Chapter Text
Iris West often said that the day her nephew Wally was born was the best day of her life. Looking down at the tiny baby in her arms, and seeing him look back up at her with a cheeky glint in his eye, she knew he would be trouble, and boy was she right. As Wally grew up, that cheek continued to grow with him. Iris would take Wally out every weekend to give her sister in law Mary and her brother Rudy a break. She introduced him to her boyfriend Barry and they got along like a house on fire. Barry joined their little outings to parks, funfairs, and museums, taking Wally’s newfound extreme interest in the Flash in his stride.
It was the night after one of these outings together that an eleven-year-old Wally dropped two bombs on them. Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary, they had returned from a trip to the newly built Flash museum, Wally falling fast asleep in the back of the car. Barry had gently woken him up and sent him inside to get into pajamas so they could all settle down with take away and watch a movie. The spare room of their modest two bed house had basically become his second bedroom, all decked out in his favorite colors with flash posters to match, and even a small amount of clothes and pajamas so he didn't need to bring over a bag.
Iris was loading up the movie when he padded back down the stairs and stood hesitating in the doorway. She sent a confused glance to Barry, he looked up spotting Wally, and asked
“What's up bud?”
Wally looked at the ground and fidgeted with the strings of his hoodie. “I wanna tell you something” he mumbled “but Dad told me not to”
Iris sat back up on the couch and patted the spot in between her and Barry. Wally came over and sat down, he was clutching his stomach as if it might be in pain, whatever was on his mind was really worrying him.
“You can tell us anything you want honey,” She said petting his hair softly “We won’t tell your dad, okay?”
“Yeah, we're grown ups, and it's always a good idea to talk to a grown up about what’s wrong,” Barry said starting to rub Wally’s back
“I'm -” Wally started with tears streaming down his face “I'm not a girl, I know I was born a girl but I don’t think that's right, and I dunno what to do.”
He was fully crying now and Iris pulled him into her chest and kept petting his hair. “Honey, it’s okay, it’s totally okay, if you’re a boy inside that makes you a boy okay?”
Wally started to cry louder.
“I'm glad you told us this buddy, I know it was really scary,” Barry said
It took Wally a few more minutes of being held by his aunt and having Barry and her tell him everything was okay before he calmed down enough to speak again.
“You’re not mad?” He asked quietly
“No of course not honey, why would we be mad?” Iris replied.
Wally looked down at his feet, his hands starting to fidget again “Dad told me it was stupid” He said “and that I was defying god and I was sinful - he -he got really mad”
Iris was seeing red, how could a parent say that about their flesh and blood? Her brother would be receiving a very angry phone call soon. Before she could speak Barry spoke up
“When you say he got really mad - What did he do?” He asked Wally carefully, kneeling down in front of him and placing his hand on his shoulder.
“He hit me”
Iris pulled Wally into her chest and looked at her husband - without words they both knew what they had to do.
After a long legal battle, Rudolf and Mary West were deemed unsuitable parents for Wally. Wally had revealed that his dad’s abuse was ongoing, physically, and mentally. Barry and Iris were granted custody and Wally came to live with them.
The day Wally was officially moving in, Barry came into his room to find him sitting on the floor, looking distant and upset. He slid down and sat beside him, his back leaning against the twin bed behind them. He looked over at what Wally was holding, it was a picture of him standing with Rudy and Mary in front of their Christmas tree. All of them were dressed in their Sunday best. Wally was nearly unrecognizable now, Iris had taken him to get his hair cut short after he came out, with a new wardrobe to match. He’d chosen the name, Wally, because it was a West family name. Iris was doing everything she could to get him started on blockers, if things changed he would be able to come off them with no issue, but she was still hitting endless roadblocks. For now, Wally seemed content with just their support with his name, because of the move he would be changing schools, and Iris had basically sternly emailed the school into submission to make sure his name was changed on all record records.
Barry put his arm around Wally’s shoulder, pulling him close. Wally sniffed in response.
“It’s okay to miss them you know,” Barry said “They weren't good to you, but you trusted them and loved them”
Wally shrugged and put the photo on the floor, he leaned into Barry but didn't say a word. Barry looked around the small room, or at least what wasn’t covered in boxes, he glanced over the bookshelf of comics and various nick-nacks from zoo visits and museum gift shops, past the desk where Wally’s chemistry set was set up, and landed on a flash poster. His own masked face smiled back at him. He made a decision.
“You know,” He said, smiling at Wally “You’ve been telling us a lot of big secrets lately, I think it’s time I told you one of mine.”