#maybe eobard himself decided to take over since i keep writing him not getting his happy ending

[fezwearingjellybananas]

Cider

Barry Allen had married Iris West and that had been the start of the Flash Family, according to the history books. That was how his life had gone. She was as important to the Flash legacy as the Flash himself. But Eobard should test these powers, before doing anything too dangerous, and Barry was his hero, he only wanted the chance to meet him once.

And if he'd broken into the Flash Museum to borrow the Cosmic Treadmill clutching the precious scrap of paper he'd found that had the date Manuel Lago claimed Barry had his first kiss, well, that hadn't been with Iris, it wouldn't be like he was changing anything important. (T, 1k words)

The Flash (Comics)

[Barry Allen, Eobard Thawne]

Tags: Pre-Canon, First Kiss, New Year's Eve, 2000s, Alcohol, They aren't drunk but they have been drinking, Mildly Dubious Consent, I think, Barry doesn't know Eobard is from the future and already knows him, and is specifically there in the hope of a snog with his idol, but neither of them know Eobard will become the Reverse Flash yet

The party was loud and crowded. Barry could not believe he’d let Manny talk him into this again.

So what this was one of those rare occasions Barry actually got invited to a party, and he’d had the good luck of not being on shift for the evening and Manny was in town, and it was going to be the only turn of the millennium party the two of them were ever going to get to go to.

He admitted it had been nice to see Daphne again.

[Continued on AO3]

[austarus]

Harrison Wells (Eobard Thawne) x Reader - Integrated Revelations (1/3)

**A/N: The picture/edit/gif does not belong to me.

*I attempted a thing where I try to get back into the groove of writing for my murder speed husband... It’s probably shit, but here goes nothing. Sorta another theory I’ve had and had all these scenes connect together. I’m a shit writer so... Also, I’m dying and crying. Hahaha. I literally am dying. My uni work online is being ridiculously overwhelming along with my work hours for school. I really need a week with no deadlines or work just to get caught up with three weeks of work for certain classes. I really need to take a break. But I can’t, started to loose sleep. Can’t even have time to write or play Pokemon Reborn. Anyway, that a bit of an update from me. I wrote this back in July, hoping to have written a fic a week (which turned out to not happen, but hey, I tried) until October to post things. Also this most likely has grammer errors. I’m sorry. Once again, a shit writer. Please don’t forget to comment, like, and reblog. It means a lot to content creators of all kinds!

Word Count: 3584

Part 2  Part 3

“Well...” Eobard’s raspy voice didn’t seem to alarm the two speedsters that had phased into the Time Vault. The futuristic speedster had sat with a leg crossed over the other, and elbow resting on the arm of the chair. “Things just got a lot more complicated, didn't they?” Eobard pushed from the chair, standing up and taking a few steps forward. Nora and Barry looked on, one adorned a look of uncertainty and the other masqueraded his rage and pain through the years. “Barry Allen.” Barry nodded along, gauging the black-haired man’s façade. “But which Barry Allen? Clearly, you're… from a lot later than this one.” Eobard maneuvered his body and pointed to the unconscious form of an earlier Barry Allen.

“Way later.” Barry simply answered, looking indifferent.

“Way later,” Eobard echoed the response, putting emphasis on the word ‘way’. The scientist nodded along, pursuing his lips as his electric blue eyes flickered to Nora. Before anyone could speak, could even move the Time Vault door dematerialized. Nora watched as an earlier version of yourself entered the Vault hurriedly and out of breath. You had entered looking over your shoulder with a tablet in hand. You had been scanning for the supposed Time Wraith that had attacked Barry, but not your present time Barry.

“Eo, I traced-” You froze in place as you turned your gaze forward. Fear crippled your heart as you saw a version of Barry, much older through the years, and a woman not too far off his from his age. You swallowed thickly, clutching the tablet tighter. There’s three Barry Allen’s now?? Who the hell decided to break time? A small throbbing sensation erupted at the back of your head, but you dismissed it. Eobard had swiftly moved to stand in front of you. His eyes connected with yours for a moment.

“You knew?!” The young woman spoke up, stepping forward towards you which caused Eobard to hold out a subtle arm out to the side to keep you behind him. “All those years.” The older man narrowed his eyes at what the female had called out to you. You frowned at her words in confusion. Who is she? An image flashed through your mind of the woman, smiling proudly at Barry while wearing a dark purple and white suit with a yellow emblem. She clearly knows who I am, but… What even happened? Are they from a different future? You pushed away the image to the back of your mind. “How could y-”

“If you even think about touching her, either of you, then you’ll regret ever running back here,” Eobard steely replied. You took a step closer to your speedster boyfriend in case something were to happen and he needed to speed you away to safety. Not that you needed saving, but you were still working on defending yourself via your lessons with the futuristic speedster. So, they’re from the future, and I’m guessing far off from this other Barry, but not too far for him to age too much. You spared a small glance to the cuffed and unconscious Barry Allen on the ground. It hurt your heart to see him vulnerable like that, but Eobard had confided to you his suspicions regarding this Barry Allen. One Barry Allen problem at a time. Taking a breath in, you remained silent and studied the two speedsters that confronted your speedster.

“Let it go.” Barry grabbed onto the speedster’s shoulder, holding her back. Oddly enough, Barry’s words coldly cut through you. 

“Now,” Eobard’s cocky attitude returned to him as he established the safety of your presence. He had that kind of affect, putting himself on the air of superiority and intellect with his attitude and words to belittle the person in front of him rightly so to get the desired reaction he wants and anticipates. Eobard knows how to tug on Barry’s strings. “Who's your friend? Let me guess. Jesse Chambers- No. Maybe Lawrence. Wait- Danica Williams-”

“-It doesn't matter who she is.” Barry cut off Eobard’s rattling of names.

You eyed Eobard’s deceptive small smile as he held Barry’s gaze then turned to the young adult. The female remained silent, avoiding Eobard’s icy eyes. “She's your daughter.” You scrunched your face in confusion before the neurons clicked in your head after a few seconds. Lemme guess, she’s a speedster that ran back in time and met a younger version of her father. Weird flex bro, but whatever. You do you. If I was a speedster, I’d do things differently. Obviously not up to scale what with the tampering that Eobard likes to do with the timeline to get his way with things. “You've brought me your daughter.” Your eyes flickered back to Barry before taking another look at the female and seeing a bit of resemblance, other than the fact that she was a speedster like him. Then the article Eo’s been obsessing about did reveal something true. Barry does take Iris as his wife. The West-Allen family. “It's, um... Dawn, if I'm not mistaken.”

“Nora.” The young speedster forced out after briefly glancing at her father.

“Nora. Oh, that's nice.” Eobard turned back to Barry with a smirk, “At least you still have one.” That’s cruel, Eo. “What- Nora- time travel's so weird-”

“Why did you come here?” You found the nerve to speak up, moving to stand beside the man masquerading as Harrison Wells. I’m not going to be afraid; I can’t always cower behind Eobard if something unexpected happens. I need to take things in my own hands. Even if they do find out about- You cleared any evidence of distress at their sudden appearance from your throat, “What do you want?”

“I need him to fix this for me.” Barry held up a broken tube-like device in his hand.

A thought hit the genius scientist instantaneously, his blue eyes widening. Turning your body, you saw Eobard take a few steps backwards, “No...” The headache didn’t go away, instead intensifying slightly by the second. Negative emotions flooded your system at Eobard’s crippling composure. He shook his head at them. “No, if you're here...” Eo turned to face the unconscious Barry, cuffed to his motored wheelchair, pointing to them and him. “And he's here... that means-”

“-You don't get home.” Barry simply stated. Your heart shook, terror and dread feeding into your system at his words. Uncertainty of the future- your future with Eobard- plagued you. How does this all end?

“I get home!” The yellow speedster whipped his head around in agitation, his voice raising with every statement. Barry smirked cruelly as he shook his head. You held your breath at Eobard’s spiking wrath, you hadn’t seen him this angry since General Eiling’s interference with The Flash and Plastique. Even then he’d mask his resentment to pull the strings in the game strategically. “I get home. I go home! I get everything-”

“-You don't go home, Thawne.” The Scarlet Speedster halted the Man in the Yellow Suit. Eobard clenched his jaw. You reached out a hand to rest it on his arm in an attempt to calm him. His eyes met yours for a fraction of a second. You felt the tension hang heavily in the air. “Unless… you help me.” Barry held up his broken device once more, mockingly this time. Your eyes flickered to the ring on his right hand. Similar to Eobard’s. A future version of Cisco must have been able to figure out how to use microtech to compress Barry’s suit. He’s the greatest mechanical engineer that I know. Eobard’s shoulders sagged a fraction as Barry held his ground. Turning around, the genius scientist rubbed his face before kicking the spare Barry in annoyance. Barry, all clad in black, winced because he probably ended up feeling that kick. You and Nora remained silent, eyeing the exchange between both speedsters.

Eobard shifted his body back, hands on his hips and fueled hatred present in his eyes. “What do you want?”

“Like I said, you're gonna fix this for me.”

“To do what?”

“Drain dark matter.”

What could Barry possibly need with Dark Matter? Hasn’t it done enough damage? “Whose dark matter?” You crossed your arms with the tablet close to your chest, a frown on your face as Eobard stepped beside you once more.

“None of your business.” Barry sneered at you. You narrowed your eyes at his demeanor, the young man who you gradually grew close to and considered as another brother like Cisco.

“Barry-”

“-It is our business.” Eobard retorted, taking your hand in his tightly. Both men were frustrated at the others persistence.

“No, it's not.”

Eobard started, letting go of you and rounding heatedly on to Barry, “There's no chance that I help you-”

You reached a hand out. “-Eobard, don’t-”

- It's none of your business-”

“-Cicada's!” Nora blurted out. Silence filled the room between the four of your, outbursts settling. You blinked a few times, taking a step back and resting a palm against your temple. Grimacing, you cast your eyes down as images of a half-masked man in green stood with a dagger. A glowing dagger with a look of emptiness and death in his eyes. That man looks dead to the world, as if willing to kill for an estranged purpose. It’s so cold. You shook your head subtly and stood your ground, unwilling to show weakness, but you saw Nora’s eyes shift when she looked at you. Barry eyed his daughter with a sort of incredulous look while a calculating and analytical look flashed through Eobard’s eyes.

“Cicada's.” The name seemed so familiar to Eobard as it easily slipped of his tongue. The hushed tone in Eobard’s voice expressed a calm before the storm. A deceptive man full of secrets and knowledge of many, many years to come. Especially when it came to The Flash. “The one who got away. You want to destroy Cicada's dagger, don't you?”

“We want to save lives.”

A cynical laugh leaves your speedster’s lips as you pursed yours, trying to tease out the logics from Barry. “You want to save lives.” Eobard chuckled mockingly at Barry’s response. “I bet you do. I bet you do. Especially your own, right, Barry Allen?”

“Look, that me,” Barry pointed to the other version of himself in the room, “he's gonna wake up soon. He sees me standing here, your whole timeline is gonna be blown to hell. You're never gonna get home. You know that's true!”

“I know! I know!” Eobard sighed, his facial expression contorted, and his eyes held a different motive as he flicked his gaze to Nora, who hadn’t stop taking glimpses of you. “Where are my manners? Can I get you a cup of water?” You rolled your eyes at Eobard’s ploy.

***

The four of you had moved to the small lab, far from the Cortex in avoidance of Caitlin and Cisco. The timeline was a fickle thing to speedsters, Eobard had told you that. But oddly enough, when it came to Eobard it seemed to be malleable to his every whim. Tools and spare wires littered along the desk your speedster boyfriend was working at. The monitor held a camera feed of the Time Vault where Barry’s unconscious younger version was still unconscious.

How hard did Eobard hit him? Like, how the hell is he still asleep even through all that yelling and seething??

“Here,” you handed Nora a bottle of purified water.

“Thanks,” she quietly spoke, you nodded at her. You really didn’t know what to think about someone who knew you in the future, yet you had no idea who she would be until a few years later. Would I even still be in this time period by then? Or would Eobard had kept his promise? … Nothing’s making any sense right now. You felt frustrated for not really being part of their conversations. You were… just there.

“So, who made this?” Eobard examined the piece of teach as he started working on it.

Barry answered with pocketed hands, “Someone smarter than you.”

“I doubt that,” You snorted as Eobard laughed at Barry’s statement. Leaning against the dark blue beam of the side lab, you crossed your arms avoiding Barry’s gaze when he glanced over to you. You chewed on the inside of your cheek. “If so, then why come here? Why go through all the trouble to come here when you can get help from the person who made it? Why then would you need Eobard’s help?”

“We-”

“It’s… complicated,” Barry sighed before Nora could finish saying anything, pocketing his hands.

“I think that’s an understatement to the type of trouble that seems to find you, Barr.” You crossed your arms. “At least a Time Wraith didn’t follow you this time. Which I’m still having trouble tracking down.” You nodded to his former self on the monitor. Barry rolled his eyes at you.

“You know, Allen,” the yellow speedster wheeled around, electric blue eyes meeting Barry’s green gaze, “for your plan to work, you're gonna actually have to have his dagger in your possession...”

“We've got that covered.”

The villainous speedster raised an eyebrow at the forensics scientists. “You got that covered. How’s that?” He humored them.

“With this.” Nora pulled out a dark piece of metal, holding it out for you and Eobard to observe momentarily.

“What is that?” You piqued up, causing Nora to look over at you. An odd emotion flickered in her eyes. Eobard reached a hand out to it only for Barry to pluck it from Nora’s grasp. Your eyes flickered between the two then back to Nora. She didn’t seem to be cautious around you and Eobard at all. Revealing the reason for aid and showing Eobard exactly what he seemed to want to see. You weren’t a genius, but you obviously saw the pointed looks that Barry subtly gave his daughter. The cogs were turning in your head as well as in Eobard’s. He masked his growing speculation about the two speedsters.

“Is that-”

“It's a piece of Savitar's suit, yeah.” Barry stoically responded, since Nora had already shown Eobard the metallic piece, to Eobard’s oncoming question before he could even finish. Barry knew Eobard recognized the object, shaking his head that that cat was out of the bag for this secret too.

“Savitar?”

“Savitar. The Future Flash and the self-proclaimed God of Speed, kitten,” Eobard simply explained as he worked. Images of a metallic suit flashed through your mind as it hummed with energy; a familiar face shrouded in shadows and a hauntingly course voice. “A twisted time remnant of the man you know to be your friend. Another big bad that Barry’s had to face in the future, primarily due to the mistakes of his growing unhappiness. Isn’t that right, Flash? The pain you’ve caused the people around you just for you selfish wishes.” Barry rolled his eyes but remained silent.

“Eobard, play nice,” you scolded the older man, “they’re still guests here after all.”

“Hmph. You know what's funny about your dad, Nora,” the futuristic genius caught her attention, “is he hates me. Hates me with a passion, and yet a version of him, this Savitar, is a much bigger jerk than I ever was. Did you see the face?” Eobard gestured to his own face, primarily to one side of his face while snickering “Did you- did you see the, like, pizza face-” Nora awkwardly stepped from foot to foot, looking away.

“-Pizza face?-” Eobard Tiberius Thawne you owe me so many fucking answers when we get home because these images aren’t making as much sense as they should.

“-Can you hurry up?-”

“-Yeah, I'll hurry up.” Eobard smugly nonchalantly threw the tiny screwdriver onto the desk. He picked up a different on. “I gotta tell you, Allen, using Savitar's suit, it's a smart idea.”

Barry tilted his head to his daughter. “It was hers.”

Eobard gave her a hard look. His eyes flickered towards you then turned around. “Clever girl.” You picked up an odd indication in his tone. The speedster narrowed his eyes at the tech as he ignited it, illuminating in his hands to signal its functioning aspect. On the monitor, the four of you noticed that the other Barry was coming to consciousness. Eobard inhaled silently. “Oops.” Eobard swiveled his body around to hand them the piece of tech. “Gotta go.” Barry narrowed his eyes, quiet hatred behind them as he took the tech from his nemesis. “I still look forward to seeing how this all pans out. Nora. Kitten, make sure they see their way out,” Eo glanced at you one last time before speeding away in a torrent of red-lightning to the Time Vault. The three of you watched as the villainous speedster reclaimed his rightful place, crossing his legs once more. An analytical look across his features.

You spoke before the two speedsters sped away in a torrent of lightning. “Cicada’s the one with the lightning-shaped dagger, the one that glows ominously? Heartless eyes? Breathing problems?”

“Yeah? How did you…?” Nora trailed off. Barry figured that your powers were still manifesting themselves and it seems that their run back in time has triggered sporadic post-cognitive images to be revealed through certain key words.

“It doesn’t matter how-,”

“Your powers are still developing,” Barry interjected, pocketing the tech safely. “It seems that our visit has amplified what you can do. Let’s just what it doesn’t shift anything else”

He knows about my powers… Right, time travel. “Just be safe. I-I don’t know too much and I’m not sure what the future holds, but whatever trouble you two have run into just be cautious. Not for me, but for the ones you love. The past will always have some sort of domino effect to the future. I may not be able to time travel, but Eobard has taught me a thing or two about it.” You stopped, looking off to the side while rubbing your arm. “Barry?”

“Hmm?”

“Just answer me this one thing.”

“… It depends.”

“I know, timeline and speedster stuff. But…” You took a breath in, “Is he safe?” The speedster avoided your eyes. You swallowed thickly, moving your gaze to Nora. “Does he live?” She opened her mouth a fraction, moved by the desperation evident in your eyes

“I can’t answer that.” Barry whispered without hesitation, an alien emotion behind those eyes, replacing the kindness and warmth the Barry you knew had. It was bitter. “Nora, it’s time to go back to the night it all began.” Barry flashed away to the pipeline. Nora remained.

“I’m sorry,” She whispered, your body felt numb at the absence of answers. You turned back to the monitor, running both hands through your hair before picking up a spare tool and frustratingly throwing it at the wall. Picking up the tablet once more, you ran some algorithms and diagnostics privately on your powers as you made you way to the Time Vault.

Eobard’s head perked up in question at your entrance. He remained seated catching your troubled look. You only whispered, “We need to talk after this is over,” before leaning against the wall and tapping at the screen of your tablet. He hadn’t missed the embittered look in your eyes, the prominent frown on your face. A peculiar emotion hidden behind those lovely eyes of yours when the speedster had been so accustomed to seeing lights and twinkling of stars within your irises.

Eobard rubbed his wrist as he attained messy hair due to Barry and Nora’s revelations. You speculated he had been running his hands through it in thought as he tried to decipher the truth and what his next plan of action would be. King vs King. Eobard and Barry. It was a dangerous game and it’s clear that Team Flash are Barry’s pieces to move while Iris was by his side. From the future’s perspective. But you… at this point, you hazard a thought of what Eobard saw of you as. Queen… or Pawn. Pursing your lips, you shoved those thoughts away as your mind reminded you of all you and he had gone through since he had revealed himself and his truth to you. But right now, you were feeling so conflicted and insecure at how everything would play out. He promised to take me home with him… That we could start a life together. I don’t want to be used up and thrown away again. I’m tired of being broken and alienated.

The restrained Barry shifted once more in abrupt confusion as he found himself slumped against the cool metal of Eobard’s motorized wheelchair. A prop to his act. His mind felt foggy and arms felt heavy, particularly his right hand. You stopped tapping and eyed him indifferently because you really had no idea how to feel, but you realized you need to be cautious with how you act and what you say until you and Eobard clear things up from earlier events.

Barry’s eyes darted rapidly to the seated, smirking speedster in front of him then to you then to the metacuffs before lingering back to Harrison. The Scarlet Speedster assessed the guarded expression on your face. You saw this Barry feign confusion, eyebrows raised as he eyed the metacuffs and Dr. Wells. You cracked your neck as Eobard did a little hand-wave gesture to Barry. The young speedster looked baffled, probably at getting caught, as he opened and closed his mouth.

“Now, who are you?”

[watchtower-feed]

Another Flashpoint

Notes: As soon as I watched Justice League Apokolips, I started writing this out of frustration and my brain wouldn’t let me stop even when it hit 2k words! Apart from the title and summary, there are no spoilers here. Words: 3,882

      Pebbles dug into his knees as he prepared to sprint back in time to save everything. To change everything. The non-existent pain was almost enough to make him stand up again, tell Constantine ‘no,’ and walk away from them forever. But the image of the ruined world on the horizon was an eyesore, a piercing glass embedding deeper and deeper into his heart.

      So he ran. Barry Allen kicked off from the shoreline of Titans tower and left the dust trailing after him as he entered the light of the speed force. As always, whiplash greeted him harshly, slapping the sides of his jaws and forcing him to blink for a millisecond.

      Just like last time, he navigated his way through the memories of this timeline. He had to relive the same events of torture and happiness within a micro-second, clenching his fist to keep his eyes forward. He had to go back as early as he can. He had to see his mother.

      When Barry tumbled out of the speed force, his body skidded along the road, unable to keep himself upright from the exhaustion that is finally hitting him. He laid on the ground while he felt his lungs desperately rise up and down. Before Barry could recover, a small shadow of a child loomed over him, hair falling down the side as curious eyes stared at him.

      “Whatcha doin’ there, mister?” you ask him.

      Barry’s stunned. He’s never seen you in his entire life before. He looked around quickly to assess where he had landed. He was right across his old house where he can see his mother, Nora Allen, preparing the cake for his birthday.

      Your gaze suddenly landed on the insignia on his chest. Then you looked back at him with such glee. “You’re the Flash!” you yelled out enthusiastically. You quickly helped him up and started dragging him back into the house. Barry is still too stunned to think straight. His mom shouldn’t see him. Nora can’t see his future self. But he couldn’t resist your pull on him.

      “Mom! Mom!” you yelled out as you dragged Barry toward his mother. “The Flash is here! The Flash is here!”

      “The Flash?” Nora asked with suspicion, looking at Barry from head to toe.

      “Yep!” you giggled, “You hired someone to be the Flash at my birthday party!” you let go of Barry and ran up to your mother to give her a hug. She quickly carried you in her arms and pointed a kitchen knife at Barry. “Mom, what are you doing?”

      “Sweetie, that’s not the Flash.”

      You stared at the man standing awkwardly by your entryway. His costume was different but there was no denying that the insignia on his chest is the Flash’s symbol.

      Barry’s eyes widened as he stared at you and his mother. “She’s… your mother? And she’s your…?” Barry quickly tried to level his head. “Wait. Do you have a son?” he asked.

      Nora’s eyes quickly narrowed and backed away from Barry, refusing to answer him. But you were so young and so innocent, and you still believed that Barry is the Flash that you know. The first Flash.

      “He… died,” you answered and buried your head into your mother’s shoulders.

      Nora tried her best to comfort you while keeping the knife aimed at Barry’s chest.

      Barry was completely taken aback. This isn’t his past.

      The sun glinted against Nora’s knife and Barry quickly put up his hands and spoke in a lower voice, “Woah-- I’m not here to hurt you. I’m just passing through--”

      “Watch out!” your yell rang out like an echo inside Barry’s head as he quickly turned to find a man with a gun aimed at him. With ease, he broke apart the man’s gun before his finger could even press the trigger. 

      As time continued slowly, Barry took a look at the man and saw a young boy, a teenager.

      When time went back to normal, the boy, Nora, and you were surprised to watch the unassembled gun fall to the floor.

      You looked back at Barry. “He is the Flash! He’s the real Flash!”

      The teenage boy clicked his tongue and tried to escape. But before he could take a step, Barry tripped him. He grabbed his collar and slammed him against the wall. “Who are you? Why are you after them?”

      The teenage boy stared at Barry with wide eyes and full of fear. His fingers trembled as they tried to pry the Flash off of him. “Let go of me!”

      “Flash!”

      Nora’s voice quickly settled him down like a soft cascading waterfall. 

      “He’s just a kid,” Nora said softly while rubbing your head. His grip loosened and the young boy took this chance to run out of the house. Barry looked at the two of you. You wrapped your short arms around Nora’s neck. “His father killed my son and my husband.” Hearing his own death from his mother’s lips made Barry’s knees weak. “He’s in jail but that boy-- He blames us.”

      “No.” Barry shook his head. Thawne was the one who murdered his mother in a rage. Now he’s sure that he’s in a completely different timeline. An alternate universe where he and his father are dead. 

      Without sparing you or Nora another glance, he ran away fast enough to once again enter the speed force. As the white light surrounded him, he slapped his cheeks harshly. “Gotta do it right this time. No more wrong turns.”

      Barry kept his eyes away from the memories but one memory that doesn’t exist in any of his timelines distracted him. He was in a hall filled with family and friends. He was under an arch of white balloons and facing you.

      He was distracted and he tripped out of the speed force. He kept rolling on the floor until your boot promptly stopped him. 

      “Long time no see,” you teased and waited for him to slowly turn around and look at you. It was definitely you, the little girl that was in Nora’s arms. Grown-up. A young adult. And wearing the Flash’s insignia. “I knew you’d be coming by here again.”

      The Flash stared at you and you chuckled, “Well, are you just going to sit on the ground?” You removed your boot and positioned your body to sprint, “or are you joining me for a run?”

      You sped off and let the city lights blur hazily around you, feeling the wind run through your hair, tangling and unraveling at the same time. Running at the speed of light was the best feeling you have ever experienced.

      But having someone just as fast as you, running beside you was a whole new experience.

      “Who are you?” Barry asked as soon as he caught up.

      “I’m the Flash!” you boasted and took a sharp turn to try and impress him. “Isn’t that obvious?”

      “I’m the Flash--”

      “I know! But you’re also Barry-- you look so much like him. You must be another Flash from another world.”

      Barry’s head was suddenly spinning. He has definitely confirmed that there are alternate timelines, alternate universes, and within these alternates, there are also alternate worlds. He suddenly regrets not taking string theory as a minor in college.

      Deciding not to waste any more time, Barry picked up his pace and entered the speed force again, leaving you behind as you shout after him. This time he wasn’t going to let anything distract him.

      This proved to be more difficult because new memories were surfacing. Almost all of them are none he remembers. But it’s his face, his body, his mannerisms. Every scene had him in it and he was intimate with you. A wedding. A honeymoon. Anniversaries. At the hospital.

      “STOP!”

      You throw yourself against Barry until the two of you are forced out of the speed force. Instinctively, Barry wraps his arms around you to take most of the brunt force as you skid along an empty highway.

      When all the spinning had stopped, Barry looks at you. You’re older, maybe just a decade had gone by since he last saw you, but there was something in your eyes that felt older. He could almost relate to it.

      Your eyes start tearing up and you pound against his chest, “Please, Barry. Just stop…” You lean your forehead against his chest and shake your head as the tears stream down.

      “Hey hey…,” he whispers softly as he rubs your head. 

      “Barry,” you call out and finally look up. Your eyes roam desperately over his features before you frown deeply. “You’re not really him, are you?” Barry’s eyebrows rose up. “You’re not my Barry.”

      Barry’s eyes widen.

      You wipe your tears harshly and laugh mockingly, “My Barry would have kissed me by now.”

      Barry blushes a little at the thought, but the thought also quickly jolts his mind into overdrive, “So the memories… they weren’t mine--”

      “They were mine,” you finish.

      “But you and Barry-- aren’t we siblings?”

      You stare at him before you laugh, real this time. “I’m-- I was Barry’s childhood friend!” You slowly stop laughing as you get to the sad part, an explanation you’ve rehearsed so many times because people kept asking you.

      “My parents were killed in a car accident and the Allens took me in. I was so young that all I’ve ever called Nora and Henry is mom and dad. Nora had been so good to me even when Barry and I got married. She kept treating me like her own child.”

      Barry closes his eyes and takes in one long deep breath before he slowly unwraps his arms around you. “Okay. I think I’m the one who needs an explanation here.”

      “Barry-- my Barry wasn’t dead before you-- before your first visit… I wanted to have Henry in our life, too.”

      Barry gives you a long look before he’s slowly piecing the dots together, “I was in your flashpoint!”

      Slowly, you nod your head and close your eyes before you whisper, “But I didn’t make it in time. I just saw it happen.” Barry was looking at you more confused. He wonders if all speedsters have always been like this-- if he had always been like this, rushing through thoughts without proper context.

      You look at him again and decide to explain from the beginning, “I had to go back in time. As soon as I found out I could do it, I knew I had to save Henry.” You suddenly clench your fists and hit him on the chest, “But you--! It would have worked if it weren’t for you!”

      “What are you talking about?”

      “You did it first. You created the very first Flashpoint and you brought Eobard Thawne into my world!”

      Barry’s eyes widened. “Oh no.” He suddenly remembers the first Flashpoint, Eobard had been there. He was the only one in that timeline that knew it was an alternate one. Even when the Amazons and Atlanteans waged war he was calm, like he knew something. Like he had done something.

      “He told me,” you continue and cling onto Barry’s suit, “when he was there, Eobard told me everything. When he slipped through the speed force, he found himself in front of our house. As soon as he saw you, his objective became clear. He killed Barry and Henry and framed that boy’s father. It was only when Nora and I came home that he realized he was in a completely different timeline.”

      Your voice has gotten lower and your eyes are trained to the ground. You stare at the asphalt as you remember everything. “I was just seconds too late to stop him.”

      You bite your bottom lip as you remember the scene in front of you. Barry was a small child who laid limp on the floor beside the man who you knew as a father.

      “I tried to fight Eobard to save Nora and my younger self,” you say weakly. “But I was weak and I was scared. Seeing their bodies-- I just ran away, while he chased me. I ran and I ran until I finally came back to the present, hoping nothing had changed-- that it was just a dream.” You close your eyes and your voice breaks when you speak, “But I was wrong. Henry. Nora. Barry-- Our kids-- they were all gone.”

      Barry winces at the way your eyes looked into his like you’re talking to your own Barry, telling him what had happened. He tries to fight the urge to comfort you but can’t, “I’m sorry--”

      “No, you’re not!” you lash out suddenly. Then with a shaky breath, you continue, “I went back. Of course, I went back. There was nothing else to live for. So I ran back and I fixed it. Eobard was gone. I fixed it, Barry! I really fixed it!”

      Your eyes were staring into Barry’s eyes, willing him to imagine it. A world where none of his family members have been murdered. “Henry was alive. Barry was alive. We lived another life together and it was even better this time. We were so inexplicably happy--”

      You stop abruptly and drag Barry up to stand with you. “But you--” you were gripping him by the sides of his cowl along his jaw and glaring at him. Your voice is like venom when you spoke again. 

      “Eobard was like a virus. The moment he wormed his way into our world, he left a gaping crack that made us vulnerable to everything you did in yours-- Barry, every time you changed your timeline, you were dragging our world through the mud with you.”

      Barry gaped. “You…” He doesn’t finish his sentence which only makes you angrier. You grit your teeth.

      “Do you have any idea what it felt like to wake up and find that my whole family-- my whole bloodline never existed! To find out that I have no world!”

      Barry held onto your hands as it all came to him like a speeding truck, “Your world merged with mine--”

      “And I had no place in it!” you yell out. “No identity! No powers! And no family!” You’re exhausted and you can hear your breathing. “I tried so hard to get in contact with you but you’re untouchable, Barry Allen.” You laugh a little and it hurts, “I was married to you, had kids and everything and yet I couldn’t even get your stupid number.”

      Barry thinks for a moment and then mutters, “Batman. He took measures to hide our identities even from civilians.”

      “So you can only imagine how much harder it was to try and get your attention as the Flash.”

      Barry doesn’t know what to say and you have no more words to get off your chest. What’s done is done. You can’t have your world back. Not anymore. You just wanted to say your piece so he knows how much he’s risking every time he creates another Flashpoint, even if it is necessary this time.

      “I’m sorry but I have to change everything again,” Barry finally says. “My last trip-- it brought Darkseid to Earth and he destroyed everything. We lost everything.”

      “I know,” you tell him, “I was there. I’ve been living in your world.”

      “Right… wait. How did you get your powers back?”

      You raise your hand and let it vibrate, checking to see if it really is still there. “I felt it when you entered the speed force again. It let my powers slip through and return to me.” You put your hand back down. “The first thing I did was run after you.”

      A lightbulb finally clicked inside Barry’s head, “I haven’t been running through my past. I’ve been going through yours!”

      “And you were altering my memories while I was in the speed force,” you punch him. “Thanks for that!”

      “Ow-- okay.” Barry stands upright. He finally understands. “So where are we right now?”

      You look around and recognize the highway immediately. “We’re still in my past. This is where Barry first proposed to me-- in our original timeline.” You can still see it in your head. You were running while carrying Barry in your arms. He loved the feeling of the rush but he always had to keep his eyes closed. When you started hearing the first words of his proposal, you stopped here.

      “I’m truly sorry-- I-- Dang it. I don’t even know your name.”

      “Don’t be. It’s not like you’re my husband or anything.” You laugh nervously, trying to hide the quivering of your lips. “It’s Y/N.”

      Barry holds your shoulders and squeezes them. He knows what it feels like to have lost someone. He knows how it feels to have lost the ones you love like how you have.

      “Y/N, let’s change it. One last time. Together this time.”

      You shake your head, “My world is gone, Barry. We can visit my pasts but all you’re going to be doing is changing my memories. Your past will have a stronger effect than mine.”

      Barry tightens his hold on you, urging you to really hear him out, “Then we’ll share. After we change it, we can both be the Flash.”

      That’s not what you want. That was never truly what you wanted. What you want is your family. You want your Barry.

      This Barry isn’t yours and he never will be.

      “What if I lose my powers again after it’s done?” you whisper.

      He shakes his head, “We won’t know until we try. What other choice do we have?”

      He’s right. It’s not like you want to go back to how the world is now. But there’s still one last thing that’s been bugging you. One last problem that you’ve noticed has been happening the longer you stay in your merged world.

      “Barry, what if I lose all of my memories?” You put your hands over his, “I’m the only thing left that existed in my world. What if you change it one more time and it completely erases me, too?”

      He stoops down to look straight into your eyes, “I can’t promise anything, Y/N. I’m so sorry.” Your eyes hold his gaze even when you start crying. Barry wipes your tears away, “Let’s enter the speed force together and change the past together. I promise,” he takes one of your hands in his, “I won’t let go. I’ll do everything I can to bring you back with me. I at least owe you that.”

      That’s the best Barry can promise you. A chance to continue to exist. If you forget your memories, you won’t know the pain you’ve been living with. You won’t know your Barry. He’ll be gone forever.

      You squeeze his hand before pulling him close until your lips meet. Barry makes a muffled sound before slowly melting into the kiss, closing his eyes and tipping his head to the side to deepen it. When you bitterly part, you lean your head on his chest, “I just wanted one last kiss. Even if you’re not him.”

      Barry holds you and brushes your hair, just like how your Barry used to. Before the two of you run into the speed force, Barry holds your hand in his and squeezes it.

      When you enter the speed force, your memories are no longer displayed on the sides like an exhibit in a gallery. They’ve been replaced by Barry’s. And not a single one has you in them.

      “Close your eyes,” Barry tells you and squeezes your hand.

      You let Barry guide you in the speed force. Sooner than you realize, you’re leaving it with much better landing this time. You open your eyes and find yourself in front of your house. You watch Nora set up for your birthday party alone.

      “What are we changing?” you ask.

      Barry swallows before he finally tells you. “I have to stop myself from saving Nora.” Your eyes widen as you watch the woman you’ve always known as your mother. Before you could say anything Barry turns to you with lines around his eyes, “I saved my mother. Constantine told me that if I hadn’t done that, Darkseid wouldn’t have come to Earth.”

      You grip his arm, “Please, Barry. I’ve seen your father die. Not Nora, too--”

      Barry can’t look at you. This is hard on him, too. “Y/N, you have to help me stop myself because…” he looks at you and you can see tears wanting to spill over his eyes, “I don’t know if I can do this.”

      You bite your lips and let the tears fall because this is the worst thing that could ever happen. You just wanted to save Henry, to let him be part of your lives. You never knew that your Barry had to pay that price and now, Nora too.

      You let go of Barry’s arm and squeeze his hand instead. “Together then. We’ll share the burden, too.”

      Barry gives you a long look before he nods.

      It’s one of the longest moments of your lives. Standing on the sidelines and watching an intruder make his way into your home. You and Barry try so hard to ignore Nora’s call for help, squeezing each others’ hands and digging nails into the skin.

      As soon as Barry’s other self, from his first trip, enter the scene, you move first. You throw yourself at him until you’re both hidden in the bushes.

      “What-- Who--”

      You all hear the last ear-piercing scream from Nora. You watch as the Barry in front of you stares into the windows and his face falls. When he turns to you, his face is distorted in anger, “You--!”

      Barry, the present Barry, puts his hands on his shoulder. When he turns to him, he shakes his head gingerly, “We can’t change the past because… it’s not just our future we’re changing. Go back.”

      You can see the recognition slowly dawning on the younger Barry. It breaks your heart when he too finally resigns from the same mission you’ve all been going through. He disappears before you can say anything.

      Barry helps you up. “Thank you.”

      “Don’t. Don’t thank you for this.”

      He nods and squeezes your hand. “Let’s go. Before I see myself walk into the house.”

      You walk together until you’re under the shade of trees and then you’re sprinting back into the speed force. Your eyes are closed as soon as you enter it, not wanting to see what changes have happened this time. Not wanting to know if you’re not in any of them.

      “Y/N! Look!” Barry’s sudden exclamation piques your curiosity and you open your eyes.

      You’re surrounded by memories of your existence. A new existence for you both. Barry’s tragic past stayed the same and so did yours. You found yourselves growing up together in the same foster home. Going to the same schools. Same college. Same job. Until you’re both hit with lightning at the same time.

      “This is the new flashpoint?”

      “It’s our new world.”

      Suddenly your memories are blending together into a single memory. A kiss on a highway where you’re both laughing while Barry carries you in his arms.

      “Okay, when do we get off this rollercoaster?” you ask nervously.

      Barry chuckles, “Now would be good.”

✧ Watchtower Masterlist ✧

[jay-wells-writes]

Trying something new! Hopefully you like it!

Something I noticed when writing is I will think of an idea for one character and then I cant help wondering what the others would do. So instead of writing all those stories out I figured I would do a little snippet for all of them and if you like an idea maybe then I will actually write out a whole story. 

So the theme of the snippets are how the guys would react if someone was harassing you, and let me tell you figuring out a different reaction for each guy is hard. On that note, I should also mention that this is the first time ever doing anything like this so I hope that I did it justice. I should also note that this is unedited, I figured since they are just small snippets it didn’t need to go through editing.

Even though there is nothing bad in the snippets other then guys being jackasses I do want to put a warning to this. I know that even the smallest things can trigger someone.

Ralph:

Ralph stepped into the dinner and made his way to your section. He had been coming in every Thursday night when he knew you worked the late shift, he just hoped that you didn’t find it creepy. For some reason, you were easy to talk to and never got annoyed with his lousy jokes. Walking up to his table you place his normal coffee down with a small smile. Ralph could see that you were tired, so he kept his jokes to a minimum. After telling you to bring his usual he sat there and watched as people came and went. When he saw a group of guys come in he got a funny feeling that made him sit up straight. Hearing you moan did many things to Ralph, but when he saw you look to the group of guys that had just came in he placed a hand on your arm and asked if you were ok. Nodding your head you told Ralph that one of the guys lived in your building and him and his buddies loved to cat call and ask you to come over whenever they saw you. He watched as you made your way over to the group. Even though you were uncomfortable standing in front of them you had managed to keep a smile on your face while they placed their orders. Ralph and everyone else in the dinner was becoming annoyed with how the group of guys were acting. Every time you had tried to walk away they would call you back. Dropping things so that you would pick it up, but what had Ralph standing and making his way to the group was when one of the guys drink was spilled on the floor. You had been kneeling down to wipe up the mess when you had looked up to your name being called, that is when you saw one of the guys grabbing his dick and saying while your down there. Before you could react though you watched as a set of hands ripped the guys away from himself, pulling him from his seat and slamming him to the ground with his arm twisted up and behind his back and a foot holding him down. Standing quickly you saw that the person who had pulled the man from his seat was Ralph and that he had a gun pulled on the others. Looking at you he asked of you were alright. After nodding your head Ralph asked if you could reach into the inside pocket of his jacket and grab his phone. Sliding your hand into his jacket you brushed a crossed his chest, feeling muscle that was hidden by his clothes. Pulling out his phone he told you the code to unlocking it and had you hit the number of someone named Joe. 15 minutes later there was a couple cop cars there and the group of guys were arrested for possession charges and harassment. After being told you were ok to leave for the night you walked out of the dinner and saw Ralph waiting for you. Knowing there was a chance for the guys to get out that night Ralph said that he didn’t feel comfortable having you stay at your place and that he wanted to set you up in a hotel for the night. As much as you tried to talk him out of it, you couldn't. So you found yourself in his car as he ran you to your place and then to the hotel. Making sure you were settled in for the night Ralph had turned to leave, but before he could you had pulled him in for a kiss. As you tried to pull him back into the room Ralph pulled away from you. Telling you that he wants nothing more than to hear you moan his name, but tonight was not the night for that. He didn’t feel right because it made him feel like you were only doing it as payment for the room. He said that he would be back the following morning with breakfast and they could talk about it then. Giving him the other key, so that he could just come in you kissed him good night and watched as he left. The following morning Ralph had hoped you didn’t regret kissing him the way you had. After knocking to let you know he was there, he let himself into the room. The sight that greeted when he opened the door was you walking out of the bathroom in a towel. Instead of freaking out, you dropped the towel and had asked him if that was proof enough. You watched as Ralph rolled his eyes closed, tilted his head back and let out a moan. When he reopened them you saw nothing but lust as he tackled you to the bed.

Jay:

Everyone had decided that things had been a little to tense and that a night out was what they all needed. It just so happened that Jay was visiting when the idea of going out was brought up. At first he had no plans of going but when you begged him and gave him some puppy eyes he agreed. He sat at the table most of the night with Harry and talked about random things. Because he couldn’t get drunk he made it his job to watch everyone in the group, keeping a closer eye on you than the others. He watched as guy after guy asked you to dance. It drove him crazy but he had no claim over you and in turn had no say on who you danced with. Everyone was having fun and into dancing that no one notice that the current guy you were dancing with became a little to handsy. Jay watched as the guy kept trying to slip his hands down your ass or under your shirt. Finally having enough you tried to walk away, but as you did the guy grabbed your arm causing you to flinch in pain. Next thing you knew Jay was standing in front of you with his arm reaching back to slide you behind himself. After trying to talk calmly to the guy and him not listening, Jay knew that there was no point. So he turned around and started to lead you back to the table. That is when the guy started to throw insults at Jay, all of which he ignored. The final straw was when he started to insult you. Jay wasn’t even using his speed and yet no one saw the punch he threw at the guy. Everyone in the bar stood there looking at the guy who was currently knockout cold and to Jay as he stood over him. Touching Jay’s arm you asked him to take you home. Standing outside of your place Jay started to apologize for hitting the guy. Telling him that he never had to apologize for anything like that, you pulled Jay down for a kiss. Suddenly it was like a dam broke between the both of you and you found yourself slammed into the wall of your building with your legs around Jay. You only pulling apart long enough to get into your place and out of the public street.

Eowells:

As Eobard’s… well Harrison’s assistant you were required to be at any and all gala’s and dinners. Tonight it was a gala held in honor of Dr. Harrison Wells, in hopes that the company throwing it would be able to get Dr. Wells on their board. Eobard hated things like this so for the most part he stepped back and let you work the room. Standing to the side Eobard couldn’t help but feel himself want you when he saw what you were wearing. Tonights dress was form fitting. It was black in color but the way the material was made it sometimes looked silver and when you moved it was like watching water move, it had a slit that went up just past your knee. Although the back was a modest length that went to the middle of your back, the front was a deep cut that stop just a smegging between the top of your breast. Instead of covering your neck with diamonds you wore the same necklace you always wore. It didn’t dip down between your breast but it still caused Eobard and any other man to look. Eobard was thrown from his thoughts when a hand slammed unto his back. Turning to look at who it was he found that standing next to him was a middle aged man. He could see that the man has solid built and wore his suit well and looked to be a smart businessman. All that was nulled though when Eobard followed his eyes to you. He must not had known that you were associated with him cause when he spoke it took everything for Eobard not to reach into the mans chest and kill him right then and there. Instead Eobard stood there as the man went into great detail on the things he would do to you if given the chance. What made it worse was when the man did nothing to hide his excitement at his thoughts. Just then the man made his way towards you and Eobard watched as the man reached out and slid his hand down your arm. Seeing you shiver but not in a good way Eobard made his way to you. Eobard saw red when he watched as the man reached for your necklace and let his finger graze the top of your breast. Placing his arm around you Eobard acted as if he had been looking for you. Feeling you push yourself further into him Eobard placed a light kiss to your shoulder, telling you he was ready to go home. Without another word to the man Eobard lead you out of the party and into his car. Reaching your place you asked if he would like to come up. Once the door closed Eobard found himself with you in his arms. Removing clothes as you both fought for dominance. Stepping back you looked at Eobard asking him if you read him wrong. Pulling you back into his arms Eobard kissed you with more passion than aggression giving you your anwer. After making sure that you were truly worn out Eobard slipped out of your apartment, knowing he had some business to take care of. The next morning you were shocked to see that the man from the gala was found dead in his home from what looked like an overdose of prescription meds.

Harry:

Cisco knew that Harry had a thing for you and he didn’t need to vibe anything, thank you very much, to see it. He could tell by how Harry kept his eyes on you anytime you were in the room, how he got a little pink in the face when you would bend over or touch his arm lightly. He had tried to get Harry to do something about it, but Harry refused to listen. So, it was time for Cisco to do something about it. The following day Cisco made it a point to make comments to you and touch you whenever you guys were near one another and whenever Harry was around. It didn’t take you long to figure out what he was doing so you decided to play along. Telling Cisco that there was no way Harry had feelings for you. Having you now in on the plan Cisco was free to lay it on really thick. With your permission his touches became more intimate in nature. Forging announce you would pull Cisco hands off of you and tell him to stop. Of course, Cisco wouldn’t listen. Through most of the day Harry tried to ignore it, he kinda figured that Cisco was playing a game with him. What he was not expecting was you playing along with it. So after you had told Cisco to stop for the millionth time Harry finally snapped and told Cisco to leave you alone. Placing his arm around you and pulling you towards himself Cisco just smiled. Feeling his anger raise Harry marched over to where you both had been standing, pulling Cisco’s arm off of you violently and pulling you behind him. Knowing that you both had caused Harry to reach his tipping point and not getting the actual reaction you wanted, you placed a hand on his arm and ask Cisco if he could give you a minute. After Cisco walks out you tell Harry that you knew what Cisco was doing and was ok with it because you have had feelings for him for some time now and you wanted to see if Cisco had been right about his feelings for you. Walking you backwards till you were against the counter with nowhere to go, Harry placed his hands on either side of you. Harry then leaned in close and told you that if that was the case then he was gonna have to punish you. Feeling your heart race at his words. Harry grabbed your face in both of his hands and began to kiss you, forcing his tongue into your mouth. His hands ended up sliding down your body. Pulling you up to sit on the counter, he then slid one hand to your waist and the other back into your hair; stepping to stand between your legs. You both had been so lost in the kiss neither of you heard Cisco stepping back into the room till you heard him say it is about time. Breaking apart from the kiss but not from each other Harry got after Cisco for being there. You couldn’t help but laugh when Cisco ran out of the room when Harry threw something at him, because Cisco had said you had only asked for a minute

Alfred:

Alfred looked good in anything he wore and he always dressed immaculate, but today you did not want immaculate. As he was in the bathroom shaving you took the tie, vest, and shirt and placed them back into the closet. Pulling out a black shirt that was made of a light material you turned to see him standing in the doorway. Walking up to you he wrapped his arms around you and asked what you were doing. Leaning into his embrace you explained that although your family loved him and your cousin. Your cousin’s mother and other family members had not so quietly said that you were with Alfred cause he was your “sugar daddy”. So with the permission of your cousin, it was her wedding, you decided that you wanted to play the part. Laughing into your shoulder Alfred placed a kiss on your bare shoulder before reaching for the shirt. The wedding had went off without any issues and next to the bride you and Alfred were in the spotlight. Of course it made a lot of eyes widen when your family greeted Alfred with warm smiles and hugs. Heck your cousin practically threw herself into his arms in way of a greeting. At the reception you and Alfred found a spot off to the side that allowed you to see the dance floor, but kept you hidden slightly. Your table guest were great company and you found yourself laughing with them and Alfred. Having to take a call Alfred had stepped out into the hall. Sitting at the table watching as everyone danced you felt a hand run down your back. You knew that it wasn’t Alfred cause the hand was cold instead of warm and the smell of the cheap body spray let you know that it was were ex boyfriend. You knew that he was going to be here but so far had managed not to run into him. Turning slightly you shivered when his eyes traveled down your body and back up. You wanted nothing more then to dump your drink on him, but thought better of it. So instead you sat there with his arm around your chair and tried to make small talk. All the while wishing for Alfred to get back. As the conversation went on your ex started to move closer to you and you let out a small gasp when he placed his other hand on your leg and pulled you and your chair flushed against him. You tried to move away without drawing attention to yourself, but every time you tried his hand would tighten on your leg. Before you could make a scene though, Alfred was back and standing behind your ex. Saying his name your ex turned to Alfred standing there. Looking at Alfred your ex chuckled and told him to go find a new baby, that he was back and he wasn’t going to let you go again. Smiling and chuckling Alfred placed a hand on your ex’s shoulder and squeezed. As much as your ex tried to hide his pain you knew that he was hurting with how he started to cave in on himself. Leaning down as if he was telling your ex a joke Alfred whispered for him to let go of his babygirl or he would break said hand and not cause a scene doing it. Standing back up and removing his hand from his shoulder Alfred then reached a hand out, pulling you to the dance floor. Holding your hand against his chest Alfred slipped his other to the small of your back. Pulling you into his body he placed his mouth next to your ear and began to hum the song that had been playing. Between the heat from his body, his thumb that rubbed up and down your back, and his voice in your ear you found yourself free of all the tension you were feeling just moments before. Looking up slightly you locked eyes on your aunt, noticing that you were looking at her she turned and whispered I am sorry as she raised a glass to the both of you.

Harvey:

working in a bar you saw all types of things and dealt with all types of things. Tonight was the worst though. A big game had been on and since the bar you worked at aired the game for free everyone and their brother were there. You had been working behind the bar for the night when one of your regulars came in. Smiling at Harvey you handed him his drink and turned to take an order from one of the waitresses. Half an hour later you were ready to kill someone. It seemed like every time one of the waitresses came up with an order they were either fuming or on the verge of tears because some guy had done something. You had your back turned when you heard Harvey speaking to one of the waitresses. Turning you saw that it was the new girl, she had tears in her eyes and was holding her wrist. Walking over you heard her tell Harvey that a customer had tried to get her to sit on his lap and when she tried to walk he had grabbed her wrist and twisted. She had managed to get away because his friend had hit him in the arm and told him to let her go. Grabbing a bucket and filling it with ice and water you ignored Harvey asking you what you were doing. Walking up to the table that she had pointed out you knew what guy it had been by how loud he has and all the cat calling he did. When he turned to look at you he smiled as he leaned back patting his leg telling you he had a seat just for you. Smiling back at him you told him that he looked a little hot and that you had just the thing to help him out. Lifting the bucket, he had not seen till then, you poured the contents of it over his head. Before you knew it you were on the ground holding your cheek from him hitting you. Before he could do anything more though Harvey was standing over you. The guy had started to laugh asking Harvey what he was going to do. Just then Harvey pulled a gun on the guy and you couldn’t help but laugh. If the look on his face wasn't good enough the wet spot forming on his pants was. What really surprised you and everyone else was when Harvey then pulled a badge from his belt. Looking to the guys friend Harvey told him to get him the hell out of the bar. After the friend pulled the guy out the door Harvey reached his hand out to help you up. Standing next to him Harvey turned your face gently to look at the mark that was on your cheek. Telling him you were fine you both made your way back to the bar. After closing you walked out to find Harvey standing there. Tipping his hat to you he told you that even though he didn’t expect the guy to come back he wanted to stick around and make sure. He made sure that all the other staff had gotten into cabs and were on their way home. Smiling you threaded your arm through his and began to walk down the street. Pointing to the dinner down the street you offered to buy Harvey some food for his help. Giving you a wink he said that you could only if he could buy you dinner the following night.

Christopher Pike:

The worst thing about being on a Federation Starship was the new crew that would come aboard. With them came the disbelief that you were dating the captain of the ship. It normally happened when a male crew member would asked if you would like to get together. When you would politely decline, saying that you were seeing someone they would inquire who it was. Telling them that it was the captain they would laugh, saying that if you didn’t want to hang out you should have just said no. Sometimes though, you would get some that wouldn’t believe you till they saw you two together. This time around it was a new member of the science team. Everyday he would come in and ask you out, you lost count on how many times you told him no. Even others had tried to him that he should lay off but he just didn’t listen. He swore up and down that everyone had been pulling his leg because he never saw the captain and you together. You tried to tell him that was because Christopher was all about professionalism but he would laugh and say sure. You had been sitting at a table waiting for Christopher to show up for dinner when someone sat in the chair next to you. Instantly you rolled your eyes and groaned, because there was the guy from the science department. Placing his arm around the back of your chair he started talking about how now was the perfect time to get to know one another. You tried to tell him that you were waiting for Christopher when suddenly the guy placed his hand on your shoulder and squeezed. Folding in on yourself from the pain the guy bent down to whisper in your ear. He started to tell you that he was tired of you playing games and that it wasn’t fun anymore and that if you kept up with the illusion of being with the captain he would go one of the therapist onboard and tell them that you had an obsession with the captain. Before you could say anything a third voice joined the conversation. The both of you looked up to see Christopher standing there. Although he looked pissed, he kept his face calm as he told the guy that he hoped you had an obsession with him because he sure had one with you. Standing quickly the guy tried to make up something when Christopher held up his hand to stop him. The dining hall had not been that full, so when the guy stood suddenly all eyes had turned to the table. Turning to look at everyone there his eyes landed back on the guy before he started to speak. Keeping eye contact he explained that he had no time or want for anyone that doesn’t take no for an answer. That even if the other person was making up a lie about being with someone else, that still means no. Walking to stand next to the guy the last part Christopher said loud enough for just the three of you. He told the guy that if he could have his way, he would be kicking him off his ship at the next stop, but he couldn’t because he hadn’t done nothing to extreme. What he was going to do was have the head of the science team note this altercation in his personal file. He was also going to have someone from security follow him around since he couldn’t be trusted at the moment and he was to set himself up with one of the therapist for counseling. Nodding to someone off to the side you watched as the guy was lead away from the table and out the door. Pulling your shirt to the side Christopher looked to see if there was any bruising to your shoulder. Placing your hand over his you smiled at him and told him that you were ok, but that he owed you a massage for two reason: 1) because he was late and 2) you just wanted one. Laughing Christopher did something he had never done before. He leant down and kissed you deeply, making sure that everyone around knew that you were together.    

Leland:

Walking into the gym on the star base you instantly knew that there must have been a couple vessel docked because it was filled with more bodies than it normally was, but even through all the bodies you were able to find Leland standing at a punch bag. Sensing someone was staring Leland turned and saw you walking to the treadmill. You couldn’t help but smile and blush when he gave you a quick wink before going back to punching the bag. Even though you kept your head slightly down you could see that you had caught the eye of a couple of the guys and they watched as your sports bra did a poor job of keeping you supported. Just then the timer on the treadmill went off and you went through your cool down. Moving to a weights for your arm routine you saw that a couple of the guys had followed you over. Getting the feeling that the guys were waiting for you to go to a weight bench, you made your way to one of the strengthening bands. As you began your work out you scanned the gym for Leland, he had still been by the punching bags but instead of being the one punching he was now holding a bag for someone else. You could feel eyes staring at you and when you turned slightly you saw that instead of two sets of eyes you now just had one. When you made eye contact with the guy he gave you a wink. Rolling your eyes you turned back to your work out and ignored him. After you were finished you started to head back to the locker rooms. You about jumped out of your skin when someone bumped into you. Looking to your side you saw that the someone was Leland. Pushing him back for scaring you Leland laughed, he then had you turning red when he commented on you being able to run after the night before. Just then a hand pulled Leland away and you found yourself standing behind a guy. Without even asking if everything was ok the guy started going on about how Leland was standing to close and he needed to take a step back. That he saw the way Leland was looking at you in the gym. You could see that Leland was beyond pissed, but before he could do anything you pushed the guy away from you and into the nearest wall. Not giving him time to even speak you began to yell at the guy. You told him that he had no right to assume anything about you and that the only unwelcome looks had in fact came from him and not Leland. As for Leland standing to close, he was your husband and had ever right to stand close. What really made the man lose all the color in his face was when someone had been walking by and looked to Leland and called him Captain. It was only then you stepped back and let Leland walk up to him. You had been unsure what was said because Leland had whispered it into his ear, but whatever it was there was nothing but fear on the guys face as he turned and ran away. Turning to look at you Leland saw you had been resting against the wall watching. Walking into your personal space Leland rested a hand by your head, his other on your waist. Knowing Leland loved to show off your relationship you pulled him into a kiss and it wasn’t until another captain walked by and told you both to take it to your room did you pull apart. Grabbing your hand Leland gave the captain a wink and pulled you away.

[coldtomyflash]

Things I would Do Different if I Re-Wrote AATJS

This is random but while getting job apps done this week I’ve been rereading AATJS (because why not - I’ve never actually read it after it was done) and thinking back on conversations I’ve had about it, reading comments on it, and I’ve come to a few conclusions.

So eh, dumping my thoughts here for any interested parties :)

(major spoilers for the end of the fic under the cut!)

Big Changes

There’s only a few broad / large scale changes I would make, I think, and they all feed into one another.

There’s some stuff with how the climax occurs that isn’t well foreshadowed within the fic. Or if it’s foreshadowed, the narrative still doesn’t build up to it properly.

A main thing I would change would be to introduce the notion of metagenes much sooner and talk about it as something Caitlin is researching actively. Bring it up early in the fic and leave it there. When Barry is searching for metas to warn about the military, maybe have them discuss using a search based on genetics but toss it aside as too much of a violation of privacy and too danger to have a list like that. Have him actually get to interact with the meta he goes searching for at the circus (when he and Len run into James Jesse in the fic) to make the theme of metas more prominent throughout. In this way, I’d also introduce the military element a little sooner / stronger, and Dr. Eilias.

Feeding into that, I have serious changes I would make to the Hartley / James storyline. Right now, it’s uncomfortable to me. I did my damn best not to make it abuse-apologist after I wrote James’ behavior as totally deplorable, but at the end of the day, the narrative still advocates: “if you think they’ve changed, take them back”. It’s not a narrative I want to advocate, regardless of how sincere James’s changes are in the fic. And there are reasons I wrote that storyline the way I did that deal with people in my life, but honestly, it’s bullshit and I kind of hate how it fell out.

What I’d do instead is make Hartley’s Soulmate someone else. Some abusive asshole who had serious internalized homophobia and never really dealt with it. And I’d have Hartley as having left him, except they’d stay separated. I would use Hartley both as a cautionary tale (”soulmates don’t always end up together”) but also give him a better ending with a more beautiful theme to it: he’d end up with James anyway, except James would be Unmarked. He’d be someone else that Hartley falls in love with, maybe someone from the circus or else an additional Rogue struggling to come to terms with his identity as he starts to fall for Hartley from the sidelines while Hartley’s busy flirting with Len. Maybe I’d make him a meta (and not use James Jesse, idk) to fit with that theme. But he wouldn’t be Hartley’s Soulmate, and the lesson would be: “you can fall in love with someone else and never see your Soulmate again and still be happy and fulfilled.” Because honestly, that to me is a much more powerful storyline.

This would also allow me to introduce the notions of NAB Blockers and Breaking Bonds much sooner and in a much bigger way. Hartley would be contemplating Breaking his Bond with his Soulmate, but he hasn’t been able to go through with it yet. Sometime in the middle of the fic’s narrative, or at least after things with him and Len shake out and after he becomes a Rogue, Hartley would Break his Bond. Then we would know it’s possible and would learn about Dr. Elias’s research here.

(For the record, all of this would up the “consequences” element for Barry and Len sorting their shit out, though that’s not the sole reason for doing it, of course).

Speaking of Barry and Len, there’s a few things I would change there. For one, I would make it clearer up front some of the extra stuff Barry is dealing with which only gets revealed later in the fic. I might drop the “there’s an alternate future / timeline where he married Iris, a la season 1 newspaper″ storyline altogether because it’s... bumpy. But I’d acknowledge that he’s still getting over his love for Iris and watching her and Eddie be together and have that life and have a kid is tough on him. I’d acknowledge up front and quick that it’s only been about a month since Len’s betrayal at Ferris Air, and that’s a huge part of why Barry is struggling to trust Len and worried at the outset. I’d make it clearer that he’s still re-grieving his mother and conflicted over how things shook out with Eobard and laboring to get his life in order.

And I’d make it clear very quickly that Barry is struggling to protect everyone. I think I would use Joe a lot more in the fic for this (a lot more in the first half in general). Have scenes after Joe’s leg got injured where Barry is wracked with guilt over how things went at the gala. Show more of Barry’s fear that he can’t protect Len from the rest of the shit in his life, including maybe a nightmare about Joe shooting Len (because if the cold field hadn’t been in place, well, that pretty much almost happened). Just... give more evidence of Barry’s motives and not play up the self-deception and repression stuff so much, or else make better use of the perspectives of those around him to showcase his conflict if he himself isn’t understanding what’s going on in his own head.

Minor Changes

Some people won’t think this is a minor change, but I think it ultimately is: I’d give Barry and Len back their bleed at the end, after a fashion.

I always intended for it to break. For Barry to tell Len he loves him only after there’s nothing in place that Len could possibly ‘blame’ for keeping Barry at his side or for distorting how Barry feels about him. I actually think that’s important, and kind of stand by that decision still. It seriously wasn’t done for shock value or to hurt the reader. Subverting the soulmate tropes? Yes. But with a lot of forethought.

But. I think I’d give it back. I’d make their Mark turn into a Widow Mark (it���s not specified in the fic currently but it never does go black, and I’d change that) but like Caitlin and Ronnie, I’d have some measure of the bleed return to them, after a bit. I’d give a bit more space at the end to flesh that out, I think, too. The end was a bit rushed. I was just so ready to be done with the long fucking thing that AATJS is and I write very quick resolutions post-climax as a general rule, but I think it needed a bit more than I gave it.

So yeah, I’d have it start to flutter and return. Maybe not as strong, maybe stunted. “A little scarred and jagged, just like us.” It would be nice, right? And I’d do it even maybe just shortly after the love confession, even. Because while it’s sort of a picture-perfect happy ending... after all the complete and utter bullshit and heaviness of the fic, they sort of deserve that? (i.e., you can tell I was pretty depressed when I first started writing this, I think....)

Another minor change I’d make is about their discussions on kids. I wouldn’t change much except to make Len’s issues on it clearer, him seriously wanting kids, always wanting kids, but not letting himself want them. I’d introduce that to his cognitions before Barry ever bringing it up, I think, but make it clear that Len’s in total denial about it.

I’d also change... something about Kane. I’m not sure what, exactly. Because there’s a serious issue in the fic with the whole “lesbians always die” trope. Because there’s Pam and Angie, who lived a long and happy life but ultimately are both dead by the end of the fic, even if they died of old age. And there’s Bette and Kane, who never even got to be together before Bette died. And that’s... so shitty I hate it. I don’t know what I’d fix about it because I love Pam and Angie so much and I like what Pam’s existence brings to the story via Mick, and I love Kane and her motivations help humanize her and what she’s been through at Eiling and Elias’s hand but... I’m still somewhat dissatisfied. So I’d fix something in there.

And the most minor of changes: I’d never in a million years include such cringe-worthy attempts to use random words from other languages from both Hartley and James’ PoVs, especially swear words. Like wtf, why. Just why. That’s a trope I learned from fic and while showcasing bilingualism is great, or having Hartley spout off random Latin phrases when appropriate is in character, I really went about it so poorly. So sorry, guys. It’s just... cringeworthy.

Conclusion

That’s all of them off the top of my head. Some of these came about just due to hindsight (the Hartley and James stuff, the making motives and mindsets clearer) and some came about because they’re Bad Tropes I became aware of either during or after writing it. Some are because I knew more or less that, for instance, the military was going to abduct Len and do something with his Bond/NAB to mess with Barry’s head and ultimately the Bond would break, but I didn’t actually have the military’s motives pinned down until right before I worked on that arc of the fic. So there’s a lot of meandering and not a lot of proper build into the specifics there, with a lot of details introduced right at that arc toward the end. That’s just something that happens that means things inherently will improve on re-writing.

Not that I ever intend to re-write that monster (omg I would never have the time or energy) but it’s always good to take an honest look at your writing, and I figured it might even help other writers out there if I candidly shared some major changes my fic could use to improve :) Because we can all always improve.

And hey, if I ever decide to take this fic and turn it into an original work (probably dropping the metahuman element but supplanting it with something else... I’ve genuinely mapped out how I’d write it as an original work), then at least I know what the structure would look like :