Chicago

2023

Andy woke up after a good night's rest, but felt as if something was off. He quickly looked around the bedroom seeing it was more white in color than he remembered. Barclay got up and searched the room, looking for his SHIELD uniform, but couldn't find it.

"Looking for something?" Andy turned around, seeing Nica leaning against the doorway.

"Yeah." Andy admitted. "Have you seen my SHIELD suit?"

"What's SHIELD?" Nica frowned.

"You know, SHIELD." Andy tried to explain. "The organization that tries to keep the world safe, run by Nick Fury."

"You mean Argus?" Nica asked. "Which is being assisted by Diggle and Oliver."

"Who?" Andy asked out loud. Nica looked at him curiously, wondering what was wrong.

"Honey, did you get any sleep last night?" Nica asked. "I know you tried to stay up for Alice to come home after working an extended shift at the department, but I don't remember you climbing into bed until much later." Andy sighed, closing his eyes, realizing that something happened for him to be in this situation, but for now, he pretended to play along.

"You're right, it probably is lack of sleep." Andy weakly excused. "I'll feel better after coffee." Once he finished, Nica chuckled, smiling at her husband.

"I love you, Andy."

"And I love you, Nica."

New York

2020

A figure who looked like Andy Barclay woke up to find him lying in bed, but he knew that something was off. Somehow, he knew something had changed, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. Slowly, Andy got out of bed and looked out the window, seeing the Empire State building in the distance, as well as… a tower with the letter "A" on it.

"I'm in New York?" Andy mumbled. "How the Hell did I get here?" Just then, Andy heard the door open, and he turned around, finding a woman standing there who looked exactly like his wife, Nica.

"Good morning." Nica smiled. "Sleep well?" Andy simply nodded, before getting down to business.

"How am I in New York?" Andy asked, confused.

"Uh, we live here?" Nica guessed. "Are you sure you got enough sleep? You took quite a while getting back from Boston last night."

"I… I'm fine." Andy lied. "Just needed to jog my memory, I suppose."

"Well, hopefully you remembered that you need to meet up with Fury in the morning." Nica told him.

"Who?" Andy asked.

"The director of SHIELD." Nica elaborated, raising an eyebrow. "The guy you work for. Are you sure you got some sleep?"

"I swear, I did." Andy protested.

"Okay then." Nica said, and pointed to a wardrobe. "Your suit's in there." Andy frowned, not recalling having a suit, but as he opened the wooden cabinet, a dark blue jumpsuit fell out, sporting an darkened eagle logo. Andy squinted at the image, somehow knowing he had seen that before, but it couldn't for the life of him remember what it was. Andy quickly took the jumpsuit and put it on, having slight difficulty, but eventually got it on. Once Barclay left the bedroom, an idea popped in his head.

"Where's Alice?" Andy asked.

"She's just out here, watching TV." Nica replied, pointing towards the small living room. Andy walked over, seeing Alice sitting on the couch, but it wasn't the same niece he knew. When he saw Alice, she appeared to be a few years younger than he last saw her, and he began to get a bad feeling.

"What year is this?" Andy asked, and Nica raised an eyebrow.

"It's 2020." Nica said slowly. "How could you forget?"

"Maybe it is lack of sleep." Andy mumbled, before staring at the TV, seeing familiar images flash by. "Alice, what are you watching?"

"The show's called Arrow." Alice said proudly. "I'm watching the episode where Oliver Queen teams up with a sorcerer named Constantine to save someone's soul!" Andy nearly lost his breath, hearing his best friend's names, and stared at the screen, where people who looked exactly like the Green Arrow and Constantine were fighting alongside each other, while trying to restore the soul of Sara Lance. And in that moment, in a second of clarity, Andy knew where he was, and what had happened to him.

"Oh, shit…"

Chicago

2023

Andy got dressed and ready for the day, then he and Nica started walking outside.

"Where should we go?" Andy asked, as he held hands with the woman who looked like his wife.

"Let's start at the station." Nica proposed. "Maybe we'll see Alice there." Even though he had no idea what she meant, Andy just nodded, deciding to keep his mouth shut.

Alice Pierce finished her paperwork for the last case she finished, and began to leave the precinct. It had already been a busy night, with crime rates going through the roof, and Alice wanted to get even a little bit of rest. All that changed, however, when she got to the front desk, and saw two of the most important people in her life.

"Aunty Nica?" Alice asked, recognizing the couple. Andy and Nica turned around, smiling at the sight of their niece.

"Hi, Alice." Nica beamed, walking over and hugging her. Alice grinned, returning the embrace, and moved on to hug Andy, who looked stiff for a moment. "How's work?"

"Oh, it's fine." Alice said, with a hint of sarcasm. "Only the paperwork is bad." Alice broke off the hug and looked at her uncle, who had a puzzled expression.

"You've grown." Andy noted. At the comment, Alice rolled her eyes.

"Did I just get a growth spurt?" Alice asked. "You saw me just last night."

"I did?" Andy barely asked, and his voice cracked. "What year is this?"

"2023?" Nica told him, giving a quizzical look. "Andy, what's wrong? You've been acting strange all morning." Andy sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"I'm… not from around here." Andy revealed. "I feel like I'm somehow in a different universe, where everything has changed slightly. Instead of SHIELD, it's Argus. Instead of Fury, the guy is Diggle…" Andy stopped for a moment, feeling something in his pocket, and pulled a small, metal disc out, with the center glowing blue.

"As weird as that sounds, it's believable." Nica groaned. "Maybe Barry changed the timeline again."

"Or not." Alice spoke up, gaining the attention of Nica and Andy. "I know I've heard of a SHIELD before…" Alice pulled out her phone and accessed Netflix. "It should be… here!" Alice presented the phone's screen in Andy's face, who looked bewildered.

"What is this?" Andy asked, seeing that on the Netflix platform, there were TV shows that looked familiar. The ones he recognized had labels of "Daredevil", "Jessica Jones", "Luke Cage", "Iron Fist", and "The Punisher". Once he stared at the Punisher, all Andy could see was the face of Frank Castle, his best friend who died six months prior. Barclay looked towards the right, seeing another image of a unique eagle logo, with the title, "Agents of SHIELD".

"You're sure you're from another universe, where these shows are real?" Alice asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes." Andy gasped. "I knew Frank Castle personally."

"Then we'd better find a way to get you back." Nica decided. "Alice, do you think you can leave early?"

"Absolutely." Alice confirmed. "But why?"

"Because we're going to have to pay Cisco a visit at STAR Labs."

New York

2020

Andy stood staring at the television screen, motionless, while Nica and Alice seemed to be talking to him. Once he finally came out of shock, Barclay turned towards his supposed wife, who was still speaking.

"Andy, what's going on?" Nica asked. "You've been acting weird ever since you woke up!" Andy took in a deep breath, before exhaling slowly, making the decision to tell the truth.

"I'm not from this world." Andy confessed. "I'm from a universe where those shows; Arrow, Constantine, the Flash, those are real. A couple of my closest friends are Oliver Queen and John Constantine." Nica stared at Andy for a moment, and he started feeling like an idiot. That is, until she spoke.

"As crazy as that sounds, I believe you." Nica whispered. "With everything that has happened in the last three years, this seems plausible."

"But what do we do?" Alice asked. "How do we get our Andy back?"

"I'm not sure." Nica said truthfully. "But maybe Fury can help us with that…"