Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Billy’s leg bounced with nerves as he fiddled with the zipper of his jacket. The chilling temperature of the metal steel of the chair he was sitting on was bleeding through his warm clothing, making him shiver with the coldness along with his anxiety. 

The silence in the waiting room was deafening. And it wasn’t even because it was completely silent, but it felt like a ball was in the air, just waiting for the right -or worst- moment to drop, leaving him to stew in his impatience. 

His mom was on her feet, pacing around the room with a worried expression on her face, almost as impatient as he was waiting for the doctor to call for them to come in. His dad was the complete opposite of his mom, trying to calm her down and get her to sit down again. Sure he still looked a little nervous for the results, but he still had this relaxed air of ‘everything is going to be okay’ around him. 

The whole reason they were there in the first place, and his mom was so worried, was because Billy kept passing out lately. 

Billy didn’t know why, but for some reason, in the past month or so he’d been getting sicker and sicker, to the point that whenever he went out for a run to get his family things from other countries, his legs would collapse underneath him and he would suddenly pass out from exhaustion and a weird hunger gnawing at this stomach. 

It was terrifying for him the first time it happened. It really didn’t help his fear when he ended up passing out during one of his runs to France for those macarons that Nora likes, and he woke up in the middle of a crowd of concerned strangers speaking in a language he only barely understood.

They all thought it was a one-off thing, spending the next few days fussing over him, but then it started to become more and more frequent. 

It happened in Germany on a run for sausages.

In Japan for those seasonal desserts Nora and Chloe wanted. 

Mexico for authentic tacos. 

China for those dumplings-That he would admit he would steal from his mom every time, but they were so good-.

Originally, his family thought that these episodes of sudden unconsciousness were just him being tired all the time from an apparent ‘lack of sleep’. So his parents took away all of his devices and checked up on him during the night to make sure he was asleep.  

This... didn’t help, because he would still feel tired all of the time, have a steadily growing pit of hunger in his stomach, accompanied by constantly feeling nauseous and wanting to throw up. 

Going to school and getting through all his lessons went from an unfortunate chore to literal hell. Listening to the teachers and focusing on the lessons became even more of a struggle. The food he got at lunch never seemed to satisfy the bottomless hole in his stomach. His hands were constantly shaking, and to top it all off! Nora left him to fend for himself, thinking that being seen with him would make others dislike her… That hurt. A lot. 

As soon as he got home from school it felt like the increasing pile of struggles weighing down on his shoulders finally tumbled down on him. The second he ran upstairs into his room, his body would crash onto his bed, staying there for hours, trying to mend the aches that have become a permanent fixture in his life. He woke up from his dreamless sleep to intense hunger pangs, leaving him curled up on the mattress with energy bar wrappers littered around him. A sad attempt to fix the growling of his stomach, demanding food. He never took too much, he didn’t want to waste all his parents' money on this, they already had to support the rest of his siblings. 

Everyone, including him thought that this would be solved easily. The first doctor appointment his parents made for him was with one of the Hero Leagues doctors, and she said that all of his problems would be solved with more sleep -like he’s been doing anything other than that- and eating more greens.

The addition of more vegetables to his diet only worked for a day or two before he got sick again. When they went back to check in with Doctor Jamie, she then said that the reason for his illness could be related to his powers, and then referred them to one of her other colleagues. 

The next doctor they went to specialized in abilities. When Billy described how he was feeling to him, he just said that he was overreacting and that his powers only made Billy run fast, it wouldn’t affect his health -not without comments on how useless just running fast was-. He ended up prescribing the same thing as the first doctor. Which, surprise surprise! It didn’t work, and a medical professional shoving his degree in his face when Billy raised concerns did not make him feel any better. 

Since then his parents put him through a cycle of different doctors -all of them from the hero league- to figure out what was wrong with him. They went through pediatricians, gastroenterologists, and even psychiatrists to see if the shitty way he’s been feeling was because of some weird mental health issue. Every single one of them didn’t listen to how he was feeling or ask him anything, just telling him they knew better and throwing useless solutions and medications at him. 

One rare day after school, when he did have the energy to pull himself out of his bed, he decided to say fuck it and research his condition himself. The hero league already failed him multiple times, it’s not like doing this himself would change much. Oh how wrong he was. 

As he was trying to search for other people who might have experienced something similar to his condition, he came across an article about someone called ‘Superman’ who saved hundreds of people from a derailed train. When Billy looked further into this supposed ‘Man of Steel’ that he never heard of, he was blown away by the sheer number of heroes in the world that he never knew about.

He continued going through the internet, into online forums dedicated to recording and chatting about these heroes single-handedly protecting whole cities -that were even bigger than Metroburg!-. There was Superman in Metropolis -which he found a little similar to Metroburg actually-, a man named Batman in Gotham, a space cop in Coast City named Green Lantern, a woman in DC called Wonder Woman, and so much more!

And god, the second he found out about a man wearing red running around Central City, he could feel hope beginning to bloom in his chest for the first time in months! He learned this hero clad in red was named ‘The Flash’, and Billy threw himself into a frenzy, going through every single piece of media in existence from the day he first showed up as a streak of lightning. 

Fuck- he was so happy that there was someone out there that could probably help him alleviate the pain he was going through, but halfway through reading an article from a blog in 2014, it hit him how his parents never thought to bring him to see this man. He realized that neither of his parents ever mentioned any of these people outside of the Hero League that could have helped him. They never thought going to see someone with similar powers to him could have been so much easier than all of the ‘specialists’ they’ve been going to. 

Honestly... finding the existence of the Flash made him both mad and confused at the same time, but the joy he felt at finding out about him over powered the negative emotions that were brewing in his chest. 

Billy shivered in his seat, zipping up his jacket to preserve the warmth in his body. He never liked the cold, always preferring to stay inside with a warm drink during the colder months. There was just something about the cold that made his speed harder to access. But he never told anyone that, he didn't want to make Pheobe or Max feel bad when they used their freeze breath.

Unfortunately, the waiting rooms for all the doctors were always sterile and chilly, constantly making his anxiety spike. But he still powered through his discomfort. After all, going to these places always made his family feel better for a moment, even if he had to suffer through sitting down in one place for extended periods of time, thoughts racing through his head.

He couldn’t help but think back to when he first brought up meeting The Flash to his parents, hoping that they would be just as excited as he was at the prospect of someone who could help him with his episodes of unconsciousness and declining health. 

“Wha- what do you mean no???” The ball of hope that had been growing began to dampen. Didn’t they get it? Meeting the Flash was his one chance at getting better!

“I mean no, we can’t go to Central.” His dad said, a stern look on his face, wildly different compared to his previous excitement when Billy said that he might have a solution to his sickness. 

“Why not?!” Billy exclaimed, frustration beginning to build up. He didn’t get why his parents seemed so upset now, but he still carried on. “Central has The Flash! He has the same powers as me! If anyone knows how to fix me it would be him !” 

His siblings were sitting on the couch, watching nervously as the atmosphere between their brother and parents became thick with tension, an argument starting to form. Something not that uncommon ever since Billy started to have violent mood swings. 

“I don’t get it! Why can’t we go see him? I know you probably never heard of him, but he has super speed just like me! I researched him! He probably knows what’s wrong with me, and he’s a hero just like you-“

“-We already knew about him…” His mom interrupted him, eyes softening at the confusion he was showing. He could still see the tension in her body though. She wanted to stop his rant before a fight broke out. It was the first time in a few months that Phoebe and Max finally found the time to visit their family, as they were too busy in Metroburg dealing with their duties in the Z force. He knew she didn’t want to spend the few rare days with her eldest children arguing with him, but what the hell did she mean they already knew?

“Yo- What do you mean you already knew about him?!” Frustration was taking over his previous distress and confusion. They already knew about the Flash? Why didn’t they go to him to help Billy? Why did they continue to let him suffer when someone like the Flash existed?

His parents threw each other a look. “I…” His mom started, “The Hero League informed everyone when these vigilantes first started showing up.” Dad finished for her. 

“...Vigilantes.” He said flatly, what was the difference?? “They’re still heroes! They still protect people just like you, and mom, and Phoebe and Max-”

“It’s not the same Billy.” Phoebe spoke up softly, getting up from her place on the couch. “The Hero League is registered and approved by the government, all of those other people who don’t work for the League aren't.”

“YOU ALL STILL DO THE SAME THING!” He yelled, frustration finally boiling over and tears spilling. They all took a step back, almost as if they were afraid of him. “WHY DOES IT MATTER IF YOU HAVE SOME FANCY TITLE AND THEY DON’T?” He just wanted to feel better. He was so tired all the time, why couldn’t they let him get help? 

“Oh my god Billy. It’s so obvious. Just get over yourself and listen to the people who actually know what they’re doing.” Nora said, rolling her eyes. God, sometimes he just hated her careless attitude when it came to him and his problems. She always had to redirect the attention of the room back to her, and do whatever it took to make herself look better (like leaving him all alone). But she was still his twin, and he loved her. It's why he always indulged her and ignored the pain when she shot him with her lasers -he healed fast anyways-. it hurt, didn’t she care?

He was so caught up in his spiral of confusion and rage, of his family ignoring his opinions that he didn’t notice the way his body began to sway, vision darkening. His hearing began to muffle as the lightheadedness that had become so familiar to him started to consume him. 

And then.

Darkness. 

He didn’t hear the way his body hit the floor. 

He didn’t hear his family crying out as he collapsed.

He was always a little grateful for the quiet, even if it was scary when it happened. 

Yeah, not exactly a great way to finish a conversation before passing out. 

There was still some underlying anger and disappointment from the -more one-sided- fight with his parents and siblings. They never talked about the things he said, assuming it was just the exhaustion talking, and he didn’t mean any of it. Billy kept quiet, he really didn’t want to talk about any of it with them. 

He didn’t know if he could trust any of them again. He didn’t know if he wanted to. They all just brushed him off, trusting doctors over their own family. Trusting the words of people who haven’t helped him over the words of the one suffering. He was a bit scared that they might not care about him, but that couldn’t be true! He’s done so much for them! He’d always run to other countries for whatever they wanted whenever they needed it! He’d always done his best to show them how they cared, so why wouldn’t they return that love?

Sure he can be a bit annoying at times, and people thought he was weird, and he was a bit dumb, and he couldn’t focus in school -it was so boring!-, and he could just blurt out things with out think, and he could be a bit too hyperactive, and-

“Billy Thunderman?” 

The voice of the receptionist echoed through the empty room. Billy glanced over at his parents, they straightened up immediately at the call of his name, sending expectant looks over at him. He let out a long-suffering sigh, before pulling himself to his feet and following them into the office. 

______________________

“So, Billy. How’ve you been doing?” Dr Freeman held a checklist as he watched his patient, looking Billy right in the eyes. He wanted to recoil at the toothy smile Dr Freeman was giving him, his expression was so sweet and considerate and fake , that it almost made Billy want to throw up -right on his white coat, ha, fuck you bitch-.  

“Nothing’s changed” Was the only thing that he could bring himself to say. Billy almost wanted to preen at the startled expression that overtook the doctor's face before he managed to smooth it out to something more professional. 

“Ah- What do you mean?”

“I mean that everything you and all the other doctors have suggested have not helped me. At all.” He didn’t really feel bad for the way his voice lowered into a growl... Huh… Maybe he was more upset with his parents than he originally thought.

“Billy!” His mom hissed, slapping his arm lightly. “Don’t be rude.”

“No no, it’s alright. I understand that you’ve both mentioned him having frequent mood swings?” Frequent? Well, sure he’s been blowing up more than he used to, but he’s only been getting upset whenever the overwhelming realization that he might be dying hit him, and- wait why are his parents nodding?

“Yes, ever since he’s gotten sicker, he’s gotten angrier more than he used to.” Well yeah, none of what any of you are doing have been helping, he thought to himself, glaring down at his shoes. 

“I mean just the other day before we made this appointment, he got into a fight with us and his older siblings and then passed out!” Yeah no shit. And he was mad because none of you wanted him to get help from someone with actual experience and not a stupid piece of paper.

The rest of the session went on with them talking about him like he wasn’t sitting right there next to them. He only huffed with disappointment, they've done this song and dance for so long now, him cutting in now wasn't going to change anything. 

“I see, I see… Billy have you been taking your medication?”

He was caught off guard with that question. “...uhhh, yes?” Actually no. But none of them have been working, so he didn’t see why he had to continue to take those sour tasting pills, when all they’ve done was just sit in his stomach and do nothing. 

“Hm. Well then, it looks like your son hasn’t been taking the medication that has been prescribed.” His dad threw him a disappointed look when Dr Freeman said that, making him shrink under the stare of disapproval. “So I would say keep a closer eye on him, and make sure he’s taking them.” He finished, handing his mom a piece of paper. 

“Ah yes, thank you doctor. We’ll keep in touch.”

______________________

“You haven’t been taking your meds?!” Was the first thing Billy heard the second they walked outside of the Hero Leagues facility. That place was always so empty and quiet, an air of competitiveness sucking the comradery out of everything. Sure he would have loved to be a hero in the Z force, but after everything that’s happened? He doesn’t think he wants that as his future anymore. Especially if everyone there thinks heroes that don’t work for them are ‘dangerous’. 

“It’s not like they’ve done anything for me…” He said, refusing to look into his parents' eyes, kicking a rock that was laying on the ground. He knew what he would find there. The same disapproval -and frankly stupid- concern from when he brought up going to Central. 

“That’s because you haven’t been taking them.” He only groaned at the sound of his dad’s know-it-all voice. Yeah sure Dad, like you’ve ever felt like you could pass out any minute because of some unknown reason that no one can fix.

He was just so tired of the way nothing was helping. He’s already spent over a month -maybe two- suffering through this unexplainable condition. Sometimes he just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. Cry about the way everything hurt, the way that no one seemed to listen to him, the way that they didn’t seem to care–

“-lly! Billy!”

A grip on his arm brought him back to reality. He blinked a few times to lock eyes with his mom, who was looking at him worriedly, probably thinking he might have been about to pass out, y’know, again.

He just brushed her off with a few reassurances that he was fine before his dad slung an arm around his shoulder. For some reason that weight wasn’t as comforting as it used to be, he wanted to lean away from the offending contact. “Now come on son, we are going home and making sure you actually take your medicine, okay?”

He paused. He really didn’t want to, but when he looked up to see his mother's eyes and how she looked so worried? 

“...okay…”

Maybe the way she brightened up at his acceptance was worth the suffering.

______________________

He tossed and turned in his bed, feeling both too hot and too cold at the same time. This weird restlessness had sunken into his bones, like he had to get up and find something, but he didn’t know what.

When he finally had enough of the changing temperatures, he got up from the sweat-soaked sheets and went to the bathroom, flicking on the lights and splashing water on his face before looking up at his reflection. 

What he saw made his stomach sink. It had gotten so much worse. 

His pajamas were hanging loosely off his body, looking way too oversized and ill-fitting on his thin frame, a stark contrast to last month when it hugged his body snuggly, keeping him warm through the night. Lifting the fabric exposed his ribs that were protruding out of his skin, sure he was thin for his age, but this was far too much. 

His eyes were sunken in and his cheeks were hollow, making him look half-dead. And yeah, after experiencing this hunger and sickness for so long, he did feel half-dead… God, Nora was right. He was pathetic. 

Walking out of his room brought his attention to his nightstand. He still had a stack of papers about the Flash sitting right there despite his family's demands for him to get rid of them. 

A weird feeling of calm came over him when he picked up the newspaper, it was almost like something had clicked in his mind. 

The hero league would never be able to help him. They’ve already failed him over and over again. 

His family… They would just side with the hero league. Trusting the words of strangers instead of him. 

They couldn’t predict what he was going to do next. 

They would never expect it from him. 

After all, he was always the dumb one in the family. The one who couldn’t do anything by himself. 

…

He didn’t care what any of them thought. He was going to Central. 

Home of the Flash. 

Chapter Text

During his research on the Flash, Billy was blown away by just how fast the hero was compared to himself. 

Last time Billy checked, he could only run to around 400 mph, which was pretty fast for a normal person- But the Flash could run like a million times faster than him! He could break the sound barrier to make sonic booms! Run up the sides of buildings! And run on water! 

From the videos Billy found on the internet -thank you Central City residents-, the Flash could move from one side of the room to another in the blink of an eye. It was almost like he was teleporting. When he ran, all you could see was a lightning trail of speed. When Billy ran, people could still see him moving as a blur. 

I mean sure, he was able to also move from one place to the other quicker than his family, but it would still take him a second longer compared to the Flash. And it also looked like he was slower than Superman, who could move faster than a speeding bullet. 

It was interesting reading through the online disputes between fans of the Scarlet Speedster and Man of Steel arguing over who would win a race between the two. Personally, Billy thought that the Flash could win by a mile, though that might’ve been his hero-worship talking.

But if you thought about it, Superman was always compared to being as fast as a speeding bullet while the Flash was compared to being as fast as lightning. Those two things were wildly different in terms of speed, and there was this really cool thing the Flash could do where he vibrated!

Sure there were a few videos of Superman also managing to vibrate and phase out of things, but he always looked like he had to focus really hard to do so. And then when you looked at the Flash, he was always vibrating at least a little bit to blur his features and voice to keep his identity a secret, which was so cool and such a good idea! Billy wished he was fast enough to do that. The hero also did it so effortlessly, like it was a normal thing to be able to vibrate like that!

As far as he could see, the Flash didn’t have anyone else with superspeed or the same powers as him to spend time with. There were a few reports on other speedsters in Central, but they always seemed to be villains the Flash would fight against and defeat. 

Max and Phoebe never really told any of them what kind of villains they would go up against in the Z force. Sure Dr Colosso lived with them, and he used to be a villain before being turned into a rabbit, but it just wasn’t the same as the actual villains out there. 

There were a few times when he was younger when those big-time villains of the Hero League came after them, and he helped to defeat them. And at the time he was really excited, because that was proof he could become a great hero with his twin wasn’t it? And sure, the older Thundertwins did a lot of the work, but his speed was useful in those fights!

Though, when he compared those fights with the ones that other heroes outside of the Hero League had with their villains? There was such a big difference in the amount of danger those bad guys posed compared to the ones the Hero League faced. 

Superman defeated giant building destroying robots!

Batman would go against psychopaths able to do large scales of damage on a weekly basis! 

The Flash went against a super fast evil speedster named Zoom and defeated him! Including the rest of his super awesome rouges gallery.

It was scary when Billy saw the clips where Zoom held up the Flash’s limp bloodied body up in the air for everyone to see. But it was so inspiring the way that the hero still came back after recovering, not giving up until he finally defeated the man. 

He did this all by himself too! Just like all of the other heroes! None of them had a large organization of other superheroes to help them, and they still managed to defeat all these villains themselves!

All of the citizens in each of the cities seemed to love their heroes as well! He didn’t count Star City, that place was never sure of their thoughts on the Green Arrow

Central seemed to adore their speedster in red, going as far as to build an entire museum dedicated to him and his triumphs! 

Billy privately wondered in his own time if the Flash would ever like to take him as an apprentice, maybe he could even become his sidekick! Sure Billy would probably never be as fast as an actual speedster, and he couldn’t do as many of the things the Flash could do Nora made that clear enough, but maybe the Flash would appreciate someone else with superspeed to keep him company! God knows Billy gets lonely on his runs often enough. 

But recently he hasn’t been running as much as he used to. Ever since the fifth time he passed out overseas and his dad had to fly over to pick him up, his family and doctors have prohibited him from using his powers. 

He did enjoy the break from running across the world for their errands, but there was always this weird restlessness buzzing in his body that mixed in with exhaustion. It was really weird and any attempts to get rid of the restlessness in the back of his mind by running never ended particularly well. 

He let out a quiet groan to not draw attention to himself from his classmates -they complained enough about his constant tapping- before flicking his eyes to the clock above the classroom door. Just 15 more minutes of this hell and he’ll be outta here, ready to prepare for his run all the way to Central. 

It would’ve been better if he could go to Central sooner, but he couldn’t just leave his family without telling them where he went, they would be worried about him! So -for once- he planned out what he was going to do very carefully in his school notebook… Look he had nothing better to do! The teachers talked gibberish and no one ever wanted to help him!

Anyways, the basic plan was to find a specific day when everyone would be too busy with something, which would allow him to slip away for what would hopefully be long enough for him to get the Flash’s attention and get his help. Just had to… wait for the right time… fun. 

Honestly, it looked like the universe was betting against him or something. The past few days everyone found an excuse to spend time with him, not giving him an opening to leave and get help for his affliction.

Chloe kept his attention for a whole day, wanting to play makeover with him. He loved her, and it was fun, but he had other things to be concerned about

His dad wanted to do some ‘fun’ father-son bonding activities, and his mom wanted to take him to go shopping. He didn’t really have the energy to entertain them, but he didn’t want to disappoint them either 

Max and Pheobe both dragged him in to watch their training sessions, showing off their skills and hyping him up for his ‘future’ in the Hero League. Younger him would’ve been excited, but now he just thought the Hero League was awful

Nora… didn’t really do much. She was too busy spending time with her other friends to waste her time on him. It hurt so much, they used to be so close 

It was taking way too long and the impatience was chipping away at his remaining sanity. He just wanted to run off to another city and get help from someone he’s never met and none of his family liked! Now was that so wrong?

He still couldn’t understand why they didn’t like him. So many other people loved him, thought he was amazing even! So why couldn’t any of them suck it up for hi-

BRRRRING. BRRRRING.

The moment his ears heard the sound of the bell ringing, signaling the end of the school day, he sprang to his feet, chair clattering to the ground behind him, falling over at the speed he got up at. 

Every muscle in his body was pulled taught like a bowstring until he noticed the way everyone in the room stared at him, Nora giving him a look of irritation from where she was sitting. He felt his face flush a deep red as the teacher let out an exasperated sigh, before waving his hand with a small ‘dismissed’, letting them leave. 

Now, he might’ve slipped into a little bit of superspeed when packing his things back into his school bag, but he was just glad to finally be out of that building. However, he did have to take the bus back home ever since the Hero League put a restriction on his speed usage. It was ‘too much of a risk’ they said. Assholes…

“Billy!”

His head perked up as he turned to see Nora running towards him, a warm fuzzy feeling spread in his chest. She’d been avoiding him for a while ever since she started spending more time with her friends, the behavior also spreading to when they were at home. 

He snapped out of his thoughts as she slowed to a stop in front of him. “No idea what that was in there, but Mom wanted me to tell you that she and Dad are going to be out for the day visiting their friends in Mertoburg, so you’ll have the house to yourself.”

He paused as the information loaded in his brain. 

“Wait what do you mean to myself? What about Chloe?”

“She’s at a sleepover”

“Max and Phoebe?”

“Hero League duties.”

“...You?”

She rolled her eyes at his question before answering, “I’m going to spend the night over at a friend's house.”

Oh… No wait, this is his chance to go to Central! But just to confirm, “Wait so when is everyone gonna come back home?”

His twin just gave him a weird look at his slightly out-of-character enthusiasm but answered nonetheless. “Well, Dad said they would be back tomorrow afternoon, and they’ll pick up Chloe when they get back. Max and Phoebe are probably gonna be gone for the rest of the weekend, and I’ll be back tomorrow night.”

“Yep, yep, okay- that’s great- uhhhhh. I gotta go, see you tomorrow!” Sure he could’ve looked a bit less excited running off, but the opportunity to go to Central was just served to him on a silver platter, who knows when he’ll get a chance like this again!

So he rushed back home, opening the door with a little more force than he probably should’ve, but for once, ever since that night his hope crumbled at his parents turning down his idea to go to get help from an actual professional, he could feel that hope coming back. He was finally going to get help.

He rushed up the stairs to grab his stash of snacks that he saved up for this trip especially, hoping that it would be enough for him to stay awake enough to grab the attention of the scarlet speedster. He laid them all against the kitchen table before grabbing some things from the fridge too. He tried not to take too much, mostly just the leftovers before chowing down on all of the food. 

Excitement and anticipation were humming through his veins as he went through all of the food lying on the table. Most of it consisted of energy bars that he spent his allowance on, and sure, they weren’t the best, but they got the job done. 

“Whatcha doing there Billy?” Oh shit. He paused in his eating to throw a look over to Dr Colosso. The ex-villain was sitting on the couch, looking over at him shoving all of the food down his throat looking both amused and disgusted at the same time. 

“Uh- ish nuthin.” He replied awkwardly, talking around a mouth full of energy bars, swallowing down the food making his cheeks swell up and wincing at the texture of the rough granola scratching down his throat. 

The rabbit looked at the trash can full of plastic wrappers and the table that was previously covered with a mountain of food before looking back at Billy with an unimpressed gaze. God that was not a normal look to be coming from a rabbit. 

“You wanna try that again?”

“...Don’t ask or tell anyone about this and you’ll get the house to yourself until tomorrow afternoon.”

Colosso looked surprised for a second at his offer before thinking over his words. He nodded in satisfaction and hopped back to Max’s room downstairs. “I didn’t really want to know but you do you kid!” He called out, going down the slide.

…Okay, close call. Colosso probably wouldn’t tell anyone about this, but he should really get going now. He felt a little better now after all of that food, and was ready to run to Central, hopefully not passing out before getting there. 

For the first time in weeks, he felt speed surge through his veins before finally bursting off into a run toward the city where the Flash lived. Wind whipped through his gel-slicked hair, ruining it, but he didn’t care. He missed the feeling of speed, watching the landscape rush by. 

He didn’t know how long he was running before he finally stopped in front of a giant sign. The sky was beginning to darken and you would assume that it would be hard to read, but no. It said in big bold red letters:

WELCOME TO CENTRAL CITY

HOME OF THE FLASH

His face lit up at those words as he looked over at the city bustling with life, there he could find the man who would help him get rid of the sickness that had been plaguing him for so long. He didn’t really notice the tiredness beginning to nip at him, a weird feeling of static in the air taking his attention. 

He just knew he had to run. 

Run to find his hero. 

Kicking off with another burst of superspeed, Billy ran through the streets of the city. It was so much more different running through Central instead of Hiddenville. He knew that it was because Central was a whole city that had skyscrapers -that the Flash ran on, wow- and over a million people living in it compared to the small town he lived in. 

He did pass by a few of the places where he remembered seeing on videos of the Flash battling his rogues gallery. He would’ve loved to be able to stop and actually see some of the leftover damage from the fights, but no. He was on a mission. 

After a few minutes of running around the city, watching as bars and clubs opened up for the city’s nightlife when the nausea and exhaustion began to hit him. Hard. But he couldn’t give up now, he was so close . He just had to push on a little longer. 

And it was like the heavens answered his prayers because on his millionth lap around the city, he heard the sound of electricity crackling and the atmosphere took on an intense smell of what might’ve been ozone. 

In the span of a second, he felt himself being picked up, run up a building, and deposited on the roof of said building, stumbling from the sudden change of scenery as he tried not to throw up. He looked up and instantly brightened as he saw the red suit and lightning bolt insignia on the chest. It was him! The Flash!

The suit was so much cooler in person compared to the videos. Even through the blurred edges from the vibrations, Billy could still see the sharpness of the lightning bolt sitting in the middle of a white circle on his chest. The suit had this cool mix of metallic armor and fabric, with golden lightning details everywhere. He would say more but his vision was getting blurry.

“ Who are you? ” His voice echoed through the chilly night air, god it was awesome the way his voice sounded, waaaay different from how it sounded through the screen.

But before he could answer properly, a wave of sluggishness washed over his body, his eyelids began to droop as looking up at his hero became harder and his head felt heavier and heavier. All he could say was-

“I need help.”

And then his legs buckled beneath him. 

He expected to feel the cold hard roof making contact with his now limp body before blacking out. But then the sound of electricity erupted in the air again, and he felt two strong arms holding onto him. It was so warm, so… familiar. Something in him just cried out in joy 

For the first time in so long, he finally felt... safe.

His eyes cracked open long enough to see the alarmed look on the hero's face. He might’ve felt bad if he was in a better head space, causing the Flash this worry. And maybe it was a bit stupid, how much he trusted the man he never met before now. But he did. All he could hope was that he would finally have someone who believed him. 

“...thank you…” he muttered into the elder speedster's chest before finally passing out, feeling secure for once as the darkness took over his vision. 

______________________

Now, Barry could freely admit that he’d been doing this whole hero gig for a while now. And despite the danger that came with it, there was just something so fulfilling about saving people that accompanied the mortal danger he kept throwing himself into. Sure it could hurt when he would get flung into walls, have his back broken, or get his leg frozen by Captain Cold’s Cold gun. 

But helping people and keeping them safe was worth all of the struggles he put himself through.

Sure it could get a bit lonely at times with no one fully understanding the drawbacks that came with having superspeed. And the fact that every speedster he ever met tried to ruin his life. But it’s fiiiiine, he was great. Maybe he was just destined to have every speedster that comes into his life try to kill him!

So he thinks his paranoia when Gideon notified him that there was a speedster running around his city was pretty justified. 

He also thinks the shock he experienced at the speedster being a child pretty justified. 

And now was crouching on the ground, arms full of passed-out teenage speedster. 

The universe just loves to the most absurd curveballs at him, doesn’t it? 

Looking back down to the kid in his arms, the first thing that stuck out was the weight of him. Kids his age should not feel so light. Barry has carried kids both younger and heavier than him out of burning buildings. Seeing his pale and sunken face did not ease his worries at all. 

“Gideon.” He ordered, jaw set in determination, getting up from his crouch and maneuvering the boy into a more comfortable position.

“Yes, Mr. Allen?” Her melodic voice filtered through the comms link. 

“Call Caitlin, tell her it’s an emergency.” The speedforce sparked at his feet as he bolted across the city back to the speed lab. 

He entered the doors of the cortex, laying the teenager down on one of the beds in the medbay before quickly reading through the procedures Caitlin helped write for him before she left. 

He was taking off the boy’s jacket to put the IV in when Gideon's voice rang through the room. “I’m sorry, but Dr Snow isn’t answering her phone right now.’”

He let out a grunt of acknowledgment, sliding the needle into his vein and flashing off to grab fluids to hook on the pole next to the boy's bed. Barry fluffed up a pillow and laid a blanket on his limp body, finishing it all within a second, he went out to the cortex again.

“Okay, just text her that she needs to get over here, ASAP.” He could technically handle this himself, but he would feel better if she was over here to help. And… he missed her. 

“...Done.”

He let out a soft groan, plopping himself down on one of the spinny chairs -as Cisco liked to call it- in front of the monitors and slid his gloved hand down his face. The rough texture of the material relaxed him for a bit before he straightened his back and got to work figuring out how to help the kid. 

“Thank you Gideon. And notify me of any changes on the kid.”

“Yes sir.”

From what he could see, both from the way he passed out and the very alarming physical state of the teenager’s body. It was safe to say he was being starved of the food he needed. Which, considering he was a speedster was… not good. 

The kid asked for his help to fix him, and that was what Barry was going to do. It was a bit strange that he came by himself, and the stage of starvation he was at was something you couldn’t hide, so he couldn’t help but wonder why his family didn’t do anything.

That didn’t matter right now. What was important was that he needed to help this kid- and probably make a meal plan for him to help him get used to the diet a speedster needs. 

He became the Flash to help people. 

So he is going to help this kid to the best of his abilities, no matter what.

Chapter Text

A soft groan slipped from his lips as Billy slowly slipped back into consciousness. He could feel the soft material of something under him. There was also a really nice warmth surrounding him that he couldn’t help but snuggle up into, curling his fingers around a sheet of fabric that was probably a blanket.

After a few minutes of basking in the warmth, he noticed the sounds of what must’ve been muffled arguing coming from somewhere else. He tossed around in his little cocoon of warmth for a little longer, before the sounds of people whisper yelling finally made him open his eyes and push himself up into a sitting position. 

Billy rubbed his eyes, blinking away the drowsiness weighing on his eyelids until his vision cleared up, and he noticed the sterile medical room that he was in. Looking around he saw what looked to be a bunch of different kinds of medical equipment. There were also desks and office chairs pushed towards the walls, cluttered with computers and papers. 

Billy was used to seeing doctor's offices that were almost completely white, with very few personal belongings. The Hero League headquarters were always very well maintained, you couldn’t even find a speck of dust anywhere if you tried. Growing up seeing all this, he thought every hero would work in a professional and well-organized space. 

So excuse him for being surprised at the way the room looked. There was a lot of high-tech equipment for a hero who was working solo, and everything also seemed to be so much more… warm? 

He was bundled up in a very warm blanket, but that wasn’t the same as the feeling of warmth that seemed to be coating every inch of the room, fond memories in every little nook and cranny that he’d never learn about. 

He observed the room he woke up in, the walls that were covered with these really cool holographic screens. Some of them even seemed to be showing his… vitals? His eyes widened in shock when he looked at what looked like a live recording of his heartbeat, which looked to be going as fast as a hummingbird's wings.

…That wasn’t normal, was it?

“What the hell do you mean you just found him?” A voice hissed.

Oh yeah, he woke up to the sounds of an argument. Turning his attention back in front of him, Billy could see the silhouettes of two people standing behind a set of gray frosted glass doors.

One of them looked like they were a woman? Or maybe they were a man with really long hair, he didn’t judge. The other one was much taller, the edges of his hair were fuzzy because of the frosted glass, but Billy could kind of make out the messy texture it seemed to be.

“Look, Gideon-” Who was that? “just told me that there was another speedster running around. I was not aware of the fact that he was a teenager. ” Oh wait they were talking about him. 

“You kidnapped a kid.” He couldn’t help but scrunch up his nose at the word ‘kidnapped’. He came here out of his own free will thank you very much. His parents weren’t going to do anything, so he was. 

“That’s a strong word, considering the fact that it looked like he was the one trying to find me. And he passed out in front of me, from starvation . What? You wanted me to leave him there?” The other voice growled, obviously upset, and giving off a really intense ‘try me’ vibe. Billy was in the other room and even he could feel it. 

That’s when he remembered that he passed out in front of The Flash. The man who saved Central City. The man who was his last hope at curing him from his sickness. The man who was probably right behind that door.

Excitement coursed through his veins, a wide smile stretching across his face as he got up to race toward his hero… Only to fall to the floor with a yelp, head smashing against the ground with a very audible thump . In his rush to go see the Flash, he forgot the fact that he was still tangled in the blankets he woke up with. 

Billy let out a quiet moan of pain, unaware of the argument that cut off outside at the sound of him suddenly crying out. The glass doors slammed open, and the sudden sounds of footsteps rushing into the room startled Billy, making his head snap up to look at the newcomers. 

“What’s happe-” The Flash started to ask when he entered the room, only to stop and stare at the boy he saved, making a quiet sound of confusion and concern at the sight of him bound together in a mess of tangled fabric.

Billy stared at him in awe, getting a good look at the hero in red without the painful exhaustion weighing down on him. He immediately started to kick and pull at the blanket again, barely containing the giddiness and relief at having the Flash right there . 

Seeing the kid struggling made the hero kick back into action, rushing over to the boy with a touch of speed to help him pull Billy out of the predicament he caught himself in. All the while muttering reassurances and trying to calm him down. 

“Whoa there kiddo. Hey- calm down for me, okay? I need you to calm down.” The Flash kneeled down next to Billy, helping untangle him and slow down his breathing from the quick pace that was previously overtaking his breaths. 

Once his limbs were finally free of the fabric prison he was trapped in, Billy threw himself into the arms of the man in front of him, gripping the edges of the scarlet chest plate. Relief overtook his body, he felt like he could finally relax for the first time in so long. 

He couldn’t help himself. 

He started to ramble. 

“ Ohmygodifoundyou .” He hissed, way too quick for a normal person -not that he noticed-. Looking up into the Flash’s confused eyes, protected behind yellow lenses, words continued to spill out of his mouth. 

“I’m sorry, it’s just- I had to find you. I-I’ve been sick for months , and none of my family could help me- or the Hero League doctors- and it just hurts so much.” His breathing sped up again as panic took hold of him, tears welling up in his eyes while his voice became high pitched as he begged for the hero to understand, to help him, “I just want it to stop, bu-but none of them are listening to me, and it keeps getting worse, and I think I’m dying - you’ve gotta help me, I don’t know what else to do and-” 

“Hey-hey-hey- deep breaths for me kiddo, deep breaths.” The Flash interrupted him, taking hold of his shaking hands. 

Billy could faintly register the coarse feeling of his gloves on his hands, thumbs rubbing small comforting circles on the back of his hand. 

“Yeah, there we go. In and out bud, keep breathing. You’re doing great.” The hero continued to offer small words of comfort as he talked Billy’s breathing back to a normal pace for the second time in a few minutes. 

His blurry gaze snapped up to look at the man, even through the tears, he was able to see a small reassuring smile across the speedster’s face. Honestly, it did make him feel better. Anyone else who ever heard one of his rants tended to just tell him to shut up, some ruder than others. 

“I’m going to help you. I promise.” And god, if he wasn’t crying already, the determination in that promise could’ve made him cry. Everyone else acted like helping him was some kind of chore that they were forced to do, but this stranger he never met before was far more determined to help him than anyone else was. 

Billy flung his arms around the superhero, relief overwhelming him as more sobs wracked his body. He would be embarrassed about having a breakdown like this in front of someone so important later. But for now, feeling the warmth radiating from the older man's arms as they wrapped around his quaking body. 

He didn’t notice the way the two adults in the room threw each other a look, more preoccupied with sobbing into the Flash’s shoulder, letting himself have a breakdown for the first time since his aliment started. 

The woman moved towards them from where she was waiting behind the two of them, muttering something Billy couldn’t hear to the man. The Flash let out a small huff, before turning back to the boy in front of him who was busy wiping his eyes.

“Okay… uh- what’s your name kid?” The Flash softly asked, 

“Oh! It’s uh, Billy. Billy Thunderman.” Should he have given his name away that easily? Maybe not. But for some strange reason, he trusted him. Maybe the hero worship was affecting his critical thinking skills. 

“Would you be up for a few tests Billy?”

______________________

“Soo, uh- what's this for?” Billy questioned, he was back on the bed he previously woke up on, this time all the blankets and pillows were taken off. He poked at the weird pads attached to his chest that had wires connecting to another machine.

Caitlin continued to press buttons on the machine, pulling up glowing screens covered in numbers that he didn’t have any interest in looking at. The Flash hung around his bed ever since the tests started, his presence making Billy feel better. 

He was a little hesitant to let Caitlin touch him since he never met her before and sure, he never met the Flash before either, but he was a well-known hero. It was a little surprising to find out the Flash even had someone like her in his pocket. Honestly, he thought the hero did everything by himself. 

“Wait so you don’t work alone?” The Flash let out a small laugh at the disbelief overtaking his features, ruffling his hair before taking a step back to allow the woman to run whatever tests she needed to. 

“I usually do most things here by myself, Caitlin over here-” So that was her name, “-helps out occasionally, I usually call her over whenever I need backup with medical stuff.” The newly named Caitlin scribbled something on a clipboard, before turning away to grab something from the shelves. 

“You’re forgetting all of the stuff I had to help you out with when you first started this whole heroing hobby of yours.” She replied sternly. It was a bit cold, but there was a small undertone of fondness as she said it. 

The Flash only grinned in response, slinging an arm around her shoulder as he pulled her closer to him, ignoring the squawk she let out in response. “Awwww, come on, snow. You know I appreciate you finding time for me.”

“Besides!” With a crackle of lightning, the hero moved to another part of the room, fiddling with one of the high-tech machines. “We both know I would’ve died five times over in year one if it wasn’t for you.”

She just rolled her eyes as he flashed a bright smile over at her, a faint smile peaking out of the corners of her mouth. Billy watched in wonder as the two interacted. 

The few times he saw heroes in the Hero League work together, it always felt like they were just co-workers who barely tolerated each other. The work environment always felt so cold, and it always comforted him a bit that even if other people wouldn’t like him, then Nora would stick with him.  

He noticed the way heroes would sometimes treat the support staff with some level of superiority, like because they were the ones with powers and got more recognition, they were better than everyone else. He didn’t like it, but it seemed normal. His parents and the older Thundertwins didn’t react to it, so he didn’t want to seem like he was overreacting. 

But these two treated each other miles better than anything he’d ever seen from the Hero League. There was this strange tension between the two of them, and yet they still moved around each other with ease. 

…

He used to have that with Nora.

Not anymore. 

“The pads are there to help me keep track of your vitals while we figure out what is happening to you, though I and Flash already have our suspicions,” Caitlin responded, like this was something she did often. Maybe it was, what would he know, they worked differently compared to the Hero League. 

He blinked in disbelief, head tilting in curiosity at her response. “You already know what’s wrong with me?” He knew coming here would have been his best bet in curing himself after all the failures of the Hero League, but he really wasn’t expecting them to figure out how to help him so quickly .

“Well, it is a tad obvious isn’t it?” The Flash cut in from behind Billy, the echoey sound of his voice was still awesome , “But I do have to ask, I just met you and I can see that you’re clearly going through… something. So why hasn’t your family done anything?” He paused, “Actually do you have one, or?”

“Oh no yeah, I do have a family. Uh- it’s me and my twin, my little sister, the older thundertwins, and my parents.” Billy’s hands started to move around in the air as he talked. Being able to talk to someone like the Flash was such a dream . 

“They have been taking me to the Hero Leagues doctors, but all they’ve done was say I needed more sleep and greens and to take my meds- which I didn’t even need in the first place, but the psychiatrist insisted, and no one listens to be me- and I’m rambling, sorry, I’ll… stop.” He trailed off towards the end, looking down at his shoes, remembering the way Nora berated him for his excessive talking. 

He felt a touch on his shoulder, looking back up he met the soft look the Flash was giving him. “It’s alright, god knows I go on long high-speed rants too often to count. Caitlin over here-” He jabbed a thumb over to where she was working, “-can testify to that.” 

Warmth flooded through him at the reassuring smile the hero gave him, he returned it with his own small nervous smile. 

The moment between the two of them was broken when Caitlin cleared her throat, demanding their attention for what was next. 

“That was cute and all, but I’m going to need to ask you about your home life because from what I can see, you aren’t being provided the food you need.” Billy bristled at the implications of her question, of course his family treated him right! Outside of the way they ignored whatever he said, or treated him like he was dumb, they loved him!

But he wouldn’t be rude to her, not in front of a hero like the Flash. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t want to imply anything, but as far as I can see from your blood sugar levels and your weight.” Her voice strained at the end when she mentioned his weight. “You’re being starved of a lot of nutrients and calories you need to help your body grow.”

“... I mean, the amount of food my mom and dad give me hasn’t changed at all, it’s the same as always, but I dunno- I’m always really tired now, and I feel like my stomach is trying to digest itself. My speed has also slowed a lot, like- the moment I try to run I black out. And then I want to throw up all the time, but whenever I told any of these things to the doctors in the Hero League, all they do is wave their degrees in my face and tell me to do things that never work!” His voice lowered into a hiss at the end, fists clenching at the reminder of how the Hero League failed him. 

He sighed in reluctant acceptance before letting his fists loosen. “I just came here so that you could help fix me. Honestly, you’re my last hope to get rid of this problem that no one else can solve, because apparently whatever I have is really complicated or something if none of the Hero League doctors can figure it out…”

The Flash and Caitlin just stared at him, a mixture of concern and thoughtfulness between the both of them. Still, the silence in the room made him shuffle with discomfort from where he was sitting. “… did I say something wrong?”

The Flash snapped out of whatever daze he was in to wave his hands in the air, “Oh-oh no, no it’s just that there actually a really simple way to fix your problem, I have it too. An-“

“Oh my god, I FUCKING KNEW IT!” He yelled, a grin breaking out across his face. He told his parents the Flash would know what was happening, he told them that he might’ve gone through it too, but did they listen? Noooo. And now he actually had a solution right here to solve his problem.

And then he noticed how taken aback they both looked at his sudden burst of sound, the Flash looking far more amused with him compared to Caitlin, who looked a bit disgruntled. He flushed to the tips of his ears at the attention, the Flash cooed at him, only furthering his embarrassment.

Billy muttered a small apology, only to be waved off. “I need to go grab some supplies real quick, Caitlin will explain your little problem to you.” The hero said as he walked to the door. He paused for a split second, before looking back to Billy and Caitlin grinning.

“I’ll be back in a flash!” He called out, giving them both a two-fingered salute, disappearing in a burst of golden light. 

“...Does… Does he do that often?”

“Oh way too much, but for some reason Central loves it. Well, they’re not the ones who have to deal with him saying it all the time are they?” She huffed out in exasperation. Still. There was an underlying care in her words.

Billy couldn’t help but be a bit jealous of the relationship they had. 

Well- maybe not jealous, but he wanted the fondness she treated the Flash with. He’s only been around the two of them for what? A few minutes? And he was already able to see the care they had for one another in the way they moved around each other. 

Snapping back to reality, Caitlin was sitting down on a chair in front of him, looking right at him analytically, a stark contrast to the soft way she interacted with the Flash. The hero’s absence made Billy nervous. 

“Okay Billy. what do you know about your superspeed?” 

“Uh-well- I mean… I can… run fast?” She just raised an unimpressed eyebrow in response to his hesitation. “I dunno, it’s just… My super speed isn’t all that impressive compared to someone like the Flash. Everyone’s always told me all I can do is move fast, s’why my family makes me run errands in other countries for them…”

Caitlin paused as his words registered in her mind, muttering something about ‘stupid speedsters’ before looking back at him with a stare that had him shifting in place, cheeks flushed red. 

“Well, first of all, your parents should not be allowing you to run around internationally as a child for one.” The harsh and bitter tone made him want to jump to his parent’s defense, but he kept his mouth shut. 

“And two, mobility isn’t the only thing that speeds up when you’re a speedster.” At his questioning look, she continued, “Have you ever noticed that you heal faster than others, or rarely get sick?”

…Huh. He never thought of it like that. Looking back, before the sudden drop in his health, he generally never got sick that often… Actually, he doesn’t really remember being sick for more than a few hours, unlike the rest of his family. 

A shaky laugh rumbled through his chest as he pulled at the loose fabric hanging off his frame. “Well, I’ve always felt fine after Nora shoots me with her lasers, but I always thought that it was because they weren’t that-”

“I’m sorry you’ve been shot with WHAT.” He jumped at the sound of Caitlin screeching, eyes bugging out as she stared at him in disbelief. 

“It’s not that bad , I mean sure, her lasers can cut through metal and stuff, and cook food, and it hurts when she shoots me with them, but I’ve always been fine afterward!” His cheeks hurt as he smiled, Nora would never hurt him on purpose, and she only ever did it when he made her mad. 

“... We’re going to circle back to that later.” Y’know for a doctor, she seemed really bad at talking to her ‘patients’, maybe it’s just him though.

“You’ve obviously seen the battles Flash has with villains correct?”

“Well yeah, I think I’ve watched all of the ones online.”

“Well normally, people would need a week or more to heal from the things Flash throws himself into, but his speed also speeds up body functions he has. For example, healing.”

Oh.

“Aaaand, his metabolism also speeds up.”

…OH.

His eyes welled up with tears again, panic overtaking Caitlin’s features at the impending waterworks. “Wait you mean I haven’t been eating enough?! But-that’s what the hero league said, and that didn’t work-”

“Kid, that’s a different thing. They were asking you to eat more vegetables. And while that could technically help, what you actually need is to eat more calories per day. Something I think you haven’t been doing” The warped voice of the Flash cut in. Whipping his head around, he saw the hero holding multiple very large bags full of groceries. 

With a grin, he asked, “So who wants to help me eat all of this?”

______________________

Barry looked on in amusement as the kidn-Billy- kept shoving food down his throat like there was no tomorrow. His cheeks filled up like a chipmunk, It was so cute, Barry wanted to go over there and squish the life out of him. 

The kid seemed a lot more energized now compared to when he first found him, sickly and pale, collapsing instantly in his arms. Honestly, Barry’s seen a lot of worrying things ever since he started his superhero side job, but the sight of a kid suffering from the downsides of being a speedster rattled him more than he wanted to admit. 

He leaned on the wall, crossing his arms and keeping his eyes on Billy. The kid didn’t seem to notice the light sparks that were bursting off his body while he ate. 

Caitlin told him about a few of the things he’s already mentioned about his home life, and while Barry never liked to judge people by second-hand accounts, it really didn’t seem like the kid was being treated well. 

God he wanted to fuss over the boy and wrap him up in blankets. 

Speaking of Caitlin, looking over to the side, he saw the woman pacing, muttering to herself as she typed things into an iPad. He hated having to call her over on such a short notice especially considering what happened, but he appreciated how she still came. 

And then Billy suddenly stopped chewing, stopping like a deer in headlights before muttering a swear. “Fuck I forgot- Uh how long have I been here?”

Barry tilted his head at the question, taking a second to think it over, “Well I found you a few hours ago, and I’d say you’ve been sleeping for around 7, it’s-” He checked the time, “around 10 in the morning right now-”

“OH Shit, I have to go back home before my parents find out I’m gone.” Billy panicked, still finding the time to take another bite of the banana that was in his hands.

Barry couldn’t help but snort at the sight of Billy panicking around a mouth full of food, but the sharp glare Caitlin sent him made him snap back to attention. “Okay Billy, don’t panic, I’m sure we can get you back to wherever you live without anyone knowing you left, okay buddy?”

Billy gave him a shaky nod and-wow Barry couldn’t help but give the kid another hug, he knew he would’ve wanted one if he was in the same situation he was.

“Okay where do you live, I’m sure it would be much quicker if I ran you over there.” Billy’s eyes lit up when he said that, “Maybe I could talk to your parents-”

“NO!” The boy yelled, gripping onto Barry’s hands, “You can’t, they-they would never let you help me. I tried telling them about you at first, but they think you’re dangerous, which is stupid, but you can’t talk to them!”

“Whoa, whoa, Billy. Okay, okay. I won’t talk to your parents… But are they?” He trailed off at the end, looking at the child expectantly, he didn’t want to send the boy back to a home where he might be getting hurt. 

Luckily though, his eyes just widened at his unspoken question before shaking his head vigorously. He looked like he was about to burst into a rant in defense of his family, so Barry quickly gave his hand a comforting squeeze -at least he hoped it was-, “Hey, it’s okay. I just wanted to make sure. But we should probably be getting you home huh bud.”

Billy nodded, he took a deep breath while muttering a small thank you. Barry felt the corners of his mouth tick up, barely holding back a coo at the adorable speedster in front of him. The kid made a surprised squeak when Barry picked him up, gripping hard onto his shoulders and wrapping his legs around his waist. 

Turning his attention back to his friend watching him pick up the kid, “I gotta get Billy here back to…”

“Hiddenville.”

Smart boy, picking up on the silent question. “Hiddenville apparently, I’ll see you later Snow!”

Breaking off into a run, he heard Billy let out a startled screech at the sudden change in speed, but it only took a few seconds before he let out a laugh of delight.

Damn…

Barry really wants to keep this kid. 

Hmm, how to go about it? 

______________________

The Flash ruffled his hair, before handing him a small piece of paper, “Look, I don’t want you to have to go through handling these powers by yourself. And from what I’ve heard so far, it doesn’t seem like anyone else has been equipped to help you either.”

Billy hummed in response, gingerly taking the paper from the man like it would fall apart if he crumpled it in any way. 

“I know that Caitlin probably wants to run a few more tests to figure out what your diet should be like, but I just want you to know that you can come find me whenever you need some help. I’ll do my best to help you as quickly as I can.”

His stomach curled in relief at the assurance the hero was giving him, he rushed over, giving the older speedster a tight hug -being careful of the note in his hand- before backing away again.

“I-uh- Thank you.” He was getting a bit choked up, unable to find the words to express his gratitude to the man in front of him, the one who helped him despite all others unable to. 

“Anytime kiddo, and come over to Central when you’ve got yourself a bit more sorted out. I’ll see if I can help train you and those powers you got huh?”

Billy gasped, immediately bouncing around with joy at the proposition. “Yesyesyesyesyes! Ohmygod! Could I be your SIDEKICK!” 

The Flash smiled, looking just as enthusiastic as he was. “Well we’ll just have to see about that won’t we?” He answered cryptically, giving him a wink.

Billy was seeing stars. HE MIGHT BE ABLE TO BE A SIDEKICK! HOLY SHIT! WAS HE DREAMING?!

The Flash huffed fondly at his excitement, giving him one last hair ruffle -wow the guy liked doing that. Not that Billy was complaining-. “Well let’s not keep the rest of your family waiting. I need to go too, but hopefully, I’ll see you sometime in the next few days?”

“Yeah no- of course! I would love to!”

The Flash smiled right back at him like he was something special. 

Like he mattered . 

And god, if that just didn’t make Billy want to cling to him with everything he had. 

“Okay…uh-bye! I’ll…I’ll see you later!” Maybe he was a coward with how he ran off, but he really didn’t want the Flash to see him cry anymore. He’s done that enough in front of the man enough since he first met him. 

He savored the feeling of running at full speed for the first time in forever, without the threat of passing out hanging over him like an axe, ready to take him out at any moment. 

Skidding to a halt in his room, he kicked his shoes off before flopping onto his bed. The mattress creaked under his weight while he opened up the folded piece of paper to see the contents inside.

Hi kiddo!

I don’t want you to just run around Central whenever you need to find me. Who knows what the rogues would do at the sight of another speedster. But If you ever need help, or want to just come over to learn a couple of things, just head to this place! Hopefully, I’ll see you soon! 

-Flash

And right under that note was a set of instructions, carefully explaining how to get to what looked to be the secret base that he was in today. 

Maybe it was a bit childish the way he kicked his feet in the air and squealed into his pillow. But in just one day, the Flash had provided loads more help to him compared to the Hero League. He was even offering to train Billy. 

The sound of the Thundermonitor responding to whoever was downstairs cut through his excitement. 

“We’re home!”

Right. His parents couldn’t know about this. They already seemed to hate the Flash. Billy knows that they would be absolutely furious if they found out he talked to the hero -or vigilante in their eyes-. 

He scrambled to hide the note, slipping it into one of his school notebooks in hopes no one would look in there. Well, they probably wouldn’t. Nora always said his notes were too unorganized for her to borrow, especially disliking the doodles littered around the pages. 

He shuffled his books around until he was satisfied that no one would suspect anything, much less actually go through his things. Maybe once he memorized the route to the Flash’s place he could get rid of the note. Destroying the evidence and all.

Hearing the sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs, he quickly grabbed a comic from the pile next to the bed, pretending to read it on his bed when the door opened. 

“Oh, Billy. I thought you would be asleep.” His mom said once she laid her eyes on her son, who usually preferred to sleep in on the weekends. 

“Couldn’t sleep.” He replied curtly, turning his body away from her. 

“Well… I just wanted to check up on you. Did you take your meds?”

He groaned in annoyance at the mention of medication. Maybe she didn’t know it, but he finally got answers from someone ‘unqualified’ to help him, so suck that. 

But he still had to satisfy her anyways, so that she could leave him alone to plan. “Yeah, yeah. I did… Just tired now.”

She hummed in sympathy, ha. Like she could ever understand what it was like to be starved.  “Okay then. I’ll leave you to it. I just wanted to check up on you.”

He nodded in response, burying his face further into the book.

“...You know you can tell me anything right?”

“...Yeah.” Well, that was a straight-up lie. 

“Okay. I love you Billy.”

He paused. “...Love you too Mom.”

She nodded, smiling at him before closing the door again. 

He bounced back to his feet once the door clicked shut, beginning to plan around his family’s schedule. He could feel guilty over lying to them another time. Right now?

He…

He had more important things to worry about. 

______________________

Barry drummed his fingers on the console in front of him. 

He would probably see the kid again in the next few days. So he should probably start making a training plan, or help Caitlin with her diet plan that she was already drafting.

He was a bit hesitant with the idea of sidekicks, especially considering that they were, y’know. Children. But looking through reports of other heroes beginning to show up with these partners and the success they had made him think it over again.

Oliver started to train Roy because the boy already showed prowess with a bow that interested him. And maybe it was also because the boy would have tried to go out to fight crime without any prior training, getting himself killed. 

Billy mentioned superheroics running through the family, working for an organization named the Hero League. But if they couldn’t solve something as simple as a speedster's metabolism, he wondered how good they actually were at fighting crime.

It bothered him to know that this league of heroes might not even be training said heroes properly. Just throwing them out into the world with a simple ‘use your powers’ and nothing else. 

Locking eyes with Caitlin. She seemed to notice the beginnings of a plan forming in his mind, if the way her whole body tensed up and eyes narrowed said anything. 

“Bartholomew Henry Allen do not .”

“…”

“Barry you can not make this child your sidekick.”

“…okay but hear me out.” All Caitlin did in response was let out a long-suffering groan.

“BARRY.” She hissed, swatting at his bicep.

He let her hit him, if only to make her feel better, “Look, Caitlin, this kid is a speedster, just like me! You remember what it was like when I first got my powers, god- he’s just a kid.  You saw how much he’s been starved. I’m not going to let this kid suffer when I can help!”

“Yeah but- throwing him into the kind of danger you get into?!”

“…I will admit. It sounds bad.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

“But I mean Oliver has Roy, and they’ve been doing pretty well. And from what Billy mentioned it looks like he’s going to get into this life one way or another, even without my influence.”

“HE’S A TEENAGER!” She yelled at him.

“I KNOW THAT!” He growled right back, temper beginning to boil. “GOD, I know he’s a kid. But considering how the people taking care of him are clearly unable to, I need to help him. And seeing how the so-called ‘professionals’ don’t seem to be teaching him anything, I’m going to pick up the slack, and actually help him.”

The temperature in the room dropped as she stared him down. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. 

“... I’ll help with his food issues, but that’s it . I’m leaving again.” His chest tightened, seeing the subtle change in hair color as warm brown turned into a frosty white. 

“Okay. That’s…that’s fair.”

He let himself get too comfortable with her. She had to leave, deal with her own life without his influence and the struggles of being a meta. 

He didn’t know how long the both of them stood there, staring each other down. Eventually, she did give up, temperature warming up as she grabbed her bag from one of the chairs in the cortex. “I’m leaving. I’ll see you later. Flash. ”

Barry watched her as she left. Staring at the empty hallway long after her footsteps got too far to hear anymore. 

...

“Mr. Allen you’re shaking.” Gideon’s voice rang through the cortex. An undertone of concern in her calming voice. Looking down at his vibrating hands, he saw small arcs of lightning sparking off the red suit, golden light glowing from under the metal plating.

Letting out a slow breath he forced himself to calm down, taking control of the speedforce once more. “Yeah, thanks Gideon.”

“You're welcome Mr. Allen.”

Looking back at the hallway Caitlin walked out of, he ran his hands through his hair. Fingers carding through the brown-blonde strands.

“...Dammit Flash, get a hold of yourself.”

Chapter Text

Batholomew Henry Allen- Barry to the people who knew him- The Flash to the residents of Central City- knew how dangerous getting into the whole superhero business was. 

He still remembered very vividly what it was like when he first started going out in the red suit. All the violent ways that his life was put at risk for the safety of others. The agony that would rush through him when metas and machines alike would do their best to incapacitate him in the most painful way possible. 

It scared Barry then, all the different ways he came so close to dying. The reminder that he wasn’t as invincible as he liked to act around the public would hit him in the face whenever he looked too hard at the scars that littered his body. He healed faster now, sure, but nowadays it was always the worst injuries he got while running low on fuel that scarred. 

Even outside of the constant injuries, there was also the fact that his time was almost constantly swallowed up with protecting Central. It was hard but he did manage to find a balance between his personal and work life along with going out as the Flash. Though to be honest he still spent a lot of time in the red suit. 

The thought of putting a kid through all of that scared him. Barry was an adult with experience and he still struggled with everything. 

That spiral was what led Central City’s scarlet speedster to hop over to his bow-and-arrow-loving friend in Star City, pacing in his living room. Though… looking at the way Oliver smirked at his discomfort. 

“Daaaamn Barry.”

Maybe he should’ve gone to Iris for this. 

“This isn’t funny Oliver,” Barry growled. His eyebrows furrowed when Oliver snorted at him, lips quirking upwards while he leaned back in his plush chair. Golden whiskey swirling inside his glass while he smirked in amusement at his friend’s growing distress.  

“It’s a little funny.”

All Barry did was grumble at his words, before finally deciding to flop down on the couch across from his friend instead of continuing his pacing, dropping his head into his hands with a long sigh. 

“I just don’t know what to do Ollie. I think having a sidekick like how you have Roy might be a good thing, it’s just-” Barry’s hands clenched the fabric of his jeans. Foot tapping the floor, the next words coming out of his mouth quiet, “I’m just so scared that I’m going to mess up and the kid’s going to end up hurt from my mistakes.” 

Maybe it was the way his voice wobbled, or maybe getting a kid finally made Oliver think about emotions for once in his life- but at the sound of Barry’s distress, Oliver’s expression sobered up from the self-righteous smirk plastered across his face.

Sitting up straighter, Oliver set his glass on the side table next to him; Leaning forward, he studied his friend while pondering what to say. 

“Look, Barry, we both know I’m not exactly the… best mentor to ever exist, nor the most emotionally competent one.” He stated slowly, eyes veering off to the side while he spoke.

Barry snorted, “Understatement of the century.” He couldn’t help but mutter, looking up at the older man, carefully watching his movements. 

There was a hint of concern in his eyes, and what was more interesting was that it looked genuine; That made something in Barry finally relax for the first time since Billy popped up. He didn’t even know he was strung so tightly. The stress was getting to him.

“Have I made mistakes with my treatment of Roy… Probably. But it’s been getting better!”

“Didn’t Roy jump off a building to attack a drug lord last week?”

To Barry’s amusement, Oliver’s face scrunched up in that funny way that made him look constipated. A look that started showing up more and more often ever since he took in Roy.

“That was… a lapse in judgment-”

“-That will ever happen again?” Barry interrupted, predicting the next words that would come out of his friend's mouth; Eyebrows raising in poorly disguised disbelief, he continued “Because the last time you said that, I had to help you find the kid because he ran off in a fit of angsty teenage rage.”

“Look- that doesn’t matter right now, what matters is that it sounds like you have to help this kid wrangle his powers, and I don’t know anyone more capable of that than you .”

Barry hummed, foot slowing down from the state of nervous tapping it was stuck in, now bouncing at a more normal human speed that didn’t look like a blur.

“And what I think, is that out of every single person, hero or not, is that you would be the best person to help a kid in need.” He paused, looking distantly over Barry’s shoulder. “…you’ve always been. It’s why I- and many others mind you- trust you to have their back.” 

Staring at his friend, Barry felt tears begin to well up in his eyes, “Oh speedforce- I can’t believe this is coming from the guy who thought face paint made a good face disguise.” 

Oliver laughed, punching him in the arm. “Wha- Okay, you promised not to bring that up again, ever .” 

“To be honest you looked like you were trying really hard to be some kind of- I dunno- goth emo?”

“No, it was intimidating Barry, intimidating .”

“See now you’re just in Denial.”

“I AM NOT !” Barry laughed at the offense taking over Oliver's face, briefly forgetting about the anxiety that was taking over his mind. 

Chuckles dying down, Barry looked up to meet Oliver’s gaze. “Thanks Ollie, I really needed that.”

“Anytime Barry. Anytime..”

...

“Seriously though, if anyone actually saw you in that face paint, they would go: Oh my god! Emo Oliver Queen?!”

“They would not think that.”

Barry laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder, looking him dead in the eyes with the most serious expression he could muster at the moment. “Ollie, bud…They totally would.”

“...Fuck you Barry.”

Maybe he could do it. But there was still this apprehension hanging in the back of his mind. 

______________________

The room was engulfed with darkness, the only source of light was coming from the monitor, and the rapid sound of typing filled the room. 

A muffled sound of annoyance rumbled through Barry’s chest while he rapidly sifted through all the information on the screen. 

Pictures, videos, articles, even highly classified documents flitted through the screen with superhuman speed, and Barry absorbed all of it. 

Ever since Billy mentioned a ‘Hero’ League, the knowledge of an organization of heroes existing somewhere in the world made something inside of the speedster curdle with something akin to anger.

Because for the longest time, he was saddled with the responsibility of taking care of hundreds of Metas -some of which would come back over and over again - and making sure they wouldn’t cause havoc in the streets the police couldn’t take care of. 

Captain Cold wasn’t even a meta himself, but he was just as dangerous because the man was skilled and smart enough to know how to wrangle a group of metas to work for him. The cold gun also helped. 

He could only gape in disbelief while flicking over the names of hundreds of already existing heroes that have openly shown possessing powers just like metas. 

What would his childhood have been like if people were aware metas already existed? Would everyone believe his claims about a man in lightning? Would he have gotten to grow up with his dad? 

It took getting struck by lightning of all things and getting superspeed for people to finally start believing him. 

Honestly, if you had told Barry before that lightning strike that he would have gotten the same powers as the guy who murdered his mother, and use said powers to fight superhuman crime, well… He probably would’ve demanded to know more about them and the man framed his father.

Actually- speaking of Thawne. It’s been a while since he’s shown his face around… eh Barry could worry about him later, he’s busy right now; He would prefer not to see the other speedster. 

Continuing his analysis of the files -that he probably shouldn’t have in the first place-, he couldn’t help but wonder while he flicked through all of the files that Felicity helped him gather, how long this so-called ‘hero’ league has been active. 

Discomfort curled in his stomach as he watched the broken and battered body of some villain be thrown into a van, hands cuffed together in a way that looked more painful than Barry was comfortable with.

God this was all government approved.

…He was gonna be sick. 

“Gideooon.” 

“Yes sir?”

“How available is Cisco right now?”

On the bright side, at least Cisco would probably get a kick out of how bad all of these hero names were. 

If he even wanted to know.

______________________

Pulling his apartment keys out of his pocket, Cisco walked up to the door. He rubbed at his drooping eyes, shoulders sagging with exhaustion. 

Now mind you, Cisco Ramon was pretty content with how his life was going.

He had a good job at ARGUS, he could experiment and invent anything to his heart's content!

Really, the only downside was that he found his thoughts coming back to again and again was the friends he left behind in Central. 

Helping out Barry with his superhero gig was fun and all, and he loved the speedster a lot, but Cisco needed to move on with his life; He didn’t want to be consumed with the need to be the ‘Helpful tech guy’ of the hero all the time. 

So you could probably understand the near heart attack Cisco experienced when he opened the door to his apartment, not to see the same empty space he left in the morning. But instead the blurred, sparking form of Central City’s favorite speedster standing in the hallway staring at him. 

“Oh jesus- BARRY!” Cisco yelled, jumping back, bag slipping from his shoulder and dropping onto the ground with a loud thunk. The speedster instantly stopped vibrating at the sound of him yelling, back snapping straight at the sight of his friend stumbling back out the doorway.

“Cisco?” Barry asked, jumping back in surprise while Cisco scrambled to grab his dropped things and slam his door closed.

Peering out the peephole in his door to make sure no one saw the hero in his apartment, he laid back against his door in relief, breath returning to a normal pace; Looking back up to Barry he hissed, “Dude you can’t just scare me like that!” 

“Wha-but- I texted you!?” Barry countered in confusion, though the concern still shone through those yellow lenses in his helmet. When did he get those?

“...You did?”

“Uh- Yeah? You didn’t get them?”

Rapidly patting down his pockets, Cisco fumbled with his phone. Pulling up his most recent texts, he could see at the top of his contacts were a few unread messages from Barry. 

Zoomzoomboi: Hey Ciscoooooo

Zoomzoomboi: You up for a visit?

Zoomzoomboi: Cisco?

Zoomzoomboi: Oh right you’re probably busy

Zoomzoomboi: Well I just wanted to say that I’m gonna drop by sometime today

Zoomzoomboi: I’ll see you soon!

Zoomzoomboi: Got a little something special for you ;)

He just stared at the messages. Barry shifting awkwardly at his silence, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Cisco? You okay?”

Snapping back to reality, he looked back up, filing away the changes Barry made to the Flash suit in the time they were separated absence. “I-yep, fine. You just caught me off guard is all.”

There were a lot of reasons why Barry would show up out of the blue like this, but by the way he had enough time and patience to wait for Cisco in his apartment, it probably wasn’t anything too urgent. But Barry was still in his Flash outfit, so it probably did have to do something with the superhero side of his life.

“Is… Is there a reason why you’re here?”

Barry sheepishly rubbed at the back of his neck, making a move to walk towards the living room. “There is something I want to talk to you about, but I did bring over some things for you as well, y’know, just in case.”

What? What could he possibly- whoahhhhhholy shit. Wow. 

Cisco gaped, staring down at the wide assortment of food spread across his dining table. 

“Ohhhh yeah. I missed this” So he may have missed the speedy deliveries of food from other countries Barry provided, but that was understandable, right?? Like who else could get him stacks of freshly made crepes all the way from France in like- two minutes? 

What’s worse is that it was working; Cisco didn’t even know what Barry was trying to get him to do yet. 

“Look, I maaay need your help with just a small tiny little thing. It’s not that big, I really just need some help with designing a new suit for-”

“Barry, buddy, baby-” 

Barry frowned. 

“Don’t call me that.” 

“-I love you bro, but.” He grabbed one of the plastic takeout forks, shoving carbonara in his mouth. “You know that I already decided to leave superheroing behind, I want to be able to focus on myself y’know. And I’m sure you would be able to handle making a suit yourself.” Cisco gestured over to the outfit Barry wore that he obviously hadn’t designed, savoring the warmth spreading through his body from the food. 

Mindlessly turning around he continued, “And besides- WHOA WHAT THE SHIT .” 

Cisco’s eyes widened in shock, before he proceeded to violently choke on a forkful of pasta.

“CISCO?!” Barry rushed over to his friend, hands scrambling to do something, backed up with a hesitation that Cisco couldn’t help but notice in between his coughing fit. 

Waving off his worrywart of a friend, Cisco took a deep breath, before grabbing him by the shoulders, dragging the taller man to the same level as him. “Since when were you fucking blonde. ”

A pregnant pause.

“Uhhhh, it started doing that like… half a year ago?”

“And you didn’t TELL ME??” He screeched, shaking his friend. 

“I mean.” Barry pointedly looked away from him. “I really didn’t think it was all that important.”

Blinking owlishy up at his friend, Cisco took in the resignation in his voice. Why would he think that? The sureness in the way he said it made Cisco’s gut curdle with guilt. How long had it been since they’d last talked? Since Cisco picked up one of his calls?

Oblivious to his inner turmoil, Barry detached himself from Cisco’s grip; He awkwardly shuffled away, looking anywhere other than Cisco. 

Letting out a resigned sigh, Barry muttered something under his breath that Cisco couldn’t make out. Unclipping his helmet from where it was strapped onto his belt, Barry made a move to put it back on his head. “Yeah, this was a mistake, sorry for bothering you. I’ll leave you alone.”

Cisco swallowed thickly, words trapped in his throat. His hand twitched in an aborted attempt to reach out and grab onto Barry’s. 

He wanted to say something, no. He had to say something, anything to get him to stay. But before he could finally get the words out of his mouth, Barry left. Disappearing as usual in a crackle of electricity, leaving behind a faint scent of ozone. 

…

Fuck

______________________

Barry found himself strolling through the streets of Coast City, the bright Californian sun beating down on his back as he weaved through the crowd of people. 

Sometimes his thoughts would be too much, leading to him popping over to other countries to find a distraction, anything to stop him from falling into an ocean of his doubts and worries. But Barry found himself heading to Coast more and more nowadays instead of anywhere out of the country. 

His gaze wandered between the open stalls, families were enjoying the weekend, and kids running around without a care in the world. 

Overall the atmosphere was pretty calm, a lot slower than the quick-paced life in Central lived by. 

Walking into a park, let his gaze wander around the grassy landscape. He silently observed the people relaxing, oblivious to the superhero in their midst. 

It was after a while of wandering around the park, savoring the peacefulness did he hear the sound of someone yelling. 

A very familiar yell actually. 

Barry’s back straightened as the sound of the distant yelling slowly began to grow louder, turning around, he only caught a glimpse of a brown leather jacket before a heavy weight rammed straight into him, barreling him to the ground. 

“What the-”

“Barry!” A voice chirped from above.

Looking up at the person sitting on top of him, he gasped, eyes lighting up “Hal!”

His friend grinned down at him, a playful glint in those warm brown eyes “Wanna go watch some planes with me?”

The sound of plane engines roared over their heads, signaling another pilot taking off. 

Hal flopped down on the grass, stretching out in the sun's rays like a cat. Shooting a lazy grin at Barry, Hal patted the grass next to him, prompting the speedster to come down and join him on the ground. 

Letting out a fond huff, Barry settled next to his friend, yelping when he felt the back collar of his shirt being grabbed, pulling him to the ground. 

Hal decided to drag Barry over to one of the fields right outside the Ferris Air runways. A large metal fence circled the perimeter in front of the both of them, blocking intruders from entering.

Well, it wasn’t like it could stop a lantern and speedster from breaking in, Barry thought.

“I really don’t see why you couldn’t have just taken us inside instead of sitting out here.”

“Ehhh, Carol’s pissed at me again. Y’know, the usual.” Hal replied, waving him off

“I really do not understand your relationship with her.”

“Eh, it doesn’t matter much, anyways what's up with you? Anything new going on over at Central in the time I was gone?” He said it so casually, which- fair. The man couldn’t have known about a kid showing up out of nowhere, starving from neglect at the hands of the people around him. 

It was hard to believe, Barry would find it hard to believe if it hadn’t happened to him. 

He sat up suddenly, Hal only sending him a questioning look before Barry’s mouth burst open, all of his worries spilling out in a glob of dialogue, “IfoundakidandIdon’treallyknowwhattodobecauseitlookslikehe’saspeedsterbutitalsolookslikehisparentsaren’ttakingcareofhimbecausehecametofindmereallymalnourishedandheaskedmeforhelpbutIdon’tknowhowtotakecareofakidandi’mscaredi’mgoingtomessupandgethimhurt-”

Hal zipped up and gripped onto Barry’s shoulder, holding him in place. “WHOA WHOA WHoa, Barry- Slow down! You know no one can understand you when you slip into your speed talking.”

His whole body buzzed with anxiety, hands vibrating with agitation at the thought of failing the kid who came to him for help. Help he didn’t even know he could provide. 

“Barry.” A soft voice broke him out of his thoughts. Soft brown eyes met sparking golden ones, an arm slinging around his shoulders to bring him into a side hug. 

“What’s wrong bud?” Tears began gathering in his eyes, and all of the anxiousness that had been gathering in his mind finally spilled out -in a normal human speed-. 

And Hal just sat there, his presence a comforting weight as Barry rambled about Billy and his discoveries regarding the Hero League, and the possibilities of becoming a mentor. 

When he was finally done and everything was out in the air, Hal let out a low whistle patting Barry on the back. 

“Fucking shit Bear, how the fuck did you get into this?”

Barry just groaned, deciding to cover his face with his hands. 

“We both know that between the two of us? You are absolutely the more reasonable one. And if that doesn’t mean that you’ll be the best mentor to ever mentor, then I don’t know what is.”

Barry snorted wetly, wiping lightly at the tears welling up in his eyes. “Thanks Hal… I really appreciate it.”

Hal’s gaze glazed over with something, but before Barry could figure out what it was it was gone, replaced with a grin. 

Leaning on his friends should, he relaxed. “Y’know I had a talk like this with Oliver a few days ago.”

“With Oliver? Seriously?”

“What? I mean you were off planet and Oliver’s the only person I know who’s mentoring someone, I needed advice Hal.”

“Okay I get that, and I love the dude, but… Oliver?”

They stared at each other.

And then they burst out laughing, wheezing on the grass like a couple of teenagers. 

“You’re an idiot.” 

“Oi!” Hal yelled in mock offense, punching him on the shoulder. But the cheek-splitting grin covering his face told Barry otherwise.

Rolling his eyes at the lantern’s antics, Barry felt a smile creeping up his face. And something warm and familiar spread in his chest.  

And then Hal tackled him into the grass, triggering a chain of events where they both ended up covered in shredded grass, tangled in each other's arms, and wheezing with uncontained laughter. 

Eventually they both did manage to calm down enough to lay in the grass again, continuing to watch another plane soar over their heads.

Hal’s voice cut through the silence “Does Iris know?”

Barry decidedly did not answer.

“Well shit bud, you probably should tell her.”

…

He should probably tell Joe and Iris about the kid. 

Isn’t that just delightful.