" Flash ran forward and grabbed Mirror Master's ankle only to get pulled into the mirror as well. "This just isn't my day," Flash decided.

He was prepared for a fight, but to his eternal surprise, Mirror Master didn't even seem to notice he was there. Two seconds later Mirror Master pulled Heatwave in as well, the latter holding an armful of clothes. "I only got him a few things," Heatwave said. "I figured we could always go back if we needed to."

"That's fine," Mirror Master said distractedly.

"Who are you guys talking about?" Flash asked. "I thought you guys gave back your hostage."

Both men shrieked and turned to stare at Flash. "Cold isn't going to like this," Heatwave said worriedly.

"But he might be able to help Hartley," Mirror Master argued. "Besides, I'm really not in the mood to fight him right now."

"Good point," Heatwave nodded in agreement.

"What's wrong with Hartley?" Flash demanded, suddenly worrying that he might have made the wrong call about not going earlier that day.

"You'll find out in just a minute," Mirror Master said somberly as they tumbled out into the Rogues hideout.

Once he had regained his footing Flash wasted no time; he ran through the hideout only to skid to a stop when he reached the kitchen door. Captain Cold stood at the sink, washing his hands while Weather Wizard was playing with a stereo, his face pale as he glanced over at Captain Boomerang who was holding what appeared to be a child wrapped in a blood-stained blanket. "What in the world is going on in here?" he demanded.

Startled, Captain Cold turned from the sink to face him. A variety of emotions crossed his face before he finally settled on relief and turned to Mirror Master. "Sam, you get it?"

"Right here," Mirror Master nodded, holding up a box that Flash now recognized as a rape kit.

"That's good," Weather Wizard ran over and took the box from Sam who seemed all too willing to relinquish it.

"I've got clothes," Heatwave placed the items on the counter.

"Well, Flash, are you just going to stand there gawking all day or are you gonna help?" Captain Cold asked as he took off his blood-stained parka.

Flash blinked once then decided that the Rogues seemed to be more interested in helping the boy then harming him and ran over to the table. The next hour was nothing but a red blur to Flash as he assisted Cold and the other Rogues in cleaning off Hartley Rathaway, bandaging wounds and fighting a burning desire to track down whoever had done this and killing them very slowly. He had definitely been hanging around Batman too much.

After all was said and done and Hartley had been dressed in a pair of Flash pajamas (much to Barry's amusement) he fell sound asleep curled up in Len's arms, his small chest occasionally heaving as he sniffled.

"Who did that to him?" Flash's voice was low.

"His old man," Cold finally replied. "We went to check up on him and walked in…that man is lucky Hartley needed us more otherwise I would have killed him."

Flash heard the quiet anger in the other man's voice and had no doubts that Cold was telling the truth. "What are you going to do with him?" he inclined his head towards the still sleeping Hartley.

"Whatever he wants," Cold said. "If he wants to stay, then he'll stay. If he wants to go live with his mother or even you then he can do that to. I won't keep him prisoner here."

"Ok," they fell into an uneasy silence. Finally Flash hesitated then pushed his cowl back. "Barry Allen," he said, running a hand through his hair.

"Len Snart," the tone in his voice was just daring Flash to comment but he wasn't that stupid.

Captain Boomerang poked his head in. "How is he?" his voice was low as well.

"Sleepin'," Len replied. "You can come in if you want, Digger. The kid's not that light a sleeper."

Digger nodded then sat down on the couch, his eyes only briefly sweeping over Flash's face before returning to Hartley. Soon afterwards Mark, Mick and Sam joined them and an uneasy silence fell over the group. The only sounds that could be heard was the music that was still playing from somewhere in the kitchen and Hartley's breathing.

"Uh, Barry," Len said at last.

"Yes?" Barry straightened.

"You do realize it's after midnight right?"

Barry paled as the realization sunk in. "I'm a dead man," he whispered.

"Door's that way," Len motioned with his head. "You're welcome to stop by tomorrow and check on him."

"I will," Barry stood and then ran towards home as fast as he could. Maybe, just maybe, Iris wouldn't kill him and maybe pigs would fly.

Len watched with no small amount of amusement as the Flash fled as if hellhounds were on his heels but all amusement quickly died when he glanced back down at the boy in his arms.

"How could anyone hurt Hartley?" Mark finally voiced what they were all thinking, confusion evident on his face.

"People are crazy," Digger grunted.

"We're villains and we would never do something like that," Mick protested as he kept his eyes off the flames for once.

"Agreed," Sam growled.

"And that's why we're Rogues," Len said firmly. "We don't play by others rules; never have, never will. Hartley's one of us now and we'll take good care of him."

"All hail the Rogues," Digger muttered.


Barry arrived home a few seconds after he had left the Rogues. He hoped that Iris was sound asleep but no such luck. She sat in the living room, her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. "Well?" she said. "You better have one heck of an excuse, Barry."

"I spent the evening at the Rogues hideout," he eventually decided that honesty was probably the best policy in this case as he sat next to her on the couch.

"And why did you do that?" she sounded genuinely curious.

"It turns out that Hartley Rathaway's father was abusive," Barry said grimly. "So the Rogues liberated him and I wound up helping them patch him up."

"Is he ok?" Iris asked worriedly, tears already welling up in her eyes.

"I hope so," Barry replied. "I really hope so but I don't know. All we can do now is wait and see."

"Is he going to be staying with the Rogues?" Iris was already in reporter-mode, analyzing the information Barry had just given her.

Barry shrugged. "It's up to him but the Rogues want him to stay."

Iris nodded. "He's about Wally's age right? Mary sent over some of his old clothes today and I was going to take them to the homeless shelter but I think I'll see if Hartley can wear them instead."

"I'll take them tomorrow," Barry promised.

"I'm going with you," Iris said in a tone of voice that brooked no argument.

Barry really wanted to protest but it was late and he was tired so he simply nodded. If the Rogues didn't like Iris's presence then they could take it up with her but he somehow doubted that even Captain Cold would be able to stand in her way once she put her mind to something. He just needed to remember to not mention to Batman that Barry had just revealed his secret identity to the Rogues Gallery. The Justice League would never let him hear the end of it.


A/N: Hope you liked! Please read and review!
A/N/N: Sorry this chapter is so late but I just got home from work and had to finish typing up this chapter real quick. Another chapter will either be posted tomorrow night or Friday night. Sorry that the updates aren't as regular as the last story but I recently decided to re-watch Inuyasha so I've been busy watching that and the new Justice League movie last night. It was totally awesome by the way, Shazam was amazing and so was Cyborg! Now I can't wait to see the movie about Batman's son, it looks great too.