A/N: Hello fan fiction world. Been awhile since I've posted anything here, and I've found a new fandom. Wally is my favorite character, and I just love me some H/C stuff, so that's what this is.
WARNING: This mentions Child Abuse, and Roy has quite a mouth, so... uh, look out for that as well. Besides that, I guess enjoy.
I have a could ideas for other YJ stories as well, so let's see if I can get those written as well.
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As Speedy looked down towards the alley, Kid Flash endlessly talked to him. It was soft enough that it wasn't so bad and gave away their positions, so he didn't bother trying to get the kid to shut up. He wouldn't say it, but the animated way that Kid spoke made the younger boy that much more endearing.
He hadn't thought he'd get along with Kid Flash when he had first met him a few months ago. The little 12 year old had come with Flash one day, interrupting his and Green Arrow's normal patrol pattern. He was a bit miffed that they would be doing shorter rounds that day because of it, and maybe he had come off as a bit more gruff than normal.
Flash had met up with them, and the four decided they would be going on patrol together.
'Great...' Roy had thought, 'Not only is it not as long, but with the newbie here, it'll just be petty stuff tonight.'
It put him off from wanting to interact with Kid Flash for the most part. At least when he had met with Batman and Robin, the kid had been able to keep up with the other three, though if he was being honest with himself, Speedy had felt like the one trying to keep up with the others. Not that he'd ever admit that...
But with Kid, he'd only just gotten his powers and was still learning to controlling them. Apparently the Flash's own villains loved the kid, so he had no troubles with rounds and patrols in Central City, but Star City was different, more like Gotham, though on a lower scale. So, after the introductions were made, Speedy had impatiently asked to get started.
Despite his reservations about him, Speedy ended up warming up to Kid Flash. It wasn't long before Roy saw him as that annoying kid brother you only pretend you don't want related to you. Kid's incessant talking, his stupid jokes, and the way he forgot to slow down when he got excited were just some of the points that Roy liked about the kid.
So now, there they were, standing on the rooftops, watching the streets. It was the first time that Flash and Green Arrow allowed the two of them off on their own. They were out on the streets of Star City, while their mentors were back home discussing something with Black Canary. Though they were connected through comm. links, in case of an emergency, Speedy really doubted he'd need to do that, though. He could handle himself.
He took a glance at the speedster next to him.
He could handle himself and Kid Flash.
Just when he was about to tell Kid that they'd be moving on, he heard a scream and found two men mugging someone below.
Instinctively, he had already gotten his bow ready, and was just about to fire and take down the both of them. It was only when Kid Flash appeared next to him to see the scene that Speedy paused briefly.
It had only been in every other sentence of his that Kid Flash had been smirking and saying how great it was the two of them got to do this on their own. Thinking about how excited Kid was to work with him, and how tonight was going to be great for both of them, Speedy decided to involve him more than just have him follow him around for patrol.
He quickly leaned over towards the other. "Get the one on the right. I'll take care of the other."
Kid Flash smirked. "Give me two seconds to get down," and then he was gone.
Giving himself a mental pat on the back for remembering to include the kid more, Speedy then waited for just a moment before setting up his shot again.
Just as he was set to release, a blur appeared below almost right in his line of fire.
Speedy panicked, SHIT! Too close, TOO CLOSE! And he jerked his bow away from the targets. A sharp sting hit his cheek and a slap hit his hand as the arrow was released and hit the building, completely missing the alley below. Still worried about almost hitting Kid Flash, Roy leaned over the building to see how he was doing, already preparing another arrow to take the criminals down.
By the time he got the second shot ready, the other mugger was already hitting the ground, a knife clattering after him.
With both of the men unconscious, Kid helped the woman up and double checked that she was alright before giving her a smile and wave then running off.
Roy felt himself give a jump when Kid appeared next to him. "Jesus!" He started. His heart still felt a bit wild from before, and he was already berating himself for the action.
"Dude, are you okay? What happened to taking care of the other guy? He pulled a knife after his partner got hit, but no worries. I easily moved in time to stop him as well." Wally moved closer, trying to look casual, but Roy could tell he was concerned. It wasn't often that Speedy missed a shot.
He tightened his fist around his bow and glared off in the direction the arrow had flown. 'Damn it!' He thought, 'working with a speedster is nothing like being with Green Arrow. The kid is melee. I should have known he would have been in danger of being in the cross-fire!'
"Hey, you're bleeding!" His temporary partner exclaimed.
Roy brought a hand up to rub his cheek and found blood resting there. There was also a nasty red mark on his hand from where the string slapped against it as well.
Great... He'd snapped his bowstring. Such a rookie mistake. It was beginning to sting more now that he was thinking about it, so he just tried to brush it aside.
"It's nothing," he grunted out, answering Kid Flash's question. "You just surprised me, that's all."
"You did it to yourself?" Wally gave a tilt of his head.
Roy bristled, "It was an accident! Besides, who else would do it to me? You've been gone for all of 15 seconds."
The younger boy grinned. "Hey, this is a strange world filled with strange things. I wouldn't be surprised if some ninja swooped in and attacked."
The archer rolled his eyes and started heading out again. "Whatever, just don't mention it to Green Arrow."
Kid Flash frowned. "Don't want to seem weak in his eyes because you made a mistake?"
"Sure," he replied, not really paying attention.
"...my dad says the same thing."
From his tone, it was obvious that Kid Flash had a different point of view. Roy gave a cheeky grin to the speedster. "What? You don't agree?"
An immediate change seemed to overcome the boy. "No." He almost seemed to snarl.
The archer raised an eyebrow in worry and surprise at the sound. He was about to ask what was wrong, or maybe what Kid Flash meant, but the other began talking again before the question even came out.
"I think it's stupid to hide pain if you're hurt. How does that make you strong? Can't you be strong without that? Is it wrong to want people to worry about you? Or to make you feel better?" Wally's voice grew steadily louder and he continued to talk. "I know super heroes have to be strong, and that as sidekicks, we have to be too, b-but... w-what if I can't?" His voice hitched at this point, and Roy could see the beginning of tears forming in the younger boy's eyes.
He didn't know what to think or do. He had no idea what brought this one, but Kid Flash seemed to be in his own thoughts now... no, not Kid Flash Wally. Just a young boy who was apparently hurting.
"I-I thought that maybe I could fix it since I got my powers... but it just made it worse." He continued. "I don't want to have to do this anymore. I love being with Uncle Barry, and helping people... but is it weak of me to want it to stop?" He had now grasped his middle and curled in on himself.
Roy set his bow down and kneeled by Wally's side. He reached a hand out to try and comfort the boy but immediately froze when the other flinched at his outstretched hand.
"Sorry..." Wally mumbled, still crouched down. He loosened up and reached a hand back at Roy, signaling that he wanted the touch.
He was pulled into an awkward hug from the older teen, but he clung to the contact anyways.
Roy's voice came from above him. "Are you hurting right now, Kid? Some injury of yours that you didn't bother to tell anyone about?"
Wally just shook his head. "No. They've healed."
Roy couldn't tell if his voice held relief or resentment for that aspect of his powers right now. From the look of the kid's face, Roy bet that Wally didn't even know.
"Forget the healing then. Tell me about some that should be there."
Wally's eyes had widened and he suddenly spoke in super speed, "Ican'tsayanything! WhatifFlashthink'sI'mweakorstopsmefrombeingKidFlashandI-"
"Whoa kid," Roy cut in. "Who said anything about the Flash?" That being one of the only words he had understood in that jumble of sound. "It's just me right now." He backed up slightly and grabbed Wally's face, looking him in the eyes. "It's just us, and you can tell me."
Wally was silent for a few moments, and Roy couldn't help but wonder how long it felt to the speedster. Hopefully, it would end in him opening up to the archer. What ever was going on with this kid was obviously a big deal. Maybe this just showed that Wally was too young for this kind of responsibility and life. Sure, Robin was younger, but that kid was also creepily mature when he needed to be.
Wally seemed to come to a decision and brought his hand up to his head, running it along his forehead for about 4 inches. "There should be a bad cut here..."
The hand moved down to the lower section of his other arm, "and a big burn along here..."
Another movement and Roy saw his hand was trembling. Wally brought his fingers pointing towards his ribs, "and four bruised ribs,"
He took another breath, and Roy couldn't believe it when his hand continued to move, continued to show more injuries that would have been there.
"S-Stop! Stop, just... stop." Roy felt himself grow angry at the Flash. What the hell was he doing with the Kid? Was he even trying to keep him safe?! "How did you get all those?"
He was yelling now.
Wally froze and looked up at Roy's face and seemed to go even paler.
"Uh, I..." Another few moments of silence, and a deep look into Roy's eyes. He tried to keep them on Wally, seeing as he was looking for... something, in them.
What ever the kid was looking for, Roy hoped that he expressed his concern and worry well enough. Those softer emotions were harder for him to portray, rather, he tended to focus more on the louder ones, like anger or annoyance. Roy didn't see those helping him right now though.
'Please, kid. I just want to help. You can tell me... you can trust me.'
As if reading his thoughts, Wally's shaking voice asked him, "P-Promise you'll help? Promise it'll be o-okay."
Roy could only nod. He gently placed a hand on Wally's shoulder and gave a small squeeze as he swallowed deeply. "I promise."
There was another still moment between the two of them, and then Wally seemed to lose the slightest bit of tension that had built up in him. He cleared his throat and started to talk. "Uh, I-.. It was... D-Dad." He mumbled out. "I-I forgot to make dinner... D-dad pushed me, and I hit table's edge..." The younger boy trembled a bit when he mentioned his father, but continued on nonetheless, bringing his hand back to his head where the gash was supposed to be.
"And, then after making it, I accidentally burnt the food, since I hadn't been allowed to take care of my head properly... probably had a concussion." His hand trailed along his forearm again, making a spiral-like pattern that could be in the likeness of a stove-top.
Roy felt like he was going to be sick. Of all the reasons why he thought Kid Flash had been injured, whether through too rough of battles with villains, trouble controlling his powers, or whatever, he hadn't considered this...
"Dad hadn't like that he'd have to wait again, and had pushed my arm against the stove."
Wally rubbed his hand against his ribs again, his face blank from emotion. "I don't know why he kicked me this time..."
He hadn't thought the problem would be at home,
"Probably just had a bad day..."
Where the kid should be safe,
"I also have to go without meals sometimes..."
Where he could relax and laugh and smile and not be worried about being abused!
"My parents don't know that that's worse than being hit, because then I can't heal..."
Roy almost wished they hadn't just taken down the two muggers, because he'd rather have them right now. His hands shook with rage and the rest of him trembled as well. Had he known where Wally's parents lived, he probably have already been on his way to take them out. Since he didn't, and since Wally so obviously needed him right now, he tried to contain his anger though. The last thing Wally needs right now is violence. He gets enough of that at ho-
No! Shut up! – Okay, thinking about it won't do anything. Think about what he could do for him.
Tell Flash about this, because there is no way in hell that he would let this type of thing continue.
Looking at Wally, though, and what the kid had said earlier, Roy knew it would be harder than just a simple suggestion. The older teen could even understand why Kid Flash was reluctant to tell his mentor, since he had similar problem of admitting when he needed help, and swallowing his pride at the chance he might look a bit weak in Oliver's eyes, because he was stronger than that, and he could take care of himself without help, and-
"I think it's stupid!"
Wally's admission came to him, and he sighed.
Whatever his own pride and beliefs were, Wally wasn't like that, or at least didn't want to be like that.
"Look, Wally... I think you need to tell Fla-"
Before even finishing his sentence, the younger boy looked up with fear in his eyes, protesting vehemently. "No! What if I can't be Kid Flash anymore? What if he thinks I'm too weak? Before I got my powers, then maybe, I mostly just scared of what my dad would do... but now? I have powers, I'm suppose to be a hero! HowcanIbeaheroifIcan'tevensolvemyownproblems?!"
By the end of his rant, his speech had sped up so bad that Roy hardly understood it. It didn't matter, though, because he knew the basic idea of what was being said.
"Kid. Slow down." He placed a comforting hand on Wally's shoulder. "First off, there's no way that Flash would do that."
"How would you know?!" Wally cried out. "You're always strong, and never show weakness to Green Arrow. I make stupid mistakes, and I'm not as fast as the Flash is, and-"
"Okay, okay, calm down. Wally," 'despite what I want', he thought bitterly, "We are sidekicks right now. It's okay if we make mistakes, and even heroes do sometimes."
Wally opened his mouth to protest again, but Roy cut him off with a finger, "Second," 'Jeez, this kid won't even give me a moment...'
"Second, I've made plenty of mistakes, and have had weak moments. While you're right that I hide them from Green Arrow, why don't I make you a deal."
'This is so stupid... I can't believe I'm doing this..'
"We'll both go to our mentors and take turns sharing a 'weak' moment of ours. The only thing is that yours have to be about your family and time at home."
Wally still looked a bit worried.
Holding in another sigh, Roy tried to give an encouraging smile. "I'll even go first...?" He honestly had no idea what he'd do if this plan didn't work. Obviously, he could always just go tell Flash himself, but then he'd lose Wally's trust. Despite how annoying the kid could be, he was still a good friend.
Please, Wally...
The young speedster seemed to be seriously considering it, but Roy grew worried when another distressed look came over Wally.
"B-but what if you get kicked from being 'Speedy' after you tell?!"
Roy scoffed. "Forget about getting kicked out. I can guarantee you that whatever you say, and anything I'll say, will not be worth getting kicked from being partners with Green Arrow and the Flash. And on the off chance they do, then we'll quit and go solo together." Wally looked considerably brighter at the thought of not being alone in this. "We'll be our own heroes," Roy continued, "and we won't have to worry about what other people think is strong or not. It'll be what we say it is, and Wally?"
The younger boy looked in Roy's eyes curiously. He suddenly found himself pulled into a hug, much tighter and firmer than the first awkward one Roy had given earlier.
"You are strong." He said with conviction.
'Growing up with that, giving yourself powers to help others, and finally getting the strength to tell someone, even if you're still afraid... kid, that's what being strong means.'
"Now," Roy cleared his throat and stood up. "Let's go to Green Arrow and the Flash, okay?"
Wally stood up as well, clutching his fist tightly and giving a sure nod, "Okay."
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"-It seems like it's just getting worse, Dinah." Flash's voice spilled through the door as Roy opened it. "I want to help Wally, but-"
Upon seeing the two sidekicks enter the room, the three adults, Oliver, Dinah, and Barry, became silent.
Green Arrow spoke up first. "Hey, guys. We're still a bit busy here. Can you two give us a few more minutes?" He gave a sort of smile at them, but Roy saw him give a worried glance at Wally.
After hearing Barry's last words, the teen realized that the abuse was the whole reason the two had come today. It was getting bad enough that Wally was having a hard time hiding it anymore. Seething in anger, he ignored the pointed looks from Dinah and Barry and instead walked towards Green Arrow to start.
He opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound for a moment. He heard a shuffle of feet and knew Wally was nervously waiting for him.
Okay... just get it over with. It was stupid, but it's over with.
He cleared his throat. "Oliver, when you first introduced me to the trick arrows, we were interrupted in our training due to a league emergency."
The three adults gave Roy an incredulous look at the seemingly random topic but he ignored them and plowed on.
"You locked the arrows up, saying I shouldn't mess with them till you got back, but while you were away, I decided to try them out for myself." Roy tried to keep his voice even and steady, as well as keep his face blank. He was just telling the facts. It's just a story, and there was no need to be embarrassed...
"I grabbed one of the foam arrows, but found it too awkward and ended up dropping it, releasing it and getting my leg caught."
Oliver Queen opened his mouth in surprise and went to say something, probably to chide him on how stupid it was to do that – too late, Roy already knew it was stupid.
"I tried to free my leg, but it had already hardened, so I grabbed one of our knives to chip away at it."
"Roy! Tha-"
"I cut my leg slightly," He said with gritted teeth, interrupting any comments from the others, "then told you later I got it while fighting and patrolling on my own."
When he finished his story, his mentor was already berating him, "Do you know how dangerous that was? What if you had grabbed an exploding one, or one filled with fumes or gases, maybe even did more damage to your leg!"
Before Roy could shout out at Oliver, the older man was cut off by Dinah as she held up her hand. She was staring intently at Wally, who had now stepped forwards as well.
Roy released a deep breath and stepped back. He gave the kid a bit of a nudge and crossed his arms, pointedly ignoring Green Arrow.
Wally took a breath and looked straight at his Uncle.
"Last week, after patrol ended, you had me stay over at your house... after I went home the next day, I told you that I was too tired to go again for patrol that night, b-but... but that wasn't why I didn't go." His eyes were wide, filled with nerves and fear and hurt. "D-Dad got mad at me for staying out all night w-without his permission," he stumbled through, "T-The bruises didn't fade fast enough, because he also didn't let me eat that day and I-I didn't want you to see them."
Barry's eyes widened in shock and he went to say something, but Roy took over instead. This was the time for Wally to talk. Roy knew that Barry would be worried and would have questions, but not yet. Not till Wally had spoken his piece... which meant that Roy would need to share more stories...
"During one of my first few weeks here with you, Oliver, you and Dinah went out on some sort of date, leaving me here alone. I guess it was a bad night for me..." Roy faded off. He almost didn't want to tell this one, but it was one that kept coming to mind. Obviously it still bugged him deep down.
"I don't even know why, but I just wanted to talk to you, for you to be there." Okay, that was a lie, he knew exactly what he wanted to talk about. He had just lost two father figure within a few years of each other. It was a lot to take in and deal with as a kid. "It started with just one of your stupid vases, but I ended breaking a bunch of other things and making a mess of the main room." He paused and shifted, adamantly looking anywhere but at his mentors. "I said that I had big party, flaunting my new found wealth as your ward, and it had gotten out of hand."
Roy took a slight step back and looked at Wally, signaling that it was his turn now. He had to hand it to the kid, he could barely get through the story in general, let alone face Green Arrow. Wally hadn't looked away from Barry once during his turn. He saw Dinah looking at him. Shoot... what was she thinking?
Seeing her calculating look on him, he regretted telling that story at all. It was stupid. This whole thing was a mistake. Why would he even-
Wally started talking, and Roy reminded himself why he was doing this in the first place, and it was definitely worth it.
"Sometimes it's hard to focus in school, especially in science since I could be ahead a few grades, " Wally gave the smallest of smiles at the thought of his favorite subject, though it quickly disappeared. "...but Dad wouldn't give me permission, and so sometimes the teachers call home because I'm distracted and it just makes him more mad that I'm causing so much trouble, but I'm not trying to," he defended profusely, "and he just pretends to be all nice when teachers want to see him or call him to school, but after that, he's so mad that I interrupted his day and I hate those days because he hits me so hard, andyellsatme,sayinghowI'msuchawasteofspaceandlazy,butI'mnot!" Wally said this all in one breathe. He took a deeper one and tried to slow down his speech and calm down. Small tears had gathered in his eyes, and he rubbed them away before continuing.
"I like bringing you my grades to show you how well I've done, because if I show Dad, then he just thinks I'm showing off and punishes me, even though he also gets made when I don't do well, and I don't know what he w-wants from me." His voice cracked a bit at the end, and he took another deep breath. Roy thought it'd be his turn to share another experience, but to his surprise, Wally started talking again. "I like how Aunt Iris always has food for me, because at home, Dad locks all the pantries at night so I can't sneak some food, and he'll make me go without meals sometimes if I do something wrong... "
Wally continued to describe the abuse he's been through throughout the years while Roy stood by. Looking into his eyes, the archer realized that the younger boy didn't need to take turns anymore. He had tears growing in his eyes, but a resolved look in them as well.
Listening to him talk, Roy took the time to study how the adults were taking this news. Barry had tears of his own in his eyes, and he looked like he just wanted to hug the kid, but restrained himself, knowing that Wally needed to get this off his chest.
Green Arrow was in a similar state of shock, clutching the side of his chair hard, and Roy knew that he was holding himself back from going after his parents just as much as Roy had earlier. Sure, Oliver Queen could be a relaxed and laid back kind of guy, but when things got serious, when something like this was revealed, that was when the Green Arrow, member of the Justice League, showed his strength and power.
When Roy turned to Dinah, he found her looking at right back at him. She was smiling, and gave him a proud look. He tried not to flush in embarrassment, though he still felt his cheeks heating slightly. He quickly looked away and went back to Barry. It was much easier to deal with this if he just thought of Wally and his Uncle, ignoring the other two.
It seemed that the Flash at this point could no longer restrain himself, and had pulled Wally into a tight hug, giving apologies for not noticing sooner, and promising that he would make it stop.
Clearing his throat, Roy spoke, bringing up one of Wally's fears. "So, when are you guys going to kick us from being your sidekicks?"
Both mentors looked at him in surprise. "W-What?" Green Arrow sputtered out.
Barry felt Wally tighten his grip around him and look away. "Is that why you didn't want to tell me about all this?" He asked, putting his chin on top of Wally's head and placing the boy's head on his shoulder. "No... I would never do that to you, kiddo."
"I-I'm sorry..." Wally mumbled into his mentor's shoulder.
Barry just murmured reassurances to him and kept him close. The man would make sure that his boy was never hurt like this again... he'd make Wally his boy, and he'd make him safe.
Roy just smirked at the sight because he knew that Wally would now have little to no trouble at home once he moved in with his Uncle, and based on what he had heard, he also felt that it would be easy enough to get the evidence to make that move happen.
It was only a short while later that the two speedsters left, Barry wanting to get Wally home to sleep in a proper bed. The kid had fallen asleep leaning against his uncle a few minutes ago, but no one was too surprised when it happened. He was exhausted, and Roy knew it took a lot of him to reveal the truth.
Now it was just the three of them: Dinah, Oliver, and Roy.
Roy tried not to shift from side to side. He knew they wanted to talk more about... well, that, but he would rather do anything else.
"You know you don't have to hide anything either, Roy." Dinah said, being the one to break the silence.
The teen tried not to roll his eyes, knowing the two adults in front of him would not appreciate it. He knew this, he really did... It's just, he wasn't some kid anymore. He could handle himself. Especially now. Those things were years ago, when he was still new to being 'Speedy', when he was still new to living with Oliver. He didn't have those problems anymore. "I know, Dinah," He started off. "And when I have problems, I'll tell you about them..." Maybe, if they're too much for him to handle... and he's already tried to fix it... okay, he didn't see it happening anytime soon, but hopefully this would at least appease the two of them.
Oliver was easy enough, already smiling and looking like the world's proudest dad.
Dinah was the difficult one. Both to read, and to get off his back.
Oliver suddenly wrapped his arms around Roy while he was still thinking about Dinah. He struggled against his hold, protesting all the way. "Ah, Ollie! Get off!"
The man did eventually let his protege go, but not before giving him a firm squeeze and patting him on the back. "I'm so proud of you, Roy."
"Yeah, yeah, you're both proud of me, I did good, and that's great. Can we go finish patrol now?" He shrugged on his quiver, and grabbed his bow, hoping to get out the door pretty soon. "Me and the Kid hardly got anywhere, and I need to hit something." Roy growled out while he double checked his string, making sure it was still in good condition despite him snapping it so harshly earlier.
Oliver's face fell at the reminder of what they had discovered, and he found himself wanting to go out as well. He started to gather his stuff when he saw Speedy pulling back his bow, his fingers now close to his cheek where there was a thin red mark.
Frowning, he grabbed his mask and slid it on.
"Hey, what happened to your cheek?"
"What? It's nothing." Speedy muttered as he walked out the door.
"Get in another 'fist fight'? Didn't you use that as an excuse in one of your stories?" Now fully garbed in his 'Green Arrow' outfit, the hero grabbed his own quiver and bow before following his partner out the door. "You know, I'm beginning to think that most of those injuries from these alleged 'fist fights' aren't all from actual fights."
"Really?" Speedy called back sarcastically, just wanting the other man to drop the subject. "Can we just go, Arrow?"
"No, really, if you keep using that excuse every time you do something you deem as 'stupid', or just don't want to tell me about it, then I think I'm going to have to give you more hand-to-hand combat training with Canary."
"What?! Oh, come on!"
Dinah listened as their voices faded off into the distant as they traveled through the city. She smiled at the two of them, and made a note to talk to Roy more at a later time. For now, though, she'd leave them to their patrol, and to guarding over their city as the night carried on.