Given the excitement of graduating college and the anticipation of his first day of training, Will could barely keep his eyes closed to even feign sleep. He lay in his old bed, which was much smaller and far less comfortable than he remembered it being four years ago. He and Tyler had eventually discussed moving in together after college, but they hadn't figured out how to approach the idea with her parents so for tonight, they were apart for the first time in months.

As he listened to the second hand on his watch tick ever-forward, Will stared into the dark, studying the posters on his wall, illuminated softly by the loft's exterior lights. Posters of his heroes. The Flash. Super Girl. Vibe. He even had a few of his dad's old team. Spartan. Mr. Terrific. Wild Dog. Black Canary. Speedy, who was technically Will's Aunt Thea, but he didn't remember having ever met her. His dad told him he had, the first time he'd been kidnapped, by Damian Darhk, but 12 years later, that night was no more than a fuzzy blur. He always felt sad that he never really gotten to know Thea who was Will's age when she died. On the rare occasion that he talked about his old team, Oliver spoke of them with such fondness, particularly his younger sister. Will kept the posters up as a memorial to how much his dad had sacrificed as well as a sign that he understood the inherent danger to what he wanted to do. It might have started as hero worship, but he wasn't blind to what it might cost him.

So yes, Will's wall was covered by the protectors he idolized. There was even a small one of Green Arrow that he'd kept after receiving it as a second-runner up prize in a grade-level wide reading contest. He'd shown it to his dad who had laughed, but Will didn't fail to notice the soft look of appreciation Oliver had when he realized that Will had framed the 8"x10" and put it next to one of the few pictures he still had of his mom.

He'd wanted this for so long, and to be so close sent his heart racing with excitement even though he was laying prone in bed. Finally, around 3 am, he forced himself to fall into unconsciousness. Even hopped on adrenaline, he knew that whatever his dad had planned would be that much harder if he hadn't sleep in 36 hours.

Nevertheless, Will was up and at 'em long before his 6:30 am alarm sounded. He'd googled the address on the card his dad had given him and it was in Central City. Maybe Will was being a little too bright side, but he couldn't help but hope that maybe that meant he would get to meet the Flash today.

Will laughed quietly as he dressed, after spending long minutes trying to figure out what would be appropriate for 'super hero training'. His dad had always worn dark joggers and t-shirt when they worked out together, so he figured that would work and he dressed with his mind dancing ahead to what the day might hold. He could remember being eight years old and hearing about the scarlet speedster for the first time. Now, they might even be friends.

Too excited to eat, Will grabbed his key from the kitchen, scanning just enough to know that his dad had been gone long enough that his breakfast dishes were completely dry and the coffee in the pot was no longer hot. Not a good sign. He tossed a look at the digital clock on the kitchen wall that read '7:00' so he was making decent time, but on time was probably late when it came to this. Will grabbed his messenger bag and hurried out the door.

Only to be greeted with bumper-to-bumper traffic of his fellow citizens who lived in one leg of the tri-state area but worked in another.

"Nooo. Not today," he grumbled with more than a hint of a whine. Will checked all his mirrors and inched forward as space allowed. 30 minutes later, his GPS informed him that he had completed an entire mile of the 27-mile route. This was probably the main reasons that heroes only protected one city.

"Ok. Screw this," Will mumbled and jerked the wheel to the right to a cacophony of slamming brakes and honking horns. "Sorry! You'll thank me later."

He made it to the exit and waited for his GPS to reroute, hoping to make up time on the side streets. But his hopes were dashed and he pulled up to an airplane hangar at 8:07. He parked, grabbed his gear, and hurried to the only door he saw. He rapped his knuckles against the door refusing to acknowledge the sting hitting the metal set off.

After a few moments, he heard clicking and the door opened. His dad looked at him and over his shoulder at Will's car before pointedly checking his watch, humming, and pushing the door wide enough to allow Will entrance, but otherwise made no comment.

"I swear a left with plenty of time to go but traffic was a nightmare and then the directions on my GPS were wrong and by the time I found this place… but I'm ready to work. I swear. I'm really sorry. It won't happen again."

"Hey, Barry. He's stealing your can't-be-on-time-to-save-my-life schtick."

It was then that Will realized they weren't alone. Further into the space were two of his dad's friends. Cisco Ramon, who had periodically babysat Will and JJ, Lyla Diggle's son, when they were kids and Oliver and Lyla had an important mission to work on, and Barry Allen, a CSI tech that sometimes helped his dad brainstorm leads. His wife, Iris, also worked the Flash beat for the Central City Citizen.

Will's mouth snapped shut and he mentally tried to replay what he'd been blurting out as he walked in. It would suck if he'd accidentally outed his dad on day 1, but it would be his dad's fault for bringing in two civilians. Although, maybe Barry already knew a bit about the life if Iris was so heavily involved in the superhero/ meta beat.

"What are they doing here?" he asked softly.

Oliver planted his feet and crossed him arms. "You said you wanted to train to protect the city. They know a little about that."

Will snorted. "Right. My babysitter and your nerdy forensics tech friend?"

He went to set his bag down, but before it even touched the floor, he saw a red streak and felt wind rushing by him. By the time he could get his eyes to settle on a solid object, he saw Barry standing on the other side of the room, dangling his bag in the air by its straps.

No. Freaking. Way.

Will stared dumbly at Barry. His mouth was hanging open, but he couldn't help it. He glanced over at Oliver who was trying, and failing, to smother a grin.

Will finally closed his mouth and swallowed hard. "You weren't shitting about meeting Super Heroes in their everyday life and never even knowing. Who else do I know?"

Oliver shrugged. "Can't tell you that."

"Why not?"

"Not my secret to tell."

"You should feel pretty lucky," Barry said as he slung Will's bag back across the floor. "Oliver used to arrow people who found out his secret identity."

Oliver frowned. "Don't tell him that."

"What? Am I lying? You shot me. Twice!"

Will gaped in disbelief. "You shot the Flash?"

"To teach him a lesson. And he heals fast. He was fine," Oliver pointed out.

Cisco chimed in. "Your dad helped TRAIN the Flash."

Will did a double take. "You have got to be shitting me. While I was living with you?"

"Will, language," Oliver barked. "And no, before I even knew you existed. This is getting out of control."

Will turned to study Cisco. "So if he's the Flash, who are you? You're not Kid Flash."

"Pfft. As if," Cisco said with a roll of his eyes.

Will nodded his head. "You look kinda slow."

Cisco stopped chewing on his Twizzler and gave him a snotty look. "Says the kid who doesn't even have powers. Watch and learn."

Cisco clapped a hand to Will's shoulder and Will couldn't help the shout he gave as his head seemed to explode with images and light. As soon as he caught his breath, Will looked around. It was like standing in the middle of an electric cloud. He looked at Cisco who grinned back.

"Do you want to walk down memory lane or see what the future holds?"

Will looked where Cisco gestured and saw two portals. Just inside of one portal, he could make out the image of his mom and his much younger self. His heart pounded so fast, he thought it might make a break for it clear out of his chest. He shook his head. No way was he ripping that bandage back off. He'd worked too hard to numb the constant ache of missing her.

"The future."

"This way." Cisco grabbed his hand and pulled him through the portal.

They landed in a nice living room, clearly someone's house. It was quiet for a moment before a little girl, about two years old came running into the room at full speed, giggling hysterically.

"Dada! Dada!"

She looked straight at him and Will startled and made a move to hide or something, but Cisco stopped him.

"She can't see us."

"Where are you, miss Maddy? I'm going to find you!"

Will's eyebrows rose in astonishment as he watched himself, maybe ten years older, come around the corner, lumbering in an exaggerated Frankenstein manner.

Maddy giggled and ran further across the room.

"Will, why do you always get her worked up right before bed time?" A woman he didn't recognize stuck her head out of the kitchen and smiled indulgently at the two. Blonde and very petite, she was most definitely not Tyler.

Older Will's eyes widened comically. "Uh-oh. Mommy's mad."

"Uh-oh!" Maddy echoed.

Will looked at Cisco. "Wait. That's not my girlfriend. Who is that?"

Cisco shrugged. "Beats me. It's your future."

He tugged a reluctant Will back into the storm cloud.

Will was silent, trying to process what he'd seen. He and Tyler were destined to break up? No way. "Doesn't looking at the future mess it up?"

"Nope. You're looking at a possibility. It still may or may not happen." Cisco took his hand off of Will's shoulder and they were back in the hangar. "What you saw may or may not happen. And it may not even really be what it looks like."

Will hummed, still thinking, before glancing at his dad. "How long were we gone?"

Oliver looked at his watch. "About 45 seconds."

Will startled in surprise but before he could ask any more questions, Barry started talking.

"So besides being Vibe, Cisco also provides tech backup and names villains."

Cisco nodded and grinned with pride. "Rainbow Raider, Mirror Master, Captain Cold, Heatwave, Weather Wizard, all monikers by moi."

"So I don't even get to pick my own name?"

Cisco frowned. "Dude, no. That's like picking your own nickname. What douche does that?"

Barry stared at Cisco. "Didn't you pick your name?"

Cisco glared back. "No. I most definitely did not. I said I felt vibes and we kinda ran with it."

"How about you?" Will asked Barry.

"The media. First I was the crimson streak and then I became the Flash."

Will looked over to Oliver.

"A mixture of the bad guys and the cops. Who were sometimes the bad guys. People just picked a word to describe what they saw. Kapiushon, the hood, the vigilante, Al Sah-him, the arrow, green arrow. All me."

Cisco flopped back down into his computer chair at the massive, multi-screen console, and spun. "Basically, once people see what you can do, whatever you're best at will become your name. So I hope you're packing something good. Your dad's already got Green and Arrow covered."

"He doesn't have any powers, does he, Ollie?" Barry asked.

Ollie shrugged. "I've never seen him manifest anything, but he was in Central City when the particle accelerator exploded. I was thinking we could stress test him just to be sure."

Both Barry and Cisco sucked in a breath.

"Oh yeah, baby!" Cisco said, with a level of glee and hand rubbing that made Will leery for his own safety.

Oliver looked at Will with a small smile. "Let's see what you got."