(The Flash) Frozen Flashpoint: Chapter 16 – Settling the Future with the Past

Chapter 16 – Settling the Future with the Past

Summary: Barry checks in on his team, going from one member to another, and a wholesome family moment ensues.

Barry approached Harry as the man was packing his things. When the older man noticed Barry, he raised an eyebrow and asked in his usual even tone, “Can I help you, Allen?”

Barry considered his next words carefully. “I wanted to talk to you about DeVoe for a moment. Look, I know you take a lot of pride in your intellect, and mostly, it’s well justified.”

Harry gave Barry a curt nod of agreement but didn’t speak further, so Barry continued, “The problem is that sometimes, because of that, you have a tendency to underestimate the cleverness of our opponents.”

Harry scoffed at the comment, causing Barry to frown. “Look, Harry, this time our enemy is different. He’s not your usual ‘more attacks than plans’ type, like Zoom was. DeVoe is someone who fights with his mind too, and I can tell you from my experience with Thawne that these enemies are the most dangerous.”

Harry let out a mocking sigh. “Allen, DeVoe surprised us last time, but this time we’re ready, and I doubt there’s any plan he could make that I won’t be able to counter.”

Barry shook his head. “That’s what I’m talking about, Harry. We can’t have you thinking like that. We only need to be caught off guard once for DeVoe to win.”

Harry snorted. “You worry too much, Allen. There’s no way DeVoe will be able to do that much damage.”

Barry scowled at the man. He really didn’t want to play this card... “So, Jessie’s life is acceptable damage to you?”

Harry froze and turned to glare at Barry before hissing, “What did you say?!”

Barry was unmoved. He shrugged and pointed out, “In the future, Jessie died because DeVoe outsmarted us once with an ambush. One you didn’t see coming and didn’t caution Jessie against.”

Harry’s expression lost all anger and shifted to horror. Barry let out a sigh and spoke gently, “Look, I’m not trying to blame you or anything, just pointing out that underestimating him because of your pride could cost all of us a lot. So think about it, and if you want to talk, you only need to call me.”

With that, he left the man to do a little soul searching. He hated that he had to use the future timeline and imply it was Harry’s fault that his daughter died, but if the man didn’t get over himself soon, it might just happen in this timeline. Better to be scared by the thought than to experience the loss.

He then noticed Jessie and Wally standing together and went to speak with them. When they noticed him, both smiled and said at the same time, “Hi, Barry.”

Barry smiled back at them and asked, “How’s the new apartment, you two?”

Jessie beamed at him and spoke excitedly, “It’s awesome!” She then frowned a bit. “My dad is crashing with us a lot, which is annoying.”

Barry chuckled. Despite Harry’s protests last week, Wally and Jessie had moved in together to an apartment in the same building as Cisco. The main reason was that Wally wanted out of Joe’s house, and Jessie grew tired of staying in STAR Labs now that they had decided to stay on Earth-1.

Wally laughed a little awkwardly before changing the subject. “Anyway, we have you to thank for being able to afford it. You didn’t have to pay for us to be around here.”

Barry shook his head with a smile. “Nonsense. You work here just as much as anyone else, and both of you definitely qualify for jobs here. Though you’re still not paid the same as Caitlin and Cisco—they have experience to account for.”

Both of them nodded at Barry with looks full of gratitude. Barry chuckled and said, “It’s my job as the boss to take care of the employees. Anyway, enjoy yourselves.”

With that, he left the two and went to his original target. He found Joe finishing a conversation with Cisco.

The engineer saw him and smiled. “How are you doing, man?”

Barry shrugged with a small smile. “As well as I can after hearing all that stuff. But I guess part of me is still trying to process it.”

Cisco glanced down at his hands and said quietly, “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

Barry patted his best friend’s shoulder and said encouragingly, “It’ll be okay. We won’t let it happen. Maybe you can think of a way to protect your hands—gloves or something like that against DeVoe.”

Cisco considered it for a moment before shaking his head. “Worth thinking over, but not tonight.” Barry raised an eyebrow at the long-haired man, who chuckled in return. “I was about to tell you and Cait before the whole future-niece thing... I have a date tonight!”

Barry’s eyes widened, and he spoke with a tone full of happiness, “That’s great, man! Who’s the lucky lady?”

Cisco shook his head with a smile. “Nah, man. This one I’m keeping to myself for now. You’ll probably meet her when she decides to drop by the lab.”

Barry was confused, but still smiled. “Sure, man. Have fun tonight. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Cisco left to prepare for his date, leaving Barry standing in front of Joe. The detective obviously knew what Barry wanted to talk about and didn’t seem too eager for the conversation.

After a moment, Barry decided to speak. “So, Cecile Horton, huh?”

Joe sighed before saying, “Yeah. I hope you understand, Barr. She’s just wrapping her head around metahumans in general, so I didn’t want to involve her with all of this just yet.”

Barry shrugged. “I get it. You know, I noticed she was coming down to the station more often the past couple of months, but I thought she was there to talk about the new metahuman laws. I didn’t guess she was there for you. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you two were a pair of teenagers sneaking around.” He finished with a snicker.

Joe glared at his adopted son, causing Barry to chuckle before asking, “How did this even start?”

Joe shrugged this time and recounted, “It was after I came back from my week in Coast City arresting a meta. Cecile was waiting when I returned to deal with her first official case involving a metahuman. Things just went from there. To be honest, Barr, I have no idea how I’m this lucky to last this long after all this time.”

Barry glanced at Caitlin, who was standing with Lyra, before looking back at Joe with a nod and saying sympathetically, “Yeah, I understand you.”

Joe chuckled, following Barry’s sight line and seeing what he saw. He patted Barry’s back before saying, “Well, go on and be with your family, son. Just don’t forget to bring my granddaughter around the house sometime soon.”

Barry nodded before returning with a smirk, “And you make sure to have DA Horton around for us to meet.”

Without waiting for a response, Barry began to walk toward the captivating sight of his fiancée and future daughter.

As he got closer, he overheard their conversation. Barry was surprised by the hesitation in Caitlin’s voice. “Can I ask something?”

Lyra looked at her curiously. “Sure, Mom.”

The hesitation in Caitlin’s voice turned into nervousness. “Was I a good mom... in the future?”

The future speedster smiled softly and answered with complete sincerity, “The best. I was so young when... when... you know. Everyone kinda broke apart for a little while after Auntie Jessie and Dad... well, yeah. But you held it together for all of us. You picked each of us up every single day so we could move on and get to Starling City. For months, I couldn’t sleep—I just cried. And you stayed up each night to hold us with a brave smile on your face.”

Barry could feel his heart breaking, for both of his girls. Neither of them deserved such pain.

Lyra choked a little herself. “Mama kept training me to use my cold powers so I could protect myself if I had to. When we got to Starling City, I overheard when you fell apart in Aunt Cilie’s arms. That’s when I promised myself that one day I’d be as strong as you, Mom.”

Caitlin had tears running down her face. Her lips kept twitching, unsure of what feelings to display. That’s when Barry chose to step in. “There’s no one better to look up to, Snowflake.”

Both mother and daughter were startled when Barry spoke. He used his right arm to pull Caitlin close to him and said gently, “I told you, you’ll be a great mom. Your mother isn’t who you are.” He finished with a kiss to her temple.

“You were a great dad too,” Lyra quickly added. “You’d play with me every day and teach me the coolest stuff. Thanks to you, I knew the difference between dangerous chemicals and harmless ones, so I could prank Mom, Uncle Cisco, and everyone else in STAR Labs.” She finished with a giggle.

Even with teary eyes, Caitlin glared at him, making Barry chuckle nervously and quickly change the subject.

He threw his other arm around Lyra and pulled her close too, asking both girls, “Are the two of you ready to go home?”

They both beamed at him. Lyra extracted herself from Barry’s hold with a smirk. She allowed soft blue and bright orange lightning to cover her body as she challenged him, “Last one home has to do all of Mom’s chores.”

And without waiting for a reply, she was gone in a streak of lightning. Barry shook his head with a smile, looking at Caitlin. “Cheeky brat. Ready to teach her our first lesson?”

Caitlin giggled and nodded. Barry picked her up and sped toward the loft.

He had just phased through the door when he heard another speedster stop on the other side. He put Caitlin down while hearing his daughter’s smug voice muttering, “The old man should’ve caught up by now.”

With a smug look of his own, he opened the door and said calmly, “Old? And what was that about catching up, young lady?”

The future teen spun around in shock toward her father, her jaw dropping when she saw him standing inside the loft with a carefree smile.

Caitlin shook her head in amusement and walked deeper into their home, calling over her shoulder, “Will the two of you just come in already? We’ve had a long day. Time for a meal and bed.”

Barry stepped aside, allowing Lyra to enter before closing the door behind her. After a moment, she shook her head and turned to demand, “How the hell did you get here before me?!”

Barry smirked and winked before saying simply, “Don’t forget who the fastest man alive is, Speedstorm.”

The girl pouted as Barry gave her a short hug before heading into the kitchen, calling, “Come on, let’s help Mom set the table.”

As the three of them sat around the table to eat the meatball pasta Caitlin had prepared, Barry allowed himself a moment to just observe the two girls in his life interact.

He had to wonder how it was possible for a domestic routine to settle so quickly between the three of them. Barry barely even noticed when he started referring to Caitlin as “Mom” when he spoke to Lyra, and Caitlin did the same for him.

It just felt like Lyra had always been a part of their life and family, as if all of this should be familiar to them, even normal. But Barry wondered, with the kind of life Lyra had, had a meal like this ever been part of it?

Anyway, Barry would make sure his little Snowflake would be happy and safe here. Her and his lovely fiancée. No matter the price, no one would take either of them away from him. With the warm feeling in his chest becoming something familiar and permanent, Barry inserted himself into the girls’ conversation.

After Lyra cleaned all the dishes—in superspeed, much to Caitlin’s protests—Barry prepared the guest room for their future daughter. Not an hour later, all of them were out like a light, exhausted from the day’s events.