New arrival

[http://users.livejournal.com/futureperfect_/]

It's not the first time Iris has plowed through an open door leaving the usual streak of red and yellow lightning in her wake. She curses. So much for keeping up with her father. Then it occurs to her that she really ought to work on skidding to a halt.

She manages to slow down enough that the wall stops her. Ow. Good job, Kid Flash. Way to impress the locals.

Iris rubs her nose before she looks over her shoulder. Huh. Where is she now?

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/futureperfect_/]

Iris' eyes light up and then narrow. Because as much as she'd like to fangirl over...well...her great-uncle? she wasn't born yesterday.

"Is this a Planet Krypton or no?"

[silverageflash.livejournal.com]

"I think there was just the one planet Krypton. You should know that, assuming you know your history.

"This is Milliways, the bar at the end of the universe. And you don't have any idea what I'm talking about, do you? Let's go to the window."

And he zips over to the window with the cosmic view.

[http://users.livejournal.com/futureperfect_/]

This man's never been to a Planet Krypton? "I mean like the theme restaurants that crop up all over."

She shakes her head then quickly follows him to the window and nearly falls over.

"Hoo. That's..." Something all right.

[silverageflash.livejournal.com]

"That is the end of everything. This place is at the edge of time and space, maybe even outside it to some degree. I haven't tried to figure out the exact science of it, but there it is.

"And I'm afraid I've never heard of a restaurant named for Krypton. It must be a little after my time. As I suspect you are, Iris." He holds his tongue on whether Clark takes offense at a restaurant named for his lost homeworld.

[http://users.livejournal.com/futureperfect_/]

Iris stops staring after a few seconds and registers what Barry's just said. "Icy."

"You're a very lucky man. They're horrible. All the waiters dress up like you and Aquaman and Superman and Robin. And they sing when it's your birthday and bring you G'nort burgers and Guy Gardner fries."

Iris shudders. Barry dragged her there once for her birthday when she was eleven. She decides not to tell this man about his namesake. Or the Barry Allen shake.

[silverageflash.livejournal.com]

"This place is much better. No one dresses up like the heroes but the heroes. What few of us there are. And the food is really good.

"So, juding by your hair, you must be Wally's daughter." He hopes she answers his questions without him asking.

[http://users.livejournal.com/futureperfect_/]

Wry smile. "If you tell me there's no Lex Luthor, I may never leave."

If he's Barry Allen, there's no harm in telling him. "Yup."

[silverageflash.livejournal.com]

"Do yo want an honest answer?" He smiles a little, though.

"How is Wally in your time? Or do I not want to know?"

[http://users.livejournal.com/futureperfect_/]

"Hoo. That man spoils everything."

Iris frowns sadly. "Honestly, I wouldn't know. He only speaks to me through the holographic projections he creates."

[silverageflash.livejournal.com]

"That doesn't sound like the Wally I knew. He wouldn't know how to make a holographic projection. Did he go back to college after all.

"And as for Luthor, I met a Luthor who isn't from our world, I think. Younger. But I only saw him the once."

[http://users.livejournal.com/futureperfect_/]

Takes a few seconds so she can keep her emotions buried when she does speak. "Everyone tells me how wonderful my father is. That he's evolved. I guess he has has. I can't keep up with him. He's always a blur."

Her jaw clenches. "We did manage to defeat Luthor in my time but the casualties... We lost a lot of good people."

[silverageflash.livejournal.com]

"Oh. I'm sorry. But he has that effect on the good guys. I wish we could have done more in my day.

"Wally is always a blur. Certainly he's changed. He was always so liad back in my time. For a speedster, at any rate."

[http://users.livejournal.com/futureperfect_/]

"It's not your fault. Luthor's like a cockroach."

"Laid back? My father was laid back?" She snorts. "I must be from a necrotic alternate timeline."

[silverageflash.livejournal.com]

"Well, alternate timelines are the norm here. There are peopl efrom a vast number of possible worlds, and on some of them we're nothing but fictional characters. So you might not really be my grandniece.

"But the Wally I knew was not one for tension. Maybe once he inherited the costume, he changed. But the last I saw him, he was still the same at some level."

[http://users.livejournal.com/futureperfect_/]

Iris blinks and looks a little stricken. "Then...maybe it is the same Wally." She'd like to have a great-uncle.

"I think it's how fast he moves and thinks. He doesn't really have time for me or my brother. He just zooms around saving people. He tries, I guess...I mean, the holographic messages are usually friendly."

[silverageflash.livejournal.com]

"It goes with the territory. What hero doesn't think he or she isn't doing enough to save just one more life? Took me a long time to learn that, and I think I'm here in part to let that sink in, a little.

"See, I don't know if you know my history that well, but I'm here from after it was over. I guess you can say I'm semi-retired."

[http://users.livejournal.com/futureperfect_/]

"I know. I just wish sometimes I could have a nanosecond of his attention. Or just a fraction of the time he wastes on my brother."

"I don't know all of the details. Sort of a storybook version but I always knew you were a hero." Her hero too. But she doesn't want to embarrass herself.

"And I have no doubt in my mind that my father is a hero. I'm trying to be one too. He thinks I'm playing around."

Time for a subject change. "You retired to here?"

[silverageflash.livejournal.com]

"Not by choice. The bar kind of claimed me. But I like it here. It's become home.

"Do you know the end of the story of my life?"

[http://users.livejournal.com/futureperfect_/]

Hoo. Iris isn't sure she'd like retiring at eighteen. "What does it mean if I can open the door but there's nothing there?"

"I thought you died saving people, to be honest."

[silverageflash.livejournal.com]

"I think it means you're stuck here. But the bound patrons usually can't open the door." He pauses. He hopes she can handle this.

"I did die, actually. And I came here instead of entering the Speed Force. It's not a bad afterlife at all."

[http://users.livejournal.com/futureperfect_/]

She manages a stiff nod, the gears in her head turning as she thinks about what this could mean.

Seconds later. "So it's possible I'm dead. Or my world is gone."

[silverageflash.livejournal.com]

"Maybe. But most people know it when they're dead. I knew it. More likely, the bar has just grabbed you.

"It seems to like speedsters. There are at least two others here." But how to tell her who?

[http://users.livejournal.com/futureperfect_/]

"The question is why then. Did the bar know something was going to happen and saved me from it? But then again why would it do something like that? I'm not very important."

Perks up slightly. "Oh?"

[silverageflash.livejournal.com]

"The bar has its own logic. There are plenty of people here who are nothing special. Or a lot odder than us. I think there's here for a reason, though I can't they you what for more than a few.

"Or maybe my friend Eska is right and the gods are just having a joke."

Might as well tell her a little.

"Well, Bart Allen is here, at age 14. You know him as an adult.

"And...

"Well, Bart told me that your father, also age 14, is here."

[http://users.livejournal.com/futureperfect_/]

"It has a sick sense of humor, I'm thinking. It should have taken my father or Barry. Barry would have liked it here. All he does is drink anyway."

If she wasn't crestfallen before she is now. Slightly incredulous too but mostly crestfallen.

"Fourteen?"