Hero's Journey

Meet the Family

Summary: Emma's powers are becoming more obvious, her friends and family talk about how to approach the topic with her. 
Word Count: Approx. 25K
Pairings: OC x Wally West, Platonic
Warnings: Very mild reference to verbal abuse, cussing (like, 1 swear word).
Author's Note: I loved writing this! It's more from the perspective of Emma's family and friends. Avery belongs to  @audreythetealovingcat @audreyandherocs  

Avery's eyes lit up as she spotted the tray set out on the bedside table in the Teague's guestroom. Emma shivered slightly at the tiny shock she got from Avery's excitement. She still hadn't quite gotten used to this- quirk- her friend had. Avery ran her fingers over the delicate petals of the sunflowers and pressed her nose to them, inhaling their sweet summery scent. Picking up the small painted box, she thumbed through the selection of teas it held. She giggled as she saw the pile of lemons, but no knife to cut them. "Emma, thank you! This is so sweet! You didn't have to do all this. It's enough that you're letting me stay with you for the week." Avery hugged her tightly.
"Actually, it was mostly my mom. She got the flowers and tea, and the tray. I just did the little box."
Avery turned to Mary, "Thank you, Mrs. Teague. You really didn't need to go to all this trouble. If there's anything I can do while"
Mrs. Teague waved her hand dismissively. "It's no trouble at all, sweetheart. You're welcome in our home anytime. You're practically family. If you need anything while you're here, please let me or Emma know. And please, call me Mama T. All my girls' friends do."She beamed and hugged the young girl in front of her. "I'll let you three hang out while I finish dinner. Jessica should be home from gymnastics soon." Mary Teague had almost unnaturally good instincts about people, and a larger than average dose of maternal instincts to boot. She knew she couldn't have asked for better friends for Emma than Wally and Avery.
Later that evening, after a scrumptious dinner of perfectly charred burgers, sweet corn, homemade pasta salad, and mouthwatering fruit salad, Emma and her friends relaxed around the patio table, joined by her family. Mrs. Teague had set out some freshly squeezed lemonade, and some homemade cookies Emma had helped her bake. Her daughter had insisted on trying out a new recipe for peanut butter chocolate cookies as well some lemon blueberry muffins for breakfast the next morning.
A warm summer breeze danced in and out of the trees as fireflies blinked and twinkled around them. From down the block, children could be heard laughing and shouting; probably playing a game of late night tag. Fireworks burst in the distance. Tonight was one of the few nights that Emma's father joined them at the table after dinner, instead of locking himself in his home office. Neither Emma or Wally flinched when Avery grabbed a lemon and sunk her teeth into the peel. Jessica made a quick face and opened her mouth to say something, but one look from her mom and sister told her to behave.
Emma's dad said nothing, but his disapproving pout was enough. Emma glared at him before looking at Avery. Either she hadn't noticed, or she wasn't reacting. That was for the best. Emma didn't want to deal with the way he'd respond if anyone questioned his rude behavior. Sensing Emma's tension, Avery put down her lemon and patted her friend's knee. Emma squeezed Avery's hand in a quick 'thank you'. She wasn't sure how, but Avery and Wally always seemed to know exactly what she was feeling, sometimes even better than her or her family. Avery was especially good at it.
    "So, Avery, is there anything special you want to do while you're here?" Mrs. Teague asked. "I'm good for whatever. It doesn't particularly matter to me," Avery shrugged.
"Well, Emma's dad has to work tomorrow, and Jessie has a pool party and gym practice. You three are welcome to come to the party if you want. Or you can just hang out and do your own thing."
Emma glanced at Avery, having sensed a change in her mood. It felt like tiny pinpricks of static, haphazardly scattering across her arms. Her hands were suddenly a bit clammy, and she felt jittery. It dawned on Emma that Avery was afraid of something. She answered before Avery had to say no. "Well, actually, there's that new interactive science wing they just opened at the Flash Museum. It's supposed to be really cool. We could go there."
"Yeah! That sounds totally crash! Uncle Barry keeps putting off taking me."
Avery smiled. "That sounds good to me. Is that ok, Mrs. Teague?"
"Sure. If that's what you want to do," She nodded. "I'll leave you some money for tickets and lunch. And a little for the gift shop."
Emma's dad had been sitting silently while the group discussed plans. The minute the Flash was mentioned, he stood up abruptly, nearly knocking over his chair before sulking off into the house.
Emma clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, but her head was dipped in shame. "He just doesn't like metas." "Fucking asshole" She added under her breath.
"Is it really alright, Mrs. Teague? I don't wish to upset anyone," Avery offered worriedly.
"No, no. It's fine. Really. I'd tell you if it wasn't. If you want to go to the museum, then go and enjoy yourselves. Don't worry about him."
"Yeah, its it's fine. Dad will get over it. He's kind of closed minded that way. Just because you have powers doesn't mean you're bad." Jess added.
After a bit more reassurance from Emma's family, and the puppy dog eyes and pleading face from Wally, Avery gave in. She had been wanting to see the new exhibit, and she couldn't deny her friends. Plus, she theorized, there might be some things there that would help her and Wally test Emma's new- abilities. One quick read of Wally's thoughts and she sensed he seemed to be on the same page. She'd have to talk to him more about it later.
    The next morning Wally made sure to get to Emma's house a bit early to talk to Avery. Lately, he had noticed some strange things around Emma, and he wanted Avery's input on how to handle it. Besides, he figured Avery might have noticed some things too. He knew Emma would still be getting ready, affording him a chance to talk to Avery alone. Emma wasn't exactly a morning person. Wally bounced on his heels and greeted Mrs. Teague cheerfully when she opened the door. "Hi, Mama Teague good morning how are you?"
Mary smiled at Wally and couldn't help but chuckle slightly at him. She never quite knew where he got all his boundless energy. "Come on in, sweetie," she said, letting him in. "Emma's still upstairs getting ready, but Avery's out on the back deck having breakfast. Can I get you anything?"
"Mmmm, do I smell pancakes? And bacon?" He craned his neck to try and peek in the kitchen.
Mama Teague smiled brightly. "Pancakes, bacon, eggs, and fruit, and Emma made muffins. It's on the kitchen table. Help yourself".
"Gee thanks, Mrs. Teague. It smells so good." He yelled over his shoulder, already halfway to the kitchen. After fixing a heaping plate of breakfast Wally headed out to the gazebo and plopped down across from Avery. She was contentedly sipping her tea and munching on one of the muffins Emma had baked with her in mind.
Mary Teague hummed to herself as she fixed herself a small breakfast plate and sat down at the table; looking out at Emma's two friends, whom she had come to see as her own adopted kids. She was glad her daughter had made such good friends. She had been worried about her when they had moved from Chicago. Emma had never been exactly outgoing, and making friends had been something she'd struggled with her whole life. In Chicago, she had had the Girl Scout troop that her mother lead, and her friends at summer camp. Now she didn't even have that. Somehow, by God's grace, she thought, Emma had met Wally and Avery and developed an almost inseparable bond with them. She had also made a few other close friends and started going to the youth group at a local church. Mary had recently started going back to church herself and her daughters joined her. She wanted them to have that same faith, knowing the strength and peace it had given her in the midst of a tumultuous time. Lately, she knew Emma would need all the support she could get.
She had noticed that her daughter seemed to be developing some new powers. Whenever her husband and Emma argued; which was far too frequently the past few months; things moved without anyone touching them. And she'd been hearing some of Emma's thoughts as well, as clearly as if Emma were saying them out loud. A few times she'd actually asked Emma to repeat what she'd said, only to be met with a questioning stare and 'i didn't say anything'. Even worse, she was sure that Emma was somehow hearing some of her own worries and fears about her failing marriage, along with her father's thoughts about what a disappointment she was. Not that she needed to hear his thoughts to know how he felt. His cold demeanor toward her and the way he snapped at her for every little mistake was enough.
Mrs. Teague vaguely remembered something about her ancestors having powers, possibly being of Alien descent. She suspected that was the cause of Emma's new powers, and she knew she would need to talk to somebody about what was happening to her. She also knew her daughter was noticing the powers herself, and she was scared. But every time Mary tried to approach the subject, Emma immediately shut down, becoming angry and defensive. Her daughter had never been this closed off from her before, and she didn't like it. Mrs. Teague prayed that her daughter's two friends would be able to get through her walls.
Avery smiled as she watched Wally stuff a mouthful of pancakes into his mouth. "Didn't you already eat breakfast?" she chided sarcastically.
He answered around his bite. "Yeah, I did. But Mama T made all my favorites. And her chocolate chip pancakes are the best!" He quickly glanced over his shoulder before leaning in across the table. "So. what are we gonna do? Y'know, bout our friend?"
Avery took a thoughtful sip of her Earl Grey before answering. "Well," she started methodically, "We need to be certain she has powers first. And what exactly they are. So far, everything we've seen could be explained another way. We don't want to alarm her unnecessarily."
"True, true. I wish we could ask her parents, but frankly, I don't trust her dad, and her mom has so much on her plate right now. And I'm not sure Emma would want us to bring it up to her mom. From what her mom has told me, she may have tried to talk to Emma about it, and it wasn't received well."
"No, I definitely don't trust her dad, at least not with this. Not after his reaction last night. I get a bad vibe from him. Like he's always angry. And, unpredictable, aggressive. And I agree, we shouldn't go to her mom, yet. Not until we know for sure."
"He is," Wally said. "At least from what she tells me. She's spent way too many weekends at my place or Uncle Barry's after they've fought. You don't want to know half of what she tells me. I'm worried about her. She hides it pretty well around most people, but she's carrying a lot. She's. I don't know what. I just know she's stressed. And most of that is because of him," he growled, pounding his fist on the table. " And now this, her possibly having powers. It should be a good thing. But for her..."Wally shook his head sadly and trailed off.
"She doesn't talk much about it to me, but I feel it too. Her emotions are all over the place. However we approach this, we need to be careful. We don't want to stress her out anymore, and we don't know how she'll react. But, I can't imagine it will be good."
"We should test her. At the museum. They have some new exhibits on metahumans and stuff. We can use that, she won't realize what we're doing." Wally offered, stuffing another bite of eggs in his mouth.
"I don't like lying to her. She's been lied to enough." Avery said.
"I don't like lying to her either. But we can't tell her we think she's a metahuman without being sure. You know her. The minute we tell her, she'll start overthinking and send her down a spiral. Before we say anything, we need to be absolutely sure. Or, at least as sure as we can be."
"I don't know, Wally. I know you mean well, but "
"Hey, you said yourself her emotions are all over the place lately. She's already confused enough, I think she's started to notice some things herself. And with her family. Her asshole dad's made it pretty clear how he feels about metas. If we tell her, she's going to end up worrying about what he'll think. Do we really want to send her down that thought process if we aren't sure she has them?"
Avery bit her lip a bit and stirred her tea absentmindedly. "Ok. You're right." She sighed. "Let's test her at the museum. But after that, if we suspect, we have to tell her. Especially if she's started noticing the changes herself as you suspect. Which makes sense, it would help explain why her emotions are so confused."
By the time Emma joined them, they had come up with their plan. She sat down just as they finished talking. She glanced back and forth between them a few times, frowning slightly. "So. What are you two so busy kibitzing about?"
"Nothing. Nothing." Wally answered a little too quickly, causing Avery to kick him under the table.
"Hmmm.. nothing? What's so secret about nothing?" Emma said, keeping her tone light but staring at Wally pointedly. If there was one thing she hated, it was people keeping secrets from her.
"Actually, we were just talking about who to set you up with." As much as Avery hated lying to her friend, she knew Wally was right, and that keeping their discussion a secret, for now, was best. "We have this friend in Gotham". She hadn't thought about it before, but now that she did, a certain mutual friend of theirs would be perfect for Emma. This time Wally kicked Avery under the table.
Sensing Wally's sudden change in mood, and sensing from Avery that whatever they were keeping from her wasn't anything bad, Emma rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay. Y'know what? I know who you can set me up with too. How about no one. I need a boyfriend like the Cubs need another curse."
"Really? we can't set you up with anyone? Not even, a certain handsome hero? Who's really fast?"
"No. Not even Kid Flash. Besides, are you sure you don't have a crush on him yourself, Wallman?" Emma nudged her friend.
Avery nearly spat out her tea laughing. The group finished breakfast in a cheerful mood before heading out to the museum.