Chapter Text

CHAPTER 1

ALABAMA, THE CRANDALL HOUSEHOLD, 11:29 AM

Max Mercury woke up today as a semi-retired superhero whose only real worries were when he ran out of groceries, forgot to take out the trash, and the occasional coming out of retirement to help out his hero-aligned associates when they needed a hand. In the span of 24 hours, Max’s life was flipped upside down. He heard the phone ringing on the wall and picked it up off the wall, expecting some sort of cold caller or life insurance advocate to pick it up. Instead, on the other line, was a disgruntled and out-of-breathe Wally West, the current Flash, yelling at Max to high-tail it to his aunt’s house; that there was some sort of issue, something he needed great assistance with. Max sighed but quickly let Wally know he was on his way. What could possibly be waiting there for him when he arrived? What villain of the week was posing such a threat Wally needed back up? The young man was fully capable of handling himself as much as Max knew so there had to be some greater issue arising other than Captain Boomerang or Mirror-Master.

But he trusted Wally was being honest about his situation, and there was clear desperation in the other man’s voice. So, even though it felt kind of off-key, he rushed over there as posthaste. He practically broke the door as he swung it open, expected to be met with a macabre scene. But to his surprise, there was no fight. No one was injured. Instead, he found Wally and Iris sitting on the couch, having been mid conversation when Max made his entry. Both Wests stared at him like a deer in the headlights and he returned the same gaze, unsure how to proceed. Wally quickly cleared his throat, tugging at the cowl hanging around his neck nervously. The man stood up and greeted Max with an uneasy look in his eyes. 

“What is going on?” Max asked, voice quiet but very much demanding. He was pretty irritated Wally made a whole big deal about seemingly nothing. But Max would try and restrain his initial judgment if the younger male could give him a good enough explanation. 

“There is an emergency- it’s just….it’s not our ‘typical’ emergency. No one’s hurt or robbing a bank or endangering the city. It’s…..it’s a personal emergency.” Wally tried, voice scratchy. 

“I have no idea what that means, Wally.” Max said. He frowned deeply, crossing his arms over his chest and continuing to see if Wally could further divulge what this “emergency” was.

“Listen, I’m still trying to piece it together myself but this morning-my Aunt visited me.” Wally began.

“Okay…?” Max cut him off, cocking an eyebrow. “How’s that an emergency–”

“Let me finish. Please.” Wally interjected, lips forming a thin line. Max huffed but ultimately let him continue on. 

“I don’t mean my aunt visiting me was the issue. I mean it was my aunt about 30 years older with graying hair, semi-wrinkled skin and it was through some sort of, hell I don’t know how to describe it, portal.” Wally ran his hands through his bangs, feeling disheveled and stressed, but still went on. “I-I refused to believe this woman was here but it was her. Her voice, her story. It all hit at once. Apparently, there was some kind of emergency in the far future. Barry’s been….dead for awhile and future-Iris’s kids were recently killed in some sort of attack. But one of her kids, D-Don Allen, I think, and I only remember because of how dumb the name was-” 

“Can we focus?” Max butted in. Wally sighed, nodding as he went on. 

“He had a kid. Him and his wife, Meloni. Meloni Thawne.” 

“Thawne? Like Eobard Thawne? This makes no damn sense.” Max was growing frustrated. The redhead was taking far too long to explain a situation that already seemed to have calmed down. On another day, when he had less patience, he might’ve just left the redhead with half an answer and gone back home. It seemed like whatever happened had nothing to do with him. The only reason he was sticking around and trying to weave together some sort of story was because of how vulnerable both Wally and Iris looked. Wally was clearly disheveled, and the Flash suit he had on was kind of tattered and beaten up. Iris wasn’t physically obtuse in any way but she looked somewhat sad, confused, maybe? Max was never the best when it came to emotions, really, but his best guess was this had to be serious if these two relatively sensible people were shaken by it. 

“I get it. That was my reaction, too. The woman was….er…is the mother of my aunt’s grandchild. I don’t get how it would’ve happened, how that kid would even be conceived given our history with those people but that’s not my place to judge. All I know is that when she stepped out of the portal and tried to explain their situation, she was holding a little boy’s hand. He looked 5 or 6, if I had to guess. But just within 30 minutes that kid grew an inch or two. I…I thought I was hallucinating or something. But it happened in real time. I asked her what was going on with that and she said that’s where I come into this, apparently.” Wally took a deep breath in, waited a while, and then exhaled, sitting back down on the couch and peering down into his lap. He wasn’t done speaking but he just unloaded so much and barely got to the bottom of it. He was mentally and emotionally exhausted.

“She said that kid- Bart was his name- had a hypermetabolism. He was born with superspeed and almost immediately began rapidly aging. And with….with his father being killed and Barry being dead, I guess she had no one to turn to. She was begging me, practically BEGGING me to try and figure out if I could help stabilize his powers. If I didn’t, logically speaking, he’d be dead at age 15, from the looks of it. So she came to the past and sought me out specifically. I don’t even understand how she ended up 1000 years in the future to begin with but I really tried to focus on the problem at hand ‘cause if I didn’t have an answer, a kid I’d just met, whose apparently family, would be dead soon.” 

Iris’s frown creased further, the woman scooched over until she could lay a supportive arm around her nephew, trying to offer a little bit of comfort to him. Max took his time glancing between both of them, thoughts racing through his head, trying to figure out how it all fit together. 1000 years….so the 30th century? What was Iris and Barry doing there to begin with? And they stayed there long enough to have kids and have family, to have aged quite a bit, enough for Barry to be no longer with them, and for their kids to be adults as well. It was jarring and very puzzling but Max didn’t have time to analyze every little detail. He trusted Wally was trying his best but by the looks of it Wally had enough on his plate before this all, having taken over as The Flash only a little bit ago. The kid….well…he was very much an adult now was in his mid-20s and was harboring so many issues already. The least Max could do was try to help. But….how would he, exactly? He still wasn’t sure what HE could offer that Wally himself couldn’t provide. 

“Where is he now? The child? Is he in stable condition? Is he-” Max hesitated, before blurting out at the last second “Is he dead already?”

“No, no he is very much still alive!” Iris exclaimed in response, expression contorted into horror. She bit the inside of her cheek, looking away from both men before she hastily got up and headed into the other room. Max watched her leave and turned to Wally with confusion. 

“Here’s the thing. I managed to help him control his powers. It was challenging but I managed to stabilize his metabolism. This kid? This pint-sized kid? He’s faster than me in my prime, Max, it was so hard to get his body to be as normal as I could get it. But I succeeded, I guess. I thought Future Iris would take him back with her but she couldn’t. Apparently, the future’s pretty hellish. She told me he was better off here where we could watch him. But I can’t handle a kid, Max. I’m struggling already. How am I supposed to care for a child?” 

Just as Max went to say something, Iris came back into the room. She was walking significantly slower-paced and had a soft smile on her lips, much different to the expression she had shown a moment prior. It looked like there was something in her hand- no, SOMEONE, desperately clinging to the woman’s hip. A child. Couldn’t be older than 10, maybe. He had chestnut brown hair and big yellow eyes that were quite captivating. He was wearing some kind of suit, too, it having one singular “bolt” down the middle in red and white. He was holding onto Iris for dear life, eyes shifting between Iris, Wally, and then Max. And when he saw a new addition, his face flushed, eyes shrinking, and he ducked behind Iris, not wanting to face Max head on. 

“It’s okay, honey, he’s a friend. He’s practically family.” Iris told the boy, peering down at him and nestling a hand in the kid’s wild hair. 

“I don’t want to meet anyone else.” Bart mumbled. He seemed to have difficulty speaking. Like….Like English wasn’t his first language. But the dialect, the way he was stumbling through his words, was nothing like Max had ever heard before. There was an accent but not one he could pinpoint. It was clear he hadn’t known this language very long. A big feat to accomplish in a few hours. 

“I know you’ve had a rough day but…you kind of don’t have a choice, I’m sorry.” Iris knelt down to the kid’s height, speaking gently to him. Bart extended his hands out until Iris took them into her own, rubbing comforting circles into the kid’s palms. The boy sighed, bowing his head.  They had some kind of connection, clearly. Even if the Iris Bart knew before wasn’t exactly her, yet , they got along well. Enough for the kid to feel comforted by her presence. From there, within a minute or two of relative silence, Iris was able to persuade him into entering the living room. She sat down on the couch next to Wally, and Bart followed after, sitting beside her but leaning on her shoulder, one hand still interlocked with hers. 

Max felt kind of stupid being the only one standing so he shuffled over to a recliner, sitting down and looking over at the other 3. 

“This is Max. Max Mercury. He’s a family friend. He wants to help us.” Iris turned her head towards Max, gesturing to him with her free hand. Bart raised his head up and glanced at him. Those big yellow eyes he had were kind of endearing, and Max didn’t even like kids. Bart tilted his head to the side, still relatively silent except for a little hum of acknowledgement. But he didn’t seem too impressed. 

“Why’s that your name? Max Mercury?” Bart suddenly spoke, eyes settled on Max. He wasn’t really looking at Max’s eyes, refusing to meet his gaze. Instead, the boy was sizing him up, really, looking at his face, his body, his clothes, the way the man was sitting. Observing him. 

“Why?” Max parroted, leaning forward and resting his hands on his lap, “Because….it’s my name. Not many are fortunate enough to choose their names. 

“It’s a weird name.” Bart added, swinging his legs back and forth in a slow, methodical motion as if he was on a swing. A relatively normal kid thing to do. 

“I suppose it is.” Max shrugged. He was definitely already being softer than he normally would. This kid’s been through a lot in a relatively short time. He couldn’t be too strong. Not yet.

“How’s he gonna help me? I don’t understand?” Bart asked, turning to Wally and Iris. Wally’s expression went back to being rather nervous.

“Yes, please explain. I’m still trying to figure it out myself.” Max chimed, also starring the two down. 

“Well-” Wally stammered, frowning, “I- We were hoping you could take care of him. Mentor him, even? It would just really help and he’s probably better off with you than he is me–”

“Hold on just a minute.” Max demanded, raising his finger. Wally’s mouth hung open a little but he quickly obliged, gazing at the other man gingerly. “It seems like you’ve already solved the biggest issue with his metabolism. How am I in any better of a position to take care of this child? I don’t….I don’t do well with children.”

“Max, it’s just that- you - we… ..” Wally tried, words not matching his thoughts. But he gulped back his nerves and tried to affirm his choice. “I can’t take care of a kid. I can’t , okay? I can barely manage myself. And you? You have years and years and years of experience and just life in general. I can’t mentor this kid I.” Wally bared his teeth, voice vulnerable and desperate “I don’t want to. I can’t handle it.” 

“Why can’t Iris do it then?” Max asked, suddenly caring less about being soft. Right now he was being realistic. Realism was what they needed right now. “He’s taken a liking to you already!” 

“Max, she can’t.” Wally interjected once more, voice firmer. “She already has to stay low profile. Why add a kid to the mix?”

Infuriated, Max rose from his seat and came closer to Wally; the only thing that separated the two men was a short, stout coffee table. Any notion of control dissolved, and both speedsters began rapid-firing arguing about who was going to get Bart. Neither of them had been prepared for this and both had stable arguments but something had to be done. And their discussions were loud and violent, both men using a certain strain of words Iris wishes Bart should’ve not been hearing. But he could hear, very well, infact, and after 5 or so minutes of straight up arguing, Bart stood up, stamped one small foot to grab everyone’s attention and, understandably, was fed up. Max and Wally both stood there dumbfounded, now focused on the child who was red in the face, and clearly frustrated.

“You’re all actin’ like I’m some sort of burden ! If you don’t want me then I don’t wanna be here either! I want to go back home, I never asked for this an’ I never asked to meet any of you!” Bart yelled, voice climbing up an octave as his anger arose. His chest heaved a breath, and within seconds he was sobbing, overcome with emotions and wanting to disappear. Before Bart could run off, which is what he would’ve done any second now, Iris scooped the boy up and enveloped him in a tight hug, letting him cry loudly into her shoulder. He weighed so little she was able to carefully manage him in her arms, the little boy clinging to her so tightly his knuckles turned white. Iris turned until she was face to face with Max and Wally, and she shot them a nasty glare but quickly rushed out of the room so Bart could have time and a place to decompress without being further overwhelmed. 

Both men stood there, wordless, until Wally worked up the courage to try for one last time. He sat down again, hands gripping his thighs roughly for self-comfort.

“Neither of us asked for this or wanted this.” Wally cleared the air, slowly panning up until his eyes met Max’s. Max frowned, but he didn’t vocally interrupt, letting the younger man continue. “It was sudden and unexpected. But if Barry were here I know he’d be so damn disappointed in me that I couldn’t handle this. And I already feel like enough of a failure, Max.” 

“You're not a failure, in any way, okay?” Max established. He wasn’t great at comfort but he was speaking truthfully. “He’d be amazed at the man you’ve become. You’ve already done so much for this kid. He’s still alive because of your help. I understand your view. I guess in the grand scheme of things he might benefit from my mentoring.”

“So you can do it? I know it's asking for a lot. But….Bart’s a good kid. He’s just reckless, impatient.”

“So like how you were?” Max chimed. Wally paused involuntarily, but soon a small smile surfaced, the younger speedster chuckling lightly. He looked down to the floor. 

“Yeah, I guess I was like that too.” 

“We should probably check in with Iris and see how he’s doing.” Wally said, getting up and waiting for Max to follow suit. Both of them headed into the other room, careful to not suddenly disturb them if Bart was still upset. Which he very well could be. Any child exposed to so much in so little time would be vulnerable. And they were pretty awful in some of the things they said. Hopefully Iris would be enough to soothe Bart’s hurting. 

Iris and Bart were sitting towards the end of the dining room, Bart sitting in a chair that was way too big for him and Iris sitting beside him. Iris turned when she heard footsteps and Bart looked up, too, him immediately frowning when seeing both men. His eyes were still glazed with tears.

“Well?” Iris broke the awkward silence looking back at Wally and Max expectantly. She folded her arms over her chest and switched her gaze between the two men until Wally finally started to talk. Neither of them were really prepared for it  but they weren’t going to keep her waiting. 

“I…. We’re sorry for being such ass–” Wally was cut off by Iris loudly clearing her throat, narrowing her eyes. Realizing he almost cursed in front of the literal child, Wally refocused himself at the task at hand and reshuffled his vocabulary. “......for being such, uh , jerks. Especially since you’re not a burden.” 

Bart wasn’t satisfied. The boy sniffled, brows furrowing. 

“If I’m not a burden then why did’ja say and act like I was?” He asked.

Both Max and Wally didn’t know how to answer or at least give a satisfying one. So Iris decided to step into the conversation. She laid a hand on Bart’s knee and waited for him to turn and look at her to speak. 

“Sometimes when a person is stressed they can say things they don’t mean. It’s hard to communicate when you’re angry or upset.” She said, making sure to remain as neutral as possible. While she did agree Max and Wally had acted rather immaturely, this whole situation was thrown on them rather suddenly. She really liked Bart but even with the story Wally told her…it was difficult to establish a connection over such a short period of time. All three of them had good reasons to be frustrated and fed up. 

Bart took it in, considering it for a moment before he sighed, looking down at his lap. 

“Neither of us meant that. What we said at that moment. It’s because we’re kind of figuring things out. You get that, right?” Wally asked, kneeling down to Bart’s height to get a better look at him. His tone was a lot softer but he wasn’t trying to belittle the younger boy. Bart really seemed like an amazing kid with lots of potential. It had just been a rough 24 hours. 

“Yeah, I guess I understand.” Bart replied, rubbing one of his eyes while he did so. 

“Did you both settle on something? As far as his living situation?” Iris raised her head and refocused on the two men. Wally quickly got up from the floor and dusted off his knees, resting his hands on his hips while he fixed his stance. Both Max and him looked towards Iris to provide an answer.

“Max said he’d take him. We….we got that far, didn’t we?” Wally chimed, glancing at Max for confirmation. 

Max waited a moment but gingerly nodded, eyes askance. 

“For the time being at least. Until a more permanent or fitting solution arises.” Max corrected Wally. 

“Good. I’m glad you came to your senses, both of you.” Iris smiled warmly, but just as they were about to finish up with this conversation, she felt a tug on her hand. Turning to the side, she found Bart gazing at her with a worried look. He was still holding onto her hand. 

“I have to go with him?” Bart’s voice was nervous, almost scared.

“It will be better this way. I know it doesn’t seem like it now when everything’s still so new and overwhelming but it will get better.” Iris began, shifting a bit so she could face him, “Max knows a lot more about your powers. And where he lives is relatively quiet. Somewhere you don’t have to worry about, well, pretty much anything.”

“But I don’t want to go with him. I don’t know him. A-An’ he’s old and weird and I wanna stay with you!” Bart insisted, coming forward and wrapping Iris in a tight embrace, holding on for dear life, “You can’t make me leave! I’m not gonna!”

She wasn’t expecting him to take it easily but she also wasn’t expecting this extreme of a reaction either. Iris looked down at him, slightly dumbfounded, until she carefully reciprocated the hug, rubbing his back all the while in an attempt at calming him down. 

“You can still visit me. Or call me. I’m only a phone call away.” Iris told him.

“B-but I don’t want to “visit” you. And I don’t even know what a “phone” is!” Bart was rather hysterical at this point. Imagine having aged 5 years physically in one day, having been taken from your home and placed with people you barely knew, taught a foreign language, and then having to leave these people and go live with some random guy who smelled like raisin bran! Bart just couldn’t fathom why he had to go through so much change all in such little time. To any normal kid it would be tough but it was made worse by the fact he wasn’t contemporary or normal by any means. 

“Hey, hey, look, come here.” Iris shushed him, one hand wrapped around the speedster’s waist and the other nestled in his mop of hair, carding her fingers through his wild locks. “I promise it’s going to be okay.”

“You promise?” Bart parroted, lip jutted out in a slight pout. 

“I promise .” Iris repeated, looking at him with the most sincere look she could muster. “And a promise is something you can’t take back and has to be fulfilled, right?”

“Y-yeah, it is, I guess.” Bart shrugged weakly, not going to question her logic on that. 

“So then there’s nothing to worry about. If I promise it’ll be okay, and I maintain that promise, then you’ll be fine.” The woman smiled as brightly as she could, trying to encourage the boy. It had been a long day. He had a right to be upset and worried. But she needed him to be strong. And if this was the only way to get to that goal then so be it. She….was somewhat lying, though. She couldn’t change fate or control specific circumstances but she could try like hell to orchestrate the factors she did have access to. 

Bart looked down to the floor, still seeming unsure. But after a minute or two of quietness, he wiped the remaining tears from his eyes and tried to compose him. Iris let go of him so that he could approach Max, albeit gingerly, and the boy glanced up at the old man with a bit of a scowl and fear in his eyes. Max returned the gaze, though he tried not to frown, hoping if he was positive too maybe it’d rub off on the younger. 

“My grandpa trusted you? You two were friends?” Bart innocently inquires, eyes still glued on Max who looks a bit stumped. Max thought the question over but tried to respond as fast as she could without arising some sort of untrust or suspicion in the boy. 

“I’d like to think he considered me an ally.” Max said. “It would be easier to prove if he was here right now.”

Bart looked away from Max and towards Wally and Iris respectively. Wally’s eyes were fixated on the floor, glaring at it hard, looking like he was struggling to keep it together. Iris was also looking in a seemingly random direction, at least away from the others, not wanting to bring attention to herself. But she too was frowning. Bart suddenly felt awkward, not understanding why they were all so upset. 

“What happened to him?” Bart asked, glancing between the other three. He didn’t keep his eyes on one person for very long, switching it up every few seconds, really just desperate for something resembling an answer.

“It’s…..a long story.” Wally finally said, sitting back down on the couch as he did so. 

“Not something you need to burden yourself with.” Iris told the little boy, managing a smile, even though she wanted to weep. “It’s a story for another day.” 

“Oh, okay.” Bart frowned, feeling like his concern was waved off. But he really just didn’t understand the depth of it all. It got quiet again, but Bart felt uneasy when this happened, so he was quick to speak up, “I guess…if my grandpa trusted you then I can too. Makes sense, at least.” 

Max nodded. It was a start.

“Well then.” Iris got right to it, briskly walking over to Bart and putting a hand on his shoulder. “Do you have anything you want to take with you? You can probably move in today, right, Max?” Iris looked towards the man.

“This was all very sudden but it shouldn’t be hard to make room. We’d have to get some things, though.” Max rested his hands on his belt. 

“Like what?” Bart tilted his head, curious.

Chapter Text

ALABAMA, THE CRANDALL HOUSEHOLD, 9:32 PM

Getting Bart settled in wasn’t as difficult as Max originally assumed. Sure, Bart was quite hyperactive and out of his element, quite literally, but he had a knack for learning new things and got up to speed rather swiftly. There were a few.concepts they’d have to revisit but Max wasn’t teaching him everything about the world in one day. He just wanted Bart to blend in with other kids his age. Enough to avoid any sort of questions. Because showing up with a kid one day when you’ve previously lived alone for 30+ years would have people default to being suspicious and full of questions. So….the less questions the better! If anything, explaining the sudden predicament to a school to have Bart put in the class in the middle of the year would be more difficult than anything else. But Max made it work. Because of course he did. How? Who knows. He was so mysterious. 

Having just been introduced to the idea of “School”,  Bart was very nervous. When he was back at home, he had learned things via Virtual Reality. Like a game. And he had unlimited lives, mistakes didn’t have much weight. But here, it seemed like your actions had consequences. Not all of them would be dire but according to Max, you couldn’t make a bunch of mistakes and assume everyone would be on board with it. You had to try to fit in, to do good, and to not mess up. Because people were less willing to comply with those who….were out of the box. And, yet again, according to the all knowing Max, Bart would be on the weirder side of the hypothetical spectrum. Bart didn’t really….get why HE’d be considered strange. But he supposed he lacked the wisdom on it. Max was like 1000 years old in his mind so he probably knew better even if Bart would end up ignoring most of his advice. 

When they had gotten all the stuff they needed and Bart had set up his new room, the kid stood there observing his new living space, looking it all over, still feeling incomplete. Max came in and glanced over at him, seeing how uneasy he was, not just physically, but his eyes gave a look of wariness he couldn’t quite place. What did he have to be upset over? They barely started!

“What’s wrong?” Max asked, breaking the silence. He entered the room fully and stood by Bart’s side, keeping his eyes on the younger male. Bart slowly acknowledged the man’s presence, muttering something under his breath. But the small one soon reciprocated the look, glancing up at Max with a rather pale face.

“What if I don’t do it right?” Bart asked, face flushed. 

“Do….what right?” Max had no clue what the kid was asking. 

“Um….everything?” Bart wrinkled his nose, pulling at his sleeves to occupy his hands and attempt to focus. 

Max stared at Bart for a solid 5 seconds, processing his answer, before the man laughed boisterously, the first real showcase of any emotion Bart had seen from him. Bart was a little startled, furrowing his brows and frowning. 

“I’m serious!” Bart exclaimed, voice jumping up an octave as he did so, which made him sound even more ridiculous, in turn frustrating the boy more as he hiked his hood over his head, throwing his face into his hands with a furious groan. 

Max finished laughing and took a moment to compose himself, a rather relaxed smile now on his lips which was the complete opposite of how he looked hours earlier. If someone as high-strung as him could relax, surely Bart could, too?  Max patted the boy on the shoulder once, then twice, trying to garner his attention. When Bart finally revealed himself from his impromptu hiding spot, he glared up at Max, still red in the face from being laughed at. Which, in Max’s defense, he wasn’t laughing at Bart’s misery, just the way the boy got so uptight about it. His reactions were precious , it was hard not to laugh, but Max could see he took it the wrong way. Kids tended to do that. 

“You’ll do just fine.” Max told him, still smiling, though it was starting to peter out and go back to his usual run of the mill frown, “You have nothing to worry about. If you get yourself all keyed up like this then your only enemy would be yourself. So don’t focus on it too much and you’ll be set.” 

“But…I don’t….” Bart stammered, trying to figure out how to say how he felt. Did….did other kids his age have trouble conveying their thoughts? Or was it something only he would deal with? Even if he was “normal” now and not aging rapidly, he still felt out of the ordinary. How was he supposed to blend in if he didn’t feel ‘normal’ in his own body? Bart fell quiet, looking down at the carpeted floor. 

Max could see his initial response wasn’t much of a remedy. So after watching Bart’s reaction, he knelt down to the younger speedster’s height until Bart noticed, the boy’s eyes panning up until they focused on the man’s gaze. 

“It’ll be okay. You’re focusing too much on it. You’ll probably feel better after a full night of sleep. Either way, you’ll come home in one piece just as you started. School won’t kill you.” Max tried again, a little more stern in tone. Bart hummed in acknowledgement, before he slowly nodded. Max nodded too, and understanding that came to some sort of viable answer, Max stood up to his full height and lingered towards the door, about to exit Bart’s room. 

Bart turned until he could see Max better, eyes steady on him. 

“Max?”

Max lifted his head. “Yeah?”

“Thanks.” 

—-------

ALABAMA, MANCHESTER JUNIOR HIGH, 8:25 AM

“I have to admit, after receiving your faxes and phone calls I was kind of stunned. Moving a kid to a new school practically overnight? It’s gonna be tough on the poor kid.” Principal Sheridan told Max, shuffling a collection of papers in his hands. Bart was sitting outside the office but with his ear pressed against the closed door he could hear relatively clearly. He didn’t really get why he had to sit outside anyhow, something about “Adults only” conversation. Well, regardless if he was allowed to physically sit in or not, Bart would find a way to eavesdrop. And so he did!

“He’s adjusting rather well.” Max put it bluntly, crossing his arms over his chest. 

The principal blows some air out of his nose, going over the paperwork once more before he complied it all into a neat pile, placing it squarely on a clean side of his desk. He then looked towards Max, who reciprocated the gaze. 

“And….you’re his uncle , correct?” Mr.Sheridan asked Max, leaning an elbow on his desk. 

“Correct.” 

“Do you mind me asking? What happened to his parents?” 

Max’s frown creased but the other man didn’t back off, seeming genuinely concerned. Regardless, Max’s composition was solid and unwavering. 

“It’s a long story but essentially I’m taking care of him because his grandmother asked me to as she is….” Max’s eyes trail over to the wall, just to look away as he tried to shape the truth into something palatable, “....unable to right now. So, I stepped in to make sure Bart doesn’t end up behind in school.” 

“Ah. So I guess his mother or father were never in the picture, then. My bad for assuming.” 

Max waves a hand dismissively. “It’s not a worry.” As soon as he says that, Max stands up, folding his hands together and looking towards Mr.Sheridan expectantly. “So, is he all set?”

“I believe so!” Mr.Sheridan responds, standing up and rounding the corner of his desk to meet Max. He offers his hand and Max takes it, both men shaking hands for a moment before they let go. Mr.Sheridan smiles, and he leads Max out of the room. But as he opens the door, he hears a loud BANG, followed by Bart stumbling backwards and holding both hands to his now bonked forehead. Mr.Sheridan looks at Bart with brief concern, but Max hops to it because he can question anything. 

“What were you doing?” Max asks Bart, voice lined with slight suspicion. 

“N-nuhthin’.....” Bart rushes to answer, squeezing the straps of his backpack so hard his knuckles turned white. 

“Is your head okay? That door’s pretty dang heavy….” Mr.Sheridan passes by Max and inspects the little boy but Bart pulls away, not wanting to address it. 

“I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt.” Bart tells the man, cheeks tinting pink. 

“Alright then. If it starts to hurt though, you can let your teacher know and go to the Nurse for some ice, alright? It’s not a bother. Concussions are a real concern!” 

“Okay…” Bart replies timidly. 

“Anyway, as I was about to tell your Uncle, you’re a full-fledged student from this point on, congratulations!” Mr.Sheridan smiles warmly, clapping his hands together. 

“ Great. ” Bart shifts his weight from one leg to the other, not exactly thrilled about being indoctorred as an official student. He’s not meaning to be sarcastic by any means but with how dejected he sounds, both adults get a particular feeling from his response. 

“Are you nervous?” Mr.Sheridan focuses on Bart, seeming to want to ease any of his worries. 

“Um, maybe a little.” Bart is still looking down at his feet, not wanting to contribute much to the conversation. He kind of wished Mr.Sheridan would shut up so he could get this day over with but the man kept yapping and yapping away instead. Who cared how Bart felt? He didn’t want to be here to begin with, so clearly, his feelings were beside the point. 

Mr.Sheridan inches forward and lays a hand on Bart’s shoulder, to which Bart frowns, but it’s either unnoticed or ignored. 

“Don’t be. You’ll do great. Have a good day!” And with that, Mr.Sheridan waved both Max and Bart off, exiting and heading back into his office, the door closing rather loudly. Bart and Max exchange looks of confusion, before they get right to it. 

“He said your class is in Room 112.” Max tells him, resting on hand on his hip. 

“Oh, okay.” Bart huffs, frowning. “Room 112. I-Is that it? Am I just s’posed to go there now?” Bart tilts his head to the side. He could probably guess the answer to that question but he desperately hoped Max would surprise him with a ‘no’, and he’d be allowed to go back home to go see Iris or something. But Max nodded diligently, and the boy hung his head unhappily. 

“I’ll see you in a few hours. Just keep yourself together and you’ll be fine.” Max told him. Bart slowly nodded, but to be honest, he still didn’t feel confident about any of this. Whether he was ready or not, Max headed the opposite way towards the school’s exit which meant Bart had no other option now. So he made his way towards his homeroom, running one hand along the uneven surface of the walls, sighing as he did so. 

109…..110….111….112. 

Okay. Correct number at least. Bart turns the handle and opens the door, anticipating the worst.

“That’s surely a coincidence!” A woman spouts enthusiastically. Bart looks at her funny but she wraps around him and reaches behind him to close the door. When she’s done with that, she goes back to standing in the “front” of the room and it’s only now that Bart realizes as he turns his head that there’s 20  additional people in the room, just off to the side, watching this lady…. talk . How weird.

“I’m going to assume you’re the new student we just got?” The woman inquires, looking to Bart for an answer. 

Bart waits, processing it all before he shyly nods, too busy taking in the environment to really pay attention to the woman herself. The room isn’t too remarkable by any means. Kind of boring. There’s a bunch of posters with colorful phrases and weird imagery Bart can’t really recall. There’s rows and rows of desks with some kids, presumably around his age filling the seats, some writing something down, some whispering to their friends, other’s attentive to what the teacher was doing. There was one seat unoccupied though. Right next to the empty seat was a girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Bart focuses on her for just a few seconds and she notices, her expression morphing from one of curiosity to one of genuine friendliness, the girl smiling at him. Bart is stumped, fixated on this girl, until the teacher brings him out of his funk. Who was that? Why’d she smile like that…? 

“You there?” The teacher reprises, bringing Bart’s attention back to the fact he was standing in the front just staring at everyone oddly. 

“Y-yeah.” Bart finally speaks, face flushed, sinking a bit in his spot. 

“As I was saying , you’re the new addition to our class.” The teacher smiles, trying to refocus Bart on this instead of his wandering attention span. “Would you like to introduce yourself? It doesn’t have to be anything long or fancy, just…..your name, where you’re originally from and oh - perhaps a fun fact?” The teacher is pleasant enough but Bart just feels overwhelmed. Even though he wants to sit down and mind his own business, the teacher gives him a light pull by his shoulders until he’s standing dead center in front of the class. Most of the kids look at him attentively. And holy shit , there’s so many eyes on him. Why were they staring at him like that? Why was it so nerve-wracking? When did it get so hot in here? 

“Um-” Bart stammers, knees buckling a little under himself. He grips the straps of his backpack for dear life, eyes dilating and dancing around the room trying to process so many faces at once. Each face with two eyes and a brain that probably already has a preconceived notion on him. What were they thinking? Was he blowing it already? 

“Go on.” The teacher says in an attempt to encourage him. 

“Um….I….m-my name is….” Bart tries to focus on the one girl. The blonde. She looks at him curiously, exchanging a concerned gaze with the boy. Bart notices something different though. He focuses in on her lips, and if he’s reading her correctly, she’s mouthing “You can do it!”. Over and over again. Bart takes a deep breath, trying to ground himself, and with that girl as a grounding mechanism, he manages to get through it. “I’m Bart…Allen. From um, K-Keystone City? I think. And uh, I live with M- I mean, my Uncle Max. I uh…..” Bart gulps back the last bit of hesitation, “I….like the Flash?” 

“It’s good to meet you, Bart. You can go take a seat right over there.” The teacher tells him, pointing to the empty desk right next to the blonde. “Anyway, we were just starting our new unit on multiplying fractions. It might take a little time to catch you up but I’m sure we can…..” 

The teacher continues to speak but Bart tunes her out and sluggishly goes over to sit near the blonde. She watches him sit down and doesn’t look away once, smiling the entire time. As the teacher drones on and begins doing math on the chalkboard, the blonde makes a “ psst ” noise to grab Bart’s attention. It takes a few times for her to actually get him to look at her but when he does, she smiles and giggles a little. Bart blushes, unsure how to react. 

“You looked really nervous introducing yourself.” She whispered to him, fiddling with her mechanical pencil as she did so. 

“I was. I’m still….getting used to things.” Bart whispers back, sinking in his seat a little. 

“It’s okay. I know what it’s like to be new. It can be tough. But I’m sure you’ll pull through.” She tells him.

“Thanks…” Bart can’t help but look back at her. It was hard to act bashful when she was so nice and not condescending. Her mood was easy to read. It was a nice change. 

“I’m Cissie, by the way.” 

“Cissie?” Bart quirks a brow. 

“I know,” the older girl sighs, rolling her eyes before shrugging her shoulders a bit, “It’s a weird name. My mom’s kinda strange.” 

“N-no, I….I like it!  Bart’s not my full name, it’s actually Bartholomew.” If there was any dwindling focus on his teacher it was completely gone by now, Bart having enthusiastically embraced this not so side side-conversation now. And as they continued to talk, he felt himself relaxing. It was getting easier to be here. 

“You live with your Uncle, right? That’s what you said?” Cissie props one elbow on her desk, leaning her cheek on her hand. “Did he name you?” 

“Max? No.” Bart scoffs, feeling the uneven surface of his desk-top, the woodgrain and all that, “I would have a really lame name if he named me. He’s a boring old man.” 

“Then it was your parents. But you don’t live with them?” She was perhaps being a bit nosey but Bart had such little interaction with kids his own age he wouldn’t have guessed that. 

“Um, no. Not anymore, anyway.” Bart dumps his backpack on the floor, repositioning himself until he leaned his head on his desk, craning his neck a weird way to be able to look at Cissie and sit like this. She giggled.

“You’re sittin’  kinda funny.” Cissie pointed to his weird posture, but the boy just shrugged half-heartedly. 

“What’s a mom like?” Bart’s focus is still on the older girl but his eyes bore into her in an almost empty manner, like he was zoning out again.

“Do you…not have one?” Cissie tilted her head to the side. 

“I mean I have one, yeah. But I don’t remember her, really. I remember grandma a lot better.” He sighed, peering down, “I was taken from my mom when I was really little. So it’s all kinda foggy there….”

“Well, when you think of your grandmother, what do you think of? That should give you a decent idea. Moms are…supposed to be like role models. You go to them for comfort and support.” Cissie gestures wildly with her hands as she speaks, golden hair spilling over her shoulder as she did so. “Or at least I’d assume so. My relationship with my mom is kinda complicated.”

“I think of….I think of warmth. And uh….pretty things. Like flowers. Bright colors.” He stared off into the distance, really picturing Iris and as he did so, he got more attuned with it, starting to smile, “A-and….a big hug after something scary. Someone to cling to when you’re scared.” 

“I think that’s a good start. Sounds like your grandma is practically your mom already. Why don’t you live with her then?” 

“I wish I could. But she said she couldn’t take care of me. ‘Something ‘bout….laying low. I don’t really get it. An’ I was really upset when she told me ‘cause now I had to move to this place an’ live with grumpy ol’ Max.” Any enthusiasm he had the moment prior faded and he went back to feeling rather dull, grumpy even. 

“Sometimes adults are weird like that. You think you get them but then they do the opposite of what they originally did.” Cissie sighs. She curled and uncurled a long lock of hair with her finger, gazing at her feet. “I feel you there, at least. Not understanding adults. I think it’s normal.”

The conversation fades out, Cissie and Bart exchanging a few looks as it did so but ultimately deciding not to continue. Well, Bart wanted to. He wanted to get to know her better. But before he could reignite the spark of conversation, a loud ring came from the right corner of the room. Bart was slightly startled by it. He managed to bite his tongue to prevent himself from yelping in surprise but he sat up erect in his seat, the venus hairs on his neck standing up too. Cissie giggled into her hand and she gestured her head towards the teacher. Bart tried to relax and looked that way like Cissie motioned him to. What was that thing…? 

“....and the answer would be 3 and 1/2 .” The teacher sighed, finishing writing something up on the board. She went to face the class again, putting the chalk down, and then wiping her chalk-covered hands onto her skirt. “We’ll finish up after lunch. I’ll see you guys later!” The woman’s voice was quickly drowned out by various indistinct conversations beginning in between the students. Bart looked this way and that way, trying to figure out what was going on as the other children started to pack up, putting on their backpacks and heading out the door towards the schoolyard. Cissie turned to see his confusion, and although she was curious why he was so confused, she decided to help him out instead of drawing attention to it.

“Hey.” Cissie hopped off her seat, fastened her backpack onto her back and walked a little until she was right by Bart, placing her hands on his desk. He looked towards her, still puzzled. “Don’t’cha want lunch? I think it’s Mac n’ Cheese today. My mom usually packs something boring. I’ll probably just throw it out and get a school lunch.” 

“Lunch? Oh. Is that where everyone’s going?” Bart asked her. He sat in his seat but soon realized he should get up. So he did. He fidgeted with the straps of his backpack as he awaited Cissie’s response. 

“Yeah. Come with me. I can show you around!” Cissie grinned. The older girl grabbed Bart’s hand in a quick motion. A motion so quick and confident he was shaken up by it. And he didn’t have time to piece together where they were going first as Cissie started out the door, dragging him along in the process. Bart just let her lead the way. A faint blush arose on his cheeks and around his nose. 

He trusted her.