Author's Note: Behind that thinly veiled annoyance directed towards me, I know ya'll love me, you're just too annoyed to admit it...okay fine, you might just be annoyed. I'm sorry, I really am, I've been having a hard time writing anything lately, not to say my mind hasn't been rampant with ideas, I just lacked the ambition to actually write them down. You can all thank an anon of Tumblr for this, it goes to show that if you bug me (no anon if you're reading this you did not bug me, you made me feel guilty) it causes me to have a rather large guilt trip and I update. Though, hopefully you won't have to do that. I'd like to apologize to one of my reviewers, I told them I'd have this finished before the New Year, I lied. I'm sorry.
Summary: His father is back and everything around him seems to be crumbling right before his eyes. Sequel to Things Fall Apart.
Disclaimer: I think we've covered that if I did own it, Wally would never have an entirely happy life, there would always be angst and sadness behind everything...and everyone besides Kid Flash, Robin, Red Arrow, and Flash would have less screen time.
The Center Cannot Hold
Part Six
"KF!" Robin shouted after his friend, even though he knew the ones who took the ginger speedster were already long gone. Gritting his teeth, Robin was barely able to contain a scream that wanted to escape as he kicked what looked like a muffler that had fallen from one of the overturned cars.
"Robin! What happened?" Aqualad asked as most of the dust cleared away. With not so much as a grunt, the Atlantean go back onto his feet, fixing the acrobat with hsi gray eyes.
"They took him!" Robin shouted pointing towards the direction he last saw their speedster and the speedsters that took Kid Flash.
"What do you mean they took him?" Artemis said crossing over, if he had to guess, she was looking around expecting to see Kid Flash jump out of nowhere.
"I mean, he's gone, kidnapped, captured, snatched, seized, he's gone." he replied shouting the very last word, the lenses of his mask now white slits.
Artemis took a small step back before righting herself, straightening her shoulders trying to make it seem that she wasn't fazed by Robin's small outburst, "Okay, you don't need to bite my head off." she said giving the boy wonder a small glare of her own, "Why would they take him?" she asked while at the same time, Miss Martian asked;
"Was he okay? Kid Flash wasn't hurt, was he?" her voice lined with concern, before Robin could answer either of the inquiries Aqualad cut him off before a word was uttered.
"Miss Martian, do you think that you could get a fix on Kid or any of his kidnappers?" he asked the Martian. She looked in the direction that Robin had previously indicated, he could see the doubt cross her face even as she touched her temple. Her forehead creased while she concentrated, barely three seconds passed before she shook her head.
"They're too far out of range, I can't hear them." she affirmed, dropping her hands again, Superboy lifted a hand, settling it on her shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Why would they only take Kid Flash and not all of us." Superboy asked, truth be told Robin had been wondering the same. However it wasn't the only thing that irked him, while the others continued trading questions with each other, Robin's thoughts drifted. The fact that it had been people who had super speed could not have been coincidence, and people normally did not wreck an area and kidnap someone even though they clearly had the upper hand, a puzzle that he intended to piece together. There were only two people he knew that would probably know the cause and luckily one of them was on speed-dial.
Artemis turned to Robin, raising a thin eyebrow as he activated his gauntlet, the transparent screen appeared before him, "What are you doing?"
"I'm calling Batman."
.:...:.
"Ow." Wally mumbled under his breath, wishing he could rub the back of his head. His head having automatically snapped back once he heard his father's voice, smacked against the solid surface he was currently trapped against. Ignoring the dull pain the persisted afterward, his eyes bearing down at his father through the glass that contained him, he twisted his arms that were held in place above his head in attempt to gain freedom, all in all he was getting an odd sense of deja vu. "What's going on?"
Rudolph stepped closer towards the tube that contained his son, his lips curling into a smile that made Wally's stomach churned uncomfortably and causing the speedster to become disturbingly aware that his cowl was pulled back, which meant his father knew. What did Artemis say about him? Fast with his feet but his mind moved about as fast as molasses? Stinkin' archer and being right in the worst circumstances. "I didn't like how we ended things before, I never really had the chance to explain everything to you, son." Rudolph explained, least that was what it probably was supposed to be, an explanation. Seeing the teen pulling on his restraints, Rudolph turned towards a small panel that stood beside the tube. Wally didn't know what his father pushed, he did know that a little warning would have been nice before he was released and fell to the bottom with a small umph.
"And so you decided to kidnap me?" Wally scoffed standing up, "I wasn't sure before, but now I know you're definitely a shoe in for the father of the year award." His father seemed unfathomed by the less than subtle insults that Wally was making or the sarcasm behind the comments, his eyebrow twitching giving the only inclination that he took some annoyance with it. Annoyed himself, Wally slammed his hands into the glass that contained him, the dull thud causing a small twinge of pain that quickly went away, "Let me out of here."
His father shook his head, "If I did that son, you wouldn't listen to what I have to say." He placed his own hand on the material that was acting as a barrier, "It's perfect really, it may seem simple but the material is ideal for those with super speed, impossible to escape, even if you try to 'vibrate' your way out, you'll get a nasty shock, though from what I've gathered you aren't able to do that particular trick." Wally glowered as Rudolph's hand dropped away, "I didn't want to have to subject you to this, Wallace but with Barry interfering, I knew there wasn't any other option."
"Then talk already." the teen snapped.
"There's something that you're too young to understand, Wallace. A father's pride in his own son," Wally wanted to laugh, "And like any father, I wanted a son that I could be proud of and before you were born, I was promised that I would have such a son." Wally blinked in bemusement, what did that mean? "Instead, to put it mildly, I got you instead. I spent years, thinking that a mistake had been made, do you know what it's like to be lied to, Wallace? You pledge yourself to another and expect something in return but instead you get nothing." The speedster was dumbfounded, the only thing that he was sure of was the spark of anger growing for every word that his father spoke, "At least, that's what I thought at first."
His father began to pace, "You see, Wallace when you were younger you were ordinary," he stopped, "No, not even that, you were less than ordinary, bad grades, no back-bone, and you failed at nearly everything you attempted." Wally's hands clenched tightly into fists, his nail biting into his skin even through the fabric of his gloves, "Even through all that, you were still my son and then Allen thought he could just come along and take you away from me." Rudy's face was become redder until he exhaled slowly, "He succeeded, but you already knew that. Then a few years later, the media began to talk about a new hero, Flash's side kick, Kid Flash. Needless to say, it didn't take me long to figure out who it was, which led me straight to who the man behind the red cowl was." He stopped moving, "And in that moment, I knew that I had finally received what they promised me years ago, a powerful son, I only had to get you back from those who took you from me and here we are Wallace."
"What the hell are you talking about? Who is they? What promise?" Wally shouted hitting the glass, emphasizing his words. Rudy started to make his way towards what Wally had gathered was the only exit.
"I'll explain everything in time, you should try to make yourself comfortable for now, we'll be leaving soon."
"I think you're forgetting that kidnapping a superhero, let alone a teen gets attention, my team and Flash are going to find me." he snapped.
Rudolph paused in the doorway, "I know that Wallace, I plan on them coming. Trust me, they won't be a problem, not for me and not for anyone else after today." he said, leaving Wally alone, realization as to the meaning behind the words dawning on the speedster's face.
.:...:.
"Someone tell me what in the world is going on." the words leaving the Scarlet's speedster mouth the second he stepped foot into the cave. The team looking from the Speedster to Batman, a few (Artemis and Miss Martian) a bit surprised by the tone of Flash's voice, the others keeping themselves calm, perhaps knowing if they said anything, Flash's mood wouldn't get any better.
Batman leveled the Flash with a single look, "Kid Flash has been kidnapped." he informed, what could be seen of his face remained neutral. Flash could not say the same, his brow knitting together stopping before the Batman leaving a blur of red behind him.
"He was kidnapped? How? When?" shaking his head, "No, nevermind that, tell me who took him." When the Dark Knight showed no hint that he was about to answer, Flash snapped, "Now, Bats."
The caped crusader turned away from the speedster, activating the holo-computer, the blue screen lighting up the center of the room, "He was taken by three masked speedsters that the League's computer nor my own have any information about. It's too early for a ransom or some kind and there are no clues that would hint towards one of your criminals or anyone else."
Flash looked over the screen that was being displayed, a map of Happy Harbor, "What does that mean?" something in the back of his mind told Flash that he knew what had happened, but against what could be considered his better judgement, he chose to ignore it deciding that it had to be irrelevant.
"They destroyed three blocks, but nothing that could be considered permanent damage, harmed no civilians, or stole anything of value." Batman went on.
"Are you saying that these guys came to Happy Harbor just to kidnap Wally?" Superboy asked, voicing the thoughts that were slowly circulating around the room.
"Yes. Flash, do you know anyone who would want Kid Flash?"
The feeling became more persistent within the last few moments, "His father." he replied reluctantly, not wishing to have to explain Kid's entire history in front of his friends who, guessing by their puzzled expressions, knew nothing about it. "But I don't think that he could be behind it." he finished. Batman didn't respond, only focused his attention back to the holo-screens.
Robin looked around his mentor, "What are those?" he asked, seeing lines spread across the map.
"Super sonic disturbances, this satellite picks up objects that are moving faster than sound, usually they tend to be jet craft, but within the last hour, there are only these three." Batman stated, following the three separate sources to their ending point. Sensing the speedster's next intended move, he turned to face Flash, "You are not going in alone, you don't know who you're going up against, this is not the time to go into a situation head first."
"I'm not going to sit around here while you plan, Bats, I'm going." Flash said, lowering his voice, challenging Batman to stop him, both knowing that he could not.
"We are going." Aqualad announced, the two older heroes shifted to look at the Atlantean, "Kid Flash is a member of our team and was taken when he is with us and you cannot stop us." the rest of the team stood resolute behind their leader.
The Dark Knight stared at the five teens before nodding, "You're more than capable, you'll be assisting Flash." he relented starting to run a schematic on the building that Kid Flash was located. "I'm sending the blueprint of the building to Robin's gauntlet. I'll be communication with Manhunter."
Flash nodded, "I'll meet you there." he said, knowing the team would be taking the Bioship, something that he was not seeing as a option for himself. After Aqualad's affirmation of the order, the Scarlet Speedster was gone.
To be continued
Final Thoughts: AHAHAH..oh shoot me. Not worth it? Yeah, probably not, BUT HEY THIS PART IS DONE. LETS CELEBRATE, DR. PEPPER AND GARDETTOS AT MY PLACE. WOO. Maybe now I can work on some of my other stuff. No. Not maybe. I SHALL. I should get some sleep. It's late. But yeah, the usual, I didn't proofread this cause I'm a butt-tard. And did you guys know that Rudolph's name is actually Robert? I didn't, but I'm not about to go back and change stuff, so screw the canon, I like my head canon better. So, til the next part, this is Fallen saying; Stay classy readers.