The next day was the last step in the official process, the burial. Jinx woke with a slight hangover and drank some water. Wally was fine physically but had no energy, no desire to take a single step forward. He sat on the edge of the bed staring out the hotel room's window sighing as Jinx showered and dressed.
"Come on, Wally! Get your ass in gear!" she demanded but he didn't move. She had to pull him up off the bed and push him to the shower. He washed himself, albeit at a slow pace even for a normal person. But Jinx found herself dressing him like a mother getting her little boy ready for school. He didn't cry but he couldn't make himself take any step toward the final step the elimination of Aunt Iris from his life. Robin entered the room to find Jinx tying his tie and then combing his hair.
"What the . . ?"
Jinx parted his hair neatly to one side and then swept it back from one side of his hairline. "He'll be fine," she assured Robin. "It's just too final."
"You gonna be okay buddy?"
Wally blinked and recognized his pal. He nodded slowly to him.
"Good. Cuz your Aunt didn't want the mark she left behind to be a damaged nephew, now did she?"
It was the perfect choice of words. Wally took a deep breath. Life started to return to his eyes and he shook his head. No. No way. No fucking way. Slowly he built up to a more normal level of energy. Jinx smiled a 'thank you' to Wally's surprising friend. He rode again with Green Arrow, Black Canary, Jinx and Speedy to the church services. He made a mental not never to be seated next to Speedy again. Never mind that the archer was almost late and didn't emerge from the hotel until the AAU Teen Gympnastics Championship contestants were almost blocking exit from the parking lot lining up for their bus. Again, it was "Dude get your hand out from . . " "You sat down too fast, speedster." Sigh. "I did not. You had plenty of time to . . " he had to mutter under his breath at Speedy. Live and let live is one thing, but jeez.
At the church services, he was lost in thoughts of Aunt Iris through all the words except Uncle Barry's. He saw his mother, father and sister in the church, across the aisle. Uncle Barry had paid to fly them to Central City and had supplied the cover story that Wally had gotten a ride to Central City via a free plan ticket from a sympathetic Jump City Academy classmate.
Wally said hello to his family outside the church but quickly stepped into the Bentley with Ollie, Dinah, Jinx and Speedy as the funeral procession began. Jinx spoke to Speedy as they were getting in the car and, this once, Wally sat directly on leather. After a long slow ride, they arrived at the cemetery. The cars all passed through a black, wrought iron gate with two huge men in ill fitting suits guarding it and on up the top of the small hill at the cemetery's center. Everyone got out of their cars, the immediate family and the superhero community. Some of the latter were better disguised than others. Gar wore a nicely tailored black suit but his green skin was there for anyone to see. Jinx's pink hair and eyes were there for anyone to see. So was Wally's thick head of orange hair and the almost improbably broad shouldered physiques of Cyborg and Misters Kent, Wayne and Stewart.
There was a commotion down at the main gate of the cemetery. Wally zipped down to the gate, going super speed under the protective cover of some oversized monumentsbut just jogging in his dress shoes and black suit when in the open.
"What's the trouble?" he asked one of two coke machines in a suit holding back a camera crew, a woman in a black skirt suit with a microphone and a half dozen others at the black iron gates.
"They're not on the list and they want to come in anyway."
Wally stepped between the two guards.
"If you're not on the list of allowed guests, ma'am, why do you persist in trying to enter?"
"Who are you? Who are you?"
"I'm the deceased's nephew."
"Well I was a fwiend of Iwis West. I can't bewieve I'm not being awwowed in. Wait till we show this on Tunty-Tunty!"
"Show it all you want, ma'am. Viewers will see an old obnoxious woman showing very poor manners. My aunt did not hold your work in high regard."
"That's not twue!" she protested but moments later, another man came jogging down to the gates from the crowd gathering on top of the hill. He had a set of papers with him.
"Excuse me. I'm the lawyer for the estate and-"
The people outside the gate shouted questions to him.
"Please! Please! I'm going to read a statement from Iris West. She foresaw this very circumstance and the following was on file with my office along with her will. Quote. If my lawyer is reading this to you, Babs, you're trying to crash my funeral. No dice. You are not welcome. You were not a friend or a colleague. I was a reporter and writer. You were a teleprompter reader and celebrity sycophant who never broke her own stories. Please exit the premises."
The old, over made upwoman, camera crew and courtiers went off in a huff. But Wally watched them closely and listened closely. He knew how persistent Aunt Iris had been when she wanted a story. Maybe these newsman knockoffs would be persistent, too. Sure enough, he heard one tell the others. "I know another way in," in a half whisper.
So, he looked around, saw that no one was watching and sped up to the top of the hill. He saw the van the camera crew traveled in driving around to a smaller gate at the other end of the cemetery. He checked, again saw no one looking and super sped down to the paved path leading from that gate. He reached the gate and saw that it had no real lock. He could hear the van approaching but it wasn't in sight so he had the opportunity to try something. He knew he could vibrate through objects. And he knew he could make something explode if he vibrated his hand through it a certain way. He'd always wanted to try doing it somewhere in the middle, maybe a bit closer to the exploding side. What he was aiming for was melting. He pulled the two gates closed. Then he passed his hand through the gate so that nothing happened. He did it a second and then a third time, each time changing slightly how he vibrated his hand so that it imparted a little more energy to the wrought iron. After the third time, the gates glowed hot. He smiled that he almost had it right. He swiped his hand through it again, at super speed, and watched the iron melt and fuse together. A few pops and crackles issued from the heated metal. He passed his hand through the gate the same way at two more spots, finishing just before the van came into view.
He went back up the hill and delighted in watching the guy who'd said he knew of another way in push in vain at the now fused shut gate. He let them see him smiling down at them as he made sure they drove away.
He went back up to the top of the hill and listened, politely, with hands clasped behind his back, to more words trying to express the situation but failing. He threw a small shovel of dirt onto the casket after Uncle Barry did and cried a few more tears. His return back to where he'd been standing with Jinx was a bit uncertain and he ended up accidentally next to his sister.
"There's something funny," said his sister.
"You find humor in this situation?"
"No, I mean. You all remind me of people, you and your friends . . "
Wally turned his tear stained face angrily down toward her. "Yeah?" he growled.
"Your-your girlfriend? I mean, that's Jinny? She looks like . . . don't get mad at me. She looks like that girl Jinx. And your friends? The-the girl with the purple hair . . the green boy. I mean, he looks green. They look like . . "
Wally didn't even hear the rest of what she said. He didn't have to hear it. She'd figured it out. The little fucking brat figured it out. Well, duh, how could she not? He opened his still tearing eyes as she finished talking. She backed off a half step, warily.
"Listen you goddam little brat. You know how Aunt Iris got killed?"
"They-they said it was an aneurysm."
He shook his head. "Wrong. That's the public story. She got killed because someone realized that she's Flash's wife. They realized something about him and killed her to get at him."
"Wait, then-then Uncle Barry is . . "
Wally reproached himself for a moment but decided that she would have figured it out anyway. "That's right. And if you say one fucking word about it you may very well be murdered. And if some villain doesn't do it, I might kill you myself if I find that you said a single word. Do you understand that? Do you?"
"Then-then you and your friends are . . "
"Yeah. I'm Kid-" Wally ran off at super speed changed to his tight red and yellow uniform and ran back to her between the words. "-Flash."
"Oh my . . !"
Kid Flash slapped his hand over her mouth, not bothering to be gentle.
"No. You're not gonna shriek or shout or giggle or coo or whatever the fuck you were gonna do. You're gonna grow up real fast and right now or you'll end up dead. Do you understand me?" he leaned in close, "Dead!"
She nodded beneath his red gloved hand.
"I put up with all your stupid ass shit making fun of me and calling me names and wanting mom and dad to treat me like dirt. I put up with all of it because you were such a stupid little bitch that you'd have blabbed my secret in 5 minutes and maybe gotten yourself killed. I put up with all that shit so that you didn't put the puzzle pieces together and get yourself killed. Did you . . see . . . ?"
Kid Flash had to put his red glove over his rapidly tearing eyes at the thought of Aunt Iris and pointed toward the casket. "Did you see her? Did you? The best woman . . . " tears poured from his eyes now. "The best woman, dead. And she didn't tell anyone. No one. But someone found out and killed her to get at Flash. So , yes, you know a secret. You can keep it to yourself or you can die. Those are your options."
Kid Flash sped away and Wally was back beside her in a fraction of a second in his black suit and tie. It took two deep breaths before he could speak to her again. "Look. I . . I don't mean you harm. I don't. But that's what will happen to you if you talk about me or Jinx or my teammates or Uncle Barry," he said pointing to the casket. "Whoever wants to get at me might not be able to get me but they sure as hell know they can get my sister whenever they want. She can't run away at super speed. She can't fight at super speed. Some whack job villain who's frustrated at not being able to beat me and my friends might kill you instead. Or he might pretend to kidnap you to try to get something from me and my friends and just kill you to make sure you're not a witness. Or he might kill you just because you're related to me. So if you feel some urge to make points with your stupid ditz friends, just remember that telling them one fucking thing about any of this might be as good as slitting your own throat. Got it?"
She nodded. "I . . Wally?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry. I know you really loved her."
Wally stepped away and went over to Uncle Barry. His sister started to turn and head in the other direction and ran smack into a wickedly smiling Jinx.
"You're . . " she stammered looking up.
"That's right. And I know who you are. We've spoken on the phone but haven't met. Remember? I saw just now. He told you, or admitted it. It's not too hard to figure out when you see everyone here. Even you did. Let's talk about that," she said and pulled his sister along by the arm.
Wally's sister gulped. "Um, sorry about that stuff on the phone," she blurted out as they went past rows of oversized cemetery monuments.
Jinx looked down with another malicious smile and her eyes started to glow pink. Wally's sister froze in fear there behind a 10 foot high granite headstone monument where they stopped.. She's a demon! Wally's girlfriend, Kid Flash's girlfriend, is a demon!
Jinx took her arm and pulled the sleeve of the girl's black dress away from her arm. She carefully maneuvered the girl so that the girl's back was against the granite and her side held the girl's hand against the monument. She took the girl's hand in hers and held it over the girl's own mouth while her brown eyes went wide with terror.
"Just in case you accidentally bite," noted Jinx as she brought two fingers to the inside of the girl's upper arm. "Now, this is gonna hurt, but only you. Frankly, it'll please me. You weren't very nice to your brother. But he's a bit of a . . take on any burden to protect other people type. It's a hero thing. So, he let you dump on him because you were too fucking stupid to be trusted with a secret that might get you killed."
Jinx's eyes glowed brightly. "I really hate stupid. Stupid's most of what's wrong with the world. I guess that's why Wally appeals to me so much. It's not just the buns. It's the brains, too. But everybody goes around thinking that everyone else is kinda like them. Wally thinks that you'll remember what's for your own good."
She shook her head. "But, I'm not so sure. So I'm gonna give you a little reminder."
And with that, Jinx let loose with a steady flow of hex energy, not just a one time zap but an intense, focused flow, almost a laser of pink hex energy. Wally's sister screamed in pain. But it was completely ineffectual as her own hand prevented the noise from being loud enough for anyone to hear. Jinx smiled. This girl's pain didn't displease her in the least.
"Hmm, let's see. What should I make?" she asked cheerfully as her hex energy seared a line of flesh on the girl's arm, to the accompaniment of muffled pleading and screaming. "Maybe something very intricate and involved that'll take a long time, hmm?" she suggested mischievously.
The girl's attempted screams increased in force.
"No, I think I'll just leave you a little symbol by which to remember your brother. Any time you think of opening your stupid little mouth and giving the slightest hint about who he really is, you just remember this," she said and she traced a short line over from the end of the first one, another longer line, another short line, a horizontal line across then a matching set of lines back down to the starting point on his sister's arm. The girl was crying frantic tears of pain and trying to wiggle and squirm her way out of Jinx's grasp. But she got nowhere.
"There," said Jinx holding up the girl's arm so she could see. Flesh seared black still sizzled in the shape of a lightning bolt. "just like on the chest of Wally's uniform. Pretty good reminder, hmmm?"
The girl cried some more, tried to fall limply to the ground but was held up by Jinx and slowly regained composure, but never stopped crying, as the pain only gradually diminished.
"You can tell people you got it at a frat party on a dare, or something like that. But just remember how that felt and," she chuckled and her eyes glowed bright pink. "And, don't have any illusions that that's as high as the pain elevator goes, little girl. That's the basement. I love the boy. Every bit of him. Even the parts that you probably think are icky, because they're Wally too. And I'll kill you if I so much as think that you might have squealed about who he really is. But I'll do it slow. I'll go medieval on your little airhead party girl ass. I'll hex off a finger to start. Pretty easy to do, really. Just a bit more force than your little booboo there. And you won't bleed to death. You won't get off that easy. The wound'll be instantly cauterized. You'll just be in excruciating pain that'll make this seem like nothing. And you have lots of fingers and toes and limbs and organs and a face to sear off you before you even get close to dying. And the truth is, I'll enjoy it." She smiled and her eyes glowed pinker than ever. "Do you understand?"
Wally's sister just kept up her sobbing into her own hand without answering.
"Do you understand or do I have to kill you right now to protect him?"
She would. Wally's sister knew that she would. She nodded frantically and shouted "I understand! I understand! I understand!" into her own hand clamped over her mouth by Jinx's.
"Good, now, let's go back to the others and you can shed those tears for your aunt. She deserves them more than you do. Oh, and be polite on the phone in the future," said Jinx and she let go. Wally's sister gasped for air and sobbed heavily as Jinx led her back to the edge of the onlookers. Wally was just returning to Jinx's side from talking to Uncle Barry. He passed his sister, eyes red, tears flowing, on her way toward their parents.
"Hmmph. I wondered if she'd cry at all today," he said to Jinx with a nod toward his sister.
"Different people feel the hurt in different ways," said Jinx with a slow, world wise nod and they shared a soft kiss. When they separated, Jinx asked, "Have you told your parents, too?"
He sighed. "More like I admitted what's pretty obvious."
She noticed Dick Grayson waving to them and sent Wally over to talk to him while she went in the other direction. A few minutes later, when he went back to that location looking for Jinx, she was just returning there herself. A little ways off, his mother was crying profusely as she made her way back to the side of Mr. West, holding her right arm.
"Wow, first sis and now Mom. I was almost surprised they accepted Uncle Barry's invitation and showed up. But they really are feeling something today."
"Oh, absolutely. Especially your mother." agreed Jinx, with no expression, just staring forward where the burial was taking place. "Hey," she said cheerfully. "Dinah and Ollie are trying to get your attention." She gave him a push that way with a cheerful little smile. "I'm gonna go over and see your Dad."
