Chapter Text
Barry liked to think he knew a lot about his family, they were a tight knit group. He knew their hobbies, favourite foods, drinks and people. Their family meal times were never quiet, someone always had something to say whether it was incredibly boring or so fascinating it engaged the whole table.
Iris usually explained what she’d seen at work, being a journalist meant she got to witness some pretty wild things (for a civilian anyway). If it wasn’t work talk then she would recall what the League daycare staff had told her about what the twins had been up to… turns out meta kids cant attend regular daycares. They would have got quite the shock if they walked in on two children literally vibrating through walls.
The twins themselves would babble as they clumsily shovelled food into their faces, it turned out the speedster appetite kicked in early. It had been why Iris had to give up breastfeeding, no matter how stubborn she was about it.
After Joan passed away Jay was fairly quiet at family meals, he would chuckle and add his own little quips but he was nowhere near as jovial as he used to be. Losing your soulmate would do that to you. Barry counted his lucky stars every day that Iris was still around, he wouldn’t know what to do without her.
Wally’s seat remained empty as a sign of respect to the lost hero. At some point a Kid Flash themed Build-a-Bear had found its home on the oak chair, its ears could barely be seen over the lip of the table. Barry liked to think Wally would consider it a worthy stand in.
One thing that he didn't miss was how little Bart contributed to the conversation. Sure, he would join in once the ball was rolling but he would never start the conversation- something Barry found odd. Especially with how himself and Wally would never resist a chance to waste some energy by blabbering about their day.
With a sigh he let himself into Jay’s house, every week either Iris or himself would go to the elder speedster’s house to help with cleaning. Iris had a toddler’s party to drag the twins along to, so today cleaning was Barry’s job. Thankfully it never took long for the duo, two speedsters taking a floor each meant it was usually a quick job- it meant more time for catching up over a beer or two afterwards.
“Hi, Jay!” He called and the distinct voice of a certain elderly speedster came from the kitchen. He made quick work of hanging up his coat and tossing his bag on the sofa (they’d be tidying it up soon anyway), before he went to help with the cleaning supplies.
“I did upstairs last week, so I’ve got down here this time!” and with that statement Barry was left to fight through the three bedrooms and bathroom of the first floor. Oh goodie!
xXx
Jay’s room was easy, the older man was retired and had super speed- it made for an incredibly tidy room. All Barry had to do was hoover, dust, clean the windows and, if the time was right, flip the mattress.
If the hero gig was a bit slow, flipping the mattress was the highlight of his domestic week. Having kids and a great marriage was one thing… but flipping that mattress was a different kind of bliss.
It was just so satisfying.
Before he knew it he’d finished up in two of the three bedrooms and was standing outside of his grandson’s room, a room he had been in all of three times since the kid’s arrival. Bart was… secretive about his room, it was something that always confused Barry.
Until they learnt exactly what future the kid was from.
It had been Jaime who had spilled it all, he’d requested a meeting with the league after the Reach had been sent packing. To be honest, Barry thought the kid was there to quit, he wouldn’t have blamed him after everything the bug on his spine had put him through.
But no, he’d given a shaky speech retelling everything Bart had told him about the dystopian future.
Slavery. Kidnapped metas. An uninhabitable planet. The “Big Bad” Blue Beetle acting as a cruel shepherd to herds of starving humans.
Jaime begged them not to let him go back on mode.
Suddenly, it all made sense. The way Bart was protected over his spaces- his room at Jay’s and at the Watchtower. He’d never really had privacy before.
Blue Beetle didn’t know the details, of course he didn’t. He was a kid that happened to have an alien AI attached to his spine, between his tears and sobs he could barely breathe nevermind explain everything Bart could have known.
So, Batman ordered him to fetch his grandson. A job he did reluctantly, the kid knew something was up as soon as he was being guided towards the Watchtower war room. Barry took no pleasure when he had to scruff him to stop him from bolting- he’s like a scared stray dog, his mind told him.
Jaime had whined pitifully when Bart gave him a betrayed look.
Bats and Wonder Woman lead the interrogation, acting as bad and good cop respectively. Barry had to stay by the door to stop any teenage speedsters from escaping. Even from his guard position he could tell Bart was giving as good as he was getting when it came to glaring. The way Captain Marvel was squirming told him everything he needed to know.
Bart said nothing.
Correction- he said (growled) “fine” when Batman said he was benched from the team before he stormed from the room.
No-one tried to stop him when the Computer announced his departure.
xXx
He was benched for a whole six months until the team desperately needed a speedster and Barry was stuck off planet.
No-one except Jaime and Nightwing knew why Bart had been missing for the last half a year, according to the co-leader anybody who asked received a glare that would put the Bat himself to shame.
Nightwing chuckling and saying he was impressed would have been funny in any other situation.
xXx
Barry did his best not to sigh (again) before pushing the door open. Usually they left Bart to take care of his own room, an agreement between the speedsters to try and make Bart feel more at home in Jay’s house- to make him feel trusted.
However, the team had been on a mission for the past three weeks meaning Bart’s room had a decent layer of dust spread over every surface.
The room itself was… bland. Beige walls and a grey carpet greeted him, no posters or pictures decorated the walls. The double bed was stuffed in the corner, the sheets pulled back to let the mattress air out in its owner's absence. The built-in wardrobe to his right was also left open to air out, it let him get a look at Bart’s clothes collection- he noted it was all the items they’d got him when he first arrived, nothing new. The desk had nothing on it apart from a closed laptop- the one Barry knew the kid used for school work- and a few packs of pens and notebooks piled in the corner.
Overall it was very… unloved. It really felt like this was the guest bedroom, the only thing letting him know the room was lived in were the few wrappers that had been collected in the bin under the desk.
Barry shrugged off his concerns and started hoovering, the sooner he was done the sooner he could leave Bart’s sanctuary.
xXx
The room was clean!
The Flash was just opening the window to let some fresh air in when his dumbass feet hooked themselves on the leg of the bedside table, sending Barry (and the table) to the floor. He really hadn’t wanted an up close and personal view of the carpet, but at least it was freshly cleaned.
“You okay?!” Jay yelled from somewhere below him.
“Yeah!” He yelled back, his voice muffled by the floor but he trusted the older man would get the message.
Looking around confirmed his worst fear- He’d made quite a mess in his split second of clumsy dumbassery. It turned out the kid wasn’t as clean as he originally thought, Barry’s fall had revealed Bart’s “dumping drawer”, the place where miscellaneous items go to die.
With a chuckle he dragged himself up and set the table right, before he started gathering the items. It was mostly empty pens, notebooks with random scribbles in, an amazing amount of phone chargers and several energy bars. Barry picked up one of the notebooks by its spine when something fell out.
A photo. The edges were browned and wrinkled- probably from it being held a decent amount.
Don't look at it- the little angel Flash on one shoulder whispered. Open it, it could be something to do with the dystopian future- little devil Flash whispered. For about three seconds Barry suffered an internal debate on what to do. If anyone saw him at that moment it would probably look like he was glitching out.
Before he could wimp out he unfolded the photo and took in what it showed. Barry didn’t know what he expected, maybe a picture of an apocalyptic wasteland, a selfie from a thirteen year old Bart, a small part of him wished he would get to see what his son would end up looking like.
What he definitely didn’t expect was a group photo of a group of… teenagers?
There were seven figures, their arms wrapped around each other and smiles on all their faces. Barry scanned them left to right. The far left was a girl, her features reminded him of Artemis- only her skin was darker, her hair was a dark brown and styled in thick dreadlocks that fell down her back. When Barry thought about it she looked more like Artemis’s sister, Jade- the Cheshire cat herself.
The Cheshire look alike had her arm wrapped tightly around a boy’s waist. The boy was also oddly familiar, Barry felt like he knew this boy. However, the guy’s flaming red hair and distinct white streak at the front was a combination the speedster had definitely never seen before.
Barry couldn’t help but chuckle at the position the white-streak-boy was in, one arm was wrapped around the Cheshire-look-alike’s shoulders. The other hand was jammed into the face of the boy next to him, obscuring the other’s features from view. White-streak-boy’s expression was one of pure determination and amusement. He couldn’t see much of the boy with a hand stuffed over his face. What he could make out was the long black hair and… was that a metal hand?
His thoughts were interrupted when he saw who was tucked under the black haired boy’s arm- Bart, his own grandson Bart.
The younger speedster had hair longer than Barry had ever seen it, his long auburn mane was messy and windswept as his grandson pulled the hood of a mystery boy over his face, covering everything but a few bright blonde locks. Bart’s face was showing pure joy, it was a lot like the expression Dick wore whenever he was harassing Tim (in a loving kind of sibling way). His eyes even matched Dick’s infamous “I will harass you as it’s my duty as a big brother” eyes, Barry could have sworn Bart’s eyes were yellow but that’s not possible, must’ve just been a trick of the camera… right?
Next to the poor smothered blonde were two more figures- a slim girl with dark purple hair, tanned skin and electric blue eyes, and a taller boy with a build that reminded him of Conner, only slimmer. His black hair was styled in a high fade with loose curls that gave him a slightly wild look, whilst his eyes were hidden behind a pair of round sunglasses. They were both laughing at the unfortunate mystery blonde Bart was harassing.
Everything about the photo screamed… homely. The figures were obviously comfortable around each other, the way they freely touched each other made that much obvious.
Barry didn’t think he’d ever seen Bart smile so openly. Yeah, the kid would crack jokes and laugh with others, but his smile always hit Barry as being a bit… forced. He didn’t have the Bat’s skills of perception but he could tell when someone wasn’t happy- he’d had to deal with Wally trying to hide Rudolph’s abuse for years, he knew what hiding something looked like.
Flipping the picture revealed a message written in neat blue cursive:
“I just wanted one picture of you all standing still… Apparently that was too much to ask of a group of meta-humans. I don't know what I expected! I imagine getting a group of cats to sit still would have been heaven compared to this. It’s a good job I love you all so much.”
That was interesting…
Barry could have sworn his heart stopped for a good second when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. A streak of panic made him fling the picture into the drawer before standing to face the newcomer.
It was Bart, standing there leaning against his door frame with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. He was in the exact same clothes he’d left for the mission three weeks ago, a simple jumper, converse and jeans combo (how had Barry just realised the kid’s jeans barely touched his ankles anymore?)
“I thought you weren’t meant to get back for another week?” he asked, doing his best to keep his voice guilt free.
“Turned out the intel was useless if a certain person was off base, unfortunately that person was off base, meaning we got to come back early.” The still healing scrape along his jaw told him that he must’ve bolted straight home after the Bio-ship landed, Nightwing and Aqualad would be pissed if Bart had missed the debriefing. “But… that doesn’t explain what you’re doing here…”
Well shit… how did the kid manage to make a simple statement seem like a threat against his ancestors?
“Cleaning,” he replied lamely, gesturing to the hoover as if it would save him from the situation.
Bart just nodded slowly, “I can take it from here.” if Barry claimed the smile his grandson gave him didn’t send shivers down his spine then he’d be lying.
He ran from the room so fast he nearly forgot the hoover.
xXx
Barry was lying in bed that night when he realised something that made something awful curl in his gut- all the kids in the picture, Bart included, had inhibitor collars clamped around their necks.
He came so close to throwing up at the realisation.
xXx
Sneaking back into Bart’s room wasn’t something he was proud of, he had to drink three cups of coffee just to stop himself from chickening out. He’d never been more thankful for the speedy metabolism.
He’d had to time it perfectly, Bart was at a training session being co-lead by Batman himself at the Watchtower. It meant his grandson definitely wouldn’t be home before a set time, noone was brave enough to try and skip out on training with the big bad bat himself.
Of course the picture wasn’t in the same place, it turned out Bart wasn’t as air headed as people thought he was. After a few minutes of searching he found it slotted between the wall and skirting board.
Bart really didn’t want anyone to see this picture, that fact made the pool of guilt in his gut grow heavier. He snapped a quick picture of the offending item, made it seem like he was never there before heading for the Watchtower.
xXx
Dinah’s office in the Watchtower was known for being an incredibly relaxing and homey place. After her original office at the mountain was destroyed the League had agreed to give her a space at the tower to help continue her sessions with the younger team (and any of the League that wished to vent- something Barry often found himself doing).
The room itself was painted in relaxing colours, light browns, mellow yellows and greys. At the centre of the room was an oak coffee table with two plush grey armchairs that looked like they belonged in front of a fire, with an old man reading over his will. Apparently the original Young Justice team had been incredibly happy to see the ugly green chairs of her old office burn alive in the wreckage. At the back of the room was an oak desk accompanied by a chair that looked like it would melt muscles on impact, in said chair sat the woman he was looking for.
“Barry!” She waved at him as he stood awkwardly in the doorway, “what do I owe the pleasure?” She gave him a well practiced smile.
“Erm, hey.” He started lamely, “I wanted to talk to you about something…” he shuffled into the room and perched on the arm of one of the old-man-with-a-will chairs.
“Oh good! I was hoping to talk to you a but more about what we touched on last t-”
“No sorry,” he interrupted, “it’s not about me… it's about Bart actually.”
“Barry…” she dragged out his name in a warning tone.
“I know you can’t say a lot but I'm getting worried about him.”
“I can’t really say anything …” The canary sat with her elbows on the desk and her chin resting on her interlocked hands.
“I just have one question- has Bart ever mentioned anyone he could’ve left behind in the future? Like, a team? Or a family even?”
Dinah said nothing, the silence stretched on for a solid minute before the canary broke it. “That was a bit more than one question, in all honesty he doesn’t say a lot during his sessions. The kid’s good at saying just enough to classify as completing a decent session, but not enough to provide any insight to what’s going on in that head of his. He’s a lot like Dick used to be, says as little as possible to get his mandatory therapy hours in so he can continue team activities.”
Barry couldn't hold in a sigh, “so no then, dammit.” he ran a hand through his hair as he resisted the urge to tap his foot at an illegal speed.
“So what’s brought on this oddly specific question?” Her expression was carefully neutral as her body language radiated interest.
“I don’t wanna say until I'm sure it’s anything, ya know?” Dinah nodded, “I’m gonna go talk to Bats, thanks for your time.”
“It’s no problem, my door is always open, you know that. I hope whatever you suspect does end up being nothing, but good luck anyway.”
xXx
He found Batman in the War Room while going over some very complicated plans with Nightwing. When the two masked vigilantes turned to stare at him Barry suddenly felt naked without his Flash uniform on.
“Hey Batman… Could we talk for a sec?” Nightwing turned to his mentor and with a nod from the older man he left, offering the speedster a warm smile as he moved past him.
“See you back at the manor!” He called and then he was gone, how did they manage to disappear in a well lit hallway?
“How can I help?” He met the gaze of the infamous Dark Knight.
“Erm… It’s about Bart, I need you to take a look at something.” As soon as he heard the new Kid Flash’s name he peeled back his cowl and suddenly Bruce Wayne, father to a brood of birds, was sitting in front of him.
It didn’t take long to fill him in on the situation, from how he stumbled across the picture, to how defensive Bart had been about making sure it wasn’t found.
Bruce wordlessly held out his hand for the phone and Barry quickly got the offending image up to show the other man. The bat stared at the picture for a long time, and that wasn’t just him being impatient. He didn’t miss the way his Kevlar covered thumb ran over the features of the white-streak-kid’s freckled face.
“So, he had a team he had to leave behind to travel to the past to change it. Doesn’t sound impossible. From what little we know I can safely assume resources were scarce in the original future meaning they could probably only send one person back, that person ended up being Bart.” He concluded.
“Who do you think they are?”
The thumb brushed the freckled face again, “I don’t know.”
Even Barry could tell he was lying.