[Video]

[kid_flash_found]

[A teenager with long, reddish hair and amber-colored eyes considers the camera, adjusting a few note-cards he made as he thought things through]

Hi, everyone. Wonderlanders or whatever you call yourselves, Obviously this is my first time doing this kind of thing. Hell, the last time I was talking to a camera, it was to record my own eulogy after I’d been shot.

In the knee, it wasn’t really that serious or anything. But that kind of thing does make you wonder. Maybe this is the place for that. Wondering.

[A small, awkward chuckle.]

I’m just hoping someone out there sees this, and can lend the poor noob a hand. Because, prison or nexus dimension or whatever, this place sure seems strange, even by my standards. And, um, yeah, I spent my childhood in a VR chamber because I wasn’t able to interact with the rest of the world very well.

Oh, oops, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Bart. Bart Allen. It’s short for Bartholomew, and I wanted to be different. It’s not the worst nickname in the world. I have a friend who has to go by ‘Gates’ because his name’s pretty much impossible to pronounce without insectoid mandibles.

Comments

[accelerate]

[ barry's brain comes to a stop. imagining wally with kids is weird. it's the only thing he can really react to, knowing wally over this justice society, this justice league, this friendly jay garrick … none of it rings any familiar bells. at least on earth-2, he'd known the people he ran into. killer frost, reverb, detective west-allen ... ]

[ he's grateful for the opportunity to grasp at a question that he can easily — and without earning a headache — answer. ]

Two … three years? [ it's not meant to sound like a question. for a quick second he closes his eyes, the opens them. no time to go back and rework that answer. ] It was two back home. I've been here for a year on top of that. It feels a lot longer ... way longer.

[kid_flash_found]

[There's a moment where it's obvious Bart is doing some quick mental math, trying to estimate time considering all the snarls and twists his life has taken.]

I was born with my speed. It...isn't anything to be desired. But, yeah, time always seems to stretch when you least want it to. Sometimes it felt like I spent months watching the clock waiting for detention to end.

[Which had never been his fault, really. He didn't find out until that chance comment the night he was asked to join the Titans that his memory was something special.]

I had a bad habit of telling the teachers things like how they were misquoting the textbook in front of other students.

[accelerate]

[ he gives him a slightly amused smile. ] I'm pretty sure you don't need me telling you teachers don't like it when you do that. I run my mouth with the Captain at work a little too much, and I can tell you he wishes he could put me in detention for when I do.

[ but that hadn't been a flash thing. that'd been a barry-allen-rambles sort of thing. still, for his goal right now with this conversation, it's to try and find that familiar thread. where does he begin to tie into the barry allen that's found throughout the multiverse? ]

You haven't graduated yet, have you?

[kid_flash_found]

It's...complicated. I mean, I sorta passed the GED, because I needed it to even consider applying to the LAPD, but that also wasn't exactly me, even if I remember being...older.

[He looks down, studying his hands, thinking, remembering, and at that moment, he looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulder.]

As my grandmother would say, "You can trust a Flash to be late, even for his own funeral."

[accelerate]

Your grandmother, who would have to be my wife ... [ he says it slowly, like it's some delicate thing. in a way, it is. iris has left wonderland once again, and barry feels her absence each and every passing minute. it's not a new concept to him that he's married to her in the future, on earth-2, and perhaps across the entire multiverse. that idea is simply incredibly overwhelming — barry allen is happy, and he hasn't yet lived it. ]

[ assuming grandma is iris here. she has to be, nothing else will ever make sense. ]

[ then he's quick to clarify, all words stumbling over each other: ] Unless it's your other parent's grandmother, I mean, everyone who meets me judges me so that would not be completely out of character for anyone. [ not wanting to assume! ]

[kid_flash_found]

No, Mom's side of the family doesn't want anything to do with me.

And I wasn't trying to judge. I mean, I just met you, and not even in person. Being late can be a good distraction, but it usually isn't intentional.

[Bart doesn't really have any clue how to have this conversation.]

Are there a lot of people from your Earth here? I've got my two best friends.

[accelerate]

[ people not judging barry allen seems to be a rare unicorn these days. barry often judges himself. the stray thought of wondering what the doppelgängers of his future grandchildren — future family members — will think of him passes by, and he lets it run far out of his reach. iris would tell him to stop worrying so much. ]

There's a couple of people. My best friends ... And I guess some work colleagues? [ that sounds a lot like uncertainty. what does one call leonard snart and mick rory? it's easy to pass off sara lance as a work colleague, given she's the black canary's sister … and then there's rip hunter to think about. life was so much easier when he was just a nerd. ] From my present and apparently my future.

[ and with a breath in, he recalls with an attempt to remain nonchalant, ] And an enemy, although ... I think he's gone. [ scratching the back of his head, he lets his arm drop. ] I probably don't need to tell you to be careful with giving your name out, right? Wonderland's brought in a few people who aren't my biggest fans, and those people tend to make it a point to go after the people I care about.

[kid_flash_found]

I don't have any interest in becoming a target, but advertising what I can do isn't my intention, either. Should I be asking who you mean as far as enemies?

[Kara had mentioned Rogues, so he guessed that would be what Barry meant.]

[accelerate]

[ he lifts his hand, scratching the back of his neck. once he lets it swing down, he answers, ] The Reverse-Flash and Zoom were here. Two Reverse-Flashes have been here, from two different points in time. Zoom just ... [ he shrugs his shoulder. ] zoomed off, I guess. [ ha. now isn't the time for jokes, however. ]

[ with a breath in, he tries his best to not feel stressed. the idea of thawne and zolomon being back here really makes barry almost go grey. ] I don't know how much I — your grandpa's told you, but they're dangerous. They're no longer here, but Wonderland's brought them here once, and it can do it again.

[kid_flash_found]

I know the names. I've met the Reverse-Flash of my world a time or two. Never a pleasant experience.

[Bart doesn't quite know what to think about the differentiation between the two names. Wasn't the Reverse-Flash also known as Professor Zoom?]

If it makes you feel a little less awkward, I really don't know my grandfather all that well. We never really got to spend all that much time together. I don't think he feels any more comfortable about having a grandkid showing up when he hasn't had kids yet, either. It's just another screwy way the Flash family works.

And if you're really worried about how well I can hold up, we can always have a race or something.

[accelerate]

[ well, it makes him feel a little better that the blond barry of the multiverse wasn't able to take this in stride, either. he had this picture of blond barry being so perfect, because he was blond. he bets he had great hair, too. ]

Postpone the race for another day. I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that I end up having kids, and one of my kid's named their kid Bartholomew. [ he winces, ] I'm really sorry. It's a terrible name.

[kid_flash_found]

I've always considered it an honor. Something else I can only hope to live up to.

[And the fact that he can say that not only with a straight face, but a bit of chagrin on his own behalf doesn't help.]

I grew up knowing my grandpa is one of Earth's greatest heroes, and I got to be named for him. So I've got nothing to complain about in the end.

[accelerate]

[ barry can't help but smile. touched, even though he knows it's not him. the flash of thawne's future is someone he aspires to be, hopelessly wanting to be someone who is worthy of having the key to central city in his pocket. he'd wanted the city to look at him and feel hope; he'd never considered he wanted his family — his future family, not the wests, not the team — to be proud of him as well. ]

[ now, "bartholomew" doesn't seem so bad of a name. ]

Bart's a way better nickname than Barry. You've got me beat there.

[kid_flash_found]

I somehow think keeping score is a bad idea.