DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN JL
WARNING: FIC CONTAINS MENTIONS OF RAPE, VIOLENCE, AND SOME MATERIAL NOT SUITIBLE FOR SOME AUDIENCES. VIEWERDISCRETION ADVISED.
DUN DUN
AN: I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT I HOPE EVERYONE'S PRAYERS ARE ON THE PEOPLE OF NEW ORLEANS.
I HAVE A FRIEND OUT THERE, AND HE HASN'T SIGNED ON IN DAYS.
I'M PRAYING FOR YOU ADAM, BE SAFE BUDDY, I KNOW YOU'LL BE ALRIGHT.
I HOPE THAT WHAT WE CAN DO FOR THOSE IN NEED HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE AND THAT WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO MORE.
Wally was flipping through the channels on the TV with a growl.
"There's nothin' on!" He complained. Was it too much to ask that he wanted some good quality cartoons before a big fight that could result in the death of all his friends and himself?
He checked the T.V. guide channel.
Yes. Apparently it was.
He started to go through once more when a picture on channel five caught his eye.
"Uncle Barry…"
Officer Barry Allen, his face handsome and young, was smiling in full uniform. Behind it was several headlines to articles about the several cases that he had been a part of, the lives he had saved, and his death.
"Tonight as our coverage of the escalating gang violence continues, we take a moment, to honor those who have served and protected us through this troubled time and times past."
A blonde anchorman, dressed in a gray suit panned in. The picture taking its place in the corner of the screen.
"Officer Barry Allen is the first of many. A promising young officer, whose leadership skills brought him a nomination for Police Chief,"
The screen changed and a clip was played, it was off Barry's partner, Dominic,
"Barry was a good guy and a damned fine officer. He was the kinda guy you could trust your life with."
Another clip.
"Barry always brought joy to us, and was always thinking of others. I remember when he adopted his nephew, he was always talking about him…said that he couldn't wait to watch Wally grow up."
Wally sat on the edge of the couch, "Aunt Iris…"
"Barry Allen was gunned down during a stand off between police and armed robbers. However his sacrifice saved the lives of two hostages that—"
Wally clicked the TV off. He couldn't watch this. He drew his knees up and rested his head on one.
His uncle had been a hero…and what was he? A low life gang member.
What would have happened if Barry had never been shot? Would he still have run away from Iris?
Would he have joined the League? Be living with John? Would he have been raped?
A big no was the most obvious answer that popped at him.
He frowned, and then again he remembered what J'onn had told him once,
"There are many paths that lead to one destination. Although you may turn left, where you end up just may be right."
Wally had stared at him,
"Where are you from? Mars?" He joked, dismissing the wisdom with a grin.
But now, it came back to him. The words didn't haunt him, but they surrounded his thoughts.
John seemingly chose this time to end his shower and exit the bathroom with a refreshed sigh,
"What's up, kid? You look like Loony Toons just got canceled."
Wally had to laugh, he probably did.
"No…it's just…there was a special…my uncle was on it."
John didn't need to hear anymore. He pulled on the drawstring of his sweatpants and sat next to Wally, his towel covering most of his bare chest.
"He was a great man, Wally…in fact…" He smiled at some inner thought and continued, "You remind me of him…he would've been proud of you."
Wally's grin became bitter, "Yeah, a cop proud of his punk nephew."
"Damn straight. No matter what kind of life you live Wally, you can still be a good person and out of everyone I know, you're one of the best. I know he's proud of you Wally, because I know that I am."
Wally stared at John, the man was dead serious.
The roommate that yelled at him for coming home drunk. The friend, who had showed up for the parent teacher night because he wanted to.
Wally thought again, John was more then his roommate and friend, he was like his brother, the one who sat up by his bedside every night when nightmares kept the teen from sleeping for days on end.
Without much warning, Wally grabbed John in a hug. John, stunned for a moment, relaxed and returned the gesture.
"Hey Wally, that's my move." Shayera grinned at the two, twirling his keys around her finger.
John and Wally locked eyes, glanced at Shayera, looked back at each other then promptly let go.
"We were uhh…practicing a new fight move, Shay." Wally told her, holding in a laugh as John rushed to find a shirt when he saw Clark and Bruce standing in the door that she had left open.
Diana was carrying several bags along with J'onn,
"Are we early?" She asked with a smile. Wally smelled the Chinese food,
"Nah, Princess, you're right on time."
They moved and for an instant they were all standing together, each with their own expression of happiness. Wally looked at each one of them and made up his mind.
He didn't know how his life would've been if he had never left his home, if he had never joined the League, if he had never had met this people.
But despite all the pain, trouble and danger, he regretted none of it.
The Ravens fighters were lounging on crates and old chairs, only seven of them could be seen but even more were waiting for a signal from their leader.
Rick and Tobias were talking in a low voice along with another man, a slim and wiry man named Jay, a former Joker. There was only one female present, she was dark and her curves accentuated by her skin tight clothes, and she went by the name Tira.
The next two were twins, identical in everyway, from their blond hair to freckles, it was near impossible to tell these two apart.
"How fast you think I can take out Bruce, Cliff?"
"As fast as I can handle Stewart, Hammer."
The last figure was watching the group from a far, he wasn't very well built and he had a slickly color to his skin, but yet his eyes shone with a murderer's gleam.
"It's almost time." He breathed, his smile twisting his face.
"The Big Sevens gonna show right, Skive?" Mark 'Skive' Dawson, a former bank robber turned gang leader nodded at Rick,
"I know they will, after all, we invited them so politely."
Rick savored the memory of the feisty red head pinned down under him for a moment before laughing.
"That we did."
ONLY ABOUT TWO MORE CHAPTERS LEFT IN THIS STORY. BIG FIGHT SCENE IS NEXT!