Wally was dozing on the couch a few weeks later. It was around one in the morning and he didn't expect his dad to be home for another two or three hours. Suddenly the front door was thrown open and his dad ran in with Max, Mark and Frank right behind him.
"Dad, what's-," Wally started to ask.
"Go to your room and don't come down till I call you," Rudolph snapped.
Wally jumped to his feet and took off up the stairs. He didn't know what was going on, and he didn't really what to know. He sat down on his bed and tried to ignore the shouting that was going on downstairs. A few minutes later Wally heard the loud cry of police sirens. Seconds after that Rudolph opened the door and put himself between Wally and his accomplices.
"I won't let you use my son as a hostage," Rudolph said angrily. The sirens were getting louder.
"We're not really going to hurt him. We just need the police to think we will," Max said persuasively. He was the unappoint leader of the thieves. Whatever he said went most of the time. "He'll be fine. We tell the cops to back off, and they will. Then we'll drive to the airport, and Frank will fly us out of the state with your kid. Do you really want Wallace to spend the next eight years in the foster system?"
Rudolph almost flinched at the idea. He was silent for a moment before turning to Wally. "Wally, I can't let the cops take you away from me. It's going be scary, but everything will be okay," Rudolph said quickly. How had things come to this? He nodded his agreement to the other men.
Suddenly Frank's cell started ringing. He answered it and put it on speaker.
"Hello. This is Captain Bromell. I want the four of you to come out of there with your hands up. This doesn't have to end badly for anyone," a man's voice said calmly. It was odd to hear that level of calm in the situation.
"We've got a hostage and unless your men move back we will kill him. I don't think you want the death of a child on your hands," Max said seriously.
The Captain was silent for a brief moment. "Alright, can you tell me how he's doing?"
"He's fine," Max answered flippantly. "Here, kid, say hello to the Captain," he said holding the phone out to Wally."
"Hello," Wally said quietly. He was terrified even with his dad standing next to him.
"Hello, son. Are you okay?" Bromell asked.
Wally glanced up at his dad, who nodded. "Yes," he answered in a shaky voice.
Max pulled the phone away. "Happy, Captain?" He asked. There was a touch of sarcasm in his voice.
"My men will move back," the Captain said shortly.
Max hung up. "See, I told you it would work. After they're gone the Captain will call back, and we'll tell him to get us a plane that's ready to fly out of here."
runninghome
Iris heard a phone ringing. She blinked slowly, before looking at the clock. It was almost two; this better be important. The phone was Barry's, but the sound hadn't woken him up. He just rolled over and groaned.
"Hello?" she asked sleepily. Who in their right mind would be call this early in the morning? She hadn't looked to see who was calling. If it was one of Barry's Justice League buddies they would get an earful.
"Is this Iris Allen?" a voice asked. Whoever it was didn't sound happy.
"Yes," Iris answered and tried not to yawn in the person's ear.
"This is Captain Bromell with the CCPD. Your husband works for me. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your brother has been charged with robbery and murder. Now he and three other men have barricaded themselves in his home. They've taken a hostage and we believe it is your nephew, Wallace West."
"What!?" Iris shouted. Barry's eyes popped open and he jumped so high he fell out of the bed. "We'll be there as soon as we can," she said and hung up.
"What's going on?" Barry asked. He got to his feet. He was sure he had thrown his back out when he hit the floor.
"Rudolph's the one who committed all those robberies and now he and some others have taken Wally hostage," Iris said breathlessly.
Barry was already pulling on his Flash costume. He knew something wasn't right about his brother-in-law, but he never would have guessed it was this.
"You get to Rudolph's. Wally will be safe and sound by the time you get there," Barry said and zipped away. He had smiled at his wife, but he was panicking inside. He should have looked into Rudolph. He had known something was wrong and now Wally was in danger because he hadn't taken the time to see if anything was up with West's life.
He ran to the other side of the city in record time. He skidded to a stop next to Captain Bromell's car. He sometimes wondered how his boss and coworkers didn't realize that it was him behind the bright red mask. He was half sure they didn't want to know.
"Heard what was happening. Thought I could help," Flash said shortly.
Bromell looked a little surprised to see him. "Of course."
Before the Captain could say another word, Flash was gone. Barry didn't realize it at the time, but that race would change his life and the lives of many others, for the better.
runninghome
Wally stared blankly at a picture of his mom, dad and him. They were standing in front of their house, smiling. It was one of those few moments when they were all together and happy. Wally wished he could walk through the thin piece of glass and stay in that moment. They had just moved to Central City, his dad had had a job, his mom was happy and everything was perfect.
After Max had hung up, they had all gone downstairs, to the living room. Wally looked over at his dad. It was odd; the protective wall that he always felt when his father was there was gone now. The only thing in its place was fear. Could it have been last night that he and his dad had had supper? It seemed like a lifetime ago.
Suddenly there was the sound of breaking wood. The front door was flung across the room. It hit the wall. Max raised his gun to fire, but there was a streak of red and the gun was thrown out of the room. Max was on the floor, unconscious. Just like that Frank, Mark and Rudolph went down, too. Wally didn't dare move. What had happened?
The red blur stopped right in front of him. It was Flash. Wally was in awe. He never he would see Flash, but the speedster was there to save him.
"Hey, you okay, Kiddo?" Flash asked.
Some part of Wally's brain told him he knew that voice, but he couldn't think of who it was. He nodded. He was fine other than being scared.
"Why don't we go see your aunt? She's outside waiting for you," Flash said. He didn't have to worry about the four men. They would be out for a while. He probably hit them a little harder than was necessary, but Wally was his nephew and it wasn't a good idea to hurt his family. Iris had been in a bank once and Captain Cold had tried to rob it. The man had nearly frozen her along with a dozen others. The Supervillain had ended up in a full body cast. It was safe to say that he hadn't been causing any trouble for a while.
Barry took Wally by the hand and led him out of the house. A cheer went up from the officers and neighbors who had gathered in the street. Seven or eight cops went in to the house to get the criminals. Flash had to push his way through the crowd. Iris was just pulling up. She got out of her car. She was on the phone. Barry could just make out was she was saying.
"Yes, I'm there, but I can't do this story. My family is involved," Iris said. She saw Barry and Wally and quickly hung up. She ran to them and pulled Wally into her arms. It was always odd having to pretend she didn't know who the Flash was, but their safety depended on it.
Iris caught a glance of her brother being led away. How could he do this to Wally and himself? He was better than that. He had had so much going for him. What had put it in his head to become a robber? And then there was the murder charge. Was it really Rudolph who had done it? She hoped not. What had happened to the boy she had grown up with? Sure he had been bossy and mean sometimes, but that didn't make him this.
Wally didn't remember much after that. Everything was a blur and there was so much going on. People were all over the place and they were all talking loudly. Flash had disappeared in the crowd. His uncle was there suddenly, but Wally hadn't seen him in the car. Uncle Barry guided Aunt Iris and Wally to the car and quickly got them inside before any reporters showed up. He drove to the police station.
When they got there a woman showed them into a small room with a table and a few chairs in it. There was a camera facing one of the chairs and a microphone in front of that chair. The woman asked Wally to sit facing the camera. Aunt Iris and Uncle Barry stood by the door. Aunt Iris was biting her lip and Uncle Barry had his arms crossed.
"My name it Kimberly Fairchild. What's your name?" She asked kindly. Wally thought she must be a detective. He didn't really want to talk to her. More importantly he wasn't supposed to talk to the police, but his dad had been caught so he guessed whatever he said wouldn't change anything. Plus she seemed nice and his dad had broken the law.
"Wallace West, but everyone calls me Wally," he answered.
"Okay, Wally. You know it's wrong to lie, don't you?" Kimberly asked. She was very serious.
"Yes," Wally said. He looked down. "Am I in trouble because I didn't tell anyone that Dad killed someone?"
Wally saw Kimberly wince. "No, sweetie. I just need to know what you know about what your dad did. Did you ever hear anything? Or did he tell you anything?"
"He told me that he, Max, Frank, and Mark were breaking the law. I knew they were the ones robbing all those places. Dad told me not to tell anyone. We didn't have any money and Mom left. Dad tried to find a job, but he couldn't. Then the others stared coming over to the house. At night they would all go out. Dad always came back around four. He started telling me about the places they robbed. I didn't want to know, but I didn't tell him that," Wally said. It was so relieving to be able to tell someone about everything that he had had to deal with all by himself for so long.
"Did he say anything about killing anyone?" Kimberly asked. She was upset, but she was hiding it pretty well.
"The day I met Uncle Barry I asked Dad if he killed the store clerk and he said he did," Wally answered.
Barry and Iris shared a look. Had Rudolph told him before or after their visit? If it had been before that explained Wally had clearly been upset. If it had been after than he must have suspected that his father was involved.
"Did your dad seem sad about what he had done?" Kimberly asked. She had seen the surveillance tape. All of the robbers had been wearing masks, so it was impossible to tell what the robbers looked like. The only way they had tied West to this was part of a figure print on the bullet that had killed the clerk. There had been more than one match with how little of the print they had, but they were able to rule all of the others out.
"No," Wally said shortly. "He got upset when I cried, but he didn't seem like he cared." He was silent for a few moments. "Is there something wrong with my dad? People should be upset after they do something like that." He had wondered if his dad might be a little crazy for a long time, but he hadn't been able to do anything.
"I don't know, Wally," Kimberly said gently. She wished she wasn't the one interviewing the kid, but she was the lead investigator. That made it her responsibility, but the job got harder when kids were involved.
"Did he ever say he would hurt you if you told someone what he told you?" She was going to get everything she could on Rudolph West and the others. If West had threatened his son maybe they would be able to charge him with threatening behavior towards a minor.
Wally shook his head. "Dad wouldn't hurt me. He just said not to tell anyone."
Kimberly asked him a few more questions before she told him he could go sit at her desk while she talked to his aunt and uncle. Wally sat down. He was really tired. It was four in the morning and he hadn't slept all night. He was fast asleep before long.
Back in the interview room Barry and Iris sat down across from Detective Fairchild.
"How well did you know Rudolph West?" Kimberly asked shortly. Barry was a friend and a coworker. She was sure he didn't know about this, but she had to be sure.
"I met him once. The day after the murder. I can't believe how calm he was," Barry said. He was in the house of a killer and he hadn't seen anything that suggested Rudolph was the one responsible.
"You talked about the case with him?" Kimberly asked. Barry should know better than to do that. He had worked with the CCPD for five years, after all.
"Of course not. At least nothing that everyone didn't already know," Barry said. The news about the murder had aired hours before they had gotten to Rudolph's house. Barry hadn't said a word that could hurt the investigation.
"Did he give any indication that he was involved?" Kimberly asked. She was basically interrogating a close friend. It was never good when some who worked in law enforcement was questioned. It made staying objective hard.
"None. Iris and I both thought something was wrong, but we never guessed it was this," Barry explained.
The three of them talked awhile longer before a Mrs. Jasmine Daily showed up. She worked for Social Services and she was there for Wally.
"As Wallace's only family present I can grant you custody," Daily said shortly. "I understand his mother walked out of his life?"
Iris nodded. "Could we have a moment to talk?" This was all happening so fast. Yesterday evening she and Barry were going on with their lives and it seemed as if nothing could interrupted that. Everything had been perfect. She had gotten home from work around the same time Barry had. They had made supper together and had watched a movie before going to bed. Now it was four in the morning, her brother was a murder and they had to decide if they were going to become Wally's guardians.
"Of course," Daily answered. She and Kimberly left the room.
Iris turned to look at her husband. "What are we supposed to do? Can we afford to take him? I know he's my nephew and we wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for my family. I don't know anything about taking care of a kid. Do you? Where would we put him? What if Mary comes back? Do you think she will? Do you want to take him?" Iris started to ramble. She was exhausted and there was a million questions on her mind.
In spite of everything Barry couldn't help smiling. He was so glad he had married Iris. She was so sweet and he found it funny how her noise wrinkled up when she didn't know what to do about something.
"What are you smiling about?" Iris asked. She was a little frustrated with Barry. Whenever she got upset over something he would just smile at her like that. She didn't understand why.
"I just think you're cute," Barry answered. He already knew what he wanted to do. His thinking process was faster than anyone's. There was more that came from having super speed than just the ability to run really fast.
Iris's checks turned a little red. Barry always made her get twittered.
"I know what I want to do, but I don't know how you feel," Barry continued.
Iris knew what he meant. "Is that what you want to do or what you obligated to do?" she asked.
"Wally's family and he needs us. We can turn the workout room into a bedroom for him. He's ten years old, there's not much we have to do other than make sure he does his homework and make sure he behaves." Barry said.
Iris almost laughed. She was started to get a little hysterical. "Yeah, sure. Do you remember what you were like when you were ten?" She had heard some pretty interesting stories from Barry's mom.
Barry thought for a moment. When he was ten he ran around his hometown getting into trouble every chance he got. His mom and dad hadn't known what to do with him. He smiled at the memory of him coming home one evening with a very angry raccoon in his arms, asking his parents if he could keep it.
"Okay, I see your point, but we can do it. I don't feel obligated and we were planning on having kids someday. This will be good for us and Wally," Barry said. He knew Iris wanted to take her nephew home, but it would be a big decision that they couldn't take lightly. It would change their lives and it was a huge responsibility to take in a child.
"I want to take Wally, but are you sure? I don't want you to resent me or Wally for this," Iris said finally.
"Really this is what I want to do," Barry said. They stepped out of the room to find Daily waiting for them.
"We'd like to become Wally's guardians," Iris said happily. She hadn't planned to be a parent for a few years yet, but life tends to throw thing at one whether they're ready for it or not.
"I'm glad to hear it. Now there's just some paperwork you have to fill out," Daily said.
Wally woke up slowly. Aunt Iris was kneeling in front of him. What was she doing there? He remembered what had happened. He wanted to cry, but he pushed that aside. He was not a crybaby, he was ten after all.
"Hi, honey," his aunt said gently. "Your uncle and I would like to take you home. How does that sound?"
Home? He didn't think he'd be allowed to go home. Wait, Aunt Iris must mean her home. That made more sense. Wally just nodded. He just wanted to sleep. Then he wouldn't have to think or get asked questions. What was going to happen? Wally knew his dad was in a lot of trouble, but he didn't know much about laws and things like, other than killers went to prison. Wally wondered if he would get to see him again. He wanted to see his dad. He didn't really want to go to Aunt Iris's and Uncle Barry's house. He wanted to go home, but that wasn't going to happen any time soon, or ever as far as he could tell.
"Come on, Buddy," Uncle Barry said and picked him up.
Wally was too tired to walk himself. By the time they got to the car he was back asleep.