OK, here we are again! Thanks everyone for your patience and reviews, as always. So, yes, those familiar with the Flash show will notice that this is an adaptation of what, to me, was one of their best-ever episodes, though hopefully it should make sense to those who haven't watched the show. This chapter also introduces a certain comics-unique character I found while trawling through TVTropes and was fascinated by, as well as a very important other being...
Barry woke up.
That in and of itself was a bit of surprise; so far as he'd expected anything, he hadn't expected to wake up at all. Or, if he had, to wake up in the TARDIS' medical bay or some futuristic hospital. Barry brought his hands up and swiveled his head to one side…and then processed where he was. He was in bed. His bed, in his bedroom. His model rocket on the shelf, Arthur, Orrin, and Mera the fish in their tank, posters on the walls…
In his time with the Doctor, Barry had learned never to trust appearances. Police boxes could be dimensionally transcendental space-time machines, snarky Northern dudes with big ears could be alien heroes, and a unicorn could actually be the alien king of a far-off solar system (long story). Getting up, he took stock. Everything seemed to be present and functional, but he still felt…weird. Ever so slightly off.
Only one thing for it, he thought, and headed downstairs.
In the living room, curled up in her favorite comfy chair with a cup of Jitters coffee, was…
"Mom?" he breathed, and for just a moment was a ten-year-old boy again.
"It's good to see you, Barry," the woman smiled. "But I'm not your mom."
"Yeah, I'd figured that, thanks," Barry noted, looking around. Everything seemed the same, and yet still off, in a way he couldn't quite figure out. "What happened to me?"
"You were about to fall into the Void, but we brought you here."
"Yeah, and where is here? And why does it look like my old house?"
"We thought you'd feel more comfortable talking to someone familiar, in a place you knew," Not-Nora explained.
"We? Who's we, exactly?"
"That's a little…hard to explain," she—or it—sighed. "Sit, Barry."
They sat together, Barry perched on the edge of the couch.
"Relax, Barry," Not-Nora ordered, sighing. "Has the Doctor ever told you about the Speed Force?"
"Um…a little. It's the source of my powers, right? What makes me a speedster?"
"Yes! And no."
"Thanks," Barry rolled his eyes. "Big help."
"Okay then," she leaned forward. "When the first subatomic particle sprang forth from the Big Bang to form reality as you know it, we were there. When the last proton decays, stops vibrating, and plunges the universe into heat death, we'll be there too. We are beyond the universe you know. An energy unlike any in the physical realm."
Barry sat back in his chair. "So, I'm talking to an extradimensional energy force, the source of my powers, that just so happens to look like my mom. Isn't that like saying I'm having a conversation with gravity, or light, or…That's trippy."
The Speed Force chuckled. "We pretty much invented trippy here."
"So what do you want with me?"
"We rescued you, Barry. You were about to fall into the Void."
"Uh…thanks, I guess."
"You need a minute? It's okay if you do. It's a lot to take in."
"Yeah."
Barry sat back, running a hand through his hair. "Why me?"
"Because of your heart," she told him. "Once you unlock your full potential, you will be mighty indeed. It takes not just a great man to wield the power of the Speed Force, but a good one."
"Which is where I come in," said a voice, and Barry wheeled around to see a tall, well-built man stepping through the door.
"Hello, Barry. My name is Max Mercury. I'm here to be your teacher."
"My…teacher?"
"That's right. A long time ago, I was Max Crandall, and I was the guardian of the Blackhawk tribe. Your friend the Doctor—back when he dressed like Elton John—saved my life, and that of my people. He earned the name "Brother of Coyote." It was…an interesting time."
"I'll bet," Barry raised his eyebrows, mentally wondering which face the Doctor had worn then.
"He said to me that one day, I might have the chance to pay him back by helping a friend of his. Today, it seems, is that day."
"So what are you going to teach me?" Barry asked. "And will I have to wax cars?"
At this, Max threw his head back and let out a hearty belly laugh. "No, Padawan. Instead, I'm going to teach you a few speedster tricks. Things you'd probably pick up on your own sooner or later…but you'll need every advantage you can get against the man who killed your mother."
"You know who that is?"
Max pursed his lips. "I'm afraid not. But I'm a time traveller, too. I pick up a few things."
"How long will we be training?" Barry asked, following his new mentor out onto the porch steps.
Max shrugged. "Time is fluid here in the Speed Force. One day, five years, it all feels the same." He smiled at Barry.
"Until you're fast enough to snatch the pebble from my hand."
"But how? I don't have my speed any more."
Nora—or rather the entity using her body—smiled. "You're in the Speed Force, Barry. That's no longer a problem."
She held up a hand, and snapped her fingers.
"Now run, Barry. Run."
After a time—insofar as those words could be applied to life within the Speed Force—Barry came downstairs one day to find not Max, but his mom, or rather the illusion of his mom, waiting for him.
"One lesson left, Barry."
"Okay, I…" he started, but then a shadow whipped by. Barry spun around, catching just a glimpse of it as it flashed past.
"What was that?" he demanded.
"You need to catch it," the Speed Force told him. "Catch it, and we'll send you home."
He ran, and behind him, the Speed Force smiled.
He chased the shadow through an imagination-illusion of Central City ("not so much Central City as what you think Central City should look like,") Max had explained, until he reached a familiar-looking restaurant.
This is where I met the Doctor and Rose, Barry realized.
"That's right."
The Doctor—his first Doctor—seemed to step out of nowhere, all leather jacket and huge ears and bigger grin.
"You've come so far, Barry," he said, leaning against a support column. "Done some pretty amazin' things. But your path is just beginning. Oh, the things you will do…"
The speedster tucked his hands in his pockets.
"Any advice?"
"Yeah." The Time Lord—or his illusion, projection, whatever—fixed his deep blue eyes on the younger man. "Everything happens for a reason. Everythin'. The good, the bad, the indifferent. They all have a purpose. Never forget who you are. Never forget what your friends have taught you. And no matter what happens, keep your face turned to the light."
"I will," the speedster promised.
The Doctor reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. It felt cool, and strong, and real.
"Remember that hope can be found in the darkest of places, if you only remember to turn on the light."
Barry frowned. "Did you steal that from Dumbledore?"
The Doctor smirked. "Maybe he stole it from me."
And with that, he faded.
Barry chased the shadow over wood and under dale, moving so fast everything around him became nothing but a blur, until finally he returned to an all-too-familiar house, with an all-too-familiar woman once again sitting on the living room couch.
"Mom."
"My beautiful boy…" she murmured, reaching up to stroke his face. He collapsed next to her. "You've grown so strong. I
just wanted to tell you that your mother is so proud of you. And of the man you've become."
"Who's telling me that?" he asked. "Who's telling me that... the Speed Force or my mother?"
"Both," she answered simply, and reached to one side. "Do you remember this book? It was always your favourite."
The Runaway Dinosaur.
"Of course I do," he murmured, as she began.
"Once there was a little dinosaur called a Maiasaur, who lived with his mother. One day, he told his mother, 'I wish I were special like the other dinosaurs. If I were a T. rex, I could chomp with my ferocious teeth!"
Choking, Barry continued. "'But if you were a T. rex," said his mother, 'how would you hug me with your tiny little arms?"
'I wish I were an Apatosaurus,' said the little dinosaur, 'so with my long neck I could see high above the treetops.'
'But if you were an Apatosaurus,' said his mother, 'how would you hear me in the treetops when I told you I love you?
What makes you so special, little Maiasaur?' said his mother. 'Is it your ferocious teeth or long neck or pointy beak? What makes you special is out of all of the different dinosaurs in the big, wide world, you have the mother who is just right for you and who will always…"
They finished together. "Love you."
"You're ready," she whispered. Barry nodded and rose from the couch, as the door blew open and the shadow rushed in. Closing his eyes, he reached out and grasped it firmly. Opening them, he found himself looking at…himself, clad in a tight red suit, who smiled back at him. Barry turned away, and became whole.
"Well done," Max said, stepping through the door. "You've learned what you've needed to learn. And now you're ready to go. Good luck, Barry Allen, and good bye. For now."
Barry rose to shake his mentor's hand. "Thank you, Max. For everything."
"You're very welcome, Barry. Give my best to the Doctor."
"Nora" gestured, and a portal opened in front of them. "This will take you where you need to be."
"'Bye, mom."
She smiled up at him. "Goodbye, Barry. Until the next time. Now run, Barry. Run. And don't ever stop."
"I will," he promised.
With her voice ringing in his ears and her smile in his heart, Barry Allen pulled up the cowl of his suit, turned to the portal, took a deep breath, and went home.
So was that actually the Doctor? Or just a projection? Well, what do you think?
And where (and when) will he end up now? Tune in next week to find out!
