Central City - 20th April 2024
Barry adjusted his gloves as he strode down the corridor. This had gone wrong too many times before. It was different now, with the new team. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling of dread curdling in his stomach.
"Hey Boss," Chester hurried up alongside him with a tablet in hand. "Gideon's been operating sluggish all day. I've checked it out and it looks like she's doing diagnostics. But, I'm worried because she's usually done a lot faster than this."
Taking the tablet, the Flash glanced at the readouts. "Okay," He handed it back. "Keep me in the loop, alright?" Computer issues weren't high on his list of priorities today. Or even on it.
"You got it." Chester strode off with a hearty slap on the back.
Barry pulled into the cortex and smiled at the group waiting for him. "You know Allegra's going to be pissed at you." Caitlin reminded him for the fifth time.
"She's more forgiving than you give her credit for." Jay smiled. He and Wally were standing with folded arms and uniforms on.
"Maybe not this time," Wally chuckled. "Did you see the suit she's wearing?" They'd needed someone trustworthy, someone unknown, and preferably powered. Allegra was the only one who fit the bill.
Voices in the hallway killed the humour. "Masks on." Barry pressed behind his ear to activate his mask, Wally pulled his into place, and Jay perched his helmet at a jaunty angle. Smiling her luck, Caitlin went back into her lab to check on the VIPatient.
"Mr Flash." Anger simmered in those eyes. "I brought your guests." Barry had wanted no possible interruptions to what they would be discussing today. S.T.A.R. labs was on full lockdown and only people with full access could get around the building. After today, if they accepted, that list would include three more people.
"Thank you, Allegra." The Flash could travel at light speed for a short duration. Allegra - Wavelength when she was in uniform - could shoot superheated beams of light. He'd have to make this up to her if he didn't want to end up charcoal. "And thank you all for coming." He greeted the trio standing on the opposite side of the lab from the three veteran speedsters.
"I see we're not your only guests." Max rumbled as he evaluated the newcomers.
"Have we met somewhere before?" Kid Flash slowly edged himself back to perch on a steel table. "You feel familiar." Like a voice you'd frequently hear on the commute to work yet never see directly.
"As do you." Max looked over the young man. "Like a thunderstorm in the distance." Understanding passed between them in a way the others couldn't figure out.
"So," Jess switched a finger between them. "Are you guys, like, a thing?" They couldn't see how. Max might not have been the most sharing of people but he didn't keep superhero secrets.
"I have often felt a presence when I meditate at speed," Max admitted. "A calming figure in the distance."
"You speed meditate?" The yellow jacket straightened up considerably. "That might explain why we could sense each other - I do as well."
"Is that mandatory?" Avery broke in.
"Only if you want to." Max shrugged. "I find it easier to reach certain levels of serenity by holding myself perfectly still at speeds."
"You can do that?" The Flash was amazed. When he accessed the Speed Force without moving, the results could be… intense.
"Can you not?" Kid Flash smirked proudly.
"A-hem," Jay cleared his throat pointedly. "Let's not forget why we're all here."
"I'm guessing some sort of speech. Maybe the Key to the City." Jess's head swelled at the notion of being formally inducted into Team Flash. "And then we decide on code names and get told super-secrets!"
"There are some things that we haven't shared with you," The Flash admitted. "Not because we don't trust you but because, once you know, there is no unknowing. The entire world will never look the same again. And I don't want that for any of you." He looked to them, from Avery to Jess to Max. "If any of you have any doubts that you'll want to stay as heroes, this is it. You're welcome to keep your speed, stay part of the team, nothing will change that you don't want to. But there may be challenges that you will not be able to take part in. Dangers that you don't fully understand."
"Flash," Max grumbled across the carefully prepared speech. "A very wise teacher told me that we are not the guardians of humanity but the first step to a better world. How can we step into that world if we do so with our eyes shut?"
"People like me don't get a lot of role models like ourselves," Jess admitted. "Dreamer and me is all there is. I'm not turning back now."
Attention switched to Avery. "Oh, er," She stammered. "Do I have to make an inspiring speech too? Because I'm in."
Looking to his brother and at the ghost of his father, the Flash received nods from both. "My name is Barry Allen," Reaching up, he tapped behind an ear to dissolve the mask from his face. "And I'm the Flash."
"Wally West," The yellow suit broke in as he followed suit. "Brother-in-law and second fastest man alive."
"Jay Garrick," The silver-haired hero tipped his helmet charmingly. "At your service."
"Jess Chambers." Jess pulled finger guns with a cocky grin. "The next Flash."
"Avery Ho." The Fast Track intern smiled. "Still working on the codename."
"Max." Said Max.
"To understand what I'm about to tell you, you need to do something first - you need to believe in the impossible. Can you do that?" Barry watched the trio nod in confused acceptance. They could outrun speeding bullets. How much more impossible could it get? "There was a world, a multiverse before this one," Barry revealed. "Oliver Queen died rebuilding this universe from the remnants of those that came before."
"On my Earth," Jay took over the conversation. "I was the Flash. That's where I met you, Jess," He smiled winsomely. "Believe it or not, you were my protégé. I guess some things never change."
"Hold up!" Jess blurred. "I'm from another universe?"
"Not quite," Jay mimed holding a ball in either hand. "Each universe can have different versions of the same person - we call them 'doppelgangers'. I knew yours on my Earth. When the old multiverse collapsed," Both hands clapped together. "I ended up here with my wife."
"Because only one copy of a person can exist, only doppelgangers who didn't have a version of themselves still alive in this world could stay," Wally said gently. "When he was a child, Barry lost his mom and dad. Jay," He pointed with clasped hands. "Was the doppelganger of his father."
"My family was shattered after my mother was murdered by an insane speedster from the future, intent on ruining the Flash name." Barry swallowed back his distaste. "I once travelled back in time to save her but, in doing so, I brought new threats to our world and was forced to return the timeline to its natural state."
"Changes to the timeline come with unpredictable risks." Jay gently took over. "Everything around you can change but you'll be the only one who remembers. Altering anything, even by as little as a single day, has massive consequences. Now, the people who wish to do us harm don't care about that - I've lost count of the number of times Per Degaton tried altering my history."
"People like the Reverse-Flash won't stop at just changing the timeline." Wally took the finishing stretch. "They'll manipulate you, the people around you, make you think that you're going insane until you're desperate enough to do anything. That's why you need to trust your team, no matter how dark it is."
"And there's one way I can show you guys I trust you that much, without a crisis. Iris?" He held a hand into the medical bay. "Guys," Breaking into that sappy smile, he gently drew her into the room with Caitlin close behind. "This is Iris West-Allen. And this," He cooed helplessly. "Is baby Nora." She'd need specialised checkups to account for any speedster issues. Luckily, Barry was good friends with a world expert in velociobiology.
"Awww, my god." Jess pressed both hands to their chest. "They're so cuuute!"
"Look at the little hands!" Whispering ecstatically, Avery closed in.
"A beautiful child," Max looked at Barry pointedly. He'd called it.
"Nora was born with speed," Barry explained. "Wally and I have noticed that drawing on the Speed Force has been less easy since she started manifesting signs. We think that it might be because there are more speedsters now than there have been at any time before."
"Hang on," Jess knew bad news when it was coming. "You're not saying we're breaking up the band?" Tension filled the room.
"Not exactly," Barry hedged. "I'd like to run tests together. Do some laps, throw lightning. See if there is a limit to running at the same time. If there is," Nora started fussing and his attention was instantly diverted.
"If there is, Jay and I have agreed to go on the bench," Jay placed a heartfelt palm on Wally's shoulder in solidarity. "Think of it like running in shifts. We'll be around if anything comes up but there'll be enough speed to go around."
"Joan keeps saying I should slow down," He smiled. "Maybe it's time I did."
An alarm shattered the moment as warning klaxons sounded throughout the facility. "Ground intrusion detected." Gideon echoed around the Cortex. Another heavy crash came from above. "Aerial intrusion detected."
"Max, Avery, go with Wally and check the roof." Barry touched the side of his head and felt the mask fizzle into place. "Jess, with me. Caitlin, you and Iris get Nora to the Time Vault."
"On it," Handing their child to Caitlin, Iris gave her husband a quick peck on the cheek as she grabbed a rifle from the cupboard. "Kick some butt."
"Butt?" Jess dared question.
"No curse words in front of the baby," He growled with violence in every syllable. "Jay, go with them."
"On it." The elder speedster nodded and escorted the trio at their pace.
"This is what I get for giving up my weekend." The scientist muttered as she soothed the fussing infant.
Barry glared at the blast doors. A noise like constant thunder strikes was coming from the other side. Whatever was out there had already knocked out the security cameras and sounded big.
"As soon as I turn these defences off, whatever is out there can get in," The Flash warned. "Be ready for anything and don't hold back."
"Got it." Jess cracked her knuckles and the cartilage popped like gunshots in the corridor.
Up in the service corridors, the yellow suit was flanked by purple and white. "Okay, guys," Kid Flash reassured with his gentle voice and soft eyes. "Stick together and we'll be fine."
"Got it, Kid Flash." Avery was very clearly nervous as Max gave a quiet nod.
"I gotta say," Wally pointed at the pair. "Digging the uniforms." Avery's outfit was a royal purple version of his own while Max had gone for a retro open-chest high-collar affair. Another set of detonations sounded and drew him back to the danger. "In position." A gloved hand touched his headset.
"Copy," Barry took a deep breath in. "Chester, lower the external defences on my mark." More drilling shots sounded against the heavy door and he settled into a ready crouch. Jess did the same beside him. "Three," Up in the catwalks, the other team braced for the same. "Two," Lightning crackled behind his eyes. "One."
He was running for the door even as it began to grind open. A body slid under, bouncing upright at speeds that normal people wouldn't even recognise as happening and he froze in place.
"Nora?!" Barry couldn't believe he hadn't sensed her coming. Maybe there were problems with too many speedsters.
"Dad?" Nora seemed equally surprised to see him.
"Dad?" Jess took in the name, the speed, and the lack of fighting on both sides and stumbled to a halt.
"CJ?" Nora sounded less surprised to see them standing beside her dad.
"Nora!" Barry warned her off future knowledge.
"Baby Nora?" Jess kept with the impossible ageing. "Wait, CJ?"
"Bart!" Barry snatched his son out of the air as he tried to creep past at speed.
"Oh, hey." He rubbed his hands nervously.
"What are you two doing here?" Another explosion echoed from above. Interrogating his children would have to wait. "Are they with you?"
"No," Nora was responsible enough to not play around when he had that expression. "We tried getting in but the defences turned on so we thought something was wrong and came to help."
"Jess, Bart," Barry glared at his son. "Bart, you know the rules."
"Dad, I would never," Explosions have a quick way of ending conversations. "Nice to meetcha!" Bart stopped screwing around and began pedalling feet in the air.
A powerful fist smacked Max into the air as the spinning figure landed a heavy blow that broke three of Wally's ribs. "Hey!" Avery darted in with a powerful punch to that square jaw as he was momentarily open. Both wings flared out to counteract the transfer of momentum as the intruder growled. "I'm sorry." She whimpered. A second of thinking later, she let loose a barrage of blows against his sternum until he had the wind knocked out of him.
A thick boot did the same in return as her attacker simply leaned back and kicked the speedster back down the length of the hall. Kid Flash retaliated with a bolt of lightning that was caught in the gaps between the spikes suddenly springing from the mace. "Nice." Bloodied teeth emerged in a feral grin as he moved to swing again.
Lighting blurred down the hallway, snatching Kid Flash away. Max took advantage of the distraction to follow on his own, scooping Avery up on the way past. "Carter!" A familiar voice shouted from the end of the hall. "Lower your mace!"
"We know these chickens?" One of these days, Jess would say something that couldn't be dismissed as banter.
"Old family friends," Adult Nora whispered in explanation.
"And you are?" Avery was sure she had a concussion but the worst of the ringing was already dying down.
"Funny way you have of greeting your guests." Hawkman tightened his grip.
"Carter, don't be an idiot." Barry looked past the
"Kendra?"
"Hey, Barry." Hawkgirl smiled as she opened her wings to reveal the child huddled protectively behind her. "Long time."
"Yeah, I mean." Crouching down, he looked at her daughter in amazement. "You must be Alda." Barry stretched out a glove. "I'm an old friend of your mom and dad."
A squishy mace hit him dead on the nose and he blinked. "Weapons training?" He wearily asked Carter. "Really?" The foam weapon had hurtled the length of the corridor with precision.
"Kendra and I think she's too young for a real mace." Carter's tone indicated it had been less a discussion and more a committee decision under the chairperson's authority.
"Why did you guys come in fighting if you're old friends?" Max skipped the small talk and went straight to the big question.
"Doors were locked," Kendra said bracingly as if it explained everything. "We thought you guys might be in trouble."
"Hey, us too!" Bart drew more attention to his existence.
"And you are?" She could see a vague resemblance to Wally and didn't want to jump straight to the time-travel stuff but,
"This is Bart," Wally explained, knowing where her mind would have gone. "And I'm guessing he's grounded."
"Bart, Nora." Barry turned to his children with a frown that said 'Not grounded yet but well on the way'. "Can you go to the time vault and explain everything? We'll meet you back in the cortex." A twin set of streaks vanished into the facility as the Hawks carefully sheathed wings and followed the group.
"Who were the new guys?" Avery whispered to Jess, eager to learn about their secret backup.
"Flash said the girl was Nora," Jess whispered back. "As in, the baby Nora."
"Really?" Max rumbled. It was the first time he'd been visibly surprised since learning he could throw lightning.
"Time travel." Wally shrugged, having been eavesdropping since the beginning. Avery jumped as if electrified by the voice in her ear. "It's a mind bender."
Iris and Jay were already back in the cortex with Nora and Bart when the bruised masses arrived. After the usual series of greetings and reconciliations, their fearless leader took charge by simply walking into the middle of the room imposingly.
"Firstly, will everyone please," Barry threw his hands to the ceiling. "Stop trying to break into our secret lab!" It was getting to be a real problem with us enemies but even his allies were in on it now.
"Hardly a secret lab," Jess snorted. "Didn't you blow up the city once? Or was it twice?" Barry gave them such a glare that even the impertinent new speedster fell silent.
"Twice," Carter rolled his arm where a laser blast was still healing. "And the turrets didn't help."
"Sorry," Barry apologised. "I put the defences up while I introduced the new guys."
"Maybe if someone had mentioned you were coming," Wally smirked at his niece. "We'd have been able to turn them off."
"Maybe if someone had told us there would be guests," Nora snarked right back. "We'd have been able to tell you."
"Guys, enough." Barry still wasn't sleeping the entire night with Baby Nora, he wasn't ready for Adult Nora to be arguing with her uncle. "Carter, Kendra, Alda," He addressed the three fliers. "I'm sorry about the defences. I was telling our new team members about the Crisis and about to try telling them about the family business - stuff I didn't want strangers interrupting. Alda, could you look after baby Nora while I finish telling them?" Caitlin was still with her in the time vault, in case the situation turned messy again.
"Mommy, Daddy?" Alda had such innocence in her adoring gaze that nobody could resist. "Can I?"
"Remember that she's not a toy." Kendra warned.
"Mind if I tag along?" Jay volunteered for duty. "I'm a little winded from the fight and could do with the rest." An exaggerated rub to his aching side told her he'd been grievously wounded in the fight but wasn't letting anyone know.
"Of course," Alda puffed up proudly. "My daddy is the strongest."
"You bet he is, kiddo," Holding out a hand, he let his brave knight escort him out of the cortex with a wink over one shoulder. Exactly how Jay had been injured on guard duty was a mystery.
"I think you two should know the truth as well," Iris continued the conversation once the footsteps had retreated. "This is Nora, Baby Nora," She underlined the relationship. "And this is Bart, our son." Kenda and Carter looked from the waving siblings to the pair of embarrassed parents shuffling awkwardly at the twisted introductions. It made sense to them.
"You have a son?" Max looked at the young man, seeing his connection to Wally. There was something else there, whispering on the edges of his unusual senses.
"I know, I know," Bart admitted. "I'm too good to be real." Nora punched him on the arm. "Ow."
"Unfortunately, our kids have a bad habit of sneaking back to visit us." Barry glowered. He'd taught Max, Jess, and Avery both the existence of time travel and the dangers with a simple trip - one hour back in time and then they'd eaten the lunch their past selves had packed before their younger selves knew what had happened. He'd also made it clear that any excursion to the past was to be treated with more finesse than visiting hostile territory. "We try to keep their visits social but they have a nasty habit of stumbling into events they shouldn't be a part of."
"Hey," Caitlin arrived from her relief. "What's the misunderstanding this time?" She'd been through enough of these tussles to know to simply grab the nearest medicine box and start patching.
"This one isn't our fault," Nora protested. "Gideon has us in her database - she should have logged us as friendlies and disabled the security lockout."
"Gideon is running diagnostics," Iris revealed. "But we'll be sure to add Team Hawk to the list as soon as she's back online."
"Damn," Carter growled in disappointment. "That was the best workout I've had in a while." If Cisco were here (and Carter wasn't smiling with bloodlust) he might have quipped about how cost-effective gym memberships could be.
"Why don't we hire you to stress-test our upgrades?" Caitlin smiled as the big lummox flinched from an antiseptic swab to the arm. "Oh, sorry."
"It doesn't hurt." Carter lied, gritting his teeth to retain control.
"What brings you guys to our neck of the woods?" Wally smiled. He'd been on the same team as the Hawks once, just a couple of generations later.
"It's nothing," The patient tried to lie.
"Lately, Carter has been forgetting things." Kendra sounded as worried as anyone would be about their spouse but she had more reason to be. "From his future lives." Their relationship was more troubled than typical star-crossed lovers. Doomed to resurrect time and again to find each other, only to be slain by the immortal Vandal Savage and his insane fixation on all of Kendra's incarnations. Carter Hall had died in the early days of his travels with the Legends. This was technically Scythian Torvill, his incarnation from nearly 150 years in the future. Savage had managed to locate him before memories of his past lives could return and brainwashed Scythian to become his loyal soldier. Reuniting with Kendra had reminded Scythian of who he truly was and he had been going by his earlier identity ever since.
"I told you, I'm fine." Carter was tired of the affair but would do anything to satisfy his wife. "Timelines change. I'm sure my memories will return in time."
"Not that it's not always nice to see you both," Kendra had parted from Team Flash years ago and both Hawks had left the Legends after Savage's defeat to enjoy their freedom. "But isn't this more the Legend's area of expertise?"
"We tried calling them," Kendra had packed the time beacon, for what little good it would do. "They haven't picked up."
"Well, I'll try not to be offended that I was your second choice," Caitlin smiled easily to let them know there were no hard feelings. "Let me get set and I'll run a few tests. Ask Chester if he's got time to check out your beacon while you get Alda settled in - Barry sprang for an entertainment system since the last time we had anyone to stay."
Both hawks looked for their next victim but superspeed has a way of getting out of unpleasant situations.
"And that," Jess laughed. "Is why to always know when the party is over." The group had retreated as soon as they heard news of a child given video games. Two angry parents were bad enough, two angry parents with maces and super strength were the worst.
"You promised to reveal secrets we'd never dreamed of," Max rumbled. "I say this was a success."
Avery was mute under the weight of scientific amazement. The multiverse had been a theoretical concept until this morning. So many equations were radically shifting in her head that even speed thinking wasn't going to cut it.
"Well, it looks like you're going to get your first encounter with the dangers of time travel." Wally smiled. "At least you don't have to deal with the Waverider."
"We can do the tests another time," Barry soothed the original topic of discussion. "In the meantime, Jay and I will stay off rotation. Wally can teach you everything I can - and a few things I can't."
"You're gonna make me blush," Wally smirked.
"Hey, drop by and see Dad and Jenna." Iris squeezed his arm affectionately. "They've missed you as much as we have."
With a variety of goodbyes and farewells, the team dispersed across the city.
"Now," Barry's smile faded but remained on the edges of his expression. "Why are you two here?" Mr and Mrs Flash turned to their children with grim expressions. A social call would have come to the loft. An emergency would have interrupted the final revelation to the newest team members. This was neither scenario.
"Can't we ever just drop in to see our folks?" Bart laughed off the intense intrusion.
"Bart, don't ever try to kid your father and me," Iris scolded. Knowing that Bart would be a handful going in wouldn't change a single facet of the future, not against that energy. "You know damn well how risky it is coming back in time - you already nearly blew everything out of the water with Jess!"
"Hey, it's not like we're dropping by for a pint of milk!" Bart protested. "Dad said," A silver finger pointed to the culprit before he was interrupted.
"What?" He couldn't imagine the circumstances that led to him sending his children back alone. "Why would I send you back?" Fear, deep, primordial fear flooded back through him. "Did I send you away? What did I do?" He'd failed his family in two timelines already, there couldn't be a third.
"It's not you." Nora fidgeted with tears behind her mask.
"Hey," Nothing else mattered beyond pulling his daughter into a safe embrace, Iris doing the same beside him. Gesturing wildly, Barry had a brief facial confrontation with his son until he joined the emotional pile. "You can tell us anything, okay?"
"I know." She sniffed. "But can we do it back home? I don't want to do it here."
"Of course," Iris carefully kissed her head. "How about you and me go back first while Bart and your dad bring Baby Nora?"
"You and I," Nora laughed wetly. "You've had to correct me on that so many times."
"Bart, do you know how to drive stick?" Barry asked bracingly.
"Of course." Definitely his son snorted. "Slot into drive, away you go."
"I thought it couldn't get any worse." He muttered darkly while the group untangled.
"Babe, it's a minivan." Iris reminded him. They'd agreed to spare Nora from unnecessary flashtime until she was strong enough to raise her head but Barry wasn't a fan of the alternative. "It's not the end of the world."
Lights clicked into life in the pristine conditions of the Time Vault as Gideon fizzled into view above her plinth. "Incoming time flux." Historical records of all ages exploded through the air. "Error: data not found. Initiating diagnostics." The images disappeared as the pillar hummed in activity. "No fault detected." Darkness crept back as the display faltered. Silence reigned as the night crept on.
"Incoming time flux." Gideon began gathering information to prepare a report. "Error: data not found. Initiating diagnostics." And so it went, the intervals growing shorter and shorter in each repetition.