Illegal

Chapter 1

"WALLY WEST! Get your speedy butt down here this instant!" An annoyed feminine voice rang through the house.

Wally winced, knowing exactly why his Aunt Iris was irately hollering his name.

Following orders, Wally flashed downstairs, skidding to a stop right before he collided with an angry Iris. Regaining his balance, the young speedster attempted to collect his thoughts in advance.

Iris Allen-West shoved a crumpled piece of paper into her nephew's face, "Care to explain why I found your report card balled up in the trash?"

Wally clears his throat and inhaled a shaky breath, "Well, auntie Iris-" he was interrupted by his "auntie" slamming the crumpled paper to the right of her, onto the dining table, "Don't 'auntie' me, Mister. Sit."

The speedster obeyed, pulling a wooden chair out from underneath the table and plopped into it. Normally, he would've joked about this and Iris would eventually laugh at his corny jokes. But this time...well, this was his third report card of his junior year. And the grades were much worse than normal. Usually, his grades consisted of C's and B's. This time, Wally gulped, this time he had three F's and a single D.

Iris made her way to the opposite side of the table and seated herself before snatching the paper and laying it in front of Wally. "Wally, I need you to know how...how furious I am. This is becoming a regular thing. Your grades are dropping, you haven't been focused lately, and-" she lowered her head as a tear escaped and rolled down her pale face"-now you're hiding things from me?" Iris wiped the year away and looked directly at Wally, her gaze soft compared to the rage it held moments ago. "Wally...I know I'm not your mom-" Wally's breath hitched "-and I know Barry isn't your father-" wally stared numbly at the table"- and we both miss them as much as you do. But that's no reason for your grades to drop so drastically. It's been five months."

Yeah, five months of raw pain and guilt... Wally sighed.

"Wally, say something."

Attempting to show his aunt he was okay, the teen half-heartedly smirked and hoarsely whispered, "Something..."

Iris exasperatedly sighed, "Wally...you know that's not what I meant."

Wally rubbed circles on the table with his pointer finger and huffed, "What do you want me to say, Aunt Iris? 'I'm sorry the death of my parents- that was, by the way, my fault- hasn't affected me at all! I'm still the happy, dumb, care-free Wally West that everybody knows and loves!'" The teen gave a sarcastic, dorky smile.

"Drop the sarcasm Mister. I want you to tell me what's wrong!" Iris stared harshly at her nephew, watching his every move.

The younger West stopped tracing circles on the tables and glared at his aunt, "Nothing's wrong."

"Oh, please! You may have thought you fooled me with your act to seem normal, but I'm not dumb, I-"

"I never said you were dumb." Wally interrupted, voice harsh and body ridged.

"Apparently you thought so. You thought you fooled me. But you didn't. You're not leaving this room until you tell me what's wrong." The young woman took possession of the report card, dismissing the topic for now as she pocketed it.

"Nothing's wrong. "

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying."

"Yes you are. What's wrong."

"Nothing."

"What's wrong."

"NOTHING!" Wally stood up, knocking the chair he was previously sitting in crashing to the floor.

"Wally. West. Tell me what the hell is wrong with you. This. Instant." Now Iris, too, was standing up, except her chair was smoothly pushed behind her without being knocked down.

"I'm losing my powers ok?!" Wally's usual bright emerald eyes were now a hard, cold, steely green that bore into his aunt's similar ones. He had just found out. He didn't want to tell anyone, but honestly...it really upset him. His powers...his hero identity...they meant everything to him.

"Maybe that's a good thing." Her voice was so quiet, Wally might of missed what she said had he not been paying attention. Almost every ounce of hostility that flooded through Wally's veins vanished. It was replaced by a dark feeling. A hurt feeling. "What?" He whispered.

"I said maybe it's a good thing. Maybe without those powers, you could finally focus on your education. You won't be distracted by your superhero friends. You can have a normal life." Iris stood with her arms crossed, clearly ready to speak her mind.

"I wasn't born to have a normal life." Wally breathed, taking a step back.

"You were born a happy healthy baby boy. You changed that. You made yourself...this," she gestured to her nephew.

Wally was taken aback. Never had he heard anything so...discouraging from his aunt before. She was the nicest person he knew. "I thought you were encouraging of what I did..."

"I was encouraging of your powers when you were also managing your civilian life." She dropped her arms to her side and walked around to behind her chair, pushing it in. She glanced at Wally before speaker softly once more, "Do you know how many times you and your Uncle Barry come home with injuries? Injuries I can do nothing about because you have 'accelerated healing'...? Injuries that I couldn't be a part of because I was the only one in this household without powers? Sometimes, hero work is all you and Barry talk about. Maybe without your powers...things will be different. "

Wally was speechless. He was hurt. Deeply hurt. By his own aunt. "You never loved me..." He uttered quietly, tears brimming his eyes before he sped off into the warm evening night.

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Ok, so it's confusing. I know. I swear, it will get better. This confusion was intentional.

Credit for the partial story idea goes to LittleBlueMonster626 (Luvs ya!)

Thank you so much! Stick around for the next chapter, I swear so many things will be explained. I understand that the characters so far were WAY out of character, but it'll get better. Until next time!! Vote! Comment! Love you all!