Chapter Text
When we got back to the Bunker, Mom seemed surprised to see us.
“I thought you were going to stay and help the CCFD out with the bombing.”
“Apparently not.” Dad glared at me. I could handle him being mad at me, as long as he did what I said. “We went to STAR Labs instead.”
“STAR Labs?” Mom tilted her head at me.
“I’m having the scientists there look at the structure of LP and see what they can determine.”
“Right. Well, I looked into that apartment building that got bombed, tried to see if there was anything suspicious. Funny thing is, the cell phone signal is still originating from the same point as it was before the bombing.”
Dad shook his head. “That’s not possible. That building was decimated. It might’ve survived if it was in one of the adjacent buildings, but not at the point of origin of the detonation.” Don hung his head. He still clearly blamed himself for the explosion, but that was something I’d have to deal with later.
I pulled out my tablet and tried to see if I could trace the signal. “I’m still not getting any cellular signals from that location.” I looked between my tablet and Mom’s monitors, unclear on where the discrepancy could be coming from. Then I wanted to hit myself on the head. “Is the signal being bounced off a keyhole satellite?”
Mom started typing furiously. “Uhhh….yes. It is.”
“So it was a trap. And we fell for it.” Dad was right. It was the most basic of traps, and we didn’t bother to avoid it. “Where’s the real signal coming from?”
“A shut-down fertilizer plant in the Glades.” Okay, that was random.
“Who owns it?”
“Rickman Industries.” No idea what that was. Still, we needed to investigate.
“Let’s go check it out.”
“Wait.” Dad couldn’t be serious. There was no time! “If we rush in without our heads on straight, we’re going to fall into another trap. Let’s bring the whole team in tomorrow and take a look at it. With everyone there, we’ll get better surveillance and avoid any tricks.”
I knew Dad was right, even if I didn’t want to admit it. My body desperately needed rest after a barrage of missions, and Don and Dad couldn’t have been doing much better. “Fine. Could you let the team know I want them here first thing?”
Dad nodded, and turned to Mom, presumably to get the word out. I turned to find Don, who was sitting in the other chair, aimlessly spinning back and forth. “Looks like someone needs some shut-eye.”
He broke his funk to look up at me. “Yeah, for sure. You coming?” I knew what he meant; there were at least three cots back in the sleeping area. But I suspected Dad wanted to have a chat with me after everything that happened today, and now seemed like as good a time as any.
“Actually, I think I’m going to stay up a bit.”
“Alright. Just make sure you get at least some rest tonight. And something to eat.”
“You got it, champ.” I was so tired I leaned in for a hug, but then remembered why that was a bad idea. Just as Don was about to walk away, Mom turned to us with a big smirk on her face.
“How cute! A member of Team Arrow and a member of Team Flash dating!”
Dad turned around, confusion written all over his features, as he and I exclaimed at the same time, “Dating?”
“Why would you say something like that?” I asked.
“Oh, come on, it’s totally obvious how you are around each other. Plus, I heard you basically declare your love for each other earlier.”
Dad looked from Mom to Don to me and back again. “You’re saying....you’re dating...him?”
Mom seemed to go for the graceful exit. “I’m actually going to go home. I told the whole team to get here early, so….okay, I’m gone.” And she walked off toward the elevator.
This was going just about as well as it did last time. Don turned to me. “Why don’t I leave you and your dad to...talk?” I nodded, and he literally flashed off to the back of the Bunker.
Leaving me to face my dad, alone.
Fun.
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“So that’s your boyfriend?” Dad sat down in Mom’s chair. I did likewise across from him.
“Yeah.” What did he want me to say?
“How long have you two been together?”
“Two and a half years.”
“So that was the boyfriend you talked about last time.”
“Yep.” Okay, so far this could’ve gone better, but could’ve gone much worse. “Is this going to be a problem?”
“No, of course not. I just never imagined that my daughter and the Flash’s son would get together.” Oh .
“You know?”
“Come on, Ryder, you can’t bring in a biracial speedster from the future and try and convince me he’s anyone but Barry and Iris’ kid.”
“Right.” If Dad and Iris had figured it out, I could only imagine who else had managed to put it together.
“Does he treat you well?”
“Seriously, Dad?”
“I’m being very serious here.”
“You don’t think you would’ve killed him by now if he didn’t?”
“True.”
We lapsed into silence, and I guess Dad had had all his questions answered about my boyfriend. Just as I was standing up, Dad spoke up again, so quiet I could barely hear him. “I thought it was going to be Laurel.” What was he talking about?
I sat back down. “You thought what was going to be Laurel?”
“Your mother.” Oh .
“You thought Mom was Laurel?”
“Your name. I thought we were continuing the tradition.”
“If you thought you were going to end up with Laurel, why did you get engaged to Felicity?”
“I didn’t know…” he chuckled humorlessly, “I didn’t know what I was doing. I thought maybe I was wrong, and it could be Felicity. But then I learned about William, and she broke up with me, and Laurel died, and it left me thinking...who could it be? Then I started dating Susan, but that ended in disaster. And I’m starting to worry...what if I screw this up and you and Tommy aren’t born at all?”
Poor Dad. I thought that maybe me showing up at a low point in his life would help him see the bright future he had in front of him, but apparently it had only added to his burden. Not like I was even convinced he had that great of a life to look forward to after all, not anymore.
“I’m sorry about Laurel. I know I only got to meet her briefly, but I can see how much she meant to you and the team. And I’m sorry that your personal life hasn’t been going great of late, I really am. I don’t know what to say. I’m not going to tell you who Mom is. That’s something you need to figure out.” Both of you .
“There was a time last year, I thought I was ready. Ready to be a husband, ready to be your dad, but now I realize...I’m not. I’m not sure I’ll ever be. Chase showed that to me, and-”
“I wish you wouldn’t say that, Dad. You’re going to be a great dad when the time comes. It just hasn’t yet.” And maybe it won’t .
“If I’m such a great dad, then why didn’t I come back with you on this mission to help? Why did I let you go all by yourself?”
“I’m not alone. I have Don.”
“You know what I mean.”
I sighed. “It’s not as simple as that. You coming back in time is almost a guaranteed paradox. It’s against Traveler rules. You couldn’t have come even if you had wanted to.” And you didn’t .
“If you say so.” Dad didn’t look convinced. “Look, you need to go get your rest. Go to bed, I’ll be along shortly.”
I got up. “Go ahead and brood all night.” I headed back to the cots.
“Good-night, Ryder,” Dad called out after me.
“Good-night, Dad.”