I DON'T OWN JL OR JLU
WARNING MENTIONS OF CHILD ABUSE IN THIS CHAPTER.
Wally's father watched his son closely as he prepared the needle that he would need to take some samples from him. Wally was unable to turn his gaze away from the floor, due either to the fact that he did not wish to look at his father or of the floating reminder of what awaited him.
He wasn't worried about Wally even getting up from his chair. With the security measures he had installed on the base and on its prisoners, the Flash would be dead in less then a heartbeat if he tried to use his speed.
Rudolph congratulated himself for such amazing planning. Now that his true son was present, he could finally kill off that failed excuse for a clone.
Still pleased yet somewhat annoyed that Wally was not giving him the pleasure of seeing the fear in his eyes West looked down to see whatever could have been so interesting to his son.
That's when he noticed it.
He took two steps and gripped his son's arm painfully tight, causing him to look up at his father,
"Who took it off? Who did?" He yelled, spraying Wally with a light coat of spit.
Wally froze then decided now was a good a time as any. And with the speed of the Flash, he punched his father in the jaw.
Wally wasn't sure if he had been stuck with the needle before he got up or if he got up and ran into the needle.
But apparently the end result of Wally's escape attempt was his father sprawled out on the floor and a thick needle plunged incorrectly into his arm.
That hurt like hell.
He gripped the instrument and yanked it out of his arm, wincing when it clanked across the glass of the young girl's jar, making her head jolt.
Wally felt his stomach retch and a small amount of bile rush up his throat, the lack of a decent meal in the past few days giving him nothing to vomit.
So instead, the young hero turned and dry heaved for what seemed like minutes until he was able to stand back up to his full height.
He saw his father stir and felt another feeling boiling inside him, threatening to rush up, unfortunately for him, it did.
He tackled his father with the tears of years of abuse and abandonment.
The rage of the truth of his false death, the attack on his friends, and the murder of innocents.
He gripped his hands tightly around his father's collar, not daring to reach for his neck because he knew that he would not have been able to stop himself.
"WHY?"
He managed to scream that out. The sound tearing from his throat as he sought to make his father look at him.
Rudolph refused to meet his son's wide, almost innocent eyes.
'I never could mange to beat that look out of you…'
"Daddy!" It was late and Rudolph had just finally come home from the neighborhood bar after being laid off from yet another job.
His young son had been on him almost instantly as he stumbled through the door, drunk and pissed.
"Daddy!" He wailed again, "Guess what I did in school today!" He yelled happily, the sound piercing Rudolph's ear.
You would never have guessed that this child had been alone in the crappy apartment for nearly ten hours, they way he started up a conversation without hesitation.
"Wally..."
"We had this guy come in and he talked to us about safety and then…"
"Wally." He tried again to silence the speech.
"He brought his fire truck and then he said who wants to ride it and I said…"
"DAMN YOU SHUT UP!"
This silenced the child.
He stared up at his father, his eyes wide.
Filled with innocence.
He couldn't understand.
Why couldn't he understand!
Without another word, West struck his son with the back of his hand with enough force to make the child hit the wall.
"Don't look at me!"
Still Wally stared at him, fear now visible on his face…but his eyes…always his eyes.
Rudolph struck out again, this time with a closed fist, determined to get rid of Wally's gaze.
The gaze that made him feel guilty, no matter how much he drank.
He lashed out with everything liquor could not numb.
Wally West did not show up for school the next day.
Wally realized that he was punching his father only when he felt another hand grab his wrist.
"Flash."
He turned almost wildly and gazed up at his two comrades.
Lantern had grabbed his arm and was now helping him to his feet, steadying him a bit.
"How…what's going on?" He asked, utterly confused.
"Dally, or whatever he called himself helped us get our things back…he even took down the security systems. The others are fighting the guards right now…"
John told him quietly. He held up Wally's mask that had been removed by his father even before he was lead to this room.
Wally grabbed the piece of fabric and pulled it over his face, not wanting to risk anymore guards seeing his face, if any had already to begin with.
"Where's Dally?"
Batman, who had managed to tie Rudolph up without Wally really noticing spoke quickly and without any emotion as always.
"The guards already got him."
Wally didn't need to hear anymore then that. He gazed down and looked at his father's swollen face and cursed.
He felt sorry for what he had done. He knew his father deserved it and didn't even get half of what he should have but Wally knew…he knew he couldn't go any farther.
He refused to turn into his father.
"Come on, Hot Shot." John was helping him to his feet as the adrenaline that had kept Wally going for the past hours began to give away and the young hero sagged almost instantly into John's arms.
"Batman?" The Green Lantern turned and watched his dark comrade uploading as many files as he could into a spare disc he carried.
He nodded silently at John, indicating that the Lantern should start for the exit where the League no doubt waited by now.
This left Batman alone with Rudolph West.
Bruce Wayne often knew that he tested the line almost every time he slipped on the cape and cowl, he had felt rage, there was no doubt about the small bitterness and darkness that often reared up in his heart. He did his best to restrain those feelings, most of the time with success, but there were many things that pushed him close to the edge.
An abusive drunken bastard was one of them.
Batman grabbed the same collar Flash had gripped only moments before and hauled the older West to his feet, watching his head loll to the side with disgust.
He could the sounds of fighting growing louder now, if he was going to make his move he would have to do it soon.
"I think there's more down this way!"
Batman cringed; it was Dove's voice coming closer. He gazed again at West, fighting his inner battle the only way he knew how.
Batman held in his own feelings and dropped the man, leaving him for Dove and the others to collect for the police.
He had no right involving himself in Wally's family problems any further.
Besides…
No doubt the Speedster would want another swing at his old man, sooner or later.
Batman glared at the prone figure.
And sooner, would definitely be better then later.
Most of the guards had been killed by fleeing villains, who sought to escape from the heroes as much as the prison they had been locked in for so long.
Superman watched many of them go; not doubting for a moment that half of the heroes around now would have most of them back behind bars before sunset.
He had more important matters to deal with.
He walked past a furious Shayera, who was yelling war cries and swinging at any guard who moved too close or who just looked like he needed to be hit.
Clark continued past another group, this one lead by a stunning beauty, Black Canary if his memory was right. She was leading a group of children of various ages away from most of the fighting and defending the youngsters with her scream.
Despite the situation, Clark was actually noting several of the Meta human's powers and abilities, how they seemed to act with others and how vicious they were towards their enemies.
"Superman!"
It was John and a dazed Wally. Superman hovered off the ground before flying towards them,
"Where's Batman?" He asked, noting the absence of a looming presence.
"Right here." Oh, there it was.
The fighting was slowly dying down with all the Meta humans in full control of their powers again; the blaster armed guards never stood a chance.
"Let's get to the Javelin." Superman told his teammates quietly. Shayera landed close to him and pointed with her mace,
"What about all of them?" She asked.
"J'onn will take care of getting things straightened out here. I want to get you three to the med bay A.S.A.P." He glared at John and Bruce, "Without any complaints."
Too tired to argue and too worried about Wally's now eerily silent state, the three former captives trudged through the prison and out towards their freedom.
"Wally? Hey…kid…wake up."
"Let him sleep John, I'll take him."
"You sure?"
Voices bumped and slammed inside the groggy mind of Wally West. He knew he was awake, or at least he thought he was but he couldn't find the strength to open his eyes or the power to stand on his own two feet.
Instead he was picked up easily into the Man of Steel's arms, arched slightly to stay comfortable; he could feel a slight chill on his bare cheeks, indicating that Supes was probably flying.
Clark landed just in front of the med bay doors, he waited for them to open before he walked inside and headed for the bed closest to the window, knowing that sometimes the younger man would like to sit out and stare into the emptiness of space.
What he thought, as he gazed out there, he never knew, and he doubted J'onn would tell him if he asked. It was Wally's small way of escaping the pain around him and as Clark probably figured now, focusing on the pain coursing through him.
He turned to see both John and Batman standing on the other side of the room. Both heroes had obeyed his wishes by coming to med bay, but the Man of Steel never said anything about staying there.
Clark sighed, not even wanting to start a battle over this now; instead he headed for the door, "Let's let Wally get some sleep."
The two others nodded and followed him out.
Shayera entered the med bay later that day to pick up some pain killers for a headache that seemed to be keeping John irritable and grouchy the whole day.
It was late and she expected silence, or at least snores from Wally West who should have been sleeping.
But he wasn't.
Wally was sitting up in his bed, curled up as if he could shield himself from the world. His body racked with sobs and he sounded close to hyperventilating.
Shayera watched him for a moment, unsure of what she should do. She had witness Wally sad before, but now…he just seemed broken. He was sobbing out the pain you only unleash when you're alone. When you can't break in front of anyone but yourself.
It seemed that the Flash had reached his breaking point.
"Wally."
The gasp that came from her friend did nothing to help him get air back in his lungs. He looked at Shayera in shame and wished to high heaven that he had kept his mask on.
"S-hay…" He managed to get out, his body breathing heavily.
Shayera had walked around and stopped in front of Wally. Her gaze blank as she looked at her friend, gazing at the hurt look in his eyes.
She opened her mouth to speak but found she had no words to say.
How should she even approach him?
A mother figure? A sister? Just a friend? Should she even try to comfort him at all? Would he rather be left alone to deal with this himself…or maybe did he want her to go get someone else?
So many thoughts ran through her mind that her body decided on its own. She sat down on Wally's bed and took him in her arms, hugging him gently.
Wally tensed at first from the contact, expecting almost for her to laugh at him. He couldn't return the hug as quickly as he wanted to, instead he laid his head on her shoulder and took comfort in her presence.
"It'll be ok Wally." She felt his head droop a bit as exhaustion caught up with him.
"Shay…promise you won't leave again…" He pulled back with a tired look, "I can't lose anyone else…I don't wanna lose my family."
She looked shocked as he quietly laid his head back down, intent on trying to rest. But then, she smiled.
"I'm not leaving my family ever again, Wally. I promise you."
Whether he heard her or not, she never knew. But Wally had heard her and as he drifted off to sleep, he knew nightmares might come but for now, he was content as long as he had his family with him.
She stepped out of the med bay softly and with John's medicine.
She paused and gazed around her.
She never intended on becoming so close to the Earthlings, never intended on leaving Hro, or on helping take down her own fleet. And afterwards, she had never intending on returning back to Earth.
But she had.
"The leaders of the radical faction who had been targeting several dozen Meta humans are all in jail today as their compound was broken out from the inside by their own prisoners. Investigators say that several experiments had been taking place there and other faction locations. Numerous guns and new technological weapons were also found. It will come down to a court's decision whether or not these men will face charges of Crimes against humanity or not, further more—"
The League's giant TV clicked off with a sigh. Superman had been watching nearly all day now for news on what happened to Wally's father, but he had yet to be mentioned.
Batman came in just as the reporter mentioned crimes against humanity and handed Clark a stack of files,
"Rudolph West is being held in Albuquerque Maximum Security Prison without bail for now."
"Why do I get the feeling there's a but in here?"
"But," Batman began with a little glare at the Man of Steel, "West was in charge of many of the experiments. Chances are, they'll try to strike a deal with him."
"Maybe another anti-meta human group?"
"Most likely. At least another with even more political standing. Sooner or later they'll outnumber us greatly."
Clark fingered through the files, reading them or skimming, his mind clearly somewhere else.
"I was thinking…you said they would outnumber us soon enough, right?"
"Yes." Batman answered, quickly picking up where Clark was going.
"Then why don't we expand our ranks? Add more people to the team."
"……" Batman nodded.
"Right, I'll talk it over with the others."
Clark settled back on the couch again and turned the TV back on.
A Justice League with more members. With even more possibilities to protect the world and each other.
"A Justice League Unlimited." He muttered and Batman stared at him.
"Where do you come up with these things?" He asked.
Clark grinned and shrugged at him,
"I have no idea, Bruce. None at all."
OMG! YET ANOTHER UPDATE! AND A LAST CHAPTER TOO?
-GASP-
YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, I KNOW…EGAD AND HOLY CRAPS ALL AROUND.
YES MY FRIENDS, ALWAYS IS NOW OVER AND JUST IN TIME FOR JUSTICE LEAGUE UMLIMITED…TO…START ITS SECOND SEASON…
…
CRAP
HOPE Y'ALL ENJOYED THE FIC.
THERE MIGHT BE A SHORT ONE SHOT LATER ON FOR WALLY BUT WE'LL SEE…I GOT SOME OTHER STORIES TO FINISH FIRST.
NOW HUZZAH AND GOOD DAY!
BE SURE TO REVIEW TOO!