The first time Wally had called Barry 'dad' he wouldn't remember.

"Wally! You're going to school today! Speedsters don't get sick!" Barry pulled the blanket off of the red head's sleeping form. After doing so, the blonde bolted to the window and threw it open letting in the cold winter air. Lastly, he zipped back to the doorway and flickered the light on the ceiling. "You're going to be late! Even on speedster time!" Barry warned.

"I'm sick!" Wally groaned. He curled in on himself trying to block out the light and the cold air his uncle provided. "I really am this time!"

"-tt- yeah right, Kid." Barry left the light switch he was stationed at and approached the bed, hands on hips. "You're teachers already think you have cancer because you've been absent so much-"

"Don't joke about Roy! (('Of Friends, Foes and Family')) I really am sick-"

"That's no excuse to miss days of school 'just because'. What, do you have a test today or something?" The blonde man started pulling his nephews arm in an attempt to get him to unravel.

"I'll barf on you!" Wally warned. "I'm not kidding!"

"Again with the 'speedsters don't get sick' thing," Barry reminded him. Groggily, Wally rolled himself tighter.

"I don't want to go to school!" he complained. "High school's full of slow people!"

"Did you not do your home work?" Barry tried again. "C'mon! High schools tough but not compared to the other stuff we do!"

"Cut it out dad!" Wally whined and threw his pillow at his uncle. Finding his blankets at the foot of the bed he yanked them up and hid under them. Barry could have dodged the projectile easily but was hit in the face. Recovering quickly, he let go of his nephews hand like he'd been burnt. Wally didn't seem to notice. The older speedster took a step back, eyes wide in surprise. Did Wally…

Did his nephew realize what he'd just called him?

No. The red head was still curled up under the blankets most likely back asleep. Barry was left to stare at the lump with a slack jaw. "Kid," he spoke but his only response was a muffled grunt. "Wally?" This time there was no answer. The blonde was thinking many things at that moment. Was this good or was this bad? Did Wally really mean to call him his…

Dad?

Barry wanted to jump his nephew and strangle him in a hug that would have made even Batman smile. But something held the speedster back. He felt enlightened, fulfilled as an uncle and mentor but a few dark thoughts wormed their way into attention. Did this mean he was being too rough? Was he turning into Wally's *gulp* father by being so commanding of him?

Wally was asleep, no doubt exhausted from his mission the night before come to think of it. That's why he wanted to stay home. He was tired. Barry scolded himself for trying to pull his nephew out of bed before he was ready. I mean, seriously. If you had fought a group of super villains the night before, wouldn't you be tired? Sure, there was the whole fast rejuvenation thing but healing quickly required rest and food. Rest and food.

Sighing, Barry realized Wally didn't even know he'd called him… Dad. It was an accident, one Wally would never know he'd made. Just a slip of the tongue.

Dejectedly, Barry left the room after turning the light off and closing the window. He wanted his nephew to see him as a father, a real father. He wanted to be like a dad.

The second time Wally called Barry 'dad' was an accident.

Peeking into the living room, Wally sighed. Barry wasn't there either. Sure, the TV was going as usual with Iris reporting a car crash in the background, but his uncle wasn't watching it. That left one more place. Passing by the unusually empty kitchen, Wally trudged down the hallway, physics book in hand.

It was humiliating. He should be a pro at this science thing, should wiz through the work in a flash with no pun intended. So of course the red head was embarrassed to ask for help. He'd never needed help on his homework before, or any class work. So he dragged his feet on the carpet as he neared his destination.

"Uncle Barry?" He called while knocking on the door. "I need your… help… with something."

The blonde opened the bathroom door, toothbrush half hanging out of his mouth. "Whach's upth?" he asked through the toothpaste. Wally ignored the foam dribbling out the corner of his uncle's mouth. Instead, he pursed his lips and closed his eyes, gathering the guts he needed.

"I need help on my chem work, dad-" he froze. Where had that come from? "Uh, I-I mean Uncle Barry," he quickly corrected, green eyes now wide. "Yeah, uh, never mind!" Trying not to use his speed, he fled down the hallway, heart racing.

What was that? He asked himself desperately. Did Barry notice? Was he going to hunt him down? It was just an accident! If his Uncle hadn't heard him before, he certainly caught on after his nephew sprinted down the hallway.

"I'm going for a run!" He called down the hallway before he was out the door, feet pounding on the pavement no longer restraining the speed they craved. To passerby's, he was a blur. But to Wally, he couldn't run fast enough.

He was being childish. It was just and accident. Just and accident… But didn't he see Barry as a father figure? What was so wrong with calling Barry his dad?

Why was he running?

The red head stopped then toppled as his central point of gravity went off balance because he wasn't focusing. Get it together West, he told himself. He was in the park. It was quiet, and it was empty.

He could think.

The third time Wally called Barry 'dad' it was a warning.

"How could you be so stupid!" Barry shouted. "You practically died and all you can say is oops?" The blonde threw his hands in the air in exasperation.

"C'mon, it's not like you've never done that-"

"But I practiced!" Barry kept shouting. Iris handed Wally another tissue for his bloody nose. "I didn't say one day 'Oh, I think I'll vibrate my molecules fast enough to slip through this wall. That way, I can blow up the whole Mountain!'"

"Barry, calm down," his wife told him sternly. "He's just a kid. Wally wasn't trying to hurt anyone."

The blonde man stood there fuming for a few moments, fists braced on the kitchen counter as he tried to reign in his emotions. Sitting across the island from him was his nephew, cringing with every word his uncle spoke. An ice pack only covered one of his black eyes and the tissue wad under his broken nose was soaked through with blood. The rest of him didn't look much different. The red head looked like one big black and blue spot, arms, legs and torso covered in bruises and sore skin.

"Wally, do you understand what could have happened?" Barry finally spoke, voice low and serious. It was a strange look for the usually light hearted man. "Why couldn't you ask me to teach you?"

"Because you always tell me I'm not ready-"

"Because you aren't!" Barry yelled again. "I had my powers for years before I even thought about trying that." Wally shrunk farther in his chair, wincing as he stretched sore ribs. "Wally, you could have blown up the entire bay area!"

"But I didn't!"

"Boys!" Iris spoke up, tone commanding and both males snapped their heads around to look at her. She had one hand on her hip while the other held an ice pack to Wally's shoulder blade. "Both of you need to stop this."

Barry flared his nostrils. "You have no idea!" He shouted, but this time at his own wife. "This line of work is one of the most dangerous! If Wally wasn't careful enough, he could have been pulled into the Speed Force and lost forever!"

"Barry!" Iris stared at him, astonished he would think to yell at his wife. Her jaw slacked and her eyes widened. Snapping out of it, she roughly handed the ice pack she was holding to her nephew and marched from the room. It was silent for a few moments before the speedsters heard the front door slam and the car start up.

"Nice work… Dad," Wally hissed.

The blonde standing across the counter from him whipped his head to stare at his nephew. As realization dawned on him, Barry's tense figure melted and his shoulders sagged.

"…Really?" He asked his nephew. They both knew what he was asking with that word. Was I really acting like…Him?

"Really." Wally confirmed with a scowl and slid from his chair stiffly and limped from the kitchen.

The fourth time Wally called Barry 'dad' was as a tease.

"Aww!" Wally knelt next to the box of puppies. The little girl sitting on the side walk beside it smiled shyly at the red head. "How much are they?" the he asked her.

"Ten dollars-"

"Ten dollars?" he stuttered. "But their absolutely adorable! I'll give you twenty for the runt-" The cell phone in Wally's pocket vibrated. "Hold on," he held up a finger to the little girl. "Hullo! This is Wally West at your service!"

"Kid?" It was Barry. Crap. "Where in the world are you?"

"Uh… Gotham?"

"Gotham?" he could hear his uncle huff. "Please tell me you're with Robin." Wally looked over his shoulder at his friend. The ebony smirked, most likely already knowing what was happening.

"Yeah… do you want to talk to him?" Before getting an answer, the red head handed the phone off to his friend.

"Hey Unc, how goes it?" the bird asked but he too didn't wait for an answer. "Wally's buying a puppy."

"Dude! You're not supposed to tell him!" The speedster could hear his uncle's voice from where he stood. Robin was forced to yank the phone away from his ear. The ebony shoved the device back at his friend.

"-Iris will flip! We don't have room for a dog and you know that, not to mention the money required to-"

"But their only ten -" The little girl next to the box of puppies gave him a scowl. "-twenty dollars! Ugh, there's a little runty one and he's the cutest thing and you would absolutely love him if you saw-"

"Wally, no," Barry stated. "We are not getting a dog."

"But-"

"Wally!" Robin hissed. "Do the thing!"

"What thing?" the red head raised an eyebrow at his friend and covered the speaker on the phone. His friend gave him a pouty look. "Oh, that thing." He returned to the phone. "Dad?" he whined.

There was silence on the other line. "Huh?" Barry asked in confusion. "You just called me-"

"Please daddy?" Wally begged. "Daddy, I promise I'll take him for walks and I'll feed him and Rob can give us the money to feed him-" he got elbowed by said bird. "And I've always wanted a dog! Pretty please, daddy? With sugar on top?"

The other line went dead.

The speedster shrugged and pocketed his phone. "He said yes," he smirked and handed the little girl a twenty. Pulling the runt out of the box, he brought it to eye level. "Daddy is going to love you!"

The fifth time Wally called Barry 'dad' was when he meant it the most.

They were invited to the funeral. They were invited because they were family. But that didn't mean they wanted to go.

But they went anyways.

They dressed up as was expected, that respect for the public eye they could spare. But they wouldn't spare the public the sight of their scowls. But the red headed boy between them didn't wear an emotion. Not one of relief, not one of mourning.

His face was blank.

Everyone shook his hand, their unknowing faces pitying his loss. Barry wanted to punch them. When the Father finished his speech he asked if anyone wanted to say something. Barry wanted to scream to the world that they were mourning a criminal, but Iris held him back. The two sat in one of the middle pews. Not too close to the casket but not far enough to seem rude. Wally wasn't sitting with them. The boy made it a point to sit up front in the very first pew in the center of the bench.

A few people cried during the service, but Wally wasn't one of them. His face was blank, empty, devoid of any and all emotion. A few people whispered that it was from shock, but what did they know? They didn't know who the man was… what he was.

An angry man.

During the memorial service, Wally was still sitting in the sanctuary. He hadn't moved to fallow the crowd in their decent to the community rooms below. Instead he sat gazing ahead at the closed casket that held his… father. Sometimes his steely gaze would move upwards to the stain glass window on the far wall. He's not religious. He's a man of science therefore he didn't spear the crucifix a single glance.

The dark shadows under his eyes were the only sign of his stress. His jaw did not clench and his emerald eyes did not water.

He sat perfectly still.

There were so many emotions and thoughts running rampant in his brain that the noise of it was almost deafening. But at the same time his mind was silent, shocked at the sudden turn of events and at a loss of what to think of them.

"Wally?" a gentle voice called and echoed off the high ceiling of the church. The person it spoke to made no sign of recognition. The red head stared straight at the lid of the casket. It was closed as requested by his uncle.

"Kid?" his uncle called again. Wally blinked for the first time in what seemed like ages. Taking a shallow breath, he tilted his head sideways in the slightest to show he had heard. The staring contest he had been having with the wooden box was broken.

The box won.

"Barry?" he replied quietly, voice barely audible.

"I'm here." And he was. The blonde man made his way down the aisle and sat next to his nephew. "You want to go home?" he asked.

Wally didn't want to answer. He didn't really have one. Part of the red head wanted to stay forever and watch as the box was lowered into the earth. The staring contest he had just been having was almost comforting because it felt like nothing changed; his life wasn't moving on without him when he stared at the casket. Another part of him wanted to leave, wanted to run, wanted to be anywhere except sitting in that pew.

But he didn't have an answer.

Instead, he spoke the obvious. "He's dead." It was silent.

Barry sighed almost hopelessly, the soft sound echoing loudly off the high ceiling like everything else. "Yeah… he's-"

"No!" The red head stood abruptly knocking his uncle over in surprise. Barry scrambled to his feet keeping a safe distance from where his nephew fumed. The previously pale face was now flushed red, sweat pouring down his temples and a murderous glint in his eye. They stayed like that for a moment, neither moving except for the heaving of Wally's shoulders as he breathed heavily.

"Wally…" Barry spoke finally, breaking the loud silence. "We should go home now." The red head wanted to agree, wanted to be pulled out of the church and into the car so badly it hurt. But his usually active feet were pinned to the floor by glue.

"Wally, let's go home-"

"The bastards faking it!" The younger speedster was next to the casket in a moment beating at the lid. His uncle was taken aback for a moment by the suddenly violent display. "You hear me!" Wally screamed at the closed lid. "Come out here and face me you son of a bitch!" He shouted. Wally's shaking fingers were pulling at the handle, yanking at the lid and prying the wood open.

"Wally!" Barry was pulling his shaking nephew away. The boy in his arms thrashed and tried to scramble away but his uncle had a death grip around his waist. "Wally, calm down!" he yelled, trying to be heard over the young man's sobbing.

He was sobbing now.

"Come on!" he screamed at the casket. The red head jabbed an elbow back and stomped on his uncle's unsuspecting foot before twisting out of his grasp. "You asshole! You lied! You said you loved me and you lied!" he shouted and was back to yanking on the tightly closed lid. "You lied to mom! You told her too! You asshole!"

Barry struggled to get close, but when he put a firm hand on his nephews shaking shoulder he was punched in the face. Tumbling backwards, he collided with the first pew and fell to the ground gripping his injured jaw.

"Tell me now!" Wally screamed, finally able to open the lid. He leaned over the opened casket and came face to face with his father. "Tell me you love me now you fucking son of a bitch! You lying, cheating, angry bastard!" Wally's heartbroken sobbing echoed in the church. The hot tears that fell past his lashes dripped off his face and onto that of his dead… father… as he screamed harder.

Barry heaved himself to his feet. This had gone on long enough. If something wasn't done now, they might have an unwanted audience. "Kid Flash," he yelled over the ruckus his nephew was making. He used a voice he hoped was close to Batman's. Even in his superhero garb, Barry was a light hearted man. "Stop. Now," he ordered.

Wally froze mid sentence, teeth bared as his scream was cut short. Breathing hard, he pulled away from the still form in the casket. He stood straight. Barry approached cautiously before putting a hand on the red heads heaving shoulder. He turned him gently. Wally didn't fight him and let his uncle pull him into a tight and restraining embrace.

"Take me home," the younger speedster said quietly. His falling tears started making a wet patch on his uncle's shirt. "Take me home," he begged.

"I've got you," Barry reassured him holding his nephews shaking body closer. "We'll go home. You'll be okay."

It was silent while Wally reigned in his anger and exhaustion.

"I love you," Barry whispered into the red hair after a few minutes. "I love you so much-" his voice broke and his own tears threatened to fall now.

"I love you too dad," Wally replied without hesitation.

A/N: OMIGOD PLEASE DON'T KILL ME.

I've wanted to write this for so long I feel like I might cry because I actually FINALLY got it typed and published. Omigod. I'm actually quite envious of Wally's relationship with Barry; I have my problems with my own dad. My pop isn't homophobic… ok, he is, but I know he loves me genuinely no matter what. Sometimes we've even gotten into fights about my, well, gayness. He's a good guy though.

WHOOP! This is going to be AWESOME!

Moe.