#child in time

[cosmonautroger]

Deep Purple, Child In Time, 1970

[vexic929]

Child in Time

Chapter 10

Warnings: none

Chapter 1: link

Previous chapter: link

Rathaway Industries shook violently, shattered glass raining down onto the pavement. Hartley aimed another blast at Rathaway Industries with his sonic gloves, opening a gaping hole in the glass walls. He'd heard the sirens approaching from the moment they'd left the station and turned at their crescendo to blast the windows and engine out, stopping one of the police cruisers in the middle of the street. Two others pulled up from the opposite direction.

"Get down on the ground!"

Hartley rolled his eyes at the officer yelling through the megaphone and shattered the window of the car door he'd hidden behind. A moment later, he was on the ground anyway, having been shoved backwards suddenly by the Flash himself.

"It's over, Rathaway."

Hartley grinned.

"You know my name. I know some names too," he drawled, tilting his head as he glared up at the speedster. "Cisco Ramon. Caitlin Snow. Harrison Wells. I can hear the radio waves emanating from your suit," he continued as he pushed himself to his feet. "About 1900 megahertz. Is that them on the other end, listening? Are they gonna hear you die?"

The Flash shook his head, looking as though Hartley was a mild annoyance. "No. They're gonna hear you get your ass kicked."

Hartley scoffed before blasting the speedster with both gauntlets, sending him flying backwards, crashing through the tall glass sign bearing the Rathaway Industries logo. Moments later, the Flash had zipped past him and was throwing seemingly anything he could reach - a police baton from an officer's belt, the baton from a different officer's belt, a rock next to the cruiser - at Hartley with frustratingly good accuracy. Hartley grimaced, shielding his head, only to feel his gauntlets ripped off a second later.

The Flash gripped Hartley's collar tightly, a cocky grin tugging at his lips. "Looks like you're not as smart as everyone says."

"Smart enough to have figured out who Harrison Wells really is," Hartley commented, relishing the way the confidence slipped off of the Flash's face. "You see, I know his secret."

—

The ride in the elevator to the Cortex was exceptionally awkward. Hartley surveyed the speedster next to him, giving him a slow, assessing look up and down through his glasses before scoffing.

"So you're his new chosen one," he commented, lifting his cuffed hands to examine his nails. "Nice suit. Did Harrison design it for you?"

"Cisco, actually."

Hartley hummed and faced the doors just as they opened.

"Being scooped up by a guy clad in head-to-toe leather is a long-time fantasy of mine, so thanks."

The Flash pushed him through and Hartley smirked in amusement, straightening with a relaxed sort of confidence that contrasted with the cuffs around his wrists as Cisco and Caitlin joined them near the elevator.

"Well, well, well, the gang's all here. You've lasted a lot longer than I would've thought, Cisco," Hartley commented though his expression dropped into a look of surprise as he glanced past them.

Eo stared back from his playpen in the medical bay with equally intense blue eyes.

Hartley let out a disbelieving laugh. "Did the explosion make all of you morons? Why the hell do you have an infant in S.T.A.R. Labs? That would have been stupid before it was a Class 4 hazardous location, now it's completely asinine."

"He's-" Caitlin began, shifting protectively towards the playpen.

"Ix-nay on the...uh, expanation-ay," Cisco interrupted through clenched teeth.

"And my respect dies a quiet death once more," Hartley said with a melodramatic sigh. "Honestly, Pig Latin?"

"Not trying to impress you, dude. Come on," Cisco said, rolling his eyes as he steered Hartley towards the hall with a shove that was maybe a bit rougher than necessary.

Hartley glanced once more over his shoulder. The baby didn't look away as he chewed on his empty bottle.

The hallway down to the Pipeline was cold. Not physically - the climate controls were perfectly calibrated, as always - but there was a certain sterile feeling in the air, a mechanical chill that clung to the walls like a film. Hartley walked with the languid confidence of someone who'd already prepared his monologue for trial, his bound hands no real impediment to his theatrical strut, his smirk crooked and practiced.

Behind him, Caitlin and Cisco kept a steady pace.

"I assume this is the part where you lock me in your dungeon lair," Hartley drawled. "A bit too La Belle et la Bête for my tastes."

"You blew up a building," Cisco said and Hartley rolled his eyes.

"I shattered the windows of two, actually, I'd hardly consider that blowing anything up."

Hartley continued when they remained stubbornly silent.

"You know this used to be a respectable place of progress. Now you've managed to turn it into a prison as well as a mausoleum. Fitting, really, Wells always was good at killing things. Potential, mostly."

They reached the empty cell - standard glass walls, reinforced steel. No furniture, no comfort. It was stark, humming faintly with the pulse of meta-dampening tech. Cisco opened the door.

"Inside," he said.

"What? No 'please'?" Hartley drawled, though he stepped inside regardless and turned around to face them. Caitlin removed the cuffs and Hartley stepped back, crossing his arms and examining the pair curiously as the doors shut. "So, the baby. Yours? The Flash's maybe? Or perhaps some new, unethical experiment of Harrison's?"

"He's none of your business, Hartley," Caitlin said curtly. Hartley's grin was wolfish.

"Noted."

Cisco glanced over at him with a frown from beside the panel controls.

"The scanner is detecting foreign metallic objects in your ears. Take 'em out." Cisco instructed, gesturing towards Hartley.

Hartley raised both eyebrows. "I can't. I suffered head trauma when S.T.A.R. Labs exploded, my ears were severely damaged. Without these I'm in pain you can't imagine." He said, pointing at his left ear for emphasis.

Cisco and Caitlin exchanged a look. Hartley took another step back, finally surveying the 'cell' he'd been locked in properly, and let out a short laugh when he realized what it really was.

"Very clever repurposing the anti-proton cavities into confinement cells," he commented. "Wells' idea, I'm sure."

Cisco looked momentarily smug. "Actually, it was mine." Caitlin nodded at Cisco with a smile of support.

"Cisquito," Hartley crooned in a mockingly sweet voice. "Sigue suplicando la aprobación de tu maestro."

"Si eres tan inteligente porque te encuentras en una aula," Cisco spat back.

"Hartley, don't make this more difficult than it has to be," Caitlin said and Hartley shot her a mock look of surprise.

"J'ai oublié. Tu n'aimes pas les émotions. Elles sont salissantes."

"Enough, Hartley." Wells interrupted, wheeling up from behind Cisco and Caitlin. He nodded to both of them. "Give us a minute."

"See you soon, Cisco!" Hartley called as Cisco and Caitlin made their way out of the Pipeline.

"Doubt it!" Cisco called back.

Upstairs, Barry was leaned back in a desk chair, listening to the conversation through the monitors as Eo snuggled in his arms, fast asleep.

"What do you think, buddy? is Cisco gonna punch Hartley before or after lunch?" Barry asked quietly.

Eo blew a raspberry in his sleep and Barry laughed.

"Yeah, me too."

Eo rolled slightly to get more comfortable and kicked out suddenly, accidentally muting the feed. Barry grimaced but didn’t move to fix it right away for fear of waking the baby. It didn't matter anyway, he thought, it wasn't like he could understand the languages they were speaking. Barry turned his attention to the baby, smiling faintly, and brushed a thumb across the sparse strawberry-blond fuzz on Eo's head.

"Must be nice," he murmured, watching the soft rise and fall of Eo's breath. "No idea how weird everything is right now. Just sleeping through it all."

Eo let out a soft, sleepy sigh and Barry resumed watching the monitor. Hartley was looking directly at the camera now. Uh oh.

Barry scrambled to turn the audio back on in hopes of catching most of whatever Hartley had been saying.

"...I only hope that he leaves you in better shape than he left me. If you're lucky, you'll only be dead. Because every day I have to live with the agonizing, piercing screaming in my ears." Hartley's voice rattled through the speakers and Barry grimaced, hoping whatever he'd said before wasn't too important.

"Oops..." Barry muttered, settling back in the chair again as Eo let out a grumpy noise and shoved his face into Barry's neck.

~~~~~

translations:

Sigue suplicando la aprobación de tu maestro - Still begging for your master's approval

Si eres tan inteligente porque te encuentras en una aula? - If you're so smart why are you in a cage?

J'ai oublié. Tu n'aimes pas les émotions. Elles sont salissantes. - I forgot. You dislike emotions. They're messy.

[v-i-d-e-c-o-r-m-e-u-m]

Ian Gillan

[intotheclash]

Deep Purple - Child In Time - Live (1970)

Dolce bambino nel tempo tu vedrai il confine il confine tracciato tra il bene e il male Osserva l'uomo cieco sparare al mondo proiettili vaganti esigono un tributo. Se sei stato cattivo - Oh, Dio, scommetto che lo sei stato e se non sei stato colpito dal piombo vagante farai meglio a chiudere gli occhi e chinare la testa Aspettando il rimbalzo del proiettile.

[allthedesiredusernamesaretaken]

" Sweet child, in time, you'll see the line

The line that's drawn between good and bad ... "

[business-as-usual-bats]

Idk if anyone else remembers, but Batman canonically carries around Bat-cookies according to the Batman/Scooby-Doo crossover.

I LOVE to think Batman carries them around as snacks for Robin. I love it even more to think he uses said cookies to bribe Robin into good behavior in a similar fashion to Scooby Snacks.

Little Dick Grayson: I don't wanna go to some stupid Gala! U can't make me!

Bruce, in desperation: would u do it for a bat-cookie?

Dick: woah! Bat-shaped! Cool!

Bruce: andddd you can have another one after the party

Dick, mouth full of cookie: okay :)

Bruce, internally: thank fuck a parenting hack that works

Batman: stop! Don't kill him!

Red Hood: and why do I give a fuck what you-

Batman: would u spare his life for a Bat-cookie?

Red Hood:

Red Hood: I'm not a kid anymore-

Batman: they're fresh, look, still warm

Red Hood: ...

Red Hood: this works ONCE. This ONE time. Gimme that damn cookie.

Batman: of course

Red Hood: Fuck I've missed these what the hell does Alfred put in em

Bruce: go to sleep, Tim

Tim: I'm almost done-

Bruce: go to sleep now and you can have a bat-cookie

Tim: a what?

Bruce: a bat-cookie. See? Here, first taste is free. Try it.

Tim: bribery? Really?

Bruce: positive reinforcement

Tim: giving me treats like I'm some kind of dog?

Bruce: try it and then we'll debate the ethics

Tim [eats cookie]:

Tim:

Tim: okay

Bruce: Okay?

Tim: if I promise to sleep a full 8 hours I want two more and a glass of milk

Bruce: u drive a hard bargain but I accept

Dick: aw, c'mon, Damian. One picture. For me, to remember your first day of high school. Do it for a bat-cookie?

Damian: -tt- I've heard of these so-called "bat-cookies" Insulting. I am not a child. I refuse to participate in such an asinine tradition.

Dick: shame. Alfred made animal-friendly ones so you can share with Ace and Batcow. I guess they don't get any treats either, then

Damian: well

Damian: since it would please you so very much, I will overlook this patronizing lapse in judgment

Damian [tries one bite of cookie]:

Damian:

Damian: given Batcows higher food intake requirements, I will require at least a dozen.

Damian [takes another bite]: perhaps two dozen

Duke: you agree I did a good job today?

Bruce: yes? I suppose. Earlier, when you stopped that-

Duke: shut it. Don't care. Cookie me.

Bruce: excuse me?

Duke: I know about the cookies, old man. You've been holding out on me. The cat's out of the bag. I did a good job, I get a cookie. That's how it works, right?

Bruce: uh well

Bruce: that was a long time ago

Bruce: i had to discontinue that method after-

Duke: are you saying I'm not a valid member of this family because I was never Robin?

Bruce: of course you are! But I don't have any on me-

Duke: don't. Lie. To. Me.

Bruce: Okay! Okay. You're right, I'm sorry. Here, take it. Just... do me a favor, and don't go announcing to the whole cave you got-

Duke: YES. MY FIRST BAT-COOKIE! SCORE!

Every batmember in the vicinity: BAT-COOKIES ARE BACK????

Bruce: NO! stay back! Stay back you animals! Alfred! Alfred! It's happening again-

Alfred, sighing: I'll preheat the oven, sir

[ghosted-jazz]

Doey's 2/3 angsty traumatized teen, I think he'd love MCR

[soapbbox]

I like that Megatron is essentially leading a bunch of senior citizens

[percival895]

Dolce bambino nel tempo, vedrai la linea La linea che è stata tracciata tra il bene ed il male Vedi l’uomo cieco che sta sparando al mondo Proiettili che volano facendo molte vittime Se sei stato cattivo, Oh Signore, penso che tu lo sia stato E se sei stato colpito da proiettili volanti Farai meglio a chiudere gli occhi e abbassare la testa Ed aspettare il colpo di rimbalzo

[yujateaandpi]

Fanart for @noodles-and-tea’s precious Twins in Time AU comic! These goobers rotate in my head every day.

[notyoujamie]

[vexic929]

Child in Time

Chapter 9

Warnings: none

Chapter 1: link

Previous chapter: link

Next chapter: link

"Good day, Dr. Wells."

Gideon's smooth, mechanical voice greeted Eobard as usual as the man strode toward the dais, the infant cradled in one arm. Eo patted the front of his shoulder, tiny hand tapping consistently like a metronome.

"We'll see about that, won't we? Gideon, show me the future," Eobard instructed, catching Eo's hand as it strayed towards his face. "No, not the glasses, you little gremlin."

Eo, predictably ignoring him, let out a pleased coo and made another grab. With a sigh, Eobard deftly removed the glasses, tossing them aside into the seat of the wheelchair as Gideon projected the holographic newspaper. It, unfortunately, still did not read 'Flash Missing: Vanishes in Crisis' as he'd hoped, however, the article had changed again.

'Rathaway Son Missing'

Dr. Hartley Rathaway, estranged son of tech billionaire, Osgood Rathaway, remains missing after an incident at...

The article might have piqued his interest, once, but otherwise, it would have meant nothing. Should have meant nothing. But Barry Allen had upended everything with his foolish sentimentality, with the infant now squirming against his shoulder and squeaking softly into the collar of his shirt.

Eobard shifted his grip as Eo pressed his face more firmly into his shoulder, nosing at the fabric with the insistence of a barnacle. The hand that wasn't tapping remained clenched around the bedraggled Flash bear - ears chewed, the little lightning bolt insignia stained from drool and something that looked like mashed banana.

"Gideon," Eobard said sharply, eyes locked on the article even as his mind shifted gears. "Run a full temporal residue scan on the infant. I want precise coordinates: exact time and place of removal from the timeline."

"Scanning," Gideon replied.

The blue diagnostic sweep passed over Eo. The infant blinked at it, curious, and batted at the light with a soft grunt of disappointment when it passed through his hand. Then, perhaps in protest, he lifted the bear to his face and began gnawing on its forehead with quiet intensity.

"Scan complete," Gideon said. "The infant was removed from the timeline on October 12th, 2151, at 3:02:46 AM Central Standard Time. Location: Level 4 of the Thawne residence, Central City, Missouri, Earth-1."

"By Barry Allen."

Of course Barry had done this, it had never been a question in his mind, he practically bled reckless altruism.

"Yes, Dr. Wells."

Eobard’s gaze darkened, tension tightening his jaw as he continued. "Gideon, check again for any recent alterations referencing the Reverse Flash or Eobard Thawne."

A series of articles flooded the screen as Gideon scanned through them.

"There are now 127 references to the Reverse Flash, Doctor."

"But no references to Eobard Thawne," he noted.

Eobard's brow furrowed, fingers tightening involuntarily around the infant's small form as he absorbed the implications. For him to have withheld his true identity, to maintain secrecy for centuries - an odd choice. And thoroughly unlike him. How much could he have possibly changed already? He scowled down at the infant who stared back unflinchingly with his wide blue eyes.

"Who are you becoming?" He muttered, more to himself than the child. 

Eo blinked before blowing a raspberry suddenly, spittle flecking Eobard's cheek. He wiped it away with a grimace and might have opened his mouth to scold the uncouth infant but was interrupted when Cisco's voice crackled to life over the intercom. 

"Dr. Wells, we need you in the Cortex, like, right now. Hartley's attacking Rathaway Industries."

[v-i-d-e-c-o-r-m-e-u-m]

Ian Gillan from Deep Purple.

[galadrieljones]

Suddenly inundated with headcanons of Astarion's happy childhood on a fruit farm in Evereska, before his family moved to Baldur's Gate for trade. (I thought about his eye color for a long time. I have so many feelings. I like this sort of sparkly green for now 🥺)