Chapter 2
Once again, Bart found his way to the Watchtower's garden, and the memorial holograms set up there. At first, he'd only come out here to sit and talk to Wally when a mission went poorly, or something had shaken him. Lately, though, the teen was finding himself lost and coming by more and more.
He'd come back in time to stop the Reach Apocalypse. And he'd succeeded! But once the mission was won, Bart had no plans or goals for his life. In the year that he and the other resistance members were building the time machine, everything had revolved about his mission. Before that, life had been about surviving and sabotaging the Reach, and before that, just surviving. Bart wasn't much of a planner - he'd always lived in the moment, acting and reacting according to his surroundings. It made him a great fighter with the addition of his superspeed, but when it came to figuring out where he wanted his suddenly free life to go...
"Hey," a soft voice came from behind him, jerking the teen out of his thoughts. "Want some company?"
"Sure." Bart replied, scooting over on the grass to make room for Artemis to also sit in front of Wally's memorial. Out of everyone in the League and Team, she understood the most what the time traveler was going through. After all, Artemis had spent the last several years planning out her life with Wally in it. Now, she was as lost as Bart.
"I was talking something over with Barry this morning." The blonde woman began saying. "With a little help from Nightwing's hacking skills, they're going to get you registered as an official Allen. Think you'll be looking forward to attending school next fall?"
"Dunno how well I'll handle it, and then there's the whole 'teens are supposed to hate school' thing," he chuckled weakly. "Honestly, though... It kind of terrifies me."
"You'll do fine, Bart. As long as you don't take up a habit of using your speed to pull pranks." The two of them shared a stronger laugh, then just continued to sit in silence and enjoy the other's presence.
And even after the thing with the time traveling West twins a few months down the road, even once Wally came back the year after, Bart and Artemis would still find time to be in the same room together, content to have that quiet companionship.
-3LBA-
Jaime's head jerked up in surprise. "Dude - you don't want to go to college?"
"Well, I mean, there isn't really anything I'm interested in getting a degree in, and I figure I could get a job as a mechanic or something to support myself-"
"Hermano, with as much as you eat, I think you'll need something that pays really well to support your bills." The other teen said with an amused smirk.
"Yeah yeah, but I have dinner so much at the 'tower or with my relatives I'm not too worried."
"...You just don't want to go through four more years of school. C'mon, Bart, college is the fun one out of all the education levels! Sure, the workload tends to be a lot bigger, but think of what there is to enjoy when you've got free time!" Standing, Jaime walked over to gently punch his friend in the shoulder. "I'm going to make you fill out the same applications that I am, and if you still haven't changed your mind by the time the acceptance letters come out, I'll leave it be."
"But in the meantime, you'll be doing everything you can to convince me otherwise, right?" Bart raised an eyebrow at his best friend.
"Well, duh!"
In the end, Jaime got Bart to go to Texas Tech with him, entering the speedster into the engineering department while the other studied architecture. Bit by bit, Bart started to enjoy himself at the university, and Lubbock was a big enough city he could get in his morning warm-up just by running around Loop 289 a few times. He and Jaime went to a few parties, studied together and helped the other with his projects, and still participated on Team missions every once in a while.
Then, Jaime met Traci Thirteen.
She was an English major and an Arts student whom he'd met a few times, and apparently a secret magic user too. Bart had been suspicious at first, as he always was towards metahumans he didn't possess previous knowledge of from his mentors in the future, but the way Jaime would light up whenever she was around gradually had him warming up towards the woman. The two of them got her to meet with Zatanna a few times, for some cross-comparisons of their methods, and the League member certified her as being as appropriate candidate for the Team.
Jaime was ecstatic. As were several of their other friends.
Bart... Hid, for lack of a better word. He threw himself into schoolwork, always claiming he was too busy to go on missions, or to hang out on the Watchtower with the others.
This went on for more than two months before a very pissed off Milagro Reyes arrived at his dorm.
"You think my hermano idiota is going to replace you with his girlfriend?" The young teen asked incredulously when she finally got Bart to open up on what he was feeling. "Allen, you are possibly the biggest moron to work on that floating base."
He couldn't help it. A snicker found its way out of his throat, and Milagro grinned at her victory.
"Look, I know my brother might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but even he's been able to tell something's up with you. And the dork thinks it's his fault." She paused and reiterated. "Which, I guess, it sort of is on one level, but he didn't fall in love on purpose! So. Are you going to keep hiding out here on the dusty plain, or go make up with tu amigo mejor?"
Six years later, Bart was Best Man at Jaime and Traci's wedding. And two years after that, when tiny Juan Reyes was born, the speedster teared up at becoming the infant's godfather.
-3LBA-
"Well, this could be going better!" Bart said cheerfully as he and Wally took cover behind a car lying on its side. In their respective Mercury and Flash uniforms, the two looked nearly identical except for the color schemes - Wally in mostly red with various yellow and white splashes, while his younger cousin's suit was mainly white with red and blue designs.
Further up the street from them, a new crook by the name of Girder was going on a rampage, thoroughly fed up about some supposed slight against him and determined to beat up anything within range of his metal-fused fists. Which happened to include various members of the Flash family, hence why they'd ducked out of sight when he started grabbing chunks of sidewalk concrete to throw around.
"You've yet to get the hang of the term 'understatement', haven't you?" Wally snipped back, peering around the edge of the car to take stock of where everyone had ended up. Dawn and Jay were both down, pulled into a relatively safe alleyway by Don. Barry had turned up in the old version of the Flash suit to lend a hand, mostly just getting civilians out of harm's way. Irey, wonderful little spitfire child that she was, continued to run rings around Girder, insulting everything from his grimy pants to his sense of timing.
"I still have Christmas shopping to do, you hunk of brainless protoplasm!" The fifteen year old yelled, causing the metahuman to bellow and take another swipe at her.
"Honestly, that girl procrastinates longer and longer every year," Wally murmured with a grin as Bart snickered. "Okay, Merc, I'm gonna go join KF, maybe between the two of us we can lead Girder away from the downtown stores. I want you to run ahead, keep the path clear of civilians, and direct any cops or other capes that might show up."
"You got it, coz!" In seconds, Bart had left the overturned car behind, hurrying on up the road, keeping his eyes peeled for anyone missed in his grandfather's initial sweep. Not that he wanted to doubt the aging man, but everyone was capable of making a mistake here and there.
And sure enough, crouched below the shattered window of a small store was a young woman, brown hair coming loose from a short bun and obscuring her face.
"Excuse me miss, mind if we get you out of here?" Bart started to smile at her, but the expression nearly died on his face when the woman lifted her head to look at him.
It was Meloni Thawne.
His mother.
"Mercury!" She gasped, stumbling to her feet in surprise. "I- yes, I'd appreciate a lift."
Thinking quickly, Bart nodded and picked her up, but instead of heading straight for the area his grandfather had been taking people, he zigzagged a bit. Meloni didn't notice - as soon as they started moving at superspeed, she tucked her head into his shoulder and just held on.
Fortunately, it didn't take too long for them to come across and join Don, who was carrying his sister further from the conflict. Both speedsters came to a halt near the police line and deposited their respective ladies, one awake and the other still out cold.
"Spin, I'll go get Marathon, do you mind making sure this woman gets looked at by a medic?" Bart asked, trying not to let his nervousness show.
"Yeah, uh, sure." The younger man nodded, his eyes widening ever so slightly as he took in the disheveled Meloni. "Right this way, Me- ah, miss!"
Bart didn't stick around, hurrying back to get his kid cousin as he beamed. Hopefully, this subtle bit of maneuvering would be just enough to ensure to two ended up in something of a relationship. The time traveler had done his research - he knew both his parents were attending classes together at the local University and likely knew one another, but since Don was such a shy guy, Bart doubted the two would get together unless Meloni saw his heroic side too.
And sure enough, that evening as the two sides of the Flash family celebrated their victory, a knock came on the front door. When Iris answered it, Meloni was on the other side.
Don went to greet her, stumbling over his words as he simultaneously smiled and blushed while the rest of the speedsters looked on. He and the woman spoke in low tones for a few minutes, before she walked purposefully into the living room and pinned Bart with a look.
"Mercury." Meloni said simply. Her gaze flickered over to Irey. "Kid Flash."
Next was Jay. "Marathon."
Then Barry. "Old Flash"
Wally. "Current Flash."
And finally Dawn. "Twist."
She then looked to Artemis and Iris, who sat side by side on the sofa looking smug. "How can you stand putting up with this many makers of bad jokes?"
Everyone burst out laughing, and welcomed Meloni into their fold.
-3LBA-
The League had grown. The Team had grown. And the army of small children that periodically invaded the Watchtower for babysitting purposes was bigger than ever.
Villains, thieves and would-be world conquerors were also appearing in greater numbers than before, but none of their schemes ever came to fruition thanks to so many crimefighters.
Humanity was flourishing. Technological advancements were starting to give back to the planet, with the rise of clean energy and education, most of which didn't have much to do with the heroes, but it was still something to look on with pride.
The Light would still put in appearances now and then, letting folks know that they hadn't stopped their backstage manipulations. Alien invasions and attacks would occur every few years, some more dangerous than others, all halted reasonably quickly.
On the whole, everything was going well.
Which was why Bart suddenly collapsing in the middle of the Watchtower was so shocking.
He'd been talking to Kendra Hol and Jay about how best to break to the rest of the family that they were dating when his heart seized unpleasantly. Ignoring it, Bart tried to go on with what he was saying, but the pain in his chest struck again, stronger than before. Next thing he knew, Hawkgirl was leaning over him as he lay on the floor, Jay having gone to get help.
"Mercury? Bart? What's wrong?" The Thanagarian asked him, her gold eyes flashing in concern.
"Guess there can't be two at once after all..." Bart muttered, pushing himself upright, despite the young woman trying to tell him to stay still. "Worth a shot anyway, I suppose."
"What?" He didn't have a chance to answer her before Jay reappeared, Wally right behind him.
"C'mon, coz, let's get you to the med bay." The redhead slipped Bart's arm over his shoulders, helping the other man to his feet. They took the trip slow, Jay and Kendra keeping close behind.
A hour and several tests later, there was nothing to suggest anything was wrong with Bart - which of course didn't satisfy the rest of the heroes who'd shown up after hearing what happened.
"What haven't we looked at?" Jaime demanded, Traci's hand tightening its grip on his shoulder.
"Look, I don't know what else we might do, but yelling definitely isn't going to help right now." Karen said firmly, glaring at the other League member.
"Is it even a true health issue?" Terry McGinnis spoke up, from where he leaned against a wall beside Irey. "Or time travel related?"
That question prompted everyone to turn and look at the medical bed where Bart sat, twiddling his thumbs and looking ashamed of something.
"Hermano?" At Jaime's soft plea, the man glanced up for a moment before gluing his eyes to the floor.
"...I always wondered," he started to speak quietly. "If it would be possible for two Bart Allens to exist at once."
Everyone stiffened, several gasps being released as they all realized what he meant - Don had married Meloni three years before, and were often heard debating over whether or not to have a child so soon into the marriage.
"But... Have you talked about this with them?" Irey asked, reaching for her boyfriend's hand in panic.
"I'm not gonna stop those two from having the family they deserve." Bart gave his kid cousin a lopsided smile. "It's selfish, really, to want my second self to grow up in an intact society with such a great extended family."
Clearly, there was nothing to do about it. The news spread quickly, with the rest of the Flash family heading up to the Watchtower to retrieve their extra member, both Don and Meloni looking guilty about the whole thing before Bart slapped some sense into them.
Over the next nine months, several people reworked their schedules to make sure Bart could enjoy as many 'proofs of life' as possible, as he liked to call them. Dawn married her fiance, Jeven Ognats, whose name Bart couldn't stop snickering at even through the ceremony. Once their daughter was born, Damian and Lian brought little Raegan over to be held and played with at least three times a week.
Christmas to New Year's was a straight week of gifts and partying. Valentine's Day, the man was swamped with cards and boxes of chocolate from dozens of Team and League members who looked to him as a friend and mentor. On Easter, the current crop of metahuman children who frequented the Watchtower insisted he join their super-powered egg hunt. Every birthday party, it was insisted that he attend.
But as Meloni's pregnancy progressed, Bart got weaker and weaker. For the last two months, he had to remain in bed in his room aboard the Watchtower, where others could watch over his failing form.
He wrote out a will, dividing up most of his souvenir collection and personal belongings among the friends he'd made over the past two and a half decades. Started to say his goodbyes to various people, in case they weren't around when the end actually came. Counted down the days to when his second self came into the world. Bart didn't know his exact date of birth, as that wasn't something people really cared about in a Reach-controlled world. The Team had just used the anniversary of day he arrived in Mount Justice in order to throw him a party.
And then, the day finally arrived. Bart knew it, felt it in his bones so to speak, even before Irey burst in, babbling at superspeed about the baby finally coming and Meloni wanting to have it in the next room over and Don freaking out-
"Wait, what?"
The young woman repeated herself a bit more slowly, warming Bart's heart when he understood that the younger Allen couple wanted to have their child as close to him as possible.
Several hours later, he could feel energy crackling up and down his frame, but ignored the pain as long as possible. Eventually, Don entered with a blue wrapped bundle in his arms.
"Uncle Bart," he said softly, placing the infant in his weak arms. "Meet Bartholomew Henry Allen, the second."
"Technically the first," the old speedster smiled, his voice barely above a whisper. "It is weird to think I'm adorable?"
Don just grinned at him, hovering close by. "I wasn't sure- do you think you'll still-"
"I'm going, Donnie. Nothing's changed about that. But I'm glad to have gotten to see you turn into such a great man. I know you'll handle the family thing just fine."
And with that, Bart finally gave in, allowing the wave of energies to sweep through his frame, erasing him from reality even as something of himself slipped into the new life...