#and Wally would find him there three hours later curled up in a ball of devastation and shame

[gay-ppl-real]

I see yet another piece of Welcome Home art where Eddie is depicted dropping parcels or losing mail or what have you to demonstrate that he's a bit clumsy and all over the place and another part of me becomes dipped in frustration about people not understanding the source material

[niiwa-angel]

Coming Home

//This is a prequel to Late At Night, a Halbarry story I wrote and posted on both tumblr and ao3, you can find me on Tumblr under niiwa-angel or on a03 as Niiwasong for any requests. This story will contain mentions of violence, medical procedures, and mentions of underage nudity though nothing sexual, and pedos can gtfo. As well, I am not a doctor so im relly just making up procedures from what makes sense to my uneducated mind and what I saw on Grey's Anatomy. If i’m wrong just take it with a grain of salt. And don’t be scared to reblog and like. :p //

Hal collapsed on the sofa next to his boyfriend with a tired sigh, he stretched one arm around Barry’s shoulders and nestled the bowl of popcorn between them. Barry laughed and continued to scroll through netflix without sparing a glance at his partner.

“Look, this is the first movie night we’ve had in three very long months. I am not half assing our entertainment with some crappy half cooked comedy!” Barry exclaimed, drawing a theatrical moan from Hal.

“Babe, there was nothing wrong with Spaceballs! It’s a wonderful comedy, you like that movie!” he said, with a tone that suggested he had had this argument more than a few times. His partner paid him no mind, continuing his search for a perfect movie.

“Hey, we haven’t seen “Grown-ups” have we? It’s got good reviews.” the blonde exclaimed, finally looking at Hal, who just shrugged.

“Whatever babe, as long as you’re happy.” he said, pulling his lover closer into a kiss. Barry grinned against his mouth, moving one hand to the back of Hal’s head. Breaking apart, Barry quickly started the movie and dipped his hand into the popcorn bowl.

“Thanks for the snacks love.” he muttered, curling against the taller man and resting his head on his shoulder. Predictably, Hal wrapped his arm around him and squeezed his waist. Both turned from the T.V. as the intro was broken by Barry’s cell, Iris’s name and picture lit up the screen as Barry removed it from his pocket.

“You mind if I take this?” Barry asked, biting his bottom lip with an apologetic look at Hal, who just shrugged.

“Yeah dude, she’s your sister! You answer if she calls, I would never come between you and your family!” Hal said, nudging Barry up, and reclaiming the popcorn bowl. Barry laughed.

“And you’re scared of her!” He crowed, raising from the green soda and making his way towards the kitchen. Hal nodded sagely.

“Everyone in their right mind is scared of your sister. You know she threatened to cut my balls off if she ever found out I hurt you?” He joked, though he grimaced as he remembered the fiery red-head turning those intense emerald greens at him, a whispered threat if anything happened to her adopted brother. Barry chuckled.

“She did mention it. I’ll tell her you say ‘hi’. Don’t eat all the popcorn!” He smirked, hitting the answer button and stepping into the kitchen. Hal smiled and leaned back, turning the volume down on the movie and popping a piece of buttery popcorn in his mouth. He sat dead up, as Barry’s angered “What?” came from the kitchen.

Barry stormed out like a man possessed, his normally kind blue eyes were hard and he looked ready to murder. Hal could hear Iris’s muffled voice from the other end, she sounded like she was biting back tears, though he couldn’t make out what she was saying.

“Yeah we’re on our way, be there as soon as we can.” he snapped, a tone he would normally never be caught dead using with his sister, but clearly whatever had just been passed on violated any sense of normalcy they had. Hal stood as Barry turned his attention to him.

“What’s going on?” the short question carried more weight than it should have, Hal was mentally going through what could be wrong. Had Joe had an accident, was something wrong with Iris? The possibilities were horribly endless.

“Wally’s in the hospital, in critical condition. Iris said he might not make it and we need to be there to deal with the cops.” Barry was pulling on his coat while simultaneously trying to lace up his boots. Hal jumped up, slamming the remote and bowl onto the table, movie still playing in the background.

“I’ll drive, you shouldn’t be behind a wheel right now.” Hal said, racing towards the entrance and snatching the keys from Barry.

“Oh and you should be?” Barry snarled, reaching for them, only for his lover to hold them out of reach.

“I’m military, we’re trained to stay calm under stress. It would be safer if I drove and this is not a debate,” Hal’s voice dripped with authority, and Barry slightly deflated. “We will get to Wally, love. I’ll get us there as fast as I can.”

Barry nodded and the pair slipped out into the cold November air, movie still playing on the television, popcorn abandoned on the coffee table.

~~~~~~~At The Hospital~~~~~

Barry raced into the waiting room and straight into a pacing Iris, eyes wet with tears. Hal rushed in just in time to see the too hug, drawing small comfort from the other, Barry grabbed Iris’s shoulders and pushed her away, looking her directly in the eyes.

“What happened? Where’s Wally?”  He asked, bringing another round of tears from Iris. Hal gently placed an arm around both of their shoulders, guiding them to the hard plastic chairs near the wall. As soon as they were seated Iris told what she knew.

“I got a call from the police about half an hour ago. The neighbours heard Rudolf swearing and yelling and they called the police, then they called again when they heard crashing. Rudy was taken to the police station drunk, apparently they found Wally at the bottom of the basement stairs with his head bleeding really badly. He wasn’t breathing, they had to restart his heart in the basement, and twice more in the ambulance. As soon as they got here they took him to an operating room and nobody told me anything since!” She sobbed, wiping her face with her palm.

“Well that’s a good thing right?” Hal asked, receiving disgusted looked from his boyfriend and his sister. “Guys, if their operating, it means Wally’s alive, at least. It’s a start.” identical dawns of realization crossed the sibling’s faces and Hals brain marveled at how similar they were, despite not being biologically related.

“What about Mary?” Barry asked, breaking Hal’s unhelpful train of thought. Iris shook her head.

“I don’t know, I haven't seen her though and I imagine they wouldn't have called me if she were. I’m Wally’s emergency contact, they only call me if his parents are unavailable.” The redhead looked to the male pair.

“I can’t believe Rudy would do that to his own son.” She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Wait, hold on! Are we sure Rudy is responsible for this? I mean I was never in this guy’s fan club but we’re talking what might be attempted murder.” Hal said, though his mind already knew what the answer was, kids didn’t do that kind of damage to themselves.

“From what the police told me, there were injuries that were…” She swallowed hard, like she was trying to keep the words from being said. “That had to have been done by another person, and Rudy was holding the weapon!” Her voice failed her as she trailed off into sobs yet again. Barry wrapped his arms around his sister and both of them clung to each other, the only sounds being muffled reassurances and choked sobs, Hal sat in silence, pointedly looking towards the hallway, giving the pair a sense of privacy. Iris took a deep breath, breaking away slightly, though still with her right hand grasping her brother’s forearm.

“I just can’t believe Rudy would do this! Bear, did you ever think that he would be capable of-” she broke off, green eyes taking a sudden interest in the tile floor. Hal snorted.

“Barry and I haven’t seen much of Rudy since we announced our relationship and Rudy told us in no short terms we weren’t welcome in his home. After that, he and Barry agreed on which holidays they got with the family and left it at that. That was around four years ago.” The trio collectively nodded. “Well Wally was only three then, and I never noticed any signs.” Barry muttered, trying to remember if anything in particular stood out to him but coming up with nothing.

“I think it may have started after Rudy lost his job. He started acting weird, I should have noticed something.” Iris sighed, her nephew should have been safe, and now here they were, three people who all cared deeply for a certain red haired child, sitting in an impersonal waiting room hoping to an inattentive god that their boy made it through the night.

~~~~~~~~~Hours Later~~~~~~~

Dr. Samanta strolled down the hallway from the operating theatre, most late night operations ended in crying relatives and having to call time of death, but tonight she got to tell a family that their loved one was able to live to see another day. Ducking into the waiting room, she instantly saw a trio occupying the corner of the waiting room, a red haired woman curled against a blonde man, with both of them tucked, sleeping, against a brunet who was gazing at her with a desperate look. She knew it well, it was a look many families gave her, as if silently pleading with her would change her news, like she wouldn’t keep all of them alive if she could. She knew who they were here for but she still called.

“Family of Walance West?” The blonde and red head jerked awake and the brunet straightened his back, waiting for the others to rise before standing himself. All three of them rushed to her, all with scared  expressions adjourning all of their faces.

“He suffered three broken ribs, one of which punctured his lung, a concussion, a bad sprain to his left wrist, multiple welts on his back are infected, and some mild internal bleeding. Because of the concussion, his brain started to swell but we were able to fix that. We patched his lungs up, though we do have him on oxygen for some time and in a medically induced coma, but he should make a full recovery.” She smiled as the trio started celebrate, the red head hugging her tightly, with a whispered, “Thank you for saving my nephew”

“Just doing my job. He’s still sleeping off the anesthesia and visiting hours are technically over, but if you all promise to be very quiet, you can sit with him for awhile-” she broke off as all three started on promises to be quiet and begging to see their family. She turned and gestured for them to follow her down the hall toward a small room in a corner, Wally lay in the middle of a cot that dwarfed him, making him look smaller than he was. A cobweb of wired and tubes disappeared into his gown and connected into his body, a pale turban of bandages covered his head, hiding his hair, while a tube connected to an oxygen mask rested over his mouth. The blonde put a hand over his mouth to cover a choked sound that came from his throat while he slipped closer.

“Wally?” he gasped, putting his other hand on the bed next to him, tears falling next to it, to quick for him to catch them all. The brunet crept next to him and put a comforting hand around his shoulder.

“You said he’s in a coma?” he whispered, turning those eyes on her. Dr. Samanta nodded. “A medically induced coma, just for a while. It should give his brain time to heal and for the swelling to go down, he’s young so the risk is small considering. You can talk to him, let him know you’re here.” The redhead nodded, slipping her hand into the childs. Dr. Samanta nodded, and turned, walking into the hallway, removing the surgical cap and replacing it with her Hijab.

“Doctor!” She turned to see the Brunet stalking towards her, freezing as he saw her head covering. She stood taller, bracing for a islamiphobic rant. Instead, he put his hand over his chest.

“I can not thank you enough for saving my nephew, my husband and I, and my sister in law are so grateful.” He nodded toward her head. “I was in Afghanistan, I met a lot of inspirational men and women there. If anyone gives you trouble for your faith, I will have some of my brothers in arms come talk to them.” She smiled.

“Thank you, Mr?”

“Jordan, Hal Jordan. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Wish I didn’t have to. I will keep you in mind, go take care of your boy. He’s had a rough time of it.” And with that, she turned down the hallway and disappeared around the corner. And there she finally allowed herself to truly smile.

~~~~~The Next Day~~~~~~

To say the atmosphere was tense would be an oversimplification. The police and social services had filled Iris, Barry and Hal in on what had happened and were trying to work out what came next.

“Listen, as much as we would love to place him in your care, the state requires married couples!” The social workers sighed, massaging his temples. “We can work out with a foster family to let you have visiting rights but right now none of you have the necessary requirements to house him. I agree it’s unfair, but there is nothing I can do.” With that, he stood, gathered his coat and hat, and left the room. Hal looked to Barry, who was quietly fuming in his seat.

“This is Bullshit! We know Wally, we love him, and we could care for him! But they want to put him with strangers because we aren’t married!” He hissed, blue eyes icy.

“We cannot let him disappear into the system!” Iris snarled, just the thought of strangers having unlimited access to her nephew was enough to make her sick. Hal nodded.

“He won’t be.” Getting out of his chair he pushed it away and knelt next to Barry, who startled.

“What are you doing?” He demanded, while Iris broke into a grin behind him. “Well they said we couldn’t take him because we aren’t married. We can fix that really easy.” Hal chuckled, putting his hands on Barry’s knees. The blonde smirked.

“I do believe you’re asking for my hand.” He joked.

“I am. Right now I’m just thinking a courthouse wedding, that way Wally’s safe but if you want a big ass, balls to the wall wedding, we can do that after we get settled. Hell, I’ll even wear the dress.” Barry smiled and threw his arms around his lover.

“Yes, I would love to marry you. We don’t need a huge service, we can have a small garden service in our yard, just some close friends and family. A small dinner, with cake.” He laughed, wiping his tears away happily. Hal nodded, touching their foreheads together.

‘Whatever you want love. But first, let’s make sure our boy is safe.”

~~~~~~A Week Later~~~~

Wally’s head hurt. His mind felt like he was thinking through a heavy fog, he was clumsy, his limbs never seeming to follow his thoughts.

“Useless” his father’s voice whispered in his head, causing him to stiffen up. His uncle noticed from where he was settled in the corner of the hospital room, getting up and coming towards him.

“Don’t hurt me! Please, i’ll be good! Pleasepleasepleaseplease!” He mentally pleaded as his Uncle Barry came closer, one hand slightly extended.

“Hey, you doing okay kiddo?” Barry whispered, though even that sounded too loud. The doctors had said that that was because of the concussion, he was already tired of it, the lights were too bright, the noises to loud, and he was jittery.

Wally nodded, though he still wouldn’t look Barry, who looked toward the door for Hal, who was finishing up paperwork.

“We’re really looking forward to having you live with us Wally. We have your room set up, just a bed and desk right now, but all your stuff from your parents house just needs to be unpacked, and ofcourse we can paint your room whatever colour you like.” Barry told him, desperately trying to engage his nephew, Wally was distant, barely speaking and flinching whenever Barry or Hal got to close. The oxygen was still required, though the face mask was replaced by a tube under his nose feeding it into his lungs when he breathed.

“Well, that’s the paperwork done! Ready to head home you two?” Hal asked, rushing into the room, a small mountain of paper under his arm. Both adults looked to Wally, who just shrugged. Barry looked to Hal, eyes sad as he went to get Wally into the wheelchair.

“I gotta pick you up kiddo, you okay?” He asked, getting another shrug. Barry settled the oxygen tank into Wally’s lap before slipping his arm under his legs and around his shoulders, carrying him bridal style across the room and placing him into a wheelchair. Hal put the papers into Barry’s satchel before taking up the handles of the chair and pushing him out into the hallway.

“The nurses have your last dose of painkillers at their station, though Barry and I will pick up your prescription later okay squirt?” Hal asked, when he received nothing he leaned closer and whispered.

“Personally, I think they just wanted to see you one last time before you left. I mean it’s not every day you get to spend time with THE Wally West.” The got a reaction, the adults noted, as Wally ducked his head, cheeks flushed a little.

“There’s my favourite redhead!” A man in nurse scrubs exclaimed, jogging up to the trio with a dixie cup and a ketchup cup. “I got your meds here little man.” Wally nodded, accepting the outstretched items and downing the pills.

“Now those should make you feel drowsy, so no driving. Other than that, you guys are good to go.” The nurse gently clapped Wally on the shoulder and Hal pushed him towards the exit. Leaving the wheelchair with the front dsk and carrying his nephew out to their car.

Wally vaguely felt Hal clip his seatbelt into place and shut the door, he leaned his head against the window as Barry crawled into the passenger seat, turning to face him.

“Do you mind if I put on some music, Wally? I promise to keep it quiet.” Wally shrugged.

“I don’t mind, Sir.” He muttered, listening as Barry pluged his phone into the USB and Hamilton started playing from the speakers.

“You guys like musicals?” He asked, noticing how Barry lit up as he asked the question, though it was Hal who answered.

“Oh yeah, we go see local productions all the time, and we choose one Broadway musical a year. How about you?” Hal didn’t stop trying to navigate them out of the busy hospital parking lot, but he did glance at Wally in the rear view mirror, Wally just nodded.

“Yeah, but Dad never let me listen to them, he said boys weren’t meant to like them.” Barry rolled his eyes hard, knowing his adopted brothers stance on musicals and other “soft” passions, but he didn’t voice his opinions.

“Well, we don’t mind and musicals are absolutely for boys to like!” Barry said, turning as much as the seat belt would allow to look at Wally. The young red head smiled, before his face spit into a yawn.

“You just rest kiddo, we have about an hour drive ahead of us. We’ll wake you when we get home.” Wally nodded at his uncles words and leaned his head against the window, the cool glass pulling him into sleep.

~~~~~~At the House~~~~

Barry and Hal quietly shut their car doors and Barry went to grab Wally. Hal threw their overnight bags over his shoulder and went to go unlock the door for his lover carrying their kid, Pushing his way inside, he waited while Barry carried a sleeping Wally over to the couch in the living room.

“Hey babe, can you go draw a bath in the upstairs bathroom?” Barry asked, eyes not leaving the sleeping child on his lap.

“Are you sure he’s up for a bath right now? Kid will barely talk to us.” He pointed out with a frown. Barry just shook his head.

“I’m not really concerned about that right now, he hasn’t had a proper bathe since before the hospital, his immune system is already weak and we don’t need any of his wounds getting more infected than they already are.” He said with a finality that made arguing pointless, though Hal had to agree with him, the poor kid was filthy.

“Alright, I’ll come get you when it’s ready, kay?” he asked, pressing a kiss to Barry’s head, before darting up the stairs to the rarely used main bathroom, Hal and Barry often used the adjoining bathroom to their bedroom so the main was often only for guests, which they didn’t get a lot of. Hal turned on the water and pushed the plug into the drain, watching as the tub filled to about half before shutting off the tap and heading back downstairs to his husband.

“Baths ready.” He muttered, watching as Barry stood up. Wally was a little more awake, though from the look on his face it was iffy, the kid looked like he could pass out at any given moment. The blonde carefully took the stairs and slipped into the bathroom, setting Wally on the closed toilet, before gently removing his clothing.

“W’er you doin?” Wally mumbled, squirming a little as Barry lifted him up again before transporting him into the bath.

“Just cleaning you up love, you’re okay.” Barry comforted, trying to simultaneously keep the child upright and clean the grime off him. Hal grimaced, he had seen Wally’s injuries but somehow, when they were all displayed, they seemed worse, it didn’t help that he was drugged and clearly on the verge of panic. Barry was getting stressed as well, trying to keep the boy’s head up with one hand and clean the dirt off with the other, when it got to be apparent that it wasn’t working, Hal placed his phone and wallet on the countertop before gently pushing Barry to the side.

“What are you- Hal!” Barry yelped, watching with sheer disbelief as his husband slipped into the water, cradling Wally against his chest.

“Helping you. Now he can sit up without you having to hold him.” Ha said, plainly as though he was discussing the weather. Barry looked at him, dumbstruck for a moment, before he burst out laughing.

“god, I married an idiot!” He exclaimed, before he put some soap on a washcloth and gently started washing the dirt off Wally’s skin, careful of his bruises and cuts. Hal just pressed a gentle kiss to Wally’s head, and hummed a tune under his breath. Wally started giggling.

“Uncle Hal, you’re gonna get your clothes wet.” His voice still had the slur brought on by heavy painkillers, but he seemed a little more aware of his surroundings. At least enough to take in the hilarity of the situation.

“Oh, I think he knows squirt.” Barry sighed, shaking his head at the nonsense. “He probably thought it would be funny. Hal, did you seriously not take your socks off!” Barry demanded, causing Hal and Wally to sit up slightly to examine Hals socked feet, now soaking wet.

“Well, what do you know?” Hal asked, his face a picture of innocence, “I guess I didn’t” He smiled at Barry, who snorted and muttered something under his breath, while Wally laughed again, harder this time.

“Well I’m glad you two find this funny, but we only brought one towel in, so Hal, you have to stay in the tub till you dry.” Barry scolded, unsuccessfully hiding his smile. “Okay squirt, all done.” He slipped his hands under Wally and lifted him from the water, wrapping him in an oversized, fluffy red towel, before carrying him out of the room.

“Whoa, hey, babe! Come on please, just bring me a towel.” Hal called, sitting upright as the pair left the room. Barry looked at Wally, tilting his head.

“You hear anything squirt?” He asked, laughing when Wally shook his head. “Me neither, come on let’s get you to bed.” Hal groaned as Barry left the room.

Five minutes later, Barry strode in carrying a green towel, offering it to his grumpy partner, who was now quite soggy, Hal took it and started to dry himself off.

“I don’t know why people say you’re the merciful League member, you have a wicked side.” Hal grumbled, walking towards the master bedroom, Barry chuckled.

“Only when my husband get into a bathtub fully clothed.”

“Well, jokes on you, because I got Wally to giggle!” Hal said, pulling Barry into a hug.

“Ah, you moron, you’re all wet!” Barry squawked, pushing away from the pilot, who pulled him closer. Barry rolled his eyes as Hal changed from wet clothes into clean pajama, settling down into bed.

“You know? I think we can pull this parenting thing off.” Hal whispered, hugging Barry close. The two fell asleep with their hands entwined, the house one member up, and a little bit happier.

[childofsquidward]

Speedy^3 Kids

Y’all can thank @temmie-loony for being subjected to my ramblings because she was the one who fed my obsession. Hope you like my the kids!

Zander Sebastian West (KJ Apa)

born May 14th, 2015 (Taurus); 25; eldest of the speedy^3 disaster fam

Sebastian was actually his last name, but he took Wally’s last name after they adopted him, so it became his middle name; he goes by the name “Bounce” on the field

he actually wanted to use Blink, but there’s already a pretty powerful superhero who’s well-known throughout the multiverse that uses the moniker and Zander didn’t want to step on any toes, especially as a first-time hero

he almost went with Shortcut before his wonderful younger siblings all pointed out that it sounded more like a speedster’s name, which he begrudgingly agreed with

his top choice was actually Super Saiyan, but he thought no one would take him seriously; Cisco later on told him that Super Saiyan was his top choice as well

if one more person says some variation of “Bounce, let’s bounce,” he will start chucking people into the netherworld

metahuman: in short, his power is matter manipulation; this means that he can shape matter into anything that he wishes, which also grants him the ability to move just about anything and anyone anywhere his heart desires (he can telepooooort)

when they first met him, after Jesse has analyzed his powers, they thought that he might actually have telekinetic abilities as he could use his powers without physically touching anything while in reality just his very presence, regardless of proximity as they developed, was enough to take a building apart (which they later found out and Jesse geeked over it for a good two hours or so)

manipulating air particles allows him to teleport to the sky, which makes it seem like he can fly even though he can’t

his powers are tied entirely to his emotions, more so when he was younger and little control over his powers; he has grown to be so laid back and easy going that it’s almost impossible for him to ever lose control of his powers now

when he got a little older, he discovered that his ability disperse particles applied to living things as well; he pretty much just exploded into little scattered bits one day and Jesse had a meltdown

despite popular belief, no, he can’t just teleport criminals to the pipeline cuz they’re metas 99.99% of the time, and dark matter is not the same as matter, therefore, he can’t manipulate dark matter; this applies to dark matter objects as well, like, he can’t just move Cicada’s dagger into a volcano

very limited knowledge/use of combat skills; he learned basic self-defense from Alex of all people (he refused to learn from both his mother and uncle Ollie because he claims that running around an island that translates to fucking purgatory is insane, not mention just dramatic as hell)

he hates running with the white hot intensity of fifty billion suns; this is also why everyone was shocked when they learned he joined the track and field team of all things to which he promptly assured them, “as a high jumper guys, don’t be crazy”

they took him in when he was five after falling in love with his little puppy eyes and adorable smile (fucking Harry thought he was the most precious thing to ever walk the face of the Earth)

moved out about three or four years ago actually cuz the house is SO crowded, like geez, Connor thinks living with Dawn's bajillion pets is bad?

he picked up Jesse's death smile, like that charming Disney smile she has before unleashing all hell

he's pure childlike wonder and basically a giant puppy

the goofiest of goofballs

fun fact: he once saw ‘Hogwarts’ as one of the WiFi accounts available on his phone and promptly exited the bus a good twelve stops before he should’ve, magically discovered a megaphone and shouted “will the house with Hogwarts wifi please speak up?” into it and a girl marched out of one of the houses half annoyed half amused

Zander asked if she believed in soulmates and then how she felt about the movies; she called him a doofus and said she’d see him tomorrow for the 2 o'clock showing of Kung Fu Panda

that was a five-year relationship

when he was younger, yelling or shouting of any kind, especially directed towards him, would immediately trigger panic attacks

the first time it happened, Zander was six and had been living with them for less than a year

they were at Star Labs, Wally and Thea were arguing about something and Jesse tried to intervene, which led to her yelling as well

it took all of ten seconds for Zander to start shaking uncontrollably and accidentally shatter the mug on Jesse’s desk in the process which caused his parents to realize that he was there

Thea was first to approach him, more adept to the symptoms of a panic attack than Wally and Jesse, but Zander backed away from her

Wally and Jesse were frozen in place while they watched their son curl up into a ball, continuously switching from chanting and mumbling to screaming “go away” and “stop it”

meanwhile Thea just sat across from him, keeping her distance so she wouldn’t make things worse, not saying a word - which helped because after a good ten to fifteen minutes of pure deafening silence, Zander’s breathing slowed down and his muscles relaxed and he didn’t flinch when Thea moved closer

from that day on, Thea, Wally and Jesse agreed that to never raise their voice around their kids, especially Zander

the second time it happened was two years later at Star Labs on Earth 1

now we all love Harry, and we know that him yelling and shouting is just a part of his personality

Zander, who hadn’t gotten to spend as much time with his grandfather as he would’ve liked cuz Harry always seems to be needed on different Earths, did not

Speedy^3 left Team Flash to babysit while they went on a mission, and only Harry and Cisco were in the cortex at the moment, and you can’t have Harry and Cisco be in the same room and not argue

so Zander was just doing his homework at what had become Iris’s writing nook, when Harry and Cisco’s argument turned into Harry yelling at Cisco and the latter marching out of the cortex in a huff

and that’s all it took to trigger a panic attack - he dropped his pencil and a beaker in the med bay burst before Harry finally turned to him

Harry had no idea what was going on because one, he had never experienced someone going through a panic attack or an anxiety attack in his presence, and two, none of Zander’s parents had ever mentioned his panic attacks to him

his first instinct is to immediately switch to a softer tone that he’s only ever used with three people - his wife, his daughter, and now his grandson

he started off by assuring Zander that he wasn’t yelling at him, and then he went on to explain that he wasn’t actually angry, and just a lot more of fumbling around for right thing to say until Zander didn’t look absolutely terrified when looking up at him

Harry actually kind of toned down his incessant need to just be shouting all the time - even after Zander had worked at understanding more or less that if his parents did end up yelling at him or at anyone else, it usually wasn’t out of anger, but out of concern and love

Zander was never open to talking about his panic attacks with anyone, it was kind of a struggle for him to even open up to his parents, like, if someone even accidentally let it slip or hinted at it, he would just shut down

he had actually been forced to go to therapy by the foster system he was under, and he hated every second of it, it was no help to him

at one point, maybe age 9 or 10, Zander just blurted out “What’s wrong with me?!” which led to a three hour discussion between Thea, Jesse and Wally as to how they would explain Zander’s panic attacks to him because while they know what triggers it, at that point, they still had no idea what exactly caused him to get triggered (they explained it to the best of their abilities though, because they can’t just not explain his panic attacks to him)

he hated that there was no possible way for him to control his panic attacks, they just happened, and he didn’t want anyone telling him how to go about dealing with them, so he was very adamant on finding his own coping mechanisms because he wanted to have some sense of control over the situation

he graduated from teachers college about four years ago and found a permanent teaching position at the local elementary school less than a year ago; he loves the idea of being able to have a positive influence on young kids and loves coming in and seeing their bright smiles at ass crack of dawn

always comes home with chalk and marker stains on his hands and clothes because what even is an eraser?

Zander is also not a morning person and is usually super cranky if woken up before 10AM, but being a teacher and having his one place has changed his daily routine in such a way that he may be turning over a new leaf

probably has a cheesy tattoo to remind him of home (trust me, he’s the type); maybe like the star labs logo? or the outline of the state of Missouri (which is where Central City is)

Francine “Frankie” Laurel Queen (Olivia Holt)

born March 22nd, 2019 (Aries); 21; second eldest

she was named after Wally’s mother and Thea wanted at least one of their kids to have Laurel’s name as a middle name; goes by Eagle on the field

they found her on Earth 2 when she was a baby - Wally and Jesse were putting out a huge fire, where Frankie’s family died, so instead of putting her up adoption they just decided to adopt her themselves 

she looks like a young Moira Queen, it’s ridiculous, Malcolm (who shows up occasionally as he does, that relationship is just waaaaaay too complicated to pinpoint, much less explain) and Oliver both bring it up constantly

every time Frankie’s on Earth 1 with her mom, someone will mention how much she looks like Moira, right down to her mannerisms; like former Queen Consolidated employees have walked away from her accidentally the first few times she came around because they thought Moira Queen had returned

Thea doesn’t really notice it herself at first because she has adopted a lot of Moira’s tendencies herself without realizing, but when she finally did, she actually admitted that it was a little scary, almost like looking at the ghost of her mother

also, turns her biological grandmother was actually a Moira Queen doppelganger

this close to moving out

even though she constantly brings it up, Zander knows she never will; like, freaking Tess (their youngest sibling) will probably move out before Frankie ever seriously considers it because out of all her siblings, Frankie is the most attached to their parents

she and Jade both have keys to Zander’s place though

he doesn’t know (but he does)

since she is the only non-meta out of all her siblings, Thea had hoped that she’d take up archery, but given the amount of time Frankie spent around Sara, she quickly became infatuated with the art of knife throwing; her knives of choice include f-s fighting knives (because they’re practical and effective) and karambits (because they look badass and are great for interrogations and such); she rarely uses her knives to penetrate through flesh, she’ll actually throw them so they catch on someone’s shirt and nail them to the wall (her aim is scary good - I mean, we all know who one of her two mothers is - only to be rivaled by her younger brother Robbie’s)

Harry and Joe both had a heart attack when they found out

Wally thought it was cute… up until Sara started saying crazy shit like, “you know, Frankie would be a great addition to the Waverider” which led to Wally hanging up every time she called

Jesse was surprisingly only mildly concerned

Thea immediately bought herself some Aspirin before yelling at Sara

Sara responded by then teaching Frankie how to hotwire a car

she took karate (started age 5) and gymnastics (started age 4) as a kid

she gained her black belt at age 10

Sara tried to teach her kung fu, but Frankie insisted that karate was better for combat because she found kung fu to be too calming; Sara did however manage to interest in other forms of martial arts like taekwondo, judo and sambo

she actually got really into artistic gymnastics specifically and even seriously committed to competitions for a few years before deciding to get serious about college (to everyone’s surprise)

even though she’s never gotten the chance to meet Laurel, the former Black Canary has had a huge impact on her life, mainly stemming from Frankie’s curiosity of her middle name and things kind of just snowballing into Thea and Sara telling her countless stories about Laurel

she actually took up boxing after being inspired by the fact that it first was the first kind formal fight training that Laurel had before becoming a vigilante

unfortunately for the entire family, she gained Jesse’s spending habits, so Thea will find a thousand dollar inflatable mattress in the family gym, or Robbie (Child #4) might step on his sister’s spikes for shoes and hop around his room with blood and glitter covering his foot

100% the most anal of all her siblings:

she color codes everything (including her notes on the freaking Notes app)

would probably lose her head without her planner

can tell you exactly where everything is in her room and will know if it’s been moved

constantly reorganizes the pantry

Wally, at least once a week: “Did you alphabetize the spice rack again?”

will move the couch even while someone is sitting on it because she thinks it’s crooked

Kara, when she first witnessed it: “Are you sure she doesn’t somehow have Kryptonian dna or something? Cuz’ no speedster I know has superhuman strength.”

hates that one of their walls is a lighter shade than the others

Robbie: “Oh my god, you can’t even tell, let it go Frankie”

has only ever seriously committed to a few things, be it activities or relationships; she just has this need to always be on the move and feels the need to constantly change things up in her life

has been through many phases in her life as a result: her art phase, her music phase, her baking phase (which led to a cooking class at the community center, and then resulted in a life ban cuz she blew it up), her dance phase (twice), her ‘wanting to be a scuba diver so bad she was ready to start taking lessons before she remembered that she’s deathly afraid of water’ phase and so on and so forth

she tried ballet but quit after two days because she has zero rhythm

she wanted to learn guitar, and the poor instrument would be collecting dust in their attic if Zander hadn’t decided to pick it up

she also took piano for a hot second... a literal second

after quitting pro gymnastics to focus on school, Frankie immediately regretted it because she had no idea what she wanted to do; she didn’t want to sit in some boring lecture hall with 400 strangers for three hours every week, she wanted to do something more hands-on (hence she always enjoyed watching her hacker aunts and uncles - who 100% contributed to her taking apart just about anything with a circuit board - as well as learning from them), but nothing seemed to catch her attention

she eventually just enrolled in undeclared arts, which let her take whatever she wanted, and a lot of what she took ended up being criminology classes, which fascinated her to no end

with a lot of hard work, she ended up finishing a four year bachelor’s degree in criminology in just three years

the minute she graduated, she applied to take the LEE (Law Enforcement Examination), which surprised just about everyone

Joe bawled

next stop: police academy!

also, it should be noted that Frankie has made it a point to emphasize that while she carries small daggers on her off the field, she will not be doing so a cop, so you can breathe now Uncle Barry and Papa Joe

her favourite romcom of all time is hands down 10 Things I Hate About You, and it is one of the few things that she and Jade will ever argue about

Jade, every single time Frankie sits down to watch it: *groans in agony*

Frankie, who has perfected Thea’s (Moira’s) ‘i can and will fuck you up beyond your imagination’ glare: *hisses*

has an eagle tattoo on her forearm and Laurel’s calling card on her lower back (y’all know that classic Black Canary logo right? that’s what I’m talking about)

easily the bossiest person you will ever meet

gets in the most trouble; also most likely to throw a party when her parents are out of town

that one person who’s always like “ooo, what does this button do?!” and then proceeds to press it

this usually leads to everyone completely losing their shit (I on the other hand, along with Ralph of all people, think that it’s adorable - she’s just a curious kid)

easily the best driver in the family because Wally and Jesse never drive and whenever they do it’s like being in a death trap, Zander has switched to public transport because he tends to swerve a lot (you need to hold on to something while in the car with him, it’s a must) and just - parking in general is kind of a struggle (thanks Wally and Jesse), Jade has major road rage and this tendency to hit poles, so does Thea (where do you think Jade gets it from?), and Robbie and Tess haven’t gotten their licenses yet but they’ve already had four driving instructors quit and five classes kick them out

actually feels kinda’ inadequate compared to her siblings and has gotten really well at hiding it because if they ever knew she’d just feel even worse because they’d think that it’s their fault even though it’s not

she just always has this gnawing feeling in the back of her mind that she’s not living up to her parents’ expectations the way that her siblings are

and then she feels bad cuz’ parents are cool and even with five kids they’ve never, ever shown any sort of favouritism towards any of them

it’s just like, she sees Zander having his life together like a functional adult and being this amazing wise big brother, and Jade’s a genius like she easily the smartest person that Frankie knows and their family (including the never-ending extended family) is filled with intelligent people; then Robbie’s like this super friendly, charismatic class president/captain of the baseball team who is good at honestly everything that he tries his hand at, and Tess is just so responsible despite being the youngest and manages to keep them from falling apart and will probably end up with either her own multi billion dollar company or just the best president of the US that Earth 2 has ever seen

she’s super proud of all her siblings, but somewhere deep down she’s always like “what have I even managed to accomplish in life?”

fiercely protective over her family

if she sees her five year-old brother get sand kicked in his mouth, she will hang the punk did who dared to do so upside down by his legs (she does not give a fuck if he accidentally stepped on your sandcastle, Billy, that’s no excuse to treat her baby brother like that)

if she sees some little brat grab her sister by the hair cuz’ she told the teacher that she and her friends were cheating, she will not hesitate to smack a bitch (tattling is not an excuse for you to get physical with her little sister, ‘mkay?)

it was sooooo worth getting sent to the principal’s office both times, and probably many other times cuz’ people are the worst

Jade Van Queen (Lana Condor)

born May 23rd, 2021 (Gemini); 19; middle child

like her older brother, she now uses her last name, before Speedy^3 adopted her, as her middle name; goes by Owl on the field

highly skilled acrobat, after years and years of lessons from Thea, Sara and even Nyssa (don’t tell her parents, specifically her mother)

owns like five katanas and keeps leaving them around the house; also keeps making new katanas and experimenting with different materials

she actually doesn’t go out on the field and prefers to stay back with Frankie (who actually doesn’t really go out on the field either) and help from behind the scenes

unless they’re actually needed or there’s an annual crossover happening

also, Jade and Frankie make a really good team in general, hence why they’re usually sent on all the covert stealth missions, which leads to their parents and grandpa Harry taking over (Zander, Robbie and Tess hate every single fucking second of it)

has a bit of a knack for both welding and engineering (under the tutelage of proud poppa Wally and super psyched Uncle Cisco)

she actually managed to create her own version of the cold gun (upon Frankie's insistence), helped design her siblings’ suits, creates explosives for funsies, custom made Frankie's favourite knife along with a few others (gives anyone - Sara - who gifts her a knife the stink eye), built Robbie's bow from scratch, and the list goes on

is well on her way to sending Harry to an early grave with the shit she says/does

Jade: “I should be an actress. Like Angelina Jolie level famous, constantly photographed, but it's actually me in a wig under a stage name.” Harry: “Please don't. You can't draw that kind of attention to yourself and you absolutely can not live a double.” Jade: “It worked for Hannah Montana-” Harry: “She's not a real person.” Jade: “-and Bruce Wayne” Oliver, 15 galaxies away: “Batman's just a myth.”

Cisco ADORES her

her and Frankie have the closest relationship out of all their siblings

she's always wanted to be just like her big sister because she thought that Frankie was the coolest person to ever exist

continues to look up to her even though she's the biggest dork ever

Frankie thinks it's the cutest thing on the planet

she and Frankie still share a room to this day

she actually took ballet only because Frankie did, but while her sister quit, she continued for years, and is still continuing to dance, although she never had the urge to do it professionally much to the dismay of her many, many ballet teachers throughout the years

when they were little though, Frankie once did something totally stupid that she really shouldn't have and Jade was so upset that Frankie vowed to always strive to be someone that Jade will look up to; however, Frankie once got so in her own head about being the perfect big sister that it nearly cost Jade her life; when they're in the med bay later on, Jade says to her “I would never stop loving you just because you made a mistake dummy, and we were literal babies back then so just… be nicer to yourself.”

multilingual

Vietnamese - self-taught because no one else she knows speaks the language, and the only three things she knew about herself before meeting Speedy^3 were one, her last name, two, that pomegranates were unnecessarily complex for fruits, and three, that she’s Vietnamese

Mandarin and Cantonese - Oliver offered to teach her, mainly because when she was younger and he would start speaking in another language, her eyes would always widen and she’d seem so fascinated by it that it made his heart melt

Japanese - started with Jade pestering her dad about how he learned Japanese, when eventually he got her to let the matter go if he agreed to teach her instead

Arabic - Jade and Nyssa were sparring one day when Jade just randomly went, “teach me how to speak Arabic” and Nyssa froze for a split second which led to Jade instantly gaining the upper hand on her; after their match though, Nyssa asked her if she was actually serious about learning Arabic, and Jade’s enthusiastic smile was all the answer that she needed

Spanish - Jade, age 10, went up to her Uncle Cisco and asked him if could he teach her Spanish so that she would have a more of a chance to pile on a variety of classes in high school so she could explore her areas of interest a little more; Cisco was more than happy to oblige for the sake of his favourite niece

German and Italian - started with Jade telling Nate how cool it is that he knows like six languages and then next thing you know, Jade’s skyping him every week and Cisco’s threatening to blast Nate because he is the favourite uncle so back off Heywood

Jade: Uncle Cisco, I can have two favourite uncles. Cisco: But I’m the favourite of the two favourites… right? Jade: *blinks, then leaves the room*

French and Latin - she needed an upper liberal and her college offered both languages; Nate was a little offended that she thought CCU could provide her with a better education on languages than he could, but he’s not Cisco, so he won’t be petty about it (lies)

strives to have five majors like her momma (actually might end up with six)

unlike Jesse however, she had no intention of skipping a few grades even though she very well could; she just preferred going through school at the same pace as her friends because the idea of skipping ahead and all older kids always judging her for being the youngest kid there sounded horrifying (she took Grade 11 bio in Grade 10 because it was normal to fast track, but everyone gave her the stink eye all semester which made her think that she made the right decision not skipping a few grades)

it is actually very common however for people to hold multiple on Earth 2 and have more than one or two majors; the most is probably Harry with like, idk 7 or 8? and then Jesse has 5

she’s in her second year at CCU as of right now

she didn’t want to take any math or science esque majors because she feels as though she already has/is exposed so much knowledge on that front, she wants to challenge herself and try a variety of majors so that she have a more diverse learning experience

History & Philosophy Dual Major

this was the first major she started with

Nate declared that she was his favourite niece when he found out

Cisco blasted him

Sociology

she started sociology at the same time as her dual major since they’re in the same faculty and therefore all her required courses like Critical Thinking I and shit are basically the same

Accounting & Finance

after her first year, she started taking courses in spring and summer for this major

Professional Communication

has just now started taking a crack at this during her second year

Social Work

has yet to take a single course for this, but with the co-op program and all the different concentrations, this is the only one of her majors that’s stressing her out

she might also be doing a minor in French and Psych

she’s literally always in school, no one knows how she manages to maintain a 4.0 while helping her siblings fight crime and then building the occasional bazooka while she’s at it - SHE CAN DO IT ALL

she takes at least ten classes per semester but only because one, that’s a limit that CCU has set, and two, her parents were firm about her not burning herself out even though she insisted that she wouldn’t

proud member of team ‘let’s annoy our parents into finally letting us get a dog’ along with her older siblings

when Robbie was born they thought there would be a strength in numbers but this little golden child claimed he didn’t care

Tess was then their only hope and she asked for a cat (traitor)

has like, multiple identities in multiple countries and on multiple Earths, across the multiverse

she has created lives for herself, LIVES

every time they go anywhere, Jade gets recognized, and some random stranger will be like, “Dr. Abigail Matthews, how nice to see you, I thought you were treating patients in Germany?” and her parents are immediately just like, “you’re grounded, you’re grounded for the rest of your life, let’s go Abigail”

she can multitask like her life depends on it

no, seriously, she once somersaulted through laser beams while writing her final paper, and also reapplying her lipstick in between

Frankie couldn’t decide whether or not she should be impressed or claim Zander as her new favourite because Jade apparently has their father’s incessant need for theatrics

Robert “Robbie” Joseph Wells (Amir Mitchell-Townes)

born January 8th, 2023 (Capricorn); 17; the second youngest

named after both his biological parents’ fathers; goes by the name Red Arrow in the field which made Thea so happy

he uses a recurve bow like his mother did which Jade made for him out of iron wood

he has Wally’s speed, but he prefers using it as a last resort to one, fuck with people, and two, because he didn’t people suddenly getting bright and making a connection between him, Speedy-the-archer, and his sister, Speedy-the-speedster

random citizen: how does Red Arrow have super speed? are the rumors about Kid Flash and Speedy true? Robbie: this is an illusionnnnnn, you are having a dreammmmm

between his speed and flawless aim, Robbie never really saw the need for formal fight training; he can throw a punch, but he can’t parkour off of skyscrapers like Frankie and Jade

he also has very keen senses, and his reflexes are insane

the only one allowed to go grocery shopping because his family has no sense of anything, specifically, Frankie ‘what even is a nutrient? idk’ Queen and Tess ‘expiration dates are optional’ Wells; over 50% of the family is made up of speedsters, yet no one other than Robbie has half a mind to get something other than Big Belly Burger all day any day and everyday

Oliver, Caitlin and Alex cried when he brought home apples; they fight over who gets to give him a ride to the store

Kara once went with him and claimed that carrying groceries with him made her daily work out seem like a piece of cake, like, why does this child still continue to go to the gym?

loves to cook and is constantly experimenting with different flavours and combinations of flavours

usually they turn out well, but on the off chance they don’t, Frankie will eat literally anything that’s either carbs or sugar

he has all of Grandma Esther’s recipes and Iris and Joe both swear that Robbie chasing people out of the kitchen with a wooden spoon during Thanksgiving is like Grandma Esther come back to life

he prefers like, chicken dinners and pastas and lasagnas and such to desserts, which Frankie claims is such a waste because his matcha white chocolate chip cookies are the best thing on the planet

Frankie can reorganize their linen closet to her heart’s content for the gazillionth time, but she will never be able to fit months of Thanksgiving leftovers fit for five speedsters into their tiny fridge the way that Robbie can

he’s also great when he comes to packing

Frankie and Jade might be like martial arts prodigies or whatever, but Robbie’s the real ninja of the family - he sneaks up on everyone, and no one has any idea how he does it, and they can never tell when he’s about to strike

observant as hell, which means that he always knows what’s up with siblings and his parents and just about everyone, and can read them like an open book

which is annoying because they can never do the same with him; his poker face is on a whole other level, which is why he’s the one always chosen to go undercover cuz the rest of his siblings would probably have a meltdown and accidentally give their firstborn away

it’s actually a little scary; also, Robbie on vs off the field is like watching yin and yang; the first couple times he went out on the field, everyone was freaked out by his demeanor because he was so stoic and serious and not kind eyes and gentle smiles (which honestly is not a thing during his solo missions because he’s not the family prankster for nothing)

because of his observant nature, he also knows everything there is to know about everyone

which is a problem because he always knows when to call bullshit

has this tendency to second guess every single thing that he does; actually thinks that nothing he does is ever good enough

he’s a social butterfly, super friendly, life of the party - extremely different from Zander in that Zander is a ray of sunshine, but he prefers small groups of friends, like not more than three people please and thank you

remember when Frankie quit piano after two seconds? guess who ended up having to take her lessons?

Frankie: you’re a literal musical prodigy, if anything, I did you a favour Robbie: I dream of throwing you like a lightning bolt

sometimes he sees Jade conquering her life the way that she does and feels like crap because he needs to talk himself down from spiraling when he has too much on his plate, and he has WAY too much on his plate, like, drink a milkshake and chill

really good with kids, has been babysitting since he was twelve; he’s like the perfect balance of ‘tickle monster’ and ‘eat your veggies’

would use desserts to sneak in vegetables (it’s what he does for his siblings)

lives off coffee (literally walks away from his coach when he goes on this tangent about how ‘your body is a temple’)

functions on like three hours of sleep, like, what is sleep? 

Theresa “Tess” Morgan Wells (Talia Jackson)

born November 5th, 2024 (Scorpio); 16; youngest; Jesse was so adamant on not having kids because being a meta and a speedster at that, she didn't want to risk it, but after running into her doppelganger on Earth 22 who once had similar concerns, she changed her mind

she was named after Jesse's late mother Tess Morgan

Harry got so emotional he actually had to leave the room so no one would see him cry

goes by Speedy on the field

Cisco: You can’t be a speedster named Speedy. Thea, who only heard ‘you can’t be’: My daughter can be whatever the hell she wants. Wally & Jesse: Aw, babe, that’s so sweet... but like, think this through. Tess: Ignore them. I chose my superhero name. Thea: Awesome! What is it? Tess, using the same smile that Oliver once did when he ‘accidentally’ ran over Thea’s lego castle: Speedy. Thea: You’re grounded.

Tess has the spirit of an elderly person screaming “you kids get off my lawn” and fun fact, she once did so at age 4 and the kids on the lawn thought it was super adorable until she started throwing toy cars at them

Jesse blames Oliver

Thea blames Harry

Wally blames them all

despite being the youngest, Tess is the one to mother them all, she is the only responsible child in the family

she is actually the closest to William in that they're constantly going off about how stupid their siblings are; Tess claims she has it worse because “Dawn and Connor may run in without a plan and whatnot, but at least they've never accidentally launched a space shuttle to freaking Saturn (Frankie), or cut the Eiffel tower in half (Jade), or gotten banned from Nevada because they accidentally sent it spiraling through a black hole (Zander), or caused a war between Earth 3 and Earth 19 (Robbie)”

she’s also the biggest worrywart, and because she is allergic to emoting and basically a splitting image of her grandpa Harry, her parents and siblings and just about anyone really always feels super guilty when they do something stupid to worry her and then hear that Tess cried

you'd think that being the little angel she is, she'd like to keep her space tidy, but nooooooo; her room is a pigsty which she likes to refer to as organized chaos

Frankie calls it a toxic waste dump

Jade swears that she once sat in Tess's bean bag chair and ended up getting sucked into an alternate dimension

has this aversion to doing chores and can sense when she will be asked to do something, which leads to her promptly exiting the premises

being the control-freak that she is (like her mother, Wally, Jesse, and Oliver all say, with even Roy chiming from the great beyond or wherever), everyone assumed Tess would be an archer like her mother but she straight-up said that a bow and arrow on the field is impractical

Thea grounded her for a month

Oliver wrote her out of his will

having two speedster parents led her to have the strongest connection out of everyone to the speed force to the point where the idea of losing her powers isn't as daunting as losing her connection to the speed force

a cat person, hence why Zippy the ninja with a penchant for hiding out in people’s closets exists

Zander, Frankie and Jade refuse to believe that this kid just went up to their parents at age seven and asked for a cat, and then got one

despite the huge age difference between her and Zander, and being closest to Robbie in that they share literally everything, she actually has this tendency to cling to him whenever she’s scared or confused

she’ll always pick him for advice over anyone else

Zander actually used to sing Cheer Up by A Great Big World to her when she was younger

even when she got a little older, she used to poke him awake and he’d always go back to her room and stay with her until she fell asleep

Tess was by far the most affected by his moving out, sometimes she’d just got into his mostly empty bedroom and sit there and stare at every item missing from his room (no one else in the family ever made any move to disturb her)

Zander started calling every night to check up on her

she’d pretend to be annoyed, but he knew she was smiling the whole time

oreos are her weakness

enjoys photography

married to her computer, aka, the love of her life (her words)

A few things that I want to point out…

Speedy^Cubed got married on Earth 2 and decided to permanently move there mainly because Earth 1 already had so many superheroes and Wally and Thea ended getting more attached to it than even Jesse is.

They weren’t sure if their kids would want to operate from Earth 2 because like their father, all of them were out on the field during massive team-ups, and they were worried that their kids would love the idea of working with everyone else so much that they’d want to move (which all three of them of support, but later on tear up about). To their surprise, every single of their kids preferred to operate as part of Team Speedy^Cubed on Earth 2, mainly because Earths 1 and 38 have like four teams between them and Earth 2 has like, two heroes outside of their parents, both of whom are retired. It might also be because they love their parents, but no one other than Zander would ever admit it.

All three of them made a collective decision to keep their own last names though, that’s one thing that they were very adamant on, which their kids are constantly complaining about as they made that decision when they were at a point in their lives where having kids was the furthest thing on their mind.

This obviously means that their kids all have different last names, but they secretly think that it’s actually kind of helpful because on whatever Earth they may be on, each of their parents’ last names comes in real handy! Like, “oh, a Queen?! can’t piss you off in any way, shape or form!” // “detective/captain/lieutenant/sergeant West’s grandchild? by all means, have the key to the city!” // “professor Wells’s grandchild? well damn, now I have to give you clearance to enter this highly secure facility that not even the president knows about!”

KJ Apa, Olivia Holt and Lana Condor are all 21, which boggles my mind because if you’d told me that Olivia was 21, I would believe no questions asked, but KJ and Lana?! KJ looks at least 25, and with Lana I MIGHT believe you if said she was 19, so it all works out in the end.

I wasn’t sure what codenames to give Frankie and Jade. I nearly had them be Artemis and Cheshire before I changed Frankie’s choice of weapons and decided that the team is better off with one archer. Then, as I was thinking of a cool name, it kind of dawned on me that a common theme among assassins and special ops and such are to have bird names as their codenames, so I chose literal birds of prey as their superhero names because I just thought it would be cool to include the Birds of Prey somehow. This also means that I saw a lot of pictures of birds and had nightmares for the three consecutive nights.

Personally, I think Jesse seems like the type of person who has zero self-control when it comes to impulsively spending her money. She’s like that one person who has to get something from Cinnabon every time she walks by it, and she doesn’t even really like Cinnabon to begin with. Wally is big on saving and Thea’s just a lot more tactful when it comes to her spending habits because unlike her lovely wife, she’d probably get something on sale or use like 100 different coupons (she owned a nightclub, businesses are already so expensive to run, but alcohol being sold at the price that it is makes it 400x worse, she knows what her money’s worth).

Tess Morgan was actually Earth 1 Harrison Wells’ wife, so since we never learned Jesse’s mom’s name, I made the executive decision to declare that it’s Tess Morgan.

[cakeandpi]

A short little kinda angsty, kinda not, fic to end 2017 with.

Artemis stretches and rolled over. When that did not bring her in contact with a warm body, let alone warm blankets, she reluctantly opens her eyes. Then, with a groan, she makes herself sit up. She doesn't stand immediately, letting begrudging wakefulness roll through her limbs. Wally isn't here.

He is, at least, getting better at this. She hadn't woken until after his warmth had faded from the bed.

A short trudge through their apartment finds him sprawled out on the couch, headphones in and shifting light from his cellphone playing on his face. "Hey," she says, leaning on the back of the couch to look at him. "Come back to bed."

He makes a face, like she knew he would. "It's like, uh, five am." He counters. "About time to be up anyway." He doesn't look away from the phone, though he does pull the headphones out from his ears.

"Did you get any sleep at all?" She frowns at his shrug. "Wally... you've got three finals today."

"I know. I'll be fine."

Gently, she reaches over and pushes his bangs back, running her fingers over his skin. He sighs and closes his eyes. Once, she would have argued with him. Once, waking up alone wasn't a groove worn familiar by repetition. Usually, though, he only does this every other month or so. Not every night in a week.

That worries her. And she knows he knows it worries her. But as long as he insists it's not a problem, there's little she can do to actually help. So she bites back the argument at the tip of her tongue, that it won't be fine. That if she can learn to lean on him, he can learn to lean on her. Let her help.

Instead, she says, "You could wake me up, you know."

He just shrugs again, and Artemis bites back more words, though she growls in frustration. His eyes open at that, and a his mouth quirks into a soft smile. Grabbing her wrist, he pulls her hand down to kiss it. "I know. You deserve your sleep, though."

"And you don't?"

"Love, sweetheart, light of my life-" Artemis feels her face heat, and presses her hand over his mouth to get him to stop. He licks her hand and she yelps and pulls it away instead. "Beautiful. This is something I've dealt with for forever. I'll be fine."

Scrubbing her hand dry on her nightshirt, she sticks her tongue out at him. He laughs. "Dork. I'm going to take a shower. You can fix breakfast."

She doesn't say a word about how the tenseness that had riddled his limbs had faded as soon as she'd made her presence known. Every time, it's like he relaxes as soon as he's not alone. Which makes his reluctance to wake her make no sense. So it has to be something other than some feeling of loneliness. But what, then? She's no closer to an answer after her shower than before.

A week of sleepless nights or no, Wally's breakfast efforts are no more burned than usual. He still grins at her confidently and kisses her before leaving for his final exams. Her own finals done, she glares at the dishes as if they could give her an answer on what was happening with Wally.

Of course, it wouldn't be such a fucking puzzle if he would just tell her what was up. Drumming her fingers on the table, she hums to herself for a few minutes before going to get dressed.

At the very least, she doesn't think the surprise she has planned will make things worse.

She returns home several hours and purchases later. Pausing outside the door, she motions for quiet at the squirmy ball of fur in her arms. It just squirms more and tries to lick her face. "Shh," she hisses softly, as if she'd be understood.

Her direction is taken as the opposite meaning, and a small bark emits from the fur.

She resigns herself to the door inevitably opening. And it does, and there's Wally. "Hey there, Baywatch. How'd finals go?"

"Fine?" He blinks at her, and then at the dog in her arms. "Uh, Artemis, you. You have a dog."

"Our dog."

"Our-" He inhales sharply, then looks at her, grin barely suppressed. "I thought we were going to go together, you know?"

"Too bad. You get to name him though." The dog - puppy, really - barks again and makes a good effort at wriggling free. "Oh, no you don't. Not with the door wide open."

That seems to jolt Wally back to the here and now, and he moves out of the way so she can get inside. Door closed, she kneels and, after a few tries, manages to free the dog from his harness. The fact that he only becomes even more wriggly once close to the floor made it difficult. Then she set him down, and Wally laughs as the dog shoots off, nails clicking against the floor.

He laughs harder as the dog disappears into another room, then comes zooming back, runs a lap around the couch, pauses and crouches in a 'here, come play!' position at them, then runs into the kitchen.

Artemis stands, smiling. That laugh makes it worth the effort of wrangling the dog home by herself. "I'm going to go bring in the dog supplies." She leans up and kisses his cheek. "Think you'll be fast enough to keep him from escaping?"

"Oh, for sure." He grins cheekily at her, then wraps an arm around her waist and tugs her to him before she lays a hand on the doorknob. "Hey. I love you." He tells her, green eyes all bright with tears from laughing so hard.

"I know. I love you too." She leans into the kiss, smiling against his lips.

Brucely Nelson is what Wally comes up with for a name. Artemis snorts but doesn't argue. Brucely is for him, mostly. After an extensive play session, feeding and then taking the dog outside for important dog business, Brucely finally seems willing to lie down for at least half an hour.

"He'll be fine, Wally. He has his own bed and it's not even five feet from you." Wally still gives her one more pleading look, to no avail. He sighs and Brucely promptly echoes him. Looking over at the dog, Artemis raises an eyebrow at Brucely's similarly pleading look.

Wally turns too and snorts. "Almost as good as M'gann's pout, there."

Between finals and being surprised with a dog, on top of having not properly slept for a while, Wally goes out like a light when he finally goes to bed. Artemis curls up against his back, arm thrown over his waist. Sleep is slower to come for her, and when it does arrive, its not peaceful.

At least the nightmare is familiar. She's caught in a torrent of water, slamming into walls from the force carrying her down hallways of the Cave. As always, her rebreather isn't working, and then it’s gone, swept away with the force of the water. She can't breath. She can't-

She sits up with a gasp and throws off the comforter. Gulping in air, she shoves her leg to where Wally should have been.

Nothing but blankets and sheets.

A check of her phone shows that it's barely past midnight. Artemis closes her eyes and swears softly under breath. After a moment, she gets up and pads softly out of the room.

She comes to a stop as cell phone light does not greet her. Wally's still there on the couch, but he's curled up around Brucely, who's awkwardly licking Wally's face. "Good boy, that's a good boy." She can vaguely hear Wally murmur. As if she might shatter something by being loud, she quietly comes around the couch and sits beside him. "Hey."

"Hey," Wally's voice is rougher than usual. "Sorry."

She shakes her head and leans against him. Inhales, takes in the scent of the soap he uses. "No, if you were sorry, you'd tell me what's going on."

It's a departure from the pattern they've established. Wally tenses against her, and she regrets that, but she's been, with some considerable effort on her part, patient for a while now. And maybe if she hadn't just had a nightmare, she could have extended that patience again. Not tonight.

"I'm fine." He insists. Brucely gives up on washing Wally's face and comes to curl up in Artemis's lap.

"Sure you are. Which is why you've done this, oh, for nine nights now?" She scowls at him. He just looks blandly back at her. "So, what, I should just expect this to be the new normal? Set out a bed for you here and only expect you in the bedroom when you want to get frisky?"

"Hey!" Wally protests, eyes going wide with dismay. "I wasn't- I’m not- That's not what-"

"Because that's kinda how it feels like. Right now." She does not like how hurt he looks, and it's her own fault. She looks down and busies her hands with petting Brucely.

"Artemis, I'm sorry, I never..." He inhales audibly. An arm wraps around her shoulders and he presses a kiss to her temple. "I just didn't want to bother you. I know its hard for you to get asleep most of the time. Wouldn't do any good for both of us to be sleep deprived, especially during finals." The arm around her squeezes hard, once, and relaxes. "Forgive me?"

She sighs. "Only if you tell me what's waking you up."

Silence falls. It's deafening, almost, the quiet dimness of the room, with only Brucely's snores and Wally's breathing and her own to break it. It's enough to make her think Wally's not going to tell her.

"This... right here." He whispers. "The quiet, and stillness. I get caught in it. Can't make it stop." She starts to ask a question, but now that Wally's broken the silence, it's like a waterfall of words leaving him. Or a torrent of water that's caught him up. "It's as if the world's turned into one of those slow-mo videos, where it looks like something is frozen in time when it can't be because it'd fall out from the sky. Like. Like everything's gone still and quiet, so obviously I'm going too fast, only I can't figure out how to stop." His hand on her shoulder is trembling, and she reaches up to catch it. His fingers twine with hers. "It scares me. The thought of getting stuck in it. Inside the speedforce."

She bites her lip, because what's she supposed to say to that? So she just squeezes his fingers as he lets out a shuddery breath. "So why not wake me up? Wouldn't that fix the being stuck thing?"

"But then I'd have just pulled you in with me." He says it so matter of factly, like it's obvious. "But if you wake up on your own... Then you aren't stuck with me. Or I'm unstuck. Or something. I don't know what's making it so bad right now. Never been able to correlate all this," he waves his free hand in a broad gesture, "with anything." Brucely snorts and shifts and rolls over onto his back.

"Stress, maybe?" She offers, and she feels Wally shrug.

"It'll pass, Artemis. It always does."

[ask-joeydrewstudios]

Astraphobia

((uh so i wrote another fic, this one’s about Bab Bendy being afraid of thunderstorms? I really should leave this writing stuff to the professionals xD w/e its a way to kill time Here Ya Go))

   Bendy wasn't supposed to leave Joey’s office past 9 PM.

   There was nothing in the studio to be afraid of or anything, Joey was simply worried he'd get lost. He'd been created just over a week ago, he didn't know how to navigate the place efficiently yet. The studio was like a maze, take a wrong turn or stray too far and you have no idea where you are. It's easy enough to find your way again if you find someone to help you, which is why the toon was allowed to wander during the day. At night though, people rarely stayed so late and they kept to their work stations when they did. Not to mention most of the lights were turned off to save on energy costs, so the halls were ominously dim. Thus, it was far easier for someone new to the studio like Bendy to get lost at night. Really, it was inevitable.

   They both wished it hadn't been the night Bendy found out he hated thunderstorms.

   He'd been making his way back to Joey's office after exploring the studio for what had been about three hours, and it was one of the nights where everyone had already left so they were completely alone in the studio. He was feeling confident he could find his way back no problem, he was getting more and more familiar with the studio's layout with every passing day. He'd been picking out landmarks like specific desks, rooms, and other unique features that he could remember to tell him where he was. All was going well, and he felt he could make it back in time - until he heard a peculiar noise.

   The studio wasn't the sturdiest structure, the building creaked and groaned from time to time and the pipes of the ink machine rattled in the walls almost constantly among the regular studio ambiance. This noise was... different, though. It didn't sound like it was coming from somewhere in the studio, it was a low distant rumble muffled by the walls that almost sounded like it was coming from everywhere. The studio lacked any windows, so he wouldn't be able to see the lightning that soon followed. Before long the thunder spoke again, louder this time. It was such an unfamiliar, menacing sound that made him anxious for a reason he couldn't quite grasp, and his pace quickened from a leisurely stroll to a brisk walk.

   “Keep calm, focus your thoughts, don't start melting...” he mumbled to himself. Maybe it was a little too late for that last point, he could feel ink dripping and leaving a small trail behind him as he went down hallways, around corners, through doors-- shoot, is it right or left? Is this hallway familiar? This door is locked. Maybe it was the other way...

   A loud crack of thunder shook the studio and sent him scurrying under a desk. He was trying not to be terrified, but he didn't know what was going on and he would admit he was entirely lost at this point. It was hard to not be terrified. He backed into the corner behind the desk and curled himself into a ball, hoping that maybe Joey would come find him or the noises would stop by morning. Or maybe it would never stop, maybe this was normal for this strange world he'd been brought into with no warning. Things were weird here. He couldn't remember how things were before here, it all felt like a fuzzy dream. He knew enough about it to tell that it was far different from this place. It was not a fun place to be alone in for too long, especially not in situations like this. He wished whatever this was had happened during the day when the studio was active. Then, he could find solace in someone, anyone. Henry, Wally - hell, even sitting through this with Sammy would be more fun than sitting through it alone. Yet here he was instead, under someone's desk in the dark. Alone.

   Soon the familiar sound of rain started up. It had rained yesterday, but it wasn't as scary as it was now. Yesterday's rain was gentle and distant, this rain sounded more and more aggressive like it was threatening to dissolve the walls of the studio themselves and drown him. He melted further into himself which helped mute it, but he could still hear every boom of thunder and with each one he'd melt a little further into a featureless, shivering ball of ink.

   He sat in the corner behind the desk for a long while before he thought he heard footsteps and his name being called. He picked his head back up, and while his hearing was still muffled under excess ink he could definitely hear Joey calling for him. He was getting closer, but it didn't sound like he'd seen him under the desk. The ink had melted over his eyes so he only had his hearing. After listening for another moment to pin-point exactly where Joey was, the toon collected himself just enough to be able to spring from his hiding spot. He hit his head on the desk by accident and ran up to his creator, throwing himself at his leg and making a mess in the process. He'd nearly given up on keeping a physical form now, and ink trailed all the way from the desk to where he was now. Joey was less than pleased at the mess, and when he could see smaller drips of ink leading further down the hallway and into the darkness he knew Wally wouldn't be either. He was glad to have found Bendy though, even if he was clearly... distressed. He almost didn't recognize him, he didn't know he could lose his form to such an extent. Thunder again shook the walls and the toon clung tighter to his leg. He seemed to be sobbing and whimpering like a scared puppy. If he wasn't such a literal mess he'd probably offer him a hug, but ink was notoriously hard to get out of fabric.

   Oh to hell with it, he didn't care for this shirt anyway.

   He sighed and picked up Bendy, and for the first time he didn't protest at all. He wrapped what was vaguely his tail around his arm and clung to his shirt as they walked back to his office. Joey had seen him get scared before, sure, but he'd never seen him get utterly terrified. This was new. Behind his concern for his creation he was intrigued, he never wrote Bendy with a fear of storms but he'd apparently developed one on his own. The whole "living cartoon" thing was proving to be quite an experience so far for both of them. Bendy didn't quite stick to what he was written as, he had his own thoughts and fears and it really nailed in the point that he was his own living being. Joey wondered if he were to make the other toons in the manner that he had made Bendy, if they would be the same way.

   Bendy was a lot more calm by the time they returned to the office. His form was still a little loose, but Joey was warm and comforting and the gentle rhythmic bounce of being carried helped sooth him into a state of bliss that helped keep him regain his composure. He almost fell asleep during their walk after Joey started humming, but the sound of the door being unlocked woke him back up and told him he was probably going to be put down soon... and then he'd be on his own again. The storm was slowing down but hadn't stopped yet, and when Joey did try to put him down he clung to him.

   "I'll only be a moment, Bendy. I just have to get a change of clothes. I'll be right back."

   Reluctantly he allowed himself to be put down. He wasn't dripping anymore thankfully, and he'd pushed the ink out of his eyes so he could see again. Now he could see that his creator’s arm, shoulder, and one of his legs were covered in ink. Suddenly he felt guilty over the mess he’d made, and his guilt must have been apparent as Joey gave him a smile and a reassuring pat on the head. He was left with a small bottle of ink and a large blanket, which he buried himself under while Joey got cleaned up. He felt dizzy, he'd lost more ink in his panic than he realized. That's what the bottle was for. He struggled with the cork for a moment before using his teeth which did the trick, and in the eight minutes Joey was gone he had finished the bottle and grabbed a second one. The storm wasn't so scary when he was in a familiar place like the cozy little office that doubled as their apartment. He still felt anxious of course, but he wasn't terrified anymore.

   On any ordinary day, Joey would be asleep by now. That's not something he'd so easily get with Bendy acting the way he was. He'd give him a half hour, surely he'd be fine by then right? The storm was slowing down. He sat at his desk with a book and his reading glasses, and nearly as soon as he'd opened his book, the little toon was at his side again. He was looking up at him with tired eyes, still wrapped in a blanket. They started at each other briefly and just as Joey was about to speak, he silently crawled into his lap and curled back into a ball with his tail draped over the arm wrest.

   If he were actually trying to work, this would be annoying. He was only reading, so he didn't say anything and got back to it. He got a bit too into his book and ended up reading for much longer than he meant to, and by then it was quite late. He hadn't heard any thunder in a while and he could barely still hear the rain.

  “Should be safe enough to try getting some sleep now, right Bendy?” He nudged the toon and got no response. “...Bendy?”

   Turns out, Bendy had already fallen asleep. At least that means he calmed down. He picked him up and dropped him off on the couch, turned out the lights, and went to bed himself. Thanks to exhaustion, he was out almost the second his head hit the pillow. He couldn't say he was surprised when he found Bendy under his arm the next morning, which was something he was prone to doing. He really should figure out how to get him to stay in his own bed, or at least out of his. He'd ask Henry for advice later, for now...

   Actually, he wasn't going to say anything this time. He let him keep sleeping as he got up to make breakfast. It couldn’t be seen from under the blankets, but Bendy was faintly smiling in his sleep.