#plot change

Barry gently lifted his head from his pillow, far enough to look at the ring that glistened on his left finger. Then he looked towards Cadence, who’s own finger was bare, save for the lightning bolt tattooed in its place. Nevertheless, as his wife lay on her stomach arm stretched across him, he could see the glimmer of the necklace around her neck, holding her ring.

Had it really been that long ago? He remembered it as clear as day, as if it were yesterday, as if nothing with DeVoe and his stint in prison had ever happened.

Inside the church, Barry paced, running his hands over his hair, muttering to himself. Just pre-wedding nerves. Jitters. Something that hadn’t struck him until the last five minutes. Everything needed to go perfectly. He needed to have good memories of something. Anything other than his being kicked from the CCPD and…DeVoe…and Demon…and…

“Sparkling water?”

“Excuse me?” Startled, Barry faced the waitress who stood behind him, holding a tray. She seemed to appear out of nowhere. Barry looked around, noticing the other guests all were holding onto glasses from her dwindling tray. “Oh, uh…” He hesitated. If food went through him that fast, a fact Diggle consistently wondered about, drinking too much wasn’t going to help before he got to the front of the church, either.

But he couldn’t get drunk, so that wasn’t much of an issue.

“I thought you might be a little parched,” The young woman said. She pushed her tray towards him, keeping a firm control of the pale liquid that sloshed around. “Jitters. Big day and all.” She gestured with her tray. “You’re getting married.”

“I am,” Barry agreed. He stepped back, eyeing her closely.

The young woman beamed. “Today.”

“Yes, I am. Today.”

The young woman continued to smile up at him. Her eyes sparkled, almost as if it couldn’t contain the mischief within her. Or she was laughing about something someone had told her before. Barry’s eyebrows came together. The young woman jumped at the change in his expression and offered the tray once more. “So, uh sparkling water?”

“No, uh, I’m good.” Barry waved her off. He quickly added a, “Thank you,” noticing her face fall.

Instead of going on to the next guest, the young woman continued to speak rapidly. Almost rambling. “Okay. So, uh, I’m really excited to be here. I mean, at a wedding. A-any wedding, it just so happens to be your wedding. But I’m happy. To be here. Today.”

Barry smiled a little. The energy and friendliness she exuded was unable to be ignored. She was already starting to make his nerves recede. “You…love weddings?” He guessed.

“I really do.” The young woman looked around. “I mean, this looks to be a little expensive for something of your guys’ taste. Not quite something I would’ve chosen for you. But, it’s still beautiful.” She chewed her lower lip, her smile growing wider. “I’m sure you’ll all enjoy it. You know, the whole wedding deal. Wedding day, wedding night…everything that comes with it.”

Barry could feel himself starting to blush, unsure if she realized the double entendre she managed to put into her words. “That’s cool,” was all he could manage to say, hoping no one around had the ability to read his mind.

The young woman blinked rapidly. “Not that I’m a weirdo or anything. I’m coming off weird, aren’t I?” She tapped herself on the forehead, as if reproaching herself. She sucked in a deep breath, shoulders slumping. Curling her fingers around the end of the tray she admitted, “I just love weddings. Some people call me a nerd for it.”

Her comment made Barry laugh. “Well, coming from the biggest nerd on the planet.” He gestured to himself. “I think it’s cool.”

“Thanks.” She smiled widely, obviously relieved. “I just…I don’t know. I feel like this is going to be one for the ages. I’m really glad I got to see it.”

Barry got a good look at her face. Something about her seemed to familiar. So much so, it was practically radiating off her. She looked to be an asian woman; no, he decided after a moment, biracial. Very youthful with hazel eyes that looked bluish towards the center. Her smile was wide, a mixture of what appeared to be shy and outgoing. She stood a bit shorter than him, about 5’6” if he had to guess. Hair hung low, past her shoulders in long waves.

“I…I’m sorry…” Barry tilted his head. Continued to watch her. Couldn’t shake the feeling. “Have we met before?”

“No!” The young woman jumped backwards. The sparkling water she carried threatened to slosh over. Both reached for it, but the woman expertly moved her hands and followed the momentum of the tray to keep it up. “No, I’m a complete and total stranger. So! Good luck up there.” She grasped his wrist, holding him firmly. Barry glanced down, feeling a tingling sensation run up his wrist. “Remember to say ‘’I do’.”

Despite his confusion, Barry managed to grin. “Have you been talking to Brady?” How many times had he been buzzing around him, pestering him to be sure he knew what he’d say for his vows?

“Not recently.” Once again, the young woman looked startled. Nervous. She dropped her hand from Barry’s wrist and took a large step back. “I’m sorry. I have to go.” She turned on her heel and headed to the nearest guest she could find.

If Barry were more naturally suspicious, he would’ve said something then. Asked her more questions, let him know he was onto her. Onto her about what? He wasn’t sure of at the time. But now…to know what she’d done? To know how many lives she’d put in danger? To know what she’d done to the timeline. Or what was left of it? How did he know he wouldn’t wake up that day and Brady was no longer a boy but suddenly twin boys? Or that he’d married Caitlin instead of Cadence and he hadn’t just finished some sort of an illustrious affair?

At the thought, Barry shook his head, sitting up. He raised his knees, prompting Cadence’s hand to drop from his lap, and he pressed his face into his hands. His cheeks were warm to the touch. He’d hoped he wasn’t getting sick from stress.

He replayed the conversation from before. How she, Alexis, his daughter, barged through the front door at baby Jenna’s party and explained herself, speaking rapidly and enthusiastically to Barry’s question of, “Who are you?”

Alexis smiled awkwardly at her father, placing her hand on her chest. She took in a deep breath to steady herself and said, “My name is Alexis. And I’m your daughter…” she looked to Cadence. “From the future.”

Brady nearly choked on his drink. He sputtered, turning to the side to spit a mouthful of soda to the wooden floor. Joe and Cecil were too stunned to reprimand him for damaging their floor. Brady sputtered, coughing before he finally managed to squeak, voice cracking, spitting it out and coughing hard. “You’re what?” He demanded, glancing at his mother, whose expression rivaled that of his step-father’s.  

“Okay, uh...” Alexis ran her hands through her hair. She closed her eyes, collecting herself.

Barry took the moment to looked toward Cadence, who looked back at him eyebrows lowered, lips pressed hard together. She was angry, he could tell. Not enough for smoke to come from her ears, but angry. Barry blinked in surprise. There were many things to be in the situation; shocked, confused, curious, but not angry. She took her eyes from her husband when Alexis continued.

“Let me explain.” Alexis searched the sea of confused faces, looking for a friendly face. When she found none, she cleared her throat, wringing her fingers together. “I’m Alexis Nash-Allen and I’m the fastest woman alive. Where I’m from, 30 years from now, I’m the guardian of Central City. I’m a speedster.” She smiled at Barry, a smile filled with pride. “Just like my dad. People call me Overdrive.” She then paused and shrugged. “Or Flash Fire.”

At that, Cadence raised an eyebrow. Barry looked to her again. This time she was less angry and more curious. No, Barry understood now. She was watching Alexis closely, trying to determine whether she was telling the truth. He could see his wife’s eyes gently and subtly flicker back and forth over Alexis’s face hoping to find anything that’d prove her to be untrustworthy.

Alexis seemed not to notice as she continued. “Every day, I hope to live up to the legacy of the Flash.” She shrugged once more. “But I’ve still got a long way to go.” Silence punctuated the end of her speech. She looked at the sea of faces once more, smiling, giggling nervously.

Finally, Barry broke the silence. “You’re our daughter?”

“From the future?” Cadence asked to make sure.

“Named Alexis?” Barry continued.

Alexis smiled and nodded.

“Does anybody need a refill?” Cisco’s sudden and loud question broke the stunned silence that followed her admission. He jumped when all eyes turned to glare at him. “Just me?” He squeaked. “No one else?” He practically melted into the couch as he slouched. “A-are you sure? Okay, just me then.” He got up from the couch and headed towards the refreshments. He paused, glanced at Alexis, and grabbed a bottle of champagne, pressing it against his lips to take on a large, gulping swallow.

Alexis, on the other hand, continued to grin around the room. “Cisco Ramon,” she gushed. “Always cutting the tension with a well-timed joke.”

Caitlin finally came from her deep freeze as she listened to the future speedster. “You know our names?” She asked, voice soft with confusion.

“Of course!” Alexis replied. “I know all of you!” She gestured toward Caitlin and Ralph. “Caitlin Snow, my mom’s best friend. Ralph Dibny, my dad’s annoyance.” Ralph turned to Barry with a look that read ‘Really, Rookie?’ while Barry simply opened and closed his mouth like a gaping fish. Alex motioned to Joe and Cecile. “Papa Joe, Mama Cecile, Little Auntie Jenna, Uncle Wally, Aunt Iris, and of course.” She beamed at Brady. “My big brother, Brady!”

Brady paled, looking like he was about to pass out. He turned to Cadence, who looked back at him, their faces screwed up in identical expressions of confusion. He turned back to his future sister, looking at her suspiciously.

“And your nickname is…Overdrive?” Wally asked. His voice sounded curious, but hesitant. Almost as if he were trying to test her name roll off the tip of his tongue.

“Uh, not really.” Alexis waved a finger in the air. “I mean, it is. Sort of. Overdrive is what some of the people of Central City call me. But some others call me Flash Fire…after my mom,” Alexis said, casting Cadence a look out the side of her eye. “Because I’m also a fire meta.”

Caitlin’s head jutted forward at the casual comment. “I’m sorry, what? A what?”

Barry lifted his hand to cover his mouth, then let out a sharp breath, running a hand through his hair. A speedster and a fire meta. A meta-hybrid. The first they’d ever come across. Just as Brady was the first half-meta any of them knew about.

Alexis ignored Caitlin and continued. “And, well, Overdrive makes sense. It’s sort of a nickname you guys gave me. Because, I always move so fast. I always move in overdrive. I’ve always been like that, overdoing things, getting in over my head.” She twisted her mouth to the side, kicking at the floor. “Like, recently. Like, when I helped you break, the STAR Labs satellite last night.” Barry’s eyebrows as his eyes widened. “I just couldn’t help myself from getting involved. But something happened when I did, because I can’t seem to go fast enough to open the speed force.”

Ralph loudly, made a disgusting sound that, maybe, could’ve sounded like someone clearing their throat. Jenna whimpered, her face scrunching up as Cecile quickly started to bounce her. Hoping to soother her cries. “Are we talking about actual time travel here?”

Iris groaned, tilting her head back. “Do you not ever pay attention to our briefings?” She demanded. “Even once? Even a little bit?”

“Wait a minute,” Wally interrupted. “You didn’t teach him about the Legends?”

“No one said anything about time travel,” Ralph pointed out.

At that, everyone started to speak at once, their voices rising over each other’s as they tried to get answers from each other and simultaneously ask questions. All the while, Alexis stood off to the side, smiling awkwardly, intermittently waving her hand and trying to raise her voice over the din that broke out.

It wasn’t until Jenna started to cry that everyone started to calm down. Cecile quickly leapt to her feet and left the room, bouncing Jenna up and down in her arms, cooing quietly as she went.

Alexis clenched her teeth as she grimaced. She waved her hands. ‘I’m sorry, I know how bizarre this must seem meeting your daughter from the future as an adult.” She turned back and forth from her parents to her brother as she spoke rapid-fire. “It wasn’t my plan at all. But I’m kind of stuck here now, and you’re the only ones who can help me so…maybe you know what to do?”

If we knew what to do, we wouldn’t be in this mess, Barry thought. Every time I’ve ever time traveled, I’ve never been stuck there.

“You’re forgetting about Flashpoint.”

If it were any time before, Barry would’ve been startled by Cadence suddenly speaking, voice soft with sleep. But since their powers merged, they’d seemed to read each other’s mind. Not to say it was an actual ability they had, but the hard work that’d paid off after having had to learn how to work together again once Barry’d come back from the Speed Force. A quick look in the heat of battle conveyed a game plan that they’d follow to the T. They didn’t have to look at each other before flinging themselves off a roof or into a dangerous situation knowing the other would be there in that split second of free fall.

They were a unified front, and in that moment, as Cadence turned and rested her chin on her cheekbone, pressing her elbow into her pillow, he truly felt it. He didn’t have to say anything about Flashpoint out loud, didn’t have to mention any of his thoughts about Alexis and the future, and yet she knew everything he was thinking.

“Flashpoint’s the only time you’ve ever been stuck somewhere,” Cadence reminded him. “Future or past.”

“That was by choice,” Barry reminded her. He took in a deep breath. “I decided to stay. Where things were…” he trailed off, thinking of the best way to explain himself. “Different,” he finally decided. Different, because, both of his parents were alive. He had the life he wanted. And, all the same, it was one of the worst lives he could ever had. His friends weren’t his friends, the love of his life didn’t know he existed, his powers were starting to fail. And the only way he’d gotten back was from trusting the person the hated the most in the world.

“Right,” Cadence agreed. Barry’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Cadence let out a quiet sigh through her nose. She looked away for a moment. “I’m just saying it sounds weird.”

“What does?”

“All of it?” Cadence shrugged. “That she’s our daughter, that she’s from the future, that she’s stuck here. It all doesn’t make sense.”

Barry’s eyebrows furrowed even further. He looked her in the eye, searching for an explanation. She looked back at him. Silently prompting him it was his turn to speak his mind. He parted his lips, hesitated. Then rubbed at his eye. “Time travel is a tricky thing. Messing with the timeline…it can have some of the weirdest effects any of us, let alone a speedster, could imagine.”

At that, Cadence lifted an eyebrow. She slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, studying her husband. Almost in disbelief. “You believe that she’s stuck here?” Now it was Barry’s turn to shrug as he repeated, “Time travel is trick.” Cadence conceded that point, “Time travel is tricky, it’s dangerous, it affects a lot of things, but no one’s ever gotten stuck anywhere. Other than Eobard Thawne and the only reason he got stuck here was because his Tachyon device made it so he lost his connection to the Speed Force and it kept him stuck here. Alexis doesn’t seem to have that problem at all.”

“We don’t know that.”

“But it’s convenient, don’t you think?” Cadence insisted. “And you’re already saying she’s our daughter?”

“Did you see her? Yellow lightning like mine, a fire trail like yours? It’s definitely her.”

“But?”