[Star City
March 25, 11:00 EST]
Oliver was the last person who should've ever been responsible for a child. He barely had his own act together, and he was in possession of the very worst set of decision-making skills possible. Oliver usually did first and then thought later, which had landed him into more trouble than he cared to admit. He'd been a little better lately since he'd been with Dinah. She was younger than him, but easily twice as smart and had enough sense for the both of them. Being with her made him a better man.
That wasn't to say though that he didn't make colossal mistakes every now and then. There were a few he didn't regret – like taking in Roy.
Oliver had only been twenty-seven at the time and hadn't given as much as a second thought to being a father. It was actually the worst thing he could imagine at the time: the responsibility, the lifelong commitment, and the irrational fear of getting that close to such a fragile, accident prone little life. He remembered that he'd felt that way for years, and he'd been so set in his decision that none of his past girlfriends had been able to change his mind. Ever. Not even a little.
But none of that had mattered when he'd gone as Green Arrow to judge an archery contest on the Navajo Reservation and laid eyes on twelve-year-old Roy beating the pants off of men three and four times his age. Something about that stubborn, angry little ginger kid had gotten to Oliver. He'd been impressed by his spirit, especially after hearing about his past from Brave Bow, and had taken Roy in without any hesitation.
Terrible idea.
Oliver had bumbled his way through the first few years of fatherhood, making almost every major screw up along the way until he got the hang of it. How Child Services had ever cleared him to be a guardian was a mystery. Poor Roy had definitely gotten the raw end of that deal. For one thing, Roy and Oliver's personalities clashed constantly – if they weren't fighting, then they weren't talking – but they'd managed to figure it out together and become a family. Oliver was undeniably proud of his adopted son, and he liked to think he'd raised him decently, despite their most recent falling out.
Roy was headstrong, stubborn, and independent. He made his own rules, and he was smart – but just as prone to the occasional stupid decision-making and reckless tendencies as Oliver was. Regardless, Oliver knew that he'd taught Roy the basics pretty well and made it clear that they were non-negotiable: No drugs, No dying, Stay in school, and Don't ever get involved with a supervillain.
It was common sense, for Christ's sake! Oliver slumped down in his computer chair and covered his face with both hands.
Cheshire.
He groaned and rubbed at his eyes unhappily. No one else in the League had questioned how Roy had miraculously turned up with such a groundbreaking lead out of the blue like that. They'd all been so relieved to have one that they just took it and immediately started making plans to raid The Network. But Oliver had been suspicious. He'd thought the tip had come from a CI at first. Oliver had several criminal informants around Star City that he called on from time to time, but he made a point to ward Roy away from the practice. There was always a certain level of risk involved, and it made him nervous to think of Roy making those kinds of underground connections.
The truth had been so much worse. Now, Oliver wished it had just been a CI. He'd cornered Roy and forced him to give up where he'd gotten the tip from after he learned the news. Then, he'd flown into a rage over how stupid Roy had been, which had sent Roy into a rage over how Oliver wasn't in control of him anymore, which had only made Oliver angrier, and they'd ended up in a shouting match right in the middle of the Watchtower's corridors. Roy had stalked off to regroup with the visiting Green Lanterns he'd been assigned to, and Dinah had sent Oliver to Star City for his scheduled downtime like she was sending a child to their room for being bad.
That had been seven hours ago. It was only an hour till noon, and Oliver really needed a drink. He wasn't a rational enough guy to deal with this sober, but since they were on high alert because of the Manhunters, alcohol was off-limits. It wouldn't really be ideal if he was drunk when they got attacked. So, he'd gone on patrol to relieve some of the stress. It hadn't worked; Oliver had returned hours ago and was just brooding by himself until it was time to report for his shift with his own group of Lanterns.
He was still in full costume sitting in the armory beneath his mansion, feet propped up on a work table and arms folded behind his head as he imagined Roy turning evil. Or becoming an assassin just like Cheshire. Or marrying Cheshire. Oliver glared mournfully up at the ceiling and started planning out an intervention for Roy. He'd have to invite Dinah, of course; Roy wouldn't listen to him if Dinah wasn't there. Dick and Kaldur would probably want to be there. Kaldur was a pretty calming guy; he was good at diffusing Roy's temper. Hal had a good rapport with Roy, as far as Oliver knew. Maybe he should be there.
But then…Hal was on and off again dating a supervillain as well…though he claimed that Carol was reformed for good.
He remembered the last time he'd had to go save Hal when Carol had gone Star Sapphire and tried to kill him. Maybe he should hold an intervention for Hal as well… He definitely wasn't invited to Roy's intervention. Oliver crossed his arms over his chest and idly tapped one foot to a soundless beat as he thought about who else to invite. Well, Wally would be one of his first picks, but…
Oliver sighed miserably. That poor kid. The Team, Barry, and a handful of the League's big guns were in Central and Keystone Cities right now hunting down Blacksmith. If there was any shred of justice left in the world, they'd come back with a way to find Professor Zoom. Oliver wanted to be over there with them, and he knew Roy did as well, but the mission was delicate, and they'd just be in the way. Roy had been out of his mind when his bid to join the mission was denied, but he'd eventually backed off when each team member's function was explained and he realized that there was no room for him in the plan. They would have a better chance of success without him, and he was needed elsewhere.
Oliver wished that he had something useful to be doing right now. Patrol hadn't been very satisfying. He'd spent a few hours showing his face around the city and putting a stop to the looting before it got too bad again. None of his villains were out, so he'd decided to head back and listen in on the Watchtower's radio chatter. His Pretty Bird was on monitor duty, and Oliver heard her identifying global disasters and distress signals and dispatching the appropriate Leaguers to respond. Oliver kept hoping for something stateside to help with, but even the natural disasters seemed to be taking a vacation today. About an hour and a half ago, there'd been a minor tsunami in the Indian Ocean that Aquaman had under control by now. Forty minutes ago, Dinah had reported an avalanche in the Cascades that Oliver wouldn't be able to help with at all. Fifteen minutes ago, there'd been a hostage situation over in Boston that Deadman had been dispatched to diffuse. Ten minutes ago, he'd heard Dinah reporting a major nuclear explosion somewhere in eastern Siberia; Captain Atom had just responded that he was on his way to deal with that one. Three minutes ago, Vixen had requested backup in New York to help deal with Deadshot. Now, that one, Oliver would have been perfect for, but there were many other heroes much closer to NYC than he was.
Why couldn't Deadshot be on the west coast?
Oliver twisted his beard around one finger and scrubbed at the stubble starting to grow on his jaw. He'd been up so long that he could only imagine how scraggly he looked. He pulled at the neckline of his dark green tunic and sniffed lightly. Hmm. He could probably do with a shower now that he thought about it. Oliver threw back his hood and slid his legs onto the floor, accidentally knocking a case of arrows to the ground in the process.
He groaned and knelt down to gather up the spilled arrows, crawling half under the table to reach the ones that had skittered further away.
All of a sudden, the communicator in his ear shrieked to life with a deafening roar of static. Oliver jerked upright, whacking his head on the underside of the table in surprise. He swore loudly and sat back on the floor, rubbing the top of his head with a wince. He yanked the communicator out of his ear and blinked rapidly to try and shake the pain.
What the heck was that? It sure as hell wasn't a secure JLA frequency. The communicators were Bat-tech, and the sound quality was usually good enough to hear someone grinding their teeth on the other end. Oliver eyed the tiny speaker nervously, waiting for it to bug out again, but he replaced it in his ear anyway. Moments later, the earpiece was flooded with static again, and this time, Oliver swore he could make out what sounded like someone shouting very faintly in the distance. The words kept fading in and out, but every now and then he'd be able to make one out.
"…thi….id…..sh…..I need…..lp…"
Oliver slowly stood upright, frowning and keeping two fingers pressed onto the communicator as he listened intently. If this wasn't a Justice League frequency, then who was trying to get ahold of him? It might not even be him they were trying to contact. The JLA communicators each had two channels: one for general, League wide transmissions and one for specific heroes. It was kind of like having a work phone and personal phone all wrapped up into one.
So, he needed to find out if this person was trying to reach him specifically, or just any League member.
"-lash! I do….know wh…"
Oliver decided to try responding. He tried to lock onto the frequency and held down the button to speak, "Can you hear me? Who is this?"
"-eed HELP! …..ease…."
The static was starting to get a little better. Oliver held down the button again, this time with more urgency, "Is this a Leaguer? Who are you?"
"….lash! I'm ru….ing….Pacifi…..n…."
"You're in the Pacific?" Oliver reached for his quiver and slipped it over his shoulder, trying to stay as quiet as possible.
"Yes! Who is…."
"This is Green Arrow. Are you stranded in the ocean? Were you in a shipwreck?" he listened closely. The voice was so distorted that he couldn't even tell if it was male or female.
"-rrow! A….you in….ar City?!"
Oliver held down the button again. Whoever he was talking to seemed able to hear him just fine, which meant his communicator was working. It was their equipment that was malfunctioning. "Star City? Yes, I'm here. Who is this?"
"Ki…sh! I'm…d Fla…sh…"
His fingers jerked suddenly and slipped off the communicator. Oliver's eyes went wide, and he froze.
"-sh! Ki…..ash! Can…ear..e?...m….d Flash!...clo..e to Star…ty and…don't know…being followe...or not! Thi….Kid...a…..KID FLA….!"
Wally…
Oliver snatched up his bow and sprinted for Dinah's sleek blue motorcycle, his heart starting to beat faster and his mind reeling with disbelief. He keyed the microphone in the earpiece and locked it on so he could speak hands free, "Kid Flash?! Is this you? Where are you?"
"YES! I'm one hu….red…fty miles from….he city! I don't know if…nyone's chasing me!"
"Wait, you're running?" Oliver started the bike and revved the engine, commanding the ramp to the surface to drop down. He sped up the ramp to the secret tunnel he used to get in and out of his mansion as Green Arrow. "Hold on, Kid, I'm coming! Tell me where you are!"
"No! I'm coming to you! I'll rea….you faster! Get….zeta tubes rea..y. I don't…hink they can track me…ght now, but I…"
Oliver turned the bike sideways and skidded to a halt, almost getting thrown off in the process. He put one foot down as a kickstand and sat still in the dark tunnel, looking at the dull orange glow of the road lights he'd installed, "Kid? I lost you there. Are you still okay?"
"I'm in Star now! Where are you?!"
He was in the city? Already? But he just said he was at least a hundred miles out a minute ago…
"I'm in the tunnel to the armory. Red Arrow's shown it to you before, remember?"
"Yeah. I'll be there in a few seconds!"
Oliver switched channels suddenly for just a second and hailed the Watchtower, "Black Canary, this is Green Arrow! I need you to remote activate the zeta tube in my armory right now! I'm coming topside in a few seconds. Get the medical bay ready!"
"GA?" he heard Dinah's startled voice ask. "What's wro-"
Oliver switched channels. He hated cutting her off like that, but he couldn't risk losing the connection to Wally.
"-en Arrow?! Hello?! Are you-"
"I'm here, Kid! I'm here! Just getting the Watchtower ready to bring us up," Oliver said quickly, hearing the kid's terror plainly in his voice. "Are you hurt?"
Wally didn't answer. He didn't have to. An instant later, Oliver heard the rushing whistle of a speedster slicing through the air like a knife, and then a dark figure came barreling down the tunnel right at him. He jumped off the bike and let it tip onto its side when the figure put on the brakes and stumbled off balance to come to a stop. He tripped and collapsed onto the ground in a roll, tumbling right into one of the strips of light and revealing Wally's unmasked face.
Oliver ran to his side and knelt down, flipping him onto his back and frantically checking him over for injuries, "Wally! Are you alright, kid?!"
Wally just lay there bonelessly, eyes shut and chest heaving for air. He wasn't in his Kid Flash uniform. Instead, he was wearing some black pants that were nearly burned away up to his knees and a black shirt with one sleeve torn off and several small holes burned into it all over like it had caught fire. His jawline and neck were slick with sweat and blood. Wally was nearly barefoot. He had the top part of what had to have once been a pair of boots laced around his ankles, and…that was it. The soles and the rest of the shoe were completely missing, and the bottoms of Wally's feet were blistered and bloody like he'd scraped most of the skin off.
Oliver felt along Wally's neck for his pulse and gave a sigh of relief to find that it was absurdly fast – perfectly normal for a speedster. He smoothed the sopping wet red hair from the kid's face and shook him a little, "Hey, stay with me, Wally. I need you to tell me if you're okay. Can you hear me alright?"
Wally nodded silently, swallowing hard and giving an exhausted sort of mumble that Oliver couldn't make out.
"How did you get free? We all thought Professor Zoom had you," he asked urgently, still checking him over for broken bones and lacerations. Oliver pulled his hands away and saw very light colored blood come away on his gloves, but he couldn't find any open wounds.
"Zoom…" Wally muttered weakly, nodding tiredly and trying to sit up. He suddenly convulsed with a gasp of pain and coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood.
That's when Oliver scooped the limp speedster up in his arms and slung him over his shoulder. He got to his feet and locked one arm around Wally's legs to keep him secure, running back down the tunnel towards his armory as fast as he could. He was most definitely not okay. He had to be bleeding internally somewhere.
When he got close enough, Oliver could hear the distinct whirring of the zeta tube in his armory waiting for him. Oliver ran right for the tube, trying as hard as he could not to jostle Wally, who seemed to have fallen unconscious, "Hold on, kid. Just hang on. We're almost there, I promise."
If Wally could hear him, he gave no indication of it. Oliver clambered into the zeta tube and slammed the button with his elbow, switching radio frequencies and sending out one last message before the zeta beam scanned him, "Red Arrow! Get to the Watchtower ASAP!"
The teleporter beamed them up to the Watchtower a second later, and then Oliver was looking out at the observation deck. His stomach dropped into his knees, and he could have hit himself in the face. Dammit! He'd told them to prep the medical bay, but he hadn't specified that he needed to be sent to the zeta tubes there.
"Recognize: Green Arrow – 08, Kid Flash – B03"
The first thing he saw was Dinah and Hal both running towards him. They paused a little once the computer's announcement really sank in, and Oliver saw Dinah's eyes go wide when she recognized who was on his back. Oliver stepped out of the zeta tube and knelt down, slowly and carefully laying Wally out on the floor. Hal was there in an instant, looking uncharacteristically terrified, "Is he alive?!"
"Yep," Oliver double-checked his pulse just to be positive. "But there's something wrong. He's coughing up blood, and he passed out pretty much the second I tried to move him."
Hal activated his ring and started scanning Wally's whole body, actually shaking a little, "He's got perforated organs, internal hemorrhaging, and…some kind of…toxin in his blood? I'm not sure. The ring's saying it's...particles of concrete? That doesn't make any sense."
Dinah knelt down beside Wally and immediately started mothering him, brushing his hair back and touching the side of his face carefully. She looked up at Oliver in open shock, "How did you find him?!"
"He found me," Oliver shrugged helplessly. "I think he escaped or something. I can't imagine Professor Zoom would just let him go."
"I'm taking him to the med bay," Hal picked Wally up gingerly and enveloped them both in green light. "Call Barry right now and tell him we have Wally."
Then, he soared out of the room and out of sight. Dinah ran down a different hallway, heading back to the monitor womb at a dead run. Oliver was right behind her, trying not to picture Wally lying in Hal's arms like a rag doll.
When they reached the monitor womb, Dinah was at the console in seconds, ignoring the dozens of video feeds all around the room. She immediately pulled up Superman's communicator and hailed him on it, "Watchtower to Superman. Respond."
"Superman?" Oliver asked her quizzically. Why hadn't she sent a transmission to Barry first thing? Anyone with eyes could see the agony he'd been in the last two days. Knowing that Wally was safe and waiting for him but not telling him was cruel. It was just prolonging his suffering.
"He's the team leader for that mission," Dinah explained calmly, though Oliver could hear a slight tremor in her voice. "I think that telling Flash right now might endanger the mission and their lives, so I'm telling Superman and allowing him to make that call."
It wasn't right. Oliver's eyes narrowed at the screen as Clark's League ID was pulled up.
"Superman to Watchtower. What is it? We've cornered Blacksmith, and we're about to move in on her."
Dinah keyed the microphone, "We have Kid Flash at the Watchtower. He's safe, and Green Lantern is bringing him to the medical bay as we speak."
Superman didn't say anything for a long minute, and he sounded baffled when he finally spoke, "How? Who found him?"
"He ran to Green Arrow for help, but that's all we know so far. What would you like us to do about Flash?" she asked clearly.
"I'll tell him myself but not until after the mission's complete. This Blacksmith is a lot worse than we originally thought, and she needs to be taken off the streets while we have the chance. We need Flash here and focused in order to do that," Clark said regretfully. "But the Team has finished their part of the mission. Once they get the drug dealers they apprehended cleared for zeta transport by the authorities, they'll be bringing them to the Hall of Justice for questioning. After that, I leave it up to you whether to tell them or not."
Oliver wasn't satisfied with that. He nudged Dinah out of the way, earning himself a disbelieving glare, "Supes, this isn't right. You need to tell him immediately that Kid Flash is alive and here."
"I swear to you, I would if I thought he could handle it without running off on J'onn, Batman, and myself. As it is, Flash has been operating well past his breaking point for days now, and I can't risk it. I'm sorry. It's for his own safety as well. I'll accept the full blame for my decision once we've subdued Blacksmith and are back on the Watchtower."
Oliver chewed at the inside of his cheek unhappily but allowed Dinah to shoulder him out of the way so she could assume the controls again. He thought for a second that she was about to agree with Clark, but her face looked just as upset, "I'm telling his aunt, at least. You have one hour to finish that mission and get back up to the Watchtower before I bring up Flash's communicator and tell him myself. Is that clear?"
Oliver's eyes widened a little as he stared at his girl barking orders at Superman, and a little shiver ran down his spine.
There was another pause, and then, "Very clear, Black Canary. We'll be through in less than an hour. Superman, out."
The transmission ended, and Oliver fought to hold in his laughter. Dinah took a deep breath and sat down heavily in the chair, looking like she wanted to unleash a Canary Cry at something. Her head suddenly turned to look at Oliver, and he flinched back in response, "I can't leave the monitor womb again. Will you go tell Iris that Wally is safe?"
Oliver nodded, "I'm always up for giving good news like this. Tell me when Roy gets here."
"You called Roy?" Dinah turned to watch him go.
"I had to," Oliver nodded, walking backwards now and throwing his arms out to the sides. "We fought again – you were there. Have to try and make it up somehow, don't I?"
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[The Watchtower
March 25, 12:15 EST]
"Recognize: Red Arrow – 21"
Roy stomped out of the zeta tube and into the Watchtower's Javelin bay in a terrible mood. If Oliver thought he could scream his head off at him and then call him in the middle of a mission just to tell him to come over so he could yell some more, then Roy was going to kick his ass.
He should have just kept his mouth shut. How the hell had he expected Ollie to understand why he was with Jade when he didn't even understand it? He shouldn't have told Oliver anything, but…he'd wanted to. Roy didn't know why, but he'd really needed to talk to someone about what he'd done, and he'd naturally come to the conclusion that his father figure would be the one.
Wrong.
He should've lied to Oliver about where he'd gotten the information from and then told Dinah the truth later.
Roy spotted Oliver hanging by the doorway to the rest of the space station and felt his temper go through the roof. His former mentor looked stressed out, unhappy, and…something else Roy couldn't pinpoint. God, he hoped it wasn't regret. The only thing that could be worse than Ollie wanting to yell at him some more would be if he wanted to apologize, because right now, Roy really wanted to fight. His mission with the Lanterns had not gone well. They'd found another base by pure luck and had investigated it only to find the same thing as always. Nothing. They'd been about to search for the shield generator when Oliver called him away.
Roy stalked towards Oliver once he saw that the older archer had noticed him. He pointed one finger at Ollie and scowled, "What do you want? If it's to-"
"We found Wally," Oliver said quietly, beckoning him over with an urgent wave.
Roy frowned at him blankly, caught off guard, "What…?"
"Get over here!" Oliver hissed, and Roy launched himself across the empty hangar as fast as possible. "I shouldn't have pulled you off your mission, so you can't let anyone see you. I really don't want to have to sit through another Bat-lecture."
Roy didn't even hear anything he said, "Where is he?!"
"In the rehab area of the med bay," Ollie told him and then opened his mouth to say more, but Roy cut him off.
"Who found him? The others are still in Central – I've been keeping track of them. God – is he hurt?!" he froze suddenly. Ollie had only said that they'd found him, not that he was… "I-Is he alive…? He's not de….?"
"He's alive and okay," Ollie said quickly, and Roy felt his heart start beating again. "I just that said he was in the rehab area. Relax. Go see him, and try to be stealthy about it. I'll be in the monitor womb with Dinah if you need me."
He was gone before the end of that sentence. Roy clapped Ollie on the shoulder as he passed and then ran full tilt towards the Watchtower's rehabilitation block. There weren't many heroes wandering around since everyone was so busy, which was good because Roy wasn't trying to be stealthy at all. His feet pounded the floor relentlessly, and he tore through the halls like death itself was chasing him. He just needed to see his little brother. Ollie had said he was okay, but no one could be okay after spending two days held captive by Zoom. From what he'd heard from Wally and Barry in the past, Professor Zoom was criminally insane and wouldn't hesitate to break Wally's spine.
That made Roy run faster. What if Ollie was lying? What if Wally really was hurt badly, and something irreparable had been done to him?
Roy reached the rehab block in ninety seconds. He threw open the doors and immediately started scanning the room. He saw a bunch of stupid plants, five or six ugly chairs, and Wally's mop of wild red hair sticking out from his aunt's arms, which were wrapped around his neck. She was obviously smothering him, but Wally had his arms around her just as tightly.
Hal was standing a little off to the side with a grim smile on his face – like he was trying to fake it and wasn't even coming close. He saw Roy right away and walked over to him, dropping the act and grabbing his arm to pull him away. Hal leaned in close and spoke in a severe whisper, "He was tortured. Do not mention Zoom, and do not ask him about it. Wally's dead on his feet, and we're trying to get him to rest."
Roy felt a black fury roll through every inch of his body, and he had to fight to keep from yelling obscenities and breaking something. He glared back at Hal, "When did he get back? Who found him?"
"He escaped," Hal peeked over his shoulder to make sure Wally and his aunt couldn't hear him. "Told us he blew up an entire Manhunter base and then booked it to Star City to find Ollie before he passed out."
His protective rage died down a little, and he stared at Hal in confusion, "He what?"
Hal nodded with a mild, proud sort of smirk, "Yeah – though he's too tired to give us the details right now. We'll know more when Martian Manhunter gets here and goes through his memories, but for now, he just needs to sleep. He used up a lot of energy healing."
"Ollie said he wasn't hurt," Roy growled carefully, keeping his voice low.
"He isn't anymore," Hal sighed absently. "But when he got here about fifteen minutes ago, he was in pretty bad shape. He was bleeding internally, but by the time I got him to the med bay, all his wounds were healed. There was some kind of ultrafine, pulverized concrete in his blood that Dr. Mid-Nite had to flush out, and every single one of his fingers showed incorrectly healed breaks that needed to be re-broken and set. Wally said he tried to fix them himself, but two didn't heal right."
Roy felt sick to his stomach. He looked over at Wally and saw him sitting upright on one of the couches with Iris still fussing over him. Neither seemed to have noticed that he was there yet. "How did he heal so fast? It took him over a month to heal up completely before."
"How did he blow up a Manhunter base and escape from Professor Zoom?" Hal answered his question with another of his own. "We'll have to wait until he's not about to drop from exhaustion to find out."
"Why isn't he asleep then if he's so tired? Shouldn't Dr. Mid-Nite have knocked him out or something if it's that important?" Roy frowned at the back of Wally's head.
"Wally didn't want any anesthesia. He said he hasn't slept in days without passing out or being gassed first," Hal looked grim again, a muscle in his jaw clenching dangerously. "I don't think he feels safe enough to fall asleep. It probably hasn't sunk in yet that he's not there anymore, and Zoom can't get him."
"I'll fucking kill Zoom," Roy ground out furiously.
"Get in line," Hal cocked an eyebrow at him. He looked over at Wally and his aunt, taking a deep breath to calm down a little. "I'm glad you're here, actually. I need to talk to Iris and get her to agree to let J'onn show us Wally's memories while he's asleep. He probably saw a lot that could be helpful to us, and there's no sense in making him relive everything all over again. Are you willing to stay with him for awhile?"
Roy gave Hal a look that said he'd never heard a stupider question and walked right up to where his little brother was wearily letting Iris mother him without even an ounce of protest. Wally heard him approaching and twisted around to look at him in startled alarm. Iris paused in smoothing his damp hair back to look at Roy as well, sniffing lightly and giving him a watery smile.
Wally stared at him anxiously for a few heartbeats, every muscle in his body clearly tensed to run, before relaxing and smiling at him tiredly, "Roy…"
He looked terrible – not in the sense that he was a mess; Wally looked uninjured and smelled like he'd recently gotten out of the shower. He was wearing clean clothes, a simple t-shirt and sweatpants that looked like they were too big for him – Iris had probably grabbed some of her husband's clothes for him to wear. No, it was his eyes that worried Roy the most. Wally was smiling, but his eyes looked haunted, and everything about his posture screamed wounded animal.
The second Roy heard Wally say his name, he sat down beside him on the couch and pulled him into a hug. Wally didn't even hesitate. He latched onto Roy instantly and locked his arms around his middle like his life depended on it. Roy heard him let out what might have been a quiet sob, and the arms around him trembled convulsively, but he didn't say anything. He just held Wally and let him bury his face in his shoulder while he silently reassured himself that his little brother really was here, "You're not allowed to get kidnapped ever again. Understand?"
Roy's voice shook when he spoke, but no one pointed it out. Wally pulled away to look up at him, giving a short little laugh, "I already promised Aunt I."
"Good," Roy said gruffly, releasing Wally and crossing his arms over his chest.
"Iris, can we talk for a few minutes?" Hal nodded towards the door to the hallway, looking apologetic for having to pull her away from her nephew.
Iris frowned at him reluctantly, clearly not wanting to leave her nephew so soon after being reunited with him.
"I'm fine," Wally assured her in a weak, croaking voice.
Roy spoke up as well, making sure to look her in the eyes so she understood that he was dead serious, "He'll be okay. I'm gonna stay with him."
Iris still looked torn, but she stood up and lightly cupped the side of Wally's face, giving him a kiss on his temple, "Try to get some sleep, honey. Please."
Wally nodded, blinking slowly like he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Iris chewed at her lip unhappily and followed Hal out of the room, leaving Roy and Wally alone.
"So, why aren't you sleeping?" Roy asked bluntly, not wasting any time fixing Wally with a stern frown.
"I'm not tired," Wally slurred, blinking rapidly and opening his eyes ridiculously wide like he thought that would convince Roy otherwise.
"Bullshit. You look awful. Don't lie to me."
"Alright," Wally sighed, slumping against the cough and sounding absolutely drained. "I just – I want to sleep, but I just can't. I mean, I'm really trying, but I – I can't."
Roy recalled what Hal had said about Wally not feeling safe. He moved over to the end of the couch and dragged Wally with him, curling an arm around his shoulders and pulling the exhausted speedster against his side, "Well, you can now, because I'm here, and I'll shoot anyone who comes in through that door."
Wally gave him a worried frown, putting up mild resistance.
"Not your aunt or Hal, of course," Roy rolled his eyes, and then paused. "No, wait. I'd shoot Hal, I think, but definitely not your aunt. Point is, you don't have to worry about anyone getting you while you're sleeping."
"I wasn't-" Wally turned a little red in embarrassment.
Roy cut him off to let him keep a little bit of dignity, "I know. I just wanted to tell you."
He looked unsure, but Roy kept his own expression neutral until Wally relaxed and crumpled against him. Roy made him stretch out on the couch and twisted so that Wally could lean on his chest, keeping one arm around him like it was perfectly natural for him to outwardly show this much affection for another human being. There were very few instances and even fewer people that Roy would drop the tough guy act for, but Wally was definitely one of them. He waited until Wally was comfortable and his eyes were mostly closed before he said anything, "So, I heard you torched a Manhunter base all by yourself."
"Mmhmm," Wally nodded just barely, his eyelids dropping another few millimeters. "'N I took out…couple hnndred thousand Mm…manhunters too…"
Roy blinked a few times in surprise, wondering if he'd heard him correctly, "…What, really?"
"Yup…" Wally croaked in a gravelly voice.
Roy's eyebrows rose in impressed alarm, "That's…pretty badass…"
"S'how I roll…"
A wry grin found its way onto Roy's face, and he smiled down at Wally fondly, feeling his chest swell with pride – and a little laughter. He just shifted his arm more securely around Wally and tried to keep as still as possible. Wally was asleep in seconds, and Roy watched over him like a guard dog. He kept one hand around his bow and his eyes on the door.