Hello everyone. Happy New Year. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year. I originally wanted to finish this chapter before the new year, but December was a busy time. Nonetheless I hope you enjoy this update. This chapter is centered in episode (5x04) after the ending. I know some may not agree with the way I wrote this but I found myself agreeing more with Nora although I can see Iris' side. I hope they can talk about both of their sides. There was a scene in Season 1 (Gorilla Grodd episode) where Iris mentioned to her dad "Love me enough to always tell me the truth." and I hope there's a parallel scene with Iris and Nora. To build that mutual trust in one another.
Mustard Lady: I agree, I hope to see more of their caring side in Season 5.
Write-to-You: Ahaha thank you. I thought about it but I feel like I wouldn't be able to condense it down to a single drabble, but maybe.
.7777: Thank you for the review. (Fanfiction won't let me write your full name)
aliqueen16: Hope it was good laughter and that you enjoyed the chapter.
All characters, story plot lines to the writers, producers of The Flash and The CW. I do not own the rights to any of them just the idea is my own.
Feel free to write a review on your thoughts.
P.S. What were your thoughts on this year's crossover? Did you guys enjoy it? I'm both excited and freaked out that Crisis on Infinite Earths has moved up so early. I wished they had showed more of Batwoman but guess we will have to wait for the pilot.
P.S.S. For those of you who are caught up. I'm a little confused with the consistency of the writing with Caitlin's dad since in the earlier seasons they mentioned that multiple sclerosis was the main problem with her dad but now it's ALS? I guess he had both? Any thoughts about this?
Chapter 10: What the Meaning of Family Is
"Nora?" Barry shouted as he stepped into the Star Labs lounge room that she was staying in only to be greeted by an empty room.
"Hey, what's going on?" Caitlin asked as she and Cisco walked in after overhearing Barry's voice. "Is everything okay?"
Barry faltered with his answer before noticing that Cisco was also in the room. "Hey man, when did you get back?"
"Uh just a little while ago. Caitlin was checking my hands before we heard your voice."
"I expected you to stay longer. You should have stayed longer." Barry said as he stepped closer towards Cisco and Caitlin.
"I wanted to come back earlier anyways, it's weird being back at my house. My parents haven't been the same since…Dante passed away. I mean they try not to but even when he's gone, they don't fail to remind me who their favourite child was." Cisco noticed Barry avoiding his eyes when he mentioned Dante. "Hey, it's all forgiven. Time is weird, and you have already apologized for Flashpoint." Cisco smiled at Barry for he was truly okay with what happened, and he no longer blamed Barry for Dante's death.
Barry smiled as well before embracing Cisco. "As much as I want you to stay away after what Cicada did but I have to admit, I'm glad that you're here."
"His hands seem to be healing well. They are not fully healed but everything looks good so far." Caitlin confirmed.
"Can't keep Vibe off the field for too long, don't worry I'll be back soon enough. But enough about that. You didn't answer Caitlin's question earlier. Is everything okay? Where's Nora?"
Barry who was overjoyed by his best friend's presence had forgot for a moment why he came into the lounge room in the first place. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "Everything is okay kind of. As for Nora, well she is…well she uh…I don't know…I mean physically she is okay but…I mean emotionally maybe not…she didn't really let us talk…" Barry babbled out of nervousness and clear distress over not knowing what to do when his young adult daughter from the future is upset.
"Woah. Okay take a breath. You're talking too fast. What exactly happened with Nora?" Caitlin stepped in as an attempt to calm Barry down and gestured to Barry to take a seat on the couch.
Barry took a deep breath, sat down, and Caitlin and Cisco followed. Both chose a side to sit: cross legged, facing towards Barry with him sitting in the middle before he proceeded with catching up his friends to the situation.
*Barry's explanation of why Nora is cold towards Iris.*
"So that's why Nora has been so cold towards Iris regardless of what Iris has done to try and get to know her. She just doesn't understand Iris' point of view and refuses to see reason. Nora can't see why Iris and I still support future Iris' decision as being right in this scenario." Barry looked at his friends as he finished noticing that both were giving quick glances at each other. "What?"
Cisco scratched his head. "Well, I can understand Nora's point."
Barry's eyes widened, and he turned to Caitlin for some support only to see that she was avoiding his eye contact. "You think that too Caitlin?" Barry questioned.
Caitlin rubbed her lips together before nodding. "Yeah I do."
"How can you both say that? Can't you agree that what Iris did was to protect Nora?"
"I can agree to that, but it doesn't mean that I agree with the idea that it was the best choice for Nora."
Caitlin noticed the slight fury in Barry's eyes and spoke up in Cisco's defense. "Look, we are not trying to make Iris look like the villain and Nora is the victim. I think what Cisco and I are trying to say is that we can understand both sides, but we can sympathize with Nora more."
Barry was speechless and was having a hard time processing their responses. He was so sure that Caitlin and Cisco would agree with him.
"You can't tell me that you can't see Nora's side either." Cisco commented.
"I don't. It was a decision made from love and need to protect family. How can that be wrong? How can Nora not realize that?"
"Like Iris was okay with you and Joe not telling her you were the Flash because you wanted to protect her?" Caitlin replied as a comparison.
"Or how upset Iris was when Joe didn't let her become a cop because it was dangerous? How upset she was after finding out that her mom was alive? How angry you were at us when we locked you up after Zoom killed your dad because we wanted to protect you." Cisco listed out before Barry could respond to Caitlin.
"And come on Barry, like you agreed with Joe when he was adamant against you becoming the Flash in the beginning?" Caitlin reminded as a final nail in Barry's coffin. "Remember? My kid." Caitlin echoed the same words Joe said so long ago. "All those situations and more with all of us including future Iris were done out of love. Out of a need to protect our family but we can't just agree with them because they have the right intentions."
"Remember what you said when Harry helped Zoom because he had Jesse captive? When it comes to family, when it comes to the people that we all love. We're all vulnerable. None of us are above making a wrong decision. Iris isn't wrong, but she isn't completely right. Same goes for Nora."
"Precisely. I don't doubt that Nora knows that her mom was trying to protect her but that doesn't validate that Nora is not allowed to feel anger or betrayal."
"I got to stop saying such wise words. They always come to haunt me later." Barry muttered as he crossed his arms.
Cisco and Caitlin laughed at Barry's grumpy side. "Doesn't help that we are geniuses and remember everything." Cisco pointed out.
"Maybe I should go find more agreeable friends. I don't like it when you guys gang up against me and respond logically."
"As if you can find anybody who puts up with you as well as we do." Caitlin shot back, to which Cisco smirked in response and both high fived one another smugly.
Barry rolled his eyes at his friends before leaning his head on the back of the couch. "You guys have a point, but I still think it is unfair of Nora to place the blame on Iris when she hasn't made that decision yet. Nora is so angry, so unwilling to just sit down and talk. How can we clear the air with that sort of attitude?"
"Fair enough, it's unfair for Iris to have this blame be shifted on her when she didn't make that decision herself. But Nora doesn't see it that way. She has only known Iris as her mom, the mom that took away her powers, she's acting on her emotions. Like you, when Zoom killed your dad. Like me, when Zoom "killed" Jay."
"Give her some time. We don't know what happens in the future. We don't know what motivates Iris to do what she does. We don't know the future that Nora has lived in all her life." Cisco pointed out.
"Exactly. But what we do know is that Nora grows up in a world without her father. Without learning what kind of a guy you are and only having historical records being her source. I can imagine that these last couple months of being XS has become the closest thing she has to a connection with you. A connection that previously she didn't even know she had because of her mother. It's reasonable for her to be upset. Imagine how upset you would be if Joe somehow nullified your powers or if Iris never told Joe about Wally. Plus, she's young, she's still processing the kind of person that she is. Let her have this moment to vent, to feel what she's feeling. I trust that she will eventually forgive Iris." Caitlin offered.
Barry placed his face in his hands and sighed. "Guys, what do I do? How do I not push Nora even further away and still stay supportive for Iris?"
Cisco stood up and placed himself in front of Barry and Caitlin. "Well, for one: stay open for Nora. Don't make her feel isolated. Let her know that no matter what she can still talk to you. You are her hero, the one she looks up to above all else. Don't tarnish that for her. Stay her hero. Continue to be the Flash and her father."
"Two: try and understand her side. I'm not telling you to pick a side but try your best to remain more neutral. Especially since you of all people know how wonderful and precious these powers are and how different your life has become because of them." Caitlin stated as she too went to stand beside Cisco.
"And three: show Nora that the Iris that we know, our Iris, is different. That she is not the Iris of the future yet and that Nora should try her best to get to know her in the present rather than place all her judgements from the future." Cisco stated as a final point and Caitlin nodded with agreement.
Caitlin and Cisco grasped each other hands and bowed. "Thank you for your attention, we're here all week."
Barry shook his head with amusement and slow clapped for his friends' speech. "Well done. Oscar worthy indeed."
"Fun aside, you think you can handle these suggestions? They're manageable?"
Barry nodded at Caitlin. "Yeah they are, now I just have to find Nora to try and do exactly that."
"Well this isn't exactly her timeline, she doesn't really know that many people here. Other than us, Iris, and Ralph. Her only other option is to go with-."
"-Joe and Cecile." Barry finished Cisco's sentence to which Cisco nodded.
Barry attempted to head towards the West house but was stopped by his friends.
"Probably not the best idea to go and confront her after she flashed off. It may cause more damage at this point." Caitlin suggested as she stepped in front of Barry.
Cisco placed a hand on Barry's shoulders. "Pretty sure her flashing out is her way of slamming the door. Best to let her vent on her own before going to talk to her."
Barry felt dejected but nodded and headed towards the bar and sat down. Cisco sat next to Barry and Caitlin made her way around the bar. Barry and Cisco watched as Caitlin quickly whipped up a couple of drinks for the three of them. She set an Old Fashioned in front of Barry and a Shirley Temple for Cisco before taking a sip of her own Long Island. Months of working as a bartender came in handy sometimes. Cisco glared at Caitlin's drink choice for him to which Caitlin smirked in response.
"Thanks Caitlin but this doesn't really do anything for me." Barry said in reference to the alcohol.
"Yeah, I know, but I thought it would fit the mood. Plus, just because you can't feel the alcohol doesn't mean the drink isn't good. Caitlin replied as she raised her glass. "Cheers to a shitty day."
"Cheers." Barry and Cisco raised their glasses in agreement.
"Man, it feels like a couple shitty years, not just a shitty day to be honest." Barry complained as he took another sip of his drink.
"We can't complain too much, we chose to live the life of superheroes." Caitlin said as she stirred her drink with her straw
"True, but I originally thought I signed up to inflicting justice onto criminals. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have a daughter around my age from the future come and say: Oh, hi dad, I need your help. Definitely missed that in the contract."
"No statement on how this life would throw such a wrench into my love life either." Caitlin added.
"You two are just buzzkills. Speak for yourselves. I loved these last couple of years…although probably wouldn't mind losing the ability to hear my inter-dimensional ex-girlfriend's voice everyday…or having possible time ripples repercussions on my family…or having a hand phased through the heart." Cisco's sureness decreased as he spoke.
All three looked at one another before taking one long sigh and downed the remainder of their drinks.
"Quite the life we have." Caitlin stated as she gathered their glasses to make another round.
"Understatement of the year but I know I wouldn't have it any other way. You guys feel the same?"
Cisco and Caitlin smiled. "Yeah."
Caitlin handed the guys their drinks. "Guess we just have to get used to the idea that new challenges will continue to come our way."
"Yup, and when they do, I will be armed with a nickname. Which reminds me, who the heck came up with Spin? I thought I taught you guys better."
Barry and Caitlin raised their hands in defense at Cisco's statement.
"It's not that bad, her blog was Spyn Zone, so we thought—" Barry began before noticing Caitlin shaking her head. "We'll leave the nicknaming to you next time." Barry offered.
"Well said. By the way, is meta tech actually a thing now?"
"Seems like it, Spencer Young didn't set off any metahuman warnings on the app. She's not a meta but her phone gave her the power to make the headlines she wanted become a reality." Barry responded.
"Great, another thing to worry about that we didn't need."
"Hey, who knows. Now that Vibe is sidelined for now. Maybe we can find you a meta tech hairbrush to control those wavy locks of yours." Caitlin teased.
Barry smiled widely. "Behold the powers of The Fringe." Barry announced as he gestured his hands at Cisco.
"Fear his mighty split ends." Caitlin added as she followed Barry's action and gestured her hands towards Cisco.
At Caitlin's words, Barry and Caitlin could no longer contain their amusement and laughed wildly.
Cisco was not impressed what so ever. "I don't even have a fringe, nor do I have split ends." Cisco grumbled but smiled as his friends continued to chuckle at the idea. Cisco went to stand on the couch and placed his hands on his hips. "Beware criminals, for I am the LockMan and I will knot you into place."
Barry and Caitlin glanced at one another and both mocked horror on their face. "Oh no! Not the LockMan!"
All three continued to fool around with the idea, even being so nerdy as to come up with a costume design. Though their lives had a lot of downs. Their friendship and shared imagination were not one of them.
That's a wrap on this chapter. I hope you like it.
-V