November 14th, 2011. 20:15
"How does it feel to be finally home?" Iris asks softly as Clark walked out of their home. Barry looks up at Iris from the couch, probably still slightly embarrassed by having been carried by Superman, but shook his head slightly.
"It feels like I've only been gone for 2 days, but I know that's not true" He says, looking at me with a guilty look on his face. I shake my head, trying to ignore the sentence as much as possible.
"They could've told me you were coming home tonight instead of tomorrow. I may not be the Flash anymore but I was still planning on going on patrol" I scowl, glaring to no one in particular. "I would've asked Hal to cover or something" I continue and Barry chuckles slightly, reaching out for me.
He grasps my hand, his arm shaking as he does so. The shake only reminding me how painfully weak he still is from the almost month of being in a coma, and his metabolism not healing his injuries at super speed.
"That title doesn't define you kid, you don't need to be the 'Flash' to be as good as me. You're not just my sidekick, you're my partner, an equal"
"Right.. Kid Flash and Flash" I mumble and Barry barks out a laugh.
"You picked that name kid, don't forget that" He retorts and I roll my eyes, knowing he was right. "But seriously kid, Bruce showed me the video of the alien invasion, and analysed the data from the suit. You doubled your own speed record when you saved Iris from the Dominons, you're way faster than Superman right now.."
"Are you saying your disappearance was a good thing?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. Barry chuckles lightheartedly again, shaking his head.
"Not necessarily. But Bats and I theorised that you had some kind of mental block, that prevented you from going faster, from going as fast as me-"
"Are you saying I was as fast as you?" I intercept, but again, Barry shakes his head.
"Not quite, but you're getting dangerously close. But you're still young, the first teen speedster in the world. Anything could happen still" He tells me and I sigh, sitting down on the backside of the couch, feet close to Barry's legs.
"I wanted you to come back so badly Uncle Barry, you're like a dad to me. And I wasn't as good as you as the Flash" I mumble, not looking at him. "But at the same time.. after I saved Central, there was this kind of rush, I alone saved the city, people were looking at me. And for the first time they saw me as the Flash.."
I stop myself again, not daring to look at him. I could feel both Iris and Barry looking at me, but I still refused to look.
"You don't want to give up being the Flash" Barry deducts but I shake my head, finally looking at him.
"Not necessarily, it just felt .. right all of a sudden. I hated being the Flash at first, but-" I stop myself, not finding the right words for the situation. Barry sits up a bit more, looking at me with worried eyes.
"We can change your name if you want, we can get someone to create a new costume, something that isn't directly linked to me" But again, I shake my head, feeling irritation crawl through my entire being.
"I don't know what I want right now, it's just all so overwhelming right now."
"Why don't you go on patrol again? As the Flash, I will surely not be going out as him in 2 weeks according to Leslie, someone needs to fill in" Barry grins and I look at him, preparing to write it off as one of his stupid ideas again, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it started to make.
And the less reluctant I felt.
"But what about you?" I ask and Barry chuckles.
"I'm not going anywhere tonight, when you get back I will be right here, and we can watch a movie or something" Barry said but I stayed silent, still looking at him. "Wally go, some fresh air will do you good" He chuckles, nudging me with his foot. I sigh, rolling my eyes and throwing my feet over the couch again.
Barry and I keep watching each other for a while before I nod, zipping upstairs to get my costume. A stupid grin, that was filled with pride, was plastered on Barry's face as I run back down. And he gives me another nod, as if he was telling me it was really okay to go on patrol on my own.
I wave at Aunt Iris for a second before following Barry's advice, and running out of the door.
Uncle Barry was right, it felt wonderful. The wind against my almost completely covered face, my hair not sticking out not being annoying anymore, feeling the ground beneath my feet disappear within milliseconds. Images blurring past me but still so clear to me. And going faster than I had ever gone before.
November 14th, 2011. 23:46
"You're on the news" Is the first thing I hear when I pick up the phone. I frown slightly at Dick's cheery voice, sitting upright a bit. Barry frowns at the sudden movement, looking at me.
"Turn on the news" I saw to him, and he reluctantly pauses the movie we were watching, switching to the news. Central City's Hero makes his first appearance after saving the city. Was written on the screen, showing a few pieces of footage of me as the Flash, most of them from this day.
There weren't a lot, because most of the time I was going too fast for the camera of course. But I also stopped numerous times to chat a bit, or help civilians without my superspeed when I tried avoid giving them whiplash. Barry grinned at me but I roll my eyes.
"That's all you wanted to mention?" I ask as I put the phone back against my ear again. A cackle resonated from the other side.
"Nah, I'm holding your bed hostage for the night, bats doesn't know by the way" He says, and I can almost hear him shrug at his own sentence.
"What have I told you about breaking and entering?" I mutter, running a hand through my hair with a chuckle.
"It's not breaking and entering when you have a key" He responds and I roll my eyes.
"It is when you steal the key" I say, shaking my head with an amused smile. "Whatever, just don't get grumpy when I wake you up"
"Me? Grumpy? Never" Dick laughs, lingering for a few more seconds before hanging up.
"Told ya it would cheer you up" Barry spoke as Dick hang up, gesturing to the screen. He wraps an arm around me again, bringing me closer. I shake my head with an amused smile on my face, leaning against him again.
"Just don't make me be the Flash ever again Uncle Barry" I whisper, closing my eyes for a moment. At the sentence, Barry tightens his hold on me. I'm sure he recognised what I was talking about. Don't make the the Flash again… don't die again.
"I won't kiddo" He says, kissing the top of my head. For once, I don't splutter in disgust, I lap it up like some starved dog. The attention I had not been given in the last month. Tension and stress that was still pulling slightly at me, but was slowly disappearing each second Barry was getting stronger.
December 4th, 2011. 19:39 Three weeks since the attack
"Ready kiddo?" Barry asks with a smile.
"Ready? I've been ready since the attack" I shot back, popping my knuckles for good measure.
"Remember that sentence when I beat you in a race kid" Barry shot back and I roll my eyes with an amused grin.
"Just don't write it off as you still recovering when I win" I say and Barry chuckles, looking at me for a second. I nod, crouching down and getting ready to take off. He nods as well, igniting a small piece of firework and throwing it on the ground. He gets ready as well, and when it explodes, we both take off.
The moment we take off I immediately forget it is a competition. I laugh out loud, feeling my heart swell with relief as I see Uncle Barry run next to me. It felt amazing running alone as the Flash, but it was lonely. Not even Jay was as fast as Uncle Barry, and the older he got, the faster he got tired and the slower he got.
Barry was the only one I could still rival with at the moment.
We ran, slowly increasing our speed the further away we got from America. We ran over the ocean, through Great Britain and passing Europe. And it felt amazing, it felt freeing. Barry looks at me, red cowl confronting me but I shake it off, nodding with a challenging look on my face.
We shot away, continuing to accelerate. A red and yellow blur shot through the countries, faster and faster, and it felt amazing. A blur of red and yellow, followed by yellow electricity. For a split-second I frown, but quickly deciding I really didn't care why I had different coloured lightning all of a sudden.
All that mattered was Barry being alive.
YJ
Sooooooo, after so many months.. I finally finished this story. Thank you for sticking by for so long, love you all 3