So I'm sure the question will come up as to why I chose to do a little gender bender here. Well, it kind of started when I found a few genderbent stories, and while I liked them fine, I just felt like it might be interesting to really delve into how the lives of certain characters would change because of something as simple as gender. I wondered what sort of new challenges that would bring. And thus, this little project was born. My intention is to have many story arcs that show us some of these challenges. Let's kick it off with our first arc, appropriately titled Heroine!

She liked yellow well enough.

It was a pretty color, and her mother insisted it looked lovely on her, especially with her hair. She supposed that was why her mother had dressed her in the bright color for her aunt's wedding. Mary West wasn't necessarily obsessed with appearances or anything, but she knew that if it was up to her young daughter, the girl would've worn a t-shirt and shorts and been perfectly content to play in the mud the whole time.

Wallis knew better than to do so when she was wearing a nice dress.

The six year old wasn't entirely sure what was going on around her. There were lots of adults, and some of them were crying, most of them were smiling, and at the center of it all was her aunt, looking so pretty Wallis couldn't help but stare.

Next to her aunt was the woman's friend, Barry. Wallis had met him a handful of times, and she didn't know much about him other than that he was always late and he gave the best presents out of anyone in their whole family. She liked her dolls and her bows and the gorgeous bracelet her grandmother gave her before she stopped seeing her, but she loved the science kits her uncle gave her.

Her parents hadn't been thrilled at the junior chemistry set he had given her last Christmas, both claiming she was too young to understand or enjoy any of it. Which probably would've been true if Barry hadn't sat down with her and explained every piece in perfect detail.

She's been obsessed ever since.

Once she made it through every experiment in that kit, Barry went out and bought her another. Sometimes he even wrote her instructions for other experiments she could do. She was good at following his experiments. Especially after he showed her some of his lab write ups. He told her that every scientist kind of had their own language when it came to lab notes, and if you knew a scientist's shorthand, you could pick out their notes from anywhere.

She asked him if he would teach her his. He did, of course, and even started writing his experiments for her that way. He liked to joke that it was their secret language.

Anyway, she wasn't sure why everyone was there celebrating her aunt and Barry, but it was as good an excuse as any to see him again, so she wasn't going to complain.

After the ceremony, there was a big adult party. She hated those. All the grown-ups around her did was drink a bunch of apple juice and slowly get crazier and crazier as the night progressed. Before long, she found an opening to slip out of the reception space and out into the warm summer air.

Everything about the day seemed to have settled into a less formal atmosphere, and she took that as a sign that she was free to go hunting for bugs in the dirt.

She hadn't been out there long when she felt a gust of air. Her head perked up as she looked around for the source of the sudden wind. She would've thought it was just a breeze if she couldn't feel the static in the air. Barry had taught her about static. It meant there was electricity moving around. Although what could cause such a sudden charge was unknown to her. She made a mental note to ask him about it later.

"Whatcha up to there kiddo?"

Or now. She turned, already smiling as she sprung forward and lept into Barry's arms. "Barry!" She wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him with all her might.

He laughed at her excitement, returning the hug with gusto. "I finally got away long enough to come see you kid." He set her back on the ground, still smiling. "Hey, do you know what's been going on today?"

She shrugged. "Not really. Iris looked pretty."

Barry's gaze drifted towards the reception hall as his smile softened. "She did." His eyes went back to Wallis. "Well then I have something very important to ask you."

She blinked. No one ever asked her anything important. "Okay…?"

"Wallis West, you're the coolest kid I've ever met, and I wanted to know if you would take me as your uncle Barry." He held out his hand with a flourish, revealing a small jewelry box. Inside, Wallis could see a delicate little necklace, with a charm shaped like a molecule.

She stared at the necklace, then back to Barry. "Really? You'll be my uncle? Forever and ever?"

"And ever and ever." He promised.

She grinned. "Yes! I can't wait! We're gonna do everything together! Me and my uncle Barry." She tested the new title, already liking the sound of it.

He laughed at that, pulling the necklace from its box and motioning for her to turn around so he could put it on for her. She turned, grabbing her ponytail from where it rested on her neck.

"Do you know what this is Walls?" He asked as he fiddled with the clasp.

"It's a molecule!" She answered, proud of herself for remembering.

"That's right," he finished with the clasp, and Wallis turned back around to face him, "But not just any molecule. This is serotonin. It's what the brain releases to make you feel happy."

Wallis gasped, little hand reaching down and clasping the charm. "I do feel happy! It works!"

Barry laughed. "I'm glad, kid. Why don't you come inside and show everyone?"

Wallis nodded vigorously, grabbing her new uncle's offered hand. "Everyone's going to be jealous, because I have the best uncle in the world!"

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and led her inside.

Wallis figured her parents had expected her to get over her infatuation with science as she grew older.

They were wrong, of course. Maybe if her uncle wasn't so thrilled about her passion and didn't feed into it so regularly she would've, but that wasn't the case. Even so, they were as supportive as they could be for parents who didn't understand her love for the subject.

Her room was quickly looking less and less like a teenaged girl's bedroom and more like a ramshackle lab every day. Again, the work of her uncle.

Speaking of which, he would be there any minute. He had promised her a tour of his own laboratory today, and she could hardly contain her excitement. She asked him if they could run some experiments, to which he agreed.

Now if only she didn't have to wear yellow. Barry warned her that the lab could get kind of chilly, and to her dismay the only clean long sleeve shirt she had left was a bright, obnoxious yellow. Normally she wouldn't care so much about wearing her second least favorite color, but she had hoped to make a first impression that said "look out, future renowned scientist coming through" as opposed to "aww, Barry's cute little niece is here to play with some saline solution".

Despite her worry about how seriously she'd be taken, she could hardly bear her excitement. Barry had been promising this forever, but it seemed like every time they made the plans, something came up. He was always being called away for a "work emergency", and by the time he got back he was usually completely spent.

This time would be different though. This time she'd see the lab and they'd run a couple experiments and it would probably be the best afternoon of her life. She heard the doorbell sound from downstairs. Her eyes darted to the clock. He was only 7 minutes late.

She bolted down the stairs, catching him in a hug just as he entered. He barely managed to catch her in his arms.

"Woah kiddo," he said, laughing, "You're fast."

Wallis pulled away, still smiling. "And you're late. Again."

He had the decency to look sheepish, as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry about that. I got caught up in some traffic. I think something with The Flash?"

Wallis nodded. She had her computer and her phone set to alert her anytime her favorite hero was in the news. "Armed robbery."

Barry's eyebrows raised. "Oh yeah, who was it this time?" He was as much of a Flash fan as she, and they often discussed his powers and his exploits, voices overlapping as they spun theories and told stories of the times they caught a glimpse of him.

"Captain Boomerang. It was so cool uncle Barry, I was watching the footage. I think he's getting faster."

Barry cocked his head. "Oh yeah? How do you figure?"

Wallis began pushing him out the door. "I'll tell you in the car. Let's go!"

"Woah, woah, woah. Slow down kid. I have to tell your parents or they'll think I kidnapped you." He dug his heels in to the ground.

Wallis shook her head. "They know you're coming. They ran to go get groceries and told me to text them when we leave. Speaking of which," She ducked under his arm, walking past him and down the steps of her front porch, "Let's go!"

"Alright, alright," Barry conceded, closing the door to her home and making sure it was locked. Wallis was already buckled in by the time he made it to his side.

"Okay, so do you still want to know why I think The Flash is getting faster?" Wallis asked as he pulled away from her home.

"Absolutely."

"Well, I just eyeballed it at first, but when I slowed down some recent footage of him, it became totally obvious…"

"Okay, that's makes sense. Have you figured out the lightning?"

Wallis shook her head, sighing in frustration. "No. And trust me, I've done a lot of research into the relationship between speed and lightning. The most I could definitively figure is that there's some other factor than just speed. Short of having a conversation with him, I'm not sure I'll ever find out." She rested her head on her hand, upset by the prospect.

Barry gave her a sympathetic look. "Hey, you never know. Iris has been saved by him a few times. Maybe you should give her a list of questions for next time they cross paths."

Wallis thought about it for a moment before she broke out into a smile. "Uncle Barry, you're a genius."

He shrugged. "I don't know about that." He pulled into the parking lot of a nondescript looking building.

Wallis glanced out the window in confusion. "Um, Barry, this isn't the CCPD."

He smirked as he parked the car. "Nope. This is the CCPD's little secret. It's our offsite lab. It's where we do studies on our metahuman threats. And it has twice as much equipment."

Wallis stared at him wide eyed. "Are you serious?" She jumped out of the car, running to the front door and bouncing from leg to leg as she waited for her uncle. "C'mon Barry! You're so slow."

He laughed as he walked over to her. "How am I supposed to keep up with you kid? When's track start again?" He pulled a card from his pocket, placing it on the scanner next to the door. It beeped and Wallis heard the door unlock. He held the door for her and gestured inside. "After you, Kid Flash."

Wallis rolled her eyes. "If I was like The Flash, I'd never let anyone call me that."

Barry shrugged as he followed her inside. "I don't know, I kind of like it."

The receptionist looked up at the sound of their voices, kind face blooming into a huge smile. "Barry! It's about time you brought your niece!" She stood and walked out from behind her desk, offering Wallis her tiny hand. "Barry has told us all about you."

Wallis took the petite woman's hand, returning the smile. "Nice to meet you. I'm Wallis." She glanced up at her uncle, who looked proud as ever. "I'm sure he already told you that."

The woman nodded. "That and more. I'm Christine. I hope you're not too anxious to get to the lab. Everyone in this building has been waiting to meet you." She released Wallis's hand.

Wallis frowned, looking up at her uncle. "Wait, so I have to meet everyone before I get to see your lab?"

He put a hand on her shoulder. "You'll love them Walls." She fixed him with a glare.

"Well," Christine interjected, "I won't you up any further than. Have fun, Wallis!"

She gave her a half-hearted grin as she let Barry lead her further into the building.

As soon as the man turned his back to him, Wallis's smiled dropped. She looked up to her uncle. "Was that the last one?"

Barry put a hand to his chin as if he were in deep thought. "Hmm, let's see… You met Christine, Margie, Elle, Duke, and Ross…" His hand dropped and he gave her a huge smile. "It's time to see the lab."

Wallis gasped in excitement. "Where is it?"

Barry shook his head fondly, knowing better than to give her an actual direction. She'd be off like a shot. "Follow me kiddo." He led them down the hall, stopping at the door at the end of the hallway. He turned to her. "Are you ready kid?"

"YES!"

With that, he scanned his card. Wallis felt her jaw drop.

"Oh my god." She whispered as she stepped inside. Chemicals and machines and computers lined the walls. There were 6 lab tables, all covered in experiments and lab reports and notebooks. It was everything she had always wanted. "This is incredible."

Barry grinned at her, glad to see that the lab didn't disappoint. "Cool huh?" He walked forward, coaxing her to step through the door frame. "I have some tests to run today? Want to help?"

Wallis felt faint. "Really?"

He nodded, moving back towards the lab coats hanging next to the door. He grabbed one and held it out to his niece. Wallis took the coat with a sort of reverence, and Barry swore he saw tears in her eyes as she put it on. She looked up at him, smiling so wide it hurt.

"Let's get to work."

"Alright kiddo, it's about time I get you home." Barry said as his niece walked past him into his office.

She sighed, flopping into his desk chair and letting her gaze drift around the room. "I know." She sat up suddenly as she remembered an earlier promise. "Hey uncle Barry, you said you had a bunch of old lab reports from some cool experiments you did. Do you think I could have some?"

Barry shrugged. "I don't see why not." He walked over to where she was sitting and bent down, opening the top drawer of a filing cabinet. "These are all pretty neat. And there's another that I was referencing for a case recently…" He reached down and grabbed a stack of composition notebooks, placing them in the desk before her. "Let me go see if it's near my lab station." With that, he left the room.

Wallis grabbed the first notebook on the stack, flipping through it. She could already tell she was in for some very interesting reading. She replaced the book on the stack and reached down, opening the file cabinet he had retrieved the books from. She sighed when she saw there wasn't any left.

She blinked as she got an idea and shut the drawer, trying to open the one below. She frowned when it wouldn't open. Glancing back at the door to make sure her uncle wasn't coming back, she began searching for a key. She quickly grew frustrated when her search came up empty. She was moments from giving up when she remembered one of her uncle's weird quirks.

Uncle Barry was very smart, but he was terribly scatterbrained. He once joked that he had to stay one step ahead of himself, so he had spares for everything. There was no doubt a key in there somewhere. She started looking again, this time with more fervor as her time slipped by. Her eyes almost skimmed over the little Flash action figure on his desk.

Almost.

The little toy was in mid sprint, frozen in its pose on its grey base. She lifted the figurine, and smirked at the sight of a shiny key taped to the bottom. Wallis didn't have time to celebrate. She pulled the key off the toy and wasted no time in opening the drawer. To her dismay, there was only one notebook inside. With a sigh, she pulled it out, flipping through it quickly as she had done with the others. It seemed standard enough, full of precise measurements and careful calculations. Then an entry caught her eye. She opened the book more fully.

March 7

It's been a few days since my accident. I've toyed with the idea of going to the hospital and getting checked out completely but… I feel completely fine. Better than fine, even.

I'm not sure entirely what's happening to me, and it's difficult to run these tests discreetly. All I know is that I am fast. Very fast.

I went to the track yesterday, just to see how quickly I could finish a couple laps in an all-out sprint. 3 seconds. I ran 2 laps in three seconds.

There's still so many tests to run, and I have no clue what this means or what I should do now that I have these powers, but one thing is for sure:

I've pulled off one hell of an experiment here.

Wallis almost dropped the book. She continued flipping. He clearly hadn't intended to keep a genuine journal, as many entries weren't dated and several were never even completed. He must've known no one else would see this.

She looked back to the lab report itself, needing to prove to her own eyes what she knew to be true.

It was Barry's handwriting, Barry's shorthand, Barry's notes. And this was the experiment that had given The Flash his powers.

She stared down at the words on the page, hands shaking so bad that they were becoming harder and harder to re-read. Finally, she managed to calm herself enough to do what any scientist did when confronted with a new discovery. Decide what she knew, what she didn't know, and what she was going to do.

She knew that this was undoubtedly Barry's notebook. She knew that this could only mean that her uncle, her idol, was The Flash.

Oh, and she was the only other person in the world who knew exactly how to read his lab notes.

What she didn't know was far longer a list. Question after question came to mind, none of which she could ask Barry unless she told him what she knew. She supposed she could tell him what she found, but something stopped her.

As she replaced one of the notebooks in the stack Barry had given her with her find and locked the drawer - putting the key back exactly where she found it - she made her decision.

She was going to recreate The Flash's experiment.

Yay here we go! So I have his whole arc planned (just not written) and I'm really excited, because this will not be your typical Wally gets his powers story. While I was conceptualizing this arc, I kept thinking about what it would take realistically for him to pull this off. While we have the same start point and end point, obviously, I think you'll really like the new twists and turns I'm adding to get there. Please feel free to drop a review, and if you have some ideas you'd like to see for future arcs, let me know! Until next time!