Hey guys long time no see. Sorry this took nine months to post. I've been super busy with sports and school. I'm really sorry I just got caught up in everything. I made this chapter extra long so maybe it will make up for something. I hope y'all like this chapter. I hope to finish off this story this summer. Please tell me what you think.

Only the plot is mine.

Within the curtain of darkness cast by the evening sun, there was a menacing figure with ruthless eyes. He grinned like a savage while he peered out at the changed world. The city will never know what hit it once his plan goes into action and his presence would become known. Though tonight was not the time, for one to wreak havoc on a scale he planned to there needed to be some preparation. An accomplice would be helpful. He needed to find another speedster that he could mold into his own image. Unfortunately his entrance destroyed his greatest weapon. Now all that the shady individual had left to his advantage was the element of surprise. Though that would do. For now… Soon the Cities would be his.

Barry Allen jumped at the sudden bang. He felt the cold blast of air wash over him; even now it was such a familiar feeling. Instinct took over and the speedster looked up at the newcomer. After hearing Wally speak he half expected to see a jovial young man with bright green eyes grinning from ear to ear when he looked up. Instead he saw an unsmiling grown man with wisdom in his eyes.

"Kid?" The blonde man stood up and smiled hopefully, greeting his nephew like a long lost friend.

Emotion broke through Wally's serious demeanor and Barry soon found himself caught in the speedster's strong embrace.

"I thought I'd never see you again." The redhead whispered. His uncle patted him on the back.

"I just got a little lost." Barry supplied with a light shrug. He did his best to lighten the mood. He was never one for emotional situations.

A small smile appeared on his nephews face. Wally finally let go and held his uncle at arms length. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."

"I don't plan on it, Kid." Barry sighed. He felt old, tired and weak. It was an odd feeling he was unaccustomed to. It was as if the twenty years he had missed had all come back to him at once.

"Good." Wally nodded and awkwardly brushed some dust off of his uncle's filthy uniform, then he turned to his daughter and frowned when he saw her bloody face. Her Flash costume was torn beyond repair. "You clearly lied when you told me you were fine."

"I've had much worse." She crossed her arms with a dismissive sigh and hoped her father did not see her wince as she walked out of the living room and into the adjoining kitchen.

The young speedster seemed slightly out of breath but she did her best to hide that too. Wally had more important things to worry about than her cuts and bruises in her opinion.

"Irey!"

"What?" The hero snapped and spun around to look at her concerned father.

"You're covered in blood."

"So?"

"Never mind, go clean yourself up."

Irey left the room without another word. She wanted the old speedsters to have a little alone time. It'd been about twenty years since they had last chatted and Barry, unfortunately, had a lot to catch up on. Irey did not want to be in the room when her father told Barry about her aunt. Iris had been like a second mother to her and Irey still was not ready to face the reporter's untimely demise. She was not ready to relive that tragedy, nor the others that occurred when Barry was gone. The fact that another dead speedster had come back to life was more than enough to handle for the young hero.

Once she made her way into the bathroom the young speedster peeled off her bloodstained uniform and sought refuge in the shower. Irey turned the water to as hot as she could bear and stood there. Her cuts burned under the steaming liquid, but she ignored the pain as her thoughts raced. It was then when she came to the realization of what had taken place. A range of emotions washed over with the burning water that revealed her new battle scars. Memories flashed through her mind and Irey tried to make sense of whole situation.

This was not supposed to happen. The machine wasn't supposed work, yet it did. Hell, the treadmill worked so well it exploded. The whole incident defied the laws of physics. Irey never thought the treadmill could survive the situation to begin with. Though, she did take the fact that she had been defying the 'laws' of physics since she was a little girl into account.

Irey took her time with dressing her wounds. She slipped into an old pair of running shorts and sport bra and made her way to her oversized first aide kit. Most of her small scrapes and bruised had faded. One of her ribs was definitely cracked. The gashes on her legs, brow and back required stitches. The annoying cut on her forehead continued to bleed as she tried to tend to her other wounds. The speedster did the best she could and stitched herself back together. Shrapnel filled a jar on the counter and bloody gauze littered the floor. Used cotton balls soaked in disinfectant filled the sink next to a tube of local anesthetic. Her only issue came when she had to stitch up her back. No matter which way she turned she could not reach the nasty laceration.

With annoyed sigh the wounded speedster dashed into her bedroom in search of a tank top before she trotted into the kitchen with her trusty first aide kit in hand. Irey did not want to interrupt the conversation so she sat on a stool in the kitchen while she waited for one of the men to notice her.

Wally was discussing the circumstances of his own 'death' with his uncle. Irey could tell by the look on Barry's face that he already knew about Bart and Iris. It broke her heart to even begin to guess what her great uncle was going through. Coming back to life after eighteen years only to learn that his wife and grandson were dead. She had heard about what Professor Zoom did to his children when they were little. For a parent to know that their twins were a hundred years in the future and there was nothing they could do about was horrifying. With the addition of everything else, Wally's heartbroken revelation was more than enough to break any man in Barry's position.

The young woman sat there for about five minutes until Barry finally looked up and met her gaze. He said nothing. His blue eyes were watery and numb, but sparked with recognition as he got a better look at the cleaned up speedster.

Wally noticed as well and turned around to face his only daughter. She scowled slightly as he quickly glanced over her wounds and sighed. Irey knew his heart was in the right place, but she hated how he always had to fret over her. She knew how to take care of herself and did not want him to worry about her.

"Yes dear?" Wally broke off conversation with Barry and addressed his daughter expectantly. He knew that annoyed look she wore well.

"You can continue. I can wait." The young redhead did not want to interrupt the chatting men.

Barry stood up. "Actually, I need to use the restroom. Where might that be?" His voice was frail.

"Down the hall on your left." Irey instructed without a second thought about the mess she left in her wake.

"Thanks." He said and limbered off into the dark hallway.

Wally got up to get a better look at his daughter. "Irey are you sure you don't want to go to the tower?" Her body was littered with cuts and bruises.

She frowned and slapped the kit into his hands. "I'd rather go to the hospital than the tower." Her father had hit a nerve. Irey's relationship with the justice league was shaky at best. Though this time she let it slide. She didn't want to get into an argument with her father while he was stitching up her back.

"Which one is it?" The elder speedster asked with a sigh. He had no patience to put up with Irey's antics.

Flash lifted up her tank top to reveal a nasty gash across her left shoulder blade. "Here," She pointed to the cut and crossed her arms. She'd prefer to do this on her own, but she couldn't reach the injury.

Without another word Wally got to work. Irey shivered as he applied anesthetic and antiseptic. The father couldn't help but worry and wonder about all of the other scars surrounding the new laceration on his daughter's back. He recognized a few from previous misadventures and conflicts, but there were a few nasty scars that looked new. It took the man no more than two minutes to stich Irey's skin back together. His hands moved fast and skillfully. The retired hero had done this a million times before and his needlework was as good as that of any surgeon.

"There. All better." Wally mused mindlessly as he finished placing a fresh pad of gauze her shoulder. "Do me a favor and be a little more cautious. I'd hate to see your mother skin you because you weren't careful enough."

"Alright." Nostalgia caused a small smile tugged at the corner of Irey's mouth. He used to say that to her when she was little when he had to fix her up. "Thanks Dad."

Irey slid off of the kitchen stool and over to the fridge. Her notorious appetite had finally gotten to her. Wally wondered off into the hallway to check on Barry.

"Irey!" Her father's panicked shout echoed through the apartment. Half of a sandwich stuck out of the speedster's mouth while she dashed over to what was the matter.

"What? What is it?" She asked though her stuffed cheeks. Wally wore a look of absolute horror. Irey had not seen her father this upset since her aunt passed away.

"He's gone! Barry's gone!" the retired hero muttered in disbelief as he dashed from room to room in search of his only uncle.

Irey spotted the open window by her fire escape. Wally was already on the phone with Jay explaining the situation when she walked back into the kitchen. She noticed how he fidgeted with his flash ring he kept in his pocket as he talked with the eldest speedster. The last thing they needed was another unidentified Flash running around.

"Dad you need to stay here." Irey reasoned. Her father was far from reasonable at the moment.

"I can find him faster. I know where to look." Wally did not convince his daughter.

She fished her own flash ring out of her pocket and slid it onto her right ring finger. "Dad I'm much faster than you and I know the cities better than you do. The people know me Dad. It's better than having them freak out about another Flash. You need to be here in case he comes back."

For once, Wally actually listened. "Alright, be careful and call me if you find him." He was back on the phone with Jay a few seconds later. They were arguing if they should tell the league or not. Irey hoped they didn't. The last thing she wanted to do today was deal with the blue boyscout again.

With her father's blessing the hero sprung into action, donned a new scarlet suit and, like her uncle always said, she was gone in a flash.

The speedster spent little time scouring the city. She had a good feeling that Barry would prefer somewhere other than the massive concrete jungle Keystone City had transformed into. Irey found herself buzzing down an old railroad that used to connect Central and Keystone before the new express train and massive freeways were built.

It was clear that the tracks had been out of commission for years based on their deterioration condition. Irey knew the old route well. Her cousin Bart used to take her fishing off a bridge on the old tracks. She remembers how he always told her about the times his grandfather took him there. It was an educated guess at best, but the speedster had no other clues to where her missing uncle could be.

Rain started to pour from the dark clouds that always dwelled in the area during spring. Mud covered Irey's back as she dashed beside the old tracks. She tore through the countryside at half of her usual pace. The morning's explosion had drained more of her energy than she had originally thought. She ignored the pain in her head and limbs and powered through. It was not long before the scarlet clad hero could see the old bridge in the distance.

"There you are." Irey uttered breathlessly as she skidded to a stop on the old wooden bridge. She carefully leaned against one of the splintering posts and caught her breath.

Barry didn't bother to look up. The older speedster sat on a plank with his legs dangled out over the slow moving water. The constant downpour interrupted the usually glassy surface of the old stream. "I'm sorry, I just needed a place to think."

"I know the feeling." The redhead sighed and plopped down next to her great uncle.

"How'd you find me here?" Genuine curiosity briefly occupied his thoughts. He didn't expect that they would find him that fast.

"Bart would always take me fishing here. He said it was one of the only places where he could always think clearly. We would spend hours on this bridge just talking." Behind her cowl Irey's eyes stung with wistful tears. "He always told me about the times you took him fishing. He really looked up to you." She continued with a sad smile.

There was a hint of pride that sparked in the other speedster's eyes. A ghost of a smile briefly appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Bart was a good kid. Wasn't he?"

Irey nodded quietly and looked out at the water. Bart was like an older brother to her. Time had not reduced the sting of his loss.

"I can't believe I missed twenty years." Barry sighed and broke the short silence, "Everything has changed. My wife and grandson are dead and my own nephew looks at me like I'm a stranger."

"He doesn't mean it." The young woman shook her head. The parallels between Wally's reaction and her own when her father came back did not surprise her. "He doesn't know how to react."

Barry didn't respond. He seemed like he was still trying to work through all of the information.

"How much did my Dad tell you?" Irey asked. She did not want to add to her great uncle's horror.

The older man fidgeted with a hole in his glove. He seemed rather uncomfortable with the whole situation. He did not want to face the past he missed. Though now again, he was forced to confront the history. "I know about-about Iris," his voice cracked slightly, "And Bart and what happened with your brother." Barry stared out at the horizon. His eyes were distant and full of emotion.

Irey did not know what to say to the man. She did not know how to phrase anything gently. Throughout the eighteen years Barry had missed there were things that went wrong, but there were also many achievements as well. Though the young woman found it much harder to summon the good memories amongst the bad. The current times had not treated her very kindly.

"Did he tell you about his own death?" The current Flash asked carefully.

Barry nodded again. The head motion seemed to be his preferred method of communication at the moment. "Which one?"

This comment caught Irey off guard. Her father had only died once and that was nine years before. "What do you mean by that Uncle Barry?"

The man realized her shock and quickly figured that she probably did not know about Wally's first 'demise'. He tried to correct his actions, but it was too late to stop the younger speedster's curiosity. "Nothing," he replied. He would talk to Wally about it later. "I meant his disappearance a few years before. He told me about that right before you came out of the shower."

Irey took note of his change in attitude and decided to ask her father about it later. Right now she needed to address the problem at hand. "Okay." She took a deep breath and tried to maintain her calm composure. Her father's death was a tough topic. "I can understand why my dad seems detached to you."

The young woman pulled her cowl down so Barry could actually see her face. It didn't feel right to talk to him with her mask on. For the past few years she had strived to be as impersonal as possible, but now she felt like it was wrong to do so. Now she needed to be human, she needed to show some weakness.

"I was finishing up my senior year when my father died. I had gotten into Stanford and my promising future was finally within my reach. I was also Impulse at the time." Irey took another deep breath and fought off the tears pricking at her eyes. She briefly returned to her detached conviction in order to continue. "It was a sunny Friday afternoon. I remember him yelling at me. He told me to stay back. He told me to slow down. And then the next thing I remember is Bart's arms wrapping around me and then Jai started screaming."

The speedster's fingers trembled as she ran them through her dripping red locks. She could still hear her brother's screams. She could still feel her cousin's arms holding her back. Time could not erase the memory of that day. Now, as she revisited it the nightmare seemed as real as ever.

"To say I was devastated would be an understatement. My whole life had turned upside down. My father was one of my biggest role models and his absence left a gaping hole in my heart." Irey's voice was soft but steady.

She didn't notice how Barry had finally looked up. He studied her features carefully as he quietly listened her story. His eyes showed interest but his face remained blank.

"I spent years struggling to accept that he was gone." She admitted. The distance left her sullen eyes. "When he came back I was caught off guard. I didn't know how to feel or think. I was so angry and hurt that I didn't talk to him for a while. I avoided him and when we did run into each other I was less than hospitable." A small, bitter smirk curled up at the corner of her mouth. "It all seems a little ridiculous now."

"So what you're saying is that I'm lucky that Wally hasn't tried to drop kick me back into the speedforce?" Barry tried to lighten the mood as he came to a new understanding of things.

Irey caught on and grinned slightly. "I wouldn't take it that far, but you are fortunate that my father is taking things quite well."

"So I'm assuming that you're taking this quite well." The blonde speedster continued blandly.

Flash pursed her lips. "In a way I guess. I mean I'm shocked for sure but I never really knew you. I was six when you disappeared. I was used to your absence…I guess…"

Though her words sounded harsh Barry understood what she meant. He never really had the chance to know her as well. The twenty-some year old in front of him was not the hyper six year old he once knew. Her eyes were the same, but at the same time they were darker, wiser, tired. Her hair was still a curly mess though she no longer put bows in it. Irey had grown into a young woman. It was a little hard for the elder speedster. He never had the chance to see his grand niece grow up.

Barry tried not to blame himself for her tragedies and shortcomings but it was hard not to. He felt that if he had survived things would be different, better. Though he knew that that had happened was fate. He could not change the past and fix things. He had to ignore his guilt and move on. As shocking as everything had been he needed to get back up on his feet and continue moving forward.

"Well," the older Flash smiled slightly and grabbed his grandniece's hand. "I guess I got a lot to catch up on." He was still not over what had happened during his absence, but he was beginning to accept it.

Irey nodded and swung her legs back onto the soggy bridge. She stood up and offered a helping hand to Barry. "Are you ready to go back?"

The blonde speedster yanked on his cowl and allowed the redhead to pull him to his feet. His joints ached and he wondered if that was what it felt like to be old. It would not be long before his age caught up to him. "Thanks." He said quietly.

"Welcome." Irey murmured as she tried to wrangle her unruly hair under her scarlet cowl. It was much easier when she was not soaking wet.

While Barry waited for the younger speedster he got a better look of his surroundings. "This place hasn't changed that much." He mused.

"It's probably the only place you'll recognize." The youngest scarlet speedster snorted. "Everything else has been redone, made-over or torn down. Welcome to the modern era."

Barry chuckled a little bit. "Think your Father has called the League yet?" It was a well-intended remark but it caused Irey to stop dead in her tracks. She had forgotten about Clark and M'gann. "Is something wrong?" The blond speedster asked, bewildered.

"Nothing. It's nothing," She waved it off and turned to walk off of the bridge. "We gotta get going."

Barry gave her a perplexed look but said no more. Irey took off at a slow pace and he followed. After the conversation they had she was unusually quiet. Something now troubled the Flash, but he let it be. She remained quiet the entire way back to her apartment. Because Irey was no longer interested in conversation Barry occupied himself by taking in his surroundings. He barely recognized the cities that he had grown up in. It was like he was in a whole different world.

Life for a speedster was about moving forward. Catching up was a strange and challenging task for someone so used to going through life at breakneck speeds. Barry had spent most of his life moving forward but now he had to stop in his tracks and look back into a past that was not all that pleasant. Everything had changed and while Barry was not yet okay with it he knew that one day he would be.

So? What did you think? Is it okay? Im a little rusty so let me know if I missed any errors. I'll fix those right away. There are only a few chapters left before the big finale so things are about to get intense. I'm really curious to see what you guys think is going to happen next. I'm also open to suggestions. I would also like to thank The Almighty Leprechaun for getting my ass back to writing. (Y'all should check out her fabulous works if you like spitfire or AU's) and the lovely Forensanthro for her supreme editing services. I know I'm a bad author for not updating in 9 months but can any of you find it in your hearts to give me some feedback? Constructive criticism is welcomed, just don't be a jerk because that's not cool. Thank you for reading. I will try to update soon. :)