I had to write this soon, or I think you all would have risen up and murdered me.

I adore this love/hate relationship we have. Because almost invariably in every review, the jist was "I love this chapter, but HOW DARE YOU LEAVE IT THERE!" Good times.

Warnings-Blood, abuse, serious butt-kicking, torture (Also, I don't think I mentioned this. If my story ever dips too far into the dark and should be considered M, please let me know)

Flash POV (Barry Allen) (Oh, and for this story, Iris is aware that Barry is Flash)


Flash had been scarfing down on some chips, when he heard a beeping sound. He stopped chewing and tilted his head, unsure if he had just been hearing the crunchy chips. But no, there it was again.

Dropping the bag carelessly on the counter, Barry quickly patted himself down, then raced over to the couch and saw his blinking communicator. He flipped it open and said, "Hello? Flash speaking."

"I know that. Look, I need you down here. Take the zeta-beam to the cave, now."

"Jeez, Batman. Not even a hello? What's so important-?" Barry wandered back over to the counter to pick up the bag and peer inside to see if there were any chips left.

"Your nephew, Wally."

Barry dropped the bag and gripped the communicator tight. "What?" Was all he could get out past the knot of terror blocking his throat. Batman was calling about Wally?

"Get to the cave."

It was all he needed.

He was in the machine typing in coordinates faster than the machine could process, then waited impatiently for it to whir to life.

The last time Batman had been involved with Wally, Flash had been much too far away. Technically, this time he was farther, seeing as he was in the Watchtower, miles away from Earth's surface, but the circumstances were different this time around.

This time, he could help.


Five weeks ago

Barry had been dreaming of falling, falling fast, but for some reason, it seemed right. No fear of going splat on the ground, or of going so fast he spontaneously ignited due to friction.

It had been nice, really, until the sound of his phone ringing jarred him awake.

Barry jerked his head off the pillow and inhaled sharply. Then he heard the ringing again and fumbled for his phone. "Hello? Who is this?"

"Uncle Barry! It's Wally." There was something off about Wally but...

"Wally? What's wrong kiddo? Shouldn't you be in bed?" Next to him, Iris stirred and mumbled a vague questioning sound. Barry put his hand over the receiver and quietly said, "It's Wally."

"I need your help, please!" Instantly, Barry snapped awake, all traces of sleepiness gone.

"What's going on?"


Barry cursed his luck. This week, they were doing repairs on a main highway that led to Gotham, so he would have to take longer detours to get there that added about twenty minutes to his time.

He couldn't just zoom over either, because Wally knew he had been at home. How could he explain the near instant transportation? He couldn't show up as Flash either. Wally was smart, and Barry doubted he'd believe him if he said something like, "I was coincidentally passing through I city I try to avoid and running down back alleys looking for small children who are hurt like yourselves."

He was a pretty bad liar.

Barry cursed again as he thought up different scenarios for what could be happening. For now, Wally didn't sound like he was running from someone, but that didn't mean that a defenseless kid on the street with another kid who's injured (apparently badly) wouldn't be attacked soon.

Why on earth had Rudolph let Wally go out tonight? He had said that Rudolph was with friends, but why would Wally leave? He's a good kid, and wouldn't just walk out of his house for no reason.

As Barry glanced at the clock and growled, some part of his mind was in hysterics at the irony. The world's fastest man, and he's too slow to save his nephew.

But there was somebody already in Gotham who could help.

Barry snatched his communicator from where he tossed it next to his phone in the cupholder. He dialed it in and when the line picked up, he immediately said, "Bruce, I need a favor."


When he picked up Wally and saw him safe, Barry thought his heart would give out from sheer happiness. But when he hugged him tightly, he noticed the bruises and scrapes that Wally sported. "Where did you get all these wounds?"

Wally mentioned something about being jumped, and then before Barry could ask any questions, he interjected, "Can we go home? I'm really tired."

Of course he couldn't say no to that, and true to his word, Wally fell asleep on the way home and stayed that way until Barry pulled up at home. There was no way that Barry was bringing Wally home when he felt so guilty about not being there. Plus he had no way to tell if Rudolph was actually home now.

He easily unbuckled a limp Wally and picked him up. God, he was light. Barry may have had enhanced strength, but it felt like he was holding a blanket in his arms, not a thirteen year old boy.

Iris said nothing as he walked in with Wally asleep in his arms and helped settle him on the couch. They walked into the kitchen where they could keep an eye on Wally without waking him up while they talked.

"Barry, what happened? You just ran off this morning and then come back with Wally like this?"

"Wally called me this morning and asked me to come get him. When I picked him up, he said he and a friend had gotten jumped. Fell asleep on the way home before I could ask anything else."

Iris gave Wally a worried glance, but sighed and smiled ruefully at Barry. "You're beating yourself up over not being there aren't you?"

He looked at the ground and let his shoulders slump. Iris laid a comforting hand on his shoulder and kissed his forehead. "It's not your fault, you know."

"But I wasn't there."

"I know. But contrary to your greatest efforts, you can't be everywhere at once. Not even you." She gently placed fingers under his chin and tilted his head up. His tired eyes met her sparkling ones, and he smiled. Just a bit.

"You know me too well."

Iris laughed. "But not nearly as well as I'd like." She kissed him once before withdrawing to order food for dinner.


When he woke up the next morning, he trotted down the stairs, only to have a mini-panic attack at seeing the couch empty, the blanket neatly folded and placed on the end.

Then he caught sight of the note placed on the end table. Wally had written his thanks for letting him stay, and saying that he was going home.

Barry let the note fall. He'd been hoping to spend the day with Wally, not to question him (although he might have done that) but to make it up to him. Iris kept trying to reassure him that it wasn't his fault, but he couldn't help it.

The next several weeks, both Barry and Flash were so caught up in work that he never had a chance to go over and see Wally.


Back to Today

Flash was instantly by Batman's side when the zeta beam deposited him in the Batcave.

"What's going on? Where's Wally? Is he okay?"

"Barry." Batman halted the flow of questions with a raised hand and firm voice. He was used to dealing with Flash by now.

"Sorry."

"Before you go rushing off, I need to explain some things first, sostay here and listen." At Barry's nod, he continued. "Yes, I know where he is, but I'm uncertain if he's injured. Also..." Batman trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

"What? We're wasting time here!"

Batman glared at him. "I know. This information might be a bit uncomfortable for you to process. First, my new ward, Dick Grayson is also with Wally, and I know he is injured."

"That's not a problem, I can get both of them." Flash was buzzing in place with the effort of holding still. He wouldn't have known where to run anyway, because Batman had made certain not to tell him yet. That cunning-

"That's not what will bother you. Look, there's not a good way to say this, so I'll be blunt. Your brother-in-law Rudolph West has been physically and probably emotionally abusing Wally for years."

The force of the words hit Barry so hard that he stopped moving entirely. Instead, his brain was buzzing about, trying to process the words.

Wally? Abused? No. He'd become much quieter after his mother's death, and started coming over later at night, but also with less frequency. But that was nothing, right?

Barry hadn't even seen Rudolph in three years. He knew he'd been drinking a bit more than normal, and his already short temper had grown shorter, but...abusing his son?

Batman watched the thoughts play out on Barry's face as he continued talking. "Wally was never jumped. Dick was the friend he was talking about, but Dick was beaten several days earlier and had developed pneumonia. Wally's injuries were caused by his father. It's probably why he came to Gotham."

"I...what?" Barry felt almost on the verge of tears. Now that it was pointed out to him, he could see all the pieces lining up.

Wally flinching faintly whenever Barry went to high-five him. Wally eating anything that was put on his plate and praising it to high heaven. Wally going pale and backing away the one time Barry had had a sip of beer (he hadn't drank in front of Wally ever again). Wally passing off so many bruises and scrapes as clumsiness.

Now, Barry Allen is not stupid, nor was he willingly ignoring this. He is an eternal optimist, and sometimes it makes it hard to see things he doesn't want to. He never connected all the pieces that would have made it obvious what was going on.

"Where is Wally?" Barry didn't recognize his own voice, cold and hard as he asked Batman. He had retreated into some part of his brain and let years of superheroing and police training take over.

"Lee Memorial Park." Barely before Batman finished, Flash was gone.

He knew where he had to be.


It took a little under two minutes to dash to Central City and into the park. FLash stopped on a dime and looked around. It was late at night, so there was no one in the park.

Think, where would they have come in from? he furiously questioned himself. Rudolph's house was pretty close to here, but it was a couple streets over. He zipped over there and looked towards the park again.

Okay, they'd probably come this way,he reasoned as he started to walk deeper into the park. A bush was trampled, then a few branches snapped up ahead. He followed the trail of plant carnage, until he saw the two boys, crumpled on the ground.

"Wally!" he cried as he dashed to him. Flash knelt next to the two boys, face going pale when he moved to lift the darker haired boy (Dick, a quiet voice called from the back of his head) and saw a large bloodstain covering his lower back.

Cursing like a sailor (and hoping the boys weren't awake to hear him), he lifted Dick gently off Wally and held him on his lap. He checked for an exit wound, and found a small one on the boy's left hip. He pressed one of his hands to the one on his back, while looking at Wally.

Bruises outnumbered the amount of normal skin that showed, and there was a gash on the side of Wally's head that lead dangerously close to his eye. It curved right below his left eye, and was still bleeding. He grew even angrier when he could make out faint remains of tear tracks in the moonlight.

With his free hand, he fumbled for his communicator, trying to push the right buttons with his blood-slicked fingers. Batman picked up immediately and said, "I'm right outside the park, I'll be at your location in a minute."

True to his word, Batman appeared soon, and instantly took Flash's place at Dick's side. He drew gauze out from his belt and pressed it to the wound, before tightly wrapping his stomach in a quick bandage.

"Grab Wally and get back to he cave. Alfred has the medbay prepped. I'll be there as soon as I can." Once again, as soon as the bat's words left his lips, Flash was gone, trying to run both as fast and as smoothly as possible.

He cradled Wally tightly in his arms, wishing he could still perform Iris's old trick from when Wally was little and have hugs take away the pain.


Alfred guided Flash to the medical bay, and started taking care of Wally. Flash sat in a chair and watched from a distance, lost in his own head. He flinched with every stitch that was put in, and was almost sick when he saw the bruises covering ribs that stuck out of Wally's thin torso.

Finally, he was cleaned up, just as the Batmobile rushed inside. Immediately Alfred followed Batman into another room. Distantly, the part of him that had been hiding hoped that the boy was okay. He looked even younger than Wally, but was more malnourished, if that was possible.

Flash had no idea how long he'd sat in his silent vigil next to Wally, but he was startled out of his revere when he heard panicked murmuring. Instantly, he was by Wally's side, and threw his cowl back. Flash was gone and Barry came back at the sight of his nephew stirring. "Wally?" he asked breathlessly.

Hazy eyes met his. "Uncle Barry," was what he thought Wally said. It sounded more like "Nka Bury."

"Shh, buddy. I'm right here. It's okay, you're safe now. Your friend is too."

"Dick?"

"Yeah, he's going to be fine. And so are you. I'm here now. I promise you'll be safe."

"Pr'mise?"

"Yeah," he said as he smoothed Wally's bright hair. "I promise."

With that Wally's eyes fluttered shut and he fell back asleep.

Barry stayed like that for a few more minutes, just stroking Wally's hair and whispering that he was safe. When he finally left the medical bay, Batman was sitting at his computer, cowl back and looking more tired than Barry had ever seen him.

"Is he gonna be alright?"

Bruce looked up and him and nodded once. Nothing more.

"I'm going to take Wally home. I have something I need to do."

Bruce watched him as he zipped back to the medbay to pick up Wally, then stop in front of Batman when he spoke. "Don't kill him."

Flash froze for a moment, and then sped out of the cave. He couldn't promise anything tonight.


Barry gently set Wally in the spare bedroom and went to find Iris. Briefly he wondered if he should be worried that Wally saw him in uniform, then realized that Wally could barely see him through the swollen eye from the cut, even if he did remember tonight's events.

After tersely explaining to Iris in the briefest of conversations, she told him to go get Rudolph, and make him pay. He may be her brother, but Iris would not stand for this.

It only took a minute to reach Rudolph's house, and he opened the door silently and stepped in. He heard rattling and the faint noise of the television before a loud voice shouted at him.

"Boy, issat you? Di'n't you learn your lesson the first time?" Rudolph stood in the entry to the hallway, but froze when he saw Flash. "You're the Flash." He said dumbly.

"Yes I am. I found out an interesting fact about you today, from a young boy I met." He took a few slow steps forward as he felt the anger bubble in him. "He was bruised all over and asked me to help him."

Yes, he started lying here, but if Wally had been conscious, their conversation might have gone this way.

"I asked him what happened, and he said his father beat him. Even after," Flash found he enjoyed the look of sheer terror on Rudolph's face, "he begged him to stop. Pleaded for him to stop hitting him."

"I didn't do nothing."

Flash's fist was as fast as his name. So was the second and third. "Oh really?" He asked as Rudolph gasped on the ground, clutching his stomach. "So the blood on your floor is someone else's?" A swift kick to the ground had Rudolph shrieking in pain. "The 'lesson' you were talking about was for someone else?"

The fear in Rudolph's eyes when Flash held him up at eye level by his hair made the burning anger gleeful. "You want to lie to me right now, and say that you didn't beat your son 'til he was bleeding and broken?"

"No." Rudolph whimpered. "Please stop."

That.

Those two words made his vision go red.

Flash dropped him and slowly advanced as Rudolph tried to scuttle backwards. "Did you stop when your son asked you that? The first time? What about all the others?"

Rudolph hysterically shook his head, and Flash raised his fist, knowing that if he hit him once, right in the back on the head, he'd be dead in an instant.

He lashed out faster than any human eye could follow.

And hit Rudolph square in the mouth.

He screamed and fell backwards, writhing in agony. Shards of teeth coated in blood spilled into Rudolph's hands and Flash calmly spoke over his cries.

"You deserve to die. But not fast. You deserve to rot in jail until you understand, until you feel every second of agony your son ever felt. And in your last moments, you can understand how awful you truly are."

And with that, he punched Rudolph in the temple and he fell to the ground.


Turning Rudolph over to the police was harder than Barry thought it would be. He still did it, but...

The next week was crazy. Wally spent most recovering, so the police (really just Barry and a trusted friend) took pictures of Wally's extensive bruises and scars as evidence against Rudolph. Then he had to be told that his father was arrested.

The emotions flickered plainly across Wally's face. Sadness, joy, terror, and finally relief, and it was at that point that Wally flung himself at his Uncle and sobbed his thanks for a good hour.

Barry and Iris gained custody of Wally, and Rudolph was imprisoned for life.

It wasn't all perfect, but it was a start.

After all, no happy ending can happen without a beginning.


There. Happy now?

God, Rudolph deserved worse, but I don't think it's in Flash's nature to kill (even if I would have done it. Slowly. Very slowly. God, he would have been begging me to kill him. Anyway...). Hopefully the people in jail will find out he's a child abuser and gang up on him.

To the lovely guests who commented, thank you!

And to the guest who apologized, it's not a problem. At all, I swear. But thank you for saying something anyway :)

I know no one will care about this little tidbit of my life: So I went to the doctor's the other day, and my doctor keeps stickers in her office for her younger patients but I was looking at them and found a Batman sticker!

I totally kept it.

Happy New Year, by the way.

Also (Sorry for the long note) but you people who wanted daddybats fluff, check for that next chapter (which won't be nearly as soon as I've been updating)