Disclaimer: I don't own them - this is just for fun. Blah blah.

Summary: Wally can't understand why Barry doesn't seem to like him. He is never around when he comes over and he doesn't spend time with him. Wally had always wanted a brother - but Barry wasn't shaping up to be much of one. Wally finds out why.

Chapter 1

Wally remembered the night of the stack attack challenge and Sharkman-in-pants. He had been so disappointed in Barry for hiding upstairs until the danger was gone. Why hadn't his brother done more to protect his family? Surely he was stronger than Iris, at least physically. And he worked with the police. So what was the other man's problem?

That was why he had said something. In his mind, if you ran from danger and left those you claim to love behind to face it - you were a coward. So he'd said so. But he had been quite surprised by the way his words angered Joe and Iris. Didn't they appreciate how much he cared for them? How he hadn't hid away?

Then Joe had told him about Barry's parents and he'd felt a little less sure of himself on the subject of brother Barry. Maybe the other man had a reason for his aloofness. Still, Wally wasn't about to let his new family do anything other than completely accept him - Barry and all. Even if he had to drag him kicking and screaming. Barry wouldn't be able to run away from this any longer.

It was time to talk.

"Hey, it's Wally, can I come over tonight?"

Joe's voice sounded over the phone. "Sure! It's pizza night, bring your appetite!"

Wally nodded, even though Joe couldn't see it. "Will Barry be there?"

There was a pause and then a cautious tone. "Yeh, he will be. That's not a problem is it? We talked about this..."

"No, no problem," Wally quickly interjected. "I actually owe him an apology. I'll see you guys around 7?"

"Sounds good!"

Wally pressed the red part of his cell screen and disconnected the call. Tonight, he'd get to the bottom of why Barry was so standoffish around him. And he wouldn't be leaving until he did.

At the West home that night

Barry was sitting on the couch, long legs tucked up to the side, staring at the fireplace and the flames flickering inside of it. So much had happened since his return from Earth 2. And now, he found himself doing this a lot. Staring off into the distance and just thinking. Thinking wasn't such a good thing, these days, because he kept thinking of Joe West of Earth 2 drawing his last pained breath. Kept hearing the hitching sobs of Earth 2 Iris at his bedside.

And he kept thinking of the man in the mask - who he had promised to return to save and now had no way to keep that promise, what with the breaches all closed and the fact they could never be reopened.

Though Barry could go back in time to when they were...

But he still couldn't defeat Zoom, so what would that accomplish? More friends dying?

He sighed and turned as the door opened behind him to reveal Wally West, a bag of two-liter bottles of soda in one hand and pizzas balanced on his other. Apparently he had intercepted the delivery guy on the front path. Barry jumped to take the pizzas before Wally lost his grip on them.

"Hey Wally," he said, trying to wallow up from the depths of his thoughts and paste on a smile. He knew he hadn't been fair to Wally since the young man had come into their lives. He hadn't spared a moment to get to know him. The truth is he didn't know what to say or how to act. Wally didn't know about his other life, which made opening up to him kind of difficult. He couldn't just say, "Yeh, man, about that night - I disappeared because I ran superspeed out of the house to confront King Shark as the Flash."

As much as he wanted to have a brother, he just didn't know how to do it. Wally seemed to have already formed a negative opinion of him. And Barry couldn't blame him. He hadn't exactly been warm and welcoming.

"Hey Barry," the younger man said, waiting for the older to move toward the kitchen. Wally didn't say anything snide, or otherwise react to Barry's interior monologue and long pause in the doorway. At least that was something.

"Right, sorry, lost myself for a second there," Barry said, turning heel and hurrying off toward the dining room table as Joe and Iris emerged from the kitchen to greet Wally. The latter smiled fondly at them and joined them in the dining room, depositing the soda bottles on the table while Barry fetched red cups from the kitchen.

"How was your day? Got any word about the engineering program yet?" Joe asked, sitting down at the head of the table and flipping open a pizza box. Wally took the seat to his right, and Barry to his left. Iris slipped into the seat beside Barry.

For a few minutes, there was only small talk and chewing. Wally kept throwing glances at Barry, when the latter wasn't looking, and Iris and Joe kept glancing at Wally when he was looking at Barry. The round and round glancing was getting kind of heavy and it was only a matter of time before Barry noticed.

"All right, what is going on?" He finally said, slapping a piece of pizza crust down on his plate and leaning back in his chair, arms crossed. Wally bit his lip but knew it was now or never.

"I owe you an apology, Barry," the younger man said. "What I said the other day, about you being a coward. I shouldn't have said that. I'm sure you had your reasons and it wasn't right of me to assume it was cowardice."

As far as apologies go - it was basic and bland. At least that's how it felt to Barry. Wally had apologized for calling him a coward, but he hadn't actually taken back the sentiment, just skirted around it. He knew the younger man still thought he was a coward.

"It's fine," Barry said, gesturing with his hand. "It doesn't matter."

Wally shook his head. "It does, though," he said. Barry sensed more sentiment in this dialog and it drew his attention. "We're family now, and I don't know what made us get off on the wrong foot - but we did. And I want to fix it. I don't like this awkwardness. I've always wanted a brother, and now that I have one, I still don't feel like I do."

Joe and Iris glanced between the two, unsure how or if they could help.

Barry was just as unsure. "I ... don't know," he said quietly. "I'm sorry I've been distant. I've just been going through some ... things." He looked at Joe. He tried to beg his surrogate father for a little help with this, but Joe wasn't offering anything. He cast his glance to his side, to Iris. She was also looking at Joe.

"No."

"Dad," Iris began.

"No."

Barry looked between the two. He knew what Iris wanted. To tell Wally. And Barry kind of wanted to as well. "Why not?"

Joe frowned and sat up straighter. "It's too dangerous."

Barry huffed. "It's dangerous whether he knows or not," the younger man said.

Wally was silently watching the exchange in confusion. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid you guys lost me. What's too dangerous? And why can't I be the judge of what's too dangerous for me?"

With a scrape of chair, Joe pushed away from the table. "We're not talking about this," he said. "I said no and I'm not going to change my mind."

Iris followed him, leaving Barry and Wally sitting awkwardly together at the dining room table. Barry lifted his eyes and met Wally's. "I can't go against Joe's wishes," he said quietly. "I understand why he feels the way he does. And I respect that. But just because he shot me and Iris down about ... it ... doesn't mean we can't try again to get along."

Wally smiled. "I'd like that."

"Great," Barry said. "So, I think I owe you a stack attack challenge..."

A/N: Up next - Iris and Joe talk. And then the decision to tell Wally is taken out of everyone's hands ...