Chapter Twenty-Eight: Flash Forward:
Harry and Ginny took some time to check out some other business interests in Central City. The meeting went exactly as planned.
"You really went for the throat straight away, didn't you?" Ginny asked. "Offering someone such an extraordinary amount of money to essentially sell you total control of his life's work. What would you have done if he accepted the money?"
Harry pondered for a second and gave the most honest answer he could think of.
"I would have been pleasantly surprised he accepted my offer. I went in there just getting a feel of where he stands. Wells will be one to watch."
"Don't tell me you think he's up to something," Ginny said.
"Well, most people are always up to something," Harry said. "The question is, is he up to something which can benefit my plans, or hinder them?"
Ginny frowned and thought about it. As usual, Harry had a good point. Their little tour prior to Harry's ill-fated return to the Ministry blossomed into some unique opportunities. And hell, Harry's return to the Wizarding World opened up a couple of more doors, even through the hellish journey paving the way there.
A piece of paper heated up in Ginny's pocket. The redhead fished through her pocket, and frowned.
"Megan's uncovered something interesting," Ginny said.
"Magic or mundane?" Harry asked.
"She says she needs to tell me in person to properly explain it," Ginny said. "You know, you have your spies back over there….and the Ministry has pretty much swept you underneath the rug."
"Hey, they have their own government to work for," Harry said. "But, I guess I better let you leave, if Megan says it's important, it's important."
"Right," Ginny said. She leaned in closer towards him, a shadow of a smile appearing on her lips. "Do you think you can stay out of trouble for a little bit?"
"Well, I'll see," Harry said. "Caitlin should be coming out here to meet me, and the two of us are going for our coffee."
"So, you're really taking her up on the coffee date?" Ginny asked.
"Yes, you know I'm always recruiting talent," Harry said. "If I hadn't been preoccupied the day I ran into her the first time, I would have swept her off of her feet."
"You were chasing those smugglers into the country," Ginny said. "And technically speaking, you weren't allowed to chase them because of Ministry law preventing you from going after anyone in the United States. ARGUS, or the magical branch, was supposed to take care of it."
"Technically, when have I listened to any authority other than my own?"
Ginny chortled at Harry's casual statement. When indeed had he listened to anyone's authority other than his own?
Harry smiled for a second and waited for Caitlin to make her way down the steps of STAR Labs. She arrived outside.
"Hi, Harry," Caitlin said.
"So, are you ready for the coffee date you waited five years ago?" Harry asked.
"You're never going to let me live it down, are you?" Caitlin asked.
"I'm sure you spent five long years thinking about…coffee," Ginny said, with a smile.
Caitlin sensed a last second word swap with coffee, but she couldn't put her finger on it why. The redhead beamed with so much energy Caitlin couldn't help, but feel energized just a little bit.
"So, are you coming with us?" Caitlin asked.
"As much as I'd like to be a threesome, I'm going to have to pass today," Ginny said. "Just, don't do anything I wouldn't do, okay?"
Ginny sauntered off and swayed her ass a little bit in the skirt she wore. The skirt stretched around her tight ass.
Caitlin shook her head. For being a heterosexual (most of the time) woman, she spent way too much time staring at her retreating ass. She turned around and found herself gazing into Harry's eyes for a few seconds.
"So, I have to ask you a question," Caitlin said.
"Depends on how personal it is," Harry said. "But, you never know, what I'll be open to answering, if you ask nicely."
Caitlin and Harry strolled away from STAR Labs. Harry took her arm and escorted her across the street.
"Well, is she open to a lot?" Caitlin asked.
"Yes, she's open to a lot," Harry said. "As I told you, we come from a culture which has a lot more open minded than many. Granted, we're really backwards about a lot of things, but one thing the culture I come from his oddly progressive about is sexuality. Humans have more hang ups than they should about sexuality."
Caitlin didn't necessarily disagree with him.
"So, you're with several women?" Caitlin asked.
"Yes," Harry said. "They pretty much know what they're getting themselves into. And they can back out any time if they feel uncomfortable."
"But, many choose not to, do they?" Caitlin asked.
"No, they don't," Harry said.
The two of them made their way into the coffee shop and ordered. The two of them sat side by side each other on the table.
"It's more than just a harem, even though I detest the term," Harry said. Caitlin frowned for a second.
"Why?"
"The term has certain preconceived notions I'd like to escape if I can," Harry said. "It's a collective, with an Alpha Male at the top of the heap."
"And no room for other men," Caitlin said.
"No," Harry said. "I've never tried to make other men look inferior if I could help it."
Caitlin thought it was one of the most direct answers Harry could give.
"The men who get jealous of men having so many women are those who couldn't even get one woman on their own," Harry said. "They expect everything to be given to them."
"They're among the weaker members of your culture, than," Caitlin said.
"To be fair, they exist in all cultures," Harry said. "And they're not just men. Some women have severe insecurity issues which are more trouble than they're worth."
Caitlin shuddered, having met women like Harry described in college. They wanted to be the center of attention and caused problems.
"Guess, you have some standards," Caitlin said. Harry raised his eyebrow. "Most people wrongly assume just because a person has multiple problems, they have no standards."
"The ones who throw themselves at me, are the ones you really have to watch out for," Harry said.
"Do you have any limits?" Caitlin asked.
"I'm not aware of any," Harry said. "In fact the longer I go, the stronger I get."
Caitlin's intrigue continued to build for a second. She looked over Harry. He spoke of his exploits casually. He didn't brag too much. He spoke in such a matter of fact manner, it almost excited Caitlin.
"Have you really tested yourself?" Caitlin asked.
"You know, I haven't," Harry said. "Are you willing to help me with such an experiment?"
Caitlin considered the thought for a moment. He causally gave her the offer. Their fingers intertwined underneath the table.
"Well, in the interest of science, I might need to take you up on the offer," Caitlin said. "But, I'm not sure if I can do it on my own."
"I wouldn't sell yourself short," Harry said. "You don't know what you're capable of until you actually do it. And….if you play your cards right, I might help you see what you're truly capable of."
Harry leaned towards her. He lifted his finger to her lips and wiped cream off of her lips. Caitlin shivered for a second.
"Because as interesting as you are about seeing what makes me tick, I'm just as interesting in seeing what makes all the women around me tick," Harry said. "And you're not exception."
Harry's pull almost drew Caitlin into his word. The brunette shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. The woman's heart skipped another beat.
"It's almost….."
Caitlin paused and checked herself for a second. Her mouth hung open.
"What?" Harry asked.
Caitlin took the plunge before she could help herself.
"It's almost like you have some kind of magnetic pull towards women….which makes me think you were far different from other people than a cultural barrier."
Harry raised his eyebrow. His hand settled itself daringly on her thigh. The heat started to pulse from her, by his mere touch.
"There's…theories there are things which can't really be explained by science," Caitlin said. "We wrap our heads around it, but there's no amount of explanation. What if there's life out there, unknown by the common person?"
"So, you think there's something unique about me?" Harry asked.
Caitlin closed her eyes and nodded. His fingers lingered close, but not too close. He shifted away from her.
"This is the second time I met you," Caitlin said. "What are you doing to me?"
"I don't know what you mean," Harry said.
He pulled his hand out from underneath the table .Caitlin squeezed her thighs together and tried to prevent the juices from spilling out. She took a deep breath, keeping it together.
Caitlin looked down for a moment, and tried to casually fold her arms. She covered her stiffening nipples.
"I think you need another cup of coffee, you look like you're cold."
The casual statement confirmed Caitlin's fear. No matter what, he was observant. He approached the table and grabbed the coffee
Caitlin frowned, and he returned
"Thank you," Caitlin said.
She took the coffee for a moment. Her flirting with him, as fun as it might be, caused her to be a fair bit enamored with him. Harry entered her mind, and wouldn't leave any time soon.
"Maybe I should take you back home, if you're cold," Harry said.
"Yes, we might be able to finish this up at my apartment," Caitlin said.
Dare she take the plunge? Were they rushing things? Was she overcomplicating a simple matter by thinking too much and second guessing?
'Now's not the time to act like such a frigid bitch.'
"I'd like to thank you for the coffee," Caitlin said.
Harry sensed her arousal. She didn't really have a prayer, did she? Harry smiled, and wondered if he should drag out her anguish a little bit, or take the plunge, in more ways than one.
Before he could properly contemplate what he wanted to do, something, or rather someone almost ran into him and Caitlin as they exited the lab.
Danica wished her mind became a bit more fluid. Thoughts rattled around in the back of her mind and she tried to piece them together like some demented patchwork. At least she wore some clothes where she looked less than conspicuous.
'Time travel, just wish I knew why I time traveled here. If I can figure out…things…I could….yeah.'
Her mind didn't slow down even though her powers did. It led to a rather jarring set of circumstances for her.
The name Harry popped into her mind suddenly. Almost like someone punched her in the back of the head. The woman buckled down, almost to one knee. Her breath quickened.
'Harry, Harry who….there could be a lot of different Harry's, who is Harry?'
The speedster from the future shook her head. Contrary to popular belief, shaking a person's head didn't clear their thoughts. It achieved a wonderful stabbing sensation in the back of her neck, along with some aching stiffness.
"I can't believe Harry Potter's in Central City. Do you think we could run into him?"
A light bulb went off in Danica's brain. She remembered the name Harry Potter. Who didn't know the name Harry Potter? He did….well she didn't remember what he did, and it was likely not ideal to think about it in the present time.
Regardless, she staggered forward and almost smacked into a couple exiting a coffee shot. A pair of strong hands reached out and prevented Danica from falling down onto the ground.
"Well, it's a weird way to meet women, unless it's only the second time it happened."
Danica shook her head. Strange, weird, and oddness, she recognized the voice to be honest. Her entire mind buzzed. Like a computer struggling to boot up, she filed through it.
She was so bedazzled with her attempt to figure out the voice, she barely had chance to acknowledge the dazzling green eyes in front of her. The young girl's mouth hung open.
"You're him, and you're….I'm so glad to meet you, well technically I've met you before, but this is the first time you've met me, so I'm really glad to meet you."
"Um, hello, I'm Harry Potter, are you okay?" Harry asked.
"Oh, I know, every woman from where I come from knows all about you," Danica said. "Some of them hope you appear in their bedroom and make all of their dreams come through."
Caitlin blinked for a second. A part of her wondered what the hell happened. Another part of her wondered if she wanted to know.
"And who are you?" Harry asked.
"My name is Danica, I've come a long way….a long, long way," she said. "You wouldn't believe how long I came."
"Why are you here, though?" Harry asked.
Harry decided to move her into an alleyway before they caused a scene. Caitlin raised her eyebrow for a second.
"Let me guess, you deal with this type of stuff every day?" Caitlin asked.
"Pretty much, I'm surprised nothing happened yet today," Harry said. "So, sorry, but I didn't want anyone to overhear us?"
"Yeah, I didn't think you wanted anyone to hear us as well, and….I don't want anyone to know I'm here," Danica said. "Especially him…the Reverse-Flash."
"The Reverse-Flash?" Caitlin asked.
"Oh, you know, the enemy of the Flash, the mortal nemesis of him, or is it her, I don't even remember," Danica said. She clapped her hand onto her mouth, gasping for a second.
"Let me guess, you weren't supposed to say anything," Harry said.
"No, oh, I just….crashed the time line even worse," Danica said. "Guess, it's a good thing I didn't tell you who the Reverse-Flash is. Mostly because I don't know."
Harry noticed the nasty bruise on the top of her head. She hit her head on something.
"I guess our date got cut short," Caitlin said.
"Oh, the two of you…sorry for messing this up," Danica said. "I didn't mean to…"
"Relax, you couldn't have known," Caitlin said. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I think you should get home, and I'll check up with you later," Harry said.
Caitlin almost protested, but she understood right away when Harry gave her a look.
"I'd appreciate if you wouldn't tell anyone this," Harry said. "Give me a chance to get this sorted out."
"Oh, yes, I won't…but are you going to explain…."
"Once I figure out what's going on, I'll tell you," Harry said.
Caitlin's worst fears confirmed themselves. She watched Danica shuffle her feet. Turning around, she tried to give the younger girl a reassuring smile.
"So, do you still have the lab in Central City?" Danica asked.
Harry looked at her with a surprised look. He just arranged to set up shop here, buying out an area. He finished moving in everything just days ago, but it was a hush-hush thing.
"Um, spoilers?" Danica asked.
Harry nodded in response. Wherever she came from, Harry hoped nothing else followed her through the portal. He could take care of anything which followed her through the portal, granted, but Danica's arrival caused a big enough headache as is.
"I'll see you later," Harry said.
"Call me if you need anything," Caitlin said. "And…good luck, I think."
"You think?" Harry asked. "Indecision is not becoming you."
"Oh, I can be pretty decisive when I want to be."
Caitlin leaned forward, surprised at her own actions. She pressed her lips against Harry's with a kiss. Her moist lips met his, for about ten seconds. She pulled away for a second.
"I agree, you can be very decision," Harry said.
"What did I just do?" Caitlin asked.
"I believe you just kissed him," Danica said.
"I'm sorry, if I seemed a little bit forward….."
"No, you followed your instincts," Harry said. "And you did what you wanted to do. Don't be sorry for doing what you want to do."
Caitlin shook her head. Kissing some guy she barely knew, who she met three times, she wondered what got into her. But, maybe she needed a change in her life, which had been very mundane and by the numbers so far.
Danica tried not to smile. Foreknowledge of the future, scatter brained as it might have been, wasn't needed to see what happened coming a mile away.
The energy created by the Flash's arrival left a trail. While her arrival went mostly unnoticed by the people in Central City, the arrival of the person who followed her seconds later out of the portal went anything, but unnoticed.
A cackling of energy erupted. The civilians watched an imposing figure dressed in black exit the portal. The figure exited, and looked around. Raising his gauntlet, he activated a few buttons.
"The early 21st century, a rather primitive time," the man said. "Humans immersed in pop culture, uncaring about the problems in their world. Political corruption at a high on this planet, although not the high, and technology being flashy without little substance."
The man raised his hand. A wall vaporized simply because it was in his way. He ambled forward, into the city.
"A city ripe to be taken over," the hooded figure said. "Central City, the birthplace of the Flash, and the Flash's legacy has been a thorn in my side."
Central City predated the Flash, in fact, he wouldn't exist for another five years.
"There wouldn't be a Flash when I'm through. The city will be mine, and they will bow down to a new ruler. And any who defy me will be crushed."
He studied the speaking patterns of 21st century supervillains as a student of the game. He had them down pretty pat, if he had to say so himself.
X-X-X
Danica entered the lab. Her eyes widened. Sure the lab wasn't too advanced, but still, as far as nostalgia's concerned, it would be extremely impressive.
"Wow, I can't believe it," Danica said. "To think, this lab would be one of the most state of the art locations for scientific achievements, but it's just a baby, right now….and you're barely moved in…but you don't need equipment, do you?"
"It helps though," Harry said. "I take it you know about my powers, don't you?"
"Um, yeah, a little bit," Danica said. She started to bounce around, but stopped, realizing how it made her look.
Harry took notice she didn't wear a bra underneath her tight top. He filed it away as pretty interesting, but Harry need not forget while they were here. Actually, he couldn't forget, because he didn't really know.
"So, I'm from the future," Danica said. "I remember it now, my name is Danica….can't remember my last name…but it's not important. The least you know about your future, the better, trust me on it."
Danica shuddered for a few seconds. Harry grabbed the woman's hand.
"But, anyway, I came from the distant future, about….oh the 31st century or so," Danica said. "I came to stop the Reverse-Flash from going back in time, for him to be able to enact his plans against the Flash. I'm not sure what he plans to do, but….he's sworn a vendetta to kill the Flash and corrupt everything he stands for. And wipe him out of existence eventually….but he doesn't understand the paradox he might create."
"There needs to be a Flash, for a Reverse-Flash to exist," Harry said.
"So, if the Flash never existed, it means the Reverse-Flash never existed. If the Reverse-Flash didn't exist, then he couldn't go back in time to make the Flash not exist. But, if the Flash existed, the Reverse-Flash existed, which means the Reverse-Flash could wipe him out of the timeline. But if the Reverse-Flash doesn't exist, then he can't go back and wipe the Flash out, so the Flash would…."
Danica's mind ran around in circles, but never quite reached the destination point. Harry decided to take pity and help her reach the motion.
"So to summarize, the Reverse-Flash causes the timeline to collapse upon itself, because of a logic fallacy."
"Um, yeah, makes sense to me," Danica said. "Thanks for explaining it far better than I ever could."
"Thanks for reminding me how much I detest time travel," Harry said.
Danica flashed a cheesy little smile at him and shook her head.
"It can be rather hard to wrap your head around," Danica said. "But, anyway, if the Reverse-Flash succeeds in wiping out Flash-Prime, I can't be, because….well, I'm the Flash of the 31st century."
Danica almost slapped herself in the face.
"Oh shit, Spoilers."
"Yes," Harry said. "You don't have to tell me who, but do you have any clue who the Flash is?"
"No," Danica said. "My memory's still kind of crashed from the timeline. Borked all of the mode."
"So, your brain's fried?" Harry asked.
"Didn't I just say it? Do you think you can jog my memories?"
Harry had a few ways to trigger her memories, but he would have to run some tests. And he would need some help in doing it.
"Oh, and did I mention I lost my powers because the Speed Force which their tied to hasn't been created yet?"
Harry thought it would be wise. He racked his brain with a few ideas.
"How did it get created?"
"There was lightning involved, I think," Danica said. "An immense burst of power….oh of course, I know now….you have the ability to restore lost powers!"
"I….what?" Harry asked.
"Well, unless they're rooted in magic, for some reason, you can't restore powers rooted in magic," Danica said. "Bit cheap, I know, but hey, you can't have everything."
A few more memories flooded back to Danica. She rose to her feet and threw herself into Harry's arms.
"And if you bond me to you, it could create the charge to restore my powers, Speed Force, or not," Danica said. "And it isn't the first time we've done this, well is for you, but not for me, because this worked before. Why wouldn't it work now?"
Harry raised his eyebrow. She kissed him fiercely on the lips. Harry wrapped his arms around her. His hands explored her body, cupping her ass on the way down.
"If it works, great," Danica said. "If it doesn't, well, I get laid while I'm back in time. And I wouldn't be the first woman to go back in time for a booty call from you."
Danica realized what happened. She almost opened her mouth, but Harry responded by kissing her again. His tongue found hers, and his hands touched her ass. She backed off for a few seconds.
"We're going to have to create a lot of energy for this work," Danica said. "So, don't hold back, okay?"
Harry looked at her, with an amused look on his face. He could have laughed, but he decided not to.
"If you're thinking I'm going too fast, don't worry, it's kind of my thing."
Danica groped Harry, smiling when she felt him reacting to her touch. The nineteen year old depowered speedster started to stroke Harry.
"Well, if you want energy, I can give you plenty."
"It's want I want," Danica said. "It's what I need."
To Be Continued.
