quick update because I'm driven to make another chapter. unbeta-ed.

"Welcome, I guess," Barry said, awkwardly shifting at his feet after he changed out of his costume and did some swift cleaning of the clutters around the apartment. Barry remained clueless as to where the mess even came from; he recalled cleaning before he left, for goodness' sake.

Well, it wasn't like they were expecting guests in the first place, and certainly not one of Barry's students and a billionaire.

"Cute suit," Stark commented. "Does it come in different colors?"

"Only red."

"I like it red," Peter said, apparently in glee at seeing The Flash's suit up close. He wasn't as fascinated as this with the Iron Spider Armor that Stark offered. Tony wondered what the hell was impressive about a spandex costume compared to the suit—powered exoskeleton, more like—that was personally made by him.

"Thanks, Peter," Cisco piped up. He liked Peter since he knew him only as Spider-Man and more so when he introduced himself to Cisco and apologized for the intrusion earlier. Stark, on the other hand…

"You made this?" Stark asked, turning to Cisco's direction. "You're The Flash's guy on the chair."

Barry cleared his throat. "Cisco is the only person upgrading and maintaining my suit since he developed it," he said. "He's more than The Flash's guy on the chair."

"Is 'Cisco' your vigilante name? Then your abilities are like something connected to networking? No pun intended."

"It's a short for Francisco, Mr. Stark," Peter whispered subtly. Barry and Cisco appreciated the sheepish look Peter gave them as Stark inspected Cisco's workplace and taking a lollipop from Cisco's stash. "You know, Mr. Ramon, my best friend, Ned, is my partner too, and he was really good in assisting me through the line. And, oh, he kind of hacked my Spider-Man suit out of the Training Wheels Protocol that Mr. Stark installed. I'm sure you two will get along."

When he noticed the eye roll that Stark did, Cisco decided that he really liked Peter. "Introduce me next time, buddy. Also, it's Cisco to you."

"So, where's that story you owe us, Barry?" Stark sat importantly, cross-legged, at the small squishy couch that Barry got from a second-hand store. "Sit down, Peter. You need to know about your chemistry teacher too."

Barry found a comfortable position for himself while Cisco sat at his chair by the computer table. Barry opted for the unoccupied foldable chair. "As I was saying, we're not from around here. We're from… another Earth."

He let the silence linger, giving time for the revelation to sink down on them first. As expected, Peter stared at him like he grew another head, directing his direction to Cisco who merely shrugged.

Stark was—well, he barely batted an eye. "Go on."

"I'm sure you're familiar with the Multiverse Theory. It was no longer just a theory from where we came from. We do acknowledge it, although it was only proven recently; since meta-humans emerged, that is, so it's only known by a handful."

"What's a 'meta-human', sir?" Peter asked curiously once he recovered from his shock. "And how did you prove the Multiverse Theory?"

Barry smiled at Peter's eagerness to know more. "Meta-humans are what we call the people like me and Cisco, those who gained supernatural abilities after the explosion of the Particle Accelerator in the year 2013 in our Earth," Barry explained. "Unfortunately, most of those who became meta-humans were either convicts or those who got corrupted by their powers.

"As for proof of the Multiverse, it was because of a singularity from our Earth that caused a breach. Eventually, an evil speedster from the parallel earth that we call Earth-2 learned how to cross through dimensions with a considerable amount of speed, much greater than I had when I was starting as The Flash. Since we became aware of other earths, we gained a few allies from some that we knew of. There's an Earth-38 that I accidentally visited once after I opened a wormhole by going past my speed limit. A woman who was originally from another planet and is currently living in planet earth there helped me get back to Earth-1. She's called Supergirl in her world, and we asked for her assistance regarding an alien invasion. Not every earth is non-hostile though. We're told before that there's such an earth where Hitler won the World War II. We haven't been there yet, and hopefully we don't come across it. We're lucky to land here instead despite our inability to get back, now that our usual solutions are not working."

"Can't you open a wormhole again?" Peter inquired. "You said you did it by accident."

"With a tachyon prototype, which this Earth doesn't have."

"My abilities aren't working too in this Earth," Cisco said. "I can open interdimensional breaches on any other earth. I've been trying to do that for three months here. Still unsuccessful."

Stark raised an eyebrow. He has been bafflingly quiet for a while. "Now that's just lazy writing."

"What?"

"Nothing. Do continue."

Cisco warily glanced away. "Right. So my meta-human ability is dimension energy manipulation that basically includes dimension awareness and interdimensional travel. I have a psychic link to the natural energies of reality, allowing me to connect with various vibrations of the Multiverse and manipulate them. If I have my powers, I can demonstrate what I call 'vibing' where I can perceive various events through time and space. I can see into the past, the future, and the present happening in another place, as well as what's currently happening in a parallel dimension. Even to the Speed Force itself."

Barry continued, "And the Speed Force is where I get my speed like all the other speedsters like me do. I can physically see it after I went past Mach 2 once." Which usually caused accidental time travels, Barry thought wryly. "The Speed Force is still vague and unexplored even by us speedsters."

"There's more like you?"

"There's a Flash in almost every earth we've been to, some who got their powers earlier than me."

"Wicked."

Peter's fanboy nature was uplifting, making Barry grin. "It is."

"Lemme guess," Stark said, gesturing at Barry and Cisco. "You two were on your way to another Earth, because, what, you eloped?"

"What? No." It was Cisco who immediately jumped in their defense, much to Stark's mild surprise. "Hey, I mean, I love my best friend, but not that way."

"No need to be defensive." Stark raised his hands in surrender. "Vibe."

"Now, how did you know my superhero name?"

"You strike me as somebody with a case of bad naming sense." Tony noticed that Barry was unable to meet his eyes. "Figures."

"Hey! I'll have you know that I gave the best names," Cisco said, looking utterly indignant in contrast to Stark's triumphant expression. "It's not like they're complaining," he murmured.

"To answer your question, Mr. Stark," Barry interrupted. "We were on our way to Earth-2 to visit out friend when the breach Cisco opened lead us to here instead. It was the first time it happened." He borrowed the extrapolator from Cisco, showing it to Stark. "This is an interdimensional extrapolator that Cisco made."

"We have one with us for cases like this, but it's not resonating with the vibrations of this Earth even after tweaking it," Cisco explained after seeing Stark expressing a sudden interest since he set foot at the apartment.

Tony inspected the curious item. It looked like a toy, but his watch was definitely picking up long distance radio waves. While Tony remained undecided on what was the truth in what these two said, their story was also too ridiculous for a lie—that, or Barry Allen took his word and really did his worst. But in a world where there were aliens and gods, why not add Multiverse to that pile as well?

"It looks like a Beyblade," Peter commented, studying at the extrapolator from Tony's left. "And this can open a path to another Earth? So cool."

"At least, that's what they claim," Tony answered for them, standing and tucking the extrapolator to his breast pocket. "Tell you what, I'll be keeping this to see if it is exactly what you claim." Tony tutted at Cisco's incoming retort. "No buts, young Tommy Wiseau. I'll return it once I'm done playing with it. Chill."

"That's the one thing we have that could be our only chance back, and you're keeping it. Of course I'm worried!"

Barry was on alert, standing between Stark and Cisco. It was rare for Cisco to be this livid, and Stark was certainly not helping the situation. "He's right, Mr. Stark. I don't think we can afford to make another one with our limited resources."

Tony met Barry's eyes squarely. Barry could easily snatch the thing from him without Tony even realizing it. It would be like snatching a candy from a kid—and yet he isn't even planning to make a move. Was Barry too determined to have Tony believe them?

Stark was thoughtful for a few seconds before reaching for his pocket to retrieve a business card and a phone, handing them to Cisco. "Compensation for your device. HR will call you in that stark phone to tell you about your scheduled interview."

"Interview for… what?"

"Work. And, oh, be sure to bring with you the documented list of the Flash's suit's features, together with your résumé, of course. Toodles."

"Did he just ask me to work at Stark Industries? Stark Industries that is like the S.T.A.R. Labs of this Earth, except it's a multinational industrial company and the largest tech conglomerate of the world? Wow."

Barry grinned. "I heard that too, by the way."

"Huh. He's rude, but he's generous." Cisco stared dumbly at the stark phone given to him. "I don't know who's worse in terms of unpredictability—Tony Stark or Harry."

At the mention of Harry, Barry wondered what they could be doing. Were they looking for them? Did they even know he and Cisco were in another earth? "I guess this means our luck hasn't run out yet. Mr. Stark can help you with the extrapolator, I think."

"You're right. As of now, he's our best shot." Cisco crossed his arms, leaning his shoulder against the wall. "How about you though? Are you fine with me telling him about your suit's features? There's a possibility that your suit's weaknesses can be exploited."

"The Flash's suit is yours as much as it's mine. Since you can't physically bring it, I suppose the documentation will serve as your portfolio. Sort of a test of your expertise, I bet." Barry leaned back at the seat. "This is your chance, too, to show him who Cisco Ramon is when he's not Vibe.

"Go break a leg, Cisco. You can do it."

TBC