A/N: Things are getting harder, or better, for Waly. It depends on your perspective.

That night, Batman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Black Canary were waiting for Flash on the Watchtower. As soon as the Speedster stepped out of the zeta tube, he knew something was up. "…Hey guys," he said with obvious false cheer. "What's up? Surprise party?"

"We need to talk," Green Arrow informed him.

"Privately," Batman added.

Flash almost narrowed his eyes at the hint of sympathy in the Bat's voice. 'Ok, something is really up.' Not knowing what else to do, he nodded. They led him to a separate room just off the main area they'd been in. As soon as the door closed, he crossed his arms. "Ok, what's going on?"

"…Red Arrow came to talk to Canary and me during patrol today," Green Arrow said. "He had been working on a drug bust for a guy who was selling prescription sleeping pills."

"So?"

"Barry… The buyer…it was Wally."

Flash blinked slowly. "…Wally?"

"Yes," Black Canary replied. It was silent for several seconds. "Barry-"

"You're wrong."

"Red Arrow said-"

"Then Roy's wrong!" Flash swallowed, trying to keep his hands from vibrating. "It's- No! Wally would never do something like that!"

"He's going through a stressful time. It's not unheard of for teenagers to experiment with drugs when going through something like this. Wally's a hero, but he's still a 16-year-old. His brain isn't fully developed, and that combined with the stress of his trauma could-"

"No! Wally wouldn't do something like this! How dare you accuse him of this!"

"No one is attacking your nephew's character," Batman replied gently.

"We understand that Wally is going through a traumatic experience and has made a few mistakes-"

"Wally is Kid Flash. He doesn't make these kinds of mistakes."

"Barry, you can't live in denial about something like this," Green Lantern told him. "You need to stop it. I know speedsters are basically immune to most chemicals, but we don't know what kinds of drugs he tried. He could hurt himself."

"No. No." Flash shook his head and started pacing over the same four feet of floor. "No… Wally wouldn't… He would never…"

"Barry," Batman said. When the speedster just kept muttering and pacing, he spoke again. "Barry, look at me." When Flash lifted his head, Batman held his gaze. "We would never say this unless we thought it was true. You know how close Roy and Wally are. He would never bring this up if it didn't happen. Everyone here is saying what we are because we care about Wally and we're concerned for him."

Flash swallowed. "No, I- I have to go." Before anyone could say anything else, he ran from the room. He stopped just long enough to get through the zeta tube. As soon as he stepped into Central, he ran. The zeta tube wasn't far from his house (not that its distance would ever be an issue) but he ran faster than usual. It only took him two minutes to reach his home. Without thinking, he vibrated through the back door and slowed down enough that his winds wouldn't pull the picture frames from the wall. When he passed the living room, Iris and Wally looked back at him from the couch, basically in slow motion. The sight of his nephew made Flash's heart clench. So he ran up the stairs to Wally's room. He stopped in the middle of it and jerked his cowl off his head.

For a few seconds, Barry just looked around the room. Then, he zipped around, tearing through everything at superspeed. When he searched the dresser, he found a pair of socks rolled tight, tighter than the others in the top drawer. That set off his own forensics science alarm. Denial screeching in his brain and nausea building up in his stomach, he pulled out the socks. Moving very slowly, Barry unrolled the socks. Tucking into the toe of one, was a sandwich bag. Inside the bag, was three white pills. He recognized them instantly. They were prescription-strength sleeping pills that were also the most commonly sold illegally on the streets.

"What the hell, Uncle B?!" Wally demanded behind him.

In an instant, Barry's shock turned to anger. He spun around, holding up the bag. "Why don't I ask you the same thing?" Wally was silent. "Well?!"

"I- I don't know-"

"Don't. Lie. To. Me. You're already in a world of trouble, Wally. Trust me, you do not want to lie to me right now."

Wally almost shrunk under the angry gaze of his uncle. 'I've never seen Barry this anger before.' It even topped Wally blowing himself up to get super speed. "I- I just wanted to sleep."

"Using drugs?"

"Does it matter how?!"

"When the way you're doing it involves buying illegal drugs, then yes! It does!" Barry looked around as Iris walked into the room, her face creased with concern. "Is there anything else I should know about?" When Wally didn't answer, he kept going. "Because I will search every inch of this room."

"You can't do that! It's my room!"

"It's my house and you're a minor! I can search anywhere I want! So what's it going to be Wally? Are you going to do the responsible thing and fess up, or do I have to find out on my own?" Wally crossed his arms and glared. "Fine." Without waiting another second, Barry ran around the room. He didn't have to go far though. Tucked in the far corner under the bed, he found alcohol. His anger burned even more as he stood in front of Wally, a bag of pills in one hand, two bottles of vodka in the other. "Well?" Wally just looked at the floor.

"Wally, why would you do something like this?" Iris asked angrily. "You're smart, you know using drugs and underaged drinking is dangerous-"

"For normal people!" Wally objected. "But I'm a speedster! That stuff barely affects me anyway! It's not like I'm going to get addicted! And the alcohol doesn't stay in my system long enough to do damage!"

"You don't know that!" Barry snapped. "God, Wally, how could you be this dumb?! We have no possible way to know what kind of damage this could do! We know nothing about how it could affect you with your powers!"

"But I'm fine! I've been doing this for weeks and I've tried other drugs too! All they've done is make me feel better."

"What other drugs?!" Iris demanded. When her nephew didn't say anything, she grabbed his shoulder. "Wallace!"

"Pot a few times."

For several seconds, neither Barry or Iris said anything.

"Where?" Barry asked, voice low. "Because I know you were at least smart enough to try this shit in a place where all the cops didn't know your uncle."

"…I took the zeta to Gotham. Figured if there was any place where I'd find what I wanted, it was there."

"Gotham- God, you're so lucky that Red Arrow busted you and not Batman."

"Roy's such a snitch."

"He's your friend," Iris told him. "Who did the right thing."

"Says you!"

"Yeah, says me! Why would you do this?! If you were struggling this much why didn't you just come to us-"

"If?! If?!" Wally tore himself away from his aunt's grasp. "Do you even hear yourself?! If I'm struggling?! Of course, I'm fucking struggling!"

"Don't talk to your aunt like that!" Barry snapped.

"Why not?! You guys wanted an answer! Here it is: I'm tired! Tired of nightmares! Of feeling like a zombie during the day and like I'm on speed the next! I'm tired of the guilt and grief and anger! I'm sick of it!" Tears welled up in Wally's eyes. "I don't want to feel all of this! I want it to stop!"

"Then come talk to us! We're your family we want to help you!"

"I don't want your help! This is my screw up! Mom and Dad are dead because of me! I- I've messed everything up! There's no fixing that! I don't want to sit around and talk about everything!"

Some of Iris' anger softened. "Wally-"

"Just- Just leave me alone!" Not wanting this conversation to go on any longer, he ran. Unfortunately, his speed was still out of reach, so he could only run at normal speed. He heard Barry and Iris call after him, but thankfully, they didn't chase him. Wally barely stopped to put his shoes on before he was out the door. He sprinted across the street and down random sidewalks in their neighborhood. Even if he wasn't using his speed, it still felt nice to run. The motions woke some kind of muscle memory in his legs and arms. It felt…good. Very good. It made Wally run even faster. His shoes pounded on the pavement and he kept going and going. Eventually, he only stopped when he was out of breath. He took deep, ragged breaths and looked around. 'Guess some things never change,' he thought with a wry smile.

Wally was on a footbridge that crossed a river. Street lamps lined each side of the wide bridge, which was usually full of people in the summer. He climbed the stone wall that lined the bridge to sit on the edge. The bridge was low enough that he could see the dark water flowing beneath in the lamplight. He kept taking deep breaths, slightly enjoying the aching in his muscles. For a little while, it was completely silent as he stared at the water. After a few minutes though, Wally heard footsteps approaching. He didn't both turning around. From the corner of his eye, he saw two people sit on either side of him. He sighed. "What're you doing here?" he asked.

"Your aunt called," Hartley replied, looking out at the river. "She said you guys had a fight and ran out of the house."

Wally snorted. "Really? That's what she's calling it?"

"Is that not what happened?"

"…I've been drinking alcohol and trying drugs." His confession made Hartley and James both look at him. "I was caught by another hero trying to buy drugs in a different city and they told my uncle."

"Why?" James asked, his voice sad.

"Because it's hard."

"What is?"

"Life. I can't sleep, and when I do, I'm having nightmares. I feel emotionally drained all the time. My brain does constant 180s between being too uninterested in anything and feeling everything all at once. Everyone's tired of me and I'm a burden on my aunt and uncle. I just… I just wanted it all to stop. Just for a little bit."

"Wally…" Hartley said, his voice gentle, "I doubt Flash of all people would see you as a burden."

"You don't see how tired he is."

"So? He's a hero. That's what he signed up for. Same thing with you, man. You're a hero. When you put on the mask, you accepted that it was hard."

"Yeah, being Kid Flash. But… I wasn't Kid Flash that night." Tears welled up in his eyes again and streamed down his face. "I should never be Kid Flash again."

"Don't say that," James began, putting his hand on Wally's arm, but his friend brushed him off.

"It's true! I couldn't even save my own parents. How can I expect to save anyone else?"

Hartley hesitated before he spoke. "We can't speak for the hero stuff," he said quietly, hand slipping closer to hook his fingers with Wally's. "Because we're criminals. So I'll let your uncle handle that. But we are good with Wally stuff. You're thinking too many steps ahead. It's like planning a heist. You can't think of it all at once. Start with step one. Then step two. Eventually, you have a solid plan."

"You're still a good Wally," James nodded emphatically. "Even if you're not a good Kid Flash."

Wally just sat on the wall and cried. He barely minded the hands that settled on his shoulders while he sobbed. The sound seemed so much louder compared to the silence around them. They were alone in the park though, so it wasn't like there was anyone to disturb. It felt like his sobs would tear him apart, but he let them. When his tears finally slowed, he wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "How did you guys find me?" he whispered.

"There's only so many places in the city you'd think to go," Hartley replied. "Plus…you'd mentioned that your aunt used to bring you here to get ice cream when you were little."

"And we'd skip rocks…" The memory brought a small wave of calmness over Wally. He sniffled.

"So…you ready to go home?"

"…No."

"Well, that's too bad, because it's late and we know Flash is worried about you. But you're our friend, so we'll let you choose. You can either come with us willingly, or James will pull out one of his surprises that will knock you out and we drag you home. Your choice."

"…Fine." Wally spun around and hopped off the wall. He shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking. Hartley and James hurried to keep up with him. "I can walk alone."

"Sorry, man, but we're not taking that chance."

'Whatever.'

— —

Barry faced the length of their living room, his brain going a million miles a second. "Maybe I should go out and look for him," he said for the hundredth time.

"If we go after him, Wally will just get angry and try to run off again," Iris reminded him. "Let his friends find him."

"How do we know-" He was cut off by the front door opening. Relief flood through him when he saw Wally standing in the doorway of the living room. Hartley and James stood just behind him.

"Wally! Don't even run off like that again. You had us worried sick."

"…Sorry," Wally mumbled, looking at the floor.

"Why don't you go upstairs to bed, kid," Barry said sighing. "Go on."

"Bye, guys."

"Bye, Wally," James said. He stepped forward to give their friend a hug, but Hartley stopped him.

"Night, Wally," he said.

Barry watched Wally go upstairs before he turned his attention back to the two boys. "Thanks for bringing him home," he said.

"No problem, Flash. And…you don't have to worry about him getting his hands on…anything illegal from now on."

"Why?"

"Because when the Rogues are done with them, no drug dealer or store owner would dare sell anything to Wally."

"You guys can really do that?"

Hartley snorted at the man's disbelief. "You wound me with your doubt. Give us a week, but we'll get it done. When it comes to the criminal underbelly of this city, we're pretty big fish."

"Like sharks," James agreed solemnly.

"We'll make it next to impossible for Wally to get his hands on anything in Central. You have my word."

"…Thanks."

"No problem. Come on, James. Let's go home."

"Bye, Flash! Mrs. Flash!" James called as stye left.

Barry shook his head as he collapsed onto the couch. "What a night…" He sat with his head in his hands as everything finally hit him. The weight of it dragged him down. Tears slipped down his cheeks. He felt the cushion dip next to him.

"Barry?" Iris asked. "What's wrong?"

"Everything. I'm such a failure."

"No, you're not-"

"Yes, I am. I can't help Wally. I'm such a failure at being his uncle and mentor that he felt he needed to turn to illegal drugs before he could come to me."

"You know that's not true. We made a mistake by not keeping a closer eye on him, but he made a mistake too. Wally is 16. He knows what he did was wrong."

"Still… I can't help but wonder if his grandparents are right. Maybe we aren't the right people to be taking care of him."

"No. Don't talk like that. We know Wally batter than them. We've been more involved in his life. No one is better equipped than us, Barr. We just… It'll take time."

"I just want what's best for him, Iris. I want to be the hero he's always thought of me as."

Iris rubbed Barry's back. "You are. But Wally doesn't need the Flash right now. The Flash did his part by finding the murderers. Now it's up to Barry Allen, world-class uncle, to help Wally move on."

"…I just don't think it'll be that easy."

Iris kissed his cheek. "Let's go to bed. We can tackle this in the morning."

"…Ok." Barry sighed as he stood and let Iris lead him up to their bedroom. 'I really messed up with Wally on this, but not anymore. I'm going to make sure he gets better. Iris is right he needs me, but not just as his uncle. If I want to be Wally's guardian, then I need to be his guardian. There needs to be consequences and changes if Wally's going to get better.'