Chapter Text
Frank Wilson pulls Darryl close into a tight bear hug, as the minivan crashes into a swirling, shining, mirror-like portal. The impact passes through his body in waves, a strange sensation of ice cracking and the feeling of a cold, raw egg being cracked over his head and seeping down his back, before the deafening noise of silver glass shattering rings loudly in his ears, before everything goes dark. The last thing Frank sees is his young, five year old son, eyes squeezed shut, as the two brace for impact.
Bill Close throws an arm out over his son’s chest and grabs the seat with his other. His long black hair flies in front of his face as he braces for impact. The seat belt digs tightly into skin and his four year old Glenn cries out in alarm as the minivan hits the portal. The sound of shattering glass rings loudly in his ears as he turns his head to see Glenn with tears streaming down his tiny face, nose scrunched up and eyes shut tight in terror. The last thought that crosses his mind is that he hopes his son will survive as everything goes black.
Willy Stampler grunts, his child Ron crying in the background. His fingers find the handle on the ceiling of the car, squeezing it tightly as the car careens down into a silver vortex. Beside him, he barely registers a half-choked scream from his four year old son, the kid’s arms like twigs. One flees to the seat in front of him, the other, wrapping around the mutt of a dog that is Rogue. Idiot, he wants to scold him. If he breaks his arm doing that, maybe it’ll teach him a lesson. His left hand clenches against his knee. If they survive this, he’s going to kick Frank so hard he won’t even be able to imagine having another child. Ahead, the glass shatters, the children scream, the adults brace themselves, and Willy’s eyes slam shut as the silver sheen envelops him completely.
Barry Oak grabs his son Henry and makes an inhuman leap away from the mirror as something comes through the portal . A humongous metal beast on wheels, the front slightly crumpled, a car . Barry nearly squeals with excitement, a car! Just like the ones his mother describes in her journals! The portal to the Earth Realm worked! He deflates slightly. It worked all right, just not the direction he wanted. His victory is short lived as his five year old son gasps and tugs on his robes, pointing at the- oh no . Barry’s smile falls as he takes in the forms of people in the car. He quietly hisses a curse under his breath and corrects himself just as quickly. He cannot let his anger get the best of him, he’s an Oak, one of the oldest elven lineages in the entire Realms, he must be perfect . His son gazes worriedly up at his father with big, round, blue eyes, and the painfully round ears that were so different from his pointed ones. Barry sighs and takes in the damage. He should probably check that they’re alive, huh?
Frank wakes up to the sound of his son saying something to him. He groans and blearily blinks open his eyes. When did he pull over for a nap- oh shit . Frank shoots up and nearly crashes his head into his son’s as he comes to his senses, the memory of the car going through- a- a portal? They were on the way to the mall with the kids to give their wives a break from the kids- him and the other few local dads with four to five year olds from Daryll’s local playgroup, when, the road suddenly changed, in front of them, it became a silver wall of rippling material, then they crashed through it, sending a shockwave through the bones of each person in the car, and now- they’re here. Frank groans and checks on Daryll, his sweet, baby boy has tears running down his chubby, little cheeks that leave red, raw trails behind them. Frank checks that nothing has broken and quickly exits the now busted-up vehicle, Daryll clinging to his father as they get up.
The other fathers and sons from earth all mumble and groan as they carefully clamber out of the ruined car, Bill holding Glenn’s hand as the little boy sniffles his tears away, Willy climbs out on his own before reluctantly glancing back and lending a hand to his son. The dads begin to brush themselves off, check out their new surroundings, when they spot Barry. All four families freeze as they make eye contact. Barry brushes some dust off of his emerald green robes, clasps his hands together pleasantly and forces a strained, but warm smile on his face. “Hail and well met travellers!”, Barry cheerfully exclaims. Bill blinks slowly and rubs his eyes. “I didn’t blaze it in the car did I?”, he questions the other dads. Two mumbles of confirmation are his only answer. Barry’s smile falters as an awkward silence falls over the group.
Frank shakes his head as he realises that there were more children than just his in the car and whips his head around to check on them as his dad instincts scream at him. His eyes quickly scan over Bill’s kid's form, a small scratch but nothing too worrying to be found, then to Willy’s kid and oh- no . A shard of glass from the side window of the car has lodged itself into the young boy's stomach, causing a dark red stain to slowly grow on the boy’s dinosaur t-shirt. Frank gasps and pushes past Willy to grab onto the kid’s shoulder to inspect the wound and stop the boy from accidentally pushing the glass further in. It’s only now the boy realises he has been partially impaled and his little face pales significantly as his small beady eyes dart to Frank’s face, waiting to see rage at getting his t-shirt dirty, only to see a concerned yet determined expression on the man’s face, causing Ron to calm slightly.
“Oh my!”, gasps Barry as he sees the injuries on the traveller’s forms, “Oh dear, let me fix that up for you”, he worriedly exclaims as he waves his hand over the group, casting a mass heal spell over them. The group looks in awe as their wounds close themselves before their eyes, the glass falling to the floor and a rush of energy fills their veins. They look up at Barry in a mixture of suspicion and disbelief
and greed
. Frank slowly steps forward and stops before Barry with a determined look on his face. Barry nervously steps closer to the group. Frank smiles and offers his hand, “Frank Wilson, nice to meet you”.