#west-Allen deserved better

[televisionlassie]

I’m so tired of the “batfamily can defeat all their friends” trope like bffr.

Batman? Sure he can cheat and bring out some kryptonite but you really think he’s gonna defeat WONDER WOMAN?

Nightwing: maybe Roy, but Donna Troy literal Amazonian trained by Wonder Woman? He’s done for. And Garth the magic user. What’s he gonna do throw his escrisma stick at him? Wally West former temporal being? He’s dead before he can comprehend what is happening.

Jason Todd: I actually fully believe and stand by the idea that Roy Harper would defeat Jason in a fight, no I will not be accepting criticism. Don’t even try to tell me he stands a chance against my girl starfire. (I know he’s also friends with Artemis and bizarro but I try to avoid reading anything that involves Jason Todd)

Tim drake: bro’s got a kryptonian, Amazonian, and a speedster as friends. I don’t care if he’s a good detective, he’s getting the brakes beaten off him.

Damian Wayne: only one of his friends I know enough about is currently THE Superman. I know he can use kryptonite but that’s like tying a dude to a chair then beating them up and saying you won a fight against them.

I will not be including Stephanie brown, Cassandra Cain, or Duke Thomas because I actually like them and because I haven’t seen them interact with other DC characters enough to actually speak on this.

But guys I know they’re like “geniuses” or whatever, but they’re not the only ones…

As someone said on another post “who wins: Batman with prep time or Wonder Woman with her fist”

[rosescxrner]

potential spoilers; the flash

Maturing is realising that Eddie Thawne was nothing more than the pretty boy detective who fell in love with his partner's daughter. Maturing is realising that Linda Park was being gaslit into thinking her boyfriend was in love with someone just to keep her away from him. Maturing is realising Barry Allen was just trying to get over an unrequited love and deserved to be happy with someone that could actually admit they loved him. Maturing is realising that Iris West is a bit manipulative and should not have been Barry Allen's endgame.

[captainpikeachu]

My heart breaks for Eddie so much, you can see how much he’s trying to be okay, to do the right thing, how he doesn’t want to hurt anyone but he’s also so confused and hurt and alone and scared and in pain and the negative speed force is twisting his love into something negative and evil

This man just woke up from a fake life and basically only found out he died and his life isn’t his own and everyone and everything is coming at him at 200x speed and he’s just desperately trying to hold on

I need him to be okay, he doesn’t deserve all of this pain. He doesn’t deserve to be used and abused by the negative speed force. He deserves to be safe and happy 🥲

Team Flash better save him, they better not give up on him, please show him through actions that he’s not a forgotten nobody, please remind him of all the good that he is and have done and how much he is loved

I don’t want to see Eddie remain evil or dead in the end, he has earned the right to live and make a happy and good life of his own

Barry or Iris needs to play him that video he made for Iris’ birthday, there is goodness in him that can still be reached, please don’t give up on him

This show better not keep him a villain, ruin the core of his character, and fall into that silly banal trope of “the other guy is the bad person” — they did so good originally by not having him be that trope, please don’t fuck it up

[cosmiccdivinityy]

WALLY WEST AND LINDA PARK ARE HAVING A BABY THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

As a self certified Wally West fan I can’t believe I’m so late. I’ve been somewhat up to date but apparently I missed the biggest news ever.

It should’ve been me but that’s beside the point. This is also like the first time in a while we’re any of the superhero’s are having kids and permanent change.

Like the last time this happened and the kid stayed was way back with Damian and Jon Kent.

And that brief time Starfire was technically a mom to some rando teeen but we don’t talk about that.

Im so excited DC has finally been giving my baby boy the respect he deserves and I’m here for it.

Irey and Jai are gonna be big siblings, Bart and Ace basically uncles

WHY DONT WE HAVE A FLASH FAMILY COMIC YET 😭😭 it would eat so bad .

[zemkzone]

That Rare Arctic Thunderstorm: Ch17 (on AO3)

FULL FIC LINK HERE

It took all of Eddie’s self-control not to touch his left jacket pocket as he and Iris stepped onto the walkway at the waterfront park. His hand kept twitching towards it, trying to check that the small square box was still where he’d put it. Iris hugged his right arm, and a light breeze wafted her jasmine perfume up to his nose. Despite that, he felt like throwing up. That, or he was about to have a heart attack. He’d faced down dangerous criminals, gang members, and even a few metahumans, but all of that paled in comparison to the terror that seized him tonight. “That restaurant was so worth the week and a half it took to get a new reservation,” Iris was saying. “Barry and Len needed us last time, but…” “It was an emergency.” Eddie smiled down at her again. “It’s okay.” “Still, I haven’t been home enough lately.” Iris tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m trying to persuade Eric to take Linda off the sports beat so she and I can share features work more.” “I know what it’s like, having a demanding boss.” Eddie squeezed her hand, pulling her closer to the riverside, to a spot where the lights from Keystone twinkled the brightest across the water. “With Joe away until Saturday, Captain Singh’s been harder on me than usual.” “So, Dad didn’t tell you why he took a few personal days off either.” Iris pursed her lips. “He’s been struggling with something he won’t talk about, so I hope this trip helps. Even though he wouldn’t tell me where he went.” “He’s a tough guy. He’ll be fine.” Truth be told, Eddie was glad that Joe had gone out of town. (And that he’d taken Len’s advice not to tell his girlfriend’s father what he was planning.) He was anxious enough as it was without dreading walking into the station in the morning. He took a deep breath, steeling himself when they got to the edge of the railing. There were a few other people walking in the park, but they were far enough away for the illusion of privacy. He’d been wanting to do this for several months, and now—now he couldn’t afford to get cold feet. “I don’t want to talk about Joe—or Barry and Len—anymore,” he said softly, stopping by one of the streetlamps. “I want tonight to be about you. About us.”

READ THE REST OF THE CHAPTER HERE

[icedteaandoldlace]

On a more positive note, this is gonna be Westallen and Kamisco fans when the series ends, and all the racists who needlessly hate on our girls have to sit with the fact that neither guy was ever gonna leave the actual love of his life for any version of Caitlin or a long gone ex:

[roboticnebula]

I first got a bit annoyed about it in the show and this is…. Extremely nitpicky. But I feel like Barry and Iris would either both change their name to West-Allen because they’re dorks and in love, or they would both keep their last name as is for professional/career reasons. Particularly Iris who’s a journalist and whose name is you know… very much attached to her work.

The kids though, would all be West-Allen. Like hahah look… we made these together. I think they would be delighted if Bart’s last name was ‘West-Allen.’

[wandixx]

one-shot snippet

Duke was running out of fumes to run on. The last few days would be exhausting if it was just vigilante or just civilian stuff but no, he had to have it both. Because of Arkham break out, he had been called in three nights in a row, not for a whole patrol but he couldn't exactly sleep it off during the day like others did, especially not in a week when every teacher decided they needed to have test or quiz or what not. Naps meant he wasn't as sleep-deprived as he could be but he needed far more. But he couldn't because crime in Gotham never sleeps so he had normal patrol to finish and there were about two hours left.

Would something bad happen if he just stopped for a moment and laid on a roof? Ten up to fifteen minutes. It was a slow day too…

Yeah, no, he deserved a moment to rest and if something disastrous was to happen in the meantime he would shame other Bats for not giving him enough time to sleep.

It certainly said something that he found gravel covering this roof to be quite comfortable. He set a timer for ten minutes and let himself close his eyes.

When the loud screech of the timer jolted him awake, he was suddenly fully aware that he wasn't alone anymore. He sat up a little too quickly.

"Oh, you're awake" white white-haired girl around Damian's age chimed, sitting cross-legged just a few feet away from him. She wore something that could only be described as a lab safety hazmat suit, white and black with popping green accents. When had Gotham gotten a new vigilante/villain/whoever the girl was? "Good, I just returned from a snack hunt," she added, gesturing at a big textile bag lying next to her. Duke didn't have enough brainpower to do anything more than ask.

"What?"

The girl shrugged, take-out from BatBurger in her hand.

"You look like you have a bad day if not a few days, so I've got you my cousin's bad day combo or at least the closest thing I could. BatBurger burger isn't as good as NastyBurger but you certainly have better fries" As she spoke, a second take-out bag, 1 liter bottle of energy drink, juice bottle of the same size, and pack of convenience store brownies joined greasy paper bag sealed with a sticker.

"Is your cousin a speedster?" Excuse Duke, it was a totally valid question, he saw with his bare eyes both Wally West and Bart Allen when they visited Manor. No one else would be able to stomach the amount of food they inhaled during their stays.

"Nah, we're not that fast or that hungry. Though I think I may get closer to the speed of sound." So, clearly, a meta if white hair and weir aura that let his eyes rest weren't enough indication "My cousin when he has a bad few days often forgets to eat so this combo has to help with there too. But I'll steal your fries of course."

Duke was not going to look a gift horse in the teeth, so he grabbed one bag and tore it open. There was a classic combo with bigger fries and NightWings inside.

"Thank you…" he trailed off, hoping that the girl would take a clue and introduce herself but she didn't. She just drowned her fries in ketchup and started munching. She had her own juice.

"My cousin always said that each part of this combo has a different purpose." she explained instead, slightly muffled because of the fries in her mouth "This" she gestured towards the fast food meal "is to soothe your stomach. This "she tapped energy drink "is to soothe your brain and kick it back online. This "she raised a bottle of juice "is to soothe your taste buds because energy drinks are war crime against them and this "she nudged brownies "is to soothe your heart because Ancients damn it, this day is awful and you deserve it. At least that's what he told me when I had day bad enough to deserve that" she shrugged, licking ketchup of her finger. Suddenly she froze "You aren't allergic, are you?

"No, I'm not" he confessed bewildered.

"Good"

For a long moment, they sat in silence, devouring food the little girl brought. Duke distantly wondered if this was how the night shift spent their snack breaks. It felt nice.

He was finishing his part of the brownies when the girl spoke up again.

"Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah," he was a little surprised to realize that t it was true. He'll have to note down what she put in this 'bad day combo'. "Thank you"

"Don't mention it." she shrugged with a general gesture of dismissal "You're one of my cousin's favorite heroes because you're vaguely his age and handle Gotham alone during the day and I quote "She did honest or God air quotes at that" 'As only hero in Amity-' which is a lie by the way, Val is doing great and even if he suddenly got problem with how she feels about his alter ego, he still has Sam and Tuck even if they're usually more of moral support. And I helped when I visited, so no, he isn't the only one. Anyway as he said 'As the only hero in Amity, my heart goes out for anyone who deals with this type of bullshit so Dani if you absolutely have to prank heroes, leave them out of it, especially Signal, he can't be older than Jazz, he doesn't need any more mess to handle.' All aliens and lanterns are also off-limits because he is a space nerd. But you aren't space-related so I'm like 80% percent sure he has a celebrity crush on you" She slurped more juice, unbothered.

Duke was thankful he wasn't swallowing anything because for sure she would choke. He took a split second to consider addressing… this whole situation and choose against it. He was not ready to be anyone's celebrity crush.

"Your name is Danny?" he asked instead.

"Dani" she corrected" with an I"

"Ok. It's nice to meet you Dani-with-an-I" She giggled, nodding her head slightly.

"It's nice to meet you too Signal"

Duke stood up, stretching a little. Dani joined him after hastily putting all the trash in her bag. She was a little higher than expected.

"I have to get back to my patrol"

"Cool," she drifted back a bit, making him realize that she was floating a few inches above the ground. She fixed her bag on her arm.

"Hey, can I hang out a little bit more? My cousin will go green out of jealousy when I tell him" she added with a mischievous smirk but Duke could tell there was more to it. He took a moment to consider it, which apparently made the girl nervous "I can be invisible the whole time, like before." she offered, disappearing in the meantime. He could still tell where she was, because of her heat signature, and aura but for regular people, she would be no different than the surrounding air.

"Yeah, you can hang around and you don't have to be invisible. Just don't get in my way when I have to actually do some fighting."

She popped back to the visible spectrum and pouted like Damian whenever he got benched.

" I can fight, y'know? I stopped mugging on a snack run."

It was ten goddamn minutes, how could she get so much food and stop a mugging in such a short time?!

Oh, right, superspeed. Still, impressive.

"I haven't seen it" he started, channeling all Dick-trying-to-wrangle-Damian-into-socially-acceptable-activity' energy he could muster "So I don't know how you fight or even what powers you have. If we tried to fight together we would trip over each other" It was a bare-faced lie, Bat Training made sure of that but he knew for a fact that if he said anything else, the girl would be mad and probably did her own thing.

Was that what Bruce thought about all of them?

Oh no.

Dani still looked displeased but after a moment of consideration, she nodded with a defeated sigh.

Suddenly she straightened like she got struck by lightning and whipped around.

"Wha-"

She just shushed raising her finger to her mouth. Duke did indeed quieten.

"I have enhanced hearing" she whispered "There is a mugging somewhere this way."

"Let's go then" he shot his grapple, waving his other hand at Dani to come with him before he jumped off the roof. He heard the girl giggle as she flew right after him.

" After this, you'll show me the coolest gargoyles, okay? Sam asked for photos"

"Okay"

It seemed that the end of this patrol wouldn't be as bad as the start was. Hopefully.

And afterward, he was going to lock himself in his room until the sky fell or he was well rested.

Yeah, that was a good plan.

*******

how do you like it?

[brinleyparke]

Iris totally owed Oliver an apology. Iris needs a dose of reality.

[fandomshatewomen]

It makes me so upset that both the marvels and blue beetle has been treated like shit by their studios and by the fandoms that the studio have created . Like both did poorly in box office but that was not the fault of the movies itt was the fault of the studios absolutely doing nothing to premote the movies during the strikes and also the fandom (white af) being Jackasses about the films.

Brie iman teyonah and xolo deserve so much better and a fucking major apology for what happened by the studio 😔😔😔😔

racism and sexism totally have a part to play in it too though. like yes the studios are shit for not properly advertising it but like theres this deep set hatred of people of color in the comics fandom. like Monica Rambeau has always been Black, Jaime Reyes has always been a brown Latino, Kamala Khan has always been Desi and muslim. white people are constantly saying they don't want white characters racebent anymore (Iris West Allen, Ariel from the Little mermaid etc). but when presented with actual characters of color white people claim its a woke agenda thats them.

Like its just really frustrating superhero movies are finally super inclusive (racially at least) and now the whites are nowhere to be found.

and before anyone comes into our inbox to complain about this just look at how well Barbie did in theaters.

mod laina

[fastlikealambo]

since the flash is over, I’d like to say that candice patton deserved a better fandom and I hope she gets every role she dreams of and the ones y’alls problematic faves are up for cause  a vast majority of yall treated candice patton and the character of iris west allen like hot garbage

she deserves a fabulous career after all the heavy lifting she had to do and all the nastiness she had to endure.

[theghostwife]

Idk if this is a hot take or anything, but for the Flash and Arrow, I ship Barry and Oliver with literally anyone else other than Iris and Felicity. When I first started watching the shows a few years ago, I was hard-core West-Allen and Olicity but now that I want back and rewatched the shows...I fucking cringe.

I loved Barry and Patty together. They were literal perfection for each other, and I loved that Patty could defend herself. She had all the makings to become a bad ass in her own right. Other than Patty, I don't think Barry had that much of a connection with anyone other than Snart and trust me...I'm a huge fan of BarryxSnart. Love everything about them.

As for Oliver, I couldn't really get behind any ship for him, not even Laurel. Idk, but I think he did best when he didn't have a romantic love interest. Now don't get me wrong, I love Laurel, love her to pieces BUT I simply loved Laurel and Tommy way too much to see her with anyone else. I just think they deserved better. Anywho, if I did have to decide on the perfect person for Oliver, it would either be Sara or Nyssa and yes i know Nyssa is gay but I loved their platonic relationship even when they were married.

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Wally West's foray into brotherhood

by ToWishAndPretend Wally West can admit that he’s made many mistakes in the past. One of them being his relationship to Bart Allen. Or lack thereof. So he’s been working hard for the past year to mend fences. But when the scatterbrained annoying little speedster flakes on one of their “bonding” excursions to nurse an injured Red Robin, Wally begins to realise that Timothy Drake may need him just as much. Words: 1276, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Series: Part 1 of On the many adoptions of one Tim Drake, Part 1 of Tim Drake leaves the BatFam Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen Characters: Tim Drake, Wally West, Bart Allen, Barry Allen, Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd Relationships: Tim Drake & Wally West, Bart Allen & Tim Drake, Barry Allen & Tim Drake, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Damian Wayne Additional Tags: Tim Drake-centric, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake Deserves Better, Tim Drake Deserves Love, Tim Drake Gets a Hug, Hurt Tim Drake, Tim Drake Leaves Gotham City, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Bad Sibling Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson Tries to Be a Good Older Sibling, too little too late, Wally West is a good big brother, Tim drake leaves the batfam via https://ift.tt/N8nYvrG

[ao3feed-superbat]

Longing for Carnations

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/Ca4rc8f by Ashleyn27princess Bruce Wayne was a billionaire. A spoiled man since birth. One of those you will see throwing bills into the fire for warmth. Below it all, he was Batman; an intelligent man who uses his wealth and contacts to take down criminals, mobsters, killers, and all who dare torment his city. Recently, with the help of the "Justice League". An undercover group who works in his same field, he made an unpleasant discovery, involving his enemies. And their children.   Or Villain Kids AU following Dick Grayson's POV Words: 137, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: DCU, Batman - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con Categories: F/F, M/M, Other Characters: Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Tim Drake (DCU), Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Clark Kent, Diana (Wonder Woman), Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Barry Allen, Wally West, Roy Harper, Oliver Queen, Dinah Lance, Kon-El | Conner Kent, Jonathan Kent, Jonathan Samuel Kent, Slade Wilson, Ra's al Ghul, Joker (DCU), Harleen Quinzel, Talia al Ghul, Barbara Gordon, Jim Gordon (DCU) Relationships: Dick Grayson/Wally West, Roy Harper/Jason Todd, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain, Barry Allen/Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Dinah Lance/Oliver Queen, Jonathan Samuel Kent/Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Slade Wilson, Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown & Jason Todd Additional Tags: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Child Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Rape/Non-con Elements, Torture, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Domestic Fluff, Good Parent Bruce Wayne, Hurt Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson-centric, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Protective Jason Todd, Good Sibling Jason Todd, Hurt Jason Todd, Tim Drake is Joker Jr., Feral Tim Drake, Damian Wayne Needs a Hug, Damian Wayne Has a Heart, Stephanie Brown Appreciation, Stephanie Brown Deserves Better, Good Sibling Cassandra Cain, BAMF Cassandra Cain, Mute Cassandra Cain, Cassandra Cain Needs a Hug read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/Ca4rc8f

[kitkatt0430]

Iris West-Allen for the character ask game 👀

How I feel about this character

I think she's awesome. We really get to watch her grow over the course of the series and watching her truly discover herself as a leader and hero in her own right is really wonderful to see. While she occasionally has powers here and there, she's a great example of a badass normal and proves that a powered character (Barry) doesn't need a powered love interest in order to be in love with someone who is every bit their equal. Iris is no damsel in distress; she's going to try to find a way to save herself every time.

That said, I wish her agency was more consistently her own. Her plots often get co-opted to serve other character's plots (most often Barry, but it's also been done for Allegra which was just weird...) which puts a lot of her achievements in the background or sub-plot area instead of centering them the way she deserves.

(The fact that she goes from student to journalist with no graduation in between is really frustrating. She's Barry's best friend and yet he's never shown as being super excited to attend her graduation and celebrate her achievement of a Masters degree??? S1, asleep at the wheel right there...)

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Barry, Eddie, Cisco, Caitlin, Lisa, Leonard (more for ColdWestAllen than for ColdWest on it's own though), Ralph (but again more for ElongatedWestAllen than DibnyWest itself), Linda, Laurel, Sara...

Probably more tbh, she's very shippable

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Barry again, I kind of prefer the platonic ship for them because of how their dynamic in S1/S2 is (though obviously the romantic ship grew on me...)

Cisco, Caitlin, Frost, Allegra, Kamilla, Linda, Ralph...

Everyone wants to be besties with her, okay? :D

My unpopular opinion about this character

The show does a terrible job of establishing Iris' feelings for Barry as romantic in the first several seasons.

In season one especially there is so much of other characters telling her how they think she feels, but every time she establishes what her feelings are for him are... those feelings are platonic. Aside from the cheating kiss that was the worst decision ever made by the show runners (and made kinda creepy given how it's been romanticized by later seasons) and was a heat of the moment thing that happened after yet another character (Linda) was telling Iris 'I think you're in love with him based on your stated as platonic, sibling-like behavior with him'.

Basically every 'shippy' moment I've seen pointed out for the first two seasons fits entirely with Iris' stated platonic feelings and can really only be interpreted as romantic interest if her stated feelings are ignored. (Especially Joe trying to get Iris to say she wouldn't have dated Eddie if she knew Barry liked her; way to take what she was just saying out of context despite the context having literally just been established. >_<) Iris is the one living in her own head, I wish other characters would respect that she knows what her emotions are better than they do.

This essentially leads to the problem where when Iris and Barry get together it feels less like it's happening because Iris is in love with Barry and more because everyone and their time-line reading AI has told her she marries Barry. And since trying to deviate from that got Eddie killed, what choice does she really have? She loves Barry, but is she in love with him? It's painfully unclear for quite some time and the show itself doesn't even acknowledge this problem until (briefly) in S9.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I wish she'd been looped in on Barry being the Flash from the start. Locking her out of the loop 'for her protection' only ever put her in more danger than she'd have been in if she'd been kept aware of what was actually going on.

[corner-stories]

unexpected things

Bart Allen. Tom Bronson. Jesse Chambers. Breakfast. Internships. Blossoming Friendships. 2498 words. (ao3.)

Bart Allen’s first morning with the Justice Society of America had gone in ways that he expected and ways that he did not. 

Waking up at the crack of dawn to train with the older Wildcat in the basement gym? Expected. Sleeping restlessly due to both anticipation and the sensations of being in an unfamiliar bed? Doubly expected. Having his ass utterly beat after a single session with the old, sweaty fossil? Triple-y expected. 

It was a good thing that Speedsters didn’t bruise easily, or else Bart would spend the rest of the day with marks on his pretty face. 

At least the unexpected things kept the morning interesting. In fact, “unexpected things” was possibly the best way to describe most of what came out of Bart’s mouth. 

Because clearly, no other newbie in the history of the Justice Society had the guts to ask Ted Grant if he was a furry. 

In response, Bart was anticipating the utterly perturbed look on the old cat’s face, but what he was not expecting involved the one-hundred push-ups, sit-ups, and squats suddenly forced onto his plate. 

Those who decided to drop-in on the training session  — which included Ted’s pretty boy son, Grant, and Jesse — were encouraged to leave Bart to his grizzly fate in a warm, sweaty gym that smelt strangely like peanuts. 

After discovering the hard way that he had no upper-body strength whatsoever, Bart left the JSA’s gymnasium feeling like Sissyphus rolling the stone up the mountain for the thousandth time. Had he been back in his west coast dormitory, he would’ve gone back to bed to properly rest his aching muscles. 

But alas, here he was in New York with a different schedule in mind. He wondered what the rest of the JSA would think if their new “intern” slept for most of the day. 

At a normal speed Bart went to his allotted room and changed into something a little less covered in sweat. He tried to ignore the aching in his joints as he pulled on his usual university sweater. 

If every day with the Justice Society was like this, then he was rather happy that his little trial-period with the team would only last two weeks.

Nonetheless, Bart made his way from his bedroom and walked down the hallway, only briefly taking in the old framed photographs mounted on the walls. It seemed that every corner of the Brownstone paid tribute to the Golden Age heroes in some way, and that wasn’t even factoring in the museum on the building’s first floor. 

It was different from the Secret Sanctuary or even Titans Tower, but in a good way. Each photo of the past, whether they be candids or posed, was a glimpse into a different time. Not a time that was better in any way — in fact, it could be argued that it was quite the opposite — but a time that happened and deserved to be remembered for both the good and the bad. 

With that in mind, Bart caught sight of a photograph depicting Jay Garrick with much less wrinkles and a lot more color in his hair. It only took half a second of Bart looking at the photo for the gravity of the next two weeks to get just a bit heavier. 

Fortunately, Bart finally made it to the kitchen. 

Breakfast with the JSA was a rather casual affair. Only a handful of members were spread around the room and partaking in whatever they fancied in the morning. 

At least Bart finally knew everyone’s names. 

Courtney and Jennifer were listening happily as Maxine explained how artfully bad the Phantom of the Opera sequel was. From the way she dramatically gestured as she spoke, one could assume that the show was on an entirely different level of abysmal. 

Michael and Karen were discussing the absolute nightmare that was dating in New York, rocking a fashionable pair of sweatpants and a hoodie as she did so. 

Jesse was holding her toddler son in her arms as Rick tried to feed Johnny little spoonfuls of oatmeal. With every bite, there was a fifty percent chance that the boy would swallow or spit out his food. 

And the JSAer called Pieter was huddled in the corner of the kitchen with a mug of black coffee and an unsliced bagel in his hand. Though his eyes were covered by a pair of dark sunglasses, the way he hunched his shoulders and huddled into himself implied that he wasn’t the only JSAer who wanted to crawl back to bed. 

A sense of unfamiliarity plagued Bart as he stepped further into the kitchen. Unlike the Garrick or West household, he was absolutely out of his element. He couldn’t exactly stride in like a sitcom character and say “Good morning, y’all!” before someone would comically roll their eyes. 

For once, Bart said nothing as he walked to the center island and grabbed a chocolate chip muffin off a platter. As he took a bite he couldn’t help but overhear some of the conversations taking place. Considering how many people were in the space, there was no way he couldn’t. 

Karen seemed rather lively as she spoke of a rather unlively subject. 

“I’m just saying — if I get matched with another guy who thinks liking lacrosse counts as a personality trait, then I shall succumb to my fate as a sad spinster maid and move to the attic,” she said with a casual voice,then poured a healthy serving of coffee into her mug. 

“And get another cat,” Jesse added. As she spoke, she didn’t even look away from her son. “Can’t forget the cats.” 

Michael let out a chuckle and Bart discovered that Mister Terrific did have a sense of humor afterall. 

“Pro-tip, Karen,” Rick chimed in. “Maybe stop swiping right on basic white boys from Greenwich, Connecticut.” 

In the corner of his eye, Bart caught sight of Michael visibly pondering something for a few seconds.

“Rick, isn’t that where you-”

Michael was cut off when Karen let out a hum. After pouring a glug of oat milk into her coffee, she stepped away from the counter and towards the silent physician in the corner. 

“Hey, Doc,” she said, nudging him. “It’s your turn today.” 

Pieter’s facial expression did not change as he nodded his head. “Right.” 

Despite looking like a very sleep-deprived owl, the Good Doctor trudged to a counter near the kitchen’s doorway. On said counter was a stereo system. Without saying anything else, Pieter plugged his smartphone into the machine. 

Bart then felt a tap on his shoulder, then turned to his right to come face-to-face with Jesse

“Every breakfast one of us gets to choose the music,” she quickly explained. “Don’t worry, I’ve made sure that you’ll get some time on Friday.”

Amused, Bart smirked. “Do you guys schedule everything?”

“Only when it’s important,” Jesse replied coolly, and Bart wasn’t entirely sure if she picked up on the joking nature of his words. 

As Bart watched Pieter file through songs on a music app, he wondered just what kind of tunes the Good Doctor gravitated towards. Bart had only interacted with the man a handful of times, but judging by Pieter’s quiet nature and the constant cheerless expression on his face, he figured it would either be utterly boring or utterly angst-filled. 

But to Bart’s surprise, the sound of music that played from the smartphone of Doctor Pieter Cross turned out to be — of all things — sappy 80s love songs. 

Looking at the man now, it was almost surreal to watch one of the world’s most esteemed physicians stuff an unsliced bagel into his mouth as glassy synthesizers played in the background. 

As Bart took a bite of his muffin, another JSAer entered the room. 

Tom Bronson looked a lot more relaxed than he was when witnessing the morning’s session. Although, Bart could recall seeing a smirk on the guy’s face after the furry comment. 

Like his father, Tom had dark hair, blue eyes, and an affinity for cat-based motifs. But unlike his father, Tom was in his mid-twenties, smelled like cigarette smoke, and utterly radiated a sense of youthfulness in the finer features of his face, something absolutely unseen in the older Wildcat. 

Once the younger Wildcat stepped into the room, he let out a dramatic sigh of relief. 

“Oh, thank the good lord, there’s finally some decent music in here!” Tom let out as he went straight to the coffee machine on the counter. 

Some of the JSAers let out a laugh or chuckle, while others were less amused. 

“Tommy, if you’re gonna say that every week, you might wanna start changing your inflection,” Courtney brought up, annoyed. 

“And what exactly is your definition of ‘decent’ music?” Maxine chimed in. She appeared to be slightly less bothered by her teammate’s antics. 

“And please explain without dissecting the entire genre,” Jennifer added on.

Tom smirked like he had finally been given a challenge. 

“Good music is anything but fuckin’ country, that’s for sure,” he replied as he poured himself a healthy serving of coffee. The Pretty Boy Wildcat turned around and leaned on the counter to face his teammates. “Don’t tell Nate though.” 

Once more, some of the JSAers chuckled along while others did not. Rick in particular covered little Johnny’s ears while Jesse looked amused. Considering how many f-bombs Bart would drop during every babysitting session, it was possibly pointless. At this rate, little Johnny’s first words would probably be “holy fuck nuggets.”

As Bart finished off his muffin, Tom immediately zipped towards the vacant seat next to the speedster and sat his ass down. 

“Hey, you!” Tommy said, happily patting the Speedster’s shoulder. “You are my idol.” 

Bart was bemused, yet the slightest bit confused. “What’d I do?”

“You asked my Dad if he was a furry, I’ve been daring Grant to do that for years and he chickens out every time,” Tommy explained. He took a quick sip of his coffee and looked at Bart with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. 

“We gotta hang out while you’re here,” Tommy continued. “Listen, my buddy’s playing this gig tonight at this bar down in Williamsburg, he does this whole thing where he mixes jazz and punk, he calls it junk. It’s sick. You’d love it. You should come.” 

Bart didn’t need to think twice to know what his answer was. But before he could say anything, Jesse was quick to chime in. 

“Hey, Tom,” said the blonde Speedster. She pointed to Bart to emphasize her point. “Not to a complete buzzkill, but he’s not twenty one.” 

Annoyed, Bart shot her a glare. It seemed that being in the middle of college did not stop the one Jessica Belle Chambers from treating him like a surprisingly tall baby brother. 

“Well, thanks, Jess,” Bart said in a tone that was equal parts sarcastic and annoyed. 

Fortunately, Tommy was quite understanding. 

“No no, it’s all good, I get it. Wouldn’t wanna get you in trouble,” he assured, bowing his head and putting one of his hands up. He gave Bart a quick nudge. “We could still do something though — me and Grant sneak into shit at Tisch all the time. You should tag along.”

Willing to accept any sort of strange adventure in New York, whether it be out of costume or in it, Bart managed a smile and nodded along. 

“Hey, it wouldn’t be my first time,” he said, and just like that it felt like the plan was set. “Last month me and my roommates crashed this thing at Stanford. It was sick, they didn’t even ask if we actually went there!” 

Tommy let out a laugh, clearly happy to find another partner-in-crime in addition to Grant. 

As Bart reveled in the fortune of making a new friend, Jesse rolled her eyes and looked back to the toddler in her arms. At least all the tuition she was paying for Bart to go to university was going to an authentic college appearance — warts and all. Frankly, as long as Bart was getting the most out of his classes, what he did in his spare time as a young, doe-eyed twenty-year-old was none of her business. 

“Well, whatever Jay doesn’t know won’t kill him,” she muttered. “Hopefully.” 

A few moments passed as various JSAers sipped coffee, munched on unsliced bagels, or quietly jammed to the sappy 80s pop ballad playing through the stereo. While Bart reached for another muffin, he heard the beeping of a smartphone and looked to the corner of the kitchen. 

Karen grabbed her phone from the counter and only spent a moment glancing at the screen. Whatever the notification was, it caused her to hum and walk to the doorway.

“Shoot, gotta run,” Karen said, keeping a firm grasp on both her phone and coffee mug. “Starrware stuff.”

However, Karen only took a few steps towards the exit before stopping in her place. She turned around just slightly and eyed Bart at the table. 

“Hey, you,” said the team’s Chairwoman. She took a few steps towards him. “Jesse told me you’re studying electrical engineering.” 

“And comp sci,” Bart added, nodding. “It’s one of those double major things.”

“When do you graduate?” 

“In about a year.”

Karen let out another hum, then reached into the pocket of her sweatpants. After fishing around for a bit, she pulled out a business card and handed it to the baby-faced Speedster. 

“When you do, be sure to give us a call,” she explained in a straightforward, professional tone. “We got some internship programs at Starrware and I think you’d fit in. And of course, it’s paid.” 

Bart only looked at the card for half a second. Fittingly, the contact info for Starrware’s hiring offices were framed in a star shape. 

“Aw shit, thanks,” he soon said, speaking as if his two-year-old nephew was not sitting next to him. 

“No problem,” said Karen. She reached over and gave Bart a pat on the shoulder. “Glad to be working with you, Kid.”

As Bart slipped the card into his pocket, he couldn’t help but smile. Anything that implied that his college degree was not going to be a waste of time was fine by him. 

By now, Bart Allen was getting quite used to unexpected things being thrown at him. In fact, he wanted them to keep coming, whether they be a punishment via push-ups or a new networking opportunity. 

As Karen turned to leave the room for real, Jesse took a break from shielding her son’s ears from the profanity to give the chairwoman a quizzical eye. 

“Karen, do you always keep business cards on you?” asked Jesse. “Even out of costume?” 

“You don’t know my life, Jesse,” Karen replied in a dry tone, yet a smile remained on her face. 

Letting out a chuckle, Bart soon realized that his time with the Justice Society of America was going to be something special after all.