Writing on the Walls

“As of the last time I checked, yep.”

You let out a perplexed breath before grabbing your tablet, checking the air content of the lab just in case a gas canister was leaking.

Just as you saw that nothing out of the ordinary, a hand snatched the pad from you, setting it off to the side.

“Hey!”

Allegra scoffed, “I thought I taught you better than to ignore your own family to be on a gadget. It’s bad enough that your dad was always messing with something, Chuck rubbed off on you.”

You rolled your eyes, you loved your mom but you found her whole ‘no electronics during family time’ rule a bit annoying most times. 

“You’re not real,” you insisted, rubbing your head.

“Does it matter?” she rebutted, “I’m here, aren’t I?”

Crossing your arms, you were growing tired of this insanity and wanted to solve this whole ‘ghost of Christmas past’ situation so you could continue fixing the suit.

“Why are you here, mom?”

Allegra shrugged, “It’s your mind. You tell me.”

You gestured to the circuit board, “Do you know how to fix this? How would dad do it?”

She chuckled before leaning against the table and rhetorically asking, “Is that really what you think this is about? Your mind conjured me up to help you with a science project?”

You threw your hands up in the air, “I don’t know! It would sure help if that’s why you’re here!”

“Fair enough, but wrong,” Allegra hummed. “First, take a step back, walk through your process here. I’ve listened to your dad ramble enough about his projects that I’ve learned a few things.

You sighed, running your hands over your face, “I’m trying to upgrade Bart’s suit to allow him to harness potential energy more efficiently. It’s not really important… but I just thought it’d be cool.”

Your mother let out a small laugh, “Well of course you do. That’s why most of the science stuff in our family starts.”

You smiled, knowing all too well that your dad’s favorite undertakings were the ones that didn’t serve a distinguishable purpose.

Sighing to yourself, you idly fiddled with a screwdriver, trying to find an answer to your problem.

You groaned, “Ugh, if dad was here this would have already been done, along with a million other things.”

“Ohhh,” Allegra hummed, “So that’s what this is about. You want to be like your father.”

Shrugging, you clarified, “Well, not exactly like him, he definitely had his flaws. But it would sure help if I had more of his smarts.”

“Nope, you just inherited mine.”

“Sorry, that’s not what I meant.”

Allegra lightly laughed, placing her hand comfortingly on your shoulder, “Hey, your dad was so great at what he did because he did it in a way only he could. He made his own solutions and what worked for him probably wouldn’t work for anyone else.”

Furrowing your eyebrows at her words, it sparked an idea.

“Oh my god, that’s why this isn’t working! Harnessing energy is more physiological, not mechanical! I need to be dealing with chemistry!”

From behind you, Allegra warmly smiled at your realization, proud at how you were able to come to a conclusion with just a little push. Just like Chester.

After patting you on the shoulder, Allegra stepped back with one last piece of advice, “Create your own path.”

Turning around to thank her, your shoulders dropped when you were faced with nothing more than an empty room. You only looked around for a couple seconds before everything went dark.

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Feeling a nudge on your arm, you groggily opened your eyes to see the worried expressions of Bart and Nora, staring you down.

“Thank god you're awake, I haven’t ever used lightning as a defibrillator before,” Bart sighed in relief.

Nora humorously rolled her eyes, “Don’t worry, I would never let him try that on you.”

Yawning, you rubbed your tingly hand, “What happened?”

“It looks like your project here short-circuited and made you take a little nap.”

“Maybe you got powers,” Bart joked, examining the piece of machinery.

Turning your head to look around the lab, you knew your mom was all in your head. But you couldn’t help but wish she was there again.

Placing her hand on your shoulder Nora tilted her head, “Hey, are you okay?”

Looking back at the two people who had become your family. You smiled at them both, thankful for their presence in your life since the beginning.

Sure, you wouldn’t ever be exactly like your father, but maybe that was okay. Because you were a mixture of your wonderful mom, and brilliant dad. And that combination resulted in one, unique person- you.

“Yeah,” you nodded, “I’m great.”

If you hadn’t been so focused on not having a heart attack, you would have noticed the small smile on his face before he quickly neutralized his expression once more.

“But I guess that would make it harder to hide in the shadows and such vigilante-ing,” you joked.

Glancing at him to find any remnant of humor, you only saw his blank face. But then again, you weren’t skilled enough to notice any microexpressions which would give away his true feelings.

So with your shortcomings in mind, you mentally decided that your joke was hilarious, and he was definitely laughing on the inside… probably.

Moving on, you gestured to the pot simmering on the stove, “I made dinner… if you guys do that kind of stuff.”

Moving to put the noodles into the sauce and meatballs, you glanced at him, his silence making you add, “Or are carbs not in your meal plan?”

At that, he cracked a slight smile, and he was not able to hide it before you noticed.

“Ahhh,” you pointed at him, “I saw that! You are capable of joy!”

Lifting his hand up to turn off his voice modulator, he spoke, “Thank you.”

At his pure, unfiltered voice, you stumbled, the spaghetti noodles falling into the pot causing the hot, tomato sauce to splash up onto you.

You hissed in pain at the mild burn, causing the vigliante to jump up at your distress and come to your aid.

Turning on the faucet to wet a towel, he placed it over the burn while you shuffled to take off your now-stained shirt. He was attempting to press the cold cloth to your chest, but before you realized what you were doing, you had rid yourself of your top and now stood before him in nothing but a bra that cut awfully low.

Upon you baring yourself, he immediately stopped his motions, but you didn’t even notice his frozen figure as you took the towel from him and placed it on yourself to cool the burn.

Once you were no longer preoccupied with the consequences of your falter, you looked up to see the Star City vigilante looking at your head, to ensure you were alright without staring at your disrobed area.

Suddenly feeling a wave of heat that you couldn’t blame on the now-cooled burn, your eyes widened as you realized the situation you put yourself in. 

Clutching the stained shirt up to cover your chest, you muttered, “Um, I’m just going to go change. Help yourself to the spaghetti that wasn’t spilled all over me, it should be finished by now.”

You didn’t stick around to see his silent acknowledgement of your words before you bolted to your bedroom, quietly slamming the door to not wake your sleeping guests.

Leaning against the wall, you rested your head against it while clenching your eyes shut in an attempt to erase the past five minutes from your mind– and hopefully his too.

You softly banged your head against the wall in frustration and tried not to think about how he was looking at you. After a moment of regret and self-hatred, you pulled yourself together and grabbed a new shirt.

Walking out of your room, you erased any residual embarrassment off of your face, and instead decided to pretend like nothing ever happened. Plus, you couldn’t be the first girl he’s seen shirtless, not that you wanted to think about any other women he may have observed in that situation.

While you were gone, the rest of his team had woken up and all three heroes were sitting around your dining table with plates full of spaghetti and garlic bread.

“Hope you don’t mind, but we got a little hungry,” Arsenal muttered in between bites of food.

Spartan was twirling pasta around his fork when he commented, “I took the bread out of the oven, it looked about ready.”

Glancing over to your stovetop, you saw the garlic bread you put in earlier cooling, a nice golden-brown color.

You falteringly nodded, not adjusted to the reality of you having three vigilantes in your apartment, casually eating dinner. Well, all but one, that is.

“Not hungry?” you asked the man in green who was sitting at the table, but opted out of eating.

Instead of answering, or possibly admitting that he didn’t trust you enough to eat your food, the Green Arrow ignored the question and instead asked his own, “Are you okay?”

You raised your eyebrows at his not-so-smooth attempt to redirect your attention. Although he obviously dodged your inquiry, you still answered, “Good, thank you. The cold towel really helped.”

Despite his generally unemotional and stiff frame, you were able to see him give a slight nod at your words. And you smiled at him caring about your well being, even though he didn’t show it.

Spartan and Arsenal didn’t seem to think anything of you and the Emerald Archer’s conversation, instead being immersed in their own. And as words faded out between you and the experienced hero, you both listened to the two chat about past missions.

Although you weren’t verbally talking to the vigilante, you were both sharing glances, making sure not to be caught by the other. You wouldn’t dare openly stare at the hero, but you were far too comfortable stealing brief looks when he wasn’t watching.

But little did you know, he was doing the same.

The rest of the dinner didn’t consist of many words from you or the green-hooded hero, but the one thing on both your minds was that it would not be the last time you cooked. But maybe next time, you would get some help.

Still, you knew better than to think that everything was your fault. Because before the fights, before the silence, and before their mutual avoidance, Iris had been doing the exact same thing Barry was doing after the split.

Clandestine meetings with the Assistant District Attorney under the guise of interviews. But Barry was smarter than she gave him credit for, and it didn’t take him long to figure out what his wife and the City’s ADA were actually doing behind closed doors.

Then soon enough, he confronted her about it, and they were able to air out everything in the form of sarcastic words and petty remarks. But neither one of them wanted to formally pull the plug.

Instead, Iris continued to see her secret lover, and Barry started visiting you more often. Except this time, it was you and him who were meeting under false pretenses.

You both told yourselves that you were just comforting each other in a time of need, completely platonic, just as it had always been.

But in the back of your minds, you both knew that wasn’t true. You also knew that your relationship wouldn’t go anywhere if you built it on the collapsing foundation that was the West-Allen marriage.

So you both shoved your feelings underneath all the other emotions circling through the air, knowing that at the end of the day, you both had each other. And neither of you were willing to risk that by acting on a childish crush at the wrong time.

Despite everything, you didn’t hate Iris, and she didn’t hate you. Sure, you were jealous of each other, you of her husband and her of your freedom, but you knew that everything happening was a direct result of both of your actions.

And while you both couldn’t claim to be particularly morally righteous after this, you still respected each other.

Accidentally locking eyes with Barry, you felt your face heat up as you quickly turned your head away, however you could still feel his lingering stare on you.

Instead of giving into the pull that was drawing you towards the man your heart secretly belonged to, you focused on Caitlin and her theories about whatever newest medical advancement that she heard about, willing yourself into holding out a little longer.

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Later into the evening as the moon overcame the sun and guests began to dwindle, it was only you, Barry, and Iris left at Joe’s house. Him, Cecile and Jenna having previously left to go on vacation.

Needless to say, the air was stale, and the only sound to be heard was feet shuffling across the hardwood floors, cleaning the house so the West-Horton family didn’t have to once they returned.

You had stayed to help Barry, and you both assumed that Iris would have been one of the first to leave the party to meet her not-so-secret lover. But much to you and the scarlet speedster’s surprise, she had stayed to help, surely having an underlying purpose.

In no time at all, the house returned to its previous state, no signs of drink spills or dirty plates. And silence quickly filled the room, which was admittedly worse than the comfortable sound of feet hitting the floor.

You all found yourselves at the dining table, you and Barry across from Iris, it being an excellent analogy to the emotional alliances you took in the fight.

Just as Iris opened her mouth to break the silence and reveal why she actually stayed with her husband, a portal opened with a bright light emerging from it.

From the light came two women, one you recognized as future Nora, which you had met last year. But the other was a stranger, though you took notice of her jawline and facial structure that you couldn’t help but find similar to Barry’s.

“Mom,” Nora breathed, seeming relieved for some reason.

“Nora?” Iris asked, “What are you doing here?”

Knowing that his daughter wouldn’t time travel unless she needed help, Barry added, “What’s wrong?”

You remained silent throughout the exchange, instead eying the woman accompanying the future speedster. But when your eyes landed on hers, you found that she was already looking at you.

“Nothing, hopefully,” Nora assured, only confusing you all more as she addressed Iris, “I just wanted to check in.”

Barry looked skeptical, but before he made any inquiries of his own, Iris beat him to it.

“Who are you?” the reporter asked, looking at the mystery woman.

Despite expecting the question, the brunette next to Nora stammered while looking at you, which made Barry subconsciously take a protective step forward.

“You-You’re my mom,” she admitted, making you gape and Barry looked at you with a questioning face.

“And he’s my-”

“Barry’s your dad,” you breathed, connecting the dots on why she looked like a perfect mixture of the two of you.

The girl nodded, confirming your statement.

Nora introduced her, “Dawn, my half-sister.”

“Barry and I divorce,” Iris stated, more as fact than a question. With Nora and Dawn both nodding, confirming her words.

Looking at his wife with a sad smile, he broke his silence, “When?”

“Tonight,” Iris answered, “That’s what I wanted to tell you.”

“But the legal proceedings finish two months from now,” Nora explained.

A silence engulfs the room, not awkward, but awaiting. Waiting for someone to make the first move, to start the chain of events that you all knew were coming but never had the nerve to actually set off.

“Is… Is there anything else we should know?” Barry hesitantly asked, already overwhelmed with the night’s information but always wanting to be prepared.

He subconsciously took his hand in yours, something he had recently started doing now that his wife emotionally belonged to another man and he was free to express himself with you as he pleased.

Nora and Dawn simultaneously shook their heads while the elder sister spoke, “No, we just had to make sure it happened. There were some shifts in time and if this didn’t happen… well, Dawn wouldn’t exist.”

“Should we be worried about these ‘shifts’?” Iris asked, with you and Barry thinking the same thing.

“Nope, the Legends have it handled for the most part. We just offered to help them keep this particular event from changing.”

Barry smiled at his daughters with pride, knowing that the future would be in great hands.

Glancing down at her watch, Dawn’s eyes widened, “Uh, Nora, we need to go. We only have a minute left.”

“Frack!” Nora exclaimed, “We set a timer to make sure we didn’t stay in the past too long and mess things up even more. But it looks like we’re almost out of time.”

Coming towards you, Dawn engulfed you in a hug, her embrace expressing all of the words she didn’t get to say, all the questions you didn’t have the time to ask.

“I love you, mom,” she muttered into your ear.

And you tried to hold back your bittersweet tears as you whispered, “I’ll see you soon.”

Quickly hugging each of you, Nora and Dawn said their goodbyes before returning to the future in a flash of light.

Their sudden exit left the three of you standing in the living room, exchanging glances, not quite sure what to do next.

Turning towards you, Barry reluctantly let go of your hand while asking, “Could Iris and I please have a moment?”

“Of course,” you nodded, “I’ll be outside.” 

You softly smiled at Iris, hoping that you both would be able to remain civil despite the new information about what will happen.

Walking out on the patio, you looked up to the sky, admiring the stars. That night, they were even more beautiful with the knowledge that your daughter would be looking at the very same ones.

You thought about how you and Barry’s relationship would change. The biggest difference being that now, you could actually have a relationship with him instead of stolen glances from across the room and endless sleepovers.

Sure, there was a part of you that would mourn the loss of West-Allen, their relationship having been the golden standard for so long. But nothing is forever, especially not something that makes two people as miserable as they had been.

Smiling to yourself, you imagined Dawn’s brunette hair, the same shade as Barry’s and her eye shape similar to yours. Knowing the life in store for you and Barry, you knew that things were working out for the better.

Caught up in your head, you didn’t notice the door open and slightly jumped at Barry’s sudden presence next to you.

“Deep in thought?” he questioned, a signature warm smile on his face.

You chuckled, “Just thinking about everything that’s happened.”

Barry nodded, “I get that, Iris and I had a lot to discuss.”

You hummed at him, not wanting to pry, but curious about what the couple decided.

“We’re getting a divorce, and we’re pretty much in agreement about everything so it will likely just take the two months that Nora said.”

You simply nodded, not thinking it appropriate to smile or congratulate him. Despite knowing that he doesn’t romantically love Iris anymore, you knew that a childhood love like they had would always remain in some capacity.

Wrapping his arm around your waist, Barry gave you a quick peck on the cheek before pulling away and beaming, “I have been waiting a long time to be able to do that in public.”

You laughed, “Well, we’ll get plenty of opportunities to do it more once everything is official.”

Barry’s smile remained, “I can’t wait.”

Chuckling at the man you’ll soon be able to call your boyfriend and possibly even your husband, you rested your head on his chest as you had done many times before. But the new meaning behind his touch made it feel different.

Running his hand through your hair, Barry smiled, “Let’s go home.”

You fondly looked up at him. Sure, your relationship wasn’t ideal, some would even call you a mistress or home-wrecker. But all that truly mattered was that you and him knew what you felt. And the truth was that what you both shared was real, and stronger than anything either of you had ever experienced before.

You comfortably sighed in his arms, “I would love that.”