Gah! Attack of the one shot plot bunny! I literally couldn't write anything until I got this done, so my entire day off was dedicated to this!...not a bad day, all things considered...This'll be my first rated T story, for the pure and simple fact that this one deals with child abusage. Yes, I have jumped on the Wally Whumpage bandwagon with this chapter. Hope you guys enjoy(?) it!

Boring Disclaimer: Yeah, don't own a thing. Otherwise Young Justice never would've left the air.

ENJOY!

"Ow."

Wally winced, lightly pressing the pads of his fingers to the bruise welling on his cheekbone. It was quite tender, especially as it crept up under his eye!

Why'd he have to go for the face? He's never gone for the face before.

He shook his head, resting his hands on the sink as he eyed his bruised face in the mirror. How was he going to get out of this one?

I'm in a hurry to get things done, oh I, rush and rush until life's no fun!

He turned and ambled back into the bedroom, emerald green eyes seeking out his phone in amongst all the clutter of his room. The small square light shining through his blanket gave it away.

All I really gotta do is live and die. I'm in a hurry and don't know why!

He quickly flipped it back and retrieved his phone. Flipping it open, he found that the text message was from Robin.

Robin. 8:30a.m.- Dude, where R U? Canary's ready 2 start!

He quickly keyed in a reply. 8:31a.m.- Sorry, parents holding me up. Be there in 10.

Robin 8:32a.m.- We'll be waiting.

He quickly tucked the phone in his pocket and went to his closet, pulling a brilliant yellow hoody with a red flash symbol on the front out. He pulled it over his head and left the room, grabbing his sneakers on the way out the door.

The smell of fresh waffles drifted up the hall and made his mouth water as he made his way downstairs, hopping on one foot or the other as he pulled his shoes on. He very nearly fell down the stairs trying to tie the second shoe, catching himself on the railing at the last second.

In the kitchen, Mary West glanced up at her teenage son and smiled, setting another waffle on a plate already stacked with them. The redheaded woman had been a beauty once, but age and stress had tarnished that beauty, the lines on her face pronounced and her once vivid red hair now beginning to grey.

He moved forward and gave her a peck on the cheek like he was supposed to. She smiled and hugged him back, ruffling his tussled red locks with her free hand. Going through the motions. Like puppets on strings.

It seemed like that was all they ever did any more was go through the motions.

The sound of footsteps in the hall made them tense. Here came the puppeteer, the one who controlled almost every move they made. Wally watched as his father stalked into the room.

How did it come to this? He wondered. When did our lives become a puppet show, with dad pulling our strings to make us sing and dance?

His father seated himself at the table, and Mary was quick to set the plate of waffles down in front of her husband. Wally stomach felt as if it was going to eat a hole through his middle, but he made no attempt to get any for himself. He knew better than that.

Instead, he contented himself with the tall glass of orange juice from the counter. That much they knew was allowed, and Mary responded by making sure there was always a glass sitting out for him in the morning.

He eyed his father over the rim of the glass. There was never any telling what his volatile father would do next.

Rudolf West was a powerfully built man. His hair was duller, darker. Not the vibrant red Mary and Wally possessed. Like Mary, he was going grey, and his face had become rugged with age and stress.

He dug into the waffles Mary had provided, not sparing on the butter and syrup. He ignored his wife and son, both of whom were silently looking on. He finished his meal quickly and stood. Grabbing his coat off of the coat rack he kissed his wife, ruffled his sons hair, and grunted a noncommittal goodbye before stalking out the door.

They breathed a sigh of relief once they heard the front door click shut behind him. The puppeteer was gone, they could pull their own strings. At least a little bit.

But not too much.

Mary quietly refilled Wally's glass, before dishing up her own breakfast. Wally pointedly ignored the food. If he asked, she would probably let him have it. He didn't want to get her in trouble.

He gulped down the rest of his orange juice and grabbed his own jacket.

"You're going out?" Mary asked softly, not looking at him. He nodded. She sighed and turned her head away. "Where will you be?"

Wally shrugged his jacket on. "With friends."

"Robin again?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"I'd like to meet him some day." She remarked wistfully. "He sounds like such a nice boy."

Wally gave his mother another quick peck on the cheek. "He is." He agreed. "Rob's my hero. You'll meet him someday. I promise."

They both knew it wouldn't be happening anytime soon. Rudolf didn't allow Wally to have friends over.

Ever.

If Wally wanted to have friends over as a civilian, for anything, he had to invite them over to Uncle Barry's. Barry didn't mind, the more the merrier as far as he was concerned.

"Take your phone with you." She murmured as he headed for the door.

He held up his phone, not looking back. "I got it. See you tonight mom."

Recognize. Kid. Flash. B. Zero. Three.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late! I stopped by Uncle B's to grab some extra food and I ran into Captain Boomerang on the way to the zeta tube. He got away."

Black Canary arched an eyebrow. "Apparently not without getting a few hits in…" she commented dryly.

Wally touched the bruise under his eye, wincing. "Yeah." He murmured, chagrined. "Thank god for the speedster healing factor though right? Provided I eat enough this'll be pretty much gone by the time I get home."

Canary nodded, motioning to the side of the ring. "Grab something from the kitchen then take a seat. Kaldur. Conner. You're up."

The two boys specified nodded and quickly stepped up on the holo-mat, assuming ready positions.

Wally dashed away at super speed, retrieving two apples and an orange from the kitchen before coming back and seating himself beside Robin on the side of the ring. He tossed one of the apples to Robin, taking a bite out of the other one and leaning forward to watch the match.

Suspicion deflected.

His mother knew he was Kid Flash. His father didn't, though with the way bruises could disappear in the space of a day he probably suspected something. But neither of them knew about Wally's accelerated metabolism. Due to his father, he ate only one normal sized meal at home.

His Aunt Iris and Uncle Barry always had meals for him, ostensibly to provide the extra food he needed so there was no risk of his parents finding out. Anything else he needed, he scavenged from the pantry's at the mountain, which were kept well stocked.

No one knew about his restricted meal schedule at home.

Heck, as far as anyone else was concerned, his home life was a happy one. And he intended to keep it that way. No one could ever know what went on in the West home.

No one…

Robin eyed his best friend. He was worried.

He'd been watching Wally for some time now, and it hadn't escaped his notice that Wally always seemed to be sporting some new form of injury. Cuts. Bruises.

Just last month his wrist had been fractured in three different places!

But that wasn't what worried Robin the most, injuries came in the job description of being a hero. What worried him was the fact that Wally often gave various Central City villains as excuses, but when Robin looked them up he found that those villains often couldn't have run into Wally. They were in jail, sighted elsewhere, or in one case fighting the Flash himself in another part of Central!

Wally was lying.

And Robin had made it his goal to find out what Wally was hiding. He'd done everything he could think of.

He'd hacked Wally's phone for his texts and voice mails. He'd sifted through his best friend's email account, everything he'd ever received, sent, and drafted. He'd hacked the security systems for Wally's high school and watched the tapes for bullies.

That hadn't turned up anything outside of some vicious and somewhat underhanded P.E. tactics on the part of the school jocks, but nothing that would produce the injuries Robin was seeing inflicted on his bro.

He'd even put tracers in Wally's uniform, sneakers, and wallet to see if he was sneaking off somewhere and maybe that was where he was getting hurt.

Nothing had turned up.

The boy wonder had even hacked the Watch Tower, Hall of Justice, and Mount Justice security cameras, on the off chance it might be a league member. He hacked their emails, both personal and professional, and he had run their phone records to see if they'd had contact of any kind with Wally.

The only ones to have done so were the Flash, not surprisingly, and Roy, also not surprising.

On the team, the only ones to have contact with him via phone or email were himself and Artemis, himself being the main contact.

Zatanna had texted a time or two, but other than that…

Nothing.

A sudden thought struck him as he watched his friend finish the apple and start in on the orange. Wally had been eating a lot lately…well, Wally always ate a lot, that wasn't weird. But now that he thought about it, Wally seemed to be eating more than was usual.

Even for him.

A horrible suspicion began to worm in his gut.

Tonight. He thought grimly, watching as Wally finished the orange and ran the peelings and apple cores to the garbage can and ran back. Tonight, Robin's going to get an up close and personal look at anything and everything related to Rudolf and Mary West. One way or another, I'm going to find out who's doing this.

And I'm going to stop them…

Wally was in the living room when Rudolf got home that night.

He was sitting cross legged on the couch, his math book and notebook propped open on his knees, a pencil behind his ear. His phone was sitting open on his math book, alongside his calculator.

He could hear the soft hum of his mother's voice coming from the kitchen. She liked to hum while she washed the dinner dishes at night.

He'd always found it soothing.

The door slammed open and Rudolf stumbled in, a bottle in his hand. Wally wrinkled his nose in distaste. His father was drunk as a skunk tonight. He was always at least a little buzzed anymore when he came home, it had been that way for months, ever since he'd lost his job. But this was worse than usual.

Tonight, Rudolf West was completely and utterly soused.

His mother's soft humming stopped and he was abruptly reminded of the woman in the kitchen. Dad was home early tonight. She hadn't had a chance to hide. Neither had Wally. Wally's jaw tightened as he eyed his drunken father. He'd see to it she got her chance to hide.

He'd keep Rudolf's attention on him.

"Hey dad." He called unenthusiastically from his spot on the couch. "You're home early."

Rudolf focused his drunken gaze on his son, face flushed, with drink or temper Wally wasn't sure. "I'm th' man of th' house." He slurred. "I'll come an' go 's I please."

Wally nodded, lowering his gaze to his homework. "Yes sir."

His father stumbled closer, peering blearily at the book and notebook in Wally's lap. Huston. Operation 'I'm a glutton for punishment' has been initiated. Wally had to work to keep his face deadpan.

Robin was right, his poker face sucked.

"Doin' yer homework…like a good lil' boy?" His father asked.

Wally nodded, pulling his pencil out from behind his ear. "Yeah dad…" he jotted down the answer. "Like a good little boy…"

I'm in a hurry to get things done, oh I, rush and rush until life's no fun! His phone buzzed and the song by Alabama began to play. He picked his phone up and opened the text message.

Robin 9:15p.m.- Dude, that question U sent? U did ok till step 3. You need to divide it bro, not X it.

Wally smiled and texted back. 9:16p.m.-Got it! Thanks dude. Appreciate it.

A low growl sounded behind him and a rough, calloused hand snatched his phone away. "Somebody's sendin' you answers? You're cheatin'?"

Wally froze. Crap!

He whirled around to stare up at his father. "What? No! Dad, it's not what you think! Rob's just helping me out!"

Rudolf snapped the phone shut, shoving it in his pocket. His face was deadly, dangerous as he glared at his son. "You've got someone feedin' you answers." He growled, eyes narrowing. "Yer cheatin'!"

He suddenly lunged, grabbing Wall and dragging him off the couch. "No son of mine's gonna be a filthy cheater!" he yelled, bringing his fist down across Wally's face, pounding him mercilessly into the floor.

And he didn't stop.

Again and again he hit the teen lying prostrate on the floor, screaming at him how he was lazy, worthless. "Yer good fer nothin'!" he yelled. "I'm ashamed t' call you son! All you ever do is eat my food, sleep 'n my house, and hang out with yer friends all day! You're worthless!"

Wall held up his arms, trying to fend off his Rudolf's blows. But if he was being honest, it wasn't his dad's fists that hurt most.

It was his words.

Robin glared at his holo-computer.

A strong cool breeze tousled his black hair, bringing the sounds of the city streets far below along with it. Off to one side he could see Batman, the dark knight's long black cape flowing in the wind.

His phone suddenly buzzed and he smiled as it began to sing.

He rocks in the tree top, all the day long. Hoppin' an' a boppin' an' a singin' his song. All the little birdies on jay bird's street love the way the robin goes tweet twee tweet…!

H pulled it from his belt and flipped it open, ignoring the disapproving look Batman was sending him. They were on stakeout in one of the noisiest districts of Gotham. No one was going to hear his cell phone going off.

Wally had certainly answered back quickly enough!

Captain Obvious 9:16p.m.- Got it! Thanks dude. Appreciate it.

He chuckled and dropped the phone back in the pouch on his belt, making sure it closed. It wouldn't do to have it fall out in the middle of a fight and get lost! Out of the corner of his eye he saw Batman leap off the side of the building. A quick glance showed that he was after a purse snatcher down the block.

No need for Robin to move, better that at least one of them stayed here to monitor the building they were watching.

Now, back to the search.

He keyed into the Bat Computer's search programs remotely, entering in the name of Rudolf West. Several people with that name popped up. Who would've thought there were so many Rudolf West's living in the united states.

He frowned, re-defining his search parameters to narrow down his list.

He wanted a Mr. Rudolf West living in Central City. Married, to Mrs. Mary West. Father of Wallace Rudolf West. It didn't take long for the computer to find the one he was looking for.

The picture being painted for him wasn't what he'd been expecting. He settled in to read the man's bio.

Rudolf West was apparently an upstanding citizen up until he lost his job several months back, but no out and out child abuse or domestic violence. He'd had several different menial jobs since he lost that first one, none of which he'd held for long. He had a couple DUI charges and a couple citations for being drunk in public.

Robin shook his head. "That would certainly explain why he lost all those jobs. No one wants to have a drunk working for them, it's bad for business." he murmured grimly. "But that doesn't…" He trailed off as a new bit of related information popped up.

He frowned. The information wasn't about Rudolf. It was About Wally's mother Mary.

He clicked the tab and a new window opened up. Galaxy blue eyes widened behind the white lenses of his domino mask as he read what this new page had to say. They were medical and police reports for Mary West. Apparently Mary had been attacked by muggers on several occasions.

Robin shook his head. It didn't escape his notice that Mary went to a different hospital or clinic each time. "Uh uh…No way someone gets mugged that often outside of Gotham. Especially not in Central."

He continued reading the reports, paying careful attention to the type and location of the injuries she'd sustained. Comparing them to the various injuries he'd observed on Wally, an eerie pattern began to form.

It was Rudolf. It had to be.

"But that doesn't make sense!" Robin spluttered, sitting back against the wall. He ran a hand distractedly through his hair. "If that's what's going on, why wouldn't Wally do something? Why wouldn't he tell me?"

He rocks in the tree top, all the day long. Hoppin' an' a boppin' an' a singin'…

He snatched his phone out of his belt pouch, cutting off the song before it had a chance to run it's course, and flipped it open.

A sense of panic was coursing through his veins, some instinct warning him that something was wrong.

Horror swamped him as he looked at Wally's text message. The phone slipped from his nerveless fingers, clattering to the concrete ledge he was sitting on.

That sound was enough to jar him into action.

He leapt from the side of the building, the stakeout forgotten in his new sense of urgency. Behind him, he could hear Batman calling his name, but he didn't care.

He kept going, racing for the Zeta beams as fast as he could.

Batman starred after his protégé, wondering what on earth had gotten into him.

The boy wonder had been distracted all night, either working on his holo-computer or texting someone, probably Wally.

The bright red of Robin's phone caught his eye and he leapt down onto the ledge Robin had just vacated in such a wild, frantic manner. He scooped up Robin's phone and flicked it open.

Robin's phone was different from his own, and it took him a couple moments to learn how to navigate it. Once he did, the first thing he looked at was the text messages. The last one Robin had received was from someone labeled 'Captain Obvious' at 11:05p.m..

He opened it.

And suddenly he understood why Robin had raced off in such a hurry.

He thumbed his com link on, connecting to the rest of the league. "Batman to Watchtower. We have a serious problem…"

Wally whimpered, doing his best to protect his head within the safety of his arms.

It felt like his dad might finally be running out of steam.

The teen was laying on the pale blue carpet of their living room. His wrists were tied to the leg of his mother's heavy wooden coffee table, secured there with his father's belt. He weakly tugged at his bonds, bleary eyes trying to make sense of the convoluted mass of leather and metal belt buckle.

But he didn't have much hope.

If there was one thing he'd learned since his father had started on this downward spiral, it was that he hit hard, and tied really good knots. If he were Robin, or Harry Houdini, he might've had a chance. But he wasn't. And he didn't.

Not in this condition.

Wally felt something small and hard hit his temple and bounce off. He opened bleary eyes. His father had apparently thrown his phone at him in his anger.

The rain of angry blows suddenly stopped and he immediately returned his attention to his dad.

The inebriated man was weaving, apparently having difficulty keeping his bearings as the alcohol took its toll on him. He muttered a drunken curse and turned away, stumbling towards the hall that would take him upstairs to his bedroom.

Wally was startled to see the blurry figure of his mother standing in the doorway, apparently blocking his father's path.

What was she doing?

Rudolf grabbed his wife by the upper arms, giving her a violent shake. "Leave him there." He slurred in a growl. "Or I'll do worse to you…"

She gave a frightened nod and he shoved her away, stumbling past her and into the hall.

The two were absolutely silent as they listened to him make his way up the stairs, tripping more often than not, probably over his own feet. Then the door upstairs slammed shut. The puppeteer had gone to bed for the night. He'd probably already passed out.

Tears welled in Wally's eyes and spilled down his cheeks. When had his life gotten so screwed up?

"Mom…" He whimpered, raising his head up a little off of the bloody carpet to look for her. "Mom, help me…please…"

He couldn't see the tears on Mary's face as she made her way across the room toward him, his eyes were to blurry for that. Nor could he see the pain in her gaze or the shaking of her hands.

But he could feel that shaking when she gently smoothed back his hair. And he could hear the tremble in her voice when she spoke.

"I can't…"

She couldn't. He'd known she couldn't. Or wouldn't. He didn't know any more. But he didn't try to hide anything from her. He let the tears fall.

"…stay with me…?" he whispered.

She nodded, taking a seat on the couch in case Rudolf came back. She could claim she was watching him, making sure he didn't get away. Or maybe she just wanted the comfortable seat.

He didn't know anymore.

He let his head fall back to rest on the carpet, and his eye landed on his phone, hidden partially under the coffee table. The phone…

...if he could just get to it…

Wally eyed his mother. She'd curled herself up on one end of the couch, her knees drawn up to chest and her head resting in her arms. She wasn't watching him. He grimaced, shifting his body so that he looked like he was curled up in the fetal position.

That would put his head below the level of coffee table and out of her line of sight.

He lowered his head, carefully grabbing at the phone with his teeth. The phone's slick plastic body made it difficult and he dropped it twice. Each time the teen glanced worriedly at his mother, afraid she would have heard, but she showed no sign that she had.

Finally, he managed to get a good hold on it and lift it up to his hands.

Now came the really risky part. The way his hands were tied, they stuck out beyond the end of the table. If Mary looked up now she'd see the phone.

So don't give her a reason to look.

He thumbed down the volume, then flipped the phone open. Shaky fingers keyed up that last text from Robin and hit reply, picture message.

Wally grimaced. There was a very good chance that his father had broken something.

Maybe several somethings.

He turned the phone around and clumsily snapped a picture of himself, sending it off to Rob along with a brief text.

11:05p.m.- Help. Rob Batclanus.

Once that 'message sent' image came up on his screen Wally let his head fall back, his phone slipping from nerveless fingers.

Hurry Dick. He thought tiredly. Hurry…

Recognize. Robin. B. Zero. One.

The brilliant light of the zeta beams faded away and Robin leapt out. The boy wonder hit the streets, and it was with a start that he realized he'd never been to Wally's house. The two boys had always hung out at the house of Barry Allen, the Flash.

He hurriedly brought up his holo-computer, keying in a route for the address listed as Rudolf West's home address.

The route showed up, outlined in brilliant red like a GPS and he began running. Wally's home was only six blocks away. He couldn't do six blocks as fast as Wally or Barry could, but he bet he could make it in record time!

The boy wonder darted out into the nearly deserted street after a pickup truck, catching hold of the bumper and climbing up into the bed of the truck. He checked his map, counting how many intersections he had to pass the downsized it, pulling up another GPS map and plotting a secondary course.

Wally was going to need a hospital.

Now to the second part of the plan. He quickly shrugged out of the backpack he was wearing beneath his cape. After he'd become Robin, he'd taken to storing bags of clothes in hidden crevices and secret panels around Gotham. So had Batman, and it had made their lives so much easier.

He'd picked up this bag from one of their stashes along the way.

The boy wonder quickly detached his cape, rolling it up and stuffing it in the bag. From there he quickly pulled on a sweatshirt and pair of loose fitting jeans over his uniform. Still counting intersections, he carefully peeled off his domino mask and tucked it into a pocket on his utility belt.

"That's it." he murmured, and hopped off the truck. He pulled the GPS map back up, getting his bearings. Wally's house was just down this street two blocks and to his right.

"I'm coming Wally." He whispered. "I'm coming."

He downsized his map and took off running, still adding touches to his disguise as he ran.

A ski cap to hide his hair, and two drops of pigment specially formulated by Batman to change the color of his eyes from their normal, vibrant blue to green. His world would have a yellow tinge for a few minutes, but then he'd be fine.

The dye would wear off in a few days.

He doubted even Bruce would recognize him now at first glance.

There. That white house. That one's Wally's. He would totally have a Flash wind chime hanging on his front porch. Robin smirked, lightly tapping one of the chimes in amusement as he passed.

He crept across the porch, peering in at one of the windows.

Kitchen.

He frowned, trying to blink away the last vestiges of yellow. The door on the opposite side of the kitchen let out into a hall. And on the other side of that was what looked like the living room. He couldn't see much of that room, but he could see the carpet. Pale blue carpet. That was the room Wally was in.

That was the carpet he'd seen in the picture Wally had sent him.

The living room was the only light on in the house. That was where they were. It had to be. He quietly extended the lock pick in the fingertip of his glove and inserted it into the lock on the front of the door.

It was the work of a few silent moments, and he was in.

The boy wonder slipped down the hall, checking the rooms he passed as he did. He wanted to run straight to the living room, find Wally. But Batman had trained him better than that. He took it slow and careful.

His heart lurched in his chest and his stomach tried to tie itself in knots when he finally peered into the living room.

Wally was laying on his side by a heavy wood coffee table, his hands tied to a leg of it by a strong leather belt. Bruises coated his face and whatever other skin could be seen. Blood had stained the pale blue carpet a dark reddish purple color. Robin wasn't even sure Wally was breathing.

A redheaded woman Robin recognized from his background check as Mary West was curled up on the couch. Her head was laid on her arms, her eyes red with crying as she gazed down at the inert form of her son.

Wally needed his help, but he still had no clue where in the house Rudolf was. Robin chewed his lip nervously, then came to a decision.

He quietly slipped into the living room, crossing the floor to kneel by Wally.

Mary slowly raised her head, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief. She watched in silence as this stranger checked Wally to make sure he was breathing. Her eyes only got wider when he picked up Wally's phone and quickly snapped several pictures of her son with it.

Robin tucked the phone in his pocket and moved around Wally, crouching by his head and quickly undoing the belt that help his hands captive.

"Who are you?" Mary whispered softly.

Robin didn't even look at her, gently trying to massage some of the circulation back into Wally's wrists. "A friend." He answered.

"…Robin." She breathed. "You're Robin…!"

Robin glanced at her in surprise. "Yeah. Wally needs help, so here I am." He was afraid to move the speedster, afraid that he might hurt Wally more. But he didn't dare stay here to long, Rudolf could come back at any minute.

He had to move him.

He gently rolled the speedster over onto his back, wincing when Wally's head lolled limply to the side. "Oh Wally…" he murmured.

Mary wiped at her teary eyes. "Wally talks about you all the time…" she sniffled.

"Yeah?" Robin wasn't really paying attention, running his hands down Wally's chest in search of any broken bones.

Mary nodded. "He said you were his hero."

That made the boy wonder pause, looking to her in unveiled surprise. Robin smiled. "Well then I'd better get with the heroing then."

"So how the heck did you get him to the hospital?"

Robin grinned at Barry Allen's incredulous expression. "Yeah... about that… Does it count as grand theft auto if you hotwire a car to take the son of the owner to the hospital?"

Barry stared at him for a moment, then cracked up. "I'll have to check on that." He laughed.

The two were sitting in a waiting room at the Central City Main Hospital, waiting for news on Wally's condition.

It had taken Robin fifteen minutes to get Wally outside, Mary watching from a distance, never offering help of any kind. Another ten minutes saw Wally laid out on the backseat of the family car, said car hotwired, and the two of them were well on their way to the hospital.

The hospital staff were quite surprised when a car driven by a thirteen year old pulled up in front of the E.R. to drop off a half dead sixteen year old.

Wally had been rushed away, and Robin had been left behind in a waiting room. He'd called Bruce and Barry, telling them what was going on and where he was now. The police had been sent to the West household, and Barry had shown up at the hospital.

Iris would arrive shortly.

Bruce had stayed away, as the story being used to explain 'Robin Batclanus' was that he was a runaway Wally had befriended. Robin had supposedly been living on the streets of Central. When Wally had called, Robin had come running. He'd broken into the West home, rescued Wally, hotwired the car and brought his friend to the hospital.

"So what's going to happen to him?" Robin asked softly.

Barry's face became grim. "That's up to Wally." He answered. "One thing's for sure though, I am never going to let him go back to living under that man's roof!"

Robin shook his head. "Neither am I…"

"How are you feeling?"

Wally winced, trying to paste a smile over his face and failing miserably. "Like a punching bag that's been hit one too many times." He answered.

"You're not far off." Barry answered grimly, wrapping an arm around Iris waist.

His wife had arrived not long before the doctors had finished with Wally. She was teary eyed, and looked as if she wanted to scoop Wally up and cuddle him, but was afraid to for fear of hurting him further.

"According to the doctor your dad broke or fractured several of your ribs, your right forearm is fractured, your nose is broken, and your spleen is ruptured. You would've died of internal bleeding if you'd been left lying there long enough." Barry explained, the tight tones of his voice giving away his anger at his nephew's mistreatment.

Iris flinched into her husband's protective hold as he detailed Wally's injuries. She couldn't believe that her brother would do something like this!

Or that Mary would actually sit there and allow it to happen!

Robin reached out and clasped his friend's hand, sparing an irritated glance at the IV tube getting in his way. "You 'traught?"

Wally made a face. "Do I look like it? You and pretty much everyone else just found out my big dirty secret. Wally West is so worthless and screwed up his dad beats him and his mom doesn't even lift a finger to help. Some hero right?"

Robin's eyes narrowed, and without so much as a word of warning he reached out and slapped the speedster. Not hard enough to really hurt him, just enough to make it sting.

Iris moved as though to interfere, opening her mouth in protest but Barry stopped her. She glanced back and he shook his head ever so slightly.

Wally starred at Robin, hurt and confused. "What was that for?" he asked, almost indignant.

Robin folded his arms, eyes narrowing. "Because that's the one hit you took tonight that you do deserve if you think deserved all this!" Seeing the disbelieving look on Wally's face he rolled his eyes. "Dude, if you were so 'worthless and screwed up', would I have come all the way to Central to help you?"

Wally sighed. "Rob, you're my friend. I.."

Robin shook his head emphatically. "Not on your life."

He waited for those words to sink in, then said forcefully. "As far as I'm concerned you're family. Now suck it up and stop with the pity party because last I checked you and I were going to prank the team this April Fool's day, and today's March 26th, so you and I need to get our tails in gear or else we won't be ready on time."

Wally grinned, the old familiar look of mischief lighting up his emerald eyes. "Right." A concerned look suddenly crossed his face. "Wait, how are you going to get out of this Rob? Child Services is gonna want to shove you somewhere."

Robin grinned. "I'll stick around long enough to make sure your dad never gets anywhere near you and you end up somewhere safe, then I'll conveniently disappear." He winked. "Don't worry about it, I've got connections."

Wally laughed. "I'll just bet you do!" His smile faded after a moment and he looked to Barry. "What's going to happen now Uncle B? Aunt Iris?"

Iris came to sit on the side of his bed, Barry leaning on the foot of it. "You…" Barry answered. "..will come to stay with Iris and me once you're out of the hospital, until the courts settle everything."

Iris hesitantly took Wally's hand. "If you want…we could sue for custody so you could stay with us permanently…"

Wally starred at her, mouth hanging open a little, and for a minute she thought he was going to refuse. Then she saw the tears welling in his eyes.

"You mean it?" he whispered, looking from her to Barry.

Barry smiled and nodded. "I'll go out and get a lawyer first thing tomorrow if that's what you want kid." He answered.

Wally nodded, throwing his arms around his aunt. "Yes! …please…."

"Thank you Rob." Wally whispered.

Barry and Iris had left the room to go speak with the doctor. Due to Wally's accelerated healing and metabolism, they needed to get him away from medical observation as soon as possible or his cover was going to be blown.

"Call me anytime." Robin chuckled. Leaning in to hug the speedster he whispered. "This is what brothers are for…"

Glad I finally got that off my chest! I've been wanting to abuse Wally for ages!...that totally sounded wrong... Anyway, next chapter up will feature Robin being a little brother to some other teammate. I'm thinking it'll be Conner or Kaldur, maybe Artemis. We'll see which one inspiration strikes first.

Review! Or Rudolf will eventually get out of prison and come after Wally again!...then again, that might be a fun story to write...especially if he's sworn vengeance on 'Robin Batclanus' (Rofl, still love that idea! Which is mine by the by, so no touchy!)...ok, maybe that wasn't the best threat to get reviews... So anyway, REVIEW! Or I'll do something...I'm done...

Until next time...