Lightning Bug

Chapter one


Iris shivered and wished she'd brought a jacket. It was all right for Barry and Wally—they were running around the badlands-turned-playing field at several hundred miles an hour in nice warm suits. She sighed and sat down on a rock. It was late afternoon in mid-summer, it wasn't supposed to be chilly. In the bowl of wasteland below, Barry and her four year old nephew ("four and a HALF") chased after each other in a mad game of tag, just blurs of white and gold lightning with the occasional flicker of color—mostly red—from their suits.

How this had become just any random Tuesday, Iris wished she knew. Better, she wished a little bit that she could warn herself from three years ago exactly how wild her life was about to get. Barry's coma, Eddie, the Reverse Flash, her mother not being dead and then dying anyway, learning about Wally, Zoom… No. Messing with timelines, even to give warnings, that never worked out. And the worst of things seemed to be calming down for now, at any rate. Even if the price for Zoom's defeat had been "the four year old your mother entrusted to your care now has superpowers good luck," well, then that was how things went. And Wally was a sweet kid, shy for all of two days until he'd seen Barry sticking glow in the dark stars on the ceiling in actual constellations. After that, well, there was a reason Caitlin had referred to him as "the Duckling." Cisco thought it was a terrible nickname, but it was accurate. Right up until that blue lightning had struck him in a final desperate showdown on the West's back Lawn.

A streak of pale lightning—too light to be called amber, but not like Barry's daffodil yellow—shot by and Wally grinned up at her. Iris held out a hand for a high five. Wally knew better than to use his speed in moments like this, but the impact still stung. "Hey, little Lightning Bug," Iris smiled. "You're getting faster and faster. You beat Uncle Barry yet?"

"No," Wally pouted for a second, then shrugged. "But he's got bigger legs."
"He still got me in Hide and Seek." Barry zipped up, ruffling Wally's short, springy curls. "Beats my record by—"
"Seven seconds," Wally beamed in all his gap toothed glory.
"Wow, that's a lot." It really was considering how fast Barry could run.
"Yep, and we're taking a break for snacks now, but then we're—" Wally stopped when Barry put a hand to his ear.

"Cisco say that again? Yeah, no we'll be right there." He turned. "Metahuman attack. I've got to get to STAR Labs, I can drop you off?" His words ran together.

"Go on, run, I have my car, I'll—" Iris brushed hair from her face as Barry tore away. "Bring the little Lightning—Wally? Damnit, not again."


Cisco managed to prevent Wally from chasing off into the heart of battle by bribing him with candy.
"You'll ruin his appetite," Caitlin had groaned, but given that Wally ate anywhere from 80-90 thousand calories a day, mostly in calorie bars, she knew she was probably wrong. Wally chewed on another bar, this one butterscotch flavor. Barry had been slightly put out that Cisco went to the effort of making the calorie supplements taste decent only after Wally had needed them, but given the picky habits of kids, he'd decided what was important was that now there was more than "vanilla sawdust," "cherry sawdust," and "chocolate sawdust" to choose from. And Wally, well, no longer being hungry all the time had been huge. He'd already liked Cisco, Cisco'd made him a plushie Littlefoot and taught him how to play "the floor is made of lava" in the cortex.

Cisco was no longer allowed to teach Wally new games without Caitlin or Iris okaying it, but it wasn't like they'd really needed those empty vials. While Cisco kept an eye on Barry's status, Wally sat on the chair beside him, spinning around and munching his snacks.

Barry had returned, stowing his suit and downing four calorie bars when Iris finally arrived. "Wally, don't scare me like that. You know you're not supposed to run in public even if you are with Uncle Barry."

"I'm sorry, Auntie Iris," said Wally, who was not sorry at all. Iris put her hands on her hips.
"This is the last time, ok? If you trip in the middle of a road, you might get hurt. A car could hit you, or someone might see you."
"I'm careful!" Wally protested.
"You're four."
"And a half," Wally and Cisco corrected together. Cisco held up both hands as if warding off Iris's exasperation.
"It's getting close to dinner time. Grandpa Joe said we could go out for ice cream if you eat all your broccoli instead of running it outside."
"Aww, Iris—" Barry said. "You know I hate broccoli."

"I was talking to—Barry? Really?" Iris rolled her eyes.

"So that's where he learned it from," Caitlin murmured. Cisco grinned, holding out a hand. She pressed a five dollar bill into it, muttering to herself.

"Ok, gang, time to go, then," Barry waved. Wally hopped down.
"Bye, Uncle Cisco, bye Auntie Caitlin," Wally gave them quick speed hugs before reaching up to take Iris's hand.
"Bye, Duckling," Caitlin called as Cisco said " Bye Lightning Bug."
"'M not a duckling!" Wally shouted back.
"Why does no one like my nicknames?" Caitlin asked.
Cisco busied himself with checking on Barry's suit.


Wally's ice cream was as large as his head, and he attacked it with a spoon in each hand. At least he recognized the importance of not speed eating. The triple chocolate sundae dripped across the table, and he had a smudge of whipped cream on his nose. Iris snapped a picture before passing him a napkin. Barry had a similarly large bowl in front of him, mint chip mixing with vanilla and oreo in a puddle of hot fudge and marshmallow goop. Iris had opted for a much more sensible single scoop of chocolate with gummy bears.
"It was so great Grandad, I was like whooooooosh and Uncle Barry was all Nyoooooom, and then, there was a big rock, and I ran up it and I was on top and I jumped on Uncle Barry's back and he was all 'Where's Wally uh oh I lost him oh well, better take,'" Wally laughed too hard to finish, and tried to solve the problem by jamming his mouth full of ice cream. He coughed, but swallowed, grinning broadly. His teeth were covered in chocolate sauce. "'Better take a nap' and then he squished me!"
Iris and Joe laughed, while Barry pretended indignation.
"I was tired! And I couldn't find you."
Giggling, Wally took another towering bite of ice cream.
"Thank god you too have fast metabolisms," Iris sighed. "Or you'd never sleep."

Joe paused mid bite of his own ice-cream, twenty five years of experience telling him that something was off, wrong.

"Joe?" Barry asked instantly, noticing the pause, lifting his head to scan the room in a heartbeat. It was empty. Even the waitstaff were gone.
"Barry, take Iris and Wally and—" Joe's low voice stopped at the door opened.
Barry felt himself freeze as General Eiling, a smirk on his face and a squad of armed soldiers at his back, entered.


So, finally another multi chaptered fic! hope you guys like it.