It had been a month since Wally's experiment and his punishment was officially over, which was why he was now standing on the track of Mount Flash.
"Do I really have to wear this thing? It's so humiliating? Why can't I get a cool one like your's?" Wally asked his mentor, since right now, he was wearing a silver leotard with padding and a helmet that Caitlin was using to track his vitals.
"Well for one thing, it's an additional punishment for how stupid you were and trust me, if it weren't for the fact that everything that happens here needs to be kept secret, we'd be posting pics of you in that thing online." Barry told him.
"Thank god for secret identities then." Wally grumbled.
"But more importantly, you don't get a real suit until you earn it, since a suit means that you're ready to enter the field with me and you are not ready for that yet. When you impress me here, that's when you get the chance to start working the field and that's when you get a real costume. But for now, we're here to figure out your limits. See how fast you can run safely and I'll be running with you to make sure you don't do anything stupid." Barry said and Wally sighed, knowing better than to argue, since Barry could always change his mind and put that power dampening cuff back on his wrist.
"So, how are we doing this?" Wally asked.
"It's simple, we run and you try to keep up." Barry said as they both got in starting position.
"On your marks, get set, go." Cisco said as the two speedsters sped off, both of them leaving trails of yellow lightning in their wake
After lapping Wally several times and making sure he wasn't going to do anything stupid, Barry left him alone to continue running on the track of the Mount Justice speed lab while he met up with Caitlin and Cisco.
"How's it looking?" Barry asked.
"Well, Wally's vitals are fine, but I'm concerned about his speed." Caitlin said.
"What about it?" Barry asked.
"This is your top speed from when you first got your speed." Caitlin said as she brought up a chart with points signifying Barry's speed progression.
"Okay, so what?" Barry asked.
"Barry, this is where Wally's speed is now. It's at least half of what yours was when you first got your powers. For some reason his connection to the speed force seems weaker than yours is." Caitlin said.
"Any idea why?" Barry asked.
"No. After all, we don't really know a whole lot about the speed force. But maybe over time, Wally's speed will develop into what yours is now, but it will take longer, since he has more ground to cover." Caitlin said.
"Maybe it has something to do with his age, since he is younger than I was when I got my speed, plus, there's a chance that my powers were already dormant inside me from my dad, so the bolt of lightning might've strengthened an already existing but dormant connection." Barry suggested.
"It's possible." Caitlin agreed, though something about that still didn't seem right.
"At least we've confirmed that Wally has a stable connection to the speed force, even if it is weaker than my own." Barry said.
"When do I get to give Wally his new suit, since I'm pretty proud of it." Cisco said.
"After the stunt he pulled to get powers, he's lucky we even let him wear that training outfit. He's so lucky that the speed force decided to give him what he wanted. There was a higher chance of it killing him, since it wasn't just the lightning and chemicals that gave me my powers. The speed force has its own living consciousness. It could've easily decided not to connect to Wally and let him die." Barry said.
"Actually Barry, it kind of reminds me of you." Caitlin said.
"What?" Barry asked.
"Come on Barry, if your dad had been active when we were kids, we both know that you would've become just as obsessed with recreating the experiment that gave him his powers, since not only did you idolize Superman growing up, but it would've helped you find your mom's killer. This is exactly the kind of thing teenaged you would've done. Which, come to think of it, is probably another reason why Henry never told you. He didn't just want you to have a normal life, he wanted to make sure you didn't try to get yourself killed doing something like what Wally did to get powers. And call me crazy, but I'm glad you didn't get yourself killed, since if you had, I would've lost out on the best brother I could've asked for. And honestly, if it weren't for you, I might still be in the closet." Caitlin said, since Barry had been the first person she'd come out to.
"No Cait, you would've come out by now regardless. But I am honored that I was the first person you felt comfortable enough to come out to. And maybe I am being a bit harsh with Wally. Once he's mastered the basics, I'll let you give him his suit Cisco." Barry said and Caitlin and Cisco both nodded at that.