A/N: Sorry about the lack of an update last week. IMPORTANT NEWS: Because I am moving later this week, this story will be going on hiatus until I have access to wifi again. Sorry about the break, but I will start updating again as soon as I'm able to. Until then, please, enjoy!

When Wally came downstairs for breakfast the next morning, Barry was putting food on the table. He hesitated for a moment before sitting. "…Morning, Uncle B," he mumbled.

"Morning, kid," Barry replied briskly.

"Where's Aunt I?"

"She was called into work to cover a story last minute."

"Oh." Wally picked at his pancakes a little bit.

Barry sat at the table and took a deep sip of his coffee. "We need to talk, Wally."

"Again?"

"Yes. Again. I've talked it over with Iris and we've agreed that we can't allow this behavior to continue. Starting immediately, your access to the zeta tubes is revoked."

"Revoked?"

Barry nodded. "I called Batman and he made the change. From now on, you won't be able to activate the zetas unless someone else is with you. It will stay this way until I think you can be trusted not to misuse them. You're also grounded for…the foreseeable future. On days when you go to school, you'll come home and go to your room. No tv. No phone. On days when you're not at school, you'll be with Joan and Jay. When you come home, the same thing. Straight to your room, no tv, no phone."

"How long am I grounded for?"

"Until further notice."

"Am I allowed to see my friends?"

"No."

"Oh."

Barry held out his hand. "Phone." After Wally handed his phone over, he put it in his pocket. "You can have it at school in case of emergencies." They lapsed into tense silence as they ate. The only sound was the occasional scrape of forks on plates. Wally managed to eat a pancake before he was finished. He put his plate in the sink, then left the kitchen. "Go to your room," Barry reminded him.

'This sucks,' Wally thought as he slumped up the stairs. What else was new though? Everything sucked right now. He shut his bedroom door with a bit more force than was necessary, then threw himself face down on the bed. Wally rolled over so he was staring at the ceiling. 'It doesn't even matter if Barry doesn't trust me anymore. It's not like I'm eve going to be Kid Flash again.' He held up his hand and stared at it. It didn't move. Wally scoffed as he dropped the appendage. 'It doesn't matter. Nothing really matters anymore.'

— —

Going to school still wasn't appealing to Wally. He stared at his backpack in disdain, not wanting to deal with the crowds and noise. "Do I really have to go to school?" he asked quietly, turning his attention back to his breakfast.

"Yes," Iris said, not looking up from her notebook. "School is still important. Even if you're only going part-time."

"It's not like I'm learning anything."

"Well, do your best. Right, Barry?"

"Uh-huh," Barry replied distractedly reading a report. He shook his head. "This is terrible. No wonder the sergeant wants someone to redo it."

Wally rolled his eye and finished half his breakfast. He pushed away from the table to finish getting ready for school. By the time he finished, Hartley and James were standing in the living room, waiting for him.

"Hi, Wally," James smiled when they saw him.

"Hmm…" Wally mumbled as he walked past them. He didn't even say good-bye to his aunt and uncle before he left. It was warm out, so he just wore a t-shirt and jeans. The sound of people walking behind him was the only alert Wally had to Hartley and James walking with him. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. 'School is so stupid,' he thought as he walked. 'I don't even want to go. I can't follow anything in math or history. English is just boring and I'm so behind in science, it's not like it matters.' The familiar, heavy feeling settled in his psyche. 'I just don't have the mental capacity to deal with any of this today. I wish I could just stay home and lay in bed.' When he got to the school, he sat on a bench out front. Hartley and James sat on either side of him.

"Do you want some candy?" Hartley asked. When he didn't get an answer, he pulled a book out of his bag. "Here, you'll need this for English." All Wally did was stare at the sidewalk. "Come on, Wally. You need it." No response. "Wally-"

"I don't want it!" Wally smacked the book out of Hartley's hands. It landed with the pages opened and bent on the sidewalk. "I don't even want to be here. Just leave me alone." He grabbed his bag and walked away.

Hartley sighed as he stood. He grabbed the book, then went after Wally. Luckily he hadn't gone far. He was sitting against the building, practically hidden next to a bush. Without saying a word, Hartley knelt down to unzip Wally's bag. He put the book inside, then zipped the bag shut. The bell rang and Wally snatched his bag as he left them alone. "Come on, James," Hartley said. "We need to keep an eye on him."

"Wally's having a bad day," James observed as the entered the school.

"He's been having a lot of bad days." Not that they'd done anything of real importance to chance that. Especially since Wally had been drinking and doing drugs. They trailed Wally to his locker, standing on either side of him like bodyguards while he just stood there staring at it. A few students gave him strange looks as they passed but Hartley scowled to keep them moving. When the bell rang, Wally went to class, leaving Hartley and James at the door. After he went in though, the former just stood in the doorways staring into the classroom.

"Hart, we have to go to class." The bell rang, but Hartley didn't move. "If we get caught in the hall, they'll use that as a reason to suspend us."

"Mhm…"

"Do we want to get suspended?"

"No." Hartley suddenly turned and started walking so fast James had to hurry to catch up. "We can't get suspended because then we can't keep an eye on Wally."

"Is that what we're doing?"

"It's what we should've been doing this whole time." Their first classes were across the hall from each other, so they had to split as they walked into the classrooms. Hartley took his usual seat in the back and immediately pulled out his phone. He looked through the contacts as everyone else went through the morning announcements and the pledge of allegiance. Just as the class was starting, he came across one that made him sit straighter. 'Dick (Wally's friend).' It has been so long since he'd copied the number from Wally's phone that he'd forgotten about it. Biting his lip a little bit, he typed up a message.

Hartley: Do you know what's been going on with Wally?

It took a few minutes before he got a reply.

Dick: Do YOU know what's been going on with Wally?

Hartley: I know he's been doing illegal stuff

Dick: then yes, I do know what's been going on. Why do you care?

Hartley: I care because he's my friend

Dick: He's my best friend

Hartley: Good. Then you'll help?

Dick: Help with what?

Hartley: We clearly need to keep a closer eye on him. And by we, I mean me and my other friend because you clearly don't live in Central.

Dick: What did you have in mind?

Hartley: Are you any good with computers?

Dick: …What do you need me to do?

— —

It was a real blessing that Wally only went to school 2 or 3 times a week. Not only because Hartley knew it gave his friend's mental health a break, but it also gave him time to work on his plan. Dick had been radio sent since Hartley had explained his plan. Which was also fine because after school, on Tuesday, he and James were busy. By the time they were outside Flash's house on Wednesday morning, Hartley got a text.

Dick: You're all set.

Hartley: You really did it that fast? Impressive

Dick: I'm extraordinary. Emphasis on the extra.

Hartley: How do you know Wally again?

Dick: My…guardian knows his uncle.

Hartley: How?

He didn't get a response to that last text.

"Who are you texting?" James asked, peeking over his shoulder.

"No one," Hartley shrugged. "We're all set to keep an eye on Wally today though."

"That's good." Apparently satisfied, James knocked on the door.

It opened a few seconds later and Flash's wife smiled at them. "Hi, boys," she grinned. "Come on in. Wally's almost ready."

"Thank you, Mrs. Flash."

Hartley glanced at Flash, who did nothing but give them a wary look before he turned away. 'Guess he's gotten over his reservations about us spending so much time with Wally.' It would make it easier for them to help. Hartley shoved his hands into his pockets and watched as James greeted Wally, as cheerful as ever. Not that their friend so much as gave them the time of day. Wally just shrugged past them out the door, leaving Hartley and James to follow. They walked almost a foot behind Wally on the way to school. When the building came into view, Hartley leaned closer to James. "You remember the plan right?"

"Mhm," James nodded.

"Good. And no matter how aggravated Wally gets?"

"We do it anyway."

"Why?"

"We love him."

"….Yes. More or less." Satisfied, they hurried to keep up with Wally as he sat against the building again. No one spoke for several minutes while Wally randomly pulled at the grass. After a while, James started piling blades of grass too. When the bell rang, Wally walked into the school without waiting for his friends. Once again, he stood in front of his locker, not bothering to open it or take out anything. When the bell rang he walked to his first class, Hartley, and James right on his heels.

"Remember," James whispered to Hartley as Wally walked into the class. "We love him."

"I know," Hartley replied. They shared a fist bump before he followed Wally into the room. His friend didn't notice him until he'd dropped into the seat next to him.

Wally frowned. "What are you doing here?" he asked, brows creasing with every word. "You're not in this class."

"I am now." Hartley tried not to grin too much as the teacher spotted him, then looked back and forth as he double-checked the roster on his computer. All he got for his confused look was a thumbs up. "See?"

"…How-"

"It's not important."

"Why are you here?"

"To learn. And keep you company."

"So you're babysitting me?"

Hartley shrugged. "Call it whatever you want. But we're not going anywhere."

Wally huffed as he shoved his hands into his sweater pocket, then slump down in his seat. 'I don't need a babysitter,' he thought irritably. 'I'm fine.'

— —

While going to school didn't result in Wally having a panic attack, it did result in him wanting to get far away from Hartley and James. Somehow, through whatever cosmic stroke of bad luck, he had been cursed with, the two teens were everywhere. All of his classes had one of the two sitting next to him. Even his lunch period hadn't been free of them. By the time he walked into Barry's house, Wally did the only thing he could do— slam the door in his friends' faces.

"What was that for?" Iris asked.

"They've been following me around all day. Somehow they changed the rosters so they can be in all of my classes!"

"They're your friends, Wally. I'm sure it's just because they're worried about you."

"I don't need them to worry about me."

"That's not true and you know it, Wally." She didn't get a response but did see Wally stomping away from the corner of her eye. "Don't go far. We have an appointment this afternoon."

"Doing what?"

"You'll see."

"Fine. Whatever." Wally stomped up to his room, then threw himself onto the bed when he got there. He sighed as he dragged his hands over his face. 'Just when I thought everything couldn't get any more terrible.' For a few minutes, he laid on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"Wally!" Iris called from downstairs. "Let's go!"

Wally groaned before he pushed himself to his feet. 'Where in the world would Iris be taking me?' he wondered as he shuffled out of the room.

'She's probably getting rid of you,' a voice in the back of his mind hissed. 'You're being so difficult Iris and Barry want nothing to do with you anymore. It's not like anyone trusts you anymore. You're not…you anymore. They probably don't even love you anymore.'

'So? It's not like it matters.'

Iris was waiting by the door for Wally. "Come on, we don't want to be late," she said, leading him outside.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

Wally huffed and sat back with his arms crossed. 'Whatever. Sitting in the car, sitting in my room. It's not like it matters where I sit.' He watched the city outside his window, eyes lazily following the buildings. They passed an ice cream parlor his parents had taken him to after his first science fair. Wally winced as grief pierced his heart. There wasn't time to remove though, because a few blocks later he saw a pizza place his dad took him too when he was 7; after Wally's one attempt at playing baseball. Wally turned his head and closed his eyes. Grief assaulted him as he pulled his arms tighter around his body and tears pricked at the edges of his eyes. But he kept himself wound up until the car stopped. After a second of hesitation, Wally slowly lifted his head and opened one eye. He frowned and straightened, arms still wrapped tight around himself. 'Where are we?' The building in front of him wasn't recognizable.

"Come on, Walls," Iris said as she got out of the car.

Wally followed slowly, eyes surveying the building. It was almost indistinguishable from the other buildings in Central. The only thing remarkable about it was Barry standing by the front door. His uncle was still dressed in his work clothes, so he must've come straight from the lab. Wally glanced at Barry, but his uncle just followed Iris inside. 'So he's still mad,' Wally thought as he followed the two adults to the elevator. He walked three steps behind them, so he had a perfect view of their intertwining their fingers. Something stuck in his throat, but Wally tried to swallow it. 'What are we doing here?' He glanced around, but the lobby of the building was as useless as the outside. So he followed his aunt and uncle into the elevator. Once inside, he pressed himself into a far corner. Distantly, he heard the murmurs of Barry and Iris talking about their day. Something twinged in his heart, but he tried to ignore it. 'I don't need to worry about their day. It isn't like either of them asked about mine.' Even if nothing had happened that day.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. In the hall directly outside, was a set of double-glass doors.

Melanie Miller

Family Counselor

Grief Counseling

Wally stopped in his tracks. "Counseling?" he asked.

"Yes," Iris said, looking back at him. She glanced at Barry, who'd stopped in the entryway holding the door open.

"I don't want to."

"Wally-"

"No! I don't want to and you can't make me-"

"Wallace!" Barry snapped. He glared at his nephew. "We are your guardians and we say you're coming to counseling with us. So you're coming. End of discussion." He walked into the office without another word.

"Come on, Wally," Iris sighed. "Let's go."

Wally gritted his teeth as he followed them into the lobby. He threw himself into a seat as Iris and Barry walked up to the receptionist.

"Hi, we have an appointment at 4:30," Barry said politely.

Iris glanced back at Wally, who was slumped down in his seat. She turned to her husband. "You didn't have to be so hard on him," she whispered.

"I don't need to deal with his attitude, Iris. Wally needs to listen to us."

"I know, but you didn't have to yell at him."

Barry looked at the paperwork he was filling out. "Don't forget he's still grounded, Iris. Don't forget what he did."

"I won't. As long as you don't forget that he's traumatized and needs our support."

"We've offered our support, Iris." Barry handed back the paperwork. "Wally's made it clear he doesn't want it."

Iris tried not to sigh as she followed Barry to a seat. He sat in a chair across from Wally, so Iris sat next to their nephew. It was silent as the three of them waited. Barry looked at the floor, while Wally stared out a spot on the floor several feet from where they were. Iris tried to ignore the tension between them. Fifteen minutes later, a middle-aged woman stepped out of a door.

"The West-Allens?" she asked.

'We're the only ones here,' Wally thought. He rolled his eyes, then followed Barry and Iris.

"Hi. I'm Dr. Miller."

"Barry Allen," Barry greeted as he shook the doctor's hand. "This is my wife, Iris."

"Nice to meet you," Iris smiled, also shaking Dr. Miller's hand. "This is our nephew, Wally."

"Nice to meet you, Wally," Dr. Miller said. Wally just looked at the ground.

"Wally," Barry said sternly. "Don't be rude."

"It's alright, Mr. Allen. Why don't we go sit?" Dr. Miller led them through the door. They entered a large room with a play-area in one corner, and bean bags arranged in a circle around a rainbow rug. "Please, sit."

Wally threw himself into a bean bag. He watched Dr. Hart gather up three clipboards before she returned to them.

"To start, I would like to each of you to fill out these questionnaires."

"There's a test?" Barry asked jokingly.

"Not exactly. The first one is just a general questionnaire that helps me get to know each of you. The second helps me understand each relationship within your family. After you fill them out, I'll step out privately with each of you to discuss your answers."

Wally accepted his clipboard silently, then picked up the pen. 'This is stupid,' he thought as he filled out his basic information. 'I don't want to go to counseling. I'm fine.' He skipped some questions because he didn't feel like answering them. The second page had questions about his parents, so Wally skipped that too. He gave vague answers to questions about his friends and family; as well as selecting recent stressors in his life. Then he moved on to the second questionnaire. The first question caught him off guard. 'Please list all your immediate relatives you have lived with, living or deceased.' Wally scribbled down names, then moved on. The next question asked about who he lived with currently. All the questions after were centered around his relationship with Barry and Iris (or Guardian 1 and Guardian 2). Thankfully, these questions were on a scale where he could circle a number. When he finished, he let the pen fall; but it didn't get far because it was tied to the clipboard.

"Is everyone finished?" Dr. Miller asked. Once she saw no one was writing, she stood. "Who wants to go first?"

"I guess I will," Iris answered after a second. She gave her husband and nephew stern looks before following Dr. Miller. They entered a smaller office with two plush chairs facing each other.

After they sat, Dr. Hart took Iris' clipboard and looked it over. "So, Iris, you're a reporter?"

"I am."

"That's good. And you and Barry have been married for…7 years?"

"We have."

"Also good. And your brother and sister-in-law died a few months ago. I'm so sorry to hear that."

"Thank you."

Dr. Miller moved on to the second questionnaire. "Your relationship with Barry…how has it changed in the last few months?"

"I don't think it's changed a lot."

"It hasn't? In your questionnaire, you indicated there has been an increase in tension over the last six months."

"Well, …it's just been hard. With Rudy and Mary's deaths and the pending trial… Not to mention our custody problems with Wally's maternal grandparents… And of course, everything Wally is going through…"

"Sounds like you have a lot on your plate."

"It's been a long few months."

"How has this tension affected your relationship with Wally?"

Iris hesitated. "I've always been close to Wally. My brother was my only living family, so when Wally was born…I just jumped into being his aunt. After what happened though…it's just been different. Its harder to connect with him now."

Meanwhile, Wally stared anywhere that wasn't Barry. The room was bright, probably to make it more comfortable for younger kids. Every few seconds, Wally glanced at Barry, but his uncle didn't look his way once. Eventually, the door opened and Iris re-joined them.

"Barry?" Dr. Miller asked, gesturing to him. She stepped aside to let the man in, then shut the door. "How are you today, Barry?"

"Fine, I guess," Barry replied as he sat in one of the chairs. He handed over his questionnaire as Dr. Miller sat across from him.

"Hmm…" she hummed as she looked through the first one. "You're a forensic scientist for the Central City police crime labs?"

"I am."

"And you lost your mother when you were a child. I'm so sorry."

"Thanks."

"And your father was sent to prison for her murder. Losing your family at such a young age must've been very difficult on you."

"Well, it wasn't pleasant."

"But then you married Iris and had a new family."

"Yeah, I…guess you could say that."

"What about your relationship with Wally? You've indicated there's been a lot of tension recently?"

"Yeah… It's been really hard on Wally and things aren't going great for us."

"I've gathered. Is there anything, in particular, causing the tension?"

Barry hesitated for a few seconds. "We found out that Wally has been…experimenting with some unhealthy coping mechanisms."

"Like drugs or alcohol?"

"…Sure."

Back in the big room, Iris watched Wally, who just stared at the floor. She took a deep breath. "I'd appreciate it if you at least tried talking with Dr. Miller," she said quietly. "I know you don't want to be here, but it would mean a lot to me and Barry if you at least tried." Wally didn't respond. "We're just trying to help you." Still no response. "We just want what's best for you."

Luckily for Wally, the door opened, so he was saved from having to answer. Not that he was going to. Barry walked out of the smaller room and Dr. Miller gestured to him. After a second of hesitation, Wally sighed and forced himself to his feet. 'I'll go in so Barry doesn't freak out on me again,' he thought as he walked into the room. 'But I'm not saying anything. I don't need counseling. I'm fine.' He sat in one of the chairs.

"How are you today, Wally?" Dr. Miller asked as she sat across from him. The teen didn't say anything. She looked down at his questionnaire. "I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your parents. That's a really hard thing to go through." Still no response. "You seem to think you don't have a good relationship with your aunt or uncle. Why is that?" She waited almost a minute for him to respond before she moved on. "You also indicated home is stressful. Do you want to explain why?" Nothing. "Wally, you don't have to talk to me if you don't want to, however, I would encourage you to consider the benefits of counseling. I know you've been experimenting with unhealthy coping mechanisms, and it's added to the tension in your family; especially with your uncle. And if you insist on not speaking…" Dr. Miller got up to grab a notebook, then returned and handed it to Wally. "I want you to start writing in this once every day. I want you to record one positive thing. It can be as simple as you woke up or the sun came up in the morning. Write anything you want, as long as it's positive. Understand?" Wally nodded. "Good. I really hope you'll reconsider talking with me, Wally. I just want to help."

'God, could people stop saying that?' Wally thought as he stood and followed Dr. Miller out of the smaller room. 'I don't want or need help. What I need is for everyone to get off my back.'