Over the next two weeks Wally systematically stole the chemicals he needed from his uncle's lab. He felt bad, to be more exact he felt like a low life who was no better than his father. But if he succeeded he would be able to save lives. No one would notice they were gone for a while and by then Wally would have already used them.
Wally was on the computer in his aunt's office, when Uncle Barry walked into the room.
"Hey, bubby. What are you looking at?" Barry asked. He was planning on talking to Wally about Flash that night.
"The weather. We're going to have a thunder storm," Wally answered. He had been waiting for a storm like this. Clouds had been gathering all day.
Barry's phone went off. It was a text from Iris. He read it. "Iris's car won't start. I need to go pick her up. Will you be okay by yourself?" He asked. He know Wally didn't like thunder storms very much. They made him nervous.
"I'll be fine," Wally answered. This was working out perfectly. If Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris saw him climbing up a tree in the middle of thunder storm they would stop him. Then they would find out what he'd been planning to do.
Wally watched at the window until his uncle's car was out of sight. He was outside in a second, the chemicals in a box under one arm. The wind had picked up and the clouds were getting darker. Lightening cracked across the sky and seconds later the thunder boomed. Rain started pouring down. It didn't take long for Wally to be completely soaked.
There was a large tree in the front yard, it was the tallest in the neighborhood. Wally had climbed almost to the top before. It was harder to do with a box in one arm and rain pelting him, but he finally managed to find a place to sit near the top. All there was left to do was wait. He didn't think he'd have to wait long. For a moment he thought about climb down and forgetting about this clearly bad idea, but then Wally remembered the man that had been killed because of his dad. He wasn't going down for anything.
runninghome
Barry stopped in front of the studio. Iris was standing on the curve in the rain. She opened the door and got in.
"Thanks," she said smiling. Iris didn't mind getting wet. If it had been in the morning she would have been mad but as it was, she didn't really care. All she wanted to do was go home and relax.
"Of course, my fair lady," Barry said dramatically. He had learned it was best to smile when he could and try to avoid fights. He never knew when he would go out as Flash and never come back. There was no way he was going to leave Iris and be in the middle of a fight at the time. They had made it a rule that Barry wouldn't go out as Flash while they were having an argument until it was finished. They didn't fight very often so this rule wasn't used much.
They talked as Barry drove about his day, about her day and what they were going to do that weekend. A trip to the ice rink would be fun or maybe they would walk down to the park, spend the day there and have a picnic.
"Has Wally seemed a little off to you lately?" Barry asked. He had noticed something was wrong, but he couldn't put his figure on what the problem was.
"A little," Iris said. "It must be Rudolph's trial, and he'll be starting a new school soon. I'm sure he's nervous about it." She was silent for a few seconds. "Do you think we should try to get Wally a visit with him?" That had been bothering her for a while, but she didn't know if it was a good idea. Wally had seemed to be doing better, until recently of course, and she didn't want to make things worse by having Wally visit Rudolph.
"I don't know. You and I could go see him first before we do something like that. I know Wally misses him, but I don't really want him around Rudolph," Barry answered. He wondered what other people did in this kind of situation. It wasn't an easy situation to deal with.
Lightening lit up the sky. It had been thundering, but they hadn't been able to see the lightening until then.
"I hope Wally's okay," Iris said biting her lip.
"He said he'd be fine," Barry answered. He would have brought Wally along if he had wanted to come. "Do you like having him with us?" He asked unexpectedly.
Iris was quiet before answering. She had to think over the past month or so. "I didn't know what it was like to have this kind of responsibility. To have someone depend on you for everything is a little scary sometimes. I didn't know if we were going to be what he needed, or if we were going to be able to handle being parents, but I love it. What about you?" When they had first brought Wally home, she had wanted so much for Barry to love her nephew. She couldn't ask Barry to let Wally stay if he didn't want him there. She wasn't going to let anything come between her and Barry. There were other people in the family who would be willing to take Wally, but she didn't want them to.
"I like being a dad," Barry said. He looked away from the road for a moment to smile at his wife. His dad had been there for him his whole life, and he wanted Wally to have that same kind of attention and love.
The lightning flashed again and the thunder roared. Suddenly, something tightened in him. It reminded him of the first time he'd been shot, but without the pain. There was just that horrible fear. Barry's foot turned to lead on the gas pedal.
"Barry!" Iris cried in surprise. She had the edges of her seat in a death grip. "Barry, slow down!"
Barry didn't slow down. Something was wrong, and he had to get to Wally. He turned down their street. The tree in their front yard was on fire. They could both see a small body not too far from the tree. Barry hit the brakes hard and jumped out of the car. Iris was right behind him.
Barry ran to his nephew at an inhuman speed. "Call for help!" he ordered. There was smoke rising from Wally's body and Barry could smell the sickening aroma of burnt skin. He saw the chemical burns on Wally's arms and hands. What had he been doing? Barry checked for a heartbeat and a pulse. There was no sign of either. He started preforming CPR. He heard Iris coming up on his right. She was on the phone.
"My husband is trying that," she said into the phone. Her voice was tight and fearful. "Please hurry."
It didn't take long for the loud cry of sirens to be heard. Neighbors were coming out of their houses to see what was going on.
Suddenly E. were pushing Barry out of the way. Two of them loaded Wally into the ambulance, while a third continued CPR on the ten year old. They sped away to the hospital. Barry hadn't even noticed the fire truck that had shown up. The firefighters put out the fire in the tree and made sure it didn't spread to the nearby houses. The rain did a great deal to help.
Barry and Iris got back in the car and followed the ambulance to the hospital. They sat in the waiting room for hours waiting to hear if Wally was alive or not.
runninghome
Barry pulled up in front of the jail. Iris was still at the hospital. Wally was alive, but he was in serious condition. It had been almost twelve hours since he had been struck by the lightening. The doctor said he had high hopes for their nephew. That was the only reason Barry had left, plus someone had to tell Rudolph that his son had nearly died. A simple phone call wouldn't do. If Barry was in his brother-in-law's situation he'd want someone to come tell him.
He went and sat down at one of the booths. There was a thick piece of glass in front of him. He picked up the phone just as Rudolph sat down. He picked up the phone on his side of the glass.
"Hello, Barry. What are you doing here?" Rudolph asked. He hadn't changed at all in the month he'd been in jail, awaiting his trail.
"I wanted to be the one to tell you. Wally was struck by lightning yesterday afternoon," Barry said shortly. Saying it out loud made it more real somehow.
Rudolph's jaw dropped. "What?" he almost shouted. The guard on Rudolph's side of the glass sent Barry a look, asking if he needed him to step in. Barry gave a slight shake of his head. "Is he alive?"
"Barely," Barry answered.
"What does the doctor say?" Rudolph asked. He had to get out of there and see his son.
"He says he thinks Wally will be okay," Barry said. He wanted to believe it too, but he was almost afraid to.
"What was he doing outside in a storm? Wally hates storms," Rudolph asked. Wally knew better than to be outside in a thunder storm. He knew they were dangerous. If there was anyone he trusted with Wally it was his sister, but she had let him down.
"I don't know. Iris's car wouldn't start, so I went to pick her up from work. I left Wally at the house. When we got back he was in the front yard. He wasn't breathing," Barry continued. He wanted Rudolph to be worried. This was his fault after all, wasn't it? If Rudolph hadn't broken the law and killed someone, he'd be at home with Wally, who wouldn't have been hurt.
"Thank you for coming and telling me," Rudolph said. He was silent for a long time. Wally would be okay; he had to be okay. "How has Wally been?" He had wanted to see him, but either by Barry and Iris or someone else's doing he hadn't been allowed to. He didn't know if Wally would come if he had the choice.
"Other than a few things, he's been fine," Barry answered. He was baiting Rudolph into asking what kind of things. He wanted the man to feel guilty for everything he'd put Wally through. Barry wasn't thinking right. He hadn't slept in twenty-four hours, and he'd spent twelve of those hours sitting in a hospital waiting room, wondering if his nephew was going to make it or not.
"What kind of things?" Rudolph said. He hadn't heard about Wally until now, other than he was living with Iris and Barry.
"Well, for starters, I came home late one night to find him on the couch half asleep. While I was putting him to bed he asked me if I had hurt anyone. Would you like me to continue?" Barry asked. This wasn't like him. He didn't do this to people, but Rudolph had it coming.
Rudolph's face had gone pale. He wasn't looking too good.
"He misses you, but he's mad at you, so he doesn't know how to feel. Wally will get nightmares about that night you and the others took him hostage. He usually wakes up crying and calling for you to protect him. He doesn't like to go anywhere, because he's scared someone will recognize him and know what his father did. His face was on every news station when you were arrested after all. He saw some guy who reminded him of Max while we were at the store. I have never seen any kid look that terrified. His hands were still shaking by the time we left. So he's doing great," Barry said. He got up from the booth and left Rudolph staring after him.
Barry sat in his car for a long time not doing anything. He couldn't believe he had purposely beat Iris's brother up like that. Family was family, and you don't go after family like that. He had no problem beating up Rudolph or any other criminal, but when someone was on the other side of a piece of glass and couldn't do a thing to for themselves, well then there's no reason to tear them down further. Rudolph was paying for what he hadn't done and would be paying for it for years to come. Barry had been taking out his anger and frustration on the man.
He started the car and went back to the hospital. Barry found Iris right where she had been when he left, by Wally's bed.
"How did it go?" Iris asked. She had gotten a cup of coffee and there was one for Barry.
"Not good," Barry said and sat down. He had called into work to tell them he wouldn't be in that day. He hadn't had to tell them why. Everyone he worked with had heard about it from the E. and the firefighters. "I told him what happened. He was worried and understandably so. He asked how Wally had been doing living with us, and I…well, I got mad. He acted like Wally should be perfectly fine after everything he put him through. I told him about everything Wally had been dealing with," Barry said. Sure, Rudolph should know that Wally had been having a hard time and it was his fault, but it wasn't the time to tell him. Wally was in the hospital with life threatening injuries.
Iris was silent for a moment. "Did he feel bad?" she asked.
"I left before he could say anything, but yeah, he felt bad," Barry said. Rudolph's face had said more than any words could.
"Good," was all Iris said. She wanted to know that Rudolph felt something. She couldn't stop thinking about that day she and Barry had gone to visit. He had been so calm and unconcerned. It wasn't normal, and it wasn't right. She had thought for a little while that he might be a sociopath or something like that.
They didn't talk much. They both knew what the other was thinking. What was Wally doing outside? Barry had smelled the chemicals, which left him with a very bad idea as to what Wally had been doing. He had to be wrong though. There was no way his nephew knew he was the Flash or that he knew how to recreate the accident that had made Barry what he was. It just wasn't possible.