It was now six in the morning and May was starting to fall asleep after the long night she's had. "You did good today Mayflower, I'm so proud of you." Barry's voice was quiet, worried any sudden noises or movements might frighten his little girl. "You've had a long night, get some rest okay, sleep as long as you need to." May closed her eyes and let blissful sleep claim her as her uncle carded his fingers through her red bangs.

The hospital wanted to keep May for another day or so to make sure there were no complications from her battered abdomen. Iris, now sitting on a chair next to the bed, tucks May into the thin sheets. The loose hospital gown given to her was not very thick so May started to shiver from the air conditioned room. Iris noticed this immediately and pulled a clean blanket out of her bag she brought from home, spreading it over the small shaking figure.

"There you go sweetheart. You let us know if you need anything else, okay?" Iris notices May doesn't move. She must already be asleep. Deep breathes and relaxed muscles take over the young girl showing the couple her deep sleep. Barry pulls Iris out of the room and still quiet, speaks to her.

"We need to call Wally."

"I know…I…I just don't know how to tell him." Iris wraps her arms around herself shuddering at the thought of her nephew breaking down with heartache. Wally only ever saw the good parts of his family, he was often never home enough to notice any familial issues.

"I'll take care of it. You stay with May." Says Barry. Iris nods and walks back into the hospital room. Barry pulls out his phone and briefly hesitates. He takes a few deep breathes and then dials Wally's phone. It's the middle of the week and mid morning hopefully he has class—

"Hello?" Wally's energetic voice pulls Barry out of his thoughts and he suddenly doesn't know what to say. "Uncle Barry? Anyone there?" Barry snaps out of it and quickly responds before his nephew has the chance to hang up.

"Hey Wally."

"You sound pretty somber, you okay?" More hesitation. How does Barry even go about this?

"Something happened…with May." Before he can continue Wally's frantic voice fills his ear.

"Is she okay!? What happened? Barry talk to me!"

"Relax kid she's alright now, just banged up, but I think you should come see her…it's a little hard to explain." There was a brief silence.

"Where are you?"

"We're at the Central City Hospital."

"I'm on my way." Wally hangs up and based on how his voice cracked Barry assumes his nephew will be here in less than 10 minutes..using his speed of course. Barry decides to wait for him in the main lobby. Barry finds the lobby, but as soon as he goes to sit down his nephew comes rushing in, probably running at a normal human pace a mile away. Wally has red cheeks from wind-burn.

"Wally…" As soon as he hears his name Wally runs to his Uncle nearly out of breath…he must have been going fast.

"Where is she!?"

"Come on." Barry leads the softly panting young adult to the hospital room holding his young sister. Just as they reach the room Barry turns to face Wally standing in front of the door. "She's sleeping right now, if you can wait till she wakes up that would be best." Wally could only stare at his little sister through the window, sleeping in the white washed room. Someone hurt his baby sister.

"You still haven't told me what the hell happened!" Barry takes a moment to gather his thoughts then looks at Wally with a serious face, something rare for the scarlet speedster. "Uncle Barry?"

"Wally…does your father get along with May?" A flash of confusion passes Wally's face.

"As far as I know things between them are fine, I mean they aren't super close but …why does that matter?" All Barry has to do is look at Wally with a furrowed brow. "No. No. There is no way dad would do this." Barry's response was silence as he looked to his shoes. "No." Wally was persistent in believing the father that loved his family so much would never hurt his own daughter like this. Wally pushes past Barry and goes to open the door to his sisters hospital room. Barry snatches his wrist away from the door and pulls him close so no one hears their conversation.

"Listen to me Wally. She said he did this. She's terrified, you have no idea how long it took us to get her to tell us what happened. If you go in their and claim she is lying she will break and there would be no chance of getting our little girl back. Think about it Wally, has she been acting different lately? When was the last time you saw her?" Wally couldn't believe it but his uncle was right. Since Wally started college he rarely had time to visit his sister. They used to spend all their time together, but now he spent all his free time with Artemis. A flash of guilt washed over Wally as he thought about how he has been away from his sister for so long that he didn't notice anything was different.

"It's just hard to believe, you know? He's always treated us so well."

"From what we saw and heard, this has been happening far longer than any of us realized." Wally was near tears at the thought and slowly turned back to the door. Barry let's go of his nephew and steps behind him. Wally opens the door and got a better look at the one thing that could fully break his heart. His little sister lay curled up on her side facing her aunt with bandaged feet sticking out from under the small hospital blanket. The IV in her left hand gradually drips, what he assumes is morphine, into her blood stream. He vowed on the day she was born to protect her and up until now he thought he was successful. The bullies he's scared away, the scraped knees he's kissed all better—all of that means nothing if he couldn't protect her from the thing that was hurting her the most. Iris looks up to see her nephew standing in the door teary eyed and shaking. Barry signals to his wife to leave the siblings alone for a while. Iris gently lays the sleeping girls hand back onto the bed and stands up. Before leaving she softly cups her nephews face and kissing his forehead. The Allen's leave the room and quietly close the door to let the youngest West's comfort each other.

Wally carefully walks around the bed to the chair his aunt resided in. As soon as he gets into view of her face he immediately stumbles back and leans against the wall behind him. Her face while cleansed of blood is still fresh with bruises and the cut below her eye has butterfly bandaged on it, not deep enough to require stitches. She looks so at peace while she sleeps, but how long has she been feigning peace while her father beat her.

Just as Wally began to walk over to his sister he heard a quiet sneeze come from her small body. Her sneeze woke her up and she starts to sit up. Seeing her struggle to lift herself Wally rushes over and puts an arm around her to prop up some pillows behind her. May looks at her brother with bright green eyes and a small smile appears. "Hey kid. How're you feeling?"

"Wally?"

"Hey." As soon as May realizes her brother knows of her situation she ducks her head in shame and her smile disappears. "May?"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry? What in the world are you sorry for?"

"I've ruined it. I've ruined the family and now dad's gonna go to jail and mom's gonna hate me and you're never gonna talk to me again." Hearing her quivering voice made Wally furrow his brow. He wasn't mad at his little sister, rather upset that she would blame herself for this.

"May. Look at me." Wally draws May's eyes to his own and stared at her with fierce determination, gently laying his hands on her own. "None of this is your fault. What dad did…it's monstrous. Whatever happens after this, you are not to blame. I am so glad you said something, and I'm disappointed in myself for not seeing it. If anyone should be apologizing it should be me." May looks at him with a confused and curious gaze. "If I payed more attention, if I spent more time with you, maybe I could have seen what was happening. I could've stopped this before it got this bad, before he put you in here." Tears now freely flowed from Wally's face.

"No! That's not fair, he went out of his way to hit me where no one could see. This time he just …slipped up." Wally flinched. May made it sound like it was okay that she was being abused, as long as no one knew.

"How can I not blame myself when he was hurting you so much and you felt you couldn't tell me."

"It wasn't just you, I was too scared to tell anyone. He said my punishment would be worse if I even hinted at us not being a perfect family." It was May's turn to release her pent up tears.

"Bastard." Wally let out a defeated sigh. "How about this. I won't blame myself if you don't blame yourself." Wally lets a small and sweet smile appear on his tired face, something which May soon copies, both of them featuring wet tear tracks on their cheeks.

"Okay. Deal."

"That's my girl." Wally glances at the clock then begins to tuck May back into bed, adding a warmer blanket Iris had packed. "Now, get some sleep. It's gonna be a long day tomorrow."

"How long are you gonna stay?"

"As long as you need me." May begins to drift into sleep as she mutters.

"I'll always need you."

"Then I'll always be here." Wally stays by her side through the night and falls asleep with his head on their clasped hands. The next morning Artemis came to the hospital bringing with her a new version of May's favorite book series. May is stunned by the kindness she is shown and is hesitant to take the book, thinking she has an ulterior motive behind the gesture. However, the warm smile adorning the archers face encourages May to hold the book and read the title.

"Because of Win-Dixie, this is the first book I ever read."

"I know." Artemis laughs kindly. "Wally told me, if he hadn't I would never know what kind of books you like." She winks at the bed ridden May. "At first I wanted to get you a giant stuffed animal, a gag-gift I guess, but Wally said you never part with that pink teddy he got you." May holds the book to her chest and plays with the stitching of the binding.

"Thank you for thinking of me." A brief look of pain crosses Artemis' face as she realizes May rarely gets attention from her family and even notice how over the past year Wally has spent less and less time with his little sister. Artemis moves slowly, as to not startle May, and sits on her bed facing the hurt red-head.

"May, what happened to you, how you were treated by your parents does not equivocate how every one feels. Your aunt loves you more than I think you know and your uncle and brother, those two talk more about you than anyone else. I remember before Wally and I retired he came running into the mountain with a huge smile on his face bragging on how his little sister taught herself how to play the piano and she was so good at it!" A proud laugh escapes her mouth and May blushes and hugs her knees with a hidden smile. "I think my favorite moment though was when Batman was in the middle of a briefing and in comes Flash, interrupting the whole plan to say how he cant do monitor duty that night because he was having game night with his little niece. The look on B's face, I thought he would kill him then and there." The two girls burst into laughter at the imagination of the bats face of annoyance and anger. Their laughter slowly dies down and Artemis gives a motherly look to May and puts a comforting hand on her shoulder. "See? People love you. People care about you." May looks up with a bright smile and teary eyes.

"Thank you Artemis." The two share a sisterly hug and they watch a movie until May falls asleep, then Artemis quietly leaves and meets up with Wally for dinner at a near by diner.

The couple sits at a booth near the window viewing the lake next to the hospital. Artemis is her usual self and content with her conversation with May, Wally however was quiet and subdued, a rare thing for the energetic speedster. His mind was so scattered he didn't even notice Artemis talking to him. "Wally?…Wally!"

"Huh?"

"Are you okay? I've been talking to you for like 5 minutes and you've just been starring out the window." Wally rubs his exhausted face and rings his hands.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Come on Wally, I know you better than that." Artemis gives him an understanding smile as she folds her hands waiting for him to tell her what's bothering him, although she already had an idea of what it was.

"Why didn't she tell me?" His response was quiet and breathy as if he was asking himself more than he was his girlfriend. "I thought I showed her how much I care and that she could always come to me for everything, and how did I not notice her turn away from everyone, how quiet and shy she became. I must be a really awful brother, huh?" Artemis softly takes his hand in hers from across the table.

"That's not true and you know it. She went out of her way to make sure no one knew what was going on. She's a lot smarter than anyone gives her credit for. She knows how to play people and says what they want to hear."

"I know, I just…I wish I could have helped her."

"Now you can. Be there as often as you can, let her know she's not alone, because now she needs friends and family more than ever." Wally smiled with a strength and determination Artemis had rarely seen.

"You're right. I'm not letting her be alone anymore, she's gonna know she's loved and cared about. Plus Aunt Iris will probably spoil her now." The two giggle softly at the idea of a happy May surrounded by baked goods and new things, the way a normal 13 year old should be. The two continue their dinner with a new inspiration to help the teenager and a hope of a better future for her.

Back in the hospital May was fast asleep snuggled up with her pink teddy and Aunt Iris' quilt. Outside the door stood Iris and Barry discussing with a social worker their next move. The three of them had a brief idea of what to do, but going about it was a different story.

"So after the court case we can get full custody of her?"

"Well you can apply for custody as soon as possible, but you might have to fight Mrs West for her. Although I sincerely doubt the court will show any sympathy towards her, considering she was aware of the abuse."

"So we can take her home?"

"When she's cleared by the hospital, yes. Then we will go to court to determine where she will stay permanently, after Rudolph's trial of course, who most likely will be found guilty, especially with all the evidence present." The woman's phone rang as she finished her conversation. Taking her phone from her hip she nods her head towards the couple. "I'll keep in touch Mr and Mrs Allen. Have a nice night, or morning rather." Iris and Barry thank the woman as she walks away. The two then stand silently in the hallway in front of their nieces room until the silence becomes too eery.

"Neither of us are gonna be get much sleep tonight are we?" The blonde speedster responds to his wife with a quiet grunt. He then feels a gentle tug on his arm towards the red heads door. "Come on, she'll want us there when she wakes up." Barry nods his head and the two enter the bland white hospital room, lucky for them it was a private one, curtesy of Iris' job which gave her special opportunities, including a bad rep for the hospital if they didn't do what the worrying aunt said. Looking down at the sleeping girl the two feel an overwhelming wave of guilt. May has a small bandage under her eye hiding the stitches that held the soft pale skin together. Her feet were tightly bandaged sporting at least 50 sutures per foot, with an IV stuck into her skinny hand supplying pain killers and nutrients, those denied by her parents. The Allen's after taking in their poor niece for the second time that night pull two chairs next to each other near the bed. Iris rests her head on her husbands shoulder and he relaxes as well laying his head on his wife's. Not even 30 minutes later the two are fast asleep leaving the only sound in the room Barry's soft snoring and the hum of the machines near May's injured body.

May was in the hospital for two more days until she was finally released into the hands of her aunt and uncle. Rudolph was brought to court immediately and the trial lasted nearly two weeks. The Allens, Wally and Artemis all attended every session, supporting their beloved friend, niece and sister while she had to painfully recall every torture she was put through. For the first few days of questioning May showed her strength and described every punishment forced on her and every punch she took with bravery and intelligence not even stuttering a single word. Even when other witnesses took the stand, such as neighbors and teachers, she held her tongue and hid her disappointment, especially when one neighbor said that children are too soft and need a bit of corporal punishment to learn their lesson. Rudolph plead guilty from the very beginning and even after the court was shown the hospital pictures and bloodied clothes he claimed she was 'just a clumsy girl'. It was half way through when she finally broke down. "Now Miss West your teachers have told the court that they noticed your change in attitude and new bruises and approached you with concerns. Is this true?"

"Yes sir." Her small voice echoed through the court house. The lawyer nods and continues his questioning.

"Now when approached by these teachers and friends how did you respond?"

"I told them I fell from a tree, and that I tripped a lot when I ran around."

"Did they believe you?" Warm memories were brought to May's mind as she recalled their insistence to help her and that it had to be something else.

"No sir. They kept coming to me, they were really nice."

"And your story never changed, it was always that you fell from trees and tripped?"

"Yes sir."

"So from what I understand you claimed you were just clumsy?"

"Um, I guess so."

"Which is the same thing your father said when he was questioned earlier this week." There was a quiet moment in the court room as May's heart began to beat faster, scared of the intimidating lawyer defending her father. "Now May, how long has this 'abuse' been going on?"

"Um, since I was 9 sir."

"And no one ever noticed until this past year? Your brother, who still lived in the house at the time never heard or saw anything?"

"He was good at hiding the marks sir, and he made sure Wally wasn't home because he knew Wally would do something about it."

"Or maybe this is all a ruse."

"What?"

"If this has been going on for nearly 4 years how is it that you come forth now, why now and not before? Unless he was never abusing you, perhaps this is all some sort of lie for you to get some attention?"

"What?! No, sir! Why would I do that?" May began to shake as the court room became more tense.

"Well after questioning all those people it seems that you never were their priority, or rather they didn't pay as much attention to you as you like, especially considering nearly no one noticed this abuse. Now that you finally have some visible bruises and injures from clumsy behavior when else would you have a perfect opportunity to get some popularity amongst your family and friends."

"That's a lie!"

"Is it? It all seems rather suspicious to me."

"No!" Tears were streaming down May's reddened face as she stood from her seat on the stand. "I have lived in fear for so long! Terrified that if I said anything I would be punished ten times over what I already was going through, so I said nothing! I kept it to myself for years and so did my father and my mother. He made sure every time he hit me and kicked me and burned me that he did so in a place no one would see! My stomach, my thighs, my back! The doctors showed evidence of past scars there for at least a year or two that were clearly cigarette butts! Are you just ignoring that evidence?! Or are you just as evil as my father?!" She attempted to calm herself as she sat back down and the court was shocked at this child's outburst. "The reason I finally came forward with the abuse was because I was afraid that this time he would finally kill me. His punches became stronger, he started to hit my face, not caring where my wounds would show, he would throw me around like a rag doll and wouldn't let me eat most days. I was so hungry and that night…the night I called for help, I-I was bleeding a lot. No one ever warns you how much your head can bleed. I started to get light headed and when I was sitting in that park I was debating going home or calling the police. In the end I had a feeling the cops wouldn't believe me."

"That was a poor assumption to make."

"Was it? You don't believe me. Plus I was taught for years that adults have the higher authority and no one would ever believe a brat kid over an adult, especially her own father, who already had a son who was wanted and loved my the whole family. I knew that if I called the cops they would take me home, give me back to my father and that would be my last night on Earth. So no, it wasn't a poor assumption, and I pray that the court can understand where my predicament lies and that I only want to live without fear, I want to be happy and free, not a prisoner and slave in my own home." The only sound heard after that were sniffles and the eyes of most were cast down in pity for the poor girl.

"No more questions your honor." The lawyers voice was quiet as even he realized that his client had no chance of being found innocent.

After 4 court dates over the course of a month the trial finally came to an end with Rudolph being found guilty and sentenced to 5 years in prison and Mary West being found guilty of neglect and sentenced to 90 days of community service. Along with this Barry and Iris were given full custody of their niece and were excited to have the young girl in their home. However, they both knew it would be hard work to bring her back into a normal life style, a lifestyle built on love and support.

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and Wally was helping his sister move into her new home with their aunt and uncle. Mary was away all day either too guilty to see her little girl or too angry, they were never sure. It's been two days since the trial and May has said little to none since then. The two were moving along and getting boxes packed into Wally's car when Wally suddenly stopped and stared at the ground as if looking for something to say. May noticed this and turned to him, putting the box she was holding on the sidewalk. "What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" May was taken back by this question and was hesitant to answer. "Why did you keep it a secret from me? You know I would have helped you I would do anything to protect you. Did you think I wouldn't believe you?"

"No that's not it. I just…" May wavered off and Wally was quick to sit with her on the hood of the silver car.

"Come on May. You can trust me, and I wanna know…I wanna know if it was my fault. If I could have stopped this." May whipped around to look at her brother.

"No! That's not it at all!"

"Then what was it?" May curled back into herself and lowered her gaze to the cement.

"I was scared."

"Of what? I wouldn't have let him touch you again, not after what you told me."

"I know…that's why I was scared." Wally gave her a confused look and waited for her to continue. "If you interfered then dad would be mad at you and then mom always sides with dad so then they would have hated both of us. I…I didn't want to ruin your relationship with them too." After a few moments of staring at his withdrawn sister Wally quickly pulled her into his arms and held her close.

"Your heart is too big May. You care too much for other people that you don't look out for yourself… and that scares me." Wally pulled back to look at May's now tear stained face, he didn't even realize she was crying. "You are a smart, friendly and kind girl, but from now on you have to promise me you'll look out for yourself a little better, okay?" May wiped the tears from her face and gave a small grin to her loving brother.

"Okay." Wally chuckled at her silly grin and ruffled her curly red hair.

"That's my girl."