Author's Note: So... it's been a while. Sorry about that. Truth be told, I've been having some trouble with this fic, mostly because it's been kind of aimless without any clear end in mind, but I've had some free time recently and I've been thinking about how I want it to go and I've finally found an ending to the story that I'm happy with. This isn't it, obviously, but hopefully now that I know where I want to take this I'll be able to get the pages down and finish it the way this fic deserves.

Also there is NEW FANART. I meant to say something about this months ago and I'm so sorry that I didn't, but over on DeviantArt 'FoxyTeah' (also known here as 'JustTeahPlease') has created a beautiful picture of Wally as Thorn. I'm not really sure how to get a functioning link up, so you may have to make do with this: www. deviantart . art/A-Thorn-in-The-Side-442409875?q=gallery%3AFoxyTeah&qo=0

Hopefully that'll take you straight to the picture. If it doesn't, there's a link on JustTeahPlease's profile page or you can just type 'A Thorn in the Side' and 'Wally' into the search bar on Deviantart and it should be one of the first results.

Oh, and as always, let me know what you guys think. Enjoy.

The first two weeks of Wally's new life went about as well as could be expected for everyone involved. The lawyers were still trying to work out exactly what was to be done with his schooling, so he was technically able to spend his days as he wished until they reached a verdict. Unfortunately, this left him with few options.

The weather was still in the 'freezing-to-death' range, which for Wally meant indoors were a must, and despite taking a trip back to the Cave every few days, he was spending much of his hours either with the T.V. or working his way through Barry's library whilst his current caretakers were engaged by their respective careers.

It had been a quiet fortnight, for Wally at least. After the nationwide attack had left the country temporarily hobbled, a number of the criminal element had attempted to take advantage in the first few days, only to be stomped down as the Justice League worked overtime. Barry had had much to do and Iris had just as much to report on.

Despite their initial intent to help their wayward nephew reacquaint himself with civilian life, most of Wally's time at home was spent alone.

Still, the sudden wave of crime had had a few unexpected benefits, primarily in the fact that it had successfully taken the public eye off of the supposedly reformed teenage super-criminal. With nothing new to report on, 'Thorn' was effectively beginning to fade from the attention of the wider media, though local news outlets still did their best to get an interview from the CSI and the ace newshound who'd chosen to take the boy in.

But, Barry noticed as the second week came to a close, there were some very problematic downsides as well.

Between work at the station and the Flash's extended rounds, Barry often didn't make it home until the early hours of the morning, meaning that the only time he saw Wally was generally during breakfast. But, as the crime rates began to drop down to regular levels again, Barry started to cut his noontime patrols a little shorter so that he could spend a few minutes of his lunch hour at home with his nephew.

And it was there that he began to notice some problems.

Wally in the mornings had been a quiet and reserved figure ever since he'd started living at the West-Allen household, a far cry from the loud, sarcastic and oft confrontational teen Barry had come to know at the Cave. But Barry had dismissed this as Wally simply being a late riser by nature, remembering those few times Wally had stayed over back when he had been a child... a normal, ordinary child. He'd always been difficult to rouse in the mornings, and it usually took a while for his mind to really wake up anyway.

But the Wally he saw in those brief lunchtime windows was much the same... quiet and withdrawn, almost unnervingly so. Still, it wasn't until Iris came to him and voiced her own concerns that Barry really let himself give it too much thought, and began to voice a few of his own.

"I really think there's something he's not telling us," he told her, late one Thursday night when they were reasonably certain Wally had gone to bed. "He's just not settling in like we'd hoped."

Iris nodded with a deep sigh, her husband beside her as they both completely ignored the blaring television set before them.

"I've seen him at the Cave, Iris," he murmured. "I'm starting to think it might be us, but..."

"He's just not comfortable here," Iris nodded tiredly. "He acts almost like he's afraid to touch anything. Afraid we'll tell him not too."

"He barely says a word to us unless we ask him directly," she continued heavily. "I haven't once seen him so much as kick his feet up on the couch and I know for a fact that you're the only one who's been raiding the fridge. A growing boy like him... it's not natural."

"You should see him at the Cave," Barry mused. "He's loud, practically vibrant even. He'll argue with Robin and Artemis without a second thought, or work on that weird alien bike thing of his with Superboy."

Iris almost smiled at the image, before dropping her face into her open hands.

"What are we doing?" She asked, only for her husband to sigh as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We're trying," he told her. "And that's all we can do. Wally's a good kid. He'll come around. He just needs time to... he just needs to get comfortable here."

"Maybe school will help?" Iris offered uncertainly. "Meeting with some more kids his own age? Do you think Bruce could..."

"He's already pushing as much as he can without looking suspicious," Barry promised her. "But the school board has a right to be concerned. Meta-humans are... even the good ones are dangerous. The pheromone stuff aside, if anyone tried to start something, Wally could put them in the hospital and there wouldn't be a thing the teachers could do about it. They just don't think it's safe."

Iris snorted disdainfully, "But they let that Pied Piper kid in?"

"Hartley's situation is a little different to Wally's," Barry reminded her with a sigh. "It's just complicated. But we're close. We might still need to consider homeschooling and private tutors, but at least they had him tested to see where he'd fit, academically speaking."

"And he loved that, didn't he?" She replied sardonically, a wry smirk forming at the memory of her genius nephew being forced to satisfy the local academics. He hadn't been quite so cocky after the History and English portions of the testing, but nobody who actually knew him had any doubts that Wally understood the Chemistry and Biology coursework better than the teachers.

"It had to be done," Barry shrugged helplessly. "And the marks should be getting back to us soon. Shouldn't take more than another day or two, really."

"In the meantime..." Iris offered reluctantly. "Maybe you should take Wally back to the Cave tomorrow morning. Let him spend a whole day with his friends rather than make him sit around here."

"Hmm," Barry agreed, before adding his own suggestion. "Maybe we can let him bring that bike of his back with him? I mean, the way he talks to it... it's more like a pet than anything else. Maybe it could help him feel more at home here?"

"The neighbors won't like it much," Iris chuckled halfheartedly. They'd already had enough of the reporters crowding the street. They probably wouldn't take too well to an alien craft parking on the lawn. "I'll have to send out some brownies sooner or later. Apologize for all the ruckus we've been causing."

"Ah, they'll get over it," Barry waved it off. "But, uh... you can still make the brownies. Y'know, if you want to. For the sake of the neighbors, of course."

Smiling, Iris nodded, "Of course."

When Wally arrived at Mount Justice the following day, he wasn't particularly shocked to find the place to be practically deserted. It was a Thursday, after all, so Artemis was still in school. He'd say that Robin was too, but Wally honestly had no idea. The little bird had often moaned about assignments and the like in the midst of combat and, more recently, just to moan, but Wally wouldn't be particularly surprised if it turned out he was lying.

Aqualad was nowhere to be seen, which probably meant that he was off with his King somewhere, and considering that the Super-Cycle was currently engaged in its' odd equivalent of sleep, Wally was fairly certain that Conner had yet to rise from his bed.

The Martian was in the kitchen, pans, ingredients and utensils all floating about in an orchestra of motion that Wally supposed would wind up as one passingly edible meal and three or four crimes against humanity. Although he supposed that they could simply be delicacies of some sort on Mars.

As Wally entered and chose a stool at the counter, plopping his backpack on the countertop absently, M'gann rather noticeably failed to notice him as she went about her business.

Wally returned the favor, happy simply to have another body present to break the silence despite having no particular desire to communicate. After all, M'gann was a nice enough girl, from what he'd been told, but, though she'd eventually followed her teammates in vouching for him, he'd hardly done anything to endear himself to her.

Pheromone control. It's murder on a friendship.

Still, she tolerated his presence well enough (despite a slight haze in the air between them suggesting a forcefield of some kind) as he opened his bag, reaching in to start unpacking the largely disorganized stack of papers that resided within.

In the corner of his eye, Wally noted that M'gann had paused momentarily, probably having expected something very different to seeing him, well, read.

"Mail," he explained monosyllabically.

She raised her eyebrows questioningly in response, as though asking, though she'd never voice the rather unkind comment of surprise, 'you get mail?'.

"I know," Wally sighed, running a hand through his hair as he idly picked up the topmost page. "Surprised me too. Apparently most of this stuff was being sent to Ivy and my parents before my aunt and uncle became my official guardians."

Even now, it was still being checked for hazardous materials. Apparently there were some who resented Poison Ivy's part in the recent attack of the Injustice League and some of that resentment spilled in the direction of Thorn.

Curiosity peaked, M'gann hesitantly asked, "What is it?"

"Well," skimming the sheet in his hand, Wally replied bemusedly, "This one here is an offer of sponsorship from... 'Atlas Athletics'?"

Wally looked almost amused, "A sporting goods chain? Seriously? You'd think they'd be aiming this at the Flash... maybe I should pass it on?"

M'gann shrugged unhelpfully as Wally tossed the paper to the side, reaching for the next one in the haphazard pile.

"This one seems to be some eco-group wanting me as a guest speaker," Wally smirked, before his expression soured. "No, wait, that was sarcasm. Apparently I've set the cause back a decade or so because of my 'extremist ways'."

Again, M'gann was unhelpfully silent as Wally started looking through the sheafs of paper, skimming and discarding them seemingly at random as he announced, "Another sponsorship thing, hate mail, hate mail, more hate mail- apparently all meta-humans are 'Abominations unto the Lord', which is kinda cool... vegans need to grow up and live as nature intended- since when was I promoting veganism? Ooh, and this one says that meta-humans are all radioactive and apparently we're a part of a government conspiracy to create more cancer patients. Weird."

"And..." Wally peered at the latest sheet curiously, looking at it from various angles as he tried to decipher the handwriting, "I think some kid wants me to get him the Justice Leagues' autographs?"

Suddenly he frowned, "But they emphatically do not want mine. Apparently 'green looks like broccoli and that's... yucky?' I'm yucky? Well screw you too, kid. Jeez, you'd think the parents of this little brat would check his work before they sent it out to the violent super-criminal."

That one he balled up and threw absently towards the bin, where it stopped in midair, at which Wally stared, unimpressed.

"If he said that about me, what do you think he thinks of you and your uncle?"

The paper suddenly continued on its initial trajectory, sinking into the bin in a surprisingly satisfying manner.

"I don't suppose you got any positive mail?" M'gann asked idly, her curiosity largely sated by this point and her attention slowly drifting back to the preparations of her various dishes.

"You don't think a potential sponsorship from McDonald's counts as 'good mail'?" Wally smirked as his eyes drifted to an intriguing seal at the head of the next letter.

"Oh," he snickered. "This one is a request from GeneTech inquiring as to whether or not I'd be interested in donating some tissue samples in the interest of furthering scientific research into genetic manipulation. Apparently recreating my abilities could be of some benefit to humanity and I'd be well compensated for my troubles."

Wally snorted, "Four years and they still think Ivy's the only one who understands the formula. I'm actually a little insulted."

M'gann's attention unwillingly returned to the other emerald skinned teen, her interest once again peaked, "You can recreate your powers?"

"Hmm?" Wally looked up from the page, before answering absently, "Yeah. I mean, I'd have to adjust the formula a little, tailor it for the individual genetic profile of whoever I was administering it too, but it's totally doable."

M'gann suddenly found herself envisioning an entire world filled with Thorns and Poison Ivys aplenty. She shuddered at the thought.

"But..." She asked hesitantly. "You're not going to, right?"

Wally blinked, as though the idea had never really occurred to him. Raising his hand, examining his green skin curiously, he for the first time wondered what it would be like to create more people with his abilities.

He could imagine it now... a world where everyone understood the effects the human race's negligence was having on the ecosystems of the globe. A world in which crops to feed the starving masses could be grown by anyone, anywhere, in almost an instant, and where nutrients could even be derived from sunlight itself. A world where...

But then he thought of his aunt, driven halfway to madness by her connection to the green. He thought of himself, who had very nearly fallen with her. That inability to discern the pain of the plants from the pain of the self... it was dangerous.

And then he thought of something else that his aunt had struggled with and crossed his legs uncomfortably.

"I don't think so," he said slowly, not meeting the Martian's eyes. "At the moment at least, we don't really know what the longterm effects of the formula are and, uh... I'm not really sure I'd trust anyone else with it, y'know? I don't really want to be responsible for another Poison Ivy on the loose... let alone another one of me."

M'gann unknowingly released a sigh of relief, to which Wally smirked cockily.

"You don't have to look so happy about it," he chuckled darkly.

For the first time in his life, Wally got an idea of what emerald skin looked like with a heavy blush.

"I didn't mean..."

"No," Wally waved her off. "It's fine. I mean, you of all people..."

Watching him uncertainly, M'gann didn't say anything.

"Hey, did I ever apologize about that?" He said suddenly. "I know I said something to Artemis at one point, but, uh, now that I think about it I probably do owe you an apology for Louisiana..."

"It's fine," she responded mechanically, her voice suddenly stiff. "I understand. It was nothing personal."

"No," Wally countered, "It was very personal. That speech of mine... it's got me out of more scrapes than you'd think, but... but it is personal. Especially..."

His gaze shifted uncomfortably as he cut himself off, "I didn't actually expect it to work so well on you, you being green too and all."

Her arms shifting unconsciously, crossing in front of her to hold herself, her own face turning away, "It didn't. I mean, you were right. My powers let me show the world whatever it wants. I can't imagine what it must be like to want to hide."

Her voice had started off loud and emphatic, but grew softer with each word in a way that Wally very carefully chose not to comment on.

For almost a full minute, the two of them remained there in silence, both just a single step away from confessing insecurities that they had been denying for God only knows how long.

Then Aqualad walked in.

"M'gann, Thorn," he nodded politely as he entered, a sheen of moisture sticking to his skin to show that he had only just been swimming.

Starting somewhat, Wally and M'gann responded with their own rushed greetings.

"What is this?" Kaldur asked curiously, eyes sweeping across the room, pausing briefly at M'gann's various works before resting on the haphazard pile of papers lying before Wally.

"Exhibits A through Z at my murder trial," Wally answered blandly.

Kaldur blinked, brow creasing in concern before he recognized the words as a joke. Or, at least, he chose to give Thorn the benefit of the doubt and perceive it as a joke.

"Oh, hey, here's one that's actually not insulting," Wally spoke up, surprised as he held up another piece of paper, this one considerably smaller than the others and made of an expensive type of card rather than run-of-the-mill paper. "Perdita finally sent the invitations out."

Wally failed to notice the endearing smile on M'gann's face as she pictured the cute little earth girl who'd been purported by the tabloids to possibly house a crush for her savior.

Wally smirked, "Cool. They're sending a private jet to pick up all the American guests."

"More than just you?" M'gann queried.

"The surgical team and a few other members of the hospital staff," Wally nodded, before frowning. Nurse Espinosa would probably be there too, which meant that the flight was now likely to include a lot less basking in the cowering of others than initially advertised.

"May I?" Kaldur gestured to the invitation, which Wally released with a shrug. Kaldur frowned concernedly as he read over it. "It seems as though there is a stipulation that no members of the Justice League are to accompany you."

"Yeah," Wally's face scrunched in distaste. "That'd be her uncle's work."

"Count Vertigo?" Kaldur clarified. "Perhaps it would not be wise for you to attend."

Wally humphed scornfully, "If you think I'm sitting it out-"

"Never," Kaldur shook his head. "If anything, it would only be worse to leave the Queen to her uncle during such a high profile event. I was merely speculating that perhaps you should not go alone? Just in case."

Seemingly mollified, Wally shrugged. "My aunt and uncle are probably going to come along. To 'chaperone'."

"Still," Kaldur insisted. "I will bring this up with Batman. Perhaps it would be wise for some of the team to also be in attendance."

Brow rising accusingly, Wally said simply, "To keep an eye on me?"

"If necessary," Kaldur admitted shamelessly. "Although I was more concerned with the possibility that Count Vertigo may seek vengeance after you foiled his attempt at regicide."

"..."

"Can we?" M'gann chirped when Wally reluctantly admitted that it might not be such a bad idea.

"...fine," Wally accepted reluctantly. "But just in case."

Nodding politely, Kaldur smiled, "Of course."

"So, when is it?" M'gann asked, wondering if she, Artemis and Zatanna would get the time to do an appropriate level of dress shopping on the League's dime or if they'd have to settle on shape-shifted and magically created, and thus far less satisfying, evening wear.

Kaldur checked the date, his brown creasing with confusion, "The date is two weeks from today. The Queen is putting this together rather quickly, is she not?"

Wally shrugged, not fully appreciating the amount of planning and preparations that usually went into a gala of royal proportions.

"Just so you know though," he added. "I think any plus ones on my invite are going to Barry and Iris, so you guys'll have to get yourselves in."

"I doubt that that will be a significant obstacle," Kaldur almost smirked. "After all, our team does specialize in covert operations."

"Seriously?" Wally's brow rose again, now incredulous, to which M'gann nodded with a bright smile. "In that case I think we might be using very different definitions of the word 'covert'."