Warning: Self-Harm
Disclaimer: If I owned any of this I wouldn't be pulling out student loans.

Sorry for being absent for so long y'all, I've had this chapter on my computer for months but I couldn't remember which email account I'd used for my fanfiction account then proceeded to forget my password as well! Well, enjoy and leave reviews (unless it's gonna be a rude)! Also, it looked weird when I pulled it up so I went back and edited it.

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"So… when do you plan on telling your Dads?"

The honorably dubbed troublesome trio was sitting on Wally's couch a week after what they dubbed The Incident at Barry's house, who had left for a mission just before The Incident and was now returning. They were mainly just snacking and watching TV, kind of relaxing after everything that's been happening. The expected, yet still somewhat startling question, came from Roy.

"Uh… Well, I was… kind of thinking that-"

A milky white hand clamped over Wally's mouth before he could continue. "No Wally! You are going through with this whether you like it OR NOT!"

Ignoring the brief flash of panic that shot through him, Wally turned to his boyfriend with the biggest puppy dog eyes he could manage, drawing a chuckle from his little birdie. "Doesn't work on me remember? I'm the master of the puppy dog eyes."

Dick turned his killer baby blues on Wally, and so began the stare off.

Of course Wally cracked first, he could never deny his baby bird.

Wally sighed and stole a glance at Roy as he paused the show to look at him, "I guess… I don't know, maybe later today? If the weather's nice?" He could feel the fear rushing through his system at the mere THOUGHT of explaining this to his dad.

The remaining brothers rolled their eyes but agreed and continued watching the show until the door burst open.

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Oliver was pacing up a storm in his room at the Watchtower.

He was at a complete loss as for what to do. On one hand he felt obligated to Barry and Bruce to tell them what happened to their son. On the other hand, he didn't want to destroy the trust his nephew had put in him by revealing such a devastating secret.

A knock resounded throughout his room and startled Ollie out of his thoughts, "Come in!"

A red-clad head peeped out from behind the door, "Hey, whatcha doin'?"

Ollie looked like a deer caught in the headlights and could only think shit this is NOT happening right now.

Rapid fire tapping on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts, "Hey, you okay man?"

Ollie began to drag his mask-covered eyes up to meet the Flash's as a battle raged inside him, could he really betray his nephew's trust even if it was for his own good? The thought made Oliver flinch. His own parents had always shipped him of to whatever boarding school they felt like after he was kicked out of the last one. And it was always with those same words, this is for your own good, Oliver (we just can't stand to be around you).

Oliver steeled himself and met the Flash's eyes, "Perfectly fine. Just some… personal issues… I'm dealing with." He felt terrible lying to one of his best friends, especially about his own son, but he couldn't afford - Wally couldn't afford - for Oliver to crack with guilt right now.

Barry's eyebrows drew together in a way that clearly showed his disbelief and concern, but (thankfully) he decided to let it go, "So how've Wally and the boys been? I've been dying to see my son since I left for the mission! Did he make any new friends!? Has he grown any?! OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE I MISSED HIM GROWING!"

The Green Arrow couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him at his friend's enthusiasm, "NO Barry, Wally has not made any new friends and he has not grown any in the week and a half you've been gone."

"Whew!", Barry wiped an imaginary sweat drop off his forehead and looked up at him, "So, how's my boy been? Has he been doin' alright in the house all by his lonesome?"

Barry had finally trusted Wally with the house while he was on an off world mission and prayed to GOD that he didn't come back to see it destroyed.

"Well…", Ollie got a sly grin on his face as he thought of a subtle way to push Wally into telling his dad, "did anyone tell you that…"

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"YOU RAN OFF FOR AN ENTIRE DAY BY YOURSELF WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE?!"

The three boys sitting on the couch jerked back at the, not unwelcome, intruder that scared the hell out of them.

Unsurprisingly, Dick was the first to recover, "Hey Uncle Barry!"

The aforementioned man just stared at the bird in disbelief as the two brothers struggled to recover from their shock.

"Hello, Richard," He blinked and turned to Roy, "Would you mind giving me a moment with my son, please."

Roy, recognizing the tone from when he would get in trouble with Ollie, quickly jumped up started to leave, "I'm out bro, good luck, don't die, stay chill."

Dick rolled his eyes at the eldest ginger and placed a hand on Wally's shoulder, "Ignore him. Just remember that we all love you and there's no reason to panic." He gave him a quick peck on the cheek before leaving as well.

And then the speedster duo was alone.

Barry let out a sigh and sat down next to Wally, trying to ignore the slight flinch the younger gave as he did so, and laid a placating hand on his son's knee.

"So, do you feel like telling me why you suddenly felt the need to run off for half a day?"

There was a moment of silence as Wally twitched and tried to come up with a feasible answer that wouldn't reveal his secret. As much as he loved his dad, he couldn't burden him with this. He was too … too good to taint with his problems.

"It was nothing, Dad. I was just being a little bit overdramatic." Wally looked down a bit before a hand on his chin gently lifted forest green eyes to meet river blue.

"Wally, I know you better than that. I know you would never make us worry over something if it wasn't serious, you're too considerate for that." Barry searched his son's eyes for any indication of what may have been bothering him, "Do you want to tell me what this was really about?"

Wally tried to look down again, but couldn't due to Barry's hand still forcing them to look face to face. As Wally began trembling, Barry brought him into a comforting hug and started to rub his back.

"Wally?"

A soft prompting.

…

"Wally?"

…

A choked off sob.

…

"Wally?!"

He began to hyperventilate.

"WALLY!"

A gentle shake brought Wally out the beginnings of a panic attack.

"…Wah?"

Barry put a hand on Wally's forehead, as if taking his temperature, and looked at him with worried eyes, "Listen, kiddo, it hurts me that you're keeping whatever this is bottled up and that it's affecting you so badly. I hate seeing how much this is hurting you. Whatever it is we can work through it, alright? I'm always gonna be here for you, kid. We're family, remember?"

Misty green eyes looked up at Barry and looked so sad that Barry just wanted to wrap him up and hold him and protect him from all the evils of the world, and some deity must have been looking out for Barry at that moment because his silent wish was answered as he gained an armful of sobbing speedster.

Wally almost couldn't believe it, his dad knew him too well. He always knew exactly what to say even when he didn't know what was going on.

As he sobbed into his father's chest he couldn't help the feeling of complete and utter love washing through him with being held by his dad like when he was a child, which in a way he still was.

"Dad… I… I have something I need to tell you."

Barry could barely make out the words of his son as he held him, and he would swear to the edges of the multiverse and back that the next words he heard stopped his heart.

"I used to cut myself."

Barry stiffened as he heard the words, not fully comprehending them nor understanding their implications as his grip tightened around the boy until he heard a gasp. Thoughts ran through his head at the speed of light, How long has Wally been dealing with this? How long has he felt this way? How close have I come to losing my only son? How could I not notice?

"D-Dad?"

A timid, shaking voice entered into his thoughts and drew his focus back to the boy in his arms. Suddenly he realized how terrified Wally must be feeling, he hated showing such vulnerability and 'weaknesses'.

"Wally…" Barry trailed off, wondering how to even begin to conquer this conversation, "How long have you felt like this? How long have you been going through this in silence?"

Wally mumbled something incomprehensible into the confines of his ever-supportive embrace.

"What was that, Wally?"

"… since Rudy started beating me."

And wow if that didn't hit Barry like a truck. His son had been going through this … his entire life? Since he had first met the energetic, shy boy who would soon become his son? Tears began to slide down a well weathered face, but which it belonged to neither knew.

"I… I stopped. I-I don't do it anymore. I j-just… I-"

Barry cuddled his son further as he let out a pained noise, "Shhhh-sh-sh, it's okay sweetheart, I gotcha, I've got you." He began to rock him back and forth like an infant.

After a few minutes of silence, only broken by soft sobs and quiet words of comfort, Barry finally asked the question.

"Wally, you don't have to do anything you don't want to, but may I see?"

Wally slightly pulled away from Barry and looked up at him with wary eyes, and, after finding whatever it is he was looking for, began to roll up his sleeves.

He shut his eyes against Barry's horrified gasp at seeing the mutilated skin and kept them closed as he felt his dad grasp his wrist and turn it in the light. Wally felt two rough hands cup his face and opened his eyes to see Barry kneeling in front of the couch, looking at him with the most sympathetic and sad blue eyes he had ever seen. And he felt so so terrible to be the one who caused it.

Wally turned his head away, "I, I'm sorry."

Barry frowned and turned his head back towards him, "No, Kid. If anything, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I never saw what you were going through, and I was a fool to think you had recovered so quickly from your years with Rudolph and didn't even think to check. And I am so, so sorry… that you had to go through this," he traced some of Wally's more prominent scars, "alone."

Barry took a breath and enveloped his son again, trying to put all of the safety and love and protection he could into that one simple gesture, "And if you ever start feeling like this again, please come talk to me. I'm your father. I'm here to support you when you're feeling scared; I'm here to reassure you when you're feeling insecure; I'm here to listen to you when you feel like your trapped; I'm here to comfort you when you feel like you can't take it anymore; I'm here to patch you up whenever you've been kicked down and chase down anyone who would ever dare harm my son. I am here for YOU, Wally. And I always will be. Please, please come talk to me if you ever feel like running away or cutting yourself again, Wally, promise me."

At his Father's heartfelt words of love and comfort, Wally couldn't help but to burst into fresh tears and cling to his father for dear life as he let out all the sorrows and depression he'd been hiding as his dad soothed him.

"I promise."

Father and Son drifted off into a mind-numbing sleep, not noticing the camera flashes and soft smiles of two arrows and a bird watching over them.

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Oliver led the way back into the kitchen, a bird and an arrow trailing close behind.

Ollie set the camera down on the dining room table with a relieved sigh, "I think he really needed that."

Roy collapsed in a chair next to him, "Yeah, he did. I honestly didn't think Uncle B was gonna take it that well. I was expecting more of an… I don't know, freak out?"

"I don't know, Uncle Barry has helped a lot of the league through personal troubles before. I guess it makes sense that he would have to be comforting and un-judgmental for everyone to accept his help."

A slight shadow passed over Dick's face as he perched on the edge of the table, "But the real question is: How will Bruce take this?"

The three men glanced at each other in worry, before making a silent pact that they would make sure the two would speak, and would make sure that neither tried to run.

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