"What the hell was Wally thinking?" Joe asked out loud as he, Cecille, Iris and Barry stood in the waiting room at Central City General Hospital, where Wally had been rushed too after someone had found him pretty badly burnt after being struck by lightning last night. The doctors had stabilized him and said that he was healing remarkably fast, but he was still comatose.
"I think that the talk you had with him about trying to avoid becoming a speedster went in one ear and out the other. Right now Patty is processing the evidence at the lab, but I'm gonna see if I can get the League to step in and remove all traces of what Wally was working on, since if that information falls into the wrong hands, I don't want to imagine what'll happen." Barry said and Joe nodded in agreement.
"But you think he'll have speed when he wakes up?" Iris asked her fiance.
"I think it's the only explanation for how he even survived the lightning strike, let alone how he's recovering this quickly. Besides, before I came here, I got a quick look at the chemicals Wally was hit with and they're the same ones that hit me when I was struck by lightning nearly a year ago. I think that if Wally wants to stay on the football team, he'll need to wear a power dampener, at least until he's mastered control over his speed." Barry said.
"Agreed." Joe said as Cecille kept pacing the room.
"What are we gonna do when Wally wakes up?" Cecille asked.
"Well, with your permission, I'll do for him what my dad's done for me. I'll train him." Barry said.
"But aren't you still learning things about your powers?" Iris asked him, only to have Barry shake his head.
"Not exactly. Dad's already taught me everything he knows, things like running on water, phasing, throwing lightning, he even showed me how to time travel, though that's one power I'll never use unless I have no other option, but according to him, what really makes a speedster is all the new ways they can find to use their powers. It's all about imagination now." Barry answered.
"So you're not limited to what you've been taught so far. It really just depends on how creative you can get your powers?" Joe asked.
"Exactly." Barry said, right as he heard someone call out his name, in a sort of hushed whisper barely loud enough for him to hear, but he did and he could tell that it was a woman's voice and it sounded familiar. It sounded like the same voice he'd heard back when he fought Blockbuster.
"Are you alright?" Iris asked her fiance.
"I don't know. I need to go, I'll be back as soon as I can." Barry said.
"What's going on?" Joe asked.
"If I knew, I'd tell you." Barry said as he walked out of the hospital and as soon as he was sure he was clear, he just took off running, though he wasn't really sure where he was going.
Barry just knew one thing. He had to keep running faster and faster, as the world blurred more and more around him until suddenly, he felt himself move through some kind of invisible barrier, like breaking the sound barrier, only this wasn't a sonic boom.
When he finally stopped running, Barry was confused by what he saw, since it almost looked like he was standing in his childhood home from before his mom was murdered.
"Did I run back in time by accident?" Barry asked as he looked around, trying to make sense from what was going on.
"No, you didn't go back in time. You simply answered my call at last. Hello Barry." the voice said again and Barry's breath hitched when he heard that voice as he turned to see his mom standing in front of him.
"Mom? Is that you?" Barry asked in shock at seeing his mother again.
"Yes and no. It's complicated." Nora said.
"What's going on? I thought you were dead?" Barry asked.
"I was. But before I died, the speed force reached out to me and brought me into it. Saying that I had a greater purpose, becoming its avatar." Nora Allen said.
"I don't understand?" Barry asked.
"There's a reason why Eobard Thawne's connection to the negative speed force was weakened so severely after his last battle with you. The strain of your battle on both sides of the speed force was extensive, weakening both forces and making them unstable. In order to stabilize itself, the speed force needed to take on a living host. One who had experience with it, but wasn't a speedster themselves. I was the natural candidate. It told me that it could keep me alive and connected to you and your father if I agreed to become its host and I did. But my new position came with rules. One of them being that I couldn't make contact with you until after you'd gained your speed, which you actually inherited from your father, but another rule was that I had to wait until time dictated that you were to receive your speed, I couldn't interfere. But now that you have your speed, you can visit me, since I can't leave the speed force beyond short intervals. Like for example, I will be attending your wedding to Iris, since I've been watching you from here for a long time and it is very overdue. I called you here because I wanted to see my son again." Nora said as she hugged her boy for the first time in years.
"I'll come visit more and I'll tell dad, since I'm sure that he'll want to come see you too." Barry said and Nora smiled.
"I look forward to it and to officially giving him my blessing to move on with Carla, since I have a feeling that when he finds out about my situation, he'll feel guilty when he shouldn't." Nora said.
"One more thing, Wally, when he wakes up?" Barry asked.
"Yes, he'll have speed too and you'll need to teach him just like your father taught you. Now run Barry, run. Run home to your family. Just come see me again soon." Nora said.
"I will, I promise." Barry said as he hugged his mom one more time before returning home.