New Justice: Crisis of the League
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Cause and Effect
"What's exactly is going on here?" Kara asked as she walked into her living room.
Rae was there with Prime Barry, both having had white boards up and papers on the floor. They both had plates in front of them with half eaten things Kara could not identify. That was when Kara suddenly noticed the little blonde girl running to her at superspeed calling 'mama!'.
"Wrong mama, Skye," Barry said, but smiled as Kara picked the girl up, not seeming to complain. "We're going over worlds we know and what we know of the speedsters there – just in case the speed force sends us there. We've got to be prepared."
"It's been a while since your last mission," Kara mused, holding Skye still. "I think you two are going stir crazy waiting."
Before either could answer the door opened and in came Laurel.
"Kara!" Laurel said and then paused. "Rae, Barry?" She frowned at Barry.
"Prime Barry," Barry supplied, and she nodded, getting it.
"Can I help you?" Kara asked as Barry got up to take Skye away from Kara; Clarky moving over to sniff the girl, who pet the dog happily. Laurel momentarily smiled at the scene before turning her attention back to Kara.
"Yeah… you one time offered me that you could make me and Oliver a child using our artificial wombs," Laurel stated.
"Yeah, but I thought you said you were happy with Arthur as your son?" Kara pointed out.
"Of course, I am, but I know one day Arthur will have return to Atlantis to be King. And I love him, but I know that's his destiny. But with Sara having Katie and you two going to have a child I…. well, I want one of my own. With Oliver," Laurel explained.
"Isn't your Oliver dead?" Barry asked, Rae slapping him to silence as they watched the scene with interest.
"Do you have a piece of his DNA?" Kara asked Laurel, as if Barry hadn't interrupted.
"That's the one problem. I can't find any," Laurel said and turned to Rae. "So, I was wondering if… well, would you go to the past and get some?"
"You want me to time travel?" Rae asked, seeming shocked. Clarky gave a bark as if getting his mistress's confusion. "That's the biggest speedster no-no. Something the speed force hates us doing. And while I am working for the speed force..."
"It would just be a little trip," Laurel said.
"Laurel, I'll go through my stuff, see if I have an old outfit or something with some DNA on it – and check Watchtower. There might be something there," Rae said, getting up to move over to Laurel. "Worst comes to worst, we'll ask a multiverse Oliver to contribute some DNA. But I'm not time traveling. It's too dangerous." Rae gave a Laurel a pat, calling Clarky to her and then ran out to look for the DNA.
"But it wouldn't be my Oliver…" Laurel mumbled to the last comment.
"Powie!" Skylar added sadly now Clarky was gone, and Barry chuckled, picking up his daughter who called all dogs Powie currently.
"When you say DNA…?" Barry asked, unfamiliar with the artificial wombs – he knew Kara and Rae were expecting, with a baby growing in one, but was unsure how it all worked.
"Any sort of DNA," Kara supplied simply, "blood, hair, skin…"
"Oh, so not… you know… sperm?" Barry asked.
"Technically you could use sperm, but you don't need to with these machines," Laurel added. "They combine two strands of DNA to make an animal – or in this case, a human. Its why Kara and Rae have been able to create Leona."
"Oh," Barry bit his lip, an idea coming to him at this, "You know… my relationship with the speed force isn't as good as Rae's. One more little trip to the past to get a bit of DNA won't be too harmful."
"Really?" Laurel grinned now, and Barry gave a nod – he was shocked by the hug Laurel gave him. "Thank you!"
"No problem, I do need a date to go to though. The day he died?" Barry asked.
"No," Kara said instantly. "Rae was on scene right away. Your alternate made sure of that to make sure she discovered the bodies."
"And even going into Flashtime wouldn't help," Barry said with a nod. "A speedster would sense that and speed up to find me."
"I've got an idea," Laurel said. "Not long after he, Roy and Thea joined the League, Oliver came home injured. He said it was a training accident gone wrong. You can easily get some blood from there."
"Was Rae at the session?" Barry asked.
"They joined the League at about the same time," Laurel confirmed and then had a thought. "But you are about the same height and weight as Roy..." Barry raised an eyebrow and then got what Laurel wanted.
"It won't affect the timeline?" Barry asked.
"Nothing but that training happened there, and I think Roy can miss one session," Laurel said. "He never mentioned it…"
"Let me get some equipment. Give me the details of where and when to go," Barry said with a nod. "Can you look after Skye?"
"Of course," Laurel grinned as Barry handed his daughter over, who looked up at Laurel in curiosity.
-New Justice-
Almost 10 Years Ago.
Barry came out on the street and ran fast into the apartment that Laurel had told him to go to, finding Roy there changing into his Arsenal suit and Barry was fast taking out a needle he brought and shoving it into his neck; Roy was unconscious in a matter of seconds.
"Sorry Roy," Barry muttered, dragging Roy to the bed. "You'll wake up feeling refreshed," he added, feeling guilty at what he had done but knowing why he had done it. He then took the suit off Roy and put it on himself, grabbing the eye mask and putting that on too.
It was easy to get to the Arrow Cave where Oliver and Thea were waiting.
"You're nearly late Roy!" Thea said with a coy smile.
"Um… sorry?" Barry said, vibrating his vocal cords so his voice was not recognized.
"Something wrong with your voice?" Oliver asked with a confused look.
"Oh, a cold," Barry said, pretending to cough. "I'll be fine."
"Well come on," Thea said as she opened up the zap tunnel. "Never gets old right." Thea gave a smile at that as the three went through the zap tunnel; Barry paused at where they exited – he had never seen this place before on New Justice as it seemed to be some type of training ground.
"Hey," Barry recognized the voice and saw Rae was sitting on some barrels – she was a lot younger than Barry had ever known her, but he knew the old outfit. She was wearing her goggles and had her helmet in her hands. He hesitated at seeing her, wondering if she'd recognize another speedster. "So, what's up with a training session? Why'd you call me here?"
"Well, we figured since the four of us are the newest members," Oliver said having a smirk on his face. "We should get some training in. So how about you run out that way and then come back at me?"
"And then?" Rae asked, raising eyebrow.
"Then you'll get hit by an arrow," Oliver said, and Barry knew what this was as he rolled his eyes; Oliver had done it to him after.
"Want to bet?" Rae asked with a laugh, putting her helmet on. "50 dollars."
"Sure," Oliver said with a nod and Rae ran out fast.
Barry took a breath as Rae ran back at them, able to see her clearly due to his own speed. Oliver pointed at arrow at her and then fired it; Rae catching it before it hit her, but instead of bragging she started vibrating. Barry heard the hidden trap Oliver had set up go off and the arrow went for Rae, but they went right through her, then hit right into Oliver, causing the man to fall down. The arrows in his side as he cried out.
"Go Rae," Barry mumbled, trying to hide his smirk. She'd been at this since she was 13 after all and had been a speedster all her life – Barry knew she'd be more impressive than he.
"What did you just do?" Oliver yelled out as Barry went to help, sneakily taking out a vial he had brought to the past with him he took some blood in it then helped bandaged the wound with bandage Thea had supplied.
"You owe me 50 bucks," Rae said, toying with the arrow she caught.
"You underestimated the Flash…" Barry didn't recognize the voice, but he turned around to find a man in a black suit with bat ears – he'd never met the Batman of his world, but figured this had to be the infamous vigilante. "Flash has been at this longer than you. She was also a unanimous vote. You were not. You'd do well not to underestimate teammates."
"How could you have possibly known I had hidden that here?" Oliver asked Rae though, getting up. He not letting a wound get the best of him. Barry was looking down so that Rae didn't see him, making sure the mask was on properly.
"Besides how cocky you were?" Rae said. "These goggles are not just decorations. They see a lot more than anyone else – I saw those traps instantly," Rae laughed and then paused. "Frankie, what's up?" Rae asked, clearly into a com. "Who's there? Frost? The ice meta? Okay, I'll be back soon."
"Flash," Batman nodded, stopping her before Rae ran off. "Something going on?"
"Frost, the ice meta hero is in Central-National," Rae said. "She wants some help. Going to go hear her out."
"Frost is not in the Justice League. Be careful," Batman said.
"Sure, thing Bruce," Rae said. "But she is a hero and you all worked with me before I became part of the League," Rae pointed out before she left and Barry let out a sigh of relief – Rae was the only one who could possibly recognize him.
"You three should probably get more practice in," Batman said before turning and leaving. Oliver pulled a face and mumbling before telling them to go back to their base.
-New Justice-
Back at the Arrow base of operations, Barry excused himself saying he wanted to get home because of the cold. The others didn't give him a second glance as he moved out to the elevator and then out of the building.
Once clear, he started to run – he had to return the outfit to Roy and then go home. But, before he reached the apartment, someone ran into him and pushed him up against a building in an alley.
"Nice outfit Barry," it was Rae's voice and Barry was monetarily worried, but then noticed this wasn't the young one – the outfit was the new one and she was clearly not a teenager anymore. "I felt you the moment you time traveled," Rae answered Barry's confusion. "Took me a moment to figure out when… My world after all. What exactly were you thinking?"
"I was just getting a little blood," Barry said, holding up the vial of blood he had taken from Oliver. "No harm, no fowl."
"That depends. Where's Roy?" Rae asked.
"Oh, I just gave him a little sleeping drug. He'll be out until morning," Barry said.
"You did what?!" Rae asked, taking a step back.
"Why is it such a big deal?" Barry asked, taking down the hood now they were alone.
"Because Roy saves my life tonight!" Rae hissed at Barry, shocking the man.
"No… but Kara and Laurel said nothing happens tonight," Barry remembered.
"And of course, they didn't check Justice League systems to confirm that," Rae said, rolling her eyes. "There was no news on it. We kept it hush."
"What happened?" Barry asked, dread in his voice.
"Ramsey Rosso," Rae said and saw the confusion. "Never heard of him, I see. He's the son of the woman who was Crystal's mentor. He experimented with his blood and the metamorphosis to make his blood this… black-goo-thing." Barry raised an eyebrow. "He was impossible to kill or hurt. He could control his blood and then infect others. He called them his Blood Brothers and Blood Sisters, but they were really enslaved zombies. He came to Central-National to get the device from STAR that spread the metamorphosis over the world. Putting his blood into it would have made the world…"
"His slaves," Barry finished, his mind working fast as Rae explained all this – and Rae nodded. "Where does Roy come into this?"
"Crystal had some type of light thing that would stop the blood and turn Ramsey back to normal. I agreed to help her with it. Our plan was working it seemed and then it wasn't. The blood came out and he attacked me to kill me. But Team Arrow had decided to come after I showed them up at the training; Roy was first there, and he shot an exploding arrow at Ramsey. It stopped the attack. I should have been infected with the blood, but my speed healing healed me."
"And?" Barry asked, hanging off of Rae's words.
"And we figured the reason the light didn't work is because it couldn't wipe out every little bit of the blood as the blood would regeneration. But the light, plus my blood, should work. We beat him to STAR and cured Ramsey. The Blood Brothers and Sisters went back to normal and had no memory of anything. Ramsey had to be hospitalized… I think he's still in a hospital, actually."
"Okay, so considering you still remember Roy saving you… maybe he wakes up early? Thea might…" Barry started.
"No," Rae shook her head. "We're still in play right now. No changes to the timeline we made our set. If we're going to make sure my history stays the same, we need to stay here now." Barry raised an eyebrow. "Because if we leave and things change, the paradox will cut through the time line breaking not one but two time loops which will then cause this Earth to break under the pressure and die with you and Skye still on it."
"Time loops?" Barry asked. "No one mentioned time loops! How did you let time loops get made?"
"My Barry and Wally had a lot to do with it," Rae groaned.
"Why does no one tell me anything? Barry groaned to this.
"Look you're going to have to be Roy again," Rae stated. "I'll go keep an eye on me and Crystal."
"Rae!" Barry said quickly, making Rae stop. "I can't shoot an arrow."
"Oliver and Thea can," Rae said after a moment. "Make sure they get ahead of you. Just make sure they go." Barry gave a nod, pulling the hood back over himself again and heading back for the Arrow bunker as Rae ran towards Central-National.
"Roy?" Thea said as Barry walked back in. "We thought you were heading home?"
"Decided to stay," Barry said, vibrating his vocal cords.
"You sure man? You don't sound good," Oliver said.
"Nah, I'm good," Barry said.
"Well good, we can use a tie breaker anyway," Thea said. "Oliver here wants to go to Central-National and butt into whatever Flash was doing with Frost; I say we should just leave her be."
"I say we're all the Justice League now," Oliver pointed out.
"And you just want to pay her back for one-upping you," Thea stated with a smirk.
"She was so smug," Oliver protested, and Barry tried not to laugh – he knew that feeling, sometimes he felt like he was several hundred steps behind Rae, the naturally born speedster and speed force's favorite, but it was just who she was.
"Ah, but you were a bit cocky yourself," Thea countered. "Before you had a reason to be."
"I think we should go," Barry interjected, making Thea look at her. "Just maybe see if she could use some backup?"
"Seriously?!" Thea rolled her eyes at Barry, annoyed at this.
"Hah. Well, Roy's on my side so suit up," Oliver said, opening a zap tunnel and heading through.
"We're already suited up!" Thea countered, following her brother as Barry sighed in relief following. It looked like Roy had sided with Oliver in the original timeline then.
-New Justice-
Rae lingered on top of a building., staying low as she spied on herself and Crystal.
She remembered the meeting fondly. This day was more important for other reasons as well – it was one of the first bonding moments inside the League. Clark and Diana had already been mentors to her, as had some of the other League, but this was a true friendship forming. She and Crystal had gotten along from the word go, and this was the time her and Team Arrow truthfully bonded too.
Rae watched as they shined the light on Ramsey – everything was happening as her memory said it should right now: The private location with the plan seeming to work; then Ramsey and his Blood Brothers and Sisters turning up; he shaking off Crystal's attack, and sending his blood-goo at Rae as he knocked Crystal away.
"Barry…?" Rae whispered as the exploding arrow didn't show in time.
But she didn't have to wait long as Oliver came into view, Thea and Barry pretending to be Roy behind him. Oliver sent the exploding arrow which knocked Ramsey off Rae; Crystal had gained her bearing and sent ice out as her and Team Arrow fought Ramsey and the Blood Brothers and Sisters.
"Come on…" Rae moaned, noticing her past self was still on the ground and the fighting had moved away, so Rae ran down to herself.
"No this is a lot worst than it should be…" Rae took a breath and then light appeared around her hand, she putting her hands on her past self to give herself a speed boost – and Rae saw it working, the wound healing…
Rae ran back on top of the building before her past-self had gained consciousness.
"That was close." Rae mumbled. "Now it's up to them."
-New Justice-
Barry was fighting but trying hard to make it look like he was using the bow as a physical weapon – it seemed safer than to try to use the bow and arrow, or his speed when the past Rae could sense his speed.
That was when past Rae ran onto the scene and used her helmet to send out a vibration that knocked the Blood Brothers and Sisters away.
"Where did he go?" Rae asked, referencing Bloodwork.
"Probably heading for STAR," Crystal said.
"And what are you three doing here?" Rae asked, looking at Thea, Oliver, and Barry. "I didn't ask for backup!"
"Well we decided to see if you needed help," Thea said.
"You're upset I outsmarted you," Rae said, and Barry nearly laughed; Rae was fast on it.
"It's lucky you did or else we…" Oliver started.
"Well, I thank you for the timely arrow." Rae was quicker than Oliver could reply and put an arm around him, kissing his cheek.
"Well… you're welcome?" Oliver said, seeming embarrassed.
"Sorry… but how are you not dead or one of the mindless drones of Ramsey?" Crystal spoke up to Rae.
"Speed healing," Rae said turning to Crystal. "My body must have rejected the blood."
"This didn't work because we could not get rid of the blood completely all at once. But it did lessen it… what if we use the light and somehow get your blood into him?" Crystal theorized.
"Frankie is agreeing that could work," Rae said with a nod, Frankie obviously in her ear from this comment.
"But we need to get to STAR – fast," Crystal said.
"Fast is sort of my thing. You three in?" Rae asked.
"Absolutely," Barry said quickly. He had to see this through now.
"Going to put in a message for the rest of the League," Thea said, and Rae gave a nod before running, taking people one-by -one to STAR. It was different for Barry to be run by someone – weirder than running himself – but he was glad Rae didn't pay attention to his face this close up, or his exposure to the speed force this way didn't alert Rae to his presence.
"Hey Roy, you didn't get sick this time?" Rae commented as they stopped, and Barry blinked. On his Earth it was always Diggle getting sick, but he guessed here Roy did.
"He's got a cold," Thea joked, punching Barry playfully on the shoulder as she said this. Rae shrugged at this, looking around to STAR Labs behind them – she hadn't taken them directly inside, just outside for protection.
"Flash?" Barry turned automatically but backed away quickly. He recognized Harrison Wells, who seemed different to his Wells and next to him was a female Barry didn't know. "Arrow, Speedy, Arsenal, and the Frost?"
"HR, HP," Rae said with a nod to them. "If STAR has any advance security measures, I would activate them now, if I were you."
"Oh, something to add into my new book?" HR said, using his drum sticks to hit an imaginary drum.
"I'm on it," HP Wells said, the two going back into the building.
"I sent an alert out to the rest of the League," Thea said; she had a communicator in her hand and Barry noticed around the lab a blue force field surrounding it. He knew his STAR Labs had similar defensive techniques so tried to look surprised at this.
"I don't think they will get here in time," Frost gasped, and Barry turned. Heading toward them was this Ramsey guy. Now he got a proper look at him, Barry noticed his veins and eyes were jet black and he looked like an absolute monster – he had many people with him, who also had the black veins and indeed, looked like zombies.
"The people with Ramsey are innocent," Crystal added. "They have no control on what they are doing."
"We need to get to Ramsey," Rae said, and Barry saw a shadow of the older Rae he knew in this younger one – she wasn't ready to take charge yet though as she turned to Oliver. "Any ideas?"
"We'll distract them. Some more exploding arrows should do the trick," Oliver nodded at Thea and Barry and Barry, who had to hide a groan as Barry took out an arrow and held the bow, trying to look his most professional. "We'll buy you two the time to get to the main guy."
Oliver aimed an arrow and hit in front of the ground of some of the Blood Brothers and Sisters, the exploding knocking some back and deterring others. Thea following suit; Barry took an arrow and aimed, his arm shaking a bit, but the arrow exploded long before it hit its target.
"Arsenal!" Oliver yelled at Barry at that. "Aim better!" Barry took out another arrow and sent it out – instead of exploding when it hit into the people, some type of sticky stuff surrounded them, entrapping them. Barry impressed himself. "Wrong arrow, but not a bad idea…."
Rae had taken Frost and the two worked their way, using Rae's speed, to Ramsey, separating him from his zombies.
"You should be one of mine," Ramsey said, pointing at Rae.
"Too bad for you I have a greater force than your blood running through my veins," Rae said, a familiar smirk on her face. She was having fun with this.
"She needs to not treat this like a game," Barry heard Oliver groan, who had noticed Rae's smirk too and Barry tried not to laugh – that was never going to happen for this Rae.
"You can't stop me! My blood will heal the world. I will stop death," Ramsey said, and Crystal shined the Light on him, the Light starting to take away the blood. "Hah! That will never work…"
"Maybe not alone," Rae said, cutting her hand and then ran, phasing through Ramsey but leaving blood inside of him.
"What did you do?" Ramsey asked, suddenly falling to his knees. Crystal was still shining the Light on him and that, plus Rae's blood, seemed to be doing the trick. He seemed to lose consciousness at this, and then all his Blood Brothers and Sisters stopped, too – the black in their own veins going away as they started to regain their humanity.
"Why do they always have to lose consciousness?" Crystal asked, frowning down at Ramsey now as she turned off the Light.
Before anyone could answer, Superman, Wonder Woman, Red Tornado, and Batman showed up – almost at the same time.
"Sorry, guys, a little too late," Rae said; she still had a smirk on her face.
"I'm going to take him to a hospital," Crystal said after a moment – she had been checking over Ramsey now while HR and HP had come back out and were helping the confused people. Barry could hear a fake story being made already. This would be sweep under the rug.
"I think we need some explanation," Batman said, arms folded.
-New Justice-
Barry found himself in New Justice's Watchtower, sitting down and looking at a screen to keep his face hidden as the entire original League was there. Rae and Oliver took the lead, explaining what had happened that night and once they were done, there was silence for a moment.
"It seems you did a good job," Clark said, putting an arm around Rae and bringing her into a hug. Rae laughed at that; a smile on her face that made Barry smile under his mask as she played with the man who was her mentor.
"I agree," Batman said. "Maybe next time though, hit the button to call us a little sooner."
"Sure," Rae waved him off at this. "What about Frost though? She's been a hero for a while. She alerted me when she came into my cities for help. It seems she deserves some recognition."
"We'll put a note to her in the file for this," Batman said. The tone in his voice made Barry shake his head – he didn't like this man at all; he was way too serious, too cautious. He doubted very much if any of Rae's New Justice League would have made it in if Batman had still been around. Hell, he doubted Batman would have allowed many of his own Prime JSA in either.
"We have talked about adding her to the League before," Diana spoke up. "It might be time to revisit that?"
Batman looked around at the group, his face unreadable.
"Not to night. We'll discuss this in a new meeting. We have to decide if she meets all our recommendations to be added to the League," Batman explained, diving into a speech about what was needed to get into the League – something he doubted Rae even remembered for her League as Barry himself ignored most of it.
Once they were finally dismissed – which seemed like a lifetime with Batman droning on – Barry went to move off with Oliver and Thea, but paused as Oliver grabbed Rae's attention, who moved over to him with a pleasant smile on her face.
"What's up, Olly?" Rae asked pleasantly, Barry keeping well back so that he wasn't recognized, but close enough to overhear what Oliver and Rae were saying.
"Today, after taking on my traps and then facing off Ramsey… you seem to treat everything like a game," Oliver stated, and Rae's eyes slightly steeled over at this, but she said nothing as he continued. "I know you got into the League for your talent, your abilities, and hell, even your youthful prowess, but one day it won't be a game. One day you need to take this seriously."
"I always take this seriously," Rae stated, this time deadly serious herself.
"You just… have a lot to learn kid," Oliver sighed.
"I think you have a bit to learn Olly. I have been at this longer than you. I have fought way bigger enemies than Ramsey," Rae shot back at Oliver giving him a smirk. "It's either you find the fun or you become Batman. Don't become Batman." Rae gave Oliver a playful push as Barry watched the scene.
"Rae will learn to be more serious in time," Barry muttered to himself sadly as Oliver said his goodbyes – Barry didn't quite remember the timeline, but knew Oliver, Thea and Roy himself would be dead, and Rae would be leading the League eventually. It was never a game, leading a League… but you had to have fun too.
Dismissing himself from Oliver and Thea the moment they got back to the Arrow headquarters, Barry sped back to the side alley where Rae had originally caught him and was pleased to find she was waiting for him.
"What is up with Batman?" Barry asked before she even said hello.
"He's one of a kind," Rae said, smirked. "The speech for letting people into the League?" She guessed.
"Yes," Barry nodded. "I don't think anyone I know has given that sort of speech. Karry's Kara and Barry haven't, me and Kara don't and as far as I'm aware, you don't."
"I don't remember half of what he said anyway," Rae laughed. "We have our own ways of dealing with the Justice League, that was his."
"So, what happens next?" Barry asked, moving on. He kind of curious what's going on after this adventure.
"Well Frost goes up for a vote and…" Rae paused thinking things over. "Roy needs to vote yes. Before we go home, we have to make a pitstop into tomorrow and let Roy know what happened while he slept."
"Kara and Laurel made this sound so simple…" Barry muttered to himself as Rae gave him a sideward glance.
"When has time traveling ever been simple?" Rae asked Barry.
"Good point," Barry said with a nod as they ran off.
-New Justice-
"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey," Rae said, holding the plate over Roy and shaking him. "How much did you give him?"
"Just enough to…" Barry paused as Roy groaned.
"Bacon?" Roy muttered, sniffing.
"I never lie about bacon," Rae said as Roy sat up taking the offered plate as he blinked at the two.
"Flash, what are you doing in my apartment?" Roy asked, it finally seeming to get across his mind this was not normal. "And did you get a new outfit… and age ten years overnight? Who is he?" Barry was in his normal speedster outfit now with the mask up. Roy's clothes folded neatly next to him on the bed.
"I'm not the Rae from this time period," Rae said making Roy frown. "Speedster can time travel; I am from about ten years in the future. See my friend here..." Rae didn't turn around as she pointed at Barry. "He time traveled and messed some things up –"
"Hey!" Barry protested.
"…so, he had to pretend to be you to fix it…" Rae added, without even acknowledging the interruption. And, as Roy ate his breakfast, Rae gave Roy a complete picture of what happened the night before.
"Okay, wow," Roy said as he put the plate down, taking the last piece of bacon and eating it. "Well thanks for letting me know. I think."
"Yeah, see there's another reason why we're talking. Frost, she's meant to get into the League but only gets in because me, you, Oliver, and Thea stuck together. You need to vote yes on her."
"Sure thing. No reason to go against Oliver and Thea this time," Roy said, and Rae frowned. "I'm guessing this is a keep-my-mouth-shut thing too."
"Yeah, you never saw us," Rae said with a smile and then hugged her old friend.
"Thanks for the breakfast," Roy said and then paused. "He pretended to be me the entire night and no one realized?" Rae nodded.
"Apart from the cold," Barry spoke up.
"Yeah, I need to make a miraculous recovery from that. But yeah, that's not concerning at all," Roy stated, a little worriedly as Rae laughed.
"Don't read too much into it. He kept a mask and hood on and pretended to have a cold. Did wonders to stop people not realizing he wasn't you," Rae said, and Roy nodded. "See you soon." Rae knew that was a lie on her end, but Roy would see the younger her shortly.
"That never gets old," Roy said as the two sped off.
-New Justice-
In the present day, Rae and Barry came back into the living room of the Kent house.
Kara, Laurel and Clarky, who Rae had obviously left in the present, were playing with Skye, who seemed to be enjoying it.
Clarky gave a bark and ran to Rae who pet him and then grabbed her tablet and did a quick speed-read.
"Good," Rae said after a moment. "Everything went as planned. Frost got into the League."
"Of course, she did," Laurel said, confused.
"We nearly messed that up," Barry said, but held out the vial of Oliver's blood. "But we did get this." Laurel grinned and hugged Barry again as she took the vial; Kara gave Skye to Barry as the two went up the stairs.
"Next time you want to mess around with timelines, mess around with your own," Rae said after they were gone; Rae having a feeling another womb was up there for Laurel and Oliver's kid to grow in.
"Been there, done that," Barry said with a smile. "Pissed off the speed force beyond belief. It's common for me. Anyway, I think Skye and I should get home."
"Hold on a second Barry," Rae said; seeing Oliver in person had brought back some things and she had to tell Barry about what she knew. "Do you remember after Joker and Harley blew up and I got knocked out?"
"No," Barry said, frowning.
"Oh, that was Karry Barry," Rae said after a moment.
"You really need to sort that out," Barry said. "Start a diary or something." Rae chuckled at this suggestion.
"Okay, the point being here I don't think I was really knocked out," Rae said, making Barry raise an eyebrow. "I had this… meeting. I thought it could be a dream, but I know that it was not now. It was Oliver, my Oliver. In purgatory." Barry sat down at that, frowning. "He said he has become something called the Spectre and that the multiverse is in great danger and that the friendships we made might be the only thing to save it. He talked about worlds being weak and how we had to strengthen the weak worlds – he even mentioned I would be called on a mission to do it."
"Sounds like our speed force missions," Barry said thoughtfully, and Rae nodded.
"There's more," Rae said, and Barry paused. "He said there are seven worlds that are special – and that a person on the world is a paragon and that my world is one of these worlds and I am one of the paragons."
"What's a paragon?" Barry asked.
"I don't know," Rae said truthfully. "It never made sense."
Barry hugged Skye close to him at this as he sighed. Crisis was coming at the worst possible time for all of them – Rae and Kara were having Leona; he and his Kara were still new at being parents… now this warning from New Justice's own Oliver.
"Crisis, speed force missions, a warning about speedsters dying, and now paragons," Barry sighed. "We really are going into the unknown now."
"There's not much more we can do but continue what we're doing," Rae said, and Barry agreed. "The speed force will tell us more."
"I just hope it's not too late," Barry stood at this.
"See you soon." Rae hugged Barry and kissed Skye. With that, Barry left to go back to Prime.
Post Chapter Note: Well, we hope you enjoyed this trip into New Justice's past. Prime Barry can't help but mess up the timeline and Sigma loved every moment of it.
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Karry Master OUT!